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Amethyst’s Christmas Tales 2024

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Hearth’s Warming Celebrations

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Falco_1701

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Darien blinked, feeling out of place as he rushed to the room Celestia had said the celebrations were taking place at. Hearth’s Warming Eve was not something he celebrated in the griffon lands, of course, but he’d done his best over the last year to learn about pony customs and traditions. The memory of that kiss he had shared with Princess Celestia on the change of one year to the next lingered in his mind for too long. As time had passed, he’d wondered if it meant something more.

But surely that could not be? She was a princess and he was a guard, no more than that. Sure, he played an important role in the war and had stormed many battles, but there was still a class difference between them that could not be overcome.

Darien was hardly sure what he felt about things, considering it was impossible. He didn’t want to move outside his role in thinking someone had an interest in him when they didn’t, though Celestia made more and more moves to speak with him at other times too. Their relationship had deepened somewhat and he’d been back to her private garden too on more than one occasion.

The room in the castle was marked with golden detailing with Celestia’s cutie mark, of course, emblazoned on it. He knocked, awkwardly carrying packages on his back, where he wore a harness of a kind with bags hanging from either side. The griffon had only found out the day before that he was supposed to bring and exchange presents with others on Hearth’s Warming Eve, so had needed to rush out to get gifts at the last-minute. It was not just him, of course, attending Celestia’s Hearth’s Warming celebration, but also Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart and Twilight Sparkle too. Perhaps Twilight’s friends could not make that one? Everyone had such busy lives and it was not only due to the times they were living through.

Celestia herself opened the door to him, a warm smile on her lips that did funny things to his heart in his chest.

“Darien! Please, come in, come in!”

He blushed and fussed, his feathers still dirty. He hadn’t even had time to wash up before attending and was not quite in the state he would have wanted to be in. As he’d had to spend so much time finding and buying gifts, wanting everyone to be happy with what they’d got, he’d attended straight from the smithy. Soot marred his feathers, yet he carried Celestia’s gift under his wing and not in the bags hanging from his back.

“Thanks, Celestia,” he said, though still not fully at ease with how her name sounded on his beak. “I’m sorry for my state, I didn’t mean to come dirty, it just…”

“Oh, I didn’t even notice,” she said, confidently ushering him into the room where a raging fire blaze in the hearth, flames leaping and dancing. “Please, nothing like that is going to bother any of us.”

He didn’t say why he’d been at the blacksmiths, however, where more than merely pony-shoes and the like could be forged. It was the best place for him to work on his more personal gift for Celestia, after all, the heavy package held in place by his wing, though even that was more difficult than the griffon had anticipated.

“Darien! Welcome in!”

Cadence greeted him cheerfully, though he expected that of the pink mare. She was not quite princess-like either, though all the princesses of Equestria subverted those expectations.

“Ah, hello, yes, hi.”

He tried to seem at ease, but Darien was sure everyone saw straight through that, despite everything. The griffon was not used to such gatherings, though, of course, he’d had friends back home. Making friends over in Equestria had been something of a challenge with the focus he put on his work.

Maybe that was something the griffon should change? Only time would tell on that count.

He relaxed with Celestia, close to the fire. The group gathered there did not appear to be undertaking formalities, though that was something the griffon found difficult to shake. He laid his gifts with the others, setting the one for Celestia on the edge, slightly to the side. He wanted to make sure he gave that to her directly, wanting to see her reaction. The griffon, after all, had laboured heavily over it, so he wanted to see what its reception would be. Even if Princess Celestia didn’t quite enjoy it, it would still be something for him to hold in mind, if he ever came to give her another gift in the future.

“Darien, please,” Celestia said gently. “You’ve barely moved. Please, help yourself to food and drink, we’re all friends here. And family.”

The griffon smiled, a little awkward still, but did as she encouraged and loaded up a small plate with snacks from a buffet table. It at least allowed them all to enjoy the food as they pleased and there was no pressure to eat or drink a certain amount, which was nice. With the guards, or even soldiers he worked with too, there was a sense of power to be had in eating or drinking the most, with them gorging themselves. In that case, it didn’t seem to matter whether the ponies in question were male or female.

It wasn’t quite the scene where Darien belonged, despite shaking his formality a little. It didn’t belong with him, hanging over the griffon like a shroud. Yet it was Celestia, he was sure, who had taught him that. If he hadn’t seen her easing out of her own formal, public-facing nature, he may not have done so himself until much later in his tenure there, in Equestria.

“Celestia,” he said when there was a quiet moment, Twilight playing with Flurry Heart. “I have something I want to give you.”

While the mare waited, he scampered to the tree that had been set up, pausing for a moment to admire the branches heavily laden with decorations. It was not quite like the ones set up throughout Canterlot, which had something more of an aesthetic to them, such as a colour theme or a general order to the decorations. That one had foalhood decorations on it too, filled to the brim with so many decorations that it was a wonder the boughs weren’t groaning under the weight of so much weighing down its branches.

“This…” He grabbed the wrapped gift, which was long and a little unwieldy. “I thought of you… I don’t know if you’ll like it, but I wanted you to have something special, something unique.”

The words sounded odd to him, awkward and clunky as they left his beak.

“Oh, Darien, you didn’t have to go to such lengths,” the alicorn said, though her horn glowed faintly, betraying her obvious delight in the gift, despite not having unwrapped it yet. “That’s so kind of you… Darien, you are sweet.”

Her voice rang with sincerity even though what she said could have come off as condescending under other circumstances. The alicorn would never have been such, however – not towards Darien. She cherished and valued the griffon too much, even if she hadn’t been open with him yet about her affections. That, to be fair, was hardly something Celestia was experienced in, despite living for as many years as she had.

Things were different since Luna had returned. Life had more meaning and colour to it and she’d learned to find the beauty in moments rather than being overwhelmed by the grand picture. That was easy for someone like her.

Still, the griffon watched intently as the alicorn mare unwrapped her gift delicately with magic, as if she didn’t want to damage the packaging. Darien was sure it was designed to be torn and ripped up, but he didn’t mind too much. The sense of delicacy in how she approached things was just one more thing about Celestia that captured his attention, making it so he couldn’t look away.

When the gift was revealed, Celestia gasped.

“Oh, Darien!”

The others, wisely, gave Celestia space in which to hug him, throwing an arm and a wing around the griffon’s shoulders. He yelped as she pulled him to her, though the gift, so it seemed, had gone down well.

For it was a sword with the sun motif emblazoned on it, carefully designed to match her cutie mark exactly. The blade was finely honed and sharpened to a deadly edge, though Celestia would, no doubt, be able to ensure it stayed sharp with the use of her magic. It was more of a symbolic gift rather than a practical one, considering how their technology had advanced during the war, but he could still see her, in his mind’s eye, raging out on to the battlefield with the sword held in the glowing grasp of her magic.

“I’m so glad you like it,” he said, heat rising to his cheeks. “I thought… I thought of you while I was making it.”

“You forged this?”

That got the attention of the rest of the group, though Flurry Heart was kept, wisely, back from what was still a dangerous weapon. Shining Armor lifted the blade, levelling it and marvelling at the craftsmanship.

“There’ll be a role for you in the royal armoury if you ever wish to change your flight path,” Celestia said, admiring the sword all over again. “The workmanship on this is exquisite.”

“Yeah… Hah…” He laughed nervously. “It’s a shame we don’t need to use swords much anymore. However… I do enjoy smithing. It’s more of a hobby now, really…”

Celestia drew him to her and held him tightly.

“This means more to me than anything,” she said softly, a wing brushing against his own, across his back. “Thank you, Darien. Thank you for coming here, to spend time with me, for such a wonderful gift.”

“It’s all I could do. It’s everything I wanted to do.”

The griffon blushed. Why was he talking like that? So frankly… Even so openly? It was not him and it didn’t make sense, although it felt right too. They were words, nonetheless, he needed to share with Celestia, despite everything.

Maybe there really was something more there? Something Darien had not paid attention to before?

She held him tightly again, embracing more naturally that time. It was nicer too for him to sink into her touch a little more, feeling her warmth slide into him, softening the moment when there could have been tight edges to it. They didn’t have to be uncomfortable with one another and there was a line before them that dared both pony and griffon to cross it.

But did Darien dare? Could he even? The griffon could not be sure, regardless of everything, he was reading the signs right. Yet Celestia had given so, so many of them.

Celestia stood, though it seemed it was her turn for a pink blush to colour the mare’s cheeks. Although she was ageless, it made her look innocent, as if she was actually much younger than her many years.

As if he was meeting her for the very first time, as she was, no royalty or status between them.

He took a breath, shivering in place. Yet Darien followed the mare from the room when she suggested leaving for her chambers.

“I want to be with you, Darien, just you.”

His heart pounded and, even then, his mouth was dry. The griffon licked around the edges of his beak, but it didn’t help as a prickle of excitement rippled through his body.

Whether it was talking or something more, all he knew as he slipped into the princess’ bedchambers with her, with good food and wine already present, was that he wanted to be with her too. However that played out, with food, conversation or perhaps something more.

As new as it was to him, heartbeat racing, the griffon knew he was right where he belonged.

The princess embraced him and, flinging his front legs and wings around her, Darien returned it in kind.