"[Filly NMM] Moonie's Hearth Warming Eve"
By 8th-Sin (https://pastebin.com/u/8th-Sin)

URL: https://pastebin.com/eskAy3Yg
Created on: Friday 25th of December 2015 12:41:49 AM CDT
Retrieved on: Sunday 9 of May 2021 08:38:51 PM UTC


>It's early in the morning. 
>The sun is still making it's climb into the sky as it's warm glow creeps over the winter wonderland into your window where the tiniest hole in your curtains allow Princess Celestia's grossly incandescent light to perfect flash into your eyes.
>After a grouchy and groggy swear-fest of every kind of obscenity, you climb out of bed and head to the next room over.
>If you're going to be up this early, then by god she will too.
>Besides, you're a little excited by both the day and the prospect of waking the little demon up first for once.
>You slowly open up the door and peer inside to see Moonie cuddly up to Sir Bearington.
>The sight brings a smile to your face. How can it not?
"She's adorable like this," you think to yourself as you plot how to wake her.
>It must be the holiday spirit because your inner child kicks into gear as you leap up onto the bed.
>Obviously the bed was made for a filly and not a human of your size so the legs give way as well as a few of the support beams.
>Then to add the trouble, the force sends Moonie rocketing up into the air and she must have woken mid-air because it's not until she begins to fall that she lets out a scream.
>Thankfully you were feeling pretty alert at the time because you caught her before something worse happened.
>You hold the trembling filly into your arms.
"M-Moonie?"
>She remains quiet for a moment, still shaking. Which only sends you into more of a panic.
>"CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN?!"
"What?"
>"Well, you broke mine so it'd have to be on yours but that was incredible," she cheers.
>There's still a shake in her voice so clearly the shock isn't totally out of her system, yet you can't help but laugh.
"I'm glad you're okay, now let's go open your presents."
>She makes a gasp as she realises, then leaps out of your arms. She flutters her wings a little bit before she hits the ground to brace her fall.
>Then you feel a little silly for worrying so much, she probably could have done the same.
>But then again, you did scare the crap out of her so it's good that you did. Just to be safe and sure.
>All of a sudden, she scurries back into the room to grab Sir Bearington before scampering back out again.
>The poor bear has been getting an even rougher treatment then usual. One of his eyes has begun to fall out while the fur has become rough and shorter in some spots.
>Any reminders to take better care of him have clearly fallen on deaf ears.
>Moonie is already in the lounge room, hopping up and down as she waits for you.
>"Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on," she impatiently stammers.
"Alright, alright. You open one of yours," you answer as you take a seat.
>"To Moonie, From The Princesses. Best Wishes on this hearth's warming eve."
"You'll have to send a letter afterwards to thank them."
>She blows a quick raspberry at you in jest as she uses her magic she looks over the boxes then grabs the largest one, before tearing off all the paper at once.
>The box is plain, giving her no clue what's inside but the size about as large as her so she's ecstatic regardless.
>"It's," she excitedly says aloud as she opens the box, "WHAT?!"
>Her high pitched screaming echoes through the house as she dives into the boxes. There's metal clanging and rummaging while the boxes bumps around.
>Then a moment later she leaps out of the box with a beastly bellow of a roar in fully plated armour.
>You're a little impressed, it's really nicely crafted.
>They are royals with armoured guards, so you'd expect them to have a blacksmith but this looks nicer than the standard armour the guards get.
>The helmet is a little big, but the whole thing suits her well.
>"I AM INVINCIBLE," she cheers.
"This is going to be great," you sarcastically state.
>Moonie doesn't even hear you, she's too wrapped up in her armour.
>She's pretending to be fighting something or someone, along with sound effects of swords clashing, blood spurts, and death.
"Alright, here, next gift. This is from me."
>The word "gift" breaks her from her fantasy world as she leaps for it.
>With her magic, she snatches it out of your hand and tears into it.
>Despite her eagerness, you find yourself doubting the gift. It's kind of hard to compete with a set of armour.
>Perhaps if she were a normal child, you might have a better chance. Then again, the Princesses will probably always be able to 1-up you in terms of gifts.
>You push the thought into the back of your mind, ignoring its echoes as you watch Moonie pull out her present.
>She pulls out all the tiny little logs of wood and screws with a bewildered look. Then she lifts up the piece of paper and stares at you before going over the contents of the pages.
>As Moonie reads over it, her eyes slowly widen and the devilish grin on her face grows until the point where it looks painful.
>"YOU GOT ME TINY SIEGE WEAPONS?!"
"You get anyone in the eye or something, even once, and you've lost them for good."
>"YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!"
>She swoops over to you to hastily wrap your neck up in a hug then darts back to her gift. Just before she gets invested in setting them up, you clear your throat.
>"Oh, yeah... These are yours I guess. The card is from me and the box is from Sir Bearington."
>You loose a smile at her remark. After all this time that the two of you have spent together, she still has moments where she can't really express her feelings to you.
"Thank you Sir Bearington, and you too Moonie."
>You open the card first, making sure to find the right balance between normal and careful.
>Knowing Moonie she would put some kind of surprise in there but you don't want her to catch on that you can be pretty jumpy when she's involved.
>The card reads:

To my third in command, Anon,

Happy Hearth's Warming Eve.

Sincerely,
Your queen, Moonie, and your superior officer, Sir Bearington.

>On the other page of the card, there's a little drawing of the three of you standing atop a castle that's the size of half the planet with a caption that's then scribbled out, "We could rule the world, if you just let me."
>You give her a smile and she beams back.
>"Did you like the drawing?"
"It was very nice. Th--"
>"And the reminder?"
"What reminder?"
>"That I'm your queen."
"Well, I never forgot that," you reply with a chuckle as you set the card beside you.
>"That's good. I wasn't sure because you kind of forgot because you don't refer to me like that any more."
"I'll try to remember more often then."
>"Good. You should."
>You lift up the gift and are about to open it when Moonie is still gazing at you expectantly.
"You know, my queen, I am king of this castle. Perhaps you should remember to address me as such."
>"This isn't a castle."
"Human tradition. This counts as a castle and as the owner, I am king."
>"You're making that up."
"Excuse me?"
>"I said, you're making that up," she repeats a little louder.
"Is someone addressing me?"
>You pretend to be looking around the room until Moonie gives a groan.
>"Where is your throne, sire?"
"I prefer, 'your grace.' Sounds catchier."
>"Your grace."
"Yeah, what do you want my queen?"
>Moonie just groans in frustration as she pushes the box sitting in your hands to fly into the air.
>You catch it quickly, then poke your tongue at the cheeky filly who mimics you.
>Once you've ripped open the packaging you find a clay mug inside.
>It seems rather poorly made, it was clearly done by a novice as it's somewhat misshapen. The inside is about the size of Moonie's hoof and there's even a hoofprint inside. The handle vaguely looks like a tentacle but the painting is quite nice.
>The painting on it is of you and Moonie, with ponies bowing on either side. In a way, it almost reminds you of the ancient Greek or Egyptian vases that depicted gods, stories, and other things on them.
"Thank you, this is really nice."
>"R-Really?"
"Yeah. I needed a new mug after you broke the last one after all."
>"I know," she says in a rather know-it-all manner.
>The thought occurs to you that she might have done that for this reason, but you haven't really got a way to prove that. Besides, it's just a mug.
"That last present, it's for Sir Bearington."
>Moonie curiously looks at you then the present.
>She's not as enthusiastic about opening this one but she doesn't exactly waste time tearing in.
>Using her magic, she lifts it up to reveal an eye patch.
>Honestly, you're getting a little sick of patching up that bear's button eyes. You never thought you'd get so good at sewing but it's always getting torn or falling apart.
>You figure an eye patch would mean only one eye to worry about, plus she'd probably get a kick out of a more rutheless look.
>She sticks it on Sir Bearington immediately, then gives a nod of approval.
>"Here, I'll stitch it on so it won't fall off all the time."
>She hands you the bear for you to sew up while she tries to assemble her siege weapons.
>As you stitch away, you look over the room.
>Really, this holiday is more or less the same as Christmas. Which is nice and helps you feel a little less homesick around this time of year.
>For the most part you're over the idea of going home anyway, you've been here too long for this place to be anything else but home to you.
>You like it here, a lot.
>And nice to not be spending "Christmas" alone.
