"No, I am not letting you go on that play-date!"
"Dad, i'm practically an adult!" Said Zany, confronting his father.
("Mom, I thought you'd be over it! Discord is a reformed draconequus, how could his son be any different?" Protested Twinkle.)
"NO," They said. It was no use. You can't go back on your parent's rule. At least, without them knowing...
Later on...
The pair were in a cave full of crystals.
"Mom barely lets me out of the house."
"Dad barely lets me out of the castle! So I guess coming to Screwball's place was useful! I couldn't just take my sister's chocolate lake *Even though I want to...* So I found this cave!" Explained Zany.
Twinkle began to mutter. "Mustn't have been that hard, considering how brave and smart you are..."
"What was that?"
"Uhm, nothing."
"Anyways, want some chocolate milk?"
"Sure."
Zany, Mothball and Screwball were spending Hearth's Warming Eve alone. The doorbell then rang. "How is this even a doorbell?!" Said a familiar voice. "It is Screwball's house, right?" Said another... could it be?
Mothball and Screwball showed up to open the door with Zany behind them, saw everypony: Prism, Lightning, Thunder, Apple Blossom, the Tri-Pies, Jewel, AppleSpike, the Cinnamon Siblings, Moonbeam, and... Twinkle, saying in unison, "Surprise! Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, guys!"
"What a surprise," Admitted Mothball.
"Go say 'Hi' to your- friends, Zan- Zany...?" Screwball and Mothball saw that Zany was missing when the ponies were all inside.
A slam could be heard from the hall.
"No-no-no-no-no! I can't face her again, not today, not now!"
"Uh, can't face who?"
Zany was so relieved! It was not Twinkle, Screwball, nor Mothball even though he enjoyed his brother in law's advice. It was his trusting best friend, AppleSpike!
"Come in..."
"Can't face who, now?" Asked AppleSpike.
"Pinkie-Pie-Promise to never tell anypony?"
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick an apple in my eye."
He looked at his friends with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously?"
"It's how mom does it!"
"Well, um, I think I like..."
AppleSpike gasped and jumped up and down repeatedly. "Who is it, who is it, WHO IS IT?!"
"Uh, it's..." He peeked out from the door and saw some ponies were in the hall, so whispered to AppleSpike, "T-twinkle...?"
He gasped as long as he ever did.
Zany put his paw on his mouth to say in body movement, 'Shush!'
"You have a crush on the enemy you had your whole life when you were a toddler?!"
"Uhm, yeah... I guess..."
"I. Knew. It!
"What... Anyways, don't you have a secret?"
"Nope! Like me, I'm as honest as a sweet apple's core! Well, except for that one wish on me and Moonbeam's birthda... I mean nothing!"
"Sis gave me the power to see the truth, you were lying for your wish when you told us."
"I don't know w-what you're talking about...?"
"Tell me!"
"Fine, but you have to pinkie-promise too!"
"Cross my heart."
"I... want Jewel to dance with me at the Gala..."
"Well, it's about time you came clean. I saw the way you looked at her at times. Also, we should get to dinner."
They walked down the hall, placing the presents down beside the chaotic tree when they heard doors appearing in the hall, out of nowhere.
"So they're staying here? Great..." Groaned Zany, but then realized something. "Wait a minute... there aren't enough... rooms- You don't mean..."
Screwball finished his sentence. "Everypony will share a room with another, two beds in one room for two for a night. And it's randomized. So look at the room doors!"
AppleSpike was sharing with Cinnamon Stick. "Great, bro!"
Cinnamon Roll was sharing with Jewel. "Charmed."
Prism was sharing with Thunder. "Uh, no difference."
Lightning was sharing with Apple Blossom.
Cherry was sharing with Raspberry. "Yay!"
Blueberry was sharing with Moonbeam.
Of course, Mothball was sharing with Screwball, but...
...Twinkle was sharing with Zany, which had made them blush.
Oh, but it gets worse. It was an inconvenience that the room was already so small, but then the two beds were practically one bed since there was the smallest gap ever seen when looked at.
Twinkle chuckled a bit, "Perhaps just a small snuggle wouldn't hurt?"
"U-uh, maybe?" Then he thought about the stupidest thing ever. "Only if you dance with me at the gala-" Zany facepalmed, immediately regretting it.
She chuckled, "Sure," in a reply. Was he crazy or did she just agree to something?
The house of ponies, two changelings, and two half draconequus fell into slumber.
It was Hearth's Warming Day, everyone got up to the tree and part of the group sang carols, another part ate snacks, and the others waited.
The triplets looked at each other, and whispered, "After presents, course two is-a-go!"
The alicorn had levitated her present to Zany, it was a small, thin, rectangle box. He actually got something that was not food. "For me?"
"Of course, you wouldn't want to be left out, right?" Asked Twinkle, with a side smile which seemed uncomfortably cute to him.
He opened the box and saw a beaded necklace with pink, grey, and purple pearls on the string.
"I made a bracelet version of that necklace of yours!"
"What... is it?" Zany asked.
"A friendship necklace, silly! You could consider it as a sign of gratitude and loyalty!"
He remembered when his father received the words, "gratitude and loyalty." But Discord declined, saying nothing was worth more than love and friendship. Love and friendship... No, he would stop thinking of that.
"Zany? You okay? You blacked out for a sec."
"Oh, um, yeah. I'm fine..." he said, snapping out if trance.
"Happy Hearth's Warming!" Everypony said, in a union.
Then, a little later, a mistletoe appeared above Mothball and Screwball.
Zany and Twinkle looked up, only to see the same plant above them, making them blush.
They then looked at each other, thinking their bond was now more than simple friendship.
