//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: The Family of the Season 
// by CartoonNerd12 
//------------------------------//

Flash gestured to Sunset Shimmer after his wife and her sisters told everyone of Sunset's lack of Hearth's Warming celebrations, "Let me get this straight: you had never once had a Hearth's Warming Eve?!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing and neither could anybody else. Celestia, Sombra, and Luna exchanged troubled glances while Cotton Candy whispered toward her cousins, "Poor Aunt Sunset!" They nodded in agreement.

"Geez, Starlight really wanted you to miss out, didn't she?" said Spike.

Twilight wrapped a hoof around her twin's neck, "Which is why we are giving her the best Hearth's Warming Eve ever to make up for the ones she missed."

Everyone around her was smiling at this idea. Then she looked straight ahead to a pony she had yet to introduce to her twin. "Sunset, meet an old friend, Countess Coloratura, better known as Ra-Ra to our family. Ra-Ra, this is my twin sister, Sunset Shimmer."

"This is just so hard to believe. I mean, I never even knew…"

Sunset giggled, "Yeah, we all did. I had no idea where I came from until I met Twilight and it all started coming together."

"Cadence told me your story and it's so horrible to know that you were kidnapped."

"Yeah… So, um, you're a friend to my sisters?"

She smiled, "I am. Whenever my family had important matters of state with your family, I would go play with the others."

Twilight explained, "We would have lots fun together and Ra-Ra has the most beautiful voice there was, and that's why she's here. As I told you in my letter, our sisters and I would perform in the pageant every year, but we also added extra things like singing and skits. It ended up being a holiday showcase, so Ra-Ra will be performing a special number she wrote toward the end of the show."

"Wow…" Sunset was amazed. "I can't wait to see that and to see the rest of you in the pageant." She looked toward her sisters.

"The thing is, though," said Rarity, "there's been a change in plans."

"Oh?" Sunset furrowed her brow.

Cotton Candy then jumped in on the conversation, "This year, we're going to perform in the pageant!"

Sunset eyed her nieces and nephews, who were agreeing. She looked at Twilight, who whispered, "Yeah, sorry about it. I would have let you known sooner except the decision was just made shortly before you arrived."

"Hey, that's no problem. In fact, that's great."

"It is, actually," said Fluttershy. "It gives us more time to figure out what we're going to do for the showcase."

Rarity mentioned, "Fancy and I read this wonderful Hearth's Warming Eve story a few days ago and we wanted to make a skit based on it."

"What's the story called?" Sunset asked.

"'A Hearth's Warming Carol'," said Fancy, "a classic written by the famous author, Charles Nickens."

"I remember reading that," said Sunset. "Good choice."

Twilight nodded, "It really is one of the best Hearth's Warming tales we have in Equestria."

"Good luck on it." said Ra-Ra.

"We'll try." said Rarity.

"In the meantime," Twilight started heading for the door, "let's show you where the theatre is."

Moments later, the sisters arrived at the castle theatre. Sunset marveled at the sight of it.

"This is where most of our precious childhood memories come from." Rarity said.

"And every year, we perform a song or skit just before we start the pageant. Same goes in between it, and then finally, we have either a skit or song at the end." said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight mentioned, "Starting tomorrow, preparations will be underway and I have to start auditions for pegasi fillies to fill the role of Private Pansy and I have to decide between Screw Ball, Cotton Candy, and Apple Jewel of which earth pony roles they will get."

"But won't one of them get left out?" Sunset inquired.

"I know. I don't want to do that, but you can't change history. The pageant must proceed as planned."

"The wisest thing to do is to brace one of them for disappointment." said AJ.

The mothers nodded.

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On a ship crossing the ocean, it waved Marendelle's royal emblem on top of the mast. Its passengers were members of the royal family, and the king himself was checking to see how the voyage was faring.

"How are we doing, Admiral?" Button Mash asked.

The captain replied, "Very good, sire. The sea is a calm mistress today and as long as the winds keep blowing on the sails, we shall hit land at morning's light."

King Button nodded in approval before something jumped on him. Once he saw it was his youngest daughter, he chuckled, "Feeling bored, are we?"

Princess Little Button - or "LB" as everyone called her - sighed dramatically, "There's nothing to do!"

"Haven't you been playing with your sister or cousins?"

"Snowy won't come near me and Roller Blade, Skater, Apple Butter, and me have already played every game there is on a boat."

"Hmm…" Button pondered as he glanced to where his firstborn was. Snow Pea was standing at the spar looking down at the water. She looked dejected. Button turned back his little daughter and said, "Here, why don't you go round up your cousins into the cabin and I will tell you kids a story my mother told me when I was a colt."

LB's eyes widened and she grinned, "Yay!" She rushed to where her cousins were at. Button found his wife talking to her sisters and their husbands. He overheard them.

"Are you going to do something for the show this year?" Scootaloo asked.

"Not this year, remember? Pip and I did that skit last year, so this time, we're going to sit back and watch the others." said Apple Bloom.

Pip nodded his head in agreement.

Scootaloo turned to Sweetie, "What about you and Button? You know that duet you two did a couple of years ago was one of the best performances we had in the showcase."

"Well… we probably would, but after everything that's happened with Snowy recently, I think it's best we keep an eye on her during our entire visit."

Button then jumped in on the conversation, "How is she holding up?" He asked Sweetie Belle as he looked to their eldest.

Sweetie followed his gaze and frowned, "She feels she needs to keep away from every pony she comes into contact with."

Apple Bloom said, "She can't possibly believe it was her fault. She just can't control her powers at the moment."

Scootaloo muttered, "Those stupid Windigos… If I ever see one, I'll pummel it to a snowflake!"

Button said, "It truly is hard to understand why the Windigos gave her these powers, but we're doing everything we can to help her gain control over her gifts."

Sweetie commented while looking to see her daughter was alone, "I hate to see her lonely like this…"

Button kissed her head and gestured, "Why don't you talk with her while I tell the rest of the kids a story? I promised LB."

Sweetie smiled, "Go, I'll take care of things here."

"And so will we," said Rumble as he looked at the others, who nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, guys," Button smiled as he went toward the cabin where his daughter, nieces, and nephew were waiting.

Sweetie Belle and her sisters went toward Snow Pea, who kept staring down at the ocean as they moved along aside it.

"Snowy…" her mother tried to wrap a hoof around her, but she was too quick.

"No, Mommy! I don't want you to get hurt!"

Sweetie gently said, "You're not going to hurt me, Snowy."

"Yes, I will! You should have forced me to stay home! What if I hurt Grandma Tia and Grandpapa?! Or Aunt Twilight?! Or anyone else that gets too close to me?!"

"That's not going to happen," said Scootaloo.

"What happened back on Marendelle wasn't your fault." said AB.

"My sister could have gotten hurt! All because these powers didn't want to cover the whole pond! Sometimes I wonder how much control I do have…"

The sisters glanced at each other, not sure what they could say at this point. Instead, Scootaloo thought it would be best to change the subject.

"Look, the important thing is no pony got hurt and that we're on our way to celebrate Hearth's Warming Eve. You love Hearth's Warming, don't you? The tree, the presents, everything about it?"

"I… do…" Snowy's voice was full of unease.

"And we do a show that's always the highlight of the evening!"

This time, her spirits were lifting and she said with intrigue, "Are you going to be part of the show this year, Aunt Scootaloo?"

Scoots blushed while her sisters smirked at her, "Um, well, um…"

AB kept smirking, "Yeah, Scoots. There must be something you haven't done yet for the showcase."

Scootaloo was still blushing, "Well… I do have something in mind, only…" She faced her husband, "…if Rumble is willing…"

Rumble frowned, "Uh-oh. What are you getting at, dear…?"

Scootaloo wrapped a hoof around him, "Let's just say that there's this dance I know that will be perfect for the showcase, but I will need a partner who knows the moves as much as me to make it work."

He was still frowning until he sighed, "It's the Nutcracker one, isn't it?"

She smirked, "You know I've wanted to do that dance for so long. I've already done 'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy' when I was a filly, but to dance the 'Pas-de-deux' would be a dream come true! And to dance it with my favorite colt in world would make it even better!"

Pip furrowed his brow and questioned, "You do ballet?"

Sweetie, Apple Bloom, and Snow Pea looked at Rumble with interest.

Rumble moaned and sighed again, "It was my deepest darkest secret until now…" He briefly glared at his wife, but he kept explaining, "As you know, I was on my own a lot when I was a colt, so at one point while I was starving for food, a traveling ballet company took pity on me and gave me free dancing lessons. I was a skilled dancer to say the least, but eventually, I went on my way as always and had many more adventures on the way."

"He told me this a while back," pointed Scoots. "He was afraid that I would tease him, but honestly, I was excited, because during my royal years in Canterlot I was given ballet lessons. Of course, I didn't want Rainbow Dash thinking I turned into a girly-girl, but when she did find out, she encouraged me to perform. That's when I did 'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy' at the holiday showcase all those years ago."

"I wish I could have seen that," Snowy smiled.

"Well…" Scootaloo smirked at her husband again. "If you can persuade your uncle to dance the 'Pas-de-deux' with me, I'm sure you can…"

Rumble glared at her, knowing what her plan was. He made the mistake of looking down at Snow Pea's face to see her round eyes were pleading.

She even said, "Will you, Uncle Rumble?"

He smacked his forehead, "Oh… alright." he chuckled, "I can't say 'no' to this pretty little face."

She giggled.

Sweetie Belle smiled at her brother-in-law and whispered, "Thank you… I haven't seen her smile in weeks…"

Rumble grinned back, "You're very welcome."

Sweetie said to her daughter, "Come, Snow Pea. Your father is in the middle of telling your sister and cousins a story. Let's go join them."

"Well… um, I guess so…" She gave a small smile.

Sweetie was still smiling as she led her daughter to the cabin. Once they were out of earshot, Apple Bloom and Pip were laughing their heads off, causing Rumble to glare at them.

Pip guffawed, "I can't wait to see you on stage wearing tights!"

Apple Bloom fell onto the deck, laughing away just picturing the scene.

Scoots wrapped her hoof around her husband, "Don't listen to them. We're going to do great. I just know it."

Rumble slowly started smirking, and then grabbed his wife's hoof and began twirling her around like the ballerina she was before dipping her.

"Well, then, we best get some practice…"

She smirked back at him before leaning in to kiss.