“Mom! Mama! Wake up!”

Beryl bounded between Indigo Dreams and Marble Pie’s beds with foalish enthusiasm. He was normally an early riser, but today he was awake especially early as he was up before the sun!

Indigo’s eyes fluttered open as she searched for a source of light to help her find her way. “Berry, dear, it’s…”

“Six A.M.,” Marble glanced over at the clock and moaned tiredly.

“Yeah! It’s Hearth’s Warming! Come on!” Beryl insisted as he tugged at their hooves.

“Why don’t you go wake up your brother and sister? We’ll be right along,” Indigo offered.

Beryl ran right out the door as the two mares began to wake up.

“He does this every year, I assume?”

“Mmhm.”

Indigo smiled softly. “Well, his spirits will be good for the little ones. They’ve never had a real Hearth’s Warming before. Not with…” she trailed off.

“Mmm…”

The unicorn put on a more cheerful resolve. “Well, no matter. This year will be different for them.”

Marble smiled. “For us.”

*****

Beryl and his siblings stood before the Hearth’s Warming tree and all the brightly-wrapped gifts that lay underneath. While Beryl could hardly contain his excitement, his siblings seemed more unsure.

“So what’s all this?”

“Presents, silly!” Beryl laughed. “Haven’t you ever seen one before?”

Indigo made to diffuse the inevitable tension. “Well-“

“Santa Hooves visits our house every year!” The colt continued. “He brings presents if we’re good, and it looks like we’ve been extra good this year! All those presents are for us!”

“Huh,” Hypernova Fray eyed the gifts hesitantly. “Okay.”

“Look, this one has your name on it!” Beryl passed a gift to his brother. “And this one is for you, Lucy!”

“Wow…” Lucid Lemondrop’s eyes widened as she looked upon the gift before her. “It’s so pretty…”

Beryl beamed. “Open them and see what you got!“

Hypernova stared at his gift in disbelief. “We’ve never had all this stuff before.”

Beryl grinned and started helping his siblings open their gifts. “I have a lot to teach you about Hearth’s Warming, then! You’re gonna love it!”