Equestria Dark: Tales of a New Appleloosan Stallion Water Salespony

Written by VelvetHeart

Heart's Warming, it was a celebration burned deep into the Equestrian ponies' culture. For the Kicker herd, it was one spent in the house of friends, on the ground, closing ties with the other tribes. For Mizzle, it all didn't matter - Heart's Warming meant only one thing of true importance: Presents!

With large, shiny eyes and a bit of an excited bounce, she watched as Cloudkicker dug through the pile of gaily-wrapped boxes.

"This one's for Rumble!" Cloudkicker announced, to Mizzle's momentary disappointment. With box in lap, Rumble began undoing the duct-tape holding the paper. The box itself proved basic, and brown, but when he opened it and reached in...

...well, it was definitely colorful. "Is that... a plush little filly?" Rumble looked rather bemused at the stuffed toy, clearly made to represent a little baby mare with surprising accuracy, down to anatomical correctness. "W-what? I, why do I get a doll?"

"Isn't that great?" Silver Lining chimed in, "Now you can practice your paternal instincts all you want."

"Don't be silly, I don't have any such things," Rumble felt his cheeks flush a little as he said that, angrily setting down the plush toy.

A little digging and the next present came out of the pile. "This one's for Mizzle!" Cloudkicker announced, to the excited squeal of the little filly.

The paper didn't survive long, swiftly reduced to shreds in a frenzy of tearing. "It's a... It's..." Mizzle blinked at the box, turning it around a few times. "The Rumbler?"

Cloudkicker's face instantly turned bright red around the cheeks, the mare quickly leaning aside and whimpering softly into Silver Lining's ear: "Ohcrap, I put the wrong name on the box!"

Mizzle, in the meantime, was still circling the box in a state of confusion, taking a moment to read everything. "It says it's-" she slowed down for a moment to read a line aloud, "- 'based on true mea-sure-ments from the stallion registry data'." She reached for the lid...

Finally, Silver Lining, suddenly realizing what Cloudkicker had bought, moved in, "Dearie, maybe you shouldn't-"

She was too late. "Hey, Rumble! It's your thingie!" Mizzle cheerfully announced as she lifted the rubbery length from its box, draping it across her snout. Rumble went red from his chest to his ears in an instant.

"I'm sorry, Silver Lining!" Cloudkicker pleaded. "I'd planned to bring it out after Mizzle had gone to bed, but I put the wrong name on the box and didn't recognize it anymore so it went into the normal gift-pile!"

"Don't worry, dearie." Silver Lining sighed as she laid her foreleg around Cloudkicker's withers. "Mistakes happen. We'll just need to find a way to distract Mizzle and she'll completely forgot she ever got the thing. I'm not looking forward to having to explain to our earthpony friends that it was accidental, though."

"Phew. Thanks. Ah, if I may ask: Why the plush? I don't think Rumble liked it a lot."

Silver Lining allowed herself smug little smirk. "Oh, he might've said he didn't like it, but did you notice how he kept the little filly resting against his side or front the entire evening?"

"...I hadn't even realized that. Time sure flies, doesn't it?" Cloudkicker sighed with a hint of wistfulness. "It doesn't even seem that long since Hardback was holding our little foals like that... And so long since my own father held me like that.

...great, now I'm envious of a stuffed toy."

Silver Lining leaned into her fellow herdmare and laughed, before nuzzling her snout along Cloudkicker's ear and whispering; "You know, speaking of stallions and instincts, how about you and me, we go down to Hardback's room and see if we can't convince him to--"

It was Cloudkicker's turn to blush again, but the eagerness in her face showed no hint of shame.