Holiday Cheer And Other Events (Open, Sponsored, School of Friendship!)

[SteelEagle]

 

The School of Friendship was on break for the holiday season. The festivities of the world called her students to their various homes in fits and starts. Some left as soon as they could, others filtered out closer to Hearth's Warming Eve itself. The result was the same- by the time the holiday was upon the, the students had by and large left. Those that remained were either there because they in some sort of trouble or didn't want to go home.

Or, maybe they stayed for the party (and would leave afterward). Moonlight Glitter was one of them. The party was being held the night before the night before the holiday itself, and in the morning-afternoon the last of the students who were gonna leave would board their trains or carts or trot on out, and she was among them. So she had tonight to have the party, and what a party she planned on it being!

 

The party was open to all students in the school. There was a semi-strict 'no faculty' rule that she was applying to the event so Pinkie Pie didn't just run her over. The large lounge room had a tree, there were lights everywhere, drinks and snacks galore. Streamers and warm tidings all around: A fire only accentuated this. The lounge had a few side rooms and had quick access to the cafeteria and the dorms. There would be music, laughter, Remington, and fun. She was excited for that. And she was excited for the special surprises she had in store.

 

Mostly, she was just excited to spend time with her friends (and then some). It was an open invite party to the students. Technically she couldn't stop the faculty from attending buuuut she had asked them all really really really really nicely to buzz off and have their own parties. She had plans! And she hoped those plans would come to fruition as she finished setting up, wiping her brow as she took stock of her work. It wasn't a mind blowing party arrangement but it was *her* arrangement. And now she was hoping to arrange some fun as the party started and she opened the doors!

[Blueblood]

 

For a while, Chipper Demise had not been certain whether he would go home for the winter vacation.  Not that Whitescar was all that festive for most of the winter; sure, there was the solstice festival, which was great, but the rest of the season was basically hunkering down in a longhouse, packed together to preserve body heat, and nibbling rations until the spring.  Whereas, if he stayed in Equestria, he'd have a festival and more rations for the rest of the season!  

 

His adopted parents had sympathized with his feelings in the matter, and with the most recent letter from Papa Halvard, he had permission to stay down south for the whole term break!  He was planning to make the most of this opportunity, too, dressing for the occasion in a more festive version of his usual clothes.  While he wore the black and silver uniform of the school with pride when attending, necromancer's robes festooned with holly and mistletoe struck him as striking just the right note.

 

Additionally, he even managed to wrangle some more colorful birds, substituting his crows from home with a cardinal and red-breasted robin, each of whom were perched on the branches tied to his color.  "God jul, glad solstånd!"  He called out as he entered, making an entrance with his usual bright and cheery attitude.  "Let us begin the winter feast!"  Moonlight would certainly find no fault in his holiday spirit, at least.

[SteelEagle]

Chipper Demise was a colt who lived up to his name. All parts of his name, as it turned out oddly enough. It was rare to encounter a pony with his ceaseless enthusiasm for essentially every aspect of life. He was, if not the life of the party, at least a happy presence with his easy smile and good cheer. Of course, a lot of that was super ironic because his necromantic aura was as plain to feel as the brightly colored birds were beautiful to see. Her unicorn skin wanted to crawl off of her unicorn body and over her unicorn horn and fly far, far away from it. He had done nothing wrong and had certainly stopped practicing the necromancy that radiated off of him, so she knew better than to hold it against him. He was such a nice colt, and her unease was entirely down to what Twilight had called a 'post-developmental attributive auric sensitivity' syndrome that she was slowly overcoming. She had to have Twilight say it three times and explained twice, but what it meant was that since she had been transformed into an unicorn, she would for several years be extra sensitive to the magical auras of others. Since he had been steeped in unnatural magics, he had an aura that made her uneasy. Well, used to. She had conquered most of it by now. 

 

he also made it easy by being so warm and bubbly that it was easy to overlook anything else. As he sauntered on in and said something in...Whitescarian?...before following up in something she could understand better, she bounded up to him and unleashed her friendly attack, pulling him in with some tinsel until she embraced him in a big hug. "Happy Hearths Warming, Chipper!" She said as she released him with a spin. "I have candy and drinks and food and all sorts of stuff! Dig in, I'm sure the other students will be here soon."

[Hippo]

 

Not remembering if this party that, that in Remington's opinion, the official school event planner made was meant for formal attire or not, the red pegasus walked in with a clip-on bow tie. He stepped behind Moonlight able to catch her from behind, which was not often. "Uh, Moonlight. Is it ok to dress down for this one?" He was afraid to ask. It was like asking a pony who likes food if they could skip a meal.

[Blueblood]

 

"Yahoo!"  Chipper cheered as the snack table was presented.  Not exactly as hardy a fare as one would see in a caribou longhouse, but Moonlight wasn't playing host to a party of Vikings who'd worked up an appetite on the high seas, just a bunch of school foals wanting a celebratory sugar rush.  Without waiting for further permission, he dove right in, with all the table manners that could be expected with his upbringing.  That is to say, none.  Anypony within five feet of him would be receiving a light dusting of crumbs and sugar.  Poor Remy would likely have more food than fabric coating him if he wasn't careful...

[SteelEagle]

 

 

Moonlight nearly pranced in place in excitement rather than surprise when she felt Remington's presence. She turned around and was getting ready to respond when she saw his tie on. Hs rolled her eyes while smiling. Her horn lit up as she put a hoof on his chest. "Oh my Twilight, like, no way you're going any further with that on," she said as she magically got the tie off of him and sent it flying into a couch. "There. Now you're both dressed down and look better. Hot stuff!" She said as she embraced big and wide. Now that made three and that was how every good party got started! "I'm soooooooo happy you came!" She said as she bounced. "We're gonna have so much fun. Totally bangin' party! And colt, do IIIIIIIII have a gift for yoooouuuuu!"

 

Gallus flew in, yawning and scratching his back. The best part about not heading home for the holidays anymore was that he got to sleep in while everypony else was packing and running around a in a tizzy. It sucked he'd have to say goodbye to a lot of his friends for a few weeks, but it would work well enough. A lot of resting. Sometimes a bird just needed to lay his head down to rest. Tonight, though? Tonight was a party. One last hurrah until the next semester. Hopefully he'd see Silverstream, Smolder, and the rest- and for now, well, it was  good group. Chipper was pretty cool. A little weird, a bit too much for Gallus sometimes, but cool. "Hey," the blue bird said as he ended his glide near the snack table. "How's the..." he started, using one wing to get some cookies and another to block the crumbs flying from Chipper. He laughed. "Heh. You're gonna need to raise those cookies from the dead with how you're tearing through them."

[Hippo]

 

Remington was relieved that he didn't have to wear the bowtie, but was immediately stressed again at her excitement for the gift she has for him. Remington panicked. He had always known that down the line you get gifts for friends you are close with during this time of year, but he wasn't sure about giving a gift to Moonlight would be appropriate. After all, he didn't have any other gifts for anypony else, so it would suggest that Moonlight was that super special somepony in his life. But maybe she was? But then maybe she wasn't, and Remington would make himself the fool by leading the filly on. Leading the filly on, pfft. Remington all the sudden considers himself some kind of stud now. None of these thought processes mattered much as he began to fret about how he could possibly come up with a reason for why he didn't have a gift for her.

"Really? You got me a gift?" Remington chuckled and tried to play off his nervousness. "Why?" Outside, he felt playful and flirty if not involuntarily and subtly rude. On the inside, he was dying with disappointment in himself.

[Blueblood]

 

The crumb fountain briefly paused in its flowing as Chipper poked his head up to smile at Gallus.  Gallus was a griffon, and griffons were neat!  They were like birds, and Chipper loved birds!  For some reason, though, he'd yet to meet a griffon that could speak in the birdie language, which was weird.  Chipper could do that, and he didn't have any feathers.  "Happy Hearthswarming, Jaybird!"  Gallus might be confused whether Chipper was using that as a nickname for him, or calling out to the bird now cleaning crumbs off the top of his head.  "Heh, silly, you can't bring cookies back, unless you eat wayyy too many of them.  Then they come right back up!  Though, no one seems to want them after that, nyahahaha!"

 

Looking up as he did meant that he did manage to catch a glance at Remington now.  Oooh, Moonlight had a special gift for him huh?  He'd seen that look before.  "I'd tell you why... but Papa Halvard said not to say such things in mixed company!"  Moonlight might start to regret not inviting any adult supervision...

[SteelEagle]

What was her coltfriend on about? Moonlight knew that he could be a silly colt but now he was being the very silliest colt. It was the holidays! She gave him a quizzical expression. "Uhh, 'cause it's Hearths Warming Eve, duh!" She said as she playfully bopped/bonked his forehead. "And you give ponies you care about gifts on the holiday. I mean, like, you were raised in Manehattan, not Griffonstone," she said with a laugh before she remembered Gallus was here. "No offense!"

 

"None taken."

 

She turned back to him, eyes watering up. "Unless you're saying you...you don't care about me!" She said dramatically, faking a heart attack and falling backwards onto a couch. 

Gallus rolled his eyes. Chicks of all types could be dramatic, but also a lot of fun. Where was Silverstream?
"...Jaybid?" He mouthed slowly as he got a bowl of punch. He didn't know where that came from. He wasn't sure he liked it. He was sure it was pretty definitively weird.

 

"Chipper, you can be one weird kitten, I'll tell you that," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, like, keep weird old Papa Haha out of this," she said as she stuck her tongue out at the necromancer, hiding her slight blush at the implication well under playful anger. 

"Wait, back up a second," Gallus said as he took a sip and gave Remington a side-eye. "Even I know about gift giving, and I'm from-"

"Griffonstone."

"Right. So, what's your excuse?"

[Hippo]

 

Remington was having the realization that his hearth's warming traditions were rooted in his experience. Having grown up with no siblings, his experience with the gift process was basically that the kids get everything except lovers get a gift or two for each other, the evidence of this being his parents booping each other's noses while he wrestling with the littered wrapping paper on the floor. It was a good realization to have in the comfort of one's personal thoughts. It was a nightmare at a moment like this.

 

Remington smiled sheepishly at both Moonlight and Gallus. He chuckled and combed his withers with a hoof. He walked towards Gallus and put a front leg around his shoulder. He smiled but spoke through his teeth. "Listen. Gallus. Buddy. I need your help."

[Blueblood]

 

"Yeah, Jaybird!"  Chipper responded enthusiastically, as the Blue Jay hopped down from the holly sprig woven into his mane and flittered over to Gallus' shoulder.  "See?  You're the same shade of blue!"  Some of the ways that the young unicorn's mind operated were not nearly as mysterious as they seemed; in some cases, he simply didn't apply any of the normal filters between brain and mouth often used by more civilized ponies.

 

Seeing the conversation drop from interest in him and his family, he returned to the main business of the evening, namely, noshing!  He still kept an ear out, because it seemed like Remington might need a gift for his own mama Sigrun, and Papa Halvard always had a nice gift for her after coming back from a trip at sea.