It was as cold a night as any, the windows cracked under several layers of frost and condensation, the curtains shuttered in an attempt to preserve the heat emanating from the centre of Vinyl and Octavia’s living room. It was Hearth’s Warming Eve, and the hearth was indeed warm, as were the ponies that sat beside it.

Vinyl witnessed her surroundings not obfuscated by her signature shades, which sat neglected on her bedside table. Without the familiar violet veneer, she could fully appreciate the myriad colours and textures that breathed life into the night, from the various decorations—holly and tinsel, silver stars and shining lights—to the sycamore hues of the darkened wood in the fireplace, flames dancing atop the nearby grate, warming her face.

More than anything, she could appreciate the colours of her marefriend, an eye-grabbing space grey bleeding into soft charcoal, perfectly mirrored by the burnt wood, embers lifting up and floating away, dancing in entwined bliss like fireflies trapped in continuous, everlasting tranquillity. Vinyl envied the embers; they danced with roaring passion and furious unity, daring each other to reach higher, to fly faster, like Icarus racing towards the sun, knowing they would inevitably fall out of being, only to be born again.

Vinyl loved Octavia, loved her very much, in fact, but where was that energy, that tumultuous excitement and raw emotion, bubbling up and threatening to burst from its intensity? She regarded her lover’s supple figure with wandering eyes and found only a coat as soft as her heart, her barriers long forgotten. Her steadfast resilience to Vinyl’s wiles had been tossed away in favour of kindness and open-hearted acceptance, short grumbles and arguments that were more friendly debates than crashing forces of will, replacing the once epic clashes of two disparates.

Octavia used to be formidable. When they first met, everything had been a point of contention, from their tastes in literature to the allocated fridge space; nothing could be resolved without a long period of shouting, a few hyperbolic comparisons, a fresh bout of tears and an affectionate, loving apology. The end had always made the struggle more than worth it, and those periods of falling apart and building themselves back together, of laying their feelings bare and releasing all bottled up inside them, those had been the moments that had truly brought them together.

Vinyl felt an itch on her cheek and went to tend to it, but was halted by her numb hoof’s position, trapped firmly in Octavia’s grip. Now they were like this, all holding and petting and amorous entanglement, a testament to their supposed fragility, but they were neither fragile nor flimsy.

They were a tough pair, and their strong, bold personalities were proof of that, yet the honeymoon period of their relationship had clearly allowed them to become complacent, never speaking their minds, brushing off concerns and leaving issues for the next day, then the day after, then the day after that.

It was silly, and deep down, Vinyl knew it was wrong. It couldn’t be that they just didn’t have anything to fight over—they always did. In all honesty, the notion that there was nothing to fight over—especially on Hearth’s Warming Eve—was absurd, and Vinyl wasn’t sure she had ever had one this quiet. Where most ponies had to deal with a smashed plate, a burnt dinner and a drunken uncle, Vinyl was lucky if she didn’t witness more than two arrests on the night, whether she was performing at a venue or just catching up with her family.

Yet here, it was all smiles. Was it genuine? Were the events of the night exhilarating and once in a lifetime, or were they quotidian and dull? Had Octavia really enjoyed their quiet night of sitting in the house, doing nothing but being with each other, or did she, like Vinyl, yearn for something more? Perhaps she too wanted to break free from their pliable cage of kisses and snuggles, and that contented smile she wore was nothing but a refusal to tap into her burning ferocity.

Vinyl remembered keenly what Octavia was like when she was angry, from the way her eyes contracted and sharpened to her voice modulation, harsh barks intersected with long, dramatic tirades as she continued to surprise Vinyl in how shrill she could be, her body shaking as she berated and insulted her, her lip bit down on in an attempt to keep a lid on her compulsion to scream. It was real, it was powerful, and it was really damn hot.

That Octavia was gone, replaced by this dulcet, muted thing that played with her mane and whispered loving, soothing words to her, making her chest flutter. But Vinyl didn’t want her test to flutter, she wanted confirmation. She wanted love, she wanted infatuation, and above all, she wanted to feel Octavia’s emotion as she played off on her, a perfect duet.

The thought elicited a small buzzing hum from deep in Vinyl’s belly, a sensation only she knew of, but one that quietly begged to be capitalised on, to be shared and expanded and brought for her lover to witness. Vinyl was desperate to show Octavia just what they were missing from their love life, and if she had to make her angry to do it, so be it.

As if aware that she needed to be the catalyst to set Vinyl’s compulsion in motion, Octavia turned, looking towards her. “Is something the matter, Vinyl? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

Vinyl said nothing, merely looked at her. The coldness of her gaze was an affectation, and she could only hope that Octavia wouldn’t see through it, but it was bolstered by the absence of her shades; Octavia didn’t know which tells to look for. It felt strange to put something like that on, to pretend to be angry, but with all things considered, was she really pretending?

“Vinyl, I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s bothering you.” Octavia brushed a hoof across her cheek, and Vinyl recoiled.

“I’m bored,” she grumbled, being sure to look directly at Octavia as she said it.

For a moment, Octavia seemed lost for words. “Bored?” she repeated, mystified. “Whatever do you mean?”

A sigh, a short glance to the floor, as if she felt guilty for the next words that would leave her mouth—which she partially did—and then another look to her marefriend, her eyes hard, her gaze fixed. “We’ve been stuck in here all day, and we’ve basically done nothing. We haven’t gone anywhere, we haven’t experienced anything, we’ve just sat by the fire talking, we even ate here.” A short blink and a tug on her hoof, separating it from Octavia’s and planting it on the carpet with a soft thud.

Octavia’s head began to tilt, and her voice carried an air of bemusement. “But Vinyl, this is Hearth’s Warming Eve. It’s a time to be spent with loved ones, enjoying each other’s presence. Are you saying you haven’t been happy?”

“Not that,” Vinyl admitted, “But doesn’t it feel like every other day, just with some decorations for effect? We could have gone somewhere, Tavi, been out and about, experiencing something, making memories, but instead, we sat around, ate chocolate and cuddled, which honestly isn’t that far off from what we usually do on the weekend.” Vinyl shrugged her withers where she lay, looking at the ceiling. “Wouldn’t something, I dunno, more have been nice?”

“...I see,” Octavia nodded, softly chewing her lip. “I didn’t realise that activity meant so much to you. Would you like to go somewhere tomorrow? I have plenty of free time this week, I’m sure we could go and do something more to your tastes if you waited a little longer.”

“There’s no point,” Vinyl groaned, shifting further away. “The day’s already been wasted, and this is meant to be the special day, not today or the day after.” She could feel her voice taking on a hardened quality, and as her act evolved, she found that it was becoming less and less of an act. “You might think it sounds selfish, and maybe you’re right, but I want something other than vapid inaction today, or rather, I wanted something else. But I didn’t get it, and I was stuck with sitting around with you instead.”

A short gasp, and now it was Octavia’s turn to back up. “Are you trying to tell me that you don’t want to spend time with me?”

“Not at all, it’s the sitting around part that gets to me,” Vinyl explained, shortly shaking her head. “I like that on the odd day off, it’s a fun way to relax and pass the time, but it feels like it’s all we do these days... Don’t you remember the old days? We used to talk about all kinds of things, our aspirations and desires, our needs and fears, we’d make plans, and stay awake deciding where we’d go, what we’d do. That was only eight months ago, Tavi. What happened?”

“Well, we settled,” Octavia gulped, clearing her throat. “We became attuned to one another. We are both busy mares, and behind that layer of fantasy, that early infatuation, I think we both realised that time would demand we put some things on hold, that we wouldn’t always have the energy to be wild and reckless. Surely, you’re mature enough to appreciate that.”

“Oh, so now I’m immature?” Vinyl bit back, her eyes flashing with indignation as her chest puffed out. “Well, I’m sorry if me wanting to actually do things with my marefriend makes me too immature for you, Tavi.”

“That isn’t what I was saying, please do not twist my words.” Octavia snarled, a hint of formality creeping into her tone as she arched her back, pushing her hooves into the carpet as if ready to stand. “You are the one who is constantly too busy to do things, and completely drained whenever you are off work, yet you feel fit to cast the blame on me for our stagnancy? Perhaps if you weren’t constantly working overtime, we would have the time to go and ‘do things’,” she finished, punctuating her last couple of words with air hooves.

“Listen,” Vinyl retorted, her voice rising, “You have no clue how much I wish I could just blow off work and spend all of my time with you, but I’m on the rise! Things have been shaky in my career for years, and now it’s finally looking like I could start making a sustainable living out of this. Do you really expect me to blow off something that could cover us for years, just so I can waste all of my time at home?”

“Well, maybe I would at least see you for once,” Octavia harrumphed, turning her head.

“Oh, don’t exaggerate,” Vinyl tittered, rolling her eyes. “I’m here most days, and I spend plenty of time around you, more than I ever did before we got together! That still doesn’t change the fact that whenever I entrust you to take point in the time we share, we end up doing this! Any real fun we could have had is relegated to some distant hope, and instead, we get nonstop monotony! I’m sick of it, Octavia!”

“And this is what you would rather do?” Octavia shot back, her hooves tensing. “Sit around and lament the wasted opportunities of a few months like a tortured artist because you cannot handle the fact we have lives? You poor thing, Vinyl Scratch, rocketing to stardom with such speed and velocity that you are unable to be there for me, it must be so terrible, I really do feel for you.”

“Stop being such a bitch,” Vinyl spat, rising to her hooves. “All of this lovey stuff is bullshit anyway, we were never like this until recently. Gosh, it’s as if it’s a coping mechanism or something, your big plan to stop us from falling apart, or to tame me, or something.”

“Can you not have a simple conversation without lowering the tone?” Octavia asked, judging her with a derisive stare as she too rose. Their bodies lingered between one another like two raging infernos on either side of an intangible battleground, battling to see who could burn the brightest. “Every single time you have a problem you take it out on me, and it is utterly childish.”

Vinyl studied Octavia, from her grit teeth to her powerful eyes, her mane erratic from her sudden rise to standing, her hooves wither’s width apart as if she was ready to pounce on her and pummel her into submission. This was what she had been missing. “Just because I swore doesn’t mean I ‘lowered the tone’. You’re fucking inflammatory! Seriously, just because you say it in a more sophisticated way, it doesn’t mean you don’t indirectly offend me every two seconds! If it isn’t your words, it’s the way you say them, the way you look at me.”

“Then if that’s the case you won’t mind if I do not look at you altogether,” Octavia sneered, turning away and giving Vinyl a full view of her plot, though her tail remained forced down over her privates.

No way, she didn’t get to take the moral high ground. She didn’t get to end this on her terms. There was nothing Vinyl hated more than the silent treatment, and this classic precursor was enough for her to take drastic measures. For Octavia to turn away from Vinyl, flashing her plot and beginning to saunter off, leaving her angry and increasingly horny, Vinyl had only one remedy.

Summoning every ounce of her devotion, ignoring her filter and knowing there was no going back from this, Vinyl uttered a few simple words. “Fine, if you wanna ruin Hearth’s Warming Eve even more than you already have, be my guest.”

The result was instantaneous. Octavia turned, a twitch in her eye and a flare in her step as she twisted back towards Vinyl, the aggression in her eyes complimented by the force of her tone. “I’ve done what?”

Vinyl adopted the most casual tone she could. In for a bit, and all that. “You heard me, you’ve ruined it.”

Octavia stormed right up to Vinyl, staring her in the eyes every step of the way, emotion and anger imparted by every moment of contact as she dropped her voice to a very low, serious tone. “Do you have any clue how much work I put into decorating this house for you?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“I am a fucking earth pony!” Octavia all but screamed, the sheer volume blasting Vinyl like a surprise speaker. “I don’t get to just go, ‘oh, a quick flash of the horn and done’, it isn’t that simple! Do you want to know how I hang tinsel? Ladders! Do you want to know how I got this bruise on my flank?” Octavia turned, lifting her tail to the side and revealing a purple bruise right below her cutie mark before wheeling back around. “Falling off of a bloody ladder! For you to have the audacity to say that I ruined Hearth’s Warming after all the time that I put into cooking, cleaning, decorating, planning—”

Vinyl was ashamed to say that she lost track of Octavia’s words after that, but she wasn’t ashamed to say why. Her tone, her energy, her body, her face alight with pure feeling, it was beautiful, it was intoxicating, it was sexy as hell. Vinyl didn’t even feel her brain signal her hoof to rise and press against Octavia’s lips, silencing her. “Can I just say that you look fucking beautiful right now?”

Octavia wrinkled her muzzle, drawing away from Vinyl. “Well, tough, because after your inanity, there is absolutely no chance that I’m letting you anywhere near me tonight. ‘Ruined Hearth’s Warming’ indeed, see how you like that for ruined.”

Well, that was a pretty strong statement. Time to test the validity of it. Vinyl threw herself forwards, brushing her lips against Octavia’s as she held the back of her neck with a hoof. At first, she did nothing, but slowly, softly, she began to move in return, their shared kiss rapidly deepening into a ravenous meeting of adoration and hate, their bodies twisting together as the fire roared in appreciation. Turns out she was full of it.

Vinyl could feel her heart hammering against her chest as the once warm feeling in her belly was stoked by the electrifying contact of their tongues, spreading along her entire body and exciting nerves she had forgotten existed. Her body heaved forwards in lustful need, ripping her lips from Octavia’s and working down to her neck, nibbling and biting at her in an attempt to make her feel, to push her satisfaction onto her partner.

She got her intended result in a loud gasp, Octavia softly moaning and exposing more of her neck as Vinyl licked, bit, and sucked on it. This was the feeling she had been searching for, the life being breathed into her as she forced wave after wave of sensation onto Octavia, taking all of her wishing and wanting and transferring it into beautiful, painful, and delectable feeling.

She needed to show Octavia just how much she had missed this, and that meant taking charge. With a burst of magic, she forced Octavia to buckle onto the carpet, rolling her over with her hooves and kissing down her chest, leaving a trail of bites and kisses as she slowly moved her way to her target.

She pressed down on Octavia’s pussy with a hoof, finding she didn’t need to wet it as Octavia’s arousal had already done so, her marehood glistening with her juices as Vinyl worked on her, demonstrating through each of her mouth’s ministrations the latent desire that had been dying to burst out and take her. Octavia looked down at her with knit brows, her subtle gasps and groans offset by her unimpressed look.

Time to break that facade. Vinyl began to stroke her pussy with a hoof, gently massaging her folds and occasionally working up to her clit, taking it back to her lips to taste and make wet and then bringing it back with renewed momentum, rubbing in small concentric circles as she brought Octavia to pants and short breaths, switching up her motions and tantalising every surface of her sweet marehood.

Vinyl loved the power she held over her, the ability to make her squirm and thrash in place, but still, Octavia’s eyes remained fiery, drilling into her even as she pleasured her. Her lips joined her hooves and together they worked a continuous rhythm, one stroking and the other returning to her chest and licking down to her belly in one fluid motion, drawing ever closer to its target.

Octavia’s forehooves ran along her own body and down to Vinyl’s head, the pair maintaining eye contact as she all but forced her down, not begging but instructing her to lick and play with her most sensitive area.

Vinyl wasn’t one to say no. With one long, slow brush of her tongue, she delicately brushed over Octavia’s clit, all the way to the bottom of her lips, flicking her tongue around and moving back up again, repeating the motion as Octavia’s pants became rabid and she pushed Vinyl’s head down harder. Graciously giving in, Vinyl began to tongue fuck Octavia’s pussy, lapping at her hole with fervour as she tasted her sweet juices, a hoof between her belly and the carpet against her own clit as she twisted her hips, brushing against it in a slow and steady motion.

She could feel Octavia’s pussy tightening around her tongue, and knew that her tongue’s quick flicking motions were meeting their mark as she barraged her pussy with lick after lick, her tongue darting in and out of her mouth as she strained to receive more of Octavia’s sweet nectar, seducing the glorious liquid from her as she writhed in place, crying out in ecstasy. Vinyl got the distinct impression that she was already drawing close to orgasm, and pressed on with vigour, pushing her tongue deeper and flicking it faster as she made out with her pussy.

Then, in a sudden flurry of motion, Vinyl found herself on her back, Octavia towering over her. In what felt like less than a second, it became Vinyl who was to be subject to Octavia’s whims as she lowered her pussy over Vinyl’s mouth, crawling over her body and licking at Vinyl’s hind legs as Vinyl resumed her task, softly nibbling at her clit as Octavia’s tongue drew closer to meeting Vinyl’s own aching pussy.

Octavia held the advantage of being able to manoeuvre her hooves, and she really took advantage of it. One played with Vinyl’s clit while the other played with her lips as if they were the strings of an instrument, parting them and rubbing deeper and deeper until Octavia’s hoof was brushing against her walls. The explosion of pleasure only caused Vinyl to speed up in her motions, and in a moment of rebellion, she pressed her hoof against where she knew Octavia’s bruise to be, causing her to yelp as Vinyl furiously ate her pussy, revenge for her continuous teasing.

Octavia’s riposte was to sit up, forcing her pussy down onto Vinyl’s face, causing her tongue to snake deeper than ever before as Octavia gyrated and bounced in place, riding Vinyl’s mouth. She began to buck her hips faster as Vinyl squeezed her nub between her teeth, her ears twitching and her body missing the feeling of being touched, her anger at the absence of attention being appeased by her repetitive dealings of sensual torment, bringing Octavia closer to the edge and then neglecting her clit once more.

Octavia’s return was only to ride her face harder, forcing Vinyl’s tongue to brush against her clit and bring her the satisfaction she so longed for, her back and forth motions becoming shorter and more erratic as she began to draw close to a mind shattering orgasm.

But Vinyl wasn’t about to let it end that easily. With another flick of magic, she pushed Octavia off of her, grabbing her body and rolling on top, the feeling of the nearby fire warming their coats—or perhaps the heat from them was warming it at this point. She kissed her deeply, the tang of Octavia’s pussy still on her lips, sharing the taste with her lover and receiving hers in turn as their limbs wrapped around each other’s, the embrace like earlier’s but completely dissimilar in its potency and overwhelming, insatiable need.

Neither of them had brought the other to orgasm yet, and by now it was a game to see who would cave first. Octavia’s hoof snaked down between them, and with dexterity befitting an instrumentalist she began to rub both of their pussies with a single hoof in unison, playing with their clits and mixing their juices around on her hoof as they gasped and panted into each other’s mouths, receiving equally monumental pleasure as their pussies pulsed and pressed together, repetitively pumped by her giving hoof.

“Oh shit,” Vinyl said between breaths as she broke the kiss, Octavia’s hoof speeding up and delivering a euphoric symphony of moans as the pair began to thrash against it, the radiance building in her body and threatening to burst, seeping out of her pussy as she drew closer and closer, the feeling ecstatic and utterly exhilarating, sizzling stimulation pouring out of them as their bodies heaved and thrust together as one, an earth-stopping concerto just for the two of them, Octavia’s hoof the instrument, their bodies and moans the vital accompaniment.

“Are you going to cum?” Octavia grunted, staring at Vinyl, pushing her hoof up so it brushed against Vinyl’s pussy especially, sending rockets of pleasure into her core as Vinyl went into orbit.

Vinyl knew she was close, but she fought back with everything she had, fighting the need for release and pushing Octavia’s hoof back down with her hips, no matter how good that felt. “Are you?” she grinned, the pair dancing around her hoof, sliding up and down without restraint, all inhibitions gone as Octavia’s hoof fired wave after wave of sensation into the pair of them, a soft grey gatling gun gliding against their gorgeous holes.

When they did cum, it was together. Reaching the peak of their limits, the pair moved in perfect synchronisation, a series of building movements met by one deepened, hardened push, blasting against one another and both releasing their juices, Octavia pulling up her hoof as Vinyl squirted onto her chest, liquid glazing her coat, completely covering her.

They forgot all reason, rubbing their bodies together in an effort to receive a few more moments of heaven. When the feeling finally faded, neither moved. Vinyl didn’t roll off of Octavia, and Octavia made no effort to shift beneath her; they laid with their chests softly rising and falling, looking to one another with a shared small, idiotic smile.

Then they began to laugh. It was a small giggle at first but gradually evolved into a full-on mess of howls and chuckles, the two of them rolling around together, forgetting the mess they were surely making as they shared in this moment of release, of unabashed splendour.

Slowly, reluctantly, Vinyl felt the urge to speak, and try as she might to hold onto what they had right then, she knew she had to come clean and get it out. “Tavi?” she said, timid, already scared for the reaction.

“Yes, Vinyl?” Octavia smirked, softly kissing her on the snout.

“That, uhh, stuff I said. I was exaggerating a lot.”

“Of course you were,” Octavia nodded as if it were clear, “and I’m sure I got away with myself too, we often do.”

“It’s not that,” Vinyl hesitated, unsure how to proceed. “I didn’t actually feel angry when I started, I just wanted to argue with you. Does that sound silly?”

For a moment, Octavia appeared to mull over the question, twisting her muzzle, but in the end, she smiled. “Perhaps, but you are awfully silly. Besides, I think we both got some things off of our chests that we’ve been needing to say for a long while. I imagine we can only grow from this.”

“So, we’re not arguing anymore?” Vinyl asked, hopeful.

“Vinyl, let me tell you something,” Octavia said solemnly, looking directly at her. “What I have always understood about Hearth’s Warming from the history and the plays is that it is a time where things almost fell apart. The anger and hatred in ponies was released and almost caused the downfall of everything we ever knew, and the conception of everything we’ve come to know since.”

Vinyl only nodded, not knowing what else to say.

“And from the ashes of that conflict arose friendship and compromise, love and tolerance, happiness and joy.” Looking down to the mess they had made and back up, she grinned. “I suppose what I am trying to say is that we too can benefit from releasing whatever we have pent up inside, as it only helps us to understand one another better and really be there for each other. Isn’t that the true spirit of this season?”

It was funny to think that such a conclusion could be drawn from what just happened, or that the comparison could even be made, but the more that Vinyl thought about it, the more she realised that it was right. The arguments she had had with family in the past, they had always led to the resolution of issues and the strengthening of bonds. The issues she had with Octavia? They felt minuscule now, inconsequential, melting away under the heat of the flame that roared only a few feet away from them, reminding them that it was the season of happiness and giving, companionship and love.

That may have been so, but Vinyl had discovered that it could also be the season of honesty and rash behaviour, crazy arguments and reaffirming make ups, hatefucking and loving embraces.

Vinyl was wrong. Octavia hadn’t ruined Hearth’s Warming Eve. Not even in the slightest.

Here was hoping next year could be half as good.