The date was December 25th. Everyone knew what that meant. For Earth, it was Christmas and for Equestria, it was Hearth's Warming. In Manehattan, snow was falling as ponies were walking down the streets trying to reach their families. Inside Coco's apartment, a Christmas/Hearth's Warming tree was set up in the living room with 11 presents underneath. In the living room, Mike was sitting on the couch wearing a red Christmas sweater with a snowflake on it.

"Is everything set up?" Mike looked over and was treated with what is by far the cutest thing he's ever seen. Rara walked over wearing a green Christmas sweater with a reindeer on it.

"Yup, it is."

"Perfect."

Rara walked back to the kitchen, then back into the living room with 2 cups of hot chocolate and offered one to Mike. "Mmm. Thanks," he said.

"No problem," Rara replied as she sat down next to Mike and began taking a sip of her own hot chocolate.

Mike took a sip and immediately an image flashed in his head. "Ohhh, man!" he said. "That was a memorable scene."

"What is?" asked Rara.

"I'm sorry, but every time I'm given hot chocolate or drink hot chocolate, my mind goes to this scene from that one movie." Mike grabbed his cell phone and showed Rara what he was referring to.

Rara smiled. "Oh, yeah. That's the movie you showed me last week about the train that goes to the North Pole."

"The Polar Express," said Mike. "That's what the movie's called."

"Right," said Rara. Just then Coco walked into the living room wearing a pink Christmas sweater with Christmas/Hearth's Warming trees on it.

"Rarity just called me, she said that she and her friends are almost here. They should be arriving in a few minutes," she said.

"Great," said Mike.

Truth to Coco's words, a few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Coco opened the door and sure enough, the Mane 6 were all there holding presents. Applejack was wearing a white Christmas sweater with apples on it, Twilight was wearing a blue Christmas sweater with snowflakes on it, Pinkie Pie was wearing a pink Christmas sweater with presents on it, Fluttershy was wearing a green Christmas sweater with reindeer on it, Rarity was wearing a purple Christmas sweater with candy canes on it, and Rainbow Dash was wearing a red Christmas sweater with Santa hats on it.

"Hey guys, Happy Hearth's Warming," said Applejack.

"We came as fast as we could," said Twilight.

"No, no, it's alright girls," said Coco. "You actually came on time. Come in."

Coco opened the door wider to let the Mane 6 in. As they began to walk in, AJ saw Mike and Rara sitting next to each other on the couch with cups of hot chocolate in their hands.

"Well, well, lookie here. I told ya both that everything will work out between ya two," said AJ.

Rara blushed and looked away shyly. "Yeah, AJ. You were right. I've been myself and... it worked. Mike did the same thing."

"Yep," said Mike. "Like you said, everything turned out to be fine."

"Glad to hear it," smiled Applejack.

As the Mane 6 began putting the presents they were holding under the tree, Coco came out of the kitchen with more cups of hot chocolate. "Would any of you girls like some hot chocolate?" she asked.

"Yes, of course," replied Rarity.

"Eh, I could use something hot," said Rainbow Dash.

"Um, sure. That sounds nice," Fluttershy said in her usual meek tone.

After they all shared some hot chocolate, they all began to open their presents.

"Oh, my," said Twilight. "This is-"

"-the book series that Thomas was based on," said Mike. "I know you've been wanting to see what the Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry was. So after searching online, I found the complete set. All the stories written by the Rev. W. Awdry and later his son Christopher, are all in that book."

"Thanks, Mike," said Twilight. "I love this."

"Whoa, is this?"

"It is Rainbow. A 1:200 scale American Airlines 737-800. Rara and I actually flew on 2 of these when we went to Charlotte and Indy 3 weeks ago."

"This'll look great on my nightstand," said Rainbow Dash. "Thanks, Mike."

"Hmm, what is this?" asked Pinkie as she shook her present. "Hard to tell."

"Why don't you open it and see," said Mike.

Pinkie Pie opened her present and immediately went wide eyed. "No way, they actually made a movie about it."

"About what?" asked Rainbow Dash as Pinkie proudly showed them the DVD cover.

"WHAT? A Mario movie?"

"Yep, it came out 4 months before the UN created their portals to Equestria," said Mike.

"Oooh, I'm gonna see it the moment I get home," said Pinkie excitedly.

'Oh, boy. I can only imagine how she would react when the song, 'Peaches', comes on,' Mike thought.

"Oh, this is nice," Fluttershy said as she opened her present. "A penguin plushie."

"Well, I know you like adorable things," said Mike. "So when I went shopping, I found that and thought it would be good for you."

"It's nice, thank you Mike."

"Whoa, this is..." Rarity had no words for what she just opened. It was a purple dress with jewels all over it.

"I got Coco to help me with that," explained Mike.

"Hope you like it Rarity," said Coco.

Rarity looked straight at Coco. "Like it? LIKE IT?! I LOVE IT!!!"

"Well now," said Applejack as she opened her present. "This is something I never thought I would ever have."

"A Lionel train," said Mike. "You can actually start a hobby with that."

"Oh I will," said AJ. "Thanks, Mike."

"Anytime."

A few hours went by, as Mike and the girls continued with their presents. The biggest surprise came when Rara opened her present revealing to be a cell phone. Rara was the only one in the entire group who did not have her own cell phone as everybody else, including Mike, had. And after spending a few minutes getting contacts from everyone she knew, Rara put her phone in her bedroom.

Another big surprise came when Mike gave the girls their stockings. Inside were tickets to the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, the Daytona Duels, and the Daytona 500. Since those were Mike's first races of 2024, he wanted to invite all of the Mane 6, as well as Coco and Rara to them.

By now, it was nighttime and after a few more hours, the Mane 6 left the apartment and headed back to Ponyville. Coco went to sleep, while Mike and Rara stayed awake gazing at the tree. The two of them were enjoying each other's company as Rara leaned her head onto Mike's shoulder. She sighed dreamily.

"This truly was a magical Hearth's Warming or Christmas as you humans call it, wasn't it?" she asked.

"Yep, it most certainly was," replied Mike.

After a few minutes of silence, Mike knew it was time to confess something that he wanted to say for a long time. He leaned into Rara's right ear and very softly, he whispered, "I love you."

Rara shot straight into a sitting position and looked at Mike with a shocked look on her face. "W-w-what?"

Mike put his hand under Rara's chin and whispered again. "You heard me. I love you. And I mean it."

Rara's eyes began to twinkle as she took in what Mike just said. "N-n-no one has... ever... told me that before."

Mike leaned in and kissed Rara on the lips. "How's that for proof," he said after he broke the kiss. Rara began to joyfully tear up as she leaned into Mike, wrapped her arms around him, and returned the favor. "I love you, too," she said.

After breaking the kiss, Mike stood up and put a song on his phone. "Care for a slow dance?" he asked.

Rara stared at Mike, but stood up anyway and joined Mike. "Sure," she said.

Mike wrapped his left arm around Rara's right waist, Rara wrapped her right arm around Mike's left waist, Mike took hold of Rara's left hand, as Rara did the same for Mike's right hand. Mike then pressed the play button on his cell phone. The song began playing and Mike and Rara began they're slow dance.

To Be Continued.

Author's Note

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a Happy Holidays.