Hello, fellow readers! Welcome to the Christmas Special! Not gonna hold you up here any longer, so let's just hop right in!
But first, a word from our reviewers:
johannvanguard: Pleased to hear that as always, my friend. Here are your answers.
Nightwolf2000: Thanks for the kind words, I'll be sure not to disappoint.
Thanks for the feedback, people! Now, let's get the party underway!
CS: New Arrivals and New Horizons
Time has passed since the incident at CHS, which has its own little story for the aftermath. The weekend after the snow days were over, the teachers and students arrive to find their school in shambles. The Rainbooms show up soon after with the Detective Trio in tow, explaining what was the cause of the destruction. Things got a bit heated as a certain student recognizes them and point out that they go to Crystal Prep, the rival school they face in the Friendship Games.
After some time, they managed to reassure them that this was not any sort of prank, or crime, made to sabotage them. The boys took full blame for their actions, which the punishment was to help repair the damages. The girls were on board to help out, at least to speed things up since the holidays were around the corner, and managed to fix the school back in working order a couple of days before Christmas Eve rolled around.
Ataraxy and Candid caught wind of what had happened, but they did eventually let them off with a warning due to them already paying for their mistakes. Sci-Twi and the Dazzlings did offer to help them, but were declined since they weren't involved in the slightest. Pri-Twi eventually had to return to her world, promising to write every now and then to check in on them.
Once all that was in the past, they had a new challenge up ahead in the form of Christmas shopping. However, due to the short time frame and the nature of holiday shopping, they could only get so much. Of course, Levin had a plan to make up for it:
A Christmas party at his house.
Everyone was invited, including Aeon who was surprised at such a gesture, and Levin couldn't be more excited as he had just finished putting up the lights on the second floor balcony railing.
"How's it looking, Sonata?" He asks her as she stood down below.
"Perfect!" She responds with a smile, loving the while lights they decided to use.
He eagerly comes back downstairs to see what she means, "Certainly is."
"Oh wow, you actually made it work." Adagio comes in the living room from the kitchen, eating one of the many cookies Levin had made as she looks at the lights they have hanged on the walls and such.
"And how many does that make?" He points at the half-eaten cookie she held in her hand as he asks this question.
"Enough, thank you very much." Adagio takes another bite of it soon after with an admittedly cute little pout on her face.
"OK then. Honestly, I should be more flattered you three like them. I don't bake that often." He admits as he walks past her.
"You should bake more!" Sonata encourages him on doing so, which he smiles back in return before turning the corner.
Once he does, he is now in the dining room to see Aria wiping down the table good.
"And there we go." She said to herself, finishing up the little chore as she looks at him. "Any reason why you wanted this? It's just gonna get messy again."
"Remember, this room doesn't get used often. That table collects dust and the last thing I want is a dusty party." He explains to her with his answer.
"I would hate dust on my food." She comments, agreeing on what he's getting at.
"Exactly, speaking of which-" He pulls out his phone to check the time, "It's almost six. They're gonna be here any minute."
Levin heads on out of the dining room with Aria following behind, her joining up with her sisters as he was strolling towards the front hall.
"OK, OK. Hair spiked up, casual winter clothes on, no magical powers and a drive to party." He goes down a mental list in his head, "All set, let's do this!"
Ding Dong!
"...Huh, didn't think that would worked." He was genuinely surprised at the timing of that before realizing what that meant.
Unlocking and opening the door, he sees his first group of guests as they cheerfully greet him on sight. The Rainbooms wore new attire for the cold snow of winter, thanks to Rarity, as they enter with food prepared for the dinner.
"Merry Christmas!" Sunset said, followed by the others who does the same as they enter the house.
"Merry Christmas!" Levin says right back before closing the door behind them, the group putting their food in the dining room as they greet the Dazzlings too.
"This is gonna be so exciting!" Pinkie expresses her joy, who is the most obvious of the group to be.
"I really like the lights. They certainly make the walls pop." Rarity complements the decorations they have done, which made Sonata gleefully smile in turn.
"Thank you! Although, they were a bit annoying to put up." She admits, but it was only a minor complaint.
"At least you didn't have to do the dusting." Aria casually points out.
"I hope it's been all right since the you-know-what happened." Sunset quietly said to Adagio.
"Oh no, he's doing much better now. He tends to cook a bit more lately, for one thing." The latter reassures her, "Particularly, baking."
Pinkie then pops up between the two, "I heard baking, who's baking!?"
"If they didn't eat them all, there should be cookies in the kitchen." Levin mentions, of which the pink party girl zooms off to the baked goods before he even blinks.
"I'll go make sure she doesn't eat them all too." Rainbow goes off to the kitchen as she said this, entering it soon after saying it.
Levin was enjoying the lively interactions that the girls were having, bringing a nice smile to his face:
Ding Dong!
Before the doorbell went off again. Knowing full well who it might be, he dashes right to the door and opens it to reveal his friends with their respective parents.
"Merry Christmas!" The four warmly greets him, which he kindly returns back. "Merry Christmas!"
"Only a second behind the girls this time!" Visor jokingly said before speaking more positively, "Got ya food and a little something for the carols."
Levin then notices the case that most likely contained his piano in his right hand as he walks past him. Shade comes in soon after with Ataraxy and Candid close behind, Levin closing the door behind them as they enter the living room. Once they place the food in the dining room, they join in on the conversation with others.
"You play the piano?" Fluttershy asks Visor, who places his case on the couch.
"Yup, I decided to get an instrument to test my new musical hobby and went with a classic choice." He explains to her, "That and I like taping my fingers for rhythmic beats."
"That's nice. I play the tambourine in our band, it's simple and fun to play." She replies with before having an idea pop into her head, "Actually, do you three have a band?"
Visor took a moment to think about it, "Us three, huh?"
"You boys in a band? That would be awesome!" His mom overheard this part and chimes in with her opinion on the matter, "Of course there's all the other band stuff, but you have been telling me about the little tunes you hum sometimes."
"M-Mom!" Visor apparently didn't want that to be mentioned, his cheeks a bit red of embarrassment as a result.
Ding Dong!
The doorbell rang the third time, making Levin move to answer the door. Upon opening it, he sees Sci-Twi has arrived with guests of her own along with some food too.
The first guest is a male that looks around the age of a college student. He has cerulean eyes, light gray skin, and sapphire blue hair with light and dark blue streaks. He wore a black turtleneck sweater with a blue scarf wrapped around his neck under a white coat, equally blue gloves, gray pants and dark blue boots.
The second guest is also a male, older than the previous one that is likely the father. He has grayish azure skin, moderate amber eyes, and dark blue hair. He wore a deep blue coat over a gray sweater, blue gloves, blue pants and black boots.
The third and final guest is a female, seems to be a bit younger than the father that is most likely the mother. She has pale gray skin, light blue eyes, and purple hair with white stripes. She wore a light purple coat over a white turtleneck sweater, a pair of purple earmuffs, purple gloves, white pants, and purple boots.
"Hi, Levin. Are we on time?" Sci-Twi greets him, which he gladly responds with an excited tone. "On the dot! Though, I didn't expect this. I'm guessing they are... family?"
"That's a pretty good guess. I'm her brother, Shining Armor." He casually introduces himself, holding his hand out for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you." Levin simply said back as he returns the handshake.
"I'm her father, Night Light. And I appreciate the invitation." Her father does the same, which Levin repeats the motion as well. "I'm glad you do, Mr. Light."
"And I'm her mother, Twilight Velvet. I'm so glad that Twilight has made some friends since her time at Crystal Prep." Her mother chimes in while eagerly shaking the boy's hand, who was a bit caught off guard by it before recovering.
"I-I'm glad to help with that, Mrs. Velvet." Levin shakes off the small dizziness he still felt as he said that.
"Already meeting the girl's parents, son?"
A new voice was familiar to Levin as the group look to where it came from, seeing another man casually walking towards them with a smile on his face.
He has neat black hair that reaches past his ears in length and even goes around his ruby red eyes, matching with his five-o-clock shadow of a beard and light tangelo skin. He wore a black zipped-up bomber jacket over a gray turtleneck sweater, black gloves, blue cargo pants, and black boots.
"D-Dad!?" Levin was legit surprised at his father's arrival, who simply smirks in response.
"Keep your cool, kid. We're in front of company." He advises, "Mind allowing them inside from the cold?"
"Right!" Levin then enters back inside and has the door open for them to enter, the man following behind.
Once they were in and Levin closes the door, a nice hug was in order as he does just that.
"Hey! How ya doin, kiddo?" His father gladly returns the gesture.
"I've been doing good. A lot has happened, but I think it's best to wait till afterwards to tell you." Levin briefly explains.
"I hope so. Last thing I want is you being bored from the same old same old." His dad gets what he meant.
After they ended the hug, the two enter the living room where the man was understandably surprised at the amount of people that were currently there.
"Oh wow, you weren't kidding." He looks upon the group before turning to Levin, "I'll wait until they all get acquainted, I gotta rest my feet from walking all day."
His son simply nods at that, "Sure thing."
"Which college to ya go to, exactly?" Applejack asks Shining out of curiosity.
"I'm currently going to Everton right now. It has high standards, but it's manageable." He answers before realizing something, "Which reminds me..."
He then turns to Sci-Twi, "Weren't you thinking of going there too?"
"I-I haven't decided on that yet, honestly." She hesitantly responds with her answer.
"You must be Levin's friends, correct?" Mrs. Velvet greets Shade and Visor with a cheerful smile, which the two couldn't help but smile back.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm honestly a bit surprised that she mentioned us." The former admits, thinking that she would mainly talk about Levin.
"She told us about everyone. You, Visor, Levin, Sonata, and the others. Though, she mentioned meeting herself?" Mrs. Velvet was a bit confused at that last part.
"Maybe she meant it like finding herself. Kinda a soul searching moment, I guess?" Visor clarifies for her with a small lie, which she believed.
"Oh! That makes sense, I guess." Mrs. Velvet chuckles a bit soon after, "Twilight can come up with the strangest stuff sometimes."
During this, Mr. Light was currently speaking with Sunset and Rainbow. "I've heard about your band from one of my colleagues, he told me his daughter really enjoys your music."
"That's great to hear. Guess Pinkie was right about us sharing our music." The former mentions, which Rainbow agrees with. "Totally."
"Told you!" Pinkie calls out their doubts about her idea.
"No wonder you all looked familiar!" A male voice calls out over the group, getting their attention.
A man was currently sitting in one of the chairs as he continues, "You're the Rainbooms, right!?"
"Yes sir, the one and only! Who's asking?" Rainbow answers.
"Just a fan of your music. It's really good." He humbly responds back with.
"Wait, how do you know them?" Levin was rather curious about this.
"I follow their social media." His dad casually said in response, "Any new songs and I'm listening first thing. Heck, it's better than most music on the radio."
"Thank you very much." Fluttershy was just as flattered as the others before asking an important question, "But um, who are you? If you don't mind me asking."
The man sheepishly smiles right after she said that, "Oops, right."
He got up to his feet and stretches a bit before standing up fully, "It's nice to meet all of you. I am Marvel Rumble, and I welcome you in my home as much as my son has."
"Whoa, you're Levin's dad!" Sonata points out the obvious with that, which her sisters simply roll their eyes at.
Mr. Rumble simply chuckles at that remark, "Indeed I am. Now, I recall almost every face here except Twilight and her family who I've just met..."
He casually walks up to the Dazzlings as he continues, "And you three ladies. May I ask your names?"
"Sonata Dusk!" Sonata happily introduces herself before gesturing to who's who, "And these are my sisters, Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze!"
"Hey." The former simply said.
"Sup." The latter casually nods her head upwards while saying that.
"A pleasure to meet you." Mr. Rumble smiles at them before turning to Levin, "Now, is that everyone you invited?"
"Well there is one more, but he was rather vague with whether or not he was gonna-"
Ding Dong!
"...Show up." Levin finishes his sentence soon after the bell faded, going right over to the door to see who it was. However, he was not prepared for what was on the other side after he opened it:
"Yo, Levin! Long time no see!"
A sudden hug caught Levin a bit off guard as he processes who it was, which he recognizes two familiar faces.
"Stylite!? Pixel!?"
Indeed it was his cousins, the former currently hugging him before letting go while the latter was entering into the hall with another guest in tow.
"I figured they might be people you knew." It was indeed Aeon, who only had minor changes in his appearance as he closes the door behind himself.
While he still wore his hat and coat, he now has a black long-sleeved sweater in place of his shirt and wore another black glove on his left hand, or rather claw for obvious reasons.
"I-I'm surprised you two actually came. I thought you would be-" Levin was interrupted by his cousin as he answers, "Well, we were in the neighborhood and wanted to surprise ya! So, surprise!"
Now that Levin has a good view of the two, he was taking in how different they look now than when he last saw them.
Stylite has grown to be at least a bit taller than him now, along with a new hairstyle that seems to be shoulder-length. His violet hair was tied in a ponytail with loose bangs framing his face under a black fitted cap and his light gold skin has two scars on his face, a long one going across his cheek and a small one over his right brow, while still having his royal blue eyes. He wore a black zipped-up high collar jacket over a purple long sleeved shirt, blue gloves, blue jeans, and black boots.
Pixel has grown not as much, but it was still noticeable as he now reaches Levin's chin at max height. He has wavy unkempt golden blonde hair with bangs reaching his eyebrows, pale amber skin and wore a pair of thin rectangular-framed glasses over his vermilion red eyes. He wore a brown beanie, a dark gray jacket over a brown turtleneck sweater, black knitted gloves, black pants and brown boots.
"Sty! I thought I heard ya!" Visor comes from around the corner with Shade in tow, grinning widely as he walks over to the group.
"Vis, you mad lad!" Stylite returns the greeting as the two claps hands together like they were arm wrestling before pulling each other in for a short hug.
Once they did that, Stylite greets Shade with a simple fist pump. "Good to see you too, man."
"Same." Shade then sees Pixel just chilling in the back and waves to him, "Hey."
"H-Hi." Pixel wasn't really expecting that as Aeon simply smiles at the shy boy.
"Oh right, there's a party!" Stylite kinda forgot in his excitement, "Best that we don't keep the guests waiting!"
With that, the group goes into the living room to meet up with the others, Mr. Rumble being the most taken aback at their appearances.
"Whoa! It's been quite awhile since I've seen you two." He happily greets the two boys.
"Same here, Uncle Marvel." Stylite agrees with that sentiment, "How's the acting gig?"
"Doing quite well. Recently finished up a movie, so I'm currently taking time off."
"Nice." Stylite then looks at the others who are also there, "That's quite the crowd you got here."
"Everyone, these two are my cousins, Stylite Stream and Pixel Stellar!" Levin calls out for everyone to hear, which they warmly greet the two boys in return.
"Nice to meet you all!" The former smiles at their warm welcome before noticing his brother kinda frozen next to him, "Don't mind my little bro, he's just very shy!"
A couple of them chuckle at that, with Fluttershy knowing how he feels, before Levin spoke up again:
"And this guy here is Aeon Rover!"
Aeon simply looks at him with a smirk before looking at the others, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance."
"Now that everyone is here, let's start the feast!" Levin announces out loud.
And that they did. The adults got to work setting up the table with the various foods while the teens were hanging out in the kitchen. The group was getting acquainted with his cousins as Levin was standing close to the cookies to make sure no one else eats them until further notice and started a conversation with Sci-Twi.
"I'm glad that you came, I wanted to talk with you." Levin starts their conversation with.
"Really? What about?" She was rather curious on what he means.
"...When I was transformed, Sunset told me that you saw me in that form before fainting." Levin mentions at a lower tone, "What exactly did you see?"
Sci-Twi took a moment to recall his dark form before answering, "You looked like a... a powerful wraith possessed you. Your eyes were so... empty."
Levin forms an image from what she had just described, getting a shiver down his spine in the process. "That is scary."
"T-That isn't gonna come back, right?" She was understandably afraid of it, considering what she just described it as.
"Don't worry, it was a one-time thing." Levin reassures her, "Aeon made sure of that."
The two went quiet for a second before he rubs the back of his neck, "Sorry, didn't mean to bring the mood down."
"No, you're fine. You were just curious." She simply said in response.
"Like a cat." He just blurts out as a little joke.
Thankfully it worked somewhat, making the two chuckle soon after. Once that passes, Levin changes the subject to whatever came to his head.
"Your parents and brother are pretty nice."
"They are. Though, they aren't home often. My brother goes to college and my parents have jobs that takes them out of town often." She explains to him.
"So in that case, you mainly live alone?" He summarizes what she was getting at.
"Yeah. I don't mind it that much, Spike is there to keep me company and I'm able to focus on my lab projects." She shrugs that part off as she spoke, though her tone sounds a bit more somber than before.
"You have a lab too?" The latter part has him intrigued, though he caught the shift in her voice as well.
"Yeah. The shed in my backyard helps with that." Sci-Twi answers before recalling what he just said, "Wait, do you have a lab?"
"I use the basement for mine, which is closed off to everyone else due to the dangerous equipment I use." Levin answers her question as he crosses his arms over his chest, "Sadly, I have yet to make a stable prototype of any projects."
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll make something that works." She assures him on that, which he gives a kind smile in return.
"Thank you. I mean, I made these cookies for the first time and they came out great." He then takes one of the cookies and holds one out to her, "Want one?"
"Now? Before dinner?" Sci-Twi had a point there, which Levin then splits the cookie in two. "We'll share one then."
She felt heat go into her checks for a moment before taking one of the halves, "Thanks."
The two then took a bite from their own halves, which she enjoys with a noticeable expression to match.
"This is really good." She agrees with his opinion on the cookies.
"I know, right?" He cheerfully said before finishing his half.
While they were conversing, the Rainbooms and Dazzlings were getting to know Stylite and Pixel better with Shade and Visor leading the conversation.
"So, what brings you back to Canterlot?" The latter asks.
"I was actually transferred from my school to Crystal Prep recently." Stylite answers, making the two rather excited.
"Wait, how did that happen?" Shade questions the weird decision, to which Stylite simply shrugs.
"Not sure. I think it was about athletic scores? Something like that. I didn't really question it since it means I get to see you guys again."
"Can't argue with that!" Visor agrees with his point there.
"Wait, is it just you that's going to Crystal Prep?" Rainbow points out.
"Sadly, yeah. My one condition was that Pixel would join me, but I was told that there was only one opening." Stylite then perks up right after as he continues, "Thankfully, there's the sister school Canterlot High that was available to take him in, so it worked out."
"Luck certainly favors y'all too, then. We also go to CHS as well." Applejack comments on the coincidence of that possibility, making Stylite happily laugh at that.
"Really? That is nuts!" He then turns to his brother who was processing that, "Not even at the new school and you got friends already!"
"...Y-Yay." Pixel nervously cheers in a low voice, though he was glad that he won't be alone there.
"What about you three? You go to CHS too?" Stylite asks that towards the Dazzlings, who were feeling a bit awkward about that.
"We used to go there..." Adagio starts with, trying to follow up with an excuse.
"Then we stopped going." Aria bluntly finishes for her.
"Ah, dropouts. Gotcha." Stylite sums it up for them, which they went along with.
"Yeah, that's it." Sonata casually agrees with before trying to sneakily get another cookie, which Levin stops her in the process.
While the teens were conversing in the kitchen, the adults were doing the same with Mr. Rumble speaking to Aeon.
"So, you are an archaeologist, correct?" He asks the man, "How did that lead to you meeting Levin?"
"Indeed, how did that happen..." Aeon rhetorically said back before answering, "I was working on a personal project of mine that he and Twilight were doing a history project on, which they passed with flying colors by the way."
"She told us about that. I was curious on why they couldn't have done it by themselves, until I found out that it was an artifact I haven't even heard about!" Mrs. Velvet mentions from what she recalls.
"It was a recent discovery, of course." Aeon adds for a bit of clarification.
Mr. Rumble was still a bit skeptical on the coincidental side of things, but didn't want to press on it since the table was now fully set up. While Ataraxy went into the kitchen to tell the others, Shining was expressing a concern he thought about to his dad.
"I still find it weird that she knows him for as long as she has." He wonders out loud, which Mr. Rumble overheard and joins in the conversation. "What do you mean?"
"He means that Twilight didn't mention Levin until after telling us about their partner project." Mr. Light clarifies for him.
"Oh. Well, I'm sure she has her reasons why." Mr. Rumble guesses, "Not everything in someone's life has to be known."
"True..." Mrs. Brace chimes in, getting their attention.
"Before you tell us-" Mr. Rumble knew her habit well, so he wants to avoid any unnecessary words. "What made you come to this conclusion?"
"My nephew has a little crush on one of the girls, but he doesn't want to talk about it." Mrs. Brace answers, "You know teens, feelings like that are natural."
"That is a fair point." Mr. Light gets where she was going with that, "With that said, it's best not to assume such things."
"Yeah, but-" Shining wasn't sure about that, only to feel his shoulder get a bit heavier from his father's hand.
"You don't think that might be your brotherly intuition kicking in?" Mr. Light points out, followed with a friendly chuckle as his son realizes that might be the case.
Their little discussion went away as the others came out of the kitchens with plates and utensils, ready to eat their delicious dishes. The dinner itself goes along quite well, lively conversations and hearty laughs to be had with family and friends alike. Though, Shining had his gaze shift towards Levin and Sci-Twi on occasion, still a bit on edge on their actual connection.
With everyone filled up and the various foods mostly eaten, they decide to go back to the living room to continue their conversations.
"Come on, you gotta know something about the new Daring Do movie! There are rumors about it all over the internet." Rainbow was currently pestering Mr. Rumble, though he wasn't really bothered by it.
"Don't listen to rumors, they tend to be exaggerated." He casually responds, which he wasn't wrong about, as he goes to sit on the couch.
"But there was a teaser." Sci-Twi chimes in, "A long while ago, at least."
"I remember that! It only showed the title though, I think it was-"
"Daring Do and the Amulet of Time."
The two girls look at Aeon, who was sitting in one of the chairs on his phone before looking at them. "I'm honestly surprised about that. The book only came out recently."
"Most likely due to how fast it got popular." Mr. Rumble points out, "Strike while the iron's hot, as the saying goes."
"Then the movie IS coming out?" Rainbow still persists on the matter.
Mr. Rumble leans back as he lets a smirk appear on his face, "...Well, I'm not fond of rumors in general. But..."
Rainbow was listening in intently with Sci-Twi doing the same, "But? But what?"
"...I may have heard about the possible release window." Mr. Rumble lets out in a lower tone, mainly to mess with them. "Something about next year, if I heard correctly?"
The two girls were rather excited about that little nugget of information, letting out suppressed fangirl squeals over that possibility as Aeon simply smirks at this. His attention was diverted as he heard a few notes from a piano, looking over to see Visor has set up his portable piano he brought earlier.
"So, who wants to sing some carols?" Visor offers out loud to get the others' attention.
"Got any in mind?" Levin leans a bit over the couch as he asks this.
"I got one." Mr. Rumble chimes in as he gets up on his feet, standing in front of the piano before speaking. "Here, play these notes."
He presses a few keys to show what he meant, Visor catching on to it rather quickly as he starts to play a familiar tone. If it wasn't obvious enough, Mr. Rumble starts the song with the first verse:
Marvel: Oh, the weather outside is frightful
Candid: But the fire is so delightful
Ataraxy: And since we got no place to go
Marvel/Ataraxy/Candid: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snooow
"Now you go!" Mr. Rumble points at Sonata, most likely to catch her off guard, while deciding to lead the way with signaling who will sing next.
Sonata: Man, it doesn't show signs of stopping
Adagio: And I've brought me some corn for popping
Aria: The lights are turned down way down low
All three: Let it snooow, let it snooow
"Nice! Now... you!"
Mr. Light: When we finally kiss goodnight
Mrs. Velvet: How I'll hate going out in the storm
Shining: But if you really hold me tight
Aeon: All the way home I'll be warm!
"Gorgeous! Now, you!"
Shade: And the fire is slowly dying
Sunset: And, my dear, we're still goodbying
Fluttershy: But as long as you love me so
Rainbow/Pinkie: Let it snow, let it snow, and snooow!
"Keep it going!"
Rarity: When we finally kiss goodnight
Applejack: How Ah'll hate going out in the storm
Stylite: But if you really grab me tight
Visor: All the way home I'll be warm!
"Bring it home!"
Pixel: O-Oh, the fire is slowly dying
Sci-Twi: And, my dear, we're still goodbying
Levin: But as long as you love me so
Everyone: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snooow!
Ending with the finishing notes, the entire room was filled with applause at their wonderful caroling singing.
"That was awesome!" Rainbow points out the obvious, the others agreeing on that. "Let's do another one!"
The evening was getting late as it fell into midnight, the moon high in the sky behind the clouds to give that away. The group were saying their goodbyes to the first ones leaving, which was Sci-Twi and her family.
"That was very fun! Thanks again for inviting us!" Mrs. Velvet smiles at Levin and Mr. Rumble as she said this.
"Thank you for coming!" The former excitedly agrees with.
The four then went on their way, with Sci-Twi being strangely slower than them, when Mr. Rumble just remembered something. "Wait, I forgot to ask you something!"
Mr. Rumble goes out into the cold towards the parents, Sci-Twi stopping in the process as he goes past her before she turns around to look at Levin. Seeing an opportunity, she goes back to the porch to talk with him.
"U-Um, I'm glad that you invited me. It was definitely different from the usual school break I have." She breaks the ice with.
"Glad to change it up for you. I was honestly felt kinda nervous when you showed up, I didn't want to bore you." He admits, rubbing the back of his neck as he said that.
"Oh no, it was anything but boring. The others made sure of that." She reassures him on his efforts.
"Great, great." He then realizes something, "I don't think we've ever shared phone numbers since our project."
She came to the same conclusion soon after, "You're right. Let's do that before we forget."
While the two were doing just that, Levin doesn't even feel the few pairs of eyes looking from around the corner behind him. Once the numbers were shared, the two put their phones in their pockets as Sci-Twi thought of something else.
"Y-You know, if you need help on your personal projects, I'll gladly share my lab equipment with you." She offers, which made his face light up in the process.
"Really? Great! I'm actually curious at the various tech you use." Levin gladly accepts it.
"Y-Yeah, that's why." Sci-Twi halfheartedly agrees with that.
Visor was visibly annoyed at Levin not seeing what was obvious, mouthing words in frustration as Shade slowly facepalms. "Dude, come on!"
As if some miracle popped into his friend's head, Levin then realizes what she may actually meant by her offer. "A-Although, I'll try not to have that distract me from you."
She simply blinks at his words as he clarifies what he just said, "Spending time with you. Plus, I'm sure Spike would like someone new to play with."
She couldn't help but giggle a bit at his rewording, "Yeah, I'm sure he will."
"Twily!" The two look over to see Shining waving at her, making their conversation come to an end as she waves back.
"I better get going. Merry Christmas!" Those were her final words before leaving to catch up with her family, Mr. Rumble walking past her as he comes back from talking with her parents about something.
"Good thing I remembered to ask about the recipe. Whatever she brought was excellent." His dad comments as he enters the hallway, Levin casually closing the door behind him in the process.
Levin has a bright smile on his face while he was deep in thought about what has happened, only to be startled by a hand grabbing his shoulder.
"Smooth." Visor casually said before chuckling, making his friend a bit confused.
"Wait, how long were you-" Levin was cut off by Shade who walks over, "Long enough to see the slip up and recovery."
Levin just stared at the two before walking back to the living room while commenting, "So nosy..."
"We prefer the term 'wingman'." Visor corrects his friend as he follows Levin, Shade chuckling at this in the process.
Stylite and Pixel simply watched as the three walk past them, the former reminiscing out loud. "I see they have changed from what I remember."
"Nope, still the same." The latter was right to the point with his thoughts, making his brother laugh. "Guess that goes for you too, huh?"
Pixel gives a small smile in response to that rhetorical question. As the boys were doing their thing, the girls were conversing with each other with Pinkie chiming in about something rather obvious.
"So, what list do you guys think we got on this year? The usual nice list or the forbidden naughty list?"
"I'm surprised you would ask that, Pinkie. You know we're all on the nice list." Sunset has a very good point there.
"But of course! I just want us to have a conversation off screen until the camera comes back!" Pinkie casually said, basically being herself as always.
"Yeah, that's why." Sunset shrugs it off, used to her antics at this point.
"You say some funny stuff, Pinkie!" Sonata compliments her, which she gladly takes with a smile.
"That's saying something coming from you." Aria teases her sister, which confuses her. "Why do you say that?"
"Well for one thing, you confused apple juice for grape juice." Adagio recalls from their time at CHS, "Admittedly, I was laughing on the inside."
"It was a moment my brain tooted, give me a break!" Sonata was a little annoyed, though she knew they were just teasing her.
Rarity then stretches her arms a bit before speaking, "Well, I'm quite tired now. I better go home before I fall asleep here."
The rest of the Rainbooms agree with that sentiment, leading to them saying their goodbyes before taking their leave along with Aeon who had his own business to attend to. After some time passes, the remaining people are now the Dazzlings, Levin, and Marvel who was now talking with the girls.
"Do you three need a ride home?"
"No need, we're already home!" Sonata casually answers, confusing the man.
"I'm sorry?"
"Hey, Dad. You mind if we talk for a sec?" Levin then grabs his father's arm to pull him upstairs to talk.
Once they reached the top, Mr. Rumble starts the conversation. "What's exactly going on?"
"Well, you know when I said a lot has happened?" That response immediately gave the man the whole picture.
"...Are they homeless?" A nod from Levin confirms his thoughts, "I see. How long have they stayed here?"
"About a couple of weeks now." He honestly answers.
Marvel looks at him for a moment before glancing at the girls down below, seeing them having their own conversation, and looks back at his son.
"What can you tell me about them?"
"Adagio's the leader of the group, she mainly keeps her sisters in check and likes to portray herself as the mature one. Aria's the level-headed one, pretty observant and tend to tease the other two. Sonata's the cheerful one, wanting to keep others around her in a good mood and is quite silly at times."
Mr. Rumble was listening intently as his son was describing them, making it sound like he was rather fond of them.
"What do you think of them?"
"...This may sound crazy, but they fill in something I was missing."
"And that would be?"
"...A family."
That made Marvel go quiet for a moment, thinking about why Levin would answer with that until coming to one conclusion.
"Is it that lonely, even with the others around?" He asks, mainly out of concern.
"...The nights are too quiet. Even with all I have, it only makes the silence heavier."
Marvel heard the sorrow in his voice as he spoke, getting another picture that made him realize the distance between them.
"Then if that's the case, I don't see why they can't stay permanently." Levin was surprised at that, "Really!?"
"As long as they can carry their own weight, of course. But even then, I know you would want them here no matter what."
Levin had a big smile on his face as he gives his father a big hug, "Thanks, Dad."
"No problem, kid. Plus, I'm kinda curious about them as well." Marvel admits.
"That's a long story, honestly."
"And I have the time to listen. You did say a lot has happened."
"I'll start from the beginning then."
And the night ends with the two spending time with the Dazzlings, with the cold winter night lit by the full moon in the sky.
And done! We are done! YES! YES! YES!
With a long chapter to boot, too. Though, there are at least two reasons why I wanted the special to be last.
One: I wanted to use it to introduce more characters that I'll use for the later stories.
Two: It's fitting due to when the story was taking place.
Now, what has happened? Well:
A time skip has passed and we find ourselves at Levin's for a big Christmas party. His invites were answered by the familiar faces, as well as some unexpected guests. Even with the new faces, the party goes off without a problem.
Throughout the evening, the large group find themselves enjoying their company and has their bonds strengthened, ending with Levin now having a bigger family.
Of course, there will be more to come as the Games are getting closer. However, I want to do a story that is essentially similar to the shorts, but are equally important to the main stories. I call it:
Calm after the Storm!
Named that since it's just a smaller set of stories. I'm still deciding if it's gonna be all in one, just needing to go back to it after each major story, or make each set of shorts a separate season from each other.
With all that said... wow. It's been a year since this story debuted and it has gone through a lot. From a simple beginning to a heartwarming finale, the series can now lift off into its own.
Thank you fellow readers for sticking with me for this long, and I will see you all next story!
EDIT: I know I briefly mentioned it, but this can be a Christmas Special AND a one year anniversary in one since this story started back in April last year. Also, I was thinking of writing for my other stories for a bit before doing the next one in the lineup, so I ask that you be patient with me. Now, I'll see you all next story!
