Sunset sighed as she drew another red ‘x’ through yet another day of December. The month was rapidly bleeding away, now advancing well into the late teens and on the cusp of entering the twenties. Only a few days to slog through until Hearth’s Warming.
“Never heard somebody sigh quite so heavily at a calendar before,” Rarity said, looking over from her spot upon the couch. “Is somebody not excited for Hearth’s Warming this year?”
“I work in a mall,” Sunset simply replied.
“Good tip money,” Rarity commented.
Sunset snorted. “No amount of tip money is worth sixty-hour weeks, babe. Worst part is that this stupid holiday doesn’t even mark the end of it. Day after is Packing Day and malls are going to be stupidly busy with everypony trying to get in on those ‘killer sales.’”
“You have to admit that those sales are pretty good,” Rarity said before smirking. “Also, it’s everybody, dear. We’re not in Equestria.”
Sunset shook her head and went over to their apartment’s fridge. She tore it open with needless force and grabbed a bottle of beer.
“They aren’t even that good,” Sunset chided, motioning with her hand. “How does nobody ever notice that they jack up the base price of products before these ‘big’ sales. Happens Black Friday and it sure as shit happens on Packing Day. The sales are maybe five percent at most.”
Rarity peered up from her magazine and, upon noticing the beer in Sunset’s hand, made a face. Thankfully, she didn’t vocalize her displeasure.
Who cared if Sunset had a beer with lunch? It was one of her few incredibly precious days off this month.
Plus, midday drinking was all the rage in Europe and didn’t Rarity want to be fashionable like those fabled Europeans.
Sunset grabbed a bottle opener from their cupboard and cracked open her drink. The fizzle of carbonation was enough to make her stress bleed away.
“How has your holiday shopping gone?” she asked.
“Pretty good,” Rarity said. “Finished it earlier this week when I finally managed to find those running shoes for Rainbow. I have no idea why they were so hard to find. They look absolutely ghastly in my opinion.”
Sunset nodded and made her way over to their dining room table. At this point, it was more of a staging ground for the holidays. There was a fortress of gifts and wrapping paper brought together upon it. All under Rarity’s astute supervision.
She took a sip of beer, sighing in relief. “That's really good piss water.”
“Rough night at work, I take it?” Rarity quipped.
Sunset snorted and slowly shook her head “Rough month at work, babe.”
She found Rainbow’s shoebox and lifted the lid, wincing at the monstrosity inside.
“Told you,” Rarity teased.
The shoes were faux gold that sparkled as if they were coated in glitter. There were a gaudy-looking pair of wings affixed to each of the shoes that sprung up from the ankles. It kind of looked like a chintzy version of what Hermes from the Greek Pantheon would’ve worn. On the side was the brand’s logo, proudly on display as if this was a product, they actually took pride in manufacturing.
“So glad you pulled her name,” Sunset murmured, taking another sip of beer. “Thankfully Twilight is way easier to buy for.”
“It’s practically cheating with her,” Rarity said. “The dear has her entire wish list on Amazon.”
Sunset nodded. “Got her a couple of the really sciency books she had on her list. Plus, a couple of the history ones. Should keep her busy for a week or two.” She then smirked at Rarity. “Also got us something special.”
“Is that so?” Rarity asked, allowing herself a coy little smile as she rested her chin in the palm of her hand. “Hopefully something made in the developed world this time around.”
Sunset snorted. “Yeah, not making that mistake again.” She then went pale. “I can still smell charred hair sometimes.”
“Yes, it really does have a very memorable scent, doesn’t it?” Rarity murmured, glancing down at her crotch before shuddering at the unwanted memories.
“So, what are your plans for Hearth’s Warming?” Sunset asked, resting her butt against the table and pointing the stem of her bottle at Rarity.
Rarity looked back to her magazine. “Well, I’d imagine that our plans for Hearth’s Warming would involve us going to my parents’ place to celebrate with them and Sweetie Belle.”
“Are you sure your parents would even want me there?” Sunset asked, hiding her frown behind the beer as she pretended to read the label.
“Of course, they’d want you there,” Rarity said. “You’re a very important part of their daughter’s life. Why wouldn’t they want you there?”
Sunset shrugged. “Just used to spending Hearth’s Warming alone, I guess.”
Rarity went silent, her brow knitting as she continued the charade of reading her latest issue of Vogue. When it was obvious that her progress had stalled, she placed a mark between the pages and closed it.
“You’ve never had a proper Hearth’s Warming before?” she asked, the concern practically dripping from her voice.
Sunset flinched away from that tone. It stung, reminding her just how much of a loner she had been.
She got off of the table and made her way back to the kitchen, doing her best not to look at Rarity.
“I mean not since leaving Equestria,” Sunset said, snorting. “Hell, probably not since I was a filly. You don’t really get to enjoy a regular Hearth’s Warming when your only close contacts are a few tutors and the god princess of your whole fucking Kingdom.” She shrugged. “I mean, it’s fine. I think I turned out alright. Only a little bit of lingering emotional damage and trust issues.”
When she looked at Rarity, she saw that her girlfriend was studying her intently. There was a very obvious pity in her eyes.
“I really want to give you a hug right now,” Rarity murmured.
Sunset shrugged. “I mean is this going to be a pity hug or a regular hug?” Before Rarity could reply, Sunset held up a hand. “Mind you, I don’t really do pity hugs.”
“Not even a little one?” Rarity asked.
She pouted out her lower lip and tried to look as huggable as possible.
“Not even a little one,” Sunset said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“Well,” Rarity said as she got up and made her way over. “I’m still going to give you one.”
Sunset sighed. “I suppose I can endure a little pity hug in the name of love.”
Rarity threw her arms around Sunset’s midsection, holding her tight.
“So, none of the girls ever invited you over?” Rarity asked.
Sunset sighed. “I mean it’s a holiday meant to be celebrated with your family. And well… I just don’t have a family.” She shook her head slowly. “I mean that’s perfectly fine. A lot of people don’t have families or have families who are…” She cleared her throat and murmured under her breath. “A dimension away.”
“Name literally any other person who has a family who’s a dimension away,” Rarity chided, squeezing Sunset a bit tighter.
Sunset hummed. “Superwoman?”
“Different planet and not a different dimension,” Rarity replied. “Plus, last I checked, she’s also fictional.”
“Uh… Dr. Who?”
“Also, fictional.”
“Alright, I’ll admit that I am the only member of an extremely small sample size.” Sunset reached up and gently stroked Rarity’s cheek. “But I swear, I usually just veg around my apartment during the holidays. You know what’s better than a good old fashion Christmas Dinner?”
“What’s that?” Rarity asked.
“Fruit loops and eggnog.” Sunset said, grinning nice and wide. “Even better if put a little splash of bourbon in there.”
“That sounds…” Rarity bit her lip. “Well, no offense, but that kind of sounds like something that a divorced dad would do.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Well, who cares.” She pointed towards the calendar with her beer bottle. “Because we have plans for Hearth’s Warming. So, I won’t be able to LARP as a depressed single dad this year. Happy?”
“I just feel like we should still make up for lost time,” Rarity whispered. “Shame that we can’t have two…”
Suddenly her face lit up.
Sunset frowned. “You just had an idea, didn’t you?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Rarity lied through her teeth, looking away so she could smirk.
Though Sunset totally caught this smirk.
“Uh…” Sunset sighed. “Any chance you’ll let me know what’s up?”
“Not even the slimmiest chance,” Rarity teased.
She drew away from Sunset, making her way over to the calendar on the wall. Once there, she hummed and hawed to herself.
“Do you have the twenty-third off?” Rarity asked.
Sunset nodded. “Unless somebody calls in sick.”
Rarity smirked and circled the date.
Even with how tight-lipped Rarity was being, Sunset couldn’t help but notice the activity that was going on around their apartment leading up to the twenty-third.
It seemed like any moment that wasn’t spent on work, for Rarity, was spent on preparing their apartment for something. Everything was cleaned, their gifts were stowed away in a closet, and Rarity seemed busy in the kitchen, preparing all sorts of appetizers and desserts.
Whenever Sunset offered to help, Rarity would always politely decline. Apparently, she could do this all on her own.
This is why Sunset currently found herself laying on the couch, watching TV, while Rarity went about baking something in the kitchen.
However, Sunset had a fairly good idea what Rarity was doing.
“We’re doing Friendsgiving this year, aren’t we?” she asked, loud enough that her voice reached the kitchen nook.
Rarity suddenly stopped her stirring. “Pardon?”
“I mean, I’m guessing that’s why you’re in such a hurry to get all this stuff done for tomorrow,” Sunset commented. “You want to do Friendsgiving or something, right?”
Rarity sighed. “I suppose I wasn’t doing a good job of keeping it a secret, was I?”
“I mean…” Sunset snorted. “We live in a studio, babe. It’s kind of impossible to keep it a secret.”
“Well, you just…” Rarity huffed. “You see…”
Sunset smirked. “You felt bad for me, so you wanted to try and cram two Hearth’s Warmings into a single holiday season, right?”
“That…” Rarity frowned but nodded. “Yes, that sounds about right.”
“Well, thank you,” Sunset said. “I just feel bad that you’ve been putting in all this extra work. Are you sure that I can’t help you with anything?”
Rarity chuckled loudly, and as Sunset looked over, she saw that she was shaking her head. “Well, if you would’ve burst my bubble a few days prior, I’m sure you could’ve. But this is actually the final thing I was meaning to make for tomorrow.”
Sunset hummed and forced herself off of the couch, stepping into the kitchen nook. “Do you have batter for hot buttered rum?”
“What’s that?” Rarity asked, looking up from her own project and at Sunset.
She looked adorable with that little tuft of icing on her nose.
“Well, it’s going to be my contribution to this little project,” Sunset explained.
She made her way towards the fridge.
Though she paused as she passed Rarity. She reached out and collected the little bit of icing on her thumb before popping it into her mouth and continuing along.
It tasted sweet and a little bit like makeup.
Once at the fridge, she opened it and pulled out a stick of butter which she brought to the counter and plopped into a mixing bowl.
“One of those recipes I learned to make during my depressive Hearth’s Warmings,” Sunset explained, smirking to herself. “Been using it since I was sixteen.”
“You were drinking rum back when you were sixteen?” Rarity asked.
“I mean didn’t all of us?” Sunset teased.
Rarity snorted. “Well yes, but not all of us were drinking by ourselves at sixteen, darling.”
“Well, isn’t someone being judgemental,” Sunset chided, sticking out her tongue. “Wait until you learn about when I started smoking pot.”
“Probably around the same time I was experimenting with tabs?” Rarity murmured, barely audible.
This caught Sunset’s attention. “Pardon?”
Rarity perked up and looked over, batting her eyelashes with a practiced innocence. “What’s the matter, dear.”
“Did you…”
“Have my own experimental phase back in high school?” Rarity asked.
Sunset nodded as she opened the spice cabinet, grabbing some cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and vanilla. She then reached over to Rarity’s station and nabbed her brown and confectionary sugars.
Rarity smirked and drew forth her rubber spatula, pointing it at Sunset. “You weren’t the only rebel back in school, darling. Plus, I was selling designs, even back then. So, I was a stupid teenager with too much money and not enough fun. Plus, Rainbow vouched for the gentleman selling it. So, I felt pretty safe with my decision.”
“Wait.” Sunset cocked a brow. “Rainbow…”
Rarity shook her head. “She’s as straight as an arrow. I don’t think she even had her first drink until graduation.”
Before Sunset replied, she mixed together her ingredients in the bowl, creating a brown creamy lump of batter. She then placed this atop some plastic wrap and began rolling it into a log.
“Are any of the other girls…” Sunset began.
Rarity shrugged. “Probably not. Believe it or not but there are a few secrets kept, even from a gossip like myself. But… Applejack is pretty straight and narrow, Pinkie… maybe but never with me, Fluttershy is exclusively weed, and Twilight… well I’m actually thinking Adderall with her. But like Adderall in the suburban way.”
“Suburban way?” Sunset asked, finally rolling her batter into a log.
Rarity nodded. “Got a prescription for it and it’s all very official. You know, a classy substance abuser.”
She then looked over at Sunset and poker faced. Though this promptly faltered as she burst out laughing.
“What?” Sunset asked, glancing at her batter.
“It looks like…” Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, no offense to your culinary skills, but it kind of looks like a piece of shit, dear.”
Sunset glanced at it, and upon getting a good look at it, had to agree.
She pursed her lips before nodding slowly. “Yeah, it kind of does, doesn’t it?”
“Please tell me that the end product is a bit more appetizing,” Rarity said.
Sunset made her way over to their cupboard, pulling out a pair of coffee mugs. “Well do you want to find out?”
Rarity glanced at the clock on the stove.
Three in the afternoon.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Sunset chanted, shaking the mugs back and forth while bearing a shit eating grin.
Rarity snorted. “Fair enough. I suppose a lady does deserve to indulge every once in a while.”
“Fuck,” Rainbow whispered, looking down at her steaming mug. “This is some really good shit, Sunset.”
Sunset smirked as she took a sip from her own mug of hot buttered rum. “Yeah, it is.”
She looked over from the kitchen nook, seeing all of her friends gathering around and mingling. Rarity was chatting with Applejack and Twilight. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were playing with Spike. And Rainbow was currently keeping her company.
Rarity turned and glanced at her. The two of them shared a look, and with it, a silent conversation that only an intimate relationship could allow for.
“Told you, you’d want this, darling.”
“Yeah, yeah, you were right.”
Sunset may have been prideful but she also knew when to admit that she was wrong. Having all her friends together, eating really unhealthy snacks, sipping hot booze, and listening to stupid Hearth’s Warming songs. It filled a very special place in Sunset’s heart that had been sorely missing this kind of thing.
“Thanks for hosting this,” Fluttershy said, looking at Rarity.
Pinkie beamed. “Yeah, we’ve never done a gift exchange before Hearth’s Warming before. It’s wayyyy better. This way we still have decorations up and get to drink eggnog and stuff.” They took a sip from their glass and sighed. “My lactose intolerance is going to love me.”
Rainbow snorted. “Hey I’ll have you know that you can have Hearth’s Warming decorations whenever you want if you visit my place.”
“That’s because y’all never take them down,” Applejack murmured.
“Why take them down if you’re just going to put them up again next year?” Rainbow asked, shrugging. She then looked at Sunset and winked at her as she tapped a finger against her temple. “Work smarter, not harder, right?”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Uh huh.”
“So why are we doing it before Hearth’s Warming?” Twilight asked. “I thought we originally planned to do it afterwards?”
“Because Sunset has never had a proper Hearth’s Warming before. So, I decided that she should have two this year,” Rarity explained.
All of the girls suddenly paused and glanced at each other. They shared a look that was one-part confusion and another introspection, wondering just how true that statement was. In the end it came off as pitying and Sunset hated pitying.
So, she took this as a chance to slip into the kitchen and help herself to another of Pinkie’s Non-Binary Gingerbread Pals.
“I thought you had her over back in High School?” Applejack asked.
“Nuh uh,” Pinkie said. “Mom said that Sunset wasn’t allowed within fifty metres of Limestone after what she did back in…”
Rarity loudly cleared her throat.
“I swear I thought you had her over, Applejack,” Fluttershy whispered.
Sunset sighed and opened up the liquor cabinet, deciding that her hot buttered rum could really be improved with an additional shot. Though as the chatter continued, and she felt her hackles raise, she decided that two would be so much better.
This is what the holidays were meant for, right? Were you even doing it right if you weren’t black out drunk by seven?
“Girls,” she called as she stepped out of the kitchen nook with her reinforced beverage. “It’s fine. I didn’t really expect any of you to have me over for the holidays. It’s something meant to be had with your family and well…” She shrugged. “I’m not any of your family. I’m, perfectly fine with how things turned out” She forced her smile. “See? No hurt feelings!”
All of the girls seemed unsure as they exchanged looks until finally Rarity cleared her throat.
“Of course, hun.” She then surveyed the room “So anyways, what has everyone been up to lately?”
A safe topic but thankfully one that seemed to move the conversation onto a more productive course.
“One of my professors wants me to tutor under him for my undergrad thesis,” Twilight said. “Which is very exciting, considering that I’m only a second year.”
Rainbow snorted. “Probably going to bomb first year calculus.”
Twilight leaned towards her and furrowed her brow. “I told you that I’d help tutor you, babe.”
“What can I say…” Rainbow shrugged. “I had other things on my mind.”
“Same old, same old,” Applejack explained.
Pinkie nodded in agreement. “Baking school is a blast though everything they’re teaching us is stuff I already know.”
“Got to jump through hoops to get that fancy piece of paper,” Sunset teased.
“Camgirling,” Fluttershy whispered.
The room’s attention now snapped to her.
“What?” Fluttershy shrugged. “It’s good money and it’s really helping with building my confidence.” She took a sip of her wine. “Making five-hundred dollars by calling some Boomer a bunch of rude things is a very cathartic experience. Makes you realize that nature is healing.”
“I’d imagine,” Rarity said before shaking her head. “And my boutique is doing quite well for itself. Looks like I’m about to have my first celebrity client. Sure, they’re a C-lister, but sometimes those C-listers can meet B-listers, who in turn meet A-listers.” She sighed fondly. “And then the next thing you know, one of my designs is on the Red Carpet.”
“Babe,” Sunset chided. “Small and reasonable goals, remember?”
Rarity snorted. “Fine, fine. One of my dresses will be at Sundance. Does that sound a bit more reasonable?”
Sunset cocked a brow but decided that it was probably best not to press this specific topic.
“Hey we should open presents,” Rainbow interjected.
“In due time,” Rarity replied, giving her gin and soda a delicate sip. “No need to hurry things needlessly.”
“I’d be game for opening presents,” Applejack drawled.
Pinkie grinned. “Me too.”
“Well…” Rarity placed down her drink and looked at Rainbow. “If everyone else agrees, then I suppose we can open them now.”
“Hell yeah,” Rainbow said, grinning.
Together the group stepped, slid, and scotched over to the tree. Underneath was a sparse collection of presents, seven in total. They ranged in size from somewhat large to pretty small and personal. Some were neatly wrapped, some not so much so, and one was lazily put in a gift bag.
“Since you were so zealous, Rainbow, I suppose you can go first,” Rarity said as she grabbed a very neatly wrapped box with an elegant ribbon on top.
Rainbow took it and gave it a shake. She then grinned nice and wide. “Sweet it’s not breakable.”
She then tore through the paper without a care for litter and carnage, creating a haphazard pile of scraps around herself. Underneath it all was a shoebox.
Rainbow opened it and her eyes immediately lit up. She carefully pulled out the shoes, looking out upon the sea of quizzical and curious faces.
“Those uh…” Applejack bit her lip. “Those sure are a pair of shoes.”
Rarity nodded. “I hope they’re to your liking.”
“These are awesome, Rarity,” Rainbow whispered. “I didn’t even know that there were any pairs left in the city.”
“There are always pairs available when you work in the industry.” She smirked. “Mr. Fancy Pants is a regular of mine and he owns a couple of the warehouses used by Nike. He was also able to get me a discount so...” She held out an envelope. “I got you something a little extra.”
Now this caught Sunset’s attention. This gift hadn’t been shown to her ahead of time.
Rainbow carefully took the envelope before cracking it open. Inside was a playing card of some sort that was protected by a plastic sleeve.
“Holy shit,” Rainbow whispered before holding up her booty for the rest of the room to see.
It was the playing card for some sort of sports player. Though Sunset had no idea who. And if the other curious faces were any indication, neither did anybody else.
“Is this a Wind Rider card?” Rainbow asked, clearly already knowing the answer. “These are like super rare.”
Rarity nodded, looking quite pleased with herself for the discovery. “Yes, sadly not from his 1993 season but I thought you’d be pleased with any variant.”
“Thank you so much,” Rainbow said, grinning like an idiot as she gave the card another look.
Sunset pouted out her lip, slightly jealous that her girlfriend was so good at giving gifts. Though she supposed there must’ve been some connection between her and her Equestrian counterpart.
Rainbow continued to inspect the card closely before ever so carefully placing it within the shoebox. She then placed them both upon the coffee table. There was a look of pure wonderment in her gaze. It reminded Sunset of when she was a filly and actually still celebrated this holiday with any sincerity.
No, no, bad thoughts. Now is not the time to feel sentimental, Shimmer.
Finally, Rainbow seemed to stir, reaching under the tree and grabbing the gift bag.
“For Applejack,” she said.
Rainbow handed it to her friend, who very carefully took the bag.
“Got a good amount of weight to it,” Applejack commented. She then turned it to the side. “A bottle with liquid in it.”
Applejack popped open the tape and reached inside, pulling out paper. Finally, after a little of work, she made a happy little noise as she retrieved a bottle containing some kind of bourbon, rye, or whiskey.
“Appleton Estates, apple bourbon,” she read, letting out a low whistle. “Definitely going to have to try this out.” She smirked and gave Rainbow a small salute with the bottle. “Thanks for that, sugar cube.”
Rainbow shrugged, though seemed incredibly pleased with herself. “Liquor is always a safe bet.”
Applejack nodded and carefully placed the bottle down. She then reached under the tree and grabbed one of the smaller boxes.
“For Fluttershy,” she said, holding out the box to her. Though as Fluttershy reached for it, Applejack held it back. “Just uh… don’t shake this one.”
Fluttershy nodded and grabbed the box. With great care, she unwrapped it, making sure to save the paper for a later date.
As Sunset watched her, she felt a strange warmth in her stomach.
Probably just the rum.
…
It was very much not the rum.
It was an emotion. Something between euphoria and familiarity. Like a fuzzy sweater that was fresh from the dryer. It was enough to get her to re-examine what was going on here.
A bunch of people close to her, unwrapping presents, sitting in front of a tree. The smell of nutmeg and cinnamon that seemed almost omnipresent.
There was a memory. An old one; triggered by all of these things. It was enough to make Sunset smile.
Was this… Was this…
“Oh, thank you Applejack,” Fluttershy said. “I’ve been meaning to get a new one.”
Sunset snapped back to the moment, seeing that Fluttershy was holding a green-coloured glass pipe.
“Thought you could always use a backup,” Applejack said, shrugging. “But there’s more inside.”
Fluttershy cocked a brow and pulled back another layer of wrapping paper. Underneath was a Ziplock bag that was full of a familiar green plant matter.
Applejack smirked. “With the way things have been going law wise, I convinced Big Mac to set aside a couple plots of land for uh… diversifying our business.” She motioned towards it. “So, enjoy the first ever batch of Sweet Apple Special.”
Fluttershy grinned. “I think I will.”
She then placed everything back in the box, gently closing it and putting it on the table.
“I’ll have to try it out tonight,” she said before reaching under the tree and grabbing the biggest gift of them all. “For you, Sunset.”
Sunset looked at it and let out a low-whistle. “It’s big.”
Fluttershy nodded.
Sunset took it from her, and like Rainbow Dash, showed no restraint as she tore through the wrapping paper. When it was out of the way, she found a clothing box underneath. She didn’t recognize the brand name but the green text and leaf in their design probably meant they were fair trade or vegan or something like that.
She looked at Fluttershy who simply motioned for her to open it.
So, she did.
Inside was a leather jacket, much like the one she had worn back in high school. It looked awesome, bringing back so many memories. Some of them happy, some of them not so much. Though thankfully, the happy ones were far more numerous.
She touched the material. It felt strange. Vaguely like leather, though not quite like it.
“It’s vegan leather,” Fluttershy explained. “The company I got it from specializes in that kind of stuff.”
“Vegan leather?” Applejack asked. “Didn’t even know that kind of material even existed.”
“The wonders of modern science,” Twilight interjected.
Rarity nodded. “Though it is so dreadfully difficult to source.”
Sunset cleared her throat, trying her best to blink away the tears that were building up in her eyes.
“Thanks, Fluttershy,” she whispered. “This is a really awesome gift and… it means a lot to have her back.”
Instead of placing it on the table, with the other gifts, Sunset carefully pushed an arm through one of the sleeves. It was a familiar sensation and one she enjoyed immensely. Her other arm went in the other hole and, just like that, she was wearing her jacket once again.
It felt fantastic.
“How do I look?” she asked, looking at Rarity.
Rarity smirked. “Like the dashing rogue who I fell in love with. It gives me some ideas for what we should do tonight.” She then bit her lip and fluttered her lashes, allowing a dangerous tone to enter her voice. “Once we have a bit more privacy.”
“Alright you two,” Applejack droned.
Pinkie smirked. “Yeah, at least have the courteous to let us join in if you two are planning to go at it.”
“Maybe next week,” Sunset whispered before clearing her throat and feeling her voice return to her.
Okay, she may have been willing to admit that this was way better than just watching Netflix and eating breakfast cereal. It was… it was nice to be with her family.
That’s what they were, right?
Her family.
This made her pause as her mind started to go through some mental gymnastics.
Just a family that had a lot of casual sex and liked to drink and do drugs together.
So, like… a Kansas family!
“Who did you get, Sunset?” Rarity asked.
Sunset snapped out of her spell before reaching under the tree and grabbing the pile of gifts that were very obviously books.
“Twilight,” she said.
Twilight smirked knowingly and grabbed them from her, carefully cracking open the first one.
“I’m guessing books?” she teased.
Sunset smirked. “What can I say, you’re incredibly easy to buy for.”
Twilight nodded and finished opening the first one. It was a history book of some sort which talked about some medieval society that Sunset had never heard of. Some group called the Daevites. Clearly their history was brutal as there was plenty of weapons and blood on the cover.
She then placed it aside and opened the other ones with the same efficiency, unwrapping all sorts of incredibly dry topics. Until finally, she opened the last book. This one made her pause as the corner of her lips creased with intrigue.
“Thought I would give you something that you weren’t prepared for,” Sunset said, nodding to the book. “It’s the first of a seven-book series. It’s about this adventurer who is trying to pursue a man in black who messed with him in the past. It’s really creepy and kind of awesome. One of my favourite book series.”
“The Gunslinger,” Twilight read then nodded slowly. “Yeah, that sounds pretty cool. I’ll have to give it a try. Thank you very much.”
She placed the pile of books onto the coffee table before reaching under the tree and grabbing an oddly shaped gift that was wrapped in a very haphazard manner.
“Sorry, but this was kind of awkward to wrap,” she said, a slight red colouring her cheeks. “But it’s for you, Pinkie.”
Pinkie beamed and took it from her. They were about to vigorously shake it when Twilight held up a hand.
“You probably shouldn’t shake it,” Twilight said.
Pinkie bit their lip but managed to restrain themself. Instead, they very carefully opened it.
There was a pill-shaped container inside that was one half steel and the other half glass. Within the glass there was a faint purplish glow that seemed to come from mini-UV lights placed inside. They were giving life to some sort of flower within.
“Huh,” Pinkie murmured. “This is…”
Twilight motioned with her hand. “It’s a vanilla seedling. And with the modifications I put into its genome, it should be able to survive being an indoor plant, even in this climate. Also, if my models are correct then it should also be far more productive than any regular variant of the species found in...”
“So, I can get vanilla whenever I want?” Pinkie interrupted.
Twilight shook her head. “It’s not quite that productive but you should be able to get a decent amount of vanilla from it. Thought it might be…” She bit her lip, “practical.”
“Hey no fair!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Twilight is playing god again.”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “Well as long as she kept her godhood under two hundred dollars then I don’t see what the problem is.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement while Rainbow merely pouted.
Pinkie carefully placed the potted planet down, making sure to give the glass container a gentle little boop.
They then giggled loudly to themself. “I think I’ll call them, Van. Van the Vanilla bean.” They then leaned over and pulled Twilight into a hug. “Your gift is awesome, Twi!”
“Really it’s nothing,” Twilight whispered. “Most of the genome was on Monsanto’s mainframe when I hacked into it. Nothing major.”
Rainbow looked like she was about to say something but Applejack simply raised her hand, shushing her back up.
Pinkie drew away from Twilight and reached under the tree, grabbing the last of the presents. This was the smallest of the bunch, about the size of a jewelry box.
“I wonder what this could be?” Rarity teased.
Pinkie merely offered her a playful smile. “Well open it and find out, silly.”
Sunset pursed her lips, wondering what Pinkie could honestly be up to. She knew that look. It was a very dangerous look.
Rarity did so, carefully peeling back the wrapping paper. However, after she drew it back a single inch, the package exploded outwards, springing forth with surprising vigour.
She yelped loudly, jerking back as there was now a fully-sized dress in her arms. The gown was a lovely maroon and made from a silky material. Her jaw stood agape as she ran her finger along it. There wasn’t so much as a single crease imprinted upon the fabric.
“How?” Rarity whispered.
Pinkie smirked. “I know a guy, who knows a guy. Do you like it?”
“It’s very lovely, darling,” Rarity said, nodding slowly. “I have just the necklace that will go with this.” She then glanced at Sunset. “What do you think about it?”
Sunset smirked. “It looks good.” Her smirk then turned slightly perverse. “And I’ll enjoy taking it off of you when we go on our next date.”
Rainbow snickered and Twilight went beet red, while the other girls had a reaction ranging from one of those extremes to the other.
Rarity merely smiled back. “I think it’ll go quite well with that gift I bought for you.”
“And what’s that?” Sunset asked.
“Oh, you’ll just have to wait and find out,” Rarity said, a husky tone once more dripping from her voice.
This made Sunset extremely eager to find out.
There was a silence in the room which Applejack took the lead in breaking, loudly clearing her throat. “Alright you two, settle down. At least until us monogamous folks are clear of the area.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Rarity said. She kept her gaze on Sunset, however. “So how was that for your triumphant return to Hearth’s Warming.”
Better than I could’ve ever imagined.
Sunset shrugged. “It’s alright, I suppose.”
“It’s alright?” Rarity asked, cocking a brow. “You suppose?”
Sunset slid over and draped an arm over Rarity’s shoulder, holding her tight. “Well, it might be a little bit better than just alright.”
“Was it as good as if it were with your family?” Rarity asked.
Sunset frowned. “Honestly I have no idea. I…”
She looked out upon the room, seeing that the girls were all looking at her.
“I honestly don’t even really remember my family all that well,” Sunset explained, turning her gaze to her drink and running a finger along the rim of her glass. “They weren’t really in my life after I went to go tutor with Celestia. And Celestia was never really family either. I…” She chuckled. “I guess you six are the only family that I’ve ever really known.” She then nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess this is my first Hearth’s Warming with family in a sense. At least, the first I can honestly remember.”
“I think there’s a term for this,” Twilight said. “Chosen family?”
Fluttershy nodded.
Sunset smirked. “Well not quite chosen. More like destiny brought us together when you all zapped me with your giant laser or when…” She motioned to Twilight. “When you went evil and I had to bitch slap your hard reset button.”
“I mean, I don’t mind having six sisters,” Applejack said. “Well er… seven I guess… since you know Applebloom is still kind of my biological kin. But you get my point!”
Before Sunset could react, she found herself surrounded by the other girls. They hugged her tight, holding her close to them. It was enough to etch out a little note of surprise from her.
“I love you girls,” she whispered.
“We love you too,” they chimed in unison.
And they remained like that for a good long moment, just enjoying one another’s company. Until finally…
Rainbow cleared her throat. “So Fluttershy… tell us more about this camgirling thing you got going on.”
“Way to kill the mood,” Applejack drawling, letting out a heavy sigh.
“What?” Rainbow asked. “Can’t a girl be curious?”
Author's Note
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