A Hearth's Warming Gameby Wanderer DChaptersPrologueTrainingGamesEpilogue: FamilyPrologueA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Prologue It was the middle of the night as the shadow made its way towards the center of Canterlot Gardens. The hedge maze proved no challenge for the interloper as it followed the route that would take them to the center of said labyrinth unerringly, until soon, the figure stood in front of the three stone-frozen villains that had almost brought the end of ponykind. With a furtive glance around, the figure raised its head, and a hazy glow emanated from within the cowl of the cloak it had enveloped itself with. A glow echoed around the most devious queen of the changelings…. Chrysalis herself. The queen—originally caught in the imprisoning magic while in the middle of screaming in anger—groaned in delight as she was able to close her mouth after an unknown amount of time having it forced open. After sputtering for a moment, she allowed a deep, rumbling laugh to escape her lips as her eyes searched the familiar stars above her. "At last!" she bellowed, "I am—" she tried to raise her hoof. "I—" She tried to open her wings. "I— I am not free?" She glanced down as much as she could force her otherwise paralyzed neck to move and saw that the rest of her was still very much a piece of rock. She hesitated, then blinked."What kind of moron only dispels the head?" she asked aloud. "Ahem." Somecreature below her gently coughed. "Ah, there you are," Chrysalis said, narrowing her eyes with displeasure at the cloaked pony. It could only be a pony… well, she supposed it could be a zebra, or a yak. Or even a kirin. Sure. But the single horn poking from under the hood gave her a good idea that she was dealing with a particularly tall one. "Well then, won't you finish the job? Preferably before the guards come." "We'll be fine," the interloper answered. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. "You." The pony shrugged. "The one and only." "Hah. Not for an entire month!" Chrysalis snorted, then worked her jaw a little and made a heroic face. "Okay, you can stone me again, just let me keep my mouth shut this time. Pigeons are not fun when you're a statue." "You— I… no! That's not what I'm here for!" "Well, whatever you're here for, Princess, it can't beat being able to close my mouth for the first time since…" she let that hang, glancing down at the pony. "Aren't you going to tell me?" After a moment she sighed. "Well, far longer than I ever did for Shining Armor, in any case." Chrysalis grinned at the sound of gritting teeth. "I knew this was a bad idea," Cadance said, pulling back the hood to glare at Chrysalis. "Twilight keeps harping about second chances and things like that, and I thought that since Shining had said you had a good side, I could appeal to that, but clearly not." "Wait, he said that?" Chrysalis asked before her mouth was grasped by Cadance's magic and forced open even more than before. "Let's make sure you have enough space to get an eagle to nest there this time." Eyes wide, and unable to move any other part of her body, Chrysalis attempted to say something with her mouth wide open, which didn't work until she shapeshifted her tongue into a tiny head that managed to squeak out a high-pitched: "Wait!" Cadance stopped her spell, although she kept an iron grip with her magic on Chrysalis' mouth. The bigger one, in any case. She couldn't decide how to feel about the tiny Chrysalis. It was disturbing at best. "Look, maybe we can come to some sort of an agreement," the high-pitched tiny Chrysalis said. "I'm a villain and I've been encased in stone for some time, give me a break." She sounded like a mouse would, that is if mice spoke Equestrian, Cadance decided. Huffing. she released Chrysalis' mouth and had the satisfaction of watching her bite her tongue. While the changeling sputtered and gasped in pain, Cadance started pacing in front of her. "It's been a few years since you were imprisoned. My daughter is now a teen, and she's…" Cadance trailed off, closing her eyes and bracing herself. "She's a nerd. Just like her dad." Chrysalis gave her a look. "Uh-huh. So what does this have to do with me?" Cadance gritted her teeth. "Well, she recently came to me because she found out her dad used to play Ogres and Oubliettes with-with me." "Uh-huh." "And I have never played that!" Cadance snapped. "I—Chrysalis, playing O&O is social suicide! I can't do it! I never could! My entire life I was taught that I should focus on doing the popular things rather than that because being into that automatically made you a loser!" Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "You can't tell me you didn't know he played that." "I did, but—" "...but you thought he'd abandon his hobbies once he married?" Chrysalis guessed, then snorted when Cadance looked away. "Passion is not the only thing that makes marriage work, Princess." "Love requires a bit of sacrifice, you know." "Ha. And tell me, what did you sacrifice? What did Shining expect you to drop for his sake?" Chrysalis smiled, waiting. Cadance opened her mouth to respond, then, after a moment closed it, a flustered look crossed her face. Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm the one giving you marriage advice." "That barely counts as advice." "Insight, then." Cadance huffed, then sighed, then sat down, wide-eyed in front of Chrysalis, looking at nothing but the floor and her hooves. "Oh no," Chrysalis muttered as the Princess started having a panic attack. "I've been such a self-centered pony!" Cadance wailed. "The Princess of Love? More like the Princess… of Avarice! Of Self-Centerededness!" "Is that a word?" " I get to have all I want, but Shining can't have even his hobbies!" Cadance continued, undeterred. "Okay, Cadance, seriously…" "I'm so out of touch with him that I can't even understand his favorite game!" "To be fair, who can truly understand another creature, am I right?" "And I pride myself on having 'helped' ponies find love and return to marriage, but what did I really do? I only made them horny!" "Hmm." "Or-or just made them forget for a bit, but I never helped them understand and deal with the underlying reasons for their marriage failing!" "It's not like he's leaving you over a tabletop game, Cadance. I don't think the thought's crossed his mind at all." "It's just the start! He'll find out I've been just pretending to not be in the mood, and then, and then he's going to force the issue and I'm going to be sitting there with my husband and my daughter and they'll see that I don't know what the hay THAC0 even means! And, and then I'll roll the wrong dice and I'll ruin the game an—oghrth!" Cadance blinked at the hoof suddenly in her mouth, stopping her from ranting. "Fine," Chrysalis said. "Fine. I'll help, just… stop. It's depressing. You're syphoning love away from the air, lady." Cadance's eyes shimmered with grateful tears, and she lowered Chrysaly's hoof gently. "Thank you. Shining was right, you're not completely evil." "Yeah, well, I think my contract is over anyway, so it's okay to drop the act." "Your contract?" Chrysalis clamped her mouth shut for a moment. "Let's just say a certain Princess thought an invasion roleplay would be fantastic, then extended the contract to have me instigate enemies of the state in order to help Twilight grow into the role," she admitted. "Her name might or might not be Celestia." Cadance studied Chrysalis for a moment. "I don't believe you." She snorted. "You're too good at lying." "Thank you!" Cadance rolled her eyes, but stood up with Chrysalis' help, and together they started walking out of the labyrinth until a stray thought crossed her mind. "Wait, I only dispelled your head, how did you—" "I'm the Changeling Queen, Princess," Chrysalis snorted. "I transformed." TrainingA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Chapter 1: Training Cadance sat frozen at the table, with a fake smile on her face. In front of her, three stapled pages of numbers and words that made no sense rested next to a cup containing different sided dice. A soda can waited a little bit further in, within reach but away from the edge of the table. Between her, her husband, and her daughter was a map with figurines and toy buildings all over it. "Oh. Wow," Cadance managed to mumble out. "I can't believe you both did all of this… um, for me?" Flurry Heart trotted around the table and threw her foreleg across her mother's shoulders, gesturing with her free hoof at the Ogres and Oubliettes spread in front of them, a wide smile on her face. "Isn't it awesome, mom? I didn't know you used to play! I think it would be wicked to do it as a whole family!" "I—I did play, didn't I?" Cadance forced herself to say, her eyes wandering around the entire setup wide and panicky. Her wide smile didn't diminish as she stood up suddenly. "Ahaha. I did, right? Um… I'm sorry you two, but I really don't feel the best right now…" "Mom?" Flurry asked, deflating a little. "Really?" "Sorry honey, I- I really can't right now, but…" She glanced at the calendar. "W-why don't we try again on uh, Hearth's Warming?" "Ooh, a Hearth's Warming session!" Flurry squeaked, eyes brightening. She cantered to her dad. "Let's do it, daddy!" Shining chuckled. "Of course." He glanced, unsure at Cadance. "How bad is it, honey? It's been a while, but you know this isn't that demanding…" "No, no," I just don't want to be a wet blanker, feeling ill and all…" she said, forcing a couple of fake coughs. "I um, already booked a checkup in uh, Canterlot! So, I'll be heading out soon and I'll get better." "Can't you go to a doctor here?" Flurry asked. "I… I just, um, no offense but I remember being able to see through the doctor here and it just gives me anxiety." Shining narrowed his eyes. "Right." "A-anyway!" Cadance stepped back, smile still plastered on her face. "I'll be gone for a few weeks. Have fun!" Then she turned around and ran out of the room. "Ahahahaha!" Cadance pretended not to be offended at Chrysalis rolling on the floor laughing at her expense, instead choosing to drink a sip of her coffee and appreciating the interior of the cabin she had acquired for her visit to Canterlot. "That's priceless!" Chrysalis crooned. "When you asked me for more details I didn't anticipate you mocking me over it," Cadance finally muttered. "First rule of O&O, Princess. Always check for traps." "And so, it starts," Cadance groaned as Chrysalis pushed herself up and started unboxing all of the things Cadance had secretly ordered for her lessons at the Changeling's behest. "And so it starts," Chrysalis agreed, nodding as she pulled out books, more books, maps, miniatures, cards, dice, a thing called a dice tower, a folding a thing Shining had once called a DM Screen, and even notebooks. "Is… all of that necessary?" Cadance asked, levitating one of the books over and wincing as she remembered how expensive it was. "If you want to play at my level and convince Shining?" Chrysalis asked. "Yes." She paused. "I get to keep all of this right?" Cadance sighed, dropping the book flat on the table. "As we agreed, yes." "Perfect," Chrysalis purred. "Well then, let's get started." She levitated a bunch of vaguely familiar papers over to Cadance, who noticed—alarmingly—that they were essentially forms to be filled out. These were accompanied by a pencil, a few dice, an eraser and a book. "There's several ways of creating a character," Chrysalis said, taking a seat across from Cadance. "But we'll start by choosing a species." Cadance blinked. "A species?" "Of course! It's part of the appeal," Chrysalis said, grinning as she magically flipped the book open. "Let's see, you can be a pony of course (boooring), but also a dragon or…" "I'll be a pony!" Cadance said. "I don't want to complicate things!" "As I said. Boring." Chrysalis sighed. "Just so you know, I never played ponies while I was you." Cadance grimaced. "What did you choose?" In front of her, Chrysalis turned into a pony-like seductress with the lower body of a snake. "Shiny really liked my lamia character." Cadance closed her eyes and counted to ten. Then when that failed, she took a deep breath and performed her breathing exercise twice. "Fine, let's make a lamia." Chrysalis nodded enthusiastically. "Alright, now we go over Ability Score increases, Alignment, size…" As Chrysalis continued Cadance softly bumped her head against the table. "I should have just owned up to it." "But you didn't, so now you have to pay attention!" "...standard array, point buy, but honestly, rolling for stats is more fun." Cadance grimaced. "Why does my background have to be 'exotic dancer'?" "Well, you're a lamia living in Canter-Hall Fort," Chrysalis said as if it was obvious. "What else would you do there?" "Help ponies?" Cadance said. "Besides, I don't want to explain to Flurry what an exotic dancer is!" "How old is she again?" "Sixteen." "Oh, she knows." "If I'm a dancer, why do I need so many weapons?" Cadance asked, peering down at the list of suggested equipment for her character class. "This is a medieval world ruled by creatures of absolute power!" Chrysalis said, rising up on her seat dramatically. "A Chaotic-Good emotion manipulator such as a lamia exotic dancer would do well to be able to defend herself, don't you think?" Cadance sighed. "I honestly do not understand how this is a quintessential O&O scenario," Cadance said, looking up from the map straight at Chrysalis, who was at that moment shapeshifted into Shining Armor. 'Shining' looked up from the screen. "Trust me. It is." "It's just a gazebo." "I guess it is." "..." Cadance stared at the miniature. Her little lamia figurine took one square. The gazebo was four times her size. "I think I'll walk around it." Chrysalis/Shining grinned. "...dammit." Cadance muttered, then pulled out her bow and arrows. "Come on, don't be a spoilsport," Chrysalis said. She poked Cadance, who was sitting down with her forelegs crossed and an extremely annoyed look on her face. "Why would a gazebo do that?!" She motioned at the table accusingly. "Why would you do that?! How is that fair?" "As I said, it's a classic scenario." "I don't like this game." Cadance muttered, then blinked and looked up when a slithering sound reached her ears. She found herself staring at her own character, brought to life by Chrysalis. "Come on, my dear," the lamia said in Cadance's voice, "dance with your favorite lamia." Cadance's mouth twitched. "And with a final, dry gasp, the lich collapses onto the altar, its skin flaking into dust as an unseen wind blows away its decrepit remains." Chrysalis/Shining said, rising to their hooves dramatically. "Woo!" Spike hollered. "Yesssss!" Cadance agreed, high-hoofing Big Mac, who nodded and joined the celebrations with a firm and happy, "Eeeyup!" "And, so, all gazebos turned back into inanimate objects across the kingdom, and our heroes would grow into legends told around campfires and in gatherings of all sorts for centuries to come." 'Shining' put down his DM screen with a satisfied look as the group gave him a round of applause. "You are ready," Chrysalis said, placing an encouraging hoof on Cadance's shoulder. The Princess looked nodded with a smile, which faded as she looked down at her stamped O&O t-shirt. "Can I take this off now?" Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Sure." Nodding gratefully, Cadance did just that, folding the t-shirt carefully before passing it off to Chrysalis, who smirked and held it against her cheek. "Still warm," the Changeling Queen said, then took a deep sniff of it. "Oh, I'll have to wear it to think of you, Princess." "Right. Well, come on, pack up." Chrysalis started doing just that. "Well? Aren't you going to get going?" "Oh, I am," Cadance said. "You are coming with me." This gave Chrysalis pause. "I'm whatnow?" "Coming with me," Cadance repeated. "I need you on standby in case things don't work out." Chrysalis slumped. "Joy." GamesA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Chapter 2: Games Hearth's Warming morning was, across Equestria, one of the most wholesome events anycreature could witness, and the Crystal Empire was no exception. Merged in part with older celebrations from forgotten times (as well as the euphoria of still being free of Sombra), the Crystal Ponies partied hard the previous eve, then celebrated with a good feast on the day itself. Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart had embraced this and had spent the previous night at the large party the palace had hosted for nobles, merchants and dignitaries in the palace itself, with the grounds open to the population in its entirety providing free food, music, performances and fantastic decorations for the visitors. That night, exhausted, they had all gone to bed, Flurry cuddling into her collection of stuffed animals and creatures, while Shining and Cadance had stayed up for just a bit longer, talking about the empire, or reading the letters Twilight and the others had sent them before also cuddling into bed together and letting the warmth of each other and their blankets carry them into Luna's realm of dreams. The next morning started early, despite their hopes. Flurry Heart had burst into their room carrying a pair of presents in her telekinetic grip, one for each, and something they had never seen her shop for. Shining had gotten a new scarf, and Cadance a new set of winter saddle-bags. Simple gifts, but with so much love behind them the pair had struggled to hold back tears of joy. After that, it was Flurry who opened her gifts next to the Hearth's tree, finding everything from a set of winter clothes for herself, boots, wing warmers and even a knitted cap, to more practical items for her own studies as a princess. Although the Crystal Empire's magic prevented the sheer cold from the North to consume the city, it allowed enough weather to have a healthy carpet of snow covering the roads and roofs. The decorations glittered and shimmered as wind blew through the tree leaves and the sound of little bells could be heard here and there. Cadance and Shining walked alongside Flurry Heart down the main avenue to take pictures with their subjects around the statue of Spike, then they went down the street to the shopping district, following their daughter as Flurry jumped from window-shopping one store to the other, gasping and grinning at the new things they had set up on display. Once their visit was over, they had returned to the castle for a small lunch. Nothing fancy, and easy to reheat, as Cadance had insisted the staff visit their own families. All in all, it had been an idyllic day. A wonderful Hearth's Warming for them all. Now, however, they had finished their meal, and were relaxing when Flurry Heart spoke up. "How about that game we've been planning?" Cadance felt her smile strain, but then she reminded herself to keep calm. She had trained. She had learned. She had forged her way through the gauntlet of dice, mazes, monsters and dubious plot lines. She knew how to play now. This was for Shining and Flurry. It was her offering to them, an effort to join them in something she didn't particularly like, but they were passionate about. And really, what was more in the spirit of Hearth Warming than stepping up for others? Embracing the unknown and valiantly confronting her fears? Besides, what was there to fear? So, her smile relaxed a little. "Sure thing, honey. Let's do it." "Yay!" Flurry gave her a quick hug and used her magic to quickly set up the table. "Wow, mom, you're playing a lamia?" "That's a bold choice," Shining agreed. "Of course it is," Cadance muttered, thoughts of punching a certain bug crossing her mind. "And an exotic dancer…" Flurry tilted her head. "What's an exotic dancer?" Thoughts of murdering a particular bug crossed Cadance's mind until she was handed her sheet to fill up. The day had been very, very boring for Chrysalis. Oh, the party last night was fine. She had strolled around, slowly seeping love from all creatures present, even other changelings. None of them had even noticed her. She had eaten, laughed, drank, flirted, drank some more, stuffed herself with more love, and even danced with Cadance just for kicks. The fact that Cadance knew who she was was the best part, because her face when Shining had taken a turn dancing, and then young Flurry had been priceless. Still, she was a guest, so after their respective dances, she had politely excused herself from the ruling family and made a beeline for the chocolate fountain. If there was a way to create an eternal chocolate fountain, there would be no need for feeding off of love, for that right there was enough to keep her giddy and fed without issues forever. Sure, her mother had advised against eating too much chocolate. 'Dangerous' for changelings, when consumed in large quantities, but really, who was she trying to fool? Live by the chocolate, die by the chocolate! Ha! If that was a way to go, that would be her choice anyway. Unfortunately, the fountain was not eternal, and after the festivities ended, she had to abandon the delightful contraption and abscond to her guest room, which Cadance had arranged for her. All things considered, this deal with Cadance had worked out pretty well for her, so she was less annoyed than she would have otherwise been when the Princess of Love knocked on her door with something akin to desperation at around the time she was supposed to be playing her game. "Well," she said, languishing at the entrance to the room. "Isn't this a sur—" "It's a different game!" Cadance hollered, barreling through and dragging Chrysalis by the tail into the room. "What?" "It's different than what you showed me!" Cadance roared, shoving a bunch of papers into Chrysalis' face. Shaking the Princess off, Chrysalis took a couple of steps back and took a look at the pages. "Cadance, this is just O&O 4.1, we played 4.2." "Why is it so different?!" "It's the layout, look, the stats are here, they work the same way, and the page is organized a little different, that's all." "Why didn't you use this edition to teach me then?!" Cadance said, grabbing the pages back and frantically going over them again. Chrysalis gave her a deadpan look. "What? Why wouldn't I get the new edition when you're paying for it?" "Chrysalis…" "Hey, chill, Princess," Chrysalis droned, borrowing a word she had heard someone use last night. "Chill. I like that word. Especially here, in the middle of the North where stepping out of the city changes that from, 'calm down' to 'you're dead.'" She laughed. "What am I supposed to do?" Chrysalis sighed. "It's the same game, you'll be fine. You haven't played in a while with Shining, right? Or rather, I haven't. If he asks, just mention that you're a bit out of practice if you find yourself struggling to find something. You know more than enough to pull through." Cadance was already doing her breathing exercises. "Fine. Fine. I'll be okay." "Yes." Nodding a bit more forcefully than was necessary to project confidence, the Princess strolled out of the room. Chrysalis sighed and walked over to where the small coffee set for guests was. "Better prepare some of this. It's going to be a long one." "Dad, I think mom might still be sick, this is the fifth time she's gotten up to go to the restroom." Shining nodded, pensive. "It's odd…" "What do you mean?" "Well, she seemed okay at first, if a little rusty, but she's really having a hard time, isn't she?" Flurry put down her sheet and started picking through the miniatures, trying to find a good fit for her griffon character. "Didn't you two use to play all the time?" Shining chuckled. "Not really. Cadance wasn't much into gaming until later on, around the time we got married." "Huh." "No." "Come on, please?" Cadance begged. "Just for tonight!" Chrysalis rolled her eyes, then grinned. "All night?" Cadance paused to consider it, then immediately shook her head. "No, of course not. Seriously?" "Hey, can't blame a mare for trying, he might be slightly older, but he's still fit." Cadance smiled goofily. "Yes, he is." "Anyway, I don't really have anything to gain from doing this." "Please, Chrysalis…" Cadance closed her eyes. "I-I… I promise I'll bring it up with Shining and if he wants…" she trailed off when Chrysalis put a hoof to her mouth. "Enough." She sighed. "He'll say no anyway, let's just do this, but after this, I'll need some cuddle time with you to replenish my energies so I can get going." "Me?!" Cadance gasped. "Oh, don't pretend you're not fond of your little love bug," Chrysalis intoned mockingly. "A few hugs will do." "...fine." Cadance sighed. "In fact, I have a counter-offer." "Do you think we should cancel tonight's game?" Flurry asked just as the door to the room opened and her mother walked in, levitating some snacks and a drink. "Never!" Cadance said. "I realized what I was missing, I was missing the snacks!" Flurry's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, I forgot the snacks!" "Not to worry, Flurry, dear, I have them right here." Cadance dropped several bags of chips, pretzels, cookies, and other munchies on the table. "Now, let's get started." -o- "And with a cackling laugh, the death knight launches himself at both of you," Shining declared, imitating the crazed laughter of his villainous NPC and the motion of a slashing sword in their direction. "What's your AC?" "Did he just charge straight at us?" Cadance clarified. Shining raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" "Then, I don't think so, Shinny~" Cadance teased, slurping some of her milkshake. "For you see, I had cast 'Wall of Force' to encompass the area where he teleported into from outside the room." "That means he can't just attack us straight out, even with legendary skills!" Flurry said excitedly. She reached over and hugged Cadance, who stiffened for a moment. "Mom! You're a genius!" "Ha!" I saw it coming a mile away." Shining's eyes narrowed. "Well then, the Death Knight crashes against the unseen wall, roaring in anger. You know this is but a temporary barrier in his way, what will you do now? Flurry you go first." Flurry muttered and started shifting through her character sheet when she felt her mother's hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see Cadance grinning. "Honey, you still have a teleport available, right?" "Yeah?" "Well, remember that pouch I dropped here?" Cadance indicated the area where earlier in the fight she had dropped her coin purse. "Yeah?" "Can you teleport say… that stone slab over there to just above it so it crashes down on it?" Flurry blinked. "I… think so, but it's the last teleport on my wand, so no more magic from me, if we do that. Can I do that, dad?" Shining considered them for a moment, then relented. "Sure." "I hope you know what you're doing," Flurry said. "Or this adventure is over." "Trust me." "The slab falls down crashing on top of your purse,":Shining said. "Flattening it." "Perfect!" Cadance's hoofs came up to clap adorably. "Do you remember what was inside?" "Inside?" Shining consulted his notes, shifting through a small pile on them. "Oh no." "Oh, yesss." "What is it?" Flurry asked. "I had a spell pearl inside with the spell "Sunburst" in it." Shining closed his eyes. "Crap." Flurry could only laugh as her mom started rolling a bunch of dice on the table. "Can your knight take…. four hundred and sixty two radiant damage?" Cadance asked sweetly. "That was great, mom!" Flurry said excitedly, hugging Cadance tightly before giving her a kiss on the cheek. She went off and did the same for her dad, then headed to her room for the night. "That was pretty great," Shining said as he approached Cadance. Then his voice grew hard. "So where is my wife, Chrysalis?" Cadance's eyes widened, and she blinked. "What? No. Not me. I'm Cadancce." "You're not. I didn't want to say anything in front of Flurry, but if you've done anything to her, I'll—" "Fine! Fine." Chrysalis rolled her eyes and motioned with her head. "She's just fine. She's in my room." "Your room?" Chrysalis used Cadance's mouth to smile widely. "It is now. Better check in on your wife. Come on." Cadance looked up when Chrysalis, followed by Shining, stepped into the room. Her eyes went wide and she looked from one to the other. "What? You weren't supposed to tell him!" Chrysalis chuckled. "I didn't. He somehow figured it out all by himself." The pair turned to look at Shining, who puffed up his chest proudly. "It was easy." "Oh?" Chrysalis' professional pride came out. "Do tell." "For one, the thought occurred to me earlier that our roleplaying time together had all happened just before the wedding," Shining said. "Flurry brought up that you hadn't played in a while, and that got me thinking… and then… you returned much calmer than you had left." "Yes?" "I became suspicious when the world building, narrative, and combat mechanics all seamlessly flowed together into one beautiful lived experience." Shining extrapolated. "That didn't seem like Cadence at all." "What?!" Cadance gasped. "It's true," Shining and Chrysalis echoed. "I don't believe you two!" Cadance said with an indignant pout. Her face then shone with the light of realization as she smirked at them both. "If it was that obvious, how come Flurry didn't notice, then?" she added, her hard stare daring Shining or Chrysalis to reply. "I did," Flurry said, peeking from around the door and making the two ponies in the room jump. "No offense, mom, but your gameplay improved so much, I thought I—" She trailed off, looking from Chrysalis to Cadance. "Wow. Two moms!" "Only one!" Shining and Cadance both said immediately. "For now," Chrysalis added. Then shrugged when the other two glared at her. "What? A queen can dream, right? Besides, you're both cute, and you did promise to bring it up, Caddie." "I think… I need a moment with my family." Cadance sighed. Epilogue: FamilyA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Epilogue: Family Chrysalis refused to leave her room, but gave them some space, humming to herself as she went over to her things and started showing a very curious Flurry Heart her brand new collection of O&O stuff. It wasn't ideal, but the ruling couple couldn't really trust Chrysalis if she left their sight, and well, it would keep both gamers occupied while they talked. "So, what was this all about?" Shining finally asked, sitting next to Cadance on one of the chairs at the tea table in the room. "I'm sorry, Shining," Cadance said after a moment. She tapped her hooves nervously. "When we were dating, I was okay with you playing O&O with your friends… I didn't have to be around for that, and you were not the typical gamer either. Being the captain of the hoofball team, and later on getting to be the Captain of the Guard, well, it wasn't something I was fond of, but it didn't involve me, so I sort of ignored it." "I see," Shining said. "But… I didn't realize this until I released Chrysalis that I was hoping you'd give it up once we were married." Shining blinked in surprise. "But… you never told me it was an issue." "It's not!" Cadance said quickly, taking his hoof with both of hers. "Honey… I know you've given up a lot of things for me, and I thought I was letting you be yourself as well when you did things that I thought were… okay to share publicly. But I was ashamed of the O&O thing, and when Flurry grew to love it to… I just felt like a failure." Shining shook his head. "Love, why would you feel that way?" "It's not that it's wrong," Cadance admitted. "I felt like a failure because it's something you both love and I couldn't be part of… because of my own bias. Cool ponies didn't play that at school, and while I was never disparaging to your roleplaying buddies, I did look down on them in my own way, as did my friends." She sighed. "When both the ponies I love the most in the world turned out to love it… I just wanted to pretend it didn't happen." "And then, because I remembered roleplaying and having fun doing it with Chrysalis when she was pretending to be you… I mentioned to Flurry that you might be up for a game when she asked me if you'd like to join us." Shining pressed his lips. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't realize it had been Chrysalis until now… I just never thought about it." "It's okay," Cadance said, smiling a little. "I felt really bad about not being able to share this with you. I never really gave it a chance, you see… and years of looking down on it were hard to challenge." She glanced fondly at Flurry and Chrysalis, who were excitedly looking together at the Monster Manual. "Chrysalis… you know, what she did at the wedding was awful. I'll… have a long, hard time fully forgiving her for it. But getting to know this side of her has been nice, and she cares about both of us… actually, all three of us now, in her own twisted way." "She does?" "In a very twisted and strange way," Cadane repeated. "But I've grown fond of her. She helped me see you in a different light, and despite all her protests, she taught me how to play… because she knew I wanted to make you happy." Shining reached over and gave her a tight hug. "You've made me happy since the day I saw you for the first time." Cadance giggled. "I know," she said fondly, leaning over to give him a peck on the lips. "But Hearth's Warming is about letting go of old grievances, bias and fears. I think sharing with my husband and child something they're passionate about is a great motivation to work on making you both… happier." She smiled gently. "I think I can even let go of my anger towards Chrysalis." "Aww," Flurry heart said, hugging them both tightly. "I love you guys!" Cadance and Shining hugged her back only to freeze as they hear the real Flurry Heart giggling from across the room. The pair recoiled, looking at Chrysalis, who kept hugging them. "So, how about it?" The Queen said. "I can settle for every other Wednesday if you'll take me." "Settle for every other Wednesday for what?" Flurry asked, joining them all for a hug. "Nothing!" Cadance and Shining said, both blushing. After a moment, the group laughed and separated. "Alright you three," Chrysalis said, strutting over to the pile of books she still had to read. "It's Hearths Warming day. Go spend it together post-game. Watch a movie or something." The trio of royals glanced at each other with smiles and nodded, heading out of the room, until only Cadance and Chrysalis remained. "Thank you," Cadance said, hesitating at the door. "You're really different than what I thought you'd be." "Bah. I've just been hanging out with you too long. Your good vibes are rubbing off on me," Chrysalis said dismissively. "Anyway, you got what you wanted, so go have fun." "Right." Cadance turned, then hesitated again. She looked over her shoulder at Chrysalis. "You know, we're having a proper family dinner later on tonight…" "I thought I wasn't going to be sharing you guys," Chrysalis teased. "Besides, you said it, Caddie. 'Family Dinner', that's not me." "Yet." "What?" "I said, I'll save you a seat." Chrysalis chuckled as the princess joined her husband and child, talking animatedly about other games they could play together. She waited until they were all gone, then sighed a happy little contented sigh as she glanced down at the book again. "Sure you did." (The End) Author's Note So, yeah, this grew out of control quickly. The original request was to have Shining, Cadance, and Flurry having a nice little Xmas. (Or Hearth's Warming, since you know, ponies.) but I couldn't keep it simple, could I? Of course not. Why would I? So I added Chrysalis and Ogres and Oubliettes (which I never, not once wrote correctly on the first try). Yes, she's a more troll-y Chrysalis reminiscent of the one from The Three Sisters, but hey, she's a fun bug to write like that. I hope you all like it, and especially Calladis, who this is for. I hope they'll forgive me for turning this into a DnD romp with random inuendo thrown in. Also, as a side note, making the cover art was a trip. I was hoping to use a wonderful Flurry Heart I found online, but the artist chose not to let me use her, which, fair enough.
PrologueA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Prologue It was the middle of the night as the shadow made its way towards the center of Canterlot Gardens. The hedge maze proved no challenge for the interloper as it followed the route that would take them to the center of said labyrinth unerringly, until soon, the figure stood in front of the three stone-frozen villains that had almost brought the end of ponykind. With a furtive glance around, the figure raised its head, and a hazy glow emanated from within the cowl of the cloak it had enveloped itself with. A glow echoed around the most devious queen of the changelings…. Chrysalis herself. The queen—originally caught in the imprisoning magic while in the middle of screaming in anger—groaned in delight as she was able to close her mouth after an unknown amount of time having it forced open. After sputtering for a moment, she allowed a deep, rumbling laugh to escape her lips as her eyes searched the familiar stars above her. "At last!" she bellowed, "I am—" she tried to raise her hoof. "I—" She tried to open her wings. "I— I am not free?" She glanced down as much as she could force her otherwise paralyzed neck to move and saw that the rest of her was still very much a piece of rock. She hesitated, then blinked."What kind of moron only dispels the head?" she asked aloud. "Ahem." Somecreature below her gently coughed. "Ah, there you are," Chrysalis said, narrowing her eyes with displeasure at the cloaked pony. It could only be a pony… well, she supposed it could be a zebra, or a yak. Or even a kirin. Sure. But the single horn poking from under the hood gave her a good idea that she was dealing with a particularly tall one. "Well then, won't you finish the job? Preferably before the guards come." "We'll be fine," the interloper answered. Chrysalis narrowed her eyes. "You." The pony shrugged. "The one and only." "Hah. Not for an entire month!" Chrysalis snorted, then worked her jaw a little and made a heroic face. "Okay, you can stone me again, just let me keep my mouth shut this time. Pigeons are not fun when you're a statue." "You— I… no! That's not what I'm here for!" "Well, whatever you're here for, Princess, it can't beat being able to close my mouth for the first time since…" she let that hang, glancing down at the pony. "Aren't you going to tell me?" After a moment she sighed. "Well, far longer than I ever did for Shining Armor, in any case." Chrysalis grinned at the sound of gritting teeth. "I knew this was a bad idea," Cadance said, pulling back the hood to glare at Chrysalis. "Twilight keeps harping about second chances and things like that, and I thought that since Shining had said you had a good side, I could appeal to that, but clearly not." "Wait, he said that?" Chrysalis asked before her mouth was grasped by Cadance's magic and forced open even more than before. "Let's make sure you have enough space to get an eagle to nest there this time." Eyes wide, and unable to move any other part of her body, Chrysalis attempted to say something with her mouth wide open, which didn't work until she shapeshifted her tongue into a tiny head that managed to squeak out a high-pitched: "Wait!" Cadance stopped her spell, although she kept an iron grip with her magic on Chrysalis' mouth. The bigger one, in any case. She couldn't decide how to feel about the tiny Chrysalis. It was disturbing at best. "Look, maybe we can come to some sort of an agreement," the high-pitched tiny Chrysalis said. "I'm a villain and I've been encased in stone for some time, give me a break." She sounded like a mouse would, that is if mice spoke Equestrian, Cadance decided. Huffing. she released Chrysalis' mouth and had the satisfaction of watching her bite her tongue. While the changeling sputtered and gasped in pain, Cadance started pacing in front of her. "It's been a few years since you were imprisoned. My daughter is now a teen, and she's…" Cadance trailed off, closing her eyes and bracing herself. "She's a nerd. Just like her dad." Chrysalis gave her a look. "Uh-huh. So what does this have to do with me?" Cadance gritted her teeth. "Well, she recently came to me because she found out her dad used to play Ogres and Oubliettes with-with me." "Uh-huh." "And I have never played that!" Cadance snapped. "I—Chrysalis, playing O&O is social suicide! I can't do it! I never could! My entire life I was taught that I should focus on doing the popular things rather than that because being into that automatically made you a loser!" Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "You can't tell me you didn't know he played that." "I did, but—" "...but you thought he'd abandon his hobbies once he married?" Chrysalis guessed, then snorted when Cadance looked away. "Passion is not the only thing that makes marriage work, Princess." "Love requires a bit of sacrifice, you know." "Ha. And tell me, what did you sacrifice? What did Shining expect you to drop for his sake?" Chrysalis smiled, waiting. Cadance opened her mouth to respond, then, after a moment closed it, a flustered look crossed her face. Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "I can't believe I'm the one giving you marriage advice." "That barely counts as advice." "Insight, then." Cadance huffed, then sighed, then sat down, wide-eyed in front of Chrysalis, looking at nothing but the floor and her hooves. "Oh no," Chrysalis muttered as the Princess started having a panic attack. "I've been such a self-centered pony!" Cadance wailed. "The Princess of Love? More like the Princess… of Avarice! Of Self-Centerededness!" "Is that a word?" " I get to have all I want, but Shining can't have even his hobbies!" Cadance continued, undeterred. "Okay, Cadance, seriously…" "I'm so out of touch with him that I can't even understand his favorite game!" "To be fair, who can truly understand another creature, am I right?" "And I pride myself on having 'helped' ponies find love and return to marriage, but what did I really do? I only made them horny!" "Hmm." "Or-or just made them forget for a bit, but I never helped them understand and deal with the underlying reasons for their marriage failing!" "It's not like he's leaving you over a tabletop game, Cadance. I don't think the thought's crossed his mind at all." "It's just the start! He'll find out I've been just pretending to not be in the mood, and then, and then he's going to force the issue and I'm going to be sitting there with my husband and my daughter and they'll see that I don't know what the hay THAC0 even means! And, and then I'll roll the wrong dice and I'll ruin the game an—oghrth!" Cadance blinked at the hoof suddenly in her mouth, stopping her from ranting. "Fine," Chrysalis said. "Fine. I'll help, just… stop. It's depressing. You're syphoning love away from the air, lady." Cadance's eyes shimmered with grateful tears, and she lowered Chrysaly's hoof gently. "Thank you. Shining was right, you're not completely evil." "Yeah, well, I think my contract is over anyway, so it's okay to drop the act." "Your contract?" Chrysalis clamped her mouth shut for a moment. "Let's just say a certain Princess thought an invasion roleplay would be fantastic, then extended the contract to have me instigate enemies of the state in order to help Twilight grow into the role," she admitted. "Her name might or might not be Celestia." Cadance studied Chrysalis for a moment. "I don't believe you." She snorted. "You're too good at lying." "Thank you!" Cadance rolled her eyes, but stood up with Chrysalis' help, and together they started walking out of the labyrinth until a stray thought crossed her mind. "Wait, I only dispelled your head, how did you—" "I'm the Changeling Queen, Princess," Chrysalis snorted. "I transformed."
TrainingA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Chapter 1: Training Cadance sat frozen at the table, with a fake smile on her face. In front of her, three stapled pages of numbers and words that made no sense rested next to a cup containing different sided dice. A soda can waited a little bit further in, within reach but away from the edge of the table. Between her, her husband, and her daughter was a map with figurines and toy buildings all over it. "Oh. Wow," Cadance managed to mumble out. "I can't believe you both did all of this… um, for me?" Flurry Heart trotted around the table and threw her foreleg across her mother's shoulders, gesturing with her free hoof at the Ogres and Oubliettes spread in front of them, a wide smile on her face. "Isn't it awesome, mom? I didn't know you used to play! I think it would be wicked to do it as a whole family!" "I—I did play, didn't I?" Cadance forced herself to say, her eyes wandering around the entire setup wide and panicky. Her wide smile didn't diminish as she stood up suddenly. "Ahaha. I did, right? Um… I'm sorry you two, but I really don't feel the best right now…" "Mom?" Flurry asked, deflating a little. "Really?" "Sorry honey, I- I really can't right now, but…" She glanced at the calendar. "W-why don't we try again on uh, Hearth's Warming?" "Ooh, a Hearth's Warming session!" Flurry squeaked, eyes brightening. She cantered to her dad. "Let's do it, daddy!" Shining chuckled. "Of course." He glanced, unsure at Cadance. "How bad is it, honey? It's been a while, but you know this isn't that demanding…" "No, no," I just don't want to be a wet blanker, feeling ill and all…" she said, forcing a couple of fake coughs. "I um, already booked a checkup in uh, Canterlot! So, I'll be heading out soon and I'll get better." "Can't you go to a doctor here?" Flurry asked. "I… I just, um, no offense but I remember being able to see through the doctor here and it just gives me anxiety." Shining narrowed his eyes. "Right." "A-anyway!" Cadance stepped back, smile still plastered on her face. "I'll be gone for a few weeks. Have fun!" Then she turned around and ran out of the room. "Ahahahaha!" Cadance pretended not to be offended at Chrysalis rolling on the floor laughing at her expense, instead choosing to drink a sip of her coffee and appreciating the interior of the cabin she had acquired for her visit to Canterlot. "That's priceless!" Chrysalis crooned. "When you asked me for more details I didn't anticipate you mocking me over it," Cadance finally muttered. "First rule of O&O, Princess. Always check for traps." "And so, it starts," Cadance groaned as Chrysalis pushed herself up and started unboxing all of the things Cadance had secretly ordered for her lessons at the Changeling's behest. "And so it starts," Chrysalis agreed, nodding as she pulled out books, more books, maps, miniatures, cards, dice, a thing called a dice tower, a folding a thing Shining had once called a DM Screen, and even notebooks. "Is… all of that necessary?" Cadance asked, levitating one of the books over and wincing as she remembered how expensive it was. "If you want to play at my level and convince Shining?" Chrysalis asked. "Yes." She paused. "I get to keep all of this right?" Cadance sighed, dropping the book flat on the table. "As we agreed, yes." "Perfect," Chrysalis purred. "Well then, let's get started." She levitated a bunch of vaguely familiar papers over to Cadance, who noticed—alarmingly—that they were essentially forms to be filled out. These were accompanied by a pencil, a few dice, an eraser and a book. "There's several ways of creating a character," Chrysalis said, taking a seat across from Cadance. "But we'll start by choosing a species." Cadance blinked. "A species?" "Of course! It's part of the appeal," Chrysalis said, grinning as she magically flipped the book open. "Let's see, you can be a pony of course (boooring), but also a dragon or…" "I'll be a pony!" Cadance said. "I don't want to complicate things!" "As I said. Boring." Chrysalis sighed. "Just so you know, I never played ponies while I was you." Cadance grimaced. "What did you choose?" In front of her, Chrysalis turned into a pony-like seductress with the lower body of a snake. "Shiny really liked my lamia character." Cadance closed her eyes and counted to ten. Then when that failed, she took a deep breath and performed her breathing exercise twice. "Fine, let's make a lamia." Chrysalis nodded enthusiastically. "Alright, now we go over Ability Score increases, Alignment, size…" As Chrysalis continued Cadance softly bumped her head against the table. "I should have just owned up to it." "But you didn't, so now you have to pay attention!" "...standard array, point buy, but honestly, rolling for stats is more fun." Cadance grimaced. "Why does my background have to be 'exotic dancer'?" "Well, you're a lamia living in Canter-Hall Fort," Chrysalis said as if it was obvious. "What else would you do there?" "Help ponies?" Cadance said. "Besides, I don't want to explain to Flurry what an exotic dancer is!" "How old is she again?" "Sixteen." "Oh, she knows." "If I'm a dancer, why do I need so many weapons?" Cadance asked, peering down at the list of suggested equipment for her character class. "This is a medieval world ruled by creatures of absolute power!" Chrysalis said, rising up on her seat dramatically. "A Chaotic-Good emotion manipulator such as a lamia exotic dancer would do well to be able to defend herself, don't you think?" Cadance sighed. "I honestly do not understand how this is a quintessential O&O scenario," Cadance said, looking up from the map straight at Chrysalis, who was at that moment shapeshifted into Shining Armor. 'Shining' looked up from the screen. "Trust me. It is." "It's just a gazebo." "I guess it is." "..." Cadance stared at the miniature. Her little lamia figurine took one square. The gazebo was four times her size. "I think I'll walk around it." Chrysalis/Shining grinned. "...dammit." Cadance muttered, then pulled out her bow and arrows. "Come on, don't be a spoilsport," Chrysalis said. She poked Cadance, who was sitting down with her forelegs crossed and an extremely annoyed look on her face. "Why would a gazebo do that?!" She motioned at the table accusingly. "Why would you do that?! How is that fair?" "As I said, it's a classic scenario." "I don't like this game." Cadance muttered, then blinked and looked up when a slithering sound reached her ears. She found herself staring at her own character, brought to life by Chrysalis. "Come on, my dear," the lamia said in Cadance's voice, "dance with your favorite lamia." Cadance's mouth twitched. "And with a final, dry gasp, the lich collapses onto the altar, its skin flaking into dust as an unseen wind blows away its decrepit remains." Chrysalis/Shining said, rising to their hooves dramatically. "Woo!" Spike hollered. "Yesssss!" Cadance agreed, high-hoofing Big Mac, who nodded and joined the celebrations with a firm and happy, "Eeeyup!" "And, so, all gazebos turned back into inanimate objects across the kingdom, and our heroes would grow into legends told around campfires and in gatherings of all sorts for centuries to come." 'Shining' put down his DM screen with a satisfied look as the group gave him a round of applause. "You are ready," Chrysalis said, placing an encouraging hoof on Cadance's shoulder. The Princess looked nodded with a smile, which faded as she looked down at her stamped O&O t-shirt. "Can I take this off now?" Chrysalis rolled her eyes. "Sure." Nodding gratefully, Cadance did just that, folding the t-shirt carefully before passing it off to Chrysalis, who smirked and held it against her cheek. "Still warm," the Changeling Queen said, then took a deep sniff of it. "Oh, I'll have to wear it to think of you, Princess." "Right. Well, come on, pack up." Chrysalis started doing just that. "Well? Aren't you going to get going?" "Oh, I am," Cadance said. "You are coming with me." This gave Chrysalis pause. "I'm whatnow?" "Coming with me," Cadance repeated. "I need you on standby in case things don't work out." Chrysalis slumped. "Joy."
GamesA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Chapter 2: Games Hearth's Warming morning was, across Equestria, one of the most wholesome events anycreature could witness, and the Crystal Empire was no exception. Merged in part with older celebrations from forgotten times (as well as the euphoria of still being free of Sombra), the Crystal Ponies partied hard the previous eve, then celebrated with a good feast on the day itself. Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart had embraced this and had spent the previous night at the large party the palace had hosted for nobles, merchants and dignitaries in the palace itself, with the grounds open to the population in its entirety providing free food, music, performances and fantastic decorations for the visitors. That night, exhausted, they had all gone to bed, Flurry cuddling into her collection of stuffed animals and creatures, while Shining and Cadance had stayed up for just a bit longer, talking about the empire, or reading the letters Twilight and the others had sent them before also cuddling into bed together and letting the warmth of each other and their blankets carry them into Luna's realm of dreams. The next morning started early, despite their hopes. Flurry Heart had burst into their room carrying a pair of presents in her telekinetic grip, one for each, and something they had never seen her shop for. Shining had gotten a new scarf, and Cadance a new set of winter saddle-bags. Simple gifts, but with so much love behind them the pair had struggled to hold back tears of joy. After that, it was Flurry who opened her gifts next to the Hearth's tree, finding everything from a set of winter clothes for herself, boots, wing warmers and even a knitted cap, to more practical items for her own studies as a princess. Although the Crystal Empire's magic prevented the sheer cold from the North to consume the city, it allowed enough weather to have a healthy carpet of snow covering the roads and roofs. The decorations glittered and shimmered as wind blew through the tree leaves and the sound of little bells could be heard here and there. Cadance and Shining walked alongside Flurry Heart down the main avenue to take pictures with their subjects around the statue of Spike, then they went down the street to the shopping district, following their daughter as Flurry jumped from window-shopping one store to the other, gasping and grinning at the new things they had set up on display. Once their visit was over, they had returned to the castle for a small lunch. Nothing fancy, and easy to reheat, as Cadance had insisted the staff visit their own families. All in all, it had been an idyllic day. A wonderful Hearth's Warming for them all. Now, however, they had finished their meal, and were relaxing when Flurry Heart spoke up. "How about that game we've been planning?" Cadance felt her smile strain, but then she reminded herself to keep calm. She had trained. She had learned. She had forged her way through the gauntlet of dice, mazes, monsters and dubious plot lines. She knew how to play now. This was for Shining and Flurry. It was her offering to them, an effort to join them in something she didn't particularly like, but they were passionate about. And really, what was more in the spirit of Hearth Warming than stepping up for others? Embracing the unknown and valiantly confronting her fears? Besides, what was there to fear? So, her smile relaxed a little. "Sure thing, honey. Let's do it." "Yay!" Flurry gave her a quick hug and used her magic to quickly set up the table. "Wow, mom, you're playing a lamia?" "That's a bold choice," Shining agreed. "Of course it is," Cadance muttered, thoughts of punching a certain bug crossing her mind. "And an exotic dancer…" Flurry tilted her head. "What's an exotic dancer?" Thoughts of murdering a particular bug crossed Cadance's mind until she was handed her sheet to fill up. The day had been very, very boring for Chrysalis. Oh, the party last night was fine. She had strolled around, slowly seeping love from all creatures present, even other changelings. None of them had even noticed her. She had eaten, laughed, drank, flirted, drank some more, stuffed herself with more love, and even danced with Cadance just for kicks. The fact that Cadance knew who she was was the best part, because her face when Shining had taken a turn dancing, and then young Flurry had been priceless. Still, she was a guest, so after their respective dances, she had politely excused herself from the ruling family and made a beeline for the chocolate fountain. If there was a way to create an eternal chocolate fountain, there would be no need for feeding off of love, for that right there was enough to keep her giddy and fed without issues forever. Sure, her mother had advised against eating too much chocolate. 'Dangerous' for changelings, when consumed in large quantities, but really, who was she trying to fool? Live by the chocolate, die by the chocolate! Ha! If that was a way to go, that would be her choice anyway. Unfortunately, the fountain was not eternal, and after the festivities ended, she had to abandon the delightful contraption and abscond to her guest room, which Cadance had arranged for her. All things considered, this deal with Cadance had worked out pretty well for her, so she was less annoyed than she would have otherwise been when the Princess of Love knocked on her door with something akin to desperation at around the time she was supposed to be playing her game. "Well," she said, languishing at the entrance to the room. "Isn't this a sur—" "It's a different game!" Cadance hollered, barreling through and dragging Chrysalis by the tail into the room. "What?" "It's different than what you showed me!" Cadance roared, shoving a bunch of papers into Chrysalis' face. Shaking the Princess off, Chrysalis took a couple of steps back and took a look at the pages. "Cadance, this is just O&O 4.1, we played 4.2." "Why is it so different?!" "It's the layout, look, the stats are here, they work the same way, and the page is organized a little different, that's all." "Why didn't you use this edition to teach me then?!" Cadance said, grabbing the pages back and frantically going over them again. Chrysalis gave her a deadpan look. "What? Why wouldn't I get the new edition when you're paying for it?" "Chrysalis…" "Hey, chill, Princess," Chrysalis droned, borrowing a word she had heard someone use last night. "Chill. I like that word. Especially here, in the middle of the North where stepping out of the city changes that from, 'calm down' to 'you're dead.'" She laughed. "What am I supposed to do?" Chrysalis sighed. "It's the same game, you'll be fine. You haven't played in a while with Shining, right? Or rather, I haven't. If he asks, just mention that you're a bit out of practice if you find yourself struggling to find something. You know more than enough to pull through." Cadance was already doing her breathing exercises. "Fine. Fine. I'll be okay." "Yes." Nodding a bit more forcefully than was necessary to project confidence, the Princess strolled out of the room. Chrysalis sighed and walked over to where the small coffee set for guests was. "Better prepare some of this. It's going to be a long one." "Dad, I think mom might still be sick, this is the fifth time she's gotten up to go to the restroom." Shining nodded, pensive. "It's odd…" "What do you mean?" "Well, she seemed okay at first, if a little rusty, but she's really having a hard time, isn't she?" Flurry put down her sheet and started picking through the miniatures, trying to find a good fit for her griffon character. "Didn't you two use to play all the time?" Shining chuckled. "Not really. Cadance wasn't much into gaming until later on, around the time we got married." "Huh." "No." "Come on, please?" Cadance begged. "Just for tonight!" Chrysalis rolled her eyes, then grinned. "All night?" Cadance paused to consider it, then immediately shook her head. "No, of course not. Seriously?" "Hey, can't blame a mare for trying, he might be slightly older, but he's still fit." Cadance smiled goofily. "Yes, he is." "Anyway, I don't really have anything to gain from doing this." "Please, Chrysalis…" Cadance closed her eyes. "I-I… I promise I'll bring it up with Shining and if he wants…" she trailed off when Chrysalis put a hoof to her mouth. "Enough." She sighed. "He'll say no anyway, let's just do this, but after this, I'll need some cuddle time with you to replenish my energies so I can get going." "Me?!" Cadance gasped. "Oh, don't pretend you're not fond of your little love bug," Chrysalis intoned mockingly. "A few hugs will do." "...fine." Cadance sighed. "In fact, I have a counter-offer." "Do you think we should cancel tonight's game?" Flurry asked just as the door to the room opened and her mother walked in, levitating some snacks and a drink. "Never!" Cadance said. "I realized what I was missing, I was missing the snacks!" Flurry's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, I forgot the snacks!" "Not to worry, Flurry, dear, I have them right here." Cadance dropped several bags of chips, pretzels, cookies, and other munchies on the table. "Now, let's get started." -o- "And with a cackling laugh, the death knight launches himself at both of you," Shining declared, imitating the crazed laughter of his villainous NPC and the motion of a slashing sword in their direction. "What's your AC?" "Did he just charge straight at us?" Cadance clarified. Shining raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" "Then, I don't think so, Shinny~" Cadance teased, slurping some of her milkshake. "For you see, I had cast 'Wall of Force' to encompass the area where he teleported into from outside the room." "That means he can't just attack us straight out, even with legendary skills!" Flurry said excitedly. She reached over and hugged Cadance, who stiffened for a moment. "Mom! You're a genius!" "Ha!" I saw it coming a mile away." Shining's eyes narrowed. "Well then, the Death Knight crashes against the unseen wall, roaring in anger. You know this is but a temporary barrier in his way, what will you do now? Flurry you go first." Flurry muttered and started shifting through her character sheet when she felt her mother's hoof on her shoulder. She looked up to see Cadance grinning. "Honey, you still have a teleport available, right?" "Yeah?" "Well, remember that pouch I dropped here?" Cadance indicated the area where earlier in the fight she had dropped her coin purse. "Yeah?" "Can you teleport say… that stone slab over there to just above it so it crashes down on it?" Flurry blinked. "I… think so, but it's the last teleport on my wand, so no more magic from me, if we do that. Can I do that, dad?" Shining considered them for a moment, then relented. "Sure." "I hope you know what you're doing," Flurry said. "Or this adventure is over." "Trust me." "The slab falls down crashing on top of your purse,":Shining said. "Flattening it." "Perfect!" Cadance's hoofs came up to clap adorably. "Do you remember what was inside?" "Inside?" Shining consulted his notes, shifting through a small pile on them. "Oh no." "Oh, yesss." "What is it?" Flurry asked. "I had a spell pearl inside with the spell "Sunburst" in it." Shining closed his eyes. "Crap." Flurry could only laugh as her mom started rolling a bunch of dice on the table. "Can your knight take…. four hundred and sixty two radiant damage?" Cadance asked sweetly. "That was great, mom!" Flurry said excitedly, hugging Cadance tightly before giving her a kiss on the cheek. She went off and did the same for her dad, then headed to her room for the night. "That was pretty great," Shining said as he approached Cadance. Then his voice grew hard. "So where is my wife, Chrysalis?" Cadance's eyes widened, and she blinked. "What? No. Not me. I'm Cadancce." "You're not. I didn't want to say anything in front of Flurry, but if you've done anything to her, I'll—" "Fine! Fine." Chrysalis rolled her eyes and motioned with her head. "She's just fine. She's in my room." "Your room?" Chrysalis used Cadance's mouth to smile widely. "It is now. Better check in on your wife. Come on." Cadance looked up when Chrysalis, followed by Shining, stepped into the room. Her eyes went wide and she looked from one to the other. "What? You weren't supposed to tell him!" Chrysalis chuckled. "I didn't. He somehow figured it out all by himself." The pair turned to look at Shining, who puffed up his chest proudly. "It was easy." "Oh?" Chrysalis' professional pride came out. "Do tell." "For one, the thought occurred to me earlier that our roleplaying time together had all happened just before the wedding," Shining said. "Flurry brought up that you hadn't played in a while, and that got me thinking… and then… you returned much calmer than you had left." "Yes?" "I became suspicious when the world building, narrative, and combat mechanics all seamlessly flowed together into one beautiful lived experience." Shining extrapolated. "That didn't seem like Cadence at all." "What?!" Cadance gasped. "It's true," Shining and Chrysalis echoed. "I don't believe you two!" Cadance said with an indignant pout. Her face then shone with the light of realization as she smirked at them both. "If it was that obvious, how come Flurry didn't notice, then?" she added, her hard stare daring Shining or Chrysalis to reply. "I did," Flurry said, peeking from around the door and making the two ponies in the room jump. "No offense, mom, but your gameplay improved so much, I thought I—" She trailed off, looking from Chrysalis to Cadance. "Wow. Two moms!" "Only one!" Shining and Cadance both said immediately. "For now," Chrysalis added. Then shrugged when the other two glared at her. "What? A queen can dream, right? Besides, you're both cute, and you did promise to bring it up, Caddie." "I think… I need a moment with my family." Cadance sighed.
Epilogue: FamilyA Hearth's Warming Game By Wanderer D Epilogue: Family Chrysalis refused to leave her room, but gave them some space, humming to herself as she went over to her things and started showing a very curious Flurry Heart her brand new collection of O&O stuff. It wasn't ideal, but the ruling couple couldn't really trust Chrysalis if she left their sight, and well, it would keep both gamers occupied while they talked. "So, what was this all about?" Shining finally asked, sitting next to Cadance on one of the chairs at the tea table in the room. "I'm sorry, Shining," Cadance said after a moment. She tapped her hooves nervously. "When we were dating, I was okay with you playing O&O with your friends… I didn't have to be around for that, and you were not the typical gamer either. Being the captain of the hoofball team, and later on getting to be the Captain of the Guard, well, it wasn't something I was fond of, but it didn't involve me, so I sort of ignored it." "I see," Shining said. "But… I didn't realize this until I released Chrysalis that I was hoping you'd give it up once we were married." Shining blinked in surprise. "But… you never told me it was an issue." "It's not!" Cadance said quickly, taking his hoof with both of hers. "Honey… I know you've given up a lot of things for me, and I thought I was letting you be yourself as well when you did things that I thought were… okay to share publicly. But I was ashamed of the O&O thing, and when Flurry grew to love it to… I just felt like a failure." Shining shook his head. "Love, why would you feel that way?" "It's not that it's wrong," Cadance admitted. "I felt like a failure because it's something you both love and I couldn't be part of… because of my own bias. Cool ponies didn't play that at school, and while I was never disparaging to your roleplaying buddies, I did look down on them in my own way, as did my friends." She sighed. "When both the ponies I love the most in the world turned out to love it… I just wanted to pretend it didn't happen." "And then, because I remembered roleplaying and having fun doing it with Chrysalis when she was pretending to be you… I mentioned to Flurry that you might be up for a game when she asked me if you'd like to join us." Shining pressed his lips. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't realize it had been Chrysalis until now… I just never thought about it." "It's okay," Cadance said, smiling a little. "I felt really bad about not being able to share this with you. I never really gave it a chance, you see… and years of looking down on it were hard to challenge." She glanced fondly at Flurry and Chrysalis, who were excitedly looking together at the Monster Manual. "Chrysalis… you know, what she did at the wedding was awful. I'll… have a long, hard time fully forgiving her for it. But getting to know this side of her has been nice, and she cares about both of us… actually, all three of us now, in her own twisted way." "She does?" "In a very twisted and strange way," Cadane repeated. "But I've grown fond of her. She helped me see you in a different light, and despite all her protests, she taught me how to play… because she knew I wanted to make you happy." Shining reached over and gave her a tight hug. "You've made me happy since the day I saw you for the first time." Cadance giggled. "I know," she said fondly, leaning over to give him a peck on the lips. "But Hearth's Warming is about letting go of old grievances, bias and fears. I think sharing with my husband and child something they're passionate about is a great motivation to work on making you both… happier." She smiled gently. "I think I can even let go of my anger towards Chrysalis." "Aww," Flurry heart said, hugging them both tightly. "I love you guys!" Cadance and Shining hugged her back only to freeze as they hear the real Flurry Heart giggling from across the room. The pair recoiled, looking at Chrysalis, who kept hugging them. "So, how about it?" The Queen said. "I can settle for every other Wednesday if you'll take me." "Settle for every other Wednesday for what?" Flurry asked, joining them all for a hug. "Nothing!" Cadance and Shining said, both blushing. After a moment, the group laughed and separated. "Alright you three," Chrysalis said, strutting over to the pile of books she still had to read. "It's Hearths Warming day. Go spend it together post-game. Watch a movie or something." The trio of royals glanced at each other with smiles and nodded, heading out of the room, until only Cadance and Chrysalis remained. "Thank you," Cadance said, hesitating at the door. "You're really different than what I thought you'd be." "Bah. I've just been hanging out with you too long. Your good vibes are rubbing off on me," Chrysalis said dismissively. "Anyway, you got what you wanted, so go have fun." "Right." Cadance turned, then hesitated again. She looked over her shoulder at Chrysalis. "You know, we're having a proper family dinner later on tonight…" "I thought I wasn't going to be sharing you guys," Chrysalis teased. "Besides, you said it, Caddie. 'Family Dinner', that's not me." "Yet." "What?" "I said, I'll save you a seat." Chrysalis chuckled as the princess joined her husband and child, talking animatedly about other games they could play together. She waited until they were all gone, then sighed a happy little contented sigh as she glanced down at the book again. "Sure you did." (The End) Author's Note So, yeah, this grew out of control quickly. The original request was to have Shining, Cadance, and Flurry having a nice little Xmas. (Or Hearth's Warming, since you know, ponies.) but I couldn't keep it simple, could I? Of course not. Why would I? So I added Chrysalis and Ogres and Oubliettes (which I never, not once wrote correctly on the first try). Yes, she's a more troll-y Chrysalis reminiscent of the one from The Three Sisters, but hey, she's a fun bug to write like that. I hope you all like it, and especially Calladis, who this is for. I hope they'll forgive me for turning this into a DnD romp with random inuendo thrown in. Also, as a side note, making the cover art was a trip. I was hoping to use a wonderful Flurry Heart I found online, but the artist chose not to let me use her, which, fair enough.
