Author's Note
My main inspiration for this story was that I was really cold during a night, and I decided to write a story about how the winter weather has its serious downsides. Enjoy. :)
A Hypothermic Holiday
It was that lovely time of year, which is the month of Heart's Warming. It was your favorite holiday out of all the Equestrian holidays. But, the downside is that the holiday took place during the winter, and you were not at all a fan of winter.
Heart's Warming was a few days away, and you were currently alone in the Castle of Friendship's library reading a book and it was pretty silent for the most part. That is, until the library doors immediately swung open, which startled you and caught you off guard. You looked at the entrance to see who came in, and it was the owner of this castle and the Princess of Friendship herself, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
"Gah! Heart's Warming is a few days away and I haven't made any preparations yet!" Twilight exclaimed as she entered the library. "I still have to hang up decorations, write Heart's Warming cards, buy presents for my friends and family, and..."
"Hey, Twilight." You greeted her.
Twilight then turned her attention to you with a friendly smile.
"Oh, hey, Anon." Twilight replied as she walked over to you.
"Typical holiday stress?" You asked her while chuckling
"Heh, pretty much." Twilight replied while also chuckling.
You've lived with Twilight for a while inside her castle and you know her quite a lot. You know that she's very anxious when it comes to planning and detail, so much so that she creates lists in order to keep everything organized. So, her anxiousness over holiday planning was no surprise to you.
"Yeah, I can definitely understand all the work and anxiousness that comes with making Heart's Warming plans be perfect." You said to Twilight.
"Eh, it's really no big deal." Twilight replied. "My Heart's Warming plans usually go pretty well every year, and my anxiousness that I'm expressing right now is more of an exaggeration."
"Well, exaggeration or no exaggeration, you look like you could use some help." You said as you closed your book and stood up on your feat. "Why don't you let me take care of the decorations and chores while you do your shopping."
"Um, I don't know, Anon." Twilight replied while thinking about your offer. "This castle is pretty huge for one person to do all the decorating, and I don't really think I've got any home chores to do."
"Well, no problem. I'll ask Spike and Starlight to help me." You said as you walked out of the library to go ask Spike and Starlight for help.
"But, Anon..." Twilight said as she still wasn't sure about your offer.
"No buts, Twilight." You replied as you were about to close the library doors. "If I'm going to live in this castle as my home, I have to do my part with looking after it like the rest of you."
You then closed the library doors behind you, leaving Twilight alone in the library. Twilight then chuckled as she went back to making holiday preparations.
"That Anon is so stubborn when it comes to doing favors for his friends." Twilight chuckled.
As Spike and Starlight agreed to help you with decorating the inside castle, the three of you were currently in the entrance hall putting up wreaths and other decorations.
You and Spike were setting up ornaments only walls and furniture while Starlight used her magic to levitate ornaments and hang them up above on the higher walls. The next decoration that Starlight was hanging up was a giant Heart's Warming wreath, and she did her best to set it in the middle of the high wall in front of the castle entrance.
"Hey, Spike, Anon?" Starlight called to you and Spike. "What do you both think of this position for the wreath?"
Both you and Spike walked over to the middle of the entrance hall to see the position where Starlight hang the wreath.
"That looks pretty good, Starlight." Spike said.
"I agree." You replied while walking forward a bit while standing underneath the giant wreath. "I like how you put it in the middle of this wall so that it has a very Heart's Warming feeling to those who enter the castle." You then turned around to give Starlight a thumbs up and a wide toothy smile. "Yep, Starlight! You have a good eye when it comes to hanging decorations!"
Suddenly, the next you knew, that giant wreath fell of the wall and then landed on you. While it didn't crush you, it still hurt, a lot.
You got out from under the wreath while giving Starlight a deadpan look.
"But, actually hanging decorations could use some work." You said to Starlight.
Starlight then blushed while rubbing the back of her head with her hoof in an embarrassed manner while Spike giggled at what he just witnessed.
"But, aside from the wreath, I think we did a pretty good job." You said with a friendly smile. You then walked over to Spike and Starlight and ruffled both of their heads, which made them both smile warmly. "Thank you, you two."
"You're welcome, Anon." Starlight replied while she enjoyed you ruffling her mane.
"Yeah, anytime, Anon." Spike replied while also enjoying his head being ruffled by you.
You then stopped ruffling their heads to look back at the wreath.
"But, the wreath is still the missing element." You said as you looked back up at the high wall where the wreath fell off.
"Why don't you let me and Spike take care of that." Starlight said to you.
"Huh?" You asked.
"Yeah! We'll hang up that wreath for you while you take it easy for the rest of the day." Spike said to you.
"Uh, I don't know." You replied with an uncertain expression.
"Come on, Anon! It's one wreath!" Starlight chuckled with a smirk. "And besides, you already do most of the chores around the castle everyday. Let me and Spike have some work to do for once."
"Yeah. You definitely deserve a break." Spike said with a friendly smile.
"Oh, come on, guys! Please let me help!" You whined to them.
Both Starlight and Spike looked at you with a serious look. From reading their expressions, you knew they weren't going to change their minds. So, you gave in.
"Okay, fine." You said while sounding very uncertain. You then walked away to let Starlight and Spike finish putting the wreath up. "Well, good luck, you two."
As you left the entrance hall to head somewhere else in the castle, both Spike and Starlight started to laugh.
"Usually anypony would be happy to take a break, but he seems rather miserable and looks like he wants to work some more." Starlight giggled.
"Yeah. Anon is such a stubborn guy." Spike chuckled.
Both Spike and Starlight laughed upon agreement of your stubborn ways when it comes to helping your friends.
"Yeah, he really is." Starlight replied while still giggling. "One of these days, he needs to get that stubbornness of his under control. It's eventually going to be a disservice to him."
"No kidding." Spike chuckled again.
As you walked through the castle halls figuring out what to do, all that was going into your head were things in the castle that weren't taken care of yet.
"I know Spike and Starlight told me to take a break, but surely there must be something else that needs to be taken care of." You said to yourself. "But, what could it be?"
While you continued to stubbornly find a chore to do, a sudden realization hit your head when you thought back to the decorating around the castle, which was a decoration that you guys forgot to buy.
"Oh, no!" You shouted in a panic. "We forgot the candy canes!"
As this realization immediately came to you, you ran to your room to get dressed so you could head straight for Sugarcube Corner to buy candy canes.
You put on a sweater and pair of boots, and you then exited your room and ran back to the entrance hall where Starlight and Spike were still trying to hang the wreath.
"What's wrong, Anon?" Spike asked you.
"I forgot the candy canes! I'll be right back!" You replied very quickly as you exited the castle through the entrance hall doors.
Both Starlight and Spike stared at the entrance doors with awkward expressions while also looking at each other with the same expressions. They both then shrugged and went back to hanging the wreath.
As you headed outside and tried to get to Sugarcube Corner as fast as you can, the very cold weather instantly hit you hard which caused you to instantly shiver.
"Man, I probably should have dressed heavier for this weather." You said as you shivered while still running to Sugarcube Corner. "But, it shouldn't take too long to get those candy canes. I mean, how many ponies could be at Sugarcube Corner today?"
As you approached Sugarcube Corner, you were just about to enter the shop until somepony got your attention.
"Excuse me, sir?" A female pony said to you.
"Huh?" You answered the pony.
You turned around to see that the female pony had a light blue coat and a dark blue and white colored mane, and her cutie mark was an hourglass. She then pointed her hoof to all the ponies behind her. You then looked past her and noticed that there was a line behind her.
"Sorry, but you have to wait in line like the rest of us." The female pony said to you.
"A line?" You asked while looking very confused. "Since when does Sugarcube Corner have lines?"
"Since this morning." The female responded with excitement. "A new candy cane flavor arrived here this morning, and many of us here want to try that new flavor so badly."
"A new candy cane flavor?" You asked.
"Yeah!" The female pony said while pounding her hooves with excitement. "It's called the Celestial Lunar candy cane."
"And I take it that flavor is based on Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" You asked again.
"You bet!" The female pony replied. "I hear that the flavor starts off as an extra spicy peppermint flavor that represents the hot sun, and it then cools down with a chilling rich blueberry flavor that represents the cold moon."
As the female pony told you about the new candy cane flavor, another female pony came out of the shop with a box of candy canes that said "Celestial Lunar" on them.
"Yay! It's my turn!" The female pony said as she zipped into the Sugarcube Corner.
You let out a deep sigh as you walked to the end of the line to get in it. You looked at the direction of where you just came from and considered getting the candy canes another day, but you told Spike and Starlight you would get them and you're not someone who goes back on a task you said you were going to do. So, you chose to wait in line and get the candy canes now.
As you waited in the long line, you were shivering even more as it was really cold outside, and you didn't exactly dress heavy enough to fight off the cold. As you watched the line while waiting for it to move, one thing crossed your mind that sums up your mood right now.
"I hate winter." You said in your head with a look of sadness on your face.
As forty-five minutes have passed, you were now finally the next person to get your candy canes. After all that intense cold waiting that made you shiver and make your teeth chatter, you were very glad to finally get the candy canes and immediately get home to warm yourself by the fire.
As you entered the shop, you approached the counter where Pinkie Pie was sitting with boxes of candy canes beside her. She then greeted you with a friendly smile.
"Hi, Anon!" Pinkie said while waving to you. "How is my happy dappy human friend doing today?"
"I-I'm j-just p-peachy, P-Pinkie." You said while shivering.
"Wonderful!" Pinkie replied with a toothy smile. "So, are you here for that new popular candy cane flavor?"
"Uh, y-yes." You replied.
"Okay." Pinkie replied as she lifted a huge box of Celestial Lunar candy canes and sat them on the table. "I had Mrs. Cake make sure that we save enough of these new candy canes for my friends to try."
R-really? Th-thank you." You replied.
"You're welcome!" Pinkie said with her usual wide toothy smile.
You paid for the candy canes and then left the shop to go straight back home.
"W-well, th-that took l-longer than I e-expected, b-but at least th-that's out of th-the way." You said as you were shivering even more. "I h-hope the o-others will enjoy this n-new candy c-cane flavor." You then chuckled as you said that comment. "What am I s-saying? Of c-course they'll l-love it. A-anything b-based on the p-princesses has t-to be g-good."
As you continued to walk back to the Castle of Friendship, you were still feeling very cold and your shivering was getting more frequent. Suddenly, as you were only a couple of minutes away from the castle, you started to feel kind of funny.
"H-hey. Why a-am I f-feeling so s-sluggish?" You asked yourself while shivering very rapidly.
What you were feeling right now was as if you were running out of energy. But, you got really good sleep last night and had a good breakfast. So, you should have plenty of energy today.
As you tried to ignore the sluggish feeling you were experiencing, you then suddenly let out a huge yawn. And if that weren't enough, your eyelids started to feel heavy.
"Wh-why am I f-feeling so s-sleepy, too?" You asked yourself again.
As the Castle of Friendship was now in your sight, you were almost home to relax from quite a day. You were very relieved about seeing the castle at first, but this tired feeling you were getting was very puzzling, and with every passing footstep you took, the stronger that tired feeling got. And unfortunately, it didn't stop there. Because the next thing you knew, you started to breathe rapidly. At this point, you started to get very worried.
"Wh-what is g-going on h-here?" You asked yourself in a more worried tone while still shivering and breathing rapidly.
Meanwhile inside the castle, Starlight and Spike had finished hanging the wreath up.
"Finally!" Spike said with relief. "That wreath is finally hung up! I don't how in Equestria this took so long."
"Maybe it had to do with the fact that someone set a bunch of wreaths on fire and we had to replace each one." Starlight replied while raising a curious eyebrow at Spike.
"Heh. I should have listened to Twilight about those spicy chili peppers that I wanted to try." Spike chuckled while blushing.
Starlight then rolled her eyes while smiling amusingly from Spike's hot pepper consumption. She then stopped smiling and looked back at the entrance doors.
"Anon sure has been gone a while. I hope he's alright." Starlight said while looking kind of worried.
"I'm sure he's okay." Spike replied. "Sure, he's been gone for longer than we expected, but I'm sure he's still fine."
"I really want to believe that he's okay, but a part of me has doubt about that." Starlight said while still being worried.
"Why's that?" Spike asked.
"Well, he didn't really seem that well dressed for the winter weather when we saw him leave." Starlight replied. "I mean, Twilight told me the other day that humans don't exactly have a hair coat like ponies do. All they have is bare skin. In other words, Anon is a lot more vulnerable to the freezing temperatures than we are."
"So, you mean that humans with limited clothing should not be out in the cold for too long?" Spike asked.
"That's right." Starlight replied with a nod.
Spike then looked back at the entrance doors while still not looking as concerned about you as Starlight. He then looked back at Starlight again while giving her a casual smile.
"Like I said, I'm sure he's okay." Spike said while still not seeming as concerned as Starlight. "He's only a little late, and the only place he said he was going to was Sugarcube Corner. So, it shouldn't take him too long to..."
Suddenly, Spike and Starlight heard a loud thud coming from outside the castle entrance, which shook them both in surprise.
"What was that?" Spike asked.
"I'm not sure." Starlight replied in confusion.
Spike and Starlight then both dashed over to the entrance doors and then opened them to look outside at what made that noise. As they opened the doors, what they were looking at was you laying down on the castle steps on your face while still holding the candy canes in your arms.
As you heard the doors open, you used all of your strength to look up at your two friends who were looking at you with worried expressions. You then smiled at them while looking very sleepy and cold.
"H-hey, g-guys, I g-got the c-candy canes." You said to Starlight and Spike while still shivering. "And th-they're a new f-flavor, too." Your eyelids started to get even more heavy that they immediately shut and you started to feel like you were losing your balance. "S-so, what do y-you say we g-go inside and h-hang up these..." You tried to form your sentence, but you at this point did not have any strength left to say it. As you used up your last bit of strength, you then suddenly passed out and fell back onto the steps while doing so.
"Anon!" Starlight and Spike both shouted in unison.
Spike dashed over to your side while nudging your shoulder to try and wake you up.
"Anon! Anon! Wake up!" Spike shouted at you.
"Spike, don't move him!" Starlight order Spike in a worried tone. Starlight then used her horn to wrap you in her turquoise colored magical aura to levitate you without moving any part of your body around. "You grab the candy canes while I set him down inside!"
"Right!" Spike replied to Starlight's order.
Spike picked up the box of candy canes and dashed inside the castle while Starlight carefully walked inside while levitating you with her magic. As Starlight slowly set you down on the castle floor, Spike put the box of candy canes down to shut the entrance doors. As you were now laying down on the floor still unconscious, Starlight and Spike looked at you with very worried expressions.
"It's a good thing he's still breathing." Spike said.
"Yeah, but this still might be very serious, Spike." Starlight replied.
"What do you mean?" Spike asked.
Starlight then pointed her hoof at you.
"Look at him. He's seriously shivering." Starlight said while pointing her hoof at you.
Even though you were unconscious in a deep slumber, you were still shivering a lot from the winter weather.
"It's just like what I was worried about. He didn't dress appropriately for the cold weather and he was outside for too long." Starlight said as she watched you shiver. She then turned back to Spike. "Spike, please go grab me a thermometer."
"Okay." Spike replied as he went to get Starlight a thermometer as quick as he could. Thirty seconds later, he came back with a thermometer and handed it to Starlight. "Here you go."
"Thank you." Starlight thanked Spike. Starlight then used her magic to levitate the thermometer and placed it into your mouth under your tongue. After a couple of seconds, the thermometer made a beeping sound as it detected your current temperature. Starlight then used her magic to pull the thermometer out of your mouth to see what your temperature was. And upon looking at your temperature, he eyes went wide and her expression went from worried to horrified.
"I was afraid of this." Starlight said in an even more worried tone.
"What? What's his temperature?" Spike asked.
Starlight showed the thermometer to Spike.
"His temperature is 92 degrees." Starlight replied.
"92 degrees? Is that bad?" Spike asked.
"Yes, Spike. It's very bad." Starlight replied as she was at her most worried state. "Anon has hypothermia."
"Hypothermia? What's that?" Spike asked while starting to get just as worried as Starlight.
"It's when somepony's body temperature gets lower than it's supposed to be due to too much exposure to intense winter temperature, as well as lack of protection from it." Starlight replied. "And considering that heat is necessary for a body to function, hypothermia can be deadly."
"WHAT?!" Spike screamed in an anxious manner. "YOU MEAN ANON'S GOING TO DIE?!"
"No, no, no!" Starlight replied in a assuring tone. "Anon's hypothermia is only mild. We're actually pretty lucky that his temperature didn't drop below 90 degrees."
Spike let out a deep relieved sigh in response that your condition is not too serious.
"But still, hypothermia is still hypothermia, and Anon's body temperature should not be below 98.6 degrees." Starlight said as she looked back at you as you were still shivering.
"So, what do we do now?" Spike asked you.
"What we're going to do is help restore Anon's body temperature." Starlight replied with determination.
"Okay!" Spike said while sounding just as determine as Starlight. "Then I'll go start a fire in the fireplace for Anon."
"No! No fire!" Starlight shouted in a serious tone.
"Why not?" Spike asked.
"Anon is unconscious and parts of his body might be numb!" Starlight replied. "If we set him near a huge fire, the heat might burn him and his body wouldn't be able to sense it!"
"Okay, so what do we do instead?" Spike asked again.
"We're going to take him to his room, cover him from head to toe with warm clothing, and then put him to bed while making sure he's covered with plenty of blankets." Starlight replied.
"Okay." Spike said with a nod.
Starlight and Spike headed to your room while Starlight carried you carefully with her magic. As they entered your room, Starlight carefully removed your wet clothes from your body and replaced them with warm clothes such as thermals, sweat pants, a sweater, a nightcap, and a pair of socks along with a pair of slippers.
After fully dressing you with those warms clothes, Starlight placed you into your bed while making your body was completely covered with plenty of blankets.
"There. That should do it." Starlight said proudly.
As Spike and Starlight watched you as the warmness of the clothing and blankets did its part to help restore your body temperature while you slept, Spike started to get worried again to the point where he started to get very sad. Starlight noticed and placed her hoof on Spike's shoulder while giving him a reassuring smile.
"He'll be okay, Spike." Starlight said to Spike. "As long as he has friends like us to keep him safe and healthy, he'll get through it all okay."
"I really hope you're right." Spike replied while still looking worried.
Starlight then pulled Spike into a hug to help comfort him of the worry he was having from your condition. Spike and Starlight then both separated and Starlight then used her magic to pick up the thermometer again to check your temperature. Starlight placed the thermometer back into your mouth and waited until it beeped again, and she then pulled it to see what your current temperature was.
"Okay, his current temperature is 94 degrees." Starlight said to Spike. "It went up a bit, but his temperature is still low enough for his hypothermia to be in effect."
"Aw, man! I was hoping it would be restored by now!" Spike cried.
"Give it time, Spike." Starlight replied. "It's a lot more difficult for a human to fight than a pony since he has no hair coat and just bare skin."
"Uh, huh." Spike said while nodding. Suddenly, an idea popped into Spike's head. "Wait a minute! Starlight, I know how we can get Anon even more warm!"
"How?" Starlight asked Spike while raising a curious eyebrow.
"Well, it's just like you said. Humans don't have haircoats like ponies do. Just bare skin." Spike explained to Starlight. "But, what if a pony were to share their haircoat with a human?"
"Huh?" Starlight asked again while sounding confused. "What are you getting at, Spike?"
Spike then smiled and looked back at you. Starlight followed Spike's eye while trying to figure out what Spike was suggesting. Starlight then looked back at Spike again and tried to read his expression to figure out his idea. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, Starlight put two and two together and managed to figure out what Spike was suggesting. After figuring it out, Starlight started to blush a bit.
"Uh... I don't know, Spike." Starlight said. "What if he takes it the wrong way and..."
"Don't worry about it, Starlight. Anon won't see it that way." Spike replied with a friendly smile. "He once told me that he sort of sees the ponies around him the same way Twilight's friends see their pets. So, I think he won't have a problem with that."
"Wait. He thinks of a pony as a pet?" Starlight asked while sounding a bit creeped out. "Well, that's kind of messed up."
"You know what I mean." Spike responded while folding his arms with an impassive look.
Starlight then looked back at you again while still blushing. Regardless of her bashfulness, she wasn't against Spike's idea, she just didn't know how you would react to it. But, considering that you needed to be warmed up immediately, she knew that what your reaction would be was not important right now. So, Starlight had to go with Spike's idea.
Without a slightest bit of hesitation, Starlight used her magic to lift the blankets off of you, and she then climbed up onto the bed and put the covers back down over the both of you. She then scooted over to your left side where you had your face and chest turned towards, and she then wrapped her hooves around you to pull herself towards you into a cuddle. And to make sure that her haircoat was keeping you warm, she carefully used her magic to slowly move your arms around her to make you return the cuddle.
From the looks of the smile that Spike still had on his face, this was indeed what his idea was. Starlight would cuddle you to warm you up, all the while also using her haircoat too. And based on the pleasant reaction that you were having from this, it was working and your shivering noticeably seemed to have lessened a bit.
As you cuddled with Starlight in your sleep, she started to sniffle and her eyes started to water. Spike of course noticed and got worried.
"What's wrong, Starlight?" Spike asked.
"Spike..." Starlight replied as a warm smile appeared on Starlight's face. "I feel like I'm in heaven."
"Huh?" Spike asked again.
"This is the first time I've ever gotten affection from a human, and it feels so good." Starlight said as she nuzzled into your chest.
"It does?" Spike asked while raising a curious eyebrow.
"Totally." Starlight replied. She then used her horn to magically levitate Spike. "Come and see for yourself."
Starlight used her magic to pull Spike over to you and her and tucked him under the covers while squeezing him in between you and Starlight. Starlight kept her hooves wrapped around you while she also embraced Spike to make him join in on the cuddle. And just like Starlight, Spike's eyes watered and he smiled warmly while nuzzling into you.
"Wow, Starlight. You weren't kidding." Spike said while sniffling.
"Told ya." Starlight replied as she kept her embrace over you and Spike intact. Starlight then wanted to see the effect this cuddling was having on your temperature, so she used her magic to levitate the thermometer back into your mouth. After a couple of seconds, the thermometer beeped and then Starlight read your temperature.
"His current temperature is 96 degrees." Starlight said in a relieved voice.
"Still have a bit to go, huh?" Spike asked.
"Yep." Starlight replied. Suddenly, her eyes started to feel heavy like she was started to get sleepy, which was then followed by a yawn.
"Getting drowsy?" Spike asked.
"Yep." Starlight replied.
"Me, too." Spike said as he too let out a yawn.
"Well, I don't think we have anything else to do today." Starlight said as she shut her eyes while laying her head down on of the pillows.
"No, I don't think we do." Spike replied as he moved up a bit to rest his head onto the pillows while being at Starlight's eye level.
"Well, then I think we both know the perfect thing we should do for the rest of the day." Starlight said while giving Spike a smile while still having her eyes shut.
"Yeah. And Anon gets to be in on that with us." Spike agreed as he then shut his eyes, too.
"Yes, he does." Starlight replied happily.
What they both meant was that they were going to hit the hay while cuddling you to keep you warm, and it seems like they really love this cuddle so much that they don't want it to end either.
"Good night, Starlight." Spike said as he drifted off into sleep.
"Good night, Spike." Starlight replied as she too drifted off into sleep.
And just like that, your two friends were and they continued to cuddle you just like they want to. Even though you were still asleep, you could feel the amount of warm intimacy you were getting from this, which caused a smile to appear on your face.
As the three of you slept together in a cuddle, there was a voice that the three of you couldn't hear that was outside your room.
"Spike? Starlight? Anon? Where are you guys?" Twilight called out to you three as she walked down the hallway. "Hmmmm. I haven't checked Anon's room yet. Maybe they're in there." Twilight then used her magic to open your bedroom door to see if you three were in your room. And sure enough, she was right. As she looked into your room, the first thing she saw was the three of you cuddling with each other in your bad. Upon seeing you three cuddling, a warm smile appeared on her face.
"Awwww! That's so wholesome!" Twilight said as she adored the cuteness that the three of you were giving off. She then stepped out of the bedroom to go back into the hallway. "I better not disturb them." Twilight then shut your door to leave you three alone.
As Twilight walked to the entrance hall as she was going to get her shopping done after thinking about what gifts to buy for her friends and family, she noticed something near the entrance doors that made her very excited.
"No way! Are those the brand new Celestial Lunar Candy Canes?!" Twilight cried with excitement as she galloped over to the box of candy canes while looking very excited
After a couple of hours of snuggling with your two friends who treated your hypothermia, you woke up feeling well rested and having plenty of energy.
"Huh? I'm in my bedroom. How did I get here?" You asked yourself while yawning and stretching stretching your arms. As you were curious about what happened and why you were in your bedroom, you thought back to the previous events earlier today. "Let's see: I remember getting candy canes from Sugarcube Corner since we forgot them, and I also remember lying on the castle steps while looking at Starlight and Spike. And during that time, I was freezing so much and I was getting so weak that I felt like passing out, and that must have want happened to me and Starlight and Spike must have carried me to my room." You then smiled upon that assumption. "Well, I'll sure to thank them the next time I see..." Suddenly, you heard snoring on the left of you, and you then looked to see that Starlight was sleeping in your bed. "Starlight? What's she doing in here?" You then shrugged and gave it your best educated guess. "Maybe she got tired and didn't feel like walking back to her room after carrying me to mine."
Of course, you didn't mind at all that Starlight was sleeping in your bed, especially since she looked pretty cute in her sleep.
"Man, what a cute pony." You said with a warm smile as you petted her head and mane. "It's hard to believe that someone as peaceful as her used to be so evil."
As you petted her, you suddenly had this urge inside of you to cuddle her. You seemed a bit resistant about it at first, but she seems like she's in a deep sleep that you wouldn't disturb her. So, you wrapped your arms around Starlight and pulled her into a cuddle.
"Wow. She's so warm." You said with amazement at how warm and cozy Starlight felt.
Starlight may still be asleep, but you could tell that she felt you cuddling her since she stopped snoring and was sighing happily upon you hugging her.
Suddenly, you smacked your lips as you were starting to get a little thirsty. So, you stopped cuddling Starlight for a second to go get a drink of water. As you got out of bed to leave your room for a few minutes, you looked back at Starlight who was still asleep on your bed, and she looked so cute and peaceful that it made you resist of taking your sight off of her. So, you decided to get a drink of water while carrying her in your arms so that you could keep your sight on her adorable state.
You scooped Starlight into your arms and carried her out of your bedroom. As you entered the hallway, you were surprised to see both Twilight and Spike standing in the middle of the hallway in front of your bedroom door, and they were looking at you with worried expressions.
"Oh! Uh, hey, you two." You greeted Twilight and Spike while being surprised by them standing outside your bedroom. "What's going on?"
Suddenly, Starlight slowly began to wake up as you accidentally woke her from being surprised. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and let out a yawn, and she then opened her eyes.
"Huh? Wha?" Starlight muttered as she regained her awareness from waking up. She then looks up at you as you look down at her. Her eyes then widen as she noticed that you were awake. "Anon! You're awake!"
"Um, yeah. Why would I be?" You asked her.
Starlight then moved out of your arms and landed on the floor on her hooves, and she then got the thermometer on your nightstand with her magical levitation and stuck it in your mouth, much to your confusion. After a couple of seconds, the thermometer beeped and Starlight used her magic to pull it out and read your temperature. As she looked at the thermometer, her face instantly became an expression of joy and relief.
"Anon! Your temperature's back at 98.6! Your hypothermia is gone!" Starlight cried with joy.
"My hypothermia?" You asked. Suddenly, you had an expression of realization on your face. "That explains why I got so weak after I went to get those candy canes."
"So, looks like my deduction was correct." Twilight spoke up while giving you a deadpan look.
"Huh?" Starlight replied as she turned around to see that Twilight and Spike were in front of you two, and she was surprised to see Spike standing beside Twilight instead of being with you and her. "Spike? When did you..."
"I woke up about a half hour ago. I needed to use the bathroom and I ran into Twilight upon doing so." Spike explained.
You and Starlight then looked at Twilight, whose deadpan expression turned into an angry expression.
"Spike, Starlight, why didn't you two tell me about this?!" Twilight asked in an angry tone.
"Well, we felt that since we knew what to do and had the problem under control, we didn't really need any help." Starlight explained.
"Yeah, and it's not like we were going to keep it a secret from you, Twilight." Spike also explained. "We were going to tell you after we made sure that Anon was kept warm enough so his body temperature would be restored, and we had to snuggle with him for a couple of hours to do that."
"Huh?" Twilight asked while raising a curious eyebrow. "You mean you two weren't keeping it a secret from me?"
"Of course not, Twilight!" Spike replied with an annoyed look on his face. "We know better than that! Since when has lying and keeping secrets ever lead to anything good? Remember what happened when Princess Celestia found out you were keeping the fact that she was a bad actress a secret from her?"
Twilight blinked a couple of times and she then responded to Spike's statement.
"Fair point." Twilight replied. "I'm sorry, it's just that we all forget that lesson so much that I at this point expect it when my friends don't tell me something right away."
"I understand." Spike said with a casual smile.
Twilight then looked back at you with a smile.
"Well, if the situation at hand is over now, what say we all discuss it over some hot cocoa near the fire place?" Twilight asked.
"Hot cocoa?! Count me in!" Starlight shouted with excitement. She then rushed to the kitchen to make you all some hot cocoa. The three of you chuckled from Starlight's excitement over hot cocoa. The three of you then headed for the castle living room where the fireplace was while you waited for Starlight to bring you all hot cocoa.
With the four of you near the fireplace and with Starlight had already brought you all hot cocoa, you all sipped your mugs and then discussed about today's events.
"Hey, Twilight?" Starlight asked.
"Yes, Starlight?" Twilight responded.
"Even though we had it under control, sorry that we didn't tell you right away." Starlight said to Twilight.
"Well, normally if I'm not told right away that a friend of ours is hurt or in some other bad condition, I'd usually be upset, especially since I discovered it on my own instead of being told about it." Twilight replied with a serious look on her face. "But, since you and Spike said that you two knew what you were doing by keeping Anon warm, I'm gonna let it slide. But, even if you two don't need my help, please make sure to let me know right away when stuff like this happens from now on."
"Of course, we promise." Spike and Starlight both replied.
"And I'm sorry about today, too." You spoke up.
"For what, Anon?" Spike replied.
"It's all my fault that I got hypothermia in the first place. I wouldn't have gotten hypothermia if I had just dressed more warm for the weather." You explained while looking down out the floor with a depressed look on your face. "Man, I hate winter so much."
"Don't take it out on winter, Anon." Starlight said as she sipped her hot cocoa.
"I'm serious, Starlight!" You replied in a serious tone. "Winter is the worst time of year! The cold temperatures, the icy grounds, and the snowy fields and yards! It's all so abysmal!"
"Well, maybe if you looked for something to enjoy about winter instead of focusing on the negatives of it, you'd get through it better." Starlight said again while sipping her cocoa again.
"Huh?" You asked.
"She's right, Anon." Twilight said. "Winter doesn't necessarily have to be all that bad, you just got to find something related to winter that you enjoy so you can have fun with it more."
"Yeah, like Heart's Warming! Heart's Warming is every winter!" Spike added while sounding excited.
"Spike's right. There's Heart's Warming in the winter." Twilight replied with a smile.
"Well, that's just one thing, and it only happens once a year." You said while still not being convinced. "Everything else that I usually do everyday are things that I can do in any season."
"That's very true." Twilight admitted. "But, what about sitting by the fireplace with us and drinking hot cocoa? Do you do that in every season?"
"Well, no." You replied.
"Well, there you are! There's a difference." Twilight said.
"Well, that's just still one thing that happens all winter." You replied.
"Sure, but do you enjoy it a lot?" Twilight asked again.
"Uh, yeah I really do." You replied again.
"So, then you don't have to enjoy so many things about winter in order to tolerate it. Just find one thing that you really enjoy to be able to have a good experience through the season." Twilight explained further. "You don't have to like winter if you don't want to, Anon. It's your call. But remember, no season is perfect. There are some things in each season that can make ponies like it or dislike it like summer being too hot, fall being too wet, winter being too cold, and spring being too inconsistent between warm and cold. Even if a pony dislikes a season, they can still find a passion that they can enjoy during that season that will make it more enjoyable for them. And you can do that, too."
As you let Twilight's words sink into your mind, you took another sip of your cocoa while thinking of something else that you enjoy about Winter.
"Maybe you're right, Twilight." You replied. "And I think they're might be another thing about winter that I really enjoy."
"What would that be?" Twilight asked you.
"Hugging and cuddling ponies whenever I'm cold." You answered straightforwardly.
"Wha- Huh?!" Starlight exclaimed while sounding very surprised.
"I know that I can hug and cuddle ponies in any season of the year, but during the winter, it just feels a lot more special to me." You explained while drinking your cocoa. "And Spike and Starlight's efforts to keep me warm though cuddling me is a huge example."
"How so?" Spike asked.
"Well, like I said, I don't like the winter weather." You explained. "And when I think of how cold Winter can be, what also comes to mind are the harms that it can to do my body. Just like today when I got hypothermia. And, with how warm and comfortable ponies can be when I'm hugging them during the Winter, I don't just experience intimacy from the hug, but also the feeling of protection."
"Protection?" Twilight asked.
"Yes." You replied. "With the ponies keeping me warm, I feel as though they are not just hugging me to keep me warm, but also to keep me safe so I don't get sick or suffer any form of bodily harm from the cold. So, in that way, I feel a lot more of closeness to the ponies that I'm hugging."
Twilight's curious face became a warm smile as you finished explaining that confession.
"That is so deep, Anon." Twilight said as she stood on her hooves to give you a quick hug. "It warms my heart to hear that you get that kind of closeness from a pony."
"Yeah, I'm glad, too." Spike said as he got up and gave you a quick hug, too. "I may not be a pony, but I'm sure you enjoy hugging me just as much."
"Oh, of course, Spike." You replied happily.
As Spike finished hugging you, Starlight then spoke up.
"Do you really mean all of that, Anon?" Starlight asked you. "Did you really feel that kind of closeness when I was cuddling with you?"
"I did, Starlight. Every single second of it." You replied with a happy face.
As she became touched by your words, Starlight's eyes started to form tears and she then stood up and ran over to you and pounced into you to give you a hug.
"Oh, Anon! You're such a sweet person!" Starlight said as she hugged you while crying tears of joy into your chest.
"Thank you, Starlight." You replied with a warm smile as you hugged her back. "And you're one of the most nicest and most cutest ponies I've ever met."
As you and Starlight continued to hug, Twilight and Spike watched while also smiling warmly.
"Those two really have become really close today, haven't they?" Spike asked Twilight.
"Yes, they have." Twilight said while patting Spike's head with her hoof. Twilight then stood up and walked over to you to snuggle into your chest to also give you a hug, and Spike joined in on it too. The four of you formed quite the most warmest and most tender group hug anyone of you had experienced in your lives.
"I love you, guys." You said to your friends.
"We love you too, Anon." They all said to you.
Starlight then broke out of the group hug and looked at you with an amused face as she just remembered something.
"By the way. Spike tells me that you see us ponies as pets." Starlight said.
Twilight immediately broke out of the hug and looked at you with disturbed reaction.
"Wait, what?!" Twilight responded.
"Uh..." You tried to answer that unexpected question that you didn't expect the ponies to be offended by. "Well, not exactly. I just use is it as a way to say that I'm not romantically attracted to ponies since I'm human."
"I understand, but that's still kind of offensive." Twilight said.
"I know, I'm sorry." You apologized.
"It's alright." Starlight replied. "Just don't say something like that ever again."
"I won't." You responded.
After a couple of hours of chatting near the fire place, it was now bedtime for all of you.
"Goodnight, you guys." Twilight said to the three of you.
"Goodnight, Twilight." The three of you said to her.
"Hey, Twilight?" You called out to her.
"Yeah?" Twilight responded.
"You said you discovered that I had hypothermia on your own." You said to Twilight. "How'd you discover it?"
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps it could have been the new candy canes that arrived in Ponyville this morning, plus the footprints outside on the ground and on the steps, and also the wet clothes on your bedroom floor and the thermometer on your nightstand." Twilight replied sarcastically.
"Heh, it does seem pretty obvious when you put it that way." You chuckled.
"Yep." Twilight chuckled back. "Anyway, sweet dreams, Anon."
"Right back at ya." You replied.
Twilight then walked away to head to her room to go to bed. Spike then did the same.
"Goodnight, Anon." Spike said to you.
"Goodnight, Spike." You said back to him.
Spike let out a yawn as he headed to his room to go to sleep.
You then looked at Starlight with a happy face and then ruffled her mane.
"Goodnight, Starlight." You said to her. You then stopped ruffling your mane to head to your bedroom to go to sleep.
"Um, Anon?" Starlight called out to you.
"Yeah?" You answered back.
"Would it be okay if I slept with you, tonight?" Starlight asked while darting her eyes to the right while rubbing the back of her head with her hoof.
"Oh, of course you can, Starlight." You replied as you reached your arms out to her.
Starlight then ran towards you and you caught her to carry her to your room.
The both of you left the living room and headed to your bedroom. As you entered your bedroom, you closed the door and turned off the lights. You then got into bed with Starlight still in your arms. You then pulled the blanket over the both of you, and you then wrapped your arms around Starlight to pull her into a cuddle.
"Mmmmmm. This is so wonderful. So much so that I think Heart's Warming came early this year." Starlight giggled.
"I think it did." You chuckled.
You then tightened your embrace around Starlight a bit more, to the point where the both of you were so comfortable that you were both ready to drift off to sleep.
"Goodnight, Anon." Starlight said to you.
"Goodnight, Starlight." You said back to Starlight.
As the two of you said your goodnights, you both drifted off into a deep slumber while keeping your cuddling embrace over each other.
Unbeknownst to the both of you, your bedroom door slowly opened as if someone was coming into your room. And someone was indeed coming into your room, and that someone is Spike.
"What the three of us did hours ago, it was so amazing I want to do it again." Spike said with a warm smile as he climbed up onto your bed and squeezed into the middle of you and Starlight. "Mmmm. I really hope the three of us do this more often, especially without no health problems from anyone of us."
Much to Spike's delight, this was definitely not the end of the cuddling you'll be giving to him and Starlight and your other friends including Twilight. Cuddling ponies is pretty much your favorite thing to do during the winter, and it shows since it managed to cure you of your hypothermia. As the winter months go by and with your friends willing to keep you warm when you need them to, this is probably going to be the best winter of your life.
