Chapter Three: The Gift
"Ugh…are we almost finished meeting everyone?" I asked Pinkie, not letting her know my hoof felt like it was going to fall off. "Finished?" She scoffed. "We're just getting started!".
"I had a feeling." I said sarcastically to myself. As Pinkie ran, we went past a purple dragon. Then, she stopped, like a cartoon character. "Whoop! Wait a minute.".
"WHOOOOAAAAAHH!" I exclaimed as she ran in reverse somehow. "Hi, Spike! Meet Blizzard!" Pinkie pointed to me. "…Hi!" I picked my head up and waved, then fell back down, feeling dizzied. "Um…hey!" The purple dragon replied, then drifted over to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, what did Twilight tell you about talking to strangers?"
"Wait, wait." I got up, recovered. "Don't blame her. I came here just to get something for my blind sister for her birthday today. It just so happened that she saw me.".
"Your sister is blind? You didn't tell me that!" Pinkie gasped. "Well, I wasn't planning on saying anything but-"
"That's so sad...". She interrupted. "Yeah…imagine how I feel. But anyway, let's-let's not get into this now. She insisted on dragging me to meet everypony, and here I am." I concluded. "Uh…well, first off, sorry about your sister. And, secondly, the name's Spike." He reached his hand out for me to shake it. "Nice to meet you." I shook it. "Hey, you're pretty coo-" We all get interrupted by a beam of rainbow, zooming through. "Hey, Pinks. S'up, Spike.". Everyone else said "Hello.", but I was there, standing in awe for a minute at the beautiful mare that was right in front of me.
"S'up?" Her shiny reddish eyes were met with mine. "Oh, Rainbow Dash, this is Blizzard. Say 'Hi', Blizz!" Pinkie nudged me. "Hi!" My voice embarrassingly cracked. I cleared my throat. "I mean, hi…" I responded again in a daze. "Uh…is he okay?" She turned over to Pinkie. "Oh…I think he's fine." She smirked slyly. "Come on, Blizzard, we still gotta meet everypony else!". "Okay…nice to meet you, RealPretty Dash. Uh! I mean, Rainbow Dash…heh." I chucked nervously, then Pinkie Pie grabbed my hoof and dashed off again.
"Well, who are we meeting now?" I asked, then Pinkie stopped. "Hang on a minute, hang on a minute, hang on a minute. Do you-does she-". "What? What!?" I started to blush, thinking that I knew what she was talking about. "You-like-oh my CELESTIA!" She gasped. "WHAT?" I yelled in desperation for her to just spit it out already. "You have a crush on RAINBOW DASH!" She shouted back at me.
"What-who-where-huh-wh-what are you talking about?" I stuttered, with my entire face enclosed in red. "I-I-I-I…" I embarrassingly scoff. "C'mon. I mean, we just met! I-I didn't-".
"You love her! You do! You wanna kiss her, and you want her to be you're special somepony!" She grabbed my face, putting her face in front of mine. "Listen, listen. I don't think any of-".
"Wait…" She dropped my face onto the ground and gasped. "Now, that I think about it, Hearts and Hooves Day is just next month! You should ask her!" Pinkie offered. "Well, I think I-should-get to know her first…" She interrupted me once more. "A-HA! You DO LOVE HER!" She kept pointing to my chest. I inhaled angrily. "SO WHAT IF I DO, HUH!? IT'S NOT LIKE ANYPONY'S EVER LOVED ME BEFORE!" I shrieked, later asking myself the question: why was I so angry? I mean, it's not like she did anything. Heck, I barely know her at all. She looked at me like she wanted to cry. "H-hey. I-I-I'm sorry. It's just…" I put my hoof over my forehead. "I-I'm very stressed right now, and…I-I don't even know what I'm saying…".
"Okay, I forgive you…" Pinkie Pie sniffled, then grabbed me by my face and hugged me. "…if you admit you like Rainbow Dash!"
"But I-" I breathed in and then sighed. "Ffffine. I-I-I do, okay?". "EEEE!" Pinkie Pie gasped and hugged me tighter. "Just…don't tell anyone, okay?" I asked the kind mare, nearly suffocating to death. "Okay! LET'S GO!" She grabbed my hoof once again and ran off. I didn't even care that it was hurting, because all my mind was focused on was that beautiful, amazing, ice blue colored mare, who was truly the coolest pony I ever met.
Next thing I know, we run by a white-colored mare. Her name is Rarity. I dig her way of style, so she's cool with me.
"Hi, Rarity!" Pinkie screamed. "Aah!" The white mare yelled in fright. She seemed to be upset about something.
"Och…Pinkie! Look what you did to my mane!" Rarity said, aggravated by the gust of wind Pinkie created by running so fast.
"Oh…sorry, Rarity. Don't worry! I'll make it up to you by…introducing a new friend!" Pinkie picked me up from behind and threw me down in front of Rarity. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I got a real good headache after the day was over.
"Rarity, Blizzard! Blizzard, Rarity!" She pointed her hoof between the both of us. "Brr-brr-brr!" I rapidly shook my head from the landing and recovered. "How's it goin'!".
"Hi…oh, dear. Please excuse me for how I look, because trust me when I say I DON'T look like this." Rarity added, still going on about her messed-up mane. I was nice about it, though. "No, no. It's cool. Trust me, it's fine. I mean, we've all had bad mane days…" I said, trying to make her chill out a little bit. "Hmm…I suppose…" Rarity replied.
"Okie dokie, butter cookie!" Pinkie interfered. "Let's go!" She grabbed my hoof and was about to start running again. "Wait! Wait…" I halted her.
"Listen, it really is generous of you dragging me around town to meet ponies and all…but I have four hooves that aren't broken, y'know." I added. "Well, alrighty then, Mr. Smartypants. You first!" Pinkie replied in a strict, but goofy, attitude.
I started walking, and little did I know that there was an apple right in front of me. I put my hoof on it, and slipped and fell to the ground.
"Whoa…sorry about that, partner. Heh, musta dropped one." An orange mare came up to me and chuckled. Applejack was her name, and I think what I like most about her is her can-do attitude.
"Ugh…" I was rubbing my head from the fall, still on the ground. Pinkie picked me up and flipped me upward (luckily, I landed on my hooves). "Blizz…this is Applejack!" Pinkie Pie turned my head towards the southern mare who was pulling a cart full of apples. "Howdy, partner!" Applejack grabbed my hoof and shook it firmly. "Uh…howdy…y'all." I replied, trying to be formal. "Don't do that again." said Applejack. "Okay then, fair enough. Well, hello anyway!" I answered. "Say, Pinkie. Are we-" My favor was interrupted to hear Spike talking.
"See, there he is." Spike seemed to be talking to this purple mare. "What's going on here, Pinkie? Who is this?" The purple mare asked Pinkie.
"Oh. Oh! Blizzard, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle." Pinkie turned my head toward her. "Don't worry, Twilight. He doesn't bite." She added, leaning her hoof around her.
Now, I was raised to always respect the elderly and the royalty. So, my initial reaction, knowing that she was a princess, was bowing down in front of her. "It's very kind to meet you, your Highness." I said with all the formality I could muster.
"Oh, please…there's no need to be formal. Just call me Twilight." She replied to me. "Yes, your High- Uh, I mean, Twilight. Heh…" I corrected myself, clearing my throat nervously.
"So, now that you met everypony, what do you do, Blizz?" Pinkie asked me. "Uh…well, I-" I was then interrupted by Applejack. "Yeah, partner. Are you a fellow apple bucker like yours truly?" Applejack asked. "Well, actually I'm just-" I was then finally interrupted one last time by Twilight. "I think all of your questions to Blizzard can be answered back at the castle. I have a few to ask myself." Twilight said. "Y-you mean…your castle?" I asked in excitement, since I've never been inside a castle before. "Yep!" Twilight replied. "Wow…" I answered in amazement.
So, Twilight Sparkle gathered Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike and Rainbow Dash, and formed a meeting between the eight of us. All of them asked me common questions like 'Where do you live?', 'What do you do in your spare time?', stuff like that. Then (I believe it was Twilight who asked me this), when I got to the question 'What was your favorite thing to do when you were younger?', I simply replied saying "Well, I loved hanging out with my dad…listening to those old vinyl records…". While I was talking, I kept pausing, which brought me to talking about my past. When I explained to everypony what my younger life was like and what I felt when my sister Snowdrop was born, everypony around the table was crying on some level.
"Yeesh…I mean, I knew about your sister, but…that's rough, man." Spike sniffled. "I agree with Spike…I am so sorry for your loss, Blizzard." Twilight added. Then, Pinkie Pie clung on to me crying really hard and grabbed a tissue from thin air and blew her nose. "It's alright, I guess…" I replied to Twilight's former statement. "I mean, I still have the rest of my family. I have my mom, and Snowdrop, and-" I interrupted my own sentence, because it finally dawned on me.
"What's wrong, Blizzard?" Rainbow Dash asked me. "Snowdrop. My sister, Snowdrop! The whole reason I came here was to get her a gift, because I was an idiot and forgot to get her one for her birthday, and now I don't know what she's going to think of me!" I yelled in agitation for my own stupidity. "Alright, alright. Calm down, Blizzard. I'm sure that there are still some gift shops open! Maybe you can find something for your sister there." Twilight said. "Gift shops...alright..." I breathed in and out to calm myself down. "Okay, thank you. I'm sorry. It was nice meeting all of you, but I gotta go!" Before I left, I apologized to everypony and thanked Twilight for the helpful advice…if only it helped me in the situation.
By the time I made my way back into the town, I stopped at every corner, and every gift shop I went to had either closed already or was just about to close. I was so angry that I just couldn't hold it in anymore, and shouted all of my frustration into one single breath and one single solitary word: "WHY!?".
My inner rage echoed throughout the whole town. Everypony was looking at me. "All I wanted to do…was to just…make up for my own actions, by getting my blind 4-year-old sister a gift for her birthday. IS THAT…SO…WRONG!?" I had my head down to the ground, sobbing my heart out. I felt so humiliated with everypony just staring at me.
Then, I felt a hoof tap my head. I looked up to find Applejack. "Here. I know it ain't much, but…at least it's something." She gives me an apple. "I think that a filly who sounds as wonderful as her should have gems like these." A voice came from behind Applejack. It was Rarity with two big blue topaz gems. But it wasn't just her, though. She had the rest of the ponies with her, too, with possessions they wanted to give me. Next was Fluttershy.
"Um…here's some blue lilies I picked from my garden. I think she'll like the scent of them." She gave me the bouquet of flowers. "Here's some sunglasses. This is the pair I used to wear in the Summer when I was younger." Rainbow Dash walked up and gave me the light blue framed shades. "I made some snowflake cookies back on Hearth's Warming Eve, and I had some dough left over. So, here you go!" Pinkie Pie gave me a plate full of the blue frosted sugar cookies.
And lastly was Twilight Sparkle.
"Well, I personally think that a special pony deserves a special gift." She gives me a tiara, but not a normal tiara. The whole thing was covered in silver stones with a big silver snowflake in the center. I…really didn't know what to say to any of this. I mean, I barely know these girls, and they went out of their way to do all of these things, and for what? To make me happy and help me fix my wrongs, that's what. I was extremely grateful for everything.
"…Thank you…thank you guys so much….You have no idea how happy you've made me…I can't remember the last time I felt this happy…" I started crying again, and the gang surrounded me in a group hug. "You're welcome, Blizzard. Now, go. Celebrate your sister's birthday." Twilight replied. "Okay, I will. Thank you guys so much…" I said whilst running back home. "And you can come back and visit any time you want to!" Pinkie Pie shouted from afar. I only heard it faintly, since I was mainly focused on getting back to my house to face the consequences.
At last, after the wacky day I had, I got what I needed and arrived back home. I opened the door to find Mom setting up the table for dinner. "Well, where have you been, young colt?". All I thought was 'Oh no. I'm in trouble. I was out for so long and didn't update Mom at all.' I knew I was going to get a talking to. But, to my surprise, she didn't say anything at all.
"Oh, Blizzard…" Mom gasped at all of the gifts I was carrying. "…you got all of this for your sister?".
"Yep, and it didn't even cost me a bit!" I replied. "But how did you get all of this?" Mom asked, being the curious mother she is. "Well…let's just say I know some friends. I'll tell you after dinner." I answered, and called in Snowdrop. "Hey, sis! Don't think I forgot all about you!".
Snowdrop came in the living room, and I gave her everything. The apple, the gems, the flowers, the tiara, and I never told her who the stuff was from, even to this day. We all had dinner, and my sister wore the tiara the whole time while we were eating. Afterward, my mom put the lilies in a vase and placed it on Snowdrop's nightstand. She also put the sunglasses on her nightstand, and stashed the topaz gems in the drawer below it. I put the apple and the cookies in the fridge so they'd stay fresh. Then after all of that, it was bedtime. I sent Snowdrop to bed and tucked her in.
"Thank you for everything, brother. And…I just wanna let you know that…it's okay if you don't get me anything. I have all the things I could ever have. A mother and a brother who love and care for me very much, and...a father who I'm sure would do the same…" She said to me before falling asleep. "You're welcome, sis…Anytime…" I kissed her on the forehead, and went downstairs to hang out with Mom for a little while to tell her about my day.
You know...it's days like this where…you really learn something. You show someone you care, and they will care for you, too. Today, I went out of my way to make sure I got my sister a gift for her one special day, and during that journey, I myself also wound up getting a little gift in return.
That being...the gift of friendship.