As she grew wiser – and yes, older – Queen Haven came more and more to value the few moments when all around her was quiet, and her thoughts could wander their own way. It was more than just the endless duties of the crown pulling her attention ever this way and that, for her new travels reminded her that Zephyr Heights was the noisiest place in Equestria. While the unicorns descended into superstition following the ancient schism and earth ponies mired themselves in paranoia, the pegasi embraced consumption and distraction. With screens on every wall and celebrities for royalty, no one had any time at all to be afraid, or wonder if there was more to life waiting beyond the guarded border.
Maybe they would change, bit by bit. Maybe. The screens made life convenient and fun, but something became lost in even a pleasant walk around the gardens when the air was filled with ads featuring her own daughter. It was all well and good when that was all she knew. Now that she had visited the relative serenity of Maretime Bay and Bridlewood, ideas for reforms on noise pollution were slowly planting themselves in her mind. At the very least she could float it to the public and see if anyone else was tired of booming speakers on every corner.
The quiet peace was one of the reasons she was spending her Wishentine at Maretime Bay. The earth pony celebrations were quaint and dull by pegasus standards, but the emphasis on food and fun over light shows and concerts seemed to her like a lovely change of pace. Then there was the joy of visiting her daughters, the solidarity shown by joining them instead of demanding they return home.
And then, there was this last part.
The snow fell charmingly outside. It was the morning of Wishentine Eve, and Haven was one of five customers in a sleepy little cafe with a fine view of the ocean. The earth pony served up her coffee with a smile, along with a twist of whipped cream and a candy cane hooked inside.
“Here you go! Happy Winter Wishday!”
Right, that’s what they called it here. Wishentine, Wishday, and for the unicorns it was Wishiehoof. That dear girl Sunny said the old name was “Hearth’s Warming,” which Haven honestly liked a lot better. Wish-this and Wish-that… wish for what? Presents? If you wished to make the world or yourself better, you didn’t ‘wish’ for it. You acted. Another thing Sunny had gotten right.
Even if the act was long, long overdue. Haven took her coffee to a window seat, accepting the leaking chill for a better view. Her downy floof kept her nice and cozy as she sipped the peppermint-flavored drink. Tea was more typically her preference, but she was slowly coming to learn these earth ponies could make anything taste wonderful.
The quiet was so lovely. A twangy Wishday carol played from a vinyl speaker, backed by a low conversational murmur in the near-empty cafe. Back in Zephyr Heights it would be even-money if a restaurant’s television would be on at max volume, or if she’d be recognized and mobbed halfway through her drink.
She closed her eyes, taking in the peace and quiet along with dainty sips of her coffee. Trying to mindfully enjoy every second, silently bracing for what came next.
The bell rang above the door.
Haven blinked. It was him, of course. She fancied she smelled him past the peppermint, always carrying a trace of the musty old things he loved to collect.
Alphabittle shot her a quick smile, heading up to buy his drink first. The barista grinned up to him nervously, but it seemed a product of his size instead of race. He was huge and broad, even compared to earth ponies.
Definitely a bit more… ‘broad’ than when they first met, in the stomach region. He lumbered over with two muffins and a coffee, floating them with his new magic and a smirk. He always was a show-off.
“Peace offering,” Alphabittle declared, setting one of the muffins in front of Haven.
She looked at it guiltily. “I’m on a diet.”
“You’ve been on a diet since we met. Live a little.”
Alphabittle sat down on a chair, too quickly. The wood snapped under him and he collapsed in a heap.
“Not a word,” he mumbled, though grinned as he did so. A second chair proved sturdier, or at least he sat down more carefully.
Haven leaned in earnestly, searching his freckled face. Alphabittle was always one to control the conversation, joking around even when he was uncomfortable. From that first day when they met in the crags, to…
“How are you, Alfy?” she asked.
“Digging out the ‘Alfy,’ huh?” One of Alphabittle’s bushy white eyebrows went up, while his grin tilted to the other side. “That’s a long way up from ‘Unicorns are known to be cheaters.’ You came powerfully close to spilling the truth back then, Queenie.”
Their fight outside the Bridlewood – in front of Sunny, Zipp, and Pipp, back before anyone believed in their wild quest – had been over a year ago now. Haven settled her front knees on the table, and her chin in her hooves with a cagey smile.
“That stuck with you all year, did it?”
“Hey, apparently my…” Alphabittle’s mouth outran his brain, and he winced even as he rode the sentence to the end. “My cheating stuck with you through the twenty years before.”
He chuckled weakly, eyes drifting to the window. “Real smooth, Big-A. I’m so good at this.”
“That’s part of why I asked you to come here.”
“Neutral ground?”
“Hmm…” Haven leaned back, stretching her wings a bit as she considered. “Yes and no. I have no privacy in Zephyr Heights. Visiting you in Bridelwood could have given the wrong impression. And I suppose I still don’t know what the other unicorns would think if… you know.”
Alphabittle reclaimed his footing, and his jokes. “If they learned a cool pegasus princess found a teenage-me lost in the craglands, and managed to shut up my crying long enough to help me home?”
“That you dated her in secret, more to the point.” Haven took a sip. “I suppose I wouldn’t expect there to be trouble now that we’re all on our second Wishentine together, but I didn’t want to force any awkward revelations.”
“No more than what you almost did back there,” Alphabittle chortled. “Hoo-wee! You should have seen the look on your face, mane all messed up and fire in your eyes, ready to crush anyone in your way. I thought you were going to spill my secret, there and then in front of everypony.”
“You were chasing my daughters, Alfy.”
“Yeah, uh… oof.” He deflated again, smiling without humor into his drink. “I never apologized, did I? For all that.”
Haven softened at once. “I didn’t ask you here to–”
“I’m sorry.”
Haven closed her mouth. They let it hang there a minute, listening to the soft music before Alphabittle went on. “I was stupid. Young. You know, a big Alpha-male-bittle, the mare-killer with all the mares. A mare at the bar, an older mare, a poet mare, and a demon pegasus mare.”
He toyed with his cup, letting the smile droop. “I figured you wouldn’t care about me seeing other mares, being a demon pegasus who ate fillies and all. Of course, that was a dumb excuse. You saved my life, after all; obviously you weren’t no demon. I figured that… I don’t know. Just a lie I told myself to pretend I wasn’t hurting anypony.”
Haven reached over and touched his hoof, drawing his eyes to her. So rare, to see him without his smile. She didn’t like it.
“Do you know why I asked you to come?”
Alphabittle shook his head.
“To apologize.” Haven swallowed. “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t give you a chance to make it right. I didn’t want to. I was an adult by then, and my role as future queen was finally starting to hit me. It would be ‘scandalous’ to ever be seen with a unicorn. It was ‘unbecoming.’ You were one of the enemies I was to protect the pegasi from! You gave me an excuse to end things instantly, and I took it with both hooves.”
Another pause. Alphabittle swallowed his muffin, while Haven drained the last of her coffee.
“Huh,” Alphabittle finally said. “Seems like we both screwed up.”
His smile returned, twisting and quirky. “That makes me feel a little better.”
“And it took the children to set us right.”
Alphabittle reached for the second muffin, but Haven slapped at his hoof.
“That one’s mine,” she announced. Diet, Schmiet, it was Wishentine. The muffin looked lovely, with red and green swirls baked into the dough.
Alphabittle’s hoof stopped, but remained over the table. It twitched and edged forwards, just a tiny bit.
Both of them smiled thinly. Haven’s narrowed, blue eyes held Alphabittle’s brown.
“You said you didn’t want it,” Alphabittle said coyly.
“Ladies change their minds, now and then.”
“Bet ya for it.”
Haven didn’t blink. “What’s the game?”
“Whoever gets it, wins.”
Alphabittle lunged as soon as the words left his mouth, but not before. His cheating days were behind him.
Smaller and faster, Haven easily nabbed it first. She slung the muffin halfway into her mouth, intending to dangle it and strut her victory before chewing it down.
One thing she had forgotten, though, was that Alfy did nothing by halves. He had committed fully to his lunge, knocking over the table and stumbling forwards into a trip and fall, aiming instinctively for the prize.
Haven’s wings flared, but it was too late to dodge. Alphabittle crashed into her, knocking them both over and pinning her nose-to-nose beneath his bulk.
Half of the muffin still protruded from Haven’s mouth. He bit into it and she bit down as well, splitting it fairly between them.
Their lips met, both gristled by crumbs. Their eyes locked in mutual surprise as the other puckered and kissed.
They laid there a few seconds longer. The workers and other patrons in the cafe studiously watched their phones.
Alphabittle rolled off her and stood up, then gave a hoof to help her rise. Strawberry pink shined from beneath his freckles, though Haven could admit to herself that it wasn’t as chilly here by the window as before.
They righted the table and reclaimed their seats.
“So...” they both said at once, then fell silent to let the other speak.
“I mean...” Alphabittle said at the same time Haven said, “We should...”
It was Alphabittle who pressed on first. “Want to pick up where we left off?”
Haven scoffed gently. “We were so young when we ‘left off!’ You were coming up with a plan to tame some Bridlewood Bee-hemoths for us to ride by bribing them with honey.”
Alphabittle laughed and patted his stomach. “There ain’t a Bee-hemoth big enough for me anymore. Let’s scrap that plan and come up with another.”
“Then how’s this,” Haven said. “Come with me to visit my daughters, and celebrate the holiday with us. We can learn together how the earth ponies do things.”
They stood, leaving some bits to cover both the food and broken chair. They pressed to each other’s side as they walked, sharing heat.
“Count me in. Earth ponies do everything with good food.” Alphabittle chivalrously held the door open for her. “Especially that Hitch character; you know, the one your daughter is after. He could boil a shoe and it’d be a feast fit for an alicorn.”
Haven nodded demurely, then froze. “My daughter what?”
Alphabittle took off at a run, leaving heart-shaped hoofsteps through the snow.
“Alfy, wait!” Haven sped after him, past the singing carolers, the skaters, the whole town waking slowly to its festive dawn.
“Which daughter? Are you sure?”
Alfy laughed.
Haven laughed, too. The crisp air felt so good in her breast. Her wing dipped to the side, plucking a snowball which she hurled right into the back of his head. Alfy stumbled and she pounced, and together they fell to the snow and rolled, as merry as they could ever be.
Author's Note
Written as a Holiday Breezie for kleia! I hope you enjoyed.
Queen Haven is precious and deserves all the good things.
