A Villain Gets A Second Chance

Having to draw some magic from Spellmourne, a day passes when you and Twilight finish the last decoration when she looks at you and asks, "That is the last one, how are we going to know how long to make the string for the tree?"

A thought hits you as you then think, 'A normal tree would turn brown after a little while, which would mean an expense every year. I wonder if I could help them out by giving them something that lasts through the years...' You look at her and ask, "Hmm, I am going to try something new, could you bring me a half-dozen potted ferns if they still can be found this time of year? If they can't, any kind of potted plant that is flexible will work, I will reimburse you for any cost."

Twilight smiles and says, "You don't have to do that, but thank you." then makes her way out to go find the plants.

When Twilight returns with six small evergreen trees, you pay her back for buying the plants and set one on a tray while concentrating on changing its molecular structure. When you finish with the first attempt, you look at Twilight and ask, "Well, how did it turn out? Is it still flexible and will it last?"

She looks it over and touches it with a hoof, causing a part to fall off due to being transformed into frost, saying, "Unfortunately not, just what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"

You look at her and tell her what you have in mind as Twilight helps you adjust the spell quite a bit to get it to work right, making an attempt with each big change to the spell and hoping to get it right. When you two do finally get it right and transform it into a multi-tiered, metallic tree with sets of branches that you can remove, you grin and look at her saying, "Now let's see if we can get the doctors to let me go outside to find the right tree to do this."

Twilight looks at you with a nod and says, "I will go find them and ask about it, be right back." then heads out of the room.

When you see Twilight return a half-hour later, you look at her and ask, "So what did the doctor say, can I go outside for a little bit?"

She puts on an act and sighs, saying, "I tried to tell them that I would take great care of you, but they still said no."

You shrug your shoulders and start thinking of another way to get outside and say, "Perhaps we could stage a breakout to accomplish what we need to do..." You then hear Twilight snigger and look at her with your head cocked to the side and ask, "What's funny?"

Twilight's expression turns around instantly as she giggles and says, "I am just teasing you, they said you can go outside. In fact, I managed to convince them to let you recover at my place."

You smile slightly as you think this over and say, "Thank you for being so kind and thoughtful, Twilight. There are a few gifts that I am going to need you to move to your house before we start packing up my things, alright?"

She beams a smile and nods, saying, "Alright, I can do that for you. Where are they located?"

Glad that you had time to get them all wrapped, you turn to her and say, "They are all hidden in the cabinet, and there's seven in all. The sooner you can get them to your house, the sooner we can get out of here but remember, some of those are fragile and must be handled carefully."

Twilight then nods and heads over to the cabinet, then carefully lifts the wrapped presents out with her magic, saying, "I will be right back once I get these over to my house, and then we will get started on moving you into the library."

After Twilight helps you settle into the library, the two of you go search for a tree that would work. When you do find the perfect one, you purchase it and bring it back to the main room of the library, saying, "Now that we have the tree, let's transform it."

She smiles at being able to help her friend get leave from the hospital to enjoy the holidays, watching you as you close your eyes and focus on the spell, saying, "Remember the process now, work your way up from the base, then go out."

You concentrate on turning the tree base into silver first, then work on changing the branches next. When you get that done, you alter the remaining bits and adjust the color and structure of the needles. Looking the tree over, you then have Twilight test one of the branches, and watch it bounce back like it should nod and say, "Alright, now on to the next step, Twilight."

Twilight blinks in disbelief, saying, "There's another step?! How much more are you planning to do to this tree?"

With a chuckle, you say, "Not much more, so relax Sparklebutt." You then adjust your foreleg's position in the cast and roll your eyes at the nuisance, then call forth Spellmourne as that last spell left you a little drained. Once your magic is replenished, you send it back to its space and close your eyes to focus on what you are trying to do.

She watches curiously as you manage to separate the very top part of the tree and bring it down to the ground, and looks it over closely to see a small cylindrical piece sticking out of the bottom portion of the tree top. Blinking in disbelief, she turns to you and asks, "You're planning on making this tree able to be taken apart and put back together each year?!"

You nod and chuckle, saying, "I am, so grab something to mark the rows they come from, I will be starting with removing the bottom row."

As Twilight grabs an assortment of colored, skinny, ribbons and a hot glue gun, she starts marking the branches with a single color before marking the space on the tree where they came from, asking, "Is it important to return them to the exact spot they came from?"

While you make another pile for the next row up, you shake your head, saying, "No it isn't, the holes on each level are roughly the same size, besides, if they aren't, the princesses will have fun figuring out which hole they go in."

When the two of you finish the tree, you realize that the tree needs a topper on it and use a good deal of your magic to make a special one for the two sisters and look at Twilight, breathing hard from the effort of making it and say, "Now we just need a box to put the tree in, write some instructions on how to put the tree together, then write a letter to Celestia asking her send a pegasi guard here with a small wagon to pick up the gifts." You get the feeling as if you're forgetting something and chuckle, saying, "Hey, I just remembered, we need to put the crystal decorations on a string for the tree yet."

Caught up in the festive mood, Twilight sniggers and says, "How silly of us to forget something so important as that! We better get a start on putting it back together first."

You look at her and grin, saying, "You go get some suitable string for these to hang on, I'll get this back together so we can start putting the final touches on it."

Twilight says, "Alright, I will be back before you know it." then trots out of the library with her mood high, and tail lifted slightly.

By the time Twilight arrives, you have the crystal decorations laid out carefully on one side of the room, saying, "I laid out the pattern for the decorations while you were out, what color string did you get?"

She then pulls out a roll of heavy, braided, silver thread saying, "I asked Rarity if she could make some heavy silver thread for hanging heavy ornaments from, she was in such a good mood that she surprised me with how quickly she made it. It's getting dark out now, so I will have to wait until tomorrow to get a box."

After you both enjoy a meal made by Spike, Twilight runs the string around the tree to measure it. Once she cuts it, you let her tie small loops evenly throughout the string as you wire the lights onto the loops.

When the last of the loops are used, you look at the extra ornaments left over and smile saying, "At least the princesses will have extras if any should break, let's see how it looks with the string and lights."

Twilight smiles and nods saying, "Since you used your magic so much, you can wrap them around the tree and I will charge the gem pieces."

As Spike goes to bed, the two of you finish putting the lights on the tree and watch as Twilight puts the topper onto the tree and charges the gem pieces within it. You both then take a few steps back and look at the magnificent tree and marvel at how beautiful it is when Twilight says, "This really is a magnificent tree, I am sure that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are going to really love this."

You then start to feel cozy looking at the tree and yawn, saying, "I know they will, though Celestia will most likely assume this is a jab at her having a big flank. The joke is on her this time because this isn't a jab at all, just a nice early present for Hearth's Warming."

She then smiles and slides a bit closer to him, then starts to feel drowsy as well, saying with a yawn, "I guess that we should get you upstairs to my bed so you can be comfortable."

As your eyes get heavier, you feel her bump up against your right side and protest, saying, "No I'm too comfortable right now to attempt the stairs." and then start to lie down carefully.

Twilight chuckles as her eyes get heavy too while her mind becomes addled with weariness and looks up at the stairs, cocking her head to the left, saying, "Huh...you are right, there seems to be too many." She then looks down at you and says, "The spot next to you looks rather inviting, scootch over handsome." She then lies down and snuggles up against you, lying her head up against your neck.

The next day

When Twilight rouses from her sleep feeling tired, very warm, and comfortable, she lifts her head off the pillow and winces as her head is killing her with its pounding. When she hears a deep-sounding breath, she rubs the sleep in her eyes away and then looks down beside her. Her fuzzy vision doesn't offer much detail at first and waits for them to focus, when she realizes that she is lying belly-to-belly with Arthas. She begins to panic when her pounding headache gets in the way eliciting a groan from her lips instead of a scream.

Suffering from your own hangover, you feel around with your right leg, pulling yourself up to where the sound came from, and press your lips against the female lying next to you. Slipping your tongue into her mouth, you then pull away saying, "Come back to bed sweety, we can kill Spike later."

Too tired to deal with what is going on, she groans again as her head feels like Applejack is trying to kick her way outside of her skull, saying, "Fiiinnne." then lies back down and snuggles back into Arthas's side.

When Spike wakes up sometime around noon, he gasps at seeing how high the sun is and jumps out of bed saying, "Woah nelly, it's so late!" then hurries down the stairs to start making food for Twilight and you. He gets downstairs and sees the two of you lying beside each other as Twilight's head rests on your shoulder.

As you two wake up to smell something cooking, you feel the weight on your neck go away and hear a feminine groan followed by a light stumbling of hoofsteps. You open your eyes to catch Twilight making her way to the kitchen on wobbly legs and get up to assist her, saying softly through your pounding head, "Hold a moment wobbly, let me help you."

Groaning softly in annoyance at the pounding in her head, she turns her head to look back at you saying softly, "Okay, just get on my right side because of your cast."

You make your way up to her and lean against her slightly, hearing her stumble a bit as she tries to adjust and ask in a low tone, "Ready to be my left legs?"

She smirks and says, "Only if you're ready to be my right legs, I was wondering why I'm all left hooves today."

The two of you make your way to the kitchen steadying each other as Spike looks at you two and asks in a loud voice, "Woah! What happened to you two!?"

You wince at the loud tone and hiss, saying, "Quiet voice, if you please. We are suffering a hangover because we enjoyed too much liquor last night."

Spike cocks his head and says, "Huh? When did you guys drink liquor? I only served you guys spiked cider."

Twilight groans and says in a low tone, "Spike...that was alcoholic liquor because it contains alcohol, which is something that helps ponies relax in small doses. In larger amounts, such as five glasses or more will result in most ponies waking up with headaches, and sensitivity to light and sound as well. Those symptoms mean that the pony is suffering from a hangover." She blinks at him and asks, "Spike, could you do me a favor and make sure that you don't open anything bottled that says Spiked or has alcohol in it?"

He chuckles as he looks at her gnarly bedhead, saying, "Sure thing, Twilight."

After you and Twilight enjoy a hearty breakfast, you attempt to make your hangovers go away as you make a dwarven cure for it which contains mostly alcohol and fill two glasses a third full with a lightly swirling yellow and orange concoction. With the mixture completed, you carry it over to Twilight saying, "Don't smell it first and shoot it back as fast as you can, not sure how well ponies can handle this so we'll both learn something new." You set it down before her and raise your own saying, "Cheers." then drink it down as quickly as you can. As you swallow the last bit, you belch loudly and feel much better, saying, "Ah, still tastes just like it should, which means..."

Twilight downs her drink quickly without smelling it first, gagging for a moment before forcing it down. She feels a little green after drinking the concoction, which makes her belch just as loudly and blushes in embarrassment. Quickly putting a hoof over her mouth, reflexively saying, "Excuse me." she watches you turn away from Spike and start heading away, just to stop and move your tail aside. She opens her mouth to ask something when you let an obnoxiously loud and long fart rip, thinking, 'OH CELESTIA, DID HE SERIOUSLY JUST GAS SPIKE?!'

Spike looks at the wall ahead of him with wide eyes as he begins to laugh, taking a breath while slapping his belly saying, "Oh CELESTIA that was hilarious! HAHAHA..." then takes another breath and falls to his right side when he passes out from the smell.

You look behind you after hearing a thud, then look at Twilight with a big grin, saying, "Spike has been punished."

She then frowns at him and says, "YOU THINK!?" She is about to say something else when her stomach gurgles violently and squeezes her flanks together to try to keep it quiet. When it tears out of her with an angry hiss, she fights to keep her flanks together when it becomes a high-pitched whistling.

A grin crosses your face as you watch the two glasses begin to vibrate, then abruptly shatter as the whistling gets even higher. When you look up at Twilight, her face is redder than a cherry as the whistling becomes a hiss and her tail falls back into place. Unable to keep from chuckling, you close your nose and say, "Now he has been very thoroughly punished, let's get out of here before we too fall victim to the smell." Using your magic, you find a piece of paper and leave a note for Spike. Turning back to Twilight, you say, "Alright, let's get going and see if we can find some boxes."

Twilight gets off her stool, still blushing crimson and too embarrassed to even speak, and starts to head for the door after casting a lasting barrier around the trees and books to protect them from the smell.

You close the door behind you as Twilight refuses to say anything and hobble up beside her, bumping into her asking, "Hey, wanna go for a run to air out? Follow me." then take off at a three-legged canter.

She sees you canter off and gasps, calling out, "HEY! YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DOING ANY RUNNING!" and then takes off after you.

When Spike comes back around, he holds his nose as his eyes burn and water. Getting back onto his feet, he spots a note on the floor and picks it up to read it, 'DON'T BREATHE FIRE! FIRE BAD!' Spike then scowls at it and huffs in annoyance, saying, "Fire isn't bad, it will clear this smell in an instant." then breathes in through his mouth and exhales green fire. A sudden fiery explosion rocks the whole tree as Spike blinks a few times and looks at his reflection in the oven, seeing that his face and scales are blackened with soot. With a cough, he says, "Right...fire bad..." then falls over as he falls asleep again.

When you and Twilight arrive at Sweet Apple Acres, she is still blushing but is chuckling a little as you see Applejack scooping some snow. Heading over to her, you call out, "Hey there Applejack, having fun clearing a path through the snow?"

She then stops and looks over at you and Twilight with a smile, answering, "As much fun as a hog in mud. Ah'm surprised to see ya out so early, what's up with that?"

Twilight then happily opens up and says, "Well I was helping him work on some gifts over the past few days and yesterday morning I decided to see if the doctor would let him come stay with me for Hearth's Warming, surprisingly, he agreed to it so we spent the majority of the day or so working on a few of his gifts. I was wondering if you would be able to make us a shipping box thirteen feet long by four feet wide by three feet high, and another box that is five feet long by three feet wide by three feet high?"

Applejack then nods, saying, "Ah can have Big Mac build them fer ya right quick." then puts her hoof in her mouth and whistles sharply towards the barn, then calls out, "Hey Mac! Twilight and Blizzard need a couple of boxes to ship gifts in! One needs to be thirteen feet long by four feet wide by three feet high, and the other needs to be five feet long by three feet wide by three feet high!"

Big Mac hears her from the barn and calls out loudly, "EEYUP!"

She then takes a breath and then looks at you and waves a hoof in front of her nose saying, "Hooooey! Somepony went a little heavy on cabbage and beans, didn't ya big guy?"

You smirk and chuckle, saying, "Apologies for the lingering smell Applejack, but it is a result of what happened last night."

Twilight looks away as her face turns beet-red from embarrassment when you start telling Applejack what happened, trying to see if there is an empty barrel she can hide in.

Rainbow is on a cloud up above the group of ponies, listening in to the tale as she hears what you did to Spike and begins snickering to herself until she hears what happened with Twilight and laughs so hard she falls off her cloud.

Applejack looks around as she hears a pony laughing raucously when something hits the pile of snow she was shoveling, sending it out in a wave that covers her and hits you and Twilight as well. She looks crossly into the snowpile at the pegasus who is holding her sides while kicking wildly with laughter, causing her to say, "RAINBOW! How many times do ah have to tell ya not to spy on ponies!?"

The pegasus snorts and says, "I can't help it! Hearing how Twilight obliterated two glasses just by passing gas is too much!"

Still blushing furiously and wishing she could disappear, Twilight turns to Rainbow and shouts, "I WAS TRYING TO BE QUIET ABOUT IT!"

Fighting her own laughter at hearing it, she sheds tears of mirth saying, "Come on Rainbow, Twilight is embarrassed mightily about this."

Wanting to send Applejack over the edge, you finish the story saying, "That wasn't all, because I left a note to Spike warning him not to breathe fire, we left on a slow run. When we were a hundred feet from the house, Twilight and I both heard a small explosion from inside and guessed at what happened. I was snickering the whole way here as Twilight just kept getting redder and redder."

Unable to fight it anymore, she falls to her side and joins Rainbow on the ground in raucous laughter, saying, "Poor Spike...we should...hahaha...check on him...to see if he is...hahahaha...alright."

You snicker and say, "I'm pretty sure that he is just fine, perhaps a little dirty after the fiery explosion from lighting the gas. A dragon can't be hurt by their own flames."

Twilight pulls you away from the laughing mares, still a bit embarrassed at how funny her friends found the story and sticks close to your side by the barn to let Applejack's brother know which side has the lid for the boxes.

When you go to pay Big Mac for the boxes, Twilight beats you to it, leaving you to say, "Thanks for making these Big Mac, I hope you have a wonderful Hearth's Warming this year." As you feel Twilight snap your flank with her tail, you look back for a moment, then turn back to Mac and say, "I will swing by sometime after I am released from the hospital."

After you apologize to Spike for what you did, he forgives you although he thought it was hilarious, and sends your request to Princess Celestia. She responds a few moments later and informs you that a couple of guards are on their way to pick up the packages.

You are studying the books that Celestia sent you through Spike when you hear a knock and see Spike head to the door, following him with your eyes as you see a couple of guards outside with one at the door and stand up, saying, "Good timing soldier, good timing."

The guard looks at the stallion stoically and says, "We're here for the Princesses' packages, sir."

With a nod, you head to the first one and start carrying it out with your magic, saying, "Splendid, this first box is not fragile."

The guard moves aside to let the stallion pass as his eyes follow the box colored in red and white striped paper with loose ribbons sitting on the top, asking, "What's in the box, sir?"

You set the box down and let the loose ribbon tacked to the bottom slip off of it and lift the lid up saying, "Just a Hearth's Warming present for Princess Celestia, it is a tree requiring a little assembly and decorating is all." As the guard comes over to inspect it, he steps back with a nod and says you can close it up. You set the wrapped lid back down and pound the four corner nails in, then pull the ribbon up over the middle of the long side and drape it over the other box. While you lift the other side up and lay it on the lid, you do the same to the long ribbon ends before looking inside the open door and call to Twilight, "Twilight, can you come tie a big bow on this first box for me so I can load it onto their wagon?"

Twilight chuckles as she trots out wearing a scarf, saying with a smirk on her face, "You can master hundreds of spells, but have problems tying a bow?"

You let Twilight get started and huff saying, "I learn all I can so that I will be able to act when serious trouble comes to Equestria."

She works on tying the bow and chuckles saying, "No, you study like you're preparing for an intense battle, you need to remember that Equestria is a peaceful place."

Turning your head to look at her, you say, "That may be true, but where there is peace...a fierce battle is never far behind. Heed my words well, for I ignored wise words one too many times and it led me to ruin." then head back inside to grab the last crate.

Twilight looks up at the guards, who have the expression showing a question begging to be asked on their faces, and says, "Don't worry about him, sirs, he is just in one of his moods."

When you bring the next crate out, you set it by the guard, saying, "This crate needs to be handled very carefully as it holds two Hearth's Warming presents made out of crystal that are buried within the straw. The items themselves have small gems that I enchanted to be filled with magic so they glow." You then slide the ribbons off the lid and lift it to reveal the contents for the guard to inspect. Something about the guard strikes you as odd, making you observe the guard very closely.

The guard looks over from where he's hooked up to the wagon, observing their partner as he comes over and uses his wings to move the straw and items aside carefully. He takes notice of how you observe their partner rather closely and thinks, 'Is he going to attack my partner?'

As you watch the other guard finish inspecting the crate and look up from the box, you focus all your attention on their eyes when they flinch ever so slightly and quickly recover their stoic demeanor. You smirk as you see something quite interesting in them and wait for the perfect moment to strike.

The guard looks at the stallion with a stony gaze as they wonder what he is doing, then resumes his duty and says, "Okay sir, you may clo-" He is surprised beyond measure or reaction when he feels the stallion's mouth over his, kissing him deeply with tongue as he stands there like a statue when his tongue starts to act on its own and dances around with his.

Twilight stares at you with her jaw on the ground and with eyes wider than saucers as she sees you intimately kissing another stallion while questions run rampant through her mind demanding to be voiced first, leaving her unable to even speak.

The guard hooked up to the wagon looks at the scene unfolding and fights a smirk from appearing as he thinks, 'I wonder how good that kiss will turn out to be...' He continues to watch closely as his partner's eyes close of their own volition, hearing a soft moan rise up his throat and escape through his nose. When he watches his partner lean into it and really get into the kiss, he is surprised to see his wings shoot slightly upwards and straight out to his sides.

With your unspoken question answered, you ease up and gently push the hungry guard back, saying gently, "Take it easy guard, you left your composure back in the barracks, take a breath and recompose yourself."

It takes the guard a moment of heated panting when he is finally able to pull himself back together and retract his locked-out wings with a slight coloration on his cheeks, letting out an uncomfortable and embarrassed cough, saying, "As I said, sir, you may close the box up now."

You nod and put the lid on, then drape the ribbons over the box, saying peacefully, "Thank you." then look over to Twilight, who is rooted to the spot with a shocked speechless expression on her face and shake your head, saying, "Oh Twilight, you need to work on not being so surprised with what I do?" To spark a reaction out of her, you hobble slowly toward her saying, "Because if you don't..." stopping right in front of her face and start to lean in for a kiss saying, "I might just get addicted to kissing you."

She watches you slowly get closer and takes control of her own mind, then gives herself a mental kick in the flank thinking to herself, 'GET YOURSELF UNDER CONTROL ALREADY!' With her facilities back, she blinks a couple of times before shouting at the top of her voice, "WHAT IN CELESTIA'S NAME IS YOUR DEAL!?! DO YOU LIKE STALLIONS OR MARES?"

With a chuckle at her coming back to her senses, you pull back, saying with a smile, "Welcome back to sentience, Twilight. I believe you have your answer if last night was any indication..."

Twilight growls at you and then says in her regular tone, "Don't word it like that because the only thing we did last night was kiss and cuddle!"

You let the smile fall away with mirth still in your eyes and say, "I know, but it is so fun getting a reaction out of some of you. I need you to tie this one as well, Twilight."

She stomps past you and heads to the box grumbling, "I'm going to tie your tail in a knot if you're not careful!"

Spotting the letter for Princess Celestia lying on top of the lid, you lift the long box up with your magic, head over to the back of the wagon, and then lay it inside, still chuckling at the reaction you got from her as you take the letter off the lid.

When Twilight finishes tying the bow a little too tightly due to her annoyance with your behavior, she pounds the nails in and huffs, laying the letter on top, saying, "This one is ready and I've placed the letter on top of it like the last one." then raises her tail a little and trots past him, and goes into the library.

You turn to the guard with a smirk and ask, "Do you have anything to put messages in on your body, soldier?"

The lightly blushing guard nods, saying, "Yes sir, there is a small satchel right here under my wing, hand the letter here and I will put it inside."

Handing the letter over, you say, "That one goes to Princess Celestia, who is getting the long box." Then grab the other from the smaller box and head towards the other guard, saying, "This one is for Princess Luna, who is receiving the much smaller box, which is also very fragile and it is imperative that it is handled and transported with great care."

The guard looks you in the eyes and takes the letter with a nod, saying, "Yes sir, we will take utmost care in getting these packages to the princesses promptly and safely."

You then see something in his eyes too and smirk while carefully lifting the box wrapped in checkered silver and blue paper and then setting it inside the wagon, saying, "That's the last one, soldiers." You lean closer to the guard and whisper in their ear, "Your armor enchantments are impressive, but neither of you can fool my keen senses and eyes."

The lightly blushing guard returns to his place in the harness and says, "We must now return to the palace, sir, please back away as we require space to take flight."

Stepping away, you turn around and watch them take off at a slow run, then spread their wings and fly into the air saying with a sigh, "I wonder what it would be like to fly under your own power..."

On their way back to Canterlot, the other guard looks to his partner and chuckles saying, "That stallion must really be a good kisser because of how you were moaning and getting into it, I can't even believe you got wingboners from it. So tell me, how was that kiss, Star?"

Star looks at his partner and groans with delight, saying, "Oh Celestia's wing tips...that stallion's kiss could have knocked the wind out from under a pegasi's wing, then knock the socks off of an earth pony's hooves, and still have enough left over to scramble a unicorn mare's mind. If he had made that kiss any more intense, I probably would have jumped out of this armor and taken him right then and there, Sherry."

Sherry looks at his partner and gasps, saying, "You're saying that stallion is seriously that good at kissing?!" An idea then comes to his mind as he smirks, saying, "You know...that season is just around the corner..."

Star then smiles and says, "March 20th is still a few months away, at least we have a target in mind for when the time comes."

Sherry looks back at him and chuckles saying, "At least we know more about the stallion that the noble mares are all so hot to trot for."

Star then licks his lips saying, "And despite those other mares...I know why."

Sherry then groans saying, "Now I wish that he would have kissed me too."

Star then giggles and says, "Maybe next time he will. I still can't believe that he managed to beat Captain Shining Armor...at the gala and in front of everypony."

Sherry then smirks and adds, "Or how he sent your brother tumbling flank over tea kettle right into a wall."

Star then bursts out laughing at that, saying, "Oh I know! When he told me about it, I laughed so hard I cried and started calling him Tea Kettle around the barracks in the off hours. Shortly after, everyone started calling him that."

An hour later, at the Castle in Canterlot

Princess Celestia finally finishes with day court when one of her guards returns, saying, "Your Majesty, the detail has returned with the packages along with a letter for you." She then takes it from their wing with a kind nod, thinking, 'Let's see what Arthas has to say to us this time...'

When she unrolls the letter, she reads it silently to herself, 'Greetings, Princess Celestia. It is Blistering Blizzard here and I am just writing to inform you that the gift you are receiving is wrapped in striped red and white paper with two ribbons tied into a bow. Before you put your gift with the others to open on the 24th or 25th, I would ask that you take your gift to your private royal relaxation quarters where the fireplace is and open it today with your sister. P.S. Just so you know, the box and lid are wrapped separately, and the bow is sitting on top of the lid. Just untie the bow and pull out the nails then lift the lid to open it, or you could cut the two ribbons and pry off the lid. The choice is up to you, Your Royal Hindness.' She gasps at reading the last bit and puts it away, looking at the guard, saying, "Please have my present taken to the private relaxation quarters which has the fireplace."

The guard nods and then makes his way outside to relay the orders to the unicorn guard outside, saying, "We are to take Her Majesty's gift to the private relaxation quarters with the fireplace."

Celestia makes her way through the castle and looks out through a window at the sun getting lower on the horizon, huffing with annoyance at having her flank made fun of once again by Arthas and looks back at it, thinking, 'Is it really so big it jiggles when I walk?'

When she heads inside the room, she spots her sister in the room and sees a smaller present with silver and blue checkers on it with a white bow on the top, saying to her, "Evening Lulu, I see that you got called to this room as well. Did your letter say the same thing mine did?"

Luna looks over her shoulder at her sister with a smile and a light blush, saying, "Ours says..." then starts to read it out loud to her sister.

Princess Celestia then listens to the letter, hearing, "Greetings Princess Luna, it has been a time since we spent time together at the Gala. Do you still find yourself smiling about that kiss with the golden apple? I am sure it will be a night we both will treasure, but I digress. The present you are about to receive for Hearth's Warming is a smaller box than the one your sister is getting, which is as large as her flank is these days. Your box is checkered, having silver and blue paper which is wrapped around the box and lid separately, the lid is nailed down so you can choose to pull the nails and untie the ribbon like I mentioned to your sister or cut the ribbon and pry the lid off. It is all your choice, though you must be careful not to jostle it too much as it is much more fragile than hers is, the bow is sitting on the lid of each present. I ask you to go to your private relaxation quarters that have the fireplace and open your present there with your sister, when she gets there though, I ask you to refrain from opening it until she opens hers first. I promise that your presents will make much more sense and my intentions much clearer, though to be honest, the gifts are more or less for both of you. So you know, I made them myself with a little assistance from Twilight, Spike, and Rarity. I forgot to mention this in your sister's letter, but instructions are in both boxes."

She gasps at what her letter says and says, "That scoundrel! I can't believe he kissed you too, and just what happened between you two at the Gala that led to you two getting so cozy?"

The younger sister looks at her as she has a frown on her face, smiling up at her and saying, "I shall tell you about what happened after finding out what he gave us, is that okay Cece?"

Celestia sighs and nods, saying, "That is fine, thank you for starting the fire." She then makes her way over to the couch and sits next to her sister and moves her box closer, saying, "Alright, let's see what that annoying former crown prince has put in this box..."

Luna watches her sister use her magic to cut the ribbons near the top of the box and pries each of the four nails out, setting the nails in a tray to avoid stepping on them. When she picks the lid up and sets it off to the side, she hears her gasp with surprise and a wide-eyed expression on her face and asks, "What is it Cece?"

She looks at the remarkably beautiful contents and pulls out the booklet laying on top, looking at the cover of it saying, "It's...a strangely beautiful tree."

The younger princess looks at the tree in pieces, then at the booklet and asks, "What does the book tell us about the tree?"

Celestia opens the booklet to the first page and reads, "Consider yourself very fortunate to have received the finished product resulting from several failed experiments of a few of those books that I have asked for, this is a coniferous tree that your obsessively studious pupil Twilight told me was either a Spruce or a Cedar. I didn't pay much attention to what she really said, as she rambled on about it as I was trying to figure out how to cut it down without damaging it too much. However, we got it down safely so I could begin altering the tree's molecular structure in such a way that it lasted forever without ever needing to be watered, yet still retaining a flexible state in its branches. The main shaft of the tree is pure silver, as well as the majority of the branches. The needles are some other kind of material entirely, and I have no clue what it is called and didn't hear what the bookworm called it. I then used another spell from those books and removed the branches layer by layer, and experimented by removing the topmost portion of the tree before moving on to the lowest level of branches. The top may or may not go into the slot at the top in a special position, as well as the rest of the branches. So you and your sister will have to figure that out for yourself, but they are all marked with colors for where they go. I now leave you to the annoying bookworm's overly precise and torturous...ow...instructions. Happy Hearth's Warming, Your Majesties!" She then bursts out laughing at that last part, saying, "Twilight must have read what he was writing over his shoulder and got back at him for it."

Luna leans forward and says, "Go on, continue on to the next part! Let's find out how to put this 'undead tree' together!"

Together, Celestia and Luna read the instructions together then started to assemble the tree by setting the stand in a wide open space and putting the top in first, followed by placing the main part of the tree into the stand. As they get started on putting in the bottom row, they learn that some holes are indeed different sizes which causes some mild annoyance to Celestia mostly as Luna just chuckles gleefully at getting to do something fun with her sister.

As they get more and more branches onto the tree, Celestia notices stacks of paper laid on the bottom. Deciding to finish the tree first and look at the papers later, she gets back to searching for where the last branch is at to finish off the current row.

When they finally get the tree done, Luna looks at her sister with a smile, asking, "Isn't it so nice to have done this together, Cece?"

Celestia smiles and nods to her sister, saying, "It is Lulu, though I wonder what these stacks of papers are doing along the bottom of the box?" Curious, she looks them over with each having a red silk ribbon tying it together and a small barrier over each with a piece of paper lying folded on top of them reading, 'Princesses Celestia and Luna.' Picking up the loose paper, and unfolding it, she reads it out loud, saying, "Happy Hearth's Warming to you both, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, from Twilight Sparkle. I know you are curious as to what these stacks of paper are, and I will promise to tell you shortly, but you must first hear what I have to tell you. Remember the day that you came to enjoy the Running of the leaves? We were escorting Arthas to the hospital and you left to go enjoy the rest of the celebration? Well I stayed there for a little while and was persistent, asking him why he always kept us all at a distance and if we did something to upset him but he said we did nothing at all and changed the subject to avoid the question. I didn't let that stop me though, and asked him why he doesn't want us to know anything about his past and what happened that was so horrible that he doesn't want to talk about it. He then sighed and said that I wouldn't be able to handle it and that Fluttershy is having trouble dealing with what she knows, I didn't stop though, and pushed one more time for answers about his past. I told him that I was stronger than I looked and to lay it on me because I would not stop asking, I wish I hadn't now... Anyway, I got him to tell me about his past, and what I heard...scared me and made me see monsters and evil that don't exist in our world. This crate contains the first part of his story, and the barrier will go away on its own a few days after the first week of January. Please don't try to dispel the barriers or you and Luna might react worse than I have and ruin your enjoyment of what should be a fun holiday, it took me two weeks to get over my fears and return to normal. He said that he will refrain from telling more until after the holiday, though later he said he would be ready to continue after the new year started. Shortly after I recovered from my fear, he heard about Hearth's Warming from Spike. I asked if he could draw some illustrations of what he told me about, and he drew some pretty detailed images of what he spoke about. I put the illustrations regarding his past into the bundles in this box which have numbers written on the blank page on top, stating the order in which to read it. The bundles in Luna's box, however, are not guarded but are about what he knows of Azeroth as well as the races that call it home. There are illustrations as well, though there are some things that he advised me to put aside from what I am sending you until they become relevant in the story. Your faithful and diligent student, Twilight Sparkle." With a sigh, she sets it down with the others but is sorely tempted to override the barriers and read through them.

Luna looks at her sister and rests a hoof on her shoulder, saying, "I know you are dying to know his past, but if it took her two weeks to recover from what she heard is any indication? I think it would be wise to wait until the time runs out so that we can enjoy this rare time together, how about you, Cece?"

She moves the temptation away and says, "You're right Lulu, our time together is far more important. Let's change the cycle and then find out what is in your box."