Firework rushed into the room as refreshments were placed out on the table for everyone. Traditional dishes of the royal family were served, but the Twists brought a little something of their own.

Cinnamon roll pound cake. An old family recipe.

"Cinnamon pound cake!" Firework exclaimed, looking ready to dig in.

But Sugar bit her sister's tail to stop her from charging at the cake.

"Firework! Heel!" Sugar Cane said, struggling to keep her sister from getting to the cake.

"What's wrong with her?" Korkie asked.

That was another thing about Firework. While the rest of the family had this strange ability to eat a lot of sugar and not get sick or gain a ton of weight, Firework did not have the same immunities to sugar. Like just about anyone else, a lot of sugar made her a little crazy. If it wasn't a sugar rush or a crash, it made her more irritable. So, her diet had to consist mainly of fruits and vegetables to keep her in check.

Many times, Firework was sure she was adopted, given that her entire family was sugarcoated horses. But Vanilla Swirl and Blackberry had the birth certificate, the ultrasound pictures, all of Firework's baby pictures, even a DNA test to prove she was theirs.

"Of all the sweet treats in the galaxy, cinnamon pound cake makes her the craziest." Peppermint said. "Last time we left it alone while Firework was still in the house... it was a massacre."

"Firework killed someone?!" Korkie panicked.

"No. But there were sparkles everywhere. She literally blew the roof off the house." Sugar Cane explained. "Coconut Cream hasn't been able to babysit for us since."

Firework had another small burst of fireworks that covered one of the chairs with sparkles.

"Does that happen often?" Satine asked Mr. and Mrs. Twist.

"It depends on her mood." Blackberry said. "Fortunately, worst case scenario is normally explosions of glitter. It's rarely ever actual fire."

"Are we sure it's a good idea to have this dessert near her, then?" Obi-Wan said.

"I was just a filly back then." said Firework. "I'm not that crazy with it anymore."

"Still, Dear. We must be cautious." Vanilla said.

Firework licked her mouth at the sight of the cake, which Vanilla put a cover over.

"You can have a slice of cake after you eat your vegetables."

Firework gagged at that. If there was anything she hated hearing her mother say, it was that she had to eat her vegetables. Sure, she liked carrots, celery, lettuce, and cabbage... but there was one vegetable she hated more than any other. Broccoli. And unfortunately for her, it was the one vegetable her parents tried to get her to eat the most. They said it was the best one to ensure sugar didn't set her off like a ticking time bomb.

Dinner wasn't quite ready yet, so the two families got on with doing an activity from the Twist family's traditions. One of the best traditions they had was building gingerbread houses together and decorating them.

"No one eat any gingerbread until we are done building." Vanilla said firmly.

"We know the drill, Mom." Firework rolled her eyes.

Peppermint and her family had plenty of experience building gingerbread houses, so if there were a contest here, they'd likely have it in the bag. The humans had a little more trouble building theirs, though. Obi-Wan had a little experience building gingerbread houses, given how Peppermint taught him how last Life Day; he'd even tried making one himself to surprise Peppermint on her birthday. It fell apart as soon as she picked a piece of the roof off, but it was still delicious.

"Oh, come on!" Korkie whined as the walls fell down for the third time. "We put on at least two layers of frosting on the edges."

"It probably needs a little more sugar, less water." Obi-Wan said, fixing up the frosting.

Korkie looked at Peppermint and her sisters working on their house. It looked so perfect. All decorated with white frosting squiggles and little green, white, and red mint candies, little red gumdrops, and Firework even placed some little candy canes like a fence around it.

"Peppermint and her sisters are talents gingerbread architects, aren't they?" Satine chuckled. And the humans' house fell down again. "Rats!"

Peppermint giggled a little. "Need help?"

"No thank you, we can do this." Obi-Wan said, only to break a piece of the wall. "Sugar!"

"You're still doing good for your first try, Duchess." Sugar said.

"You are just being nice." Satine said.

"No, seriously. You should've seen my first time. I don't have a magic horn, remember? It's kinda difficult to build a house with hooves and tools you pick up with your mouth."

Satine and Korkie both got a little tired of gingerbread, so they decided to show the twists one of their family traditions. Life Day crackers.

Firework sniffed the little paper wrapped tube that sat on the table.

"Are there special crackers inside these?" Firework asked.

"They aren't that kind of cracker, Firework." Satine chuckled. "These are special prize boxes."

In Satine's family, her family had a tradition of opening Life Day crackers, special boxes that were opened by pulling on the sides until they cracked, and inside was a special surprise. Usually it was candy, a paper crown, a bracelet or necklace, or small toys.

But since the horses didn't have hands to open theirs, they used magic to open them, and those who didn't have horns bit one end while one of the humans pulled the other like in a Tug of War.

"Yay!" Firework cheered when she saw a toy reindeer fall out. "I got a reindeer! I'm calling him Cracker."

"Cute name." said Peppermint, putting on the necklace she got in hers.

Soon, it was about time for dinner.

Dinner looked amazing tonight, and it was great that there were two families tonight too.

Of course, Obi-Wan and Peppermint made sure there were plenty of meatless courses, given that Peppermint and her family were herbivores by nature. And one of those courses was Peppermint's own recipe for pea and mint soup.

"This is delicious, Peppermint." Satine said. "I can't believe you made this yourself."

Firework was spilling her soup all over the table, as she was eating a little too fast.

"Firework, slow down." said Blackberry.

"Sorry, but it's so good." Firework said.

"Minty provided the leaves." Peppermint said. "Obi-Wan deserves some credit for picking that particular plant."

Firework was not exactly famous for being a neat eater. That was proven when she got sauce all over her face from the sweet potato casserole she ate, and she got crumbs from her dinner roll all over the table.

And before dessert, Firework had some veggies still on her plate.

"Eat your broccoli, Sweetie." Vanilla said.

"But I ate all my other veggies!" Firework whined.

"It's good for you, Baby."

"But I hate broccoli! Daddy!"

"Listen to your mother, Firework." Blackberry said. "If you want dessert, eat your broccoli."

Firework grumbled and scrunched her nose at the mini tree-like vegetables.

"Remember, my little spitfire," said Blackberry. "You don't want Krampus to come after you tonight."

"Eep!" Firework began wolfing down her broccoli at that. "Broccoli's all gone."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," said Peppermint. She whispered to Obi-Wan, "Mom and Dad used to tell us about Krampus to get us to stop misbehaving."

"Who's Krampus?" Korkie asked, having never heard this old tale.

"He's this scary goat man demon who punishes bad children around this time of year," said Sugar Cane. "But like I keep telling Firework, he's just a story."

"I'm not taking any chances." Firework said, scraping her tongue off. "No matter how icky this stuff tastes. Bleh!"

Firework was so relieved to see that she no longer had any broccoli on her plate, and especially happy when her parents rewarded her with an extra frosted piece of cinnamon pound cake.

"Is scaring your daughter really the best thing to ensure she behaves?" Satine asked, not liking the mere idea of resorting to fear to discipline. "She is thirteen and appeared terrified."

"She's fine." Blackberry said. "It worked on our other daughters, didn't it?"

"I don't know. You did mention Firework is the most excitable of your children. Might she have nightmares from such stories?"

Vanilla Swirl stepped in and said, "Firework will be fine."

But as Firework went to sleep that night, she was tossing and turning and muttering 'Krampus' every so often.

"No...no! Please! I'll be good!" Firework mumbled in her sleep, sparks beginning to appear from her horn.

Firework's horn began to emit a few sparks as she continued to have her nightmare.

But she wasn't the only one having a bit of trouble tonight.