Quibble Pants stirred up the logs in the fireplace with the long iron poker, keeping the fire good and hot before he pulled the screen back into place and put the poker back. He paused for a moment to look out the balcony window of his Canterlot condo, watching the snow quietly falling through the city night, the tree reflecting off the glass. He could hear the downstairs neighbors singing together, just off-key enough to prove their party had gotten into the ‘cheerfully blitzed’ phase. Most years it would have been a nuisance, but this year he didn't mind so much.
Of course, this year he wasn't trying to read or working on anything for the office. He shook his body, letting his blue and white The Sparkling sweater settle back onto his haunches before returning to the couch. There, he relaxed and snuggled up next to Clear Sky, turning to give her a quick peck on the cheek.
“Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, honey.”
“You too, Q,” Clear chuckled as she carried two steaming mugs of coffee over to them in her magic. “It's nice to have a few hours before the chaos starts.”
“Don't jinx it,” Quibble smirked around the rim of his mug. “Last election year the neighbors had to call the guards when a couple of them got into a fight over Whinnyapolis tax policy. Best part is, neither one of them had any idea what the new laws actually meant!”
“Well, I'll try not to draw the wrath of the cosmos down on us then,” Clear chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee before resting her head against the fuzz of Quibble's sweater.
“I just want everything to go smoothly this year,” she admitted. “The last couple years were rough on Wind Sprint, having to split things between here and Stratusburg.”
“You know, I could probably talk to one of the magistrates for you,” Quibble started to suggest. Clear Sky's teal aura wrapped around his muzzle before he could finish his thought, and he rolled his shoulders in a shrug before taking a long sip of his coffee.
“It wouldn't be fair to Wind Sprint, or to her grandparents,” she pointed out. “I still like them, and she still likes her Dad.”
“I wasn't going to say to stop her from seeing him at the holidays,” Quibble frowned, staring into his coffee. “Just… I don't know….”
“You are a horrible liar,” Clear Sky giggled, setting her mug down and turning to give Quibble a kiss flavored with the nutty, spicy blend they favored. “Even if we weren't splitting Hearth's Warming Eve and the day itself, it'd still be splitting the holiday. And making her feel like she had to pick who she was ‘really’ spending them with,” she added. “I'm never going to make her choose.”
“You are too good a pony for me,” Quibble grumbled playfully, kissing her back and nuzzling her nose.
“I know!” Clear wrapped her tail over his as they cuddled in front of the fire, the lights on the tree playing along the walls. “But you're stuck with me. Just don't tempt me; it's hard enough not badmouthing him when he ‘forgets’ he had something set up with Sprint. At least I can count on him to get her home on time.”
“Speaking of which, they should be getting her here pretty soon, shouldn't they?” Quibble sighed, reluctantly finishing his coffee and getting up from his comfortable spot against Clear. “I should get dinner going.”
“Nothing too fancy, Q! She probably already had a feast before her grandparents let her leave.”
“And she's a growing filly with a metabolism I'd kill for,” Quibble countered from the kitchen. “I'll just get a pizza going. I'll let you know when it's time to do your unicorn magic.”
“How did you ever learn to cook before you met me,” she teased him, coming out to watch him preparing the toppings and crust.
“Same way I learned to type. Margherita and mushrooms sound good?”
“Toss on some peppers for mine and we're good.”
Quibble sliced the cheese, tomatoes, and peppers, picking out some leaves from a small potted basil bush while Clear Sky helped the crust rise and started spinning it out.
Quibble was just finishing up when somepony knocked at the balcony. He wiped his hooves and ducked under the crust on his way over to open the blinds.
He was expecting to see Wind Sprint there, looking up through the window to be let in; he was even expecting the box behind her, probably full of gifts from her grandparents and father.
Quibble hadn't been expecting to see her father himself behind her, the blue pegasus looking back at Quibble just as awkwardly. He adjusted the collar of his flight jacket with his wings, then dusted a bit of snow out of his salt and pepper mane. Even if he hadn't been dating Clear, Quibble would have recognized Wind Rider. But he wouldn't have been much more surprised to meet him.
Catching himself, Quibble opened the window to let Wind Sprint in.
“Hi, Quibble, happy Hearth's Warming!” She chirped, hopping up into the air to give him a hug, seemingly oblivious to his surprise. “Is it okay if Dad comes in for a little bit? And… maybe Hearth's Warming? It was a little stormy on the way here.” She added, very quietly, a bit nervously.
“Why don't you go ask your Mom about that? She's in the kitchen, working on dinner.”
“Okay!” Wind Sprint hurried out - and, if Quibble had been paying more attention, he might have noticed that she was leaving a bit more quickly than usual.
“I ah… hadn't really been expecting to meet you tonight,” the stallion on the other side admitted smoothly, quickly recovering his own composure. “So, these are mostly Wind Sprint's,” he indicated the box, “there are a couple things in there for Clear, and I should -”
“Come in out of the cold,” Quibble told the older athlete, interrupting him turning around to leave. “It's freezing out there, and you should at least stick around long enough for Sprint to ask her Mom about you staying.”
Wind Rider hooked a wing under the carrying handles of the box, pulling it in and sliding the balcony closed behind himself.
Quibble closed the blinds again, holding back a sigh as Wind Rider looked around the room.
“I'll just put this over here,” the ex-Wonderbolt said, pushing the box of gifts under the tree with the ones wrapped and waiting for the next day, knocking a couple of them out of the way as he did. “You know, Wind Sprint didn't mention that you'd be here tonight.”
“I suppose I kind of live here, so it probably didn't occur to her that she should. Disappointed?”
Wind Rider turned around to look at Quibble, giving him an obviously appraising once-over. He broke into a cocky grin, a look that was probably supposed to be charming or debonair.
“I suppose you could say that. I thought Clear had higher standards.”
Quibble grinned back, glancing down at himself with a bit of a chuckle. He'd seen Rider's smile before, on the faces of attorneys convinced that they'd just buried him.
He lived to wipe those looks off their faces.
“You’re definitely in better shape than me,” he admitted. ”Lucky for me, you did teach her she prefers an honest stallion.”
Quibble turned around, flicking his tail at Wind Rider and heading back to the kitchen, where Clear was putting the pizza into the oven.
“I've got to go clean up,” Wind Sprint said quickly, flying out to leave the two adults alone.
“So, Wind Rider decided to come in?” Clear Sky asked him, her jaw tight and tail clamped down. Quibble nodded, giving her a brief nuzzle before resting a hoof on her shoulder.
“Deep breath, okay honey?”
She huffed, but nodded, glancing out past him at the front room.
“Do you need me to be the bad guy about him staying?” Quibble asked her quietly.
“Are you okay with him sticking around?” She asked him. “I'm… not crazy about it, but it's….” She sighed and shook her head. “Wind Sprint really likes the idea. I might not, but I don't want to just shut her down.”
“So don't,” Quibble shrugged. “He's a jerk, but I can handle him. Besides, it's Hearth's Warming. Supposed to be the time of year for being friends with ponies who've screwed us over, right?”
“I don't think that's quite how the story went when I played Princess Platinum,” she giggled, giving him a peck on the cheek. “But I might have forgotten the finer details. Okay, if it doesn't bother you, I can handle him until morning.”
“Let's get out of the kitchen then, before he tells Sprint to start going through the gifts.”
They walked out, the smell of the baking pizza starting to spread through the condo.
“Hello, Rider,” Clear said, giving him a smile that was almost genuine. “Sprint told me you hit some rough weather on the way over from Stratusburg; would you like to stay here for a bit until it has a chance to clear up?”
“Yes!” Wind Sprint cheered quietly and did a little hoof-pump from where she was watching on the second floor.
“You'd better be saying that about your hooves being clean for dinner, missy!” Clear called up, the sound of scrambling hooves on hardwood indicating that their audience had disappeared.
“Heh… at least she can't just hide in the walls here,” Wind Rider chuckled as they all took seats, him on a padded chair and Clear and Quibble back on the couch. “Mom said they had to hang curtains to make sure she wasn't peeking when they were wrapping gifts. Thanks, though. It'll be nice to dodge that storm. And to have a family Hearth's Warming Eve again.”
“As long as you don't mind pizza for dinner. We were just getting it ready when you two got here.”
“Oh, no, you don't need to worry about feeding me,” Wind Rider laughed. “I'll already need to spend the rest of the year in the gym working off everything the family sent home with me. I'm getting too old to stuff myself like I used to.”
“Let me guess - your Mom still cooks enough to feed a family of rookie ‘Bolts?”
“And it shows,” he smiled fondly as Wind Sprint flew down from the second floor, not touching down before she found a place on the couch next to her mother to snuggle up.
“Did you have fun at Grandma and Grandpa's this weekend?” Clear asked her daughter.
“Mhm!” Wind Sprint nodded. “I got to join the races this year! Dad still won them all.”
“Don't worry, kiddo, you'll catch up one of these days,” Wind Rider grinned. “You still beat most of your cousins. A few more years and you'll be at the Academy camps for sure, as long as you keep working on your endurance.”
“I almost made it from Stratusburg to Las Pegasus on my own tonight!” Sprint grinned, then froze as she realized what she'd said.
“That's great!” Clear Sky smiled, using her aura to rub her daughter's back, being careful around her wing muscles. “You had your Dad there to keep an eye on you, so that's a safe way to practice.” Her eyes still pivoted towards Wind Rider, promising a later discussion of that detail. “Did you stop for a rest there on the way home?”
“Yeah, and to pick up a present,” Wind Sprint nodded, grateful to change the subject.
“Hey, why don't you dig it out?” Wind Rider suggested. “I think it's okay to give it to her tonight.”
“Okay!” Sprint hopped up, flying over to the box as Quibble felt Clear sighing against his side.
He also felt Rider staring at him, suppressing a smirk. Wind Sprint leaned over the edge of the box, digging around for a moment before she pulled out a long, slim box wrapped in the distinctive heavy wrapping paper of a mall kiosk.
“W-I got this for you,” she said, giving the box to her mother.
“Thank you, honey,” Clear smiled as Quibble practically felt the temperature of the room drop. He fidgeted a bit, trying to press against her supportively as her eyes flicked irritably at the smug athlete across the room.
Clear Sky carefully peeled the tape back with her magic, sliding a jewelry box out and opening it up to reveal a silver chain with a finely made representation of Wind Sprint's cutie mark in tourmaline, quartz, and aquamarine.
“It's beautiful, sweetheart,” Clear murmured. She relaxed between Quibble and Wind Sprint, lifting the necklace out of the box and unconsciously wrapping a hoof around her daughter.
“Dad told me about the store, so that's why we went there. Just for a few minutes!”
And there was that tension again. Less than before, more caution than anger, but it was easy for Quibble to pick up with her withers against his.
“Well, as long as he was with you to make sure you stayed safe, I'm not worried about that,” Clear Sky explained. “I just know there are some bad ponies there, so I don't want you left alone if he gets distracted by something.”
“Every minute,” Wind Rider promised, rolling his eyes. “We didn't even step inside anywhere but the store we were going to. No casinos, bars, or even the food court.”
Clear relaxed again, and Quibble snuck out from under her as the timer in the kitchen beeped.
“Going to check on dinner, be right back,” he said, giving Clear a peck on the cheek and tousling Wind Sprint's mane after extracting himself from his side of the pony pile forming on the couch.
“I'm surprised you were able to get something like this tonight,” Clear continued, opening the clasp with her aura and putting the pendant around her throat. “It's… the perfect length, too.”
“Yeah, they had it on a shelf behind the counter!” Wind Sprint explained. “Dad asked if they had anything special, and it looked perfect when they showed it to us!”
“Really….”
Quibble disappeared from the room, but kept one ear pointed back towards the conversation as he grabbed a hot pad and opened up the oven, the smell of hot tomatoes and basil wafting out at him.
“Uh-huh!” Wind Sprint continued with her usual enthusiasm. “Dad helped me get it for you, I hope that's okay?”
“Of course, Sprint. Just because your Dad and I aren't getting each other presents any more doesn't mean we can't help you out.”
“Okay,” Sprint nodded, seeming to relax herself. “We were a little worried it might bug you. But it was perfect when I saw it!”
Quibble chuckled to himself. He knew there was a sweater with the same cutie mark on it waiting under the tree for tomorrow, but it was fine. He didn't mind getting one-upped by Sprint, especially since cutie marks weren't exactly an off-the-shelf design most of the time. He'd had to ask Fluttershy to knit the sweater for Clear, traded her a couple's pass to next year's Oublicon….
His stomach dropped right as he was setting the pizza tray on top of the stove.
The pendant had to be a custom job. Sprint's cutie mark resembled a few team logos, but it had been a perfect match. Which meant-
“Thank you very much, Sweetie. It's beautiful, and I love it. I need to talk with your Dad for a couple minutes, about your Junior Flyer's meet next month, okay?” Clear asked her. “Why don't you go get ready for dinner while we take care of that?”
Quibble's shoulders sagged as Sprint shot up from the couch, flying upstairs and into her room, the door closing with a sharp click, just short of slamming. The earth pony stepped out of the kitchen, looking between his marefriend and her ex.
“I'll go talk to her,” he told them. “Pizza needs a couple minutes to cool.”
“Quibble, this is something Rider and I have talked about before,” Clear said evenly, glaring at the pegasus.
“So I called ahead and had them make a pendant that you'd love - which you did, of course - and helped Wind Sprint pay for it,” Rider said dismissively. “Why can't you just accept a gift gratefully any more?”
Quibble started up the stairs as he left them to go at it, tuning out the stallion rapidly digging himself deeper into a hole.
“I've told you not to use her for your ‘romantic’ stunts before!” Clear hissed at Rider. “And do you really think I don't know there's nothing worse than flurries between here and Stratusburg? I actually still have a job, Rider, and I know how to do it! You can't pull this shit with Sprint!”
Quibble took a deep breath as he turned both his ears to Wind Sprint's door and knocked on it gently. When he heard an affirmative noise from inside, he slipped in before things could escalate downstairs.
Inside, Wind Sprint was nowhere to be seen on the floor level. Her bed was still made up, her things all where they ought to be - but he was getting to know the filly. He looked up at the ceiling, into the network of ‘rafters’ he'd installed to give Sprint some space of her own, and into the watery eyes of a confused pegasus filly.
“What did he do?” She asked Quibble. He sighed, laying down on the floor of the filly's room and rolling onto his back so he was looking up at her.
“It's complicated,” he started, folding his forelegs beneath his head. “And I know,” he added as she rolled her eyes - a move that she was entirely too good at for such a young filly, “that's what your Mom used to say. I'm just figuring out how to say it, okay?”
“Okay,” she relented, folding her own hooves and looking at the door. At least things hasn't hit the shouting stage yet. With a little luck, it wouldn't.
“So, your Dad used to give your Mom a lot of gifts. You remember when I was trying to pretend I was a sporty pony, getting all those ‘surprises’ for you? Your Mom told me later that you felt like I was trying to bribe you to like me.”
“Maybe a little,” Wind Sprint giggled weakly, “but it was mostly just you being so bad at it. And it feeling like you were trying to take Dad's place.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know - I'm a colossal nerd! It was Quibble's turn to roll his eyes this time. “But that was kind of the thing. Your Dad did the same thing with giving your Mom gifts, but he really was trying to make her feel like she had to like him more. And she's asked him to stop doing it, but this kind of felt like he tried to use you as a loophole. That's what she's upset about - not you, or anything you did. Okay?”
“Oh,” Wind Sprint murmured, thinking it over, wiping her cheeks. “I… guess he does kind of do that,” she admitted. “Any time he and Mom had a big fight, he'd get things for us, spend more time at home and not… well, not in Las Pegasus.”
“And a lot of ponies would really mean they were sorry about what happened,” Quibble pointed out. “But he never did the important part - not doing it again. At least that's what your Mom's told me.”
“And then they'd get in another fight, and he'd do it all over again.” Wind Sprint sighed, hanging her head over the edge of the rafter.
“Quibble?” She asked softly. “Is Dad a bad pony?”
Quibble thought back to everything Clear had told him, and the entry in the Friendship Journal about when Rarity and Rainbow Dash had met him, and he really wanted to say ‘yes.’ But he knew life wasn't that simple, and if he'd learned anything by now, it was that treating Wind Sprint like a foal wasn't going to make things any easier for any of them.
“I don't think so. Not all bad, anyway. Anypony can do bad things, but it doesn't mean they're bad. It's just part of who they are. Have I told you about my parents before?” She shook her head, then glided down to join him on the floor. He rolled over onto all fours, giving her a little nuzzle.
“Well, my parents fought a lot too. And they were both lawyers, so you can imagine what those fights were like! They ended up splitting up too, and I didn't really know what to do.
“Dad blamed Mom, because she drank a lot and kept getting in trouble for it. Mom blamed Dad, because he spent all his time at work. They each wanted me to take their side, but it was both their fault. They both did bad things, said horrible things about each other. Maybe some of them were true, but it didn't matter. They were both bad ponies sometimes… but they were my Mom and Dad. And I loved them both, especially when they weren't screaming at each other. It took me a while to realize that was okay, honestly. Is that what you're worried about?”
“A little, maybe,” she admitted. “Dad’s really great, most of the time! But the other times….”
“The other times suck, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Your Mom really wants you to decide how you feel about your Dad on your own,” he explained. “She knows you still love him, and she doesn't want that to change just because she doesn't. I just met him, so all I can really say is that… I don't think I'm going to like him very much, myself. But you get to have him as a part of your life, as long as you want that.”
“Did it ever get easier with your parents?”
“Actually, it did. They were a lot better after the divorce, especially after they each met new special someponies. They’re kind of friends now, most of the time.” He chuckled a bit, leaning in to stage-Whisper to her. “Just don't ask about politics when they're in the same room, it gets messy fast.”
“Ugh, no thanks,” Wind Sprint made a face. “Do you think it's safe to go back down?”
“It's safe,” he said confidently. “I don't know if they're finished, but none of us will let anypony get hurt tonight. Do you still want your Dad to stay over?”
Wind Sprint fidgeted for a moment, rubbing her hooves together.
“It was kind of his idea for me to ask,” she admitted. “The weather wasn't really that bad, I didn't think.”
“Yeah… I think your Mom figured that out too, and it's part of why she was mad. But that wasn't really an answer, was it?”
“I think I liked trying to keep things from a Wonderbolt and a weather manager better,” she grumbled.
“On the plus side, being a lawyer means when you're older I can teach you how to argue with your teachers to get points back.” He winked at her, tilting his ears towards the door to listen. “So, do you want him to stick around?”
“If he actually wants to, for Hearth's Warming, and not just to try and get something from Mom?” The purple filly looked up at Quibble as he stood up.
“I'll go see how it's going. I'll call you down for dinner after I talk to them.”
He started downstairs, taking a deep breath and putting on the ‘good boyfriend’ mask; keep it civil, keep it polite, try to be the peacemaker. He closed the door behind him as he listened for what was going on. It seemed like things had reached the ‘icy silence’ phase, one way or the other, so at least he'd be able to talk to them.
“How's she doing?” Clear asked him when he got down.
“She's okay. Confused, but okay. She asked me to check on things before she comes down.” Quibble turned to look at Wind Rider, who snorted and leaned back to cross his legs over his barrel.
“What? You were here the whole time, you know I didn't do anything wrong.”
“Your daughter would like you to stay for Hearth's Warming,” Quibble explained evenly. He raised a hoof when Rider started to smirk. “Not to get some sort of points in your imaginary head games. Not to ‘beat’ somepony. Not to try and upset Clear. Just because you want to spend the holiday with your daughter, without everypony walking on eggshells. If you can't do that, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.”
Rider scowled at him, tilting his head from one side to the other before responding.
“Heh. I wonder what the court would-”
“Oh for Celestia's sake, cut it out!” Quibble groaned, taking off the boyfriend mask. “Whatever you were going to say, just stop and think for five seconds! You obsessing over being the guy on top, the one in the lead, always being number one, has ruined you! You’ve lost your wife, your pension, your career - you've even lost your reputation. Yeah, guess what? Just about everypony who cares knows why your face isn't in Wonderbolts HQ with the other retirees any more. You have a filly upstairs who adores you, because you're her Dad. Her hero. Whether you deserve to be or not. Could you try not bucking that up too? For her? Otherwise, hey, the window’s right there!” Quibble gestured towards it with one hoof. “Don't forget to open your wings when you take off!”
“What makes you think you can-”
“No,” Quibble cut him off. “I've said my piece. You can behave, or you can go. It's Hearth's Warming, and I'm going to spend it in my home, with the ponies I love, and you can join us if you're willing to just have a happy holiday with your daughter. Otherwise, hey! Dragon Pit plays with three just as well as it does with four, and I've spent enough of my holiday dealing with this.”
Wind Rider stood up, glaring at Quibble, and started to turn towards the window.
Then he spotted a glimpse of purple upstairs.
The one pony who still thought he was a hero.
“You should go get that pizza heated up again, I'll go get Sprint. And Clear….” Rider sighed, biting back his irritation. “I'm sorry I pulled that stunt with the pendant. I should've at least told Sprint that I had them make it, so she could make up her own mind.”
“Thank you,” Clear Sky said softly, standing up herself. She glanced up at the little filly who still connected her life to the middle-aged flyer she'd tried to cut most of the way out of it.
“Sweetie? Want to come down here and we can set up a game while we get dinner? Do something together that doesn't involve your Mom and Dad fighting.”
“Ghosts of Hearth's Warming?” She suggested, starting to fly down from the upper level.
“No card games with pizza!” Quibble shouted, shaking a hoof playfully from the kitchen. “Plastic and pewter only!”
“Welcome to the madhouse,” Clear chuckled, stepping closer to her ex. “And happy Hearth's Warming. For Sprint.”
“...Happy Hearth's Warming,” he nodded, joining in the burgeoning chaos of Hearth's Warming Eve.
Author's Note
Happy Hearth's Warming, everypony! Admiral, I hope this wasn't completely missing the point - slice of life isn't necessarily my strong suit, and this may be a little more drama than SoL, but I think I found a slice about the holidays that isn't worked over too much. A little family drama, one side bringing out the worst in the other despite their best intentions, and coming together for the holiday despite not necessarily liking each other all that much any more. Because in the end, isn't Hearth's Warming all about realizing that you can sweep centuries of animosity under the rug because you've realized that hey, you can at least put up with each other for a few days out of the year if that's what it takes to not go extinct?
You know, sometimes I think I may be going about this 'holiday' thing all wrong....
