Guardian of the Sun

by Hinterland Seer

Blaze Burn was a simple pegasus, just trying to keep him and his brother alive after the destruction wrought by Discord. Unfortunately, he found himself with all the wrong and right ponies in his struggle to free his friends and family from utter chaos. As time passes, he finds himself in walks of life he never imagined existed, like being sought after by Princess Celestia herself.

21. 21 Burning Hearth's Warming

Surprise! I'm not dead, and while that is unfortunate news for some, it does mean that I'll continue to be working on this story. Due to some major complications coming up, I'd been forced into a bit of a hiatus, which severely crippled both my time to write, and my motivation to do so. However, I've managed to cram out enough hours to finally finish both this and Chapter 3 for the "196th Episode Spectacular!" story I've started. If you wanted to see how I'd write the Mane six, those little shorts I write are really the place to do it for now. . .

As for this specific chapter: yeah Christmas came about two months late for Blaze and the family. While this chapter was technically finished about a week and a half ago, I'd wanted to go over any final edits, seeing as how I am author, editor, and publisher for this damned thing. The breaks were good in the sense that I was able to think things over, and make some more expected adjustments to the overall interactions they've had.

(It certainly didn't help that somehow an old save erased about four hours of work at one point.)

Just know that I've already started work on Chapter 22, though it won't be publish-ready for a while, as per the norm about now. I do sincerely hope that the wait is worth it, as this is a breather chapter, and I would appreciate the feedback on how my "happy" chapter went.

So. . . yeah! Until next time, Hinterland Seer.

Chapter 21: Burning Hearth's Warming

Blaze's head was splitting, and it felt like somepony was taking a pick and mining for ore through his skull, and the bright white light pouring through the open windows was not helping in the slightest. He squeezed his eyelids tighter, but it had no effect on the sheer intensity of the invasive light.

Opting to pull the covers over his head, he tried to get his fuzzy limbs to work, only to find that half of his body was immobilized under pressure. It took him a moment to realize that his entire left side was weighted down, and even longer to get control over his right. When he did, he shifted his forehoof, feeling a soft, furry body under his touch, which created his spontaneous concern over who was cuddling up close to him.

The pony was smaller than him, naturally due to his size, but whoever it was, they had cuddled up as close as they could get, going so far as to snuggling their head around his neck, and wrap their forelegs under his wings.

Inhaling deeply, for the light was still too blinding to use his sight, his suspicions were proven correct, as the unmistakable scent that belonged to Asta invaded his nostrils. He shifted his free hoof down the mare's shoulders, before brushing against the wrist bones of her wing, as if he needed any more confirmation that his sister had kept his drunk-flank warm throughout the night.

Relief washed through him to finally have her back in the safety of his grip. That relief was short-lived, however, as the moment he tried to smile, his head reminded him of his endeavor the night before. A small groan escaped him while his head reeled, and he was forced to sit there is agony until the repercussions passed, which he did his best to take organizing the few thoughts he had.

He sat there for a couple of minutes, working the courage to open up his eyes, even though his head protested aggressively. Despite the discomfort, he did manage to pry open his crusty eyes, and he blinked to clear his vision.

Through the glaring light, he worked his vision as clear as possible, being greeted by his mostly bare room, the wooden walls signifying that he never had any interests of that sorts. However, once he gained use of those faculties, he cast his gaze to his blissfully sleeping sister, who had a pleased smile planted across her muzzle, and eyes squeezed shut to ward off the morning light. Her bright green mane was swept back, her new fashion statement: he thought the look suited her well. He ran a hoof through her mane, expecting the usual silky smoothness that came with her attentiveness to personal care, only to be met with a tangled, greasy mess.

The idea that Asta would ever let herself get this bad was highly amusing to him, and he let out a weak chuckle while he patted her head. Unfortunately, that simple chuckle sent his head pounding even more, and he closed his eyes to get the pain over with.

The movements he's been making seemed to be enough to stir Asta, but it wasn't until he stopped petting her mane that she finally began to wake. Blaze opened his eyes to see her let out a cute yawn as she pushed herself away from him. "Morning."

Her eyes shot open in surprise at the sound of his voice, complete with a startled yelp ending with her falling off the edge of the bed as she backed away from him. The pain subsided enough for him to crawl to the edge where he met her glare with a bemused smirk. The earthy pegasus was lying on her back, with forelegs crossed over her chest. "You didn't have to go and scare me like that, you know; something like an 'I'm awake now' would have sufficed just fine."

"And you didn't have to crawl into my bed last night when I was drunk." Blaze pointed out with a playful smirk as he hopped out of bed and arched his back in a massive stretch. He helped his little sister up onto her hooves before his smirk fell into a frown with his comment: "Not even sure why you wanted to cuddle, you have your own bed, and it's not even that cold down here."

Asta looked down at the floorboards bashfully, kicking a hoof against the floor while she tried to conjure up an excuse. "You said you would only be gone for a day or two, but you were gone for nearly a week; I got nervous. Then you came back, and we heard that speech that the Princesses gave at the castle gates, and I was so relieved you hadn't been one of the ponies who died."

She let out a huff as she did her best to hide the tears threatening to roll out over her cheeks, though her posture made it clear to Blaze that she needed to get this off of her chest. "I just don't want you to ever leave like that again."

"Asta, I've got more important things to be doing around here: I can't just go off and die. It has become very clear that you ponies would be lost without me." Asta rolled her eyes at that while wiping away the fresh tears with a hoof. Before she could drop her forehoof, however, Blaze stepped forward and pulled her in for a tight embrace. "But I just can't promise that I'll stay forever. Eventually, I'm going to take care of those fiends that threaten your safety, even if it means that I have to leave for a while. Just know that I'll always come back."

As he explained his situation, Asta's face went from slightly amused, dropping to worried and anxious, before relief became the dominating emotion she wore. Not that Blaze could see any of it, because the moment he grabbed her, she had melted into the hug with a greater enthusiasm than he had ever experienced from her before.

"I can't guarantee that I'll always be around, but I'll be damned if I don't come back. Every. Single. Time." He pulled apart from her so that he could look into her sparkling emerald eyes. "I promise you, Asta: I will come back, even if I have to beat the shit out of Celestia and Luna, and tear apart this city, brick by brick. I will return to be there for you. And now that I got that out of the way, care to join me for breakfast, else everypony here thinks that you decided to go into heat a few months early?"

"How can you just do that?" She scoffed, doing her best to retain a straight face, in spite of his shit-eating grin at her bodily issues, which quickly morphed into his best 'innocent' face as he put his hooves in the air in a defensive position. "You can go from a heartfelt speech about how much you care and are going to be there, and then you just go and start talking about food! We were supposed to be having a moment, and you just go and ruin it! How?!"

"Simple: I'm hungry. We had our moment, the moment passed, and now I'm thinking about food and a bottle of mead to wash this hangover away with." He shrugged, turning and making his way for the door, with Asta hot on his tail.

"You shouldn't be fixing a hangover with more alcohol, it'll just make it worse." She stated hotly as they made their way down the hall, passing a surprising amount of ponies along the way. Each one they passed offered either a generous bow or an ingratiated nod towards him. While he was used to the respect they displayed towards him, this was something else entirely, and not something born of his assistance stabilizing their lives. This was almost a fearful respect, as if his trip north had changed how they see him, which was absurd; they had no idea what had happened up there, so how could they possibly have a changed opinion of him? He had little time to dwell, for Asta's badgering brought him back to their adventure towards the kitchen. ". . . better for you anyways. If you keep drinking like you did last night, you could have a problem with it: I've seen other ponies fall into alcohol as a coping mechanism, and I don't think I'd be able to help you get out of that if you ended up there."

"Your worries are appreciated, Asta, like always, but you have nothing to fear: I've been drinking for quite some time, and I merely use it to relieve some stress." He wasn't really sure why he spun the lie, but it was out there, and he had no motivation towards taking it back: he thought it would be better if she didn't know just how much he relied on the sweet, reliable memory-killer found in alcohol to drown his depression.

Far better to let her think that he drank for fun, else he have another issue to worry about. He liked his mead, though ale was growing on him.

The pair of pegasi trekked through the kitchen, which was moderately occupied with other ponies busying about cooking a massive breakfast for the Hearth's Warming gathering crowding the main living area. Any and all conversations happening came to a grinding halt the moment ponies realized who had entered the room, and an uncomfortable amount of eyes fell upon Blaze. He shifted nervously, still ignorant to the reason behind their attitude shift, despite seeing similar changes on multiple occurrences already.

Prompted to move by Asta's nudge in the side, he tried to read the other ponies' eyes, trying to gauge exactly what it was that had changed for them. The attempt was met with limited success, but he did glean that there was a formation of sorrow in many of them, something that he could only associate with a saddened respect. His first thought was that they were sympathetic towards his return from that horrid trip, but he quickly disregarded that. How could they possibly imagine what it was like?

His ruminations on the subject were cut short as he got to the large kitchen counter that served as some sort of serving station, where several elderly mares worked to feed the hungry beast that was this household. They smiled kindly, and the sweetness almost brought his mind to ease, and relaxed him enough that he easily returned the act.

"Something hot please." Asta requested nicely, allowing the mares to fill two bowls with steaming oatmeal, topped with brown sugar and cinnamon. The pair thanked the mares and turned to leave the place and find somewhere to sit and eat in peace.

Blaze noticed the kid behind them before they had even fully turned around, but he didn't recognize the growing brown colt for a second. He did a once-over the colt, finally sparing a glance at his cutie mark: two chocolate muffins. That did it, and he returned his gaze to the colt's eyes, seeing the sadness and reserved demeanor that was Muffin's trademark disposition.

He glanced briefly behind the colt, seeing the lively white unicorn Sweet Flower, who was looking on with hesitant eyes. The latter brought more concern to Blaze than the colt before him, but he met the immediate pony with a level gaze and a curt nod. "Muffin. It's been some time since we last spoke, hasn't it?

"It has. Blaze. . . " Muffin kicked at the ground, trying to think of how to word what was on his mind, gaze dropping while he gathered his thoughts. Sweet Flower took the opportunity to approach and offer a comforting hoof on the colt's side, and her presence seemed to have the immediate effect of calming him down. "I just wanted to tell you how glad I-we are that you're back home. Ever since you helped us all get our hooves under us, well, we've really learned what it means to have good friends like you and Star. . . may he rest in piece."

"What he's trying to say," Sweet Flower cut him off before he started tearing up, pulling Muffin in for a quick hug while flashing a gentle smile towards Blaze and Asta. "is that we were extremely worried about you after hearing about what happened up in the Crystal Empire. No matter what anypony says, Blaze; you're family, and we all care deeply about you, and that you've become a core part of our community. Now that you're back, we can finally celebrate Hearth's Warming in it's entirety!"

"Hmm?" Blaze blinked, cocking his head to the side before turning to look at Asta, who had sprouted a sheepish grin.

"Hearth's Warming was technically three days ago, but we decided to hold off on it until you got back, so you could feel loved!" She replied happily and, much to Blaze's astonishment, started bopping up and down like a little filly, although he did suppose that she was still a bit of a filly. At heart at least.

"Asta, you know you guys didn't have to delay Hearth's Warming just for me." He sighed, shaking his head as if in disappointment, but before anypony could disagree, he smirked and wrapped a large wing over his sister's back, pulling her in tightly. "But I am eternally grateful that you all did. I don't suppose you'd all be fine waiting an hour or two so I could go and try to find something to get for you all?"

"Nonsense!" The three foals responded in unison, until Asta cheerily replied: "You already gave us the best gift ever: being home for the holidays!"

Their universal happiness at simply having him back warmed his heart immensely, though it did nothing for his pounding headache, so he figured he'd do his best to make this an amazing holiday for them, and do right by making sure he was at full capacity. He offered Asta his bowl of oatmeal, which she took with great confusion. "Hold on a sec."

He trotted to the back of the kitchen, opening the pantry door and walking inside, and climbing a ladder, as the room was too small to fly. He got to the top shelves and reached into the back, pulling out one bottle of spiced mead, for a quick recovery from a heavy night of drinking. He popped off the cork, then quickly pounded the sweet drink, savoring the honey and spice flavor, whilst enjoying the near-immediate effect of his diminishing headache.

He slid the bottle to the back, concealing it behind a box of ingredients of some kind, then slid down the ladder. Once he was free from the pantry, he shut the door and felt the remnants of his hangover disappear, a satisfied smile soon forming across his muzzle.

However, his satisfaction soon faded as he approached the three ponies, who all scrunched up their noses as he got close. His first thought was that they disapproved of his drinking, but while not necessarily untrue, stirred his stubborn defiance, and he opened his muzzle to prevent them from berating his habits. Asta beat him to the punch with a quick silencing hoof in the air. "Before we do anything for Hearth's Warming, Blaze: you need a bath! For Celestia's sake, bro, it smells like you waltzed through a crematorium all week, then decided to take a trip to a dung heap and make 'mud-pies' from the materials at hoof!"

"Hey! I smell like a field of daisies!" Blaze retorted, holding a hoof to his chest. "But you break my heart with your atrocious accusations."

At the three's deadpanned expression, though, he did his best to attempt a subtle sniff under his foreleg, which made him recoil back. He was afraid that Asta may have to be given proper credit to the stench that clung to him, if his retching stomach was anything to go by. With a hoof holding his midsection back from total collapse, he nodded quickly to the three, motioning a wing towards the baths; "If one of you could grab me some of Scale's soap and meet me outside the bathrooms, I smell like I'm growing mold samples on my belly."

Asta let out a playful huff before trotting out of the kitchen, soon followed by a pair of smirking friends, leaving Blaze red in embarrassment looking to see if anypony else had noticed. He was thankful that nopony seemed to be paying much attention, or they didn't seem to be paying attention. Either way, he quickly made for the doorway, checking corner so he wouldn't run into anypony, causing yet more distress on his part.

As he glanced around the main area, he noticed something that surely should not have slipped his usual attentiveness: a large, heavily decorated tree sitting in the corner, complete with a massive quantity of wrapped presents stuffed underneath and around the base. The tree itself stood at least fifteen feet up, at the branched along the base stretched wider than his wingspan.

"Impressive." He admired the effort that must have gone into decorating that monstrosity, but he had other priorities right then, and scurried along the wall until he was free to enter the hallway. By deftly avoiding anypony he came across, he managed to escape further embarrassment at the hooves of his stench, and slammed the bathroom doors shut.

He heaved a grateful sigh as he rested his back against the door, closing his eyes and sliding to the floor now that he was safe where nopony could bother him. "What a wonderful Hearth's Warming present you've given me. . ."

His eyes snapped open, immediately focusing on the gorgeous purple mare sultrily climbing out of a steaming bath. Her dripping mane clung in tantalizing fashion to her coat, though what really caught his attention was the gleam in her eyes, the glint in her smile. He knew what she wanted, she knew she was going to get it. He grinned while she lifted her hind legs out of the tub, because she was showing off her body, and he was enjoying the view while she teased him.

Her own grin grew while she flicked her tail his way, sending a cascade of water droplets across the tiled flooring. She took a confident step forward, batting her eyes as she whipped her mane across her neck, sending another shower of water dew across the room. Another step forward, followed by a brilliantly flashing smile, which was shortly interrupted by a fierce knock on the door.

A strong nudge sent Blaze standing in a flurry of movement, and Twilight was at his side in an instant, though all seductiveness had left her stance as she stared at Blaze. "What the buck happened to you? You smell like death!"

"Yeah, I've gotten the memo already." Blaze grumbled as he stepped up to the door and carelessly swung it open, revealing Asta standing ready with a bar of glowing green soap in her hoof. "Oh. . . right."

Asta stared at Blaze for a second, then her gaze hardened as she glared at Twilight, and the visible tension felt suffocating for Blaze, standing right in the middle. Asta's jaw clenched for a moment, but softened as she returned her gaze to him, inciting his frown, which was quickly replaced by unease as he watched her eyes flash downwards then back up. He knew exactly what was going on in her mind, so he snatched the soap out of her hoof, and before she could do anything, slammed the door shut.

He was about to turn around and take a quick bath to clean his fur, when the soap suddenly left his grip, floating in a purple aura away from him. He turned to Twilight, who wore her usual sultry grin as she motioned to her tub with a swift glance backwards.

Carefully contemplating the risk, he shrugged and decided to go with it, leading a happy unicorn back to the steaming tub, already working off his sweaty, blood-soaked, mud caked cloak. The soiled clothing slid away via magic as Twilight eased him into the tub, making sure to get his good side up. The bar of soap dipped in the water before being slathered over her fore-hooves while she gently eased herself on top of him. "Shall we make sure you're good and clean for the party . . .?"

Blaze vigorously scrubbed the towel through his increasingly unmanageable mane, sighing with frustration as he worked any and all moisture out of it. While he dried himself using mundane methods, Twilight simply used a quick spell to drain the water from her coat, much to his jealousy: it had to be so much easier to dry one's self off with magic, not to mention quicker too, than it was to use a towel.

Still, if he were to become reliant upon magic, what good would he be for anything? Using that thought as motivation, he finished by wrapping a towel around his mane, and a second around his tail, tying them up and giving them time to dry on their own. He had all day as it was.

"Thanks for the present, sweetie." Twilight sighed as she trotted over to him, her magic being used to drain the tub of the gray, soapy water. She planted a quick kiss on his cheek before trotting towards the door, only to stop with a hoof extended towards it. She sighed a glanced back at him, earning a curious look. "Do you have any idea how stressful it's been; thinking that somepony you've come to rely on may have hurt themselves doing something stupid, likely never to return? I swear to all that is good and holy, if you ever leave us like that again, there will be a reckoning, and a lot of hate-sex to make up for what you've done. Probably not all of it from me, if what I hear is true."

Before he could ask her what she meant, she opened the door and trotted out, humming a happy little tune. He sighed, fearful that he knew exactly what it was that she was talking about, but really hoping that what he figured it was wasn't the case.

He cleared his head by finally getting everything in order, and by doing his best to forget the last week by tossing the soap on a nearby shelf. He wanted nothing to remind him that he went through that: the nightmares were going to be more than enough. He put on a brave face as he left the bathroom, only to be caught off-guard, once more, by the stunned faces of Muffin and Sweet Flower, while Asta only glared at him.

He cleared his throat before motioning for them to step away from the door, though it took them a moment before they complied. He stopped in front of the door, knowing what was going to come out of their mouth before either had opened theirs. "Don't worry about it until you're older: that way I don't have to go through the process of explaining what adults do in their spare time. I'm not the pony to go to for that information anyways."

"What?" Muffin blinked, a light blush crossing his face as he realized the answer to his unasked question.

"I said 'don't worry about it.' Now, let's head out to the main area so we can celebrate as a family, and maybe get some proper food in my stomach, since you were so kind as to forget about my bowl of oatmeal." Blaze chuckled, stepping around the colt and leading the trio down the halls towards the main room again. The three were hesitant to follow, but acquiesced after a moment, shuffling behind the stallion as he trotted into the main area.

As they broke from the darkened halls, Blaze noted that a large portion of the ponies gathered had been preparing themselves around the large tree. Many were sporting holiday attire, such as bright hats, ugly sweaters, even a couple dressed in bright jester outfits. The last made little sense to him, but it wasn't really his position to judge how others decided to dress.

He had a splitting smile on his face as he approached the gathering of ponies, for there were few times when he actually felt happy, but this sure did the trick. He called to the first few ponies that he saw, exchanging pleasant greetings and warm wishes with those he crossed, until he finally got to a pony that he was decently close to: Scaled Equilibrium. The golden-maned sage smiled warmly as her favorite conduit approached, and the two embraced in a short, happy hug.

"It's been too damn long, Blaze." She exclaimed cheerily, grinning from ear to ear as she pulled away, though she made sure to hold onto his foreleg, an act that was not missed on him. He let her hold onto him, allowing her the peace of mind that he was actually home, whole and looking happy. A tear threatened to drop from her eye, but before it could she quickly pulled him in for a much tighter, longer lasting hug. "You never do that again, you hear me?"

"I know. I know." He mumbled, gently stroking the back of her honeyed locks in an effort to soothe her, fully aware that his absence was harsh for many of them. Though he recognized his importance to them, he never fully understood exactly why they all cared about him this deeply: surely they would have to acknowledge that at some point his forced alliance with the Princesses was going to put him in heated situations. That was one of the justifications he had for not joining forces: he'd be put in scenarios that prevented him from being by their side to protect them all. Instead of explaining all of that, he opted for the more diplomatic response: "But I'm back now, and in time for the holidays."

"That you are." She smiled, finally backing away, idly wiping a tear from her cheek.

"And we are extremely happy to have you back: because now we can finally celebrate this most sacred holiday of ours." Blaze couldn't help but smirk at the old asshole, turning to see the eldest pegasus in the world shaking his head towards him. "I've been waiting for this for three Celestia-damned days: your sister wouldn't let us celebrate without you, and she's gone so far as to hold our presents hostage until you got back."

"I see." Blaze chuckled, stepping forward to greet the elder with a proper hoof-shake. After the most formal greeting was completed, the aged pegasus shook his head and stepped back, replaced by a pair of young foals, blank flanks who he remembered moving in a couple of weeks ago, cousins to somepony who already lived here. "Hey kids, you guys need anything?"

"You're Mister Blaze Burn, right?" The right one, a blue filly earth pony with sparkling pink eyes, asked with a happy-go-lucky-sounding voice chirped.

"That's me. Why do you ask?" He smiled at the filly's energetic bouncing up and down, though the speed at which her legs were buzzing back and forth concerned him: she was going to hit the ground and teleport to some location outside the city with them. The other, a pink filly earth pony with bright blue eyes this time who was most likely the first's sister, groaned and face-hoofed at her sister's antics.

Blaze turned to the second as she explained, in a mild tone that suggested she was more relaxed than the first, that they had been told to wait for his return before they could get their presents. Apparently Asta had made it very clear that nopony was to even look at the unopened gifts until he had returned, and while the idea of seeing his baby sister viciously guarding boxes greatly amused him: he found it high time to humor the foals.

"Alright then. Since it seems my sister has declared marshal law and taken matters into her own hooves, I believe it is my right as her brother to fix this problem." He turned to Scale, who was smirking at the foals' behavior. "How much longer before breakfast can be arranged? I'm certain these poor fillies have been just burning up with excitement at what their gifts might be."

The first filly squealed in confirmation, while the second succumbed to her desire and nodded excitedly.

Many of the adults around "aww'd" at the grand display of adorableness present before realization at what Blaze had said finally caught up with them, and they all shared their various exclamations of relief and anticipation. Scaled Equilibrium took a moment to check the food, before returning to inform the hungry mass of ponies that breakfast was nigh upon them.

The wording passed right over the foals, but at the urging of the adults, everypony organized themselves into somewhat passable lines as they made their way towards the dining area, hungry for a warm meal on this frigid day. Asta remained glued to Blaze's side, as if making sure he stayed there, and while she seemed content that he was, he also sensed her apprehension. It was something he decided to discuss with her once they had time after the gift exchange was done, probably when the foals were busy playing with their new toys or trying on new winter attire. Still, she seemed happy enough that it wasn't too terrible a concern of his, moreso just a hunch of a worry.

Tossing his dripping towel away from the crowd, he made note to pick it up after breakfast. First he had a meal to savor. He sat at one of the many tables arranged in the area, though it seemed that many more had been moved from inside just for this reason, as the space inside the building seemed much smaller than before. He took his seat near the far end of a table, with Asta still at his side, as well as Scale and a couple of others. Muffin and Sweet Flower sat directly opposite them.

From his spot, Blaze was able to peek over a few ponies' heads and spy Twilight sitting amongst a group of her friends, talking excitedly about the something or another, her movements rather animated as if fueled by a great passion. He was equal parts glad and disappointed that she ignored his presence: maybe he'd be able to finally put out his hope of anything else forming between them.

He knew they could never really be together, especially not with Celestia pining after him, but he had hoped that maybe they could share something more than sex. Perhaps this was better for him.

His silent ruminations were cut short by the sudden arrival of a feast of food. When they had said that there was to be a feast, he didn't expect that they even had this kind of supply of food. It seemed that he wore his disbelief like a medal, because both Asta and Scale started laughing at his expression, though it fell to the former to explain the abundance. "Several of the construction ponies found a lucrative success in helping the restoration of the city, and had a large sum of bits earned for their hard work. On top of that, the Princesses seemed determine to make us the fattest ponies around it seems."

"Yes. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were rather eager to pay us in food for your time with them." Scale added, sipping from a glass of juice as several platters full of fresh, steaming vegetables were laid across the table. "Though I am under the impression that it should have been us paying them for your time: I doubt we would have survived being in your presence for long."

"Funny." Blaze retorted, a smirk finding its way on his face as he inhaled the rich aroma that was produced from the divine-looking foods coming out of the kitchen. It wasn't long before the kitchens had finally been emptied of the prepared foods, for which Blaze was certain the tables were grateful, as it appeared to have been meticulously calculated exactly how much space was available: the tables were completely covered. "But I must agree with you; I've got no idea how you all survived this long."

"See! You're getting it! We just got to find a way to get you to move in with the Princesses in the castle." Scale exclaimed merrily.

"Oh! I know!" Asta piped up excitedly, though with the direction this was going, Blaze was sure he wasn't going to like the wonderful suggestion she was about to provide. "How about a marriage?"

Yep. He didn't like the suggestion.

"I think that's a lovely idea, the only problem we'll have is finding a way to get our poor Blaze Burn here to wear something nice long enough for the wedding." Scale tapped her hooves together softly, her expression that of hard contemplation, which, under different circumstances would have worried him. . . Blaze found the idea of anypony entertaining that thought, even jokingly, very concerning.

"I have a much better idea than finding ways to marry me to Celestia: how about we serve our food, like everypony else is, so we can eat?" Blaze suggested, already reaching for a plate of rolls.

Asta beat him to the baked goods, dropping two on her own plate before cheekily offering the dish to Muffin, who sat to her right. All the while, she had her tongue out in a very foalish manner, earning a roll of his eyes while he grabbed some fresh fruit and stacked apple slices and strawberries on his plate instead. He helped himself to a healthy serving of spiced apple pie, and stacked as many chocolate pancakes on his plate as would fit. By the time the rolls had returned to him, he had already filled two plates, and was eagerly awaiting the others to finish getting food before he ate.

He had considered digging in right away, as most of the others were already doing, but he was in the mood to wait to eat until they all had food.

It took a meager minute or two before that happened, but eventually, food stopped being passed as ponies began to devour the feast. By then, Asta was nearly halfway done with her plate of rolls, boiled eggs and peaches. Blaze didn't mind: he was available to begin eating, and he knew well enough that he could catch up to her in no time flat.

He made the difficult decision of starting with the pancakes, slicing them into larger than acceptable portions and inhaling the delicious segments. Before they had hit his stomach, he had already dug into the steaming pie, knowing that his stomach was only so large, and that he was now on borrowed time before he felt full. The pie went down easily enough, and as he let it settle into his belly, he filled a mug with orange juice, downing the liquid in two massive gulps.

Asta finally lifted her muzzle from her plate, syrup dripping from her maw, and seemed to take his starved assault on his plate as an open invitation to a contest. She matched his pace with renewed vigor, with Blaze being all too happy to oblige in a little fun.

Blaze and Asta soon both had faces smeared with food, either bits of apple pie stuck to the former, or fruit juices to the latter. As they had their competition, the others soon seemed equal parts amused and concerned by the siblings' behavior, though the gathered ponies watched nonetheless.

Lapping up the remaining food from his snout, Blaze lifted his head to grin at Asta, who was busy burying her own in a bowl of fruit. He chuckled to himself, then glanced over to Scale, who looked to be his opposite in that moment.

Her frown was rather disheartening.

"What?" He asked with a meek shrug of his shoulders while refilling his juice glass. The mare just stared at him as if he had broken some unspoken law that decreed eating like an animal forbidden. He downed the drink swiftly without breaking eye contact, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of the Sage.

All she did was stare at him in stone cold silence, for about a minute: then the smallest smile he ever did see broke through her defenses, leaving him with a victorious feeling while he poured a third glass. He set the glass and pitcher down, before finally breaking visual communication with Scaled Equilibrium so he could put some more food on his plate. His stomach was telling him that he was in desperate need of more pie; and in all honesty, who was he to deny his stomach?

Packing his plate with half of an entire damn pie, he made it clear to everypony around that he intended on being the victor of any eating challenge. Even Asta seemed to have stopped, wisely so, it seemed: her stomach was bulging with a food baby, and the groans she was making were those of the mixed pain and satisfaction that only came from one's over-stuffing themselves during a meal.

Muffin and Sweet Flower were gaping at the sheer amount of food that Blaze had put down, which made him feel immensely satisfied the moment he noticed. "I spent the last four days eating soup that was less than phenomenal. I'm loving having proper, good food to eat."

It seemed that his explanation enlightened the entire gathering, as there was a large number of ponies nodding and murmuring their sudden understanding. After his explanation, though, conversations seemed to return to normal as the various ponies finished eating their breakfast, eager to begin the actual celebration of Hearth's Warming. Blaze heard a great many foal begging their parents to go and open presents.

It was a heart-warming experience that he knew would never get old: hearing foals excitedly annoying their parents to do something fun. It was an annoyance that he was grateful for, even if he weren't the one being annoyed. . .

A nudge in his side brought his attention back to the ponies around him, and stopped his heart from growing too heavy at what should have been. He glanced to his right, where Asta wore a small, sad smile, her hoof gently resting on his wing. He didn't realize that his emotions were showing that clearly, but he was still grateful that she was there to support him.

Wrapping his wing around her, he pulled her in close for a quick hug, being even more thankful that he had his family here to keep him sane. The room seemed to quiet down a little, but he just attributed that to his little moment with Asta, at least, he did until he pulled his head off of her mane, hoping to secretly grab a napkin and wipe the pie remnants now stuck in her mane. At that point, there was a conveniently floating napkin, held just in front of him by a sparkling golden aura: an aura he was vaguely familiar with, but uncertain to the source of. He sat straight up in his chair as he reached forward and grabbed the fabric, glancing around the area, seeing each and every other pony staring at a point just behind him. The sight was more than enough to make him sigh.

"Good morning, Princess." He said tiredly, wiping his muzzle clean as he turned in his seat, finally remembering the source for the golden magic. Sure enough, Princess Celestia herself stood behind him, an amused grin on her face as her loving pink eyes sparkled in joy.

Perhaps it was just that today they were all gathered to celebrate the holidays and Celestia was just being emotional, or perhaps it was that she really loved seeing him be a brother to Asta. Either way, the occasion had made the Princess of the Sun's eyes sparkle more from unshed tears than anything else. Blaze turned to look at Scale, to search for any reaction of smugness or other happy expression, but all he saw was surprise: indicating to him that the pony responsible for this unexpected occurrence was the mare beside him.

"Good morning, Mr. Burn." Celestia replied, her tone definitely emotional, but also carrying the weight of authority expected from royalty. The two day guards that had come with her stood at the door to the main entrance, leaving the Princess with space, but not out of sight. "We hath been requested to accompany thee for this most fine event by an anonymous pony."

Without asking for an invitation, she moved to the seat to Blaze's left, staring hard at Scale, who shrunk before her gaze. The purple mare finally gave after a moment, quietly leaving her seat and allowing the Princess to sit at the table.

Blaze contemplated calling Celestia out on her brunt disrespect, but held his tongue when she scowled at the table before her. Her horn lit up and the plate of unfinished food Scaled Equilibrium was eating vanished in a bright pop, leaving an empty space that was swiftly occupied by an enormous cake. "What sort of celebration doth thou enjoy that lacks the most necessary of delicacies? What pony in a proper mindset would sacrifice such luxury when it becomes so readily available?"

"Um. . . Princess Celestia?" Asta spoke up, catching the named Alicorn's attention, a golden knife levitating just above the unblemished cake. "What the-"

Before she could finish her thought, Blaze shoved a hoof in her muzzle, effectively silencing her so he may have the privilege of calling Celestia out on her behavior. "What in the actual buck do you think you're doing; just coming in here and acting like a total asshole like this? I wouldn't mind if you had stopped by, but this behavior is unacceptable!"

Her posh frown faded after his short rant, replaced by a bashful smirk as the knife cut into the cake, putting a slice onto a plate. Her first response was not to reply to his questions, but to offer the cake to Scale, who was standing off to the side, still in shock at her actions. The cake floated just below her snout for a couple of seconds while the entire housing was either watching the Princess or waiting for a reaction from the Sage.

"It would appear that my intentions were not overly obvious, but the delivery was perfect." She summoned a small white flag, a rarely seen act of surrender, waving it for the gathered ponies to see. "But I must confess that this entire act has been nothing more than lighthearted jesting, and I admit that I wanted to surprise you. Scaled Equilibrium: you may have your seat back, as well as the slice of cake. I brought this large cake, which I must says looks utterly divine, for all of my wonderful little ponies to enjoy.

"Asta invited me over so that I may show you all how much I've appreciated your various contributions to society, and the reconstruction efforts across the city." She explained as she worked her magic to put Scale back in her original seat, smiling as she stood behind Blaze, a happy, golden shoe-wearing hoof on his shoulder. "And now that our precious Blaze Burn has returned, I found it fitting that we all enjoy this fine occasion with the pony who brought us all together."

A round of nervous chuckles later, and Celestia seemed to deflate just noticeably to Blaze, it seemed that her efforts to cheer the crowd up from a failed joke or prank or whatever the buck it was that she had tried to do were failing. In an effort to regain the mood that had been bouncing around earlier, Blaze reached over to the cake, and instead of cutting himself a slice he got the attention of everypony in an entirely different way.

A hoof-full of vanilla cake was scooped straight from the table, and time slowed for all ponies gathered as Blaze slyly swung the cake over his shoulder and directly into an unsuspecting Sun Princess' face.

The room fell so silent that they could hear snow falling outside. Everypony there, save Blaze who now sported a splitting grin, incredulously gaped at the proceedings, completely unsure how to respond to that. It took Celestia blinking several times before even she understood just what happened, though she took the hit well enough to lick the entirety of the cake off of her muzzle and swallowed it all in one go. "I always did enjoy food when it came from the most unlikely of sources."

Her reply distracted Blaze from the slice of cake until it was too late; the sound of something flying towards his face did nothing to prepare him for the splatter of frosting now littering his mane.

"FOOD FIGHT!" A colt yelled, and followed up by chucking his entire plate at one of the adults, quickly becoming the origin of total chaos as ponies either hid under the tables, engaged in warfare using food as weapons, or did their best to pacify the engaging ponies. Blaze had been tackled to the ground by Celestia, who was smearing the remnants of her cake in his face.

Asta had attempted to aid Scale in keeping other ponies from joining in the eruption of edibles being launched as projectiles, to little success.

Several of the older ponies had laid back at one of the farther off tables, enjoying the show while munching on whatever meals they had saved from the ensuing conflict.

From his vantage point underneath the larger mare, Blaze was able to squint, and noticed that Sweet Flower had Muffin pinned underneath the table. The two were sharing a slice of cake. . . in a very inappropriate fashion.

There was a loud clatter, and an explosion of food distracted everypony enough that the general hubbub of noise died down as Twilight sat in the middle of the room, glaring at everypony and nopony in particular. "This was supposed to be a relaxed, warm, cozy afternoon party. We were supposed to enjoy being here and whole. So why is it that instead of celebrating Hearth's Warming like normal ponies, do we all insist upon throwing our food at each other like a bunch of foals?!"

"But I am a foal." One brave-minded colt replied, and though Blaze couldn't see who said it, he was willing to bet money that it was the colt who started the fight in the first place. At least he was able to see Twilight glare daggers at the guy, though that didn't stop many others from chuckling.

"Now can we please act like civilized beings and not throw our lives into further chaos?" She sounded more exasperated than irritated, but it was funny nonetheless, and Blaze chuckled as Celestia finally gave him permission to rise, her own coat now spotted with specks of frosting and cake. The chaos was over faster than it had started as various ponies helped each other clean up.

Blaze glanced over at Celestia, who was busy licking off every fleck of cake on her coat, chuckling at the absurdity of what had just happened. He followed her example, though, and cleaned off the remnants of cake as best he could. Unfortunately, there was a significant amount of it fixed in his mane, and he knew that it was going to be there for some time, at least until he had the opportunity to take yet another bath. A price well worth paying for the fun of having the open engagement of food warfare with his family, and Princess Celestia to boot.

"You've never cease to surprise me, Blaze Burn. You know that?" Celestia commented as she helped several of the other ponies in cleaning scraps of food from the floor. Blaze hummed his reply, offering his own assistance in clearing silverware and wooden platters from the area. "Not that I'm one to complain: these are the kinds of breaks from running a country that I enjoy. It is not often that ponies in our position find the time to enjoy a relaxing holiday, less so when it is with the ones we love."

Blaze didn't look up from the heaps of food, as he never had to: he could feel her directed gaze boring into his side. It made him uncomfortable, but he did his best to hide it by tossing a large stack of ruined pastries onto the table, at the direction of an elderly unicorn.

The plan seemed to be to put all the food on the tables so they could all go to the tree and dish out the presents for everypony. Somepony would deal with this mess after the festivities, surely.

"Hey, Blaze!" The high-pitched voice caught his attention, so he pulled his head towards the owner, Sweet Flower, who was motioning towards the stampede of foals running towards the wrapped gifts flooding the tree's base. "Hurry your flank up: some of us want to get to our presents before the snow melts!"

"I'm moving. Calm your flank." He retorted, standing straight and looking to find Asta. The brown pegasus was already trotting towards the tree, leaving him to wonder as to the warm body pressing itself against his side.

The large white wing comparable to his own draping over his side relieved him of any wondering. He put on a brave face for the holidays and ran with it, leaning into her shoulder as she led him over to where ponies were beginning to gather. A clear spot was marked for the Princess and her "date" to sit at the front of the gathered ponies, right in the middle where all could see.

He would have preferred if they had sat in the back, but with Celestia rubbing up against him like she was, there was no way that he was escaping their attention. As the two waded to their spot, he stole a quick glance at a very smug-looking Asta: giving her yet another of his signature hot glares.

Celestia's heavy wing forced him into a sitting position and his attention was diverted back to the tree and the thick line of eager foals bouncing around the presents, looking for their names.

In a matter of minutes, several adults managed to worm their way to the front so they could properly hoof out the presents, lest the foals claim them as their own. Blaze settled into a more comfortable position laying himself on his stomach, a pose that Celestia was all too happy to conform to. Her wing was pressed possessively against his back whenever one of the mares pressed by, though she never appeared to realize she was doing it: her face was always blissful.

She may have been doing it subconsciously, but she was leaning heavily against him; to the point that he was certain he could move away and she'd roll onto her side. He figured that she was just grateful that he was back home, a feeling that he was ready to share with any and all.

As the presents were being delivered, Blaze's oldest friend in the community approached carefully from his side, appearing fearful of how Celestia would react to his presence. Blaze watched in earnest confusion towards his apprehension, but all he received from Celestia was a happy smile and brief glance at the small box in his hoof.

When it seemed like she had given him the go ahead, the elder stepped up to Blaze, placing the weighted box in his waiting hoof. A smile crept onto his grayed muzzle while he explained: "I figured that your trip away was the right time to try to find this thing; give me enough time to make sure it was all there for ya. Considering that you've been lazy in taking care of yourself, I figured it'd be a good idea for you to learn how to use it, keep the tradition going."

Blaze glanced down at the box with a curious frown, then deciding that the suspense was not healthy for the Princess, tore open the wrapping. The box slid open to reveal a folded shaving razor, a cream brush and a bottle of what he presumed was shaving cream. "Really?"

"I noticed that you've started getting a bit of peach fuzz on that young chin of yours."

"Now that you mention it; it does seem like you're starting to get a bit of facial hair, actually. Just the slightest hint of red bleeding into your white fur." Celestia commented, a bemused tone in her voice. Blaze was anything but bemused, rubbing a hoof against his muzzle, trying to decide whether or not he actually needed to shave. The slightest hint of stubble growing there decided that he had lost the argument, so he opted to let this slide this one time. He replaced his frown with his previous grin as he nodded his thanks and slide the kit closer to him. "And I just know you all will make sure that he doesn't rip all that luscious coat with it."

"Just give it some time: it'll thicken into a proper beard." Blaze rolled his eyes in an melodramatic fashion. His attention was drawn to a slight movement across the grouped ponies, where his eyes fell upon a nervously shifting lavender unicorn. She didn't meet his gaze, something Blaze contributed to the fact that she seemed pretty damn intimidated by the Princess sitting next to him.

"I may not know everypony in this city, but that mare must be the infamous Twilight I've heard so much about, is it not?" Celestia whispered into Blaze's ear, and though her head was directed towards him, he knew that she was sneaking discreet glances towards the mare.

Blaze opened his mouth to respond, but a tiny filly walked up to him, looking a little sleepy but also shared a shred of apprehension. He cocked his head as she walked up to him nervously, offering a kind smile to ease her a little, knowing that his stature and proximity to the Princess was enough to demoralize most ponies. He patted the ground in front of him, trying to get her to come closer, and after a moment to think it over, the filly slid between his hooves. She circled twice before laying down and promptly falling asleep. He smiled warmly at the sight, gently running a comforting hoof down her side.

"Yeah, that's her. Not that it really matters right now: we're all here to have a good holiday with the family." He responded slowly, eyes glued to the warm bundle snoring peacefully in his grip.

"I'd say go get shaved, but that filly is just the cutest thing napping in your hooves like that, and I would be remiss to wake her. So," Celestia turned to look at several of the ponies ripping into the presents, her eyes sparkling with a contemplative gleam. Her eyes settled on Asta, who was blatantly watching the two largest ponies in the room. "Excuse, Asta. Would you mind coming over here for a moment?"

If the direct question surprised the pegasus, she didn't show it, opting to simply comply and trot over. She bowed as soon as she got next to them, though the stiffness of the formality made Blaze cringe. "Yes, Princess?"

"Please, Asta; there is no need for all these formalities while I'm here. Just call me Celestia, I'm not the Princess for the day." And to emphasize her point, she stood from her position, her horn glowing its typical bright gold. All at once, her large golden tiara levitated off of her flowing mane, and her breastplate eased off of her chest. In a loud pop, both vanished under her magic. The general commotion surrounding them died off as they all stared in open curiosity at the strange sight currently happening.

Four delicate steps, each punctuated by a golden slipper gently tossed of its owning hoof, and the last of Celestia's clothing was teleported away. While everypony else was agape at the casualness of their daylight ruler, Blaze was speechless at the bashful smile that she struggled to wear.

He had seen her act casual, as it had been part of her efforts to get him to be somewhat comfortable around her, but the fact that she seemed so shy about acting like this in public. . . he thought she had extreme ease dealing with just about anypony. But this was something that he wasn't quite sure how to process: maybe it was that she had always been in control of her interactions with others. Perhaps it was that she was just not accustomed to acting like a normal pony to so many others before.

Either way, she resettled into her previous position, with her wing tightly pressed across his back while she did her best to retain an air of composure. She did giggle a little at the expressions the ponies were making, but other than that, she allowed them to adjust to her new look.

"What are we all waiting for?" She asked playfully, putting in the effort to look at as many of the surrounding ponies as she could. She kept that bashful smile, and Blaze thought he could see the faintest of embarrassed blushes spread across her muzzle, even as she looked over at the adults in the room. "There are still presents to open, and I'm sure that all of the foals would love to be able to play with their new toys!"

The reminder set off most of said foals, getting them to bug their parents and guardians into returning to the task at hoof.

While many of the ponies snapped out of their stupor, Celestia turned to Asta, who was regarding her in something Blaze would associate close to hope. Reverence, perhaps? Awe? Celestia met her gaze head on, though she remained mute until most of the others had done their best to act as if it was a more normal day than if they had royalty visiting. She smiled warmly towards the young mare, motioning for her to come closer.

Asta's steps were hesitant and halting as she slid up to the Princess, anxiety and hope burning in her emerald orbs. "Yes, Princess- I mean Celestia?"

"I was just curious, with all of these presents being divided out, as to what your family's plans were for the remainder of the day? Due to recent activities, I wasn't really able to find something suitable for a family with such renown as your own, and my quest for the perfect gift is still intact. I came here without any real plan for the day, and I would love to know how it is you all intend to celebrate this late holiday?"

"Oh. . ." Asta dropped her head as she chose her reply carefully, trying to best convey what it was that their family did over Hearth's Warming. A bit of that thought went into actually remembering what it was that they did during the holiday. "Well. . . usually we open presents in the morning, and then we spend the better part of the morning and some of the afternoon relaxing. Spending time with each other, watching the foals play with their new things. I haven't really been her to celebrate that many Hearth's Warming, mostly because it was scarcely celebrated at all. We eat lunch and talk, share stories and just enjoy each others' company."

The explanation was more than satisfactory to the Princess, who smiled her thanks and returned to gazing blissfully at the stallion beneath her wing, who was still comforting a content, napping filly in his hooves. Her eyes glazed just a bit as a thought ran through her mind, an idea to solve her little issue with another inhabitant of this lovely community.

The Alicorn turned to say something to Asta, but the mare was otherwise occupied with the sudden arrival of Scaled Equilibrium. The sage was giving her a small wrapped box, passing a brief, knowing smile to the Princess before she backed away, blending into the crowd while the pegasus tore into the gift.

"Asta, I think that a relaxing day of stories sounds absolutely wonderful." Celestia said, rocking Blaze with her wing. "And since it appears that most of the gifts are finally being unwrapped, perhaps this would be a wonderful time for me to get to know even more of my subjects."

"Well, I can't really argue with that." Asta chipped happily, a grin splitting her face as she gazed happily upon the two ponies on the ground. She looked down at the torn paper, her smile growing larger as she delicately took out a small painting.

Practically glowing, she carried the painting close to her chest as she turned and trotted away from them, gathering ponies and dragging them towards the main area. Blaze wanted to chuckled at her antics, but the filly in his hooves was starting to wake. He cooed to her softly, rocking her back to sleep as he gently rose to his hooves, keeping his movements fluid and careful.

Celestia rose with him, though her attentions were focused elsewhere, even as multiple ponies tried to earn her attention as they passed her. She smiled to them, keeping her demeanor soft and kind, but she walked passed each one: heading directly towards Twilight.

Much to the worry of Blaze, of course.

"Twilight Ions." She stated evenly, her smile never leaving her face, even though her tone carried a harder bite to it than before. "Before everypony gets comfortable in the living area, I'd like to have a short conversation with you, in private if you don't mind?"

The unicorn spared a brief glance at Blaze, worry and open fear shining in her eyes, though they both knew that she was in no real position to deny the Princess, despite the casual appearance of her visit. She looked back to Celestia, sweat beads forming on her brow as her heart beat slightly faster, and dry-swallowed. Putting on a brave face, she nodded, offering a nervous chuckle at the Princess' sudden laughter and short explanation: "You have nothing to worry about, Twilight: I merely wanted to ask you a couple of questions and maybe clear up some misinformation that's reached me."

With wing draped over her shoulder, Twilight was led out the front door by the Princess. Celestia's preferred method attracted more attention than she might have wanted, something attested by the mass of murmurs coming from the surprised ponies. No doubt that rumors were going to spread all-too quickly.

Blaze took the small filly with him as he followed Asta onto the large couch, easing himself and the filly onto the middle of it. Asta took a seat to his right, sitting on the inside half of the couch, leaving the obvious spot for Celestia to sit to his left.

Unsurprisingly, nopony even dared to claim the spot, with everypony knowing full well that the Princess would lay claim to it. He could worry about it later, because the filly didn't take to the movement too well, stirring in her sleep. Speaking softly, he eased her back into the world of slumber. Asta, on the other hoof, was more than happy to worry about what would happen to the mare outside. "Are we just going to ignore how the Princess just nabbed your marefriend? Or are we going to discuss the implications of what is going on?"

"Asta. . . I've got two things to say to that." Blaze sighed. "First off: Twilight is not my marefriend-"

"But you wish she was."

"-nor has she ever been anything more than a friend. Sure, we helped each other with a similar issue, but it was never anything more than that." He finished, choosing to ignore her addition to the conversation. "Secondly, it's just like Celestia said: she just went out there to have a chat, and to clear something up. Both mares will be back, and I've got no doubt Twilight will be fine."

"Except that piece of information about Twilight being a little bit of competition for the Princess, regardless of what you say. She's bucked you, and you liked her-don't deny it-effectively making her competition for Celestia." Asta countered, smirking lightly at the situation. "Blaze, I know you hate it when we bring it up, but Celestia does care about you, and she is interested in you. Thus, Twilight is competition."

"They will be fine."

"Scale," Asta chuckled, turning to the named mare. "At least he's stopped denying it, maybe someday we'll finally get him to admit that he is meant to be with Celestia."

"One can only hope, Asta. One can only hope." The sage replied, shaking her head in humor at the pair of pegasi.

The numerous voices all talking over one another about the Princess' request all died off pretty quickly once said Princess walked back into the building, a safe, whole, and happy Twilight in tow. The sight of the two returning together in what resembled piece was enough to earn Asta Blaze's smug expression her way. Resulting in her sticking her tongue out at him teasingly and slapping her wing against his side in a playful manner. Blaze tried his best to get a good look at the two entering, but with a blissful filly in his hooves, he was kind of locked to the spot.

Her grand entrance complete, Celestia made short work of getting across the building and planting her royal flank on the open side of the couch, sidling up as close as she could get to Blaze. Once she had made sure that her side was pressed firmly enough against him that she could feel his breathing, she settled her wing across his back, as was her favorite position.

"Now that we've all assembled, what would you suggest we discuss to pass the time?" She asked sweetly, glancing between the two other occupants of the couch. Blaze and Asta locked eyes, working out who was going to be the one to ask the gnawing question, remaining silent for a second as the battle waged. Eventually, Blaze was the one to crack first, sighing as he looked down at the filly in his hooves, though he just needed something to look at as he conjured the strength to beat this test.

"Celestia. . ." Not off to the best of starts, he fumbled nervously for the right words to choose, needing to be careful else he trigger an unwanted conflict between mares in the household. "Most of us are-or rather were wondering just what it was that inspired you to speak to Twilight in private?"

"Oh, that. Nothing really; just a couple of ponies who needed to clarify a misunderstanding, but that's neither here nor there. I shouldn't mind talking about it later, but I'd hate to ruin this fabulous day by talking about myself, when there are so many other interesting ponies in here that I would love to get to know." Celestia's answer came quickly, though the workaround to the issue was something he saw coming a mile away. Of course she was going to avoid the issue, and unless he pushed hard for an answer, she would probably just keep trying to keep the truth about it a secret. The fact that Twilight had snuck off to the back, actively avoiding looking in his direction only confirmed Asta's suspicions. Blaze sighed and nodded, accepting that he would try again at a later point, though he knew it was useless confirming what was already a given; and he hated that life had gotten so complicated. Her calm, soothing voice snapped him out of his contemplations, and he raised his head to listen to what she had to say; "Now, I'm aware that many of you are familiar with me, but I hardly know more than the names of most of you. Perhaps we could begin today with a relaxed introduction, having some of you telling me about yourselves?"

There was a prolonged silence as the group of ponies all looked between one another, trying to find a volunteer to talk about themselves to the Princess. Sure, the idea of Princess Celestia getting to know you sounded great, but they all felt a profound intimidation at at trying to sound complete while not kissing flank.

Celestia scanned the crowd with a critical eye, trying to find the source of their discomfort, completely ignorant to the aura of authority she exuded over the common pony. Her scan was interrupted by a single stallion stepping forward. It was somepony that caught Blaze, Asta, Scale, really most of the community by surprise, as he had seemed to like to keep his secrets to himself.

The eldest pegasus in the building, senior by countless years, stepped out from the crowd to stand before his Princess, offering a light bow. "If you don't mind, your highness: I think it's high time that I properly introduce myself to you. And to the rest of these guys, I guess.

"I. . .I realize that I should have done this a long time ago. . . But. . . But I never really knew how to bring it up. So, thank you, Celestia. My name is Goldheart Dune, I've been living here in the city for the last. . . fifteen or so years, though I'm a native Saddle Arabian. You say that you want to know some more about your subjects, and I know that all these ponies had been extremely patient in hearing about me. So, yeah, that's why I guess I decided to finally break the silence.

"I grew up in a small village in the young deserts in Saddle Arabia, back before things got really bad for us." He explained, picking a spot near the front of the couch so he could sit down and tell his story. The ponies around clearing a space for him. "I'm sorry if my story isn't all that entertaining, but it's all I've got. My parents were cloud farmers, as Saddle Arabia was too far from Cloudsdale to receive assistance. Due to the conditions, weather management paid well enough that we never wanted for anything.

"I grew up learning the trade, and eventually, my two twin baby sisters and I took over the business. We worked at it for years, until I fell in love with a beautiful mare from the village over. I'll spare you the details, it was storybook and predictable: we fell in love, I gave her family a large supply of clouds and offered personal assistance in their maintenance, then we got married. Had a foal, taught our lovely little colt how to manage the trade.

"My parents died of illness shortly after I married, leaving me to manage the trading aspect of the business while my sisters farmed. I helped where I could, but we were hitting a rough patch, and things were looking pretty bad for us. My sisters each left to do their own thing, dropping the business down on me, until it officially became an asset tot he village, and my wife and I were no longer in control of the farm clouds. Things got worse over the next year, with us struggling to find a living, something to provide for the village.

"Then we had our first and only foal, a beautiful little colt. He was spunky, agile and a speed demon, though he never seemed to want to leave his mother's side. We found work, finding a way to pay the village for our supplies, and things finally started to look up for us, especially when it seemed that our little Desert Storm would grow up to be the best flyer the village had ever seen. He had a way with the wind, and could do things I never thought possible at such a tender age: incredible maneuvers and aerobatics that even I had struggled to do when I was younger."

A glazed look came over him as he continued to talk, as if he was soaring through the clouds of dreamland, where memories came to life.

"We were so happy, and the village had gotten out of a rough harvest year, Desert Storm was flying higher and higher then anypony else, he was pulling more and more weight on the farms, and he was even running deliveries to other settlements." He sighed, that happy look fading from his eyes. "Then my wife got sick. At first it seemed like it was just a normal bout of Sand Fever, nothing our local healer couldn't handle, but then she couldn't handle it. The fever got worse, and it was clear this was no Sand Fever, but something far worse. . .

"We. . .We weren't able to save her in time. My wife died before our son's tenth birthday, and I don't think any of us really recovered from that." He paused for a moment, tears threatening to drip from his eyes. "Years slipped by, seeming to disappear before they even came, I took to drinking, hoping to drown my sorrow, Desert Storm grew distant, shallow, even angry. I suspect that he was confused and depressed, though I can't say I blame him: every day was agony. When he became of age, instead of joining the village as a stallion, he left. I later learned that he had found a new life in a larger city, working as a guard; at least he found something to do to help ponies.

"After my son left, I ran out of hope: I had nothing left for me in that village. My parents were dead, my wife had died, and my son had abandoned me, and even the village itself was nothing like I remembered it, the life seemed drained out of it. I left for a new life, finding it here in Equestria: a place I had barely even heard of. A place where anypony could get anywhere, so long as they put in the work. Problem was; by that point, I was too old to work, and I had no money.

"I ended up here because I had realized that I was going to die here, alone, starved and far from anypony that knew who I really was. However, I guess fate had decided to play a cruel joke on me, dropping a young pegasus and his baby brother here, inspiring hope in all of us again. It is because of you, Blaze, that I decided to go out and try to find somepony who also held from my village, or at least knew how it fared." He smiled then, a warm smile that had arrive so suddenly, it seemed like he had seen his son again. "I found somepony so much more important to me than just any random pony who could tell me how my village was."

Blaze came to the conclusion, as did everypony else, rather cheerfully, that he had finally reunited with his son, and that things might finally be looking more like they had before his life had fallen apart. "The main reason I wanted to bring this up is because I met a pony I hadn't seen in years in the market yesterday, a pony who I struck up a conversation with. I met with one of my baby sisters at the market, and we talked for hours."

The revelation stunned the entire group of ponies, for that was amazing news that could have been seconded only by his reuniting with his son. They were still ecstatic nonetheless, and made their support know by all shouting over each other that they were happy for him. Chaos seemed to break loose as the ponies jumped around all calling to get his attention and trying to ask a hundred questions at once. In the chaos of bouncing ponies, Celestia quietly slipped off of the couch. Blaze turned to her curiously.

"It seems that you all have a lot of questions for our dear friend here, and I wouldn't want to take away from the wonder of this news. I'll return after some time so that we may all enjoy each others' company, but for now it seems he deserves far more attention than I." She explained as she quietly made her way to the entrance, allowing the ponies to revel in the happiness being passed around with joyous abandon.

Author's Note: Due to still being a bit of a novice writer, I'm trying to find my writing style, and all the quirks that come with that, so I beg of you: please hold in there if things start to shift, please?! I'm trying to find out what works and what doesn't, including things that may not even affect the story. For now, a lot of things I've got right now are pretty solid, and I like how I write, but if there is something that any of you think I need to improve on, please, please, PLEASE tell me. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I'm not a "writer." I'm just a guy who likes to build worlds. I've got a shit-ton of room for improvement, but I can only detect so many issues myself.