Happy Hearthswarming to All! (Fet Loch, Open)

[Blueblood]

 

Winter would be horrible without Hearthswarming.  In fact, without Hearthswarming, Winter would probably be eternal!  It had been so long since the days of the Windigoes running wild that most ponies tended only to think of winter as a time to play in the snow, feast on stored food, and cuddle up with loved ones in a warm house.  And, when that got old, they just got up and made winter go away.  

 

Just how amazing a triumph like that actually was could all too easily be taken for granted.  And up until recently, Prince Blueblood had taken it for granted.  Just one more day in the Canterlot social calendar, with associated duties: go to see (and be seen) at the Annual Play, attend all right parties, give just the right amount above the expected amount of bits to various charities, and the like.

 

Recent years had changed that.  And changed him.  Not only was he striving to be a better pony than he had been, but he’d traveled wider, and gained new perspectives.  In particular, his recent diplomatic trips to Whitescar had shown him just how much open doors, open hearths, and sticking together actually mattered, when one couldn’t simply wrap up winter.

 

So, this year, Blueblood had decided to pull out all the stops.  He’d take a page from the aristocrats of old, and hold a feast open to all comers, whatsoever their class, nationality, or species.  A bold step, for a pony noted for their snobbishness, but certainly the right move if one wanted to improve their reputation after being so noted.

 

Upon mentioning this plan to his marefriend and Honor Guard, Star Crusader, she suggested that Blueblood use her own family seat in Fet Loch to host this gathering, as the country setting would be slightly more appropriate to the old-fashioned celebration that he was planning.  And thus, the Prince set off for the northern marches of Equestria…

 

~***~

 

“Is everything ready?”

 

It was the seventh time today that Prince Blueblood had asked that question.  And the answer was the same as it was the past six times: the cook was in the process of whipping up the feast, the Duchess’ manor was ready to receive any influx of guests, and the weather pegasi had the snow falling right on schedule for a white Hearthswarming.

 

But… the guests weren’t here yet.  Had he not sent out enough invitations?  Had he not made them obvious enough?  Public posters had seemed a little vulgar to him for this sort of thing, and it would have been folly to put them up in Canterlot if a diverse group was what he wanted.  But surely, ads in the major papers would have been enough to get the word out.

 

Maybe ponies just didn’t want to do this sort of thing anymore?  All the old celebrations and rites, the Coverly dance, climbing the greasy pole, snapdragon and plum pudding… had Equestria left such things behind?

 

*Or is it just me?*  If the Prince had to be perfectly honest, that might be the reason he hadn’t seen guests yet.  After all, perhaps being snowed into an isolated house with Blueblood, of all ponies, wasn’t their idea of a good time, especially for Hearthswarming.

 

Or maybe he was just being paranoid.  After all, the holidays had barely begun.  Time enough for the guests to arrive for the festivities...

[PyroBlaze]

Diamond was, to say the least, intrigued by the ad he had seen in the paper. A Hearth's Warming party open to the public and being held by a noble. As he understood it, this hadn't happened for some time, so he just had to be here to see it. 

 

The colorful griffon in question landed in front of the house, marveling at it for a moment. This may be the first time he entered a home this large without the intention of leaving with more than he came with. 

 

Speaking of, Diamond was wearing his colorful suit, with a black coat over it for the moment to keep him warm. He also had a blue scarf and he was carrying his typical cane with him. 

 

He knocked on the door a moment later, waiting patiently for someone to open it. In the meantime, he gazed around at the grounds and twirled the cane a bit. 

[RexDraco]

 

There was hardly a pony that dis not celebrate some sort of holiday or season. Discord often watched from a great distance, preferring to interfere in the more grand ventures such as the Gala and the Apple Family's apple bucking season. There were just some things in which the opportunity to cause mayhem were just too great. It did not help the drama queen quite enjoyed dressing up and parading about as if he were the bowl of punch at a party. The flavor of punch did often make or break festivities. Who wanted limeade during the autumn or cider during the summer? Though, to be frank, if one asked Rainbow Dash cider was a wealth of a prize any time of year.

 

As it were the winter season was at the edge of its seat of power, having usurped the fall, draining it of its colors and turning the usually vibrant lands of Equestria into dull, cooling shades of grey and blue in contrast to the vibrancy that was the fall. Discord did not find himself as merry as others during the season, but there was no disregarding his love of snow abs the games you could have on it. Ice skating was just one of the many quality sports Discord was quote adept at. At his age finding a hobby in which to entertain yourself became a matter of life and death of boredom. His current hobby: knitting.

 

In fact the chaotic monarch was sat atop a tall igloo of snow and ice, which much resembled the tower of a castle fort. Foals played around his mighty tower of frozen solitude. He promised to play the role of princess, since any real ones were far too busy for such games. It was a shameful thing he would have to… fix. At the top of his icy tower he knitted his current project: a scarf, which was turning out to be several feet long. If not stopped the scarf would only reach the most extreme lengths in due time. Sitting on his nose was a pair of bifocals as he read the morning paper, the newsprint floating in front of him as he knot, twirled and pearled. Beside him a cup of tea was clutched in his magic.

 

"What is this gaudy...?" He felt events being advertised in the paper were always so gauche, just so ungainly. "Blueblood of all ponies..." He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his throat.

 

The open invitation was all the spirit needed to invite himself. Who could deny plum pudding? After declaring a winner amongst the foal the guardian spirit of chaos tossed the overly lengthy scarf around his neck. Dawning a cap, from which his horns protruded from, he settled a glove on his claws a a mitten on his paw go set himself against the chilly season! In a flash and sparkle the invasive spirit would travel to Canterlot with ease: arriving precisely when he should! Discord hardly seemed dressed for such an evening, so upon arriving to see a fancy old bird with a cane have cause to reconsider his outfit. Looking himself over the floating noodle gave a snap and added a monocle over his eye, letting it rest on his snout. He moved so he hovered over the Griffon in general, his long, two-toned, purple striped scarf, dangling down, almost touching the ground.

 

"This place is quite obnoxious. I wonder if the little doll faced unicorn realized that such an invitation may invite… foolish citizens?" He suddenly spoke up, a paw coming to rest on a windowsill so he could have a peak inside.

 

The fact it was a party had hardly interested Discord, though it helped, but the idea that the event was more traditionally based intrigued him. Ponies had strange customs and those that internalized the basis of their primitive culture intrigued him most! Bizarre, barbaric, yet quaint! Plus exposing Discord to a good party kept him in a good mood... Especially if he was invited… buwahahah!
 

[HotRod08]

Gash had woken up to the memorization of the Hearth's Warming party that was taken place today. She had gotten an invitation and remembered seeing the ad in the Cantorlot newspaper a while back. The ad was made by Prince Blueblood, who was royalty. Her heart immediately started racing at the thought of going to her first ever Hearth's Warming celebration. There were going to be tons of guests, running around talking to all their friends and eating a large feast. Everypony would be having a good time, celebrating the very popular holiday like they did every year. For as young as she was, Gash never really took the time to go to any sort of celebration for Hearth's Warming. She generally never liked the idea of celebrating such a holiday, but that was just the stick in the mud she was. It was time to step out of her griffon-like comfort zone and go out to make some friends and have fun! She didn't wanna be the odd one out anymore.

 

The golden griffon flew down from off her fluffy cloud, grabbing all her winter-y clothes to stay warm. Gash could feel the cold wind blowing on her large feathers, which caused a chill to do down her spine. "Woah! It's chilly today," she said in a raspy tone, throwing on a blue beanie that captured her eye's color, then put on a matching scarf with a lighter stripe going down it. She added some gray snow gloves onto her talons, then put on some gray, fluffy socks onto her back lion paws. Gash then started to the building to where the celebration was taking place, making her anxiety fly wildly.

 

As her heart was beating as fast as Rainbow Dash could fly, she came to a stop when she saw a small group of creatures in front of the door. There was another griffon, a colorful one in fact, but not one she's ever seen before. There was also a very large looking creature, a draconequus, a creature she's heard of, but has never seen. Gash didn't expect him to be so big. It scared her a little. She didn't want to make the creature mad. That couldn't end well. The golden griffon could see it now; her saying something to make him mad then getting beat up or messed with until the day she was no more. "Dude, chill out," she told herself, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "You got this, bro. All ya' gotta' do is relax."

 

She took a few more steps to reach the still closed door, not giving any eye contact. Gash noticed the others wearing nice clothes, which she didn't have. 'Oh well,' she thought. She then started to think that she was in the wrong place. Gash didn't think there was going to be so little guests. 'Where is everypony?' She and the couple others here couldn't be the only ones. She opened her large eagle beak, sucking in a little air before talking to no one in particular, "This is where the uh- celebration for Hearth's Warming is takin' place, right? 'Cuz I don't wanna' be in the wrong- t-that would be kind of embarrassing." She slightly opened her wings in agitation, muttering the last part of her sentence quietly. Gash then mentally beat herself up, wanting to sound more confident.

 

 

 

[Blueblood]

Sounds of scuffling and muffled voices outside the front door told Blueblood that at least his worst fears were not confirmed.  The Spirit of Hearthswarming was alive and well, the Windigoes would not be returning, and his party would not be a no-show.  Feeling considerably more jolly than he had a mere five minutes ago, the Prince set off with a smart step and threw open the front doors with a burst of magic.  The sudden meeting of warm air from inside the manor and the cold air outside threw up a small windstorm, making the snow outside fly upward in a flurry, as if the whole scene were in a suddenly-overturned snowglobe.

 

"Welcome, one and all!  Our Hearts and Hearths are open!"  Blueblood called out the traditional greeting loud enough to be heard even over the wind, throwing his hooves wide in a gesture of expansiveness.  Then, once the snow fell back down, he actually got a look at just who he had welcomed in.  First thing that struck him was that none of the three were ponies.  Well, that was alright, he supposed.  Naturally, they would be more curious as to what the old traditions actually were, and would not have been used enough to them to dismiss the lot as cliche.  He nodded and smiled to the two griffons... and then he saw Discord.  It wasn't so much that his smile faded, but it did gain a rather glassy quality.  Not that the two had ever interacted much, but the Prince had heard stories.  Chaos wasn't the unicorn's idea of a good time, which was why a karmic universe dictated that he have a double measure of it in his life.  And that was without any involvement from draconeqqui...

 

Oh well, he couldn't blame anyone but himself for opening up the doors.  He'd have to stick by his word as royalty now, and make the best of it.  Swallowing his reservations, he stood aside to let the trio enter.  "Come, warm yourselves!  Our master cook is already busy in the kitchen, and I am sure the mistress of the house will be down shortly."  He waited for the two griffons to make their introductions, not bothering to state his own name.  They must know it already, and if not, they could easily guess, right?

[PyroBlaze]

Diamond hadn't really expected his first interaction of the party to come from another guest waiting outside, he had expected the door to open before anyone else showed up. What was even more surprising was the owner of the voice, a draconequus floating above him. Well, not that it wasn't pleasant, just unexpected. Before he could answer the other male, another griffon arrived, this one female and apparently unsure if she was in the right place. 

 

"Oui, noble houses are not my kind of place generally." He said in response to the floating creature before turning to the female. 

 

"Bonjour, mademoiselle. You are indeed in the right place. Nous sommes les premiers à arriver, it would seem." He said, giving her a small bow. The door opened as soon as he straightened up, the griffon turning towards the stallion and smiling at him, giving a nod and entering after the female. 

 

"Bonjour to you all. Je m'appelle Diamond Dust." He introduced himself, giving another bow to the three. "La maîtresse de maison, who is she?" Diamond added, looking to the stallion. 

[RexDraco]

 

Discord wasn't always needed for Chaos to occur. Like ripples in a pond a tsunami may hit an island after a rainstorm across the globe. It hardly made sense for such things to be intertwined, but as was the overall nature of the world. His more direct approach was for special occasions. It helped having a menacing spirit at ones side as well for when doom took from him, what he declared his… well he would wrench the natural order to protect the things he coveted. Perhaps his dragon nature, or the nature of Discord. There was no telling from what end he dictated up from down, but he still dictated the immeasurable indignation of chance. All in good fun though, right?

 

Discord looked to the Griffon. The multicolored Griff looked as if he belonged on the top of a Hearth with those greens and reds. His paw and claw tucked against his chest as he turned to grin at the fellow. "I find that such structures stand to be a rather accurate display of the egotism of ponies. I mean why do you need such a big place? How much stuff could you have?" To be honest the spirit was in complete denial of his own ego, but it was easier to knock him down with such a gloriously heavy head attaches to his neck.

 

There was also the issue, and possibility, that Blueblood did have so much stuff he needed a big mansion to keep it all in. "Bongos." Discord greeted back.

 

It was hard to tell if he was being facetious or actually had no idea how to speak Prench. Another Griffon had arrived to turn the brighter bird's head. He raised his paw to stroke at his beard before chuckling in a devious manner. He could terrify the jittery bird, but… "I hardly think there is a problem in getting a little lost sometimes. Builds character." He pumped his paw as if to express the power of such an act!

Blueblood finally answered the door! Thank the Stars! Discord was starting to feel nips of cold at the end of his muzzle.

 

The spirit wouldn't expect the suddenly warm front to frighten away the cold, only for the dusting of snow to lap against his backside. The upward curl of diamond dust caused him to shiver. Not only would the first on his neck puff up, but his feathers shook trying to rearrange in a warmer setup. Scales beneath the feathers were usually first defense against weather, but his exposed plating along his tail had not provided the least but of comfort to the icy lick. His brows furrowed at the Unicorn, clearly exaggerating his offense. If one knew Discord well enough his irritation was primarily made of fifteen percent posturing, eighty-five percent egotism and five percent spaghetti.

 

In fact as he shifted his weight it appeared that some spaghetti and wheatballs spilled into the snowy mound he floated above. "Way to make a pony spill his pasta!" He. Complained. "That was a gift for the party." He reached down to pick up the already frozen square of noodles and wheat, perfectly iced as if it was pre-prepares. "Well I suppose it's a frozen dinner now." He would pass it to Blueblood as he floated by and into the manor to find warmth for his noodly length.

 

While the griffon male interrogated Celestia's nephew, Discord invited himself to warm up by the nearest hearth he could find. Letting his scarf, hat and gloves vanish he warmed up his paw and claw.

[HotRod08]

Gash stared at the building's wall, trying to not freak herself out. She heard the male griffon say something in a totally new language, making her tilt her head. She finally understood what he said after a few thoughts. "Oh, legit," she muttered, feeling a little uncomfortable. She then heard the other creature, making the lion fur around her spine stick straight up. 'Act cool, Gash. You're cool,' she thought. The orange bird then looked straight at the draconequus, trying to look as tough as possible. "Ha! Yeah, I guess so. Though, I'm totally perfect in character already!" she said, puffing out her chest a little. Her voice was strong and seemed confident enough to pass. She was totally lying though.

 

Finally the door to the party opened, making a warm gust of wind blow into her face. "Wow," she whispered to herself, looking at the inside of the greatly decorating household. She looked at the male griffon, getting a nod from him. She quickly walked in, admiring the place around her. "It looks amazing in here. Better than what I've ever seen, that's for sure."  She then looked at Blueblood with a light smirk. "My name is Gash. Nice to meet you all."

 

The golden griffon then looked around, trying to occupy herself. She saw a nice warm fireplace from a distance. Gash was freezing, so going over to the warmest spot in the building will make her warmer. What she didn't notice was that the weird creature was already over there, warming himself up. Immediately she stopped walking, not wanting to talk to him. That or she had no confidence to start a conversation. That would've been extremely awkward. Instead she lightly glided over to a wall closest to the fireplace, but not next to Discord. She wrapped her large wings around her body flicking her tail towards the air. She stared at the lights trying to think of something other than conversation or confrontation. Both scared her.

[moonshineTheleocat]

There was a point when Star Breezer actually enjoyed the house as it was. Nice and quiet. Fairly empty. There was a good reason why she did not have any house stewards wandering about the house. She preferred that her family be able to care of themselves.

Now? It felt oddly wrong to have some random pony cooking in her kitchen. Or several ponies walking about in her home carrying silver platters. Sure a lot of ponies might love such treatment but her? Nah, she grew up enjoying good ole hard work and self reliance. She had to fight back her urge on a number of occasions to just boot the buggers out of her house.

Yup, she just had to keep reminding herself that it was only for the party. And so she moseyed along in her own home. Her daughter had went with her brother to go help him drag up a tree to mount up in the garden from somewhere.

Which meant that she was left with the Prince… who seemed more worried about everything going accordingly when it was her house. Well, she really couldn’t care. A pony didn’t come to a party and expect things to be perfect. Well, at least not most of the hoity toities anyways.

So she gave the stallion a bop in the back of the head with her hoof to catch his attention.

The one eyed mare was never the type of pony to wear a dress. And she sure wasn’t starting now. No, she wore what looked like a casual stallion’s dress sweater. With a few modifications of course. The cuffs around her ankles were a bit more flared out and loose. While the rest of her attire fit her body more accordingly.

Her Mane was a bit longer than it’s usual short length. And was neatly trimmed and combed to hide her scared and eye patched eye.

And for an older mare, she really didn’t show her age. Perhaps it was all the leg work she does as a captain of the calvary? Or perhaps it was just genetics? Or maybe typical unicorn magic things. Or maybe all of that combined. The world will never know.

“Hunny, if yah keep makin a mountain out of a molehill, it –will- become a mountain. You know that right?”

 

 

She then looked to the two guests whom stood before her. “And the mistress of the house’d be me,” she grunted. Her fetlochian accent thick on her tongue. She took a moment to look back to the ponies whom were hustling about behind herself with a frown. “And normally tis place is emptier than this. But I had to make room for exceptions.”

She then turned to look to back to both the griffon and the pony. “Dutchess Captain Star Breezer. Though just Breezer will be fine.”

 

Though it wasn’t until she turned her head just enough that her good eye caught sight of the lord of Choas… whelp.

Looks like her house might end up turned inside out by the end of the day.

“Well by the spirit in me. If it isn’t te ole lord of chaos himself. What brings you here hm? Gonna livin up the party, or let things be?”

((Sorry for the delays. This is a bit of a rushed post))

[Blueblood]

It was easy, Blueblood felt, for the Duchess not to get wound up over how the party would go.  After all, a war-horse like her had very little of her actual power, reputation, or self-worth invested in social gatherings and events.  He himself, on the other hand, had spent his entire life trying to maintain royal status based on nothing but lineage and social graces.  Admittedly, the Prince had arguably done a less-than-stellar job at that; point was, he'd long ago passed the point where the molehills had become mountains.

 

But, never mind that!  Couldn't let the guests see that you were nervous; the first sign of weakness would bring increased pressure, leading to a slow collapse into chaos... or rather, a rapid and probably inevitable one, given the guest list now included Discord.  OK, those thoughts weren't helping, shut them down.  Think of holly, and jolly, and other things ending in 'olly.'  

 

"Bonjour, monsieur Diamant."  Blueblood returned the greeting in the Griffon's native language; it would have been rude to the company to continue in Prench, of course, but making the effort was especially polite to Diamond Dust.  Striking the happy medium, he stepped aside as the Duchess introduced herself to the company, placing himself next to the other griffon.  She didn't look as if she would break the silence herself, so he made the first move for her.

 

"I gather you didn't travel together with either of these two, Miss Gash?  I must say, I did find it rather surprising that two griffons, one draconeqqus, and no ponies were willing to come to our party.  But it's good to see you here, nonetheless."

 

That left the 400-pound Draconeqqus in the room.  Well, maybe 325; Discord had been on a bit of a health kick recently, if Blueblood remembered Twilight's letters correctly.  One of her friends, at least.  The havoc-noodle was looking good for a being with a lifespan measured in centuries.  The Prince wasn't sure where to begin with this one; his entrance had left the unicorn in such a daze that he only just now realized he was holding frozen pasta.  Well, that would explain why he had noodles on the brain.

"Ah, er, yes.  Thank you."  He said, a little belatedly, as he passed the rectangular block to a passing servant (one of his, on loan for the holiday).

 

"Pardon our scurry; the decoration isn't quite finished yet.  Star and Java will be in with the tree in a few minutes, and I can introduce you then."  In spite of his deprecations, the hall looked plenty ready as it was.  The halls were truly bedecked with holly, shiny paper and tinsel garlands artfully distributed for the festive look, and the whole air filled with wonderful smells of spices from the kitchen.

[PyroBlaze]

Diamond smiled at Blueblood as the stallion responded in Prench. It was always nice meeting others that spoke it outside of his home. He also smiled at the others as they introduced themselves, giving a thankful nod to Breezer as she introduced herself. Everyone seemed to split after that, both ponies ending up focusing on the large creature by the hearth, who was apparently the lord of chaos... well, that explained where that spaghetti had come from at least. 

 

Now though, he decided to focus on Gash, approaching the female and stopping at a respectable distance. He had seen right through her bit of false bravado, he could tell she was feeling a bit shy. It was part of his job to read his opponents, and it helped that he employed those sorts of strategies from time to time. 

 

"Do you wish to use my coat? You appear somewhat cold, mademoiselle Gash. Take it, I insist." He said, smiling at her warmly as he removed the overcoat and left himself in his typical suit. He held the coat out to her, poised to help her put it on should she accept. 

[RexDraco]

 

So Discord sported a healthy weight! He was little over nine and ¾ of a foot! He’d be naught but skin and bones if he was too thin, but to such regard: so he may have been putting on a few pounds with the delightful treats he had been over consuming at Fluttershy’s. T'would be rude not to eat every last bite of her baked goods. You didn’t want Angel getting any of them! Overly responsible rabbits didn’t need cookies. It was true he was a mightily vain spirit of chaos. A few remarks that he was holding it all in for winter, or questions of draconequui hibernating quickly set him on the path. His coat of feathers wasn’t as thick as he claimed. Beneath the brown coat was a thin layer of scales hardly dense. Soft and pliable they retained a certain stretchiness he was famous for!

 

A mare he didn’t know, or recognize had made herself known. She declared herself mistress, which caused the spirit to roll upside down as he stroked his beard in thought. He looked over the Fetlochian, clear by her accent. He wasn’t uneducated by any stretch of the matter. As a spirit of chaos and confusion he much preferred to play the ignorance card often. It did well frustrating ponies unnecessarily, that is if they did not lose their tempers. It was rare, but it let him measure their sense of humor rather easily. He had not moved too far from the available hearth, his form having gotten rather chilly! Blueblood made them wait far too long! Canterlot's altitude didn't help any either.

 

Honestly, was everypony going to start speaking in tongues? “Well, well, Bongos all around.” He offered in greeting, brow arching at the mare’s question. 

 

Oh -- Duchess wasn’t it? In a flash the spirit would vanish from the current state of reality only so languidly coil down from the ceiling to look at the mare. He looked like a mutantous mistletoe the way he dangled, his tail clutching to the ceiling, somehow. He found the fact that this wild-eyed mare and the curly Blueblood were somehow -- no. It was not possible -- hitched? Hoo, how much has he missed? Most of his time was spent in Ponyville, or his realm by and near. He had become a bit lonely with the busy way the others had become. Suggestions of finding new friends were around, but he did not feel it could, or would, fix his problem.

 

He pressed his paw digits and claw digits together, turning his skull slightly to stare at the mare with his ruby eyes. “Oh well Blue was so kind to hold an open invite party. It really is making me feel like a proper pony.” Even if the slippery snake was anything but! His paw pressed to his chest, feathers floofing where it touched. “I believe that wholly depends on you. I expect his parties to be as entertaining as his aunt’s~” He cooed with that forked tongue. "So my interference may only come if it were to go on too long without a piñata or party game." He assured.

 

Of course he wasn’t there to wreck total havoc. The holiday was a mystery to him. He had genuine interest in learning more about it. Moving off the spirit would inspect the decorations. The shining paper and tinsel was exceptionally -- attention grabbing. As the bright, male Griffon tried to show off his altruistic nature Discord slowly slithered out his tongue to snap up a piece of the garland and give it a taste. Chewing it up a bit he hummed approvingly.

 

"My, the decorations taste lovely, but you say there's more? I can't wait." He chuckled, vanishing once more. "This is a new experience that I am intent on familiarizing myself with."

 

When he reappeared the spirit was decked in a more festive outfit of reds and whites, fake felt antler topping the lengthy noodle. The red and white faux fur jacket were only the start as his tail was coiled in tiny, multicolored bulbs that blinked in a sporadic pattern. He was interested in learning who these two Blue mentioned. A curious spirit could be a rather dangerous one though. He may need adult supervision around the other decorations…