> The Hearth's Warming Storm
>  by Neutron Alchemist
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hovering high in the sky of Canterlot, higher than Cloudsdale itself, as high as the two strongest flyers of the Night Guard, who had volunteered to patrol with her throughout the night, could reach, Luna allowed herself to look upward for a moment, and silently sighed. That night, only the few of them would have looked at the spectacular sky she had drawn for the night of Hearth's Warming Eve. Beneath her, the clouds formed an almost uninterrupted sea that covered all Equestria. In the moonlight, it looked like a stormy, windswept ocean, hurled against the few mountain peaks that rose, like islands, above the waves. 

Luna felt for a moment as she could even hear the backwash, before recalling that it was the rhythmic beat of the wings and the heavy breathing of the two ponies at her side that she was hearing. Luna looked at them. Slit eyes gleaming in the darkness, gazing to the sea of clouds beneath. Sharp teeth snarling, reacting to her state of mind, as if they were ready to throw themselves against the storm. It was an inequine effort what they were doing to follow her so high, just because they understood that, in that night, Luna would not have wanted to be left alone. But, Luna knew that, if she had flew even higher, they would have still tried to follow her. They would have thrown themselves even against the Sun if she had ordered them, and they would still have called themselves lucky to be at her command, as generations of their ancestors had instead continued to swear loyalty to a disgraced Princess that even their grandparents had never seen, and to be hated for that.

Beneath the three of them, the rest of the Night Guards were no more than dark spots against the background of clouds, flying in 'V' formations just above them. Their task would have been the more important that night.

Luna was feeling a bit of gratitude for the only creatures who could follow her in her night patrols, and a touch of envy too. It would have been nice, sometimes, to have to follow orders, instead of giving them, and not feeling like the Princess of the Night was In that moment, much more helpless than a pony sent alone to face a continent-covering snow storm.

Because it would have been easy. It would have required only a glimpse of her power, to disperse the clouds, to calm the wind, and allow all her subjects to enjoy the most awaited night of the year as they had planned to do. But what was easy, it was not possible. There was no need for Celestia to say anything to her that time. One who plays with the forces of nature since fillyhood, learns these things alone. They had not created the world with which they were playing. And this was done so that sometimes its mechanisms left no way out. Sometimes corrections were not feasible. You have only to let nature take its course, to prevent worse problems in the future. 'You are their ruler, not their mother, and they are not your foals. They look after themselves better than you think, even if you do not care for them all the time'. The caveat with which Celestia had tried to hold her back in the castle that night, to spend a happy night of Hearth's Warming Eve with her beloved sister, was still sounding in her ears. To accept what could not be changed, was the lesson that Luna had never learned.

That's why, if fate had decided for that to be a cruel night, The Princess of the Night would have used her powers to concentrate the light, to shift her vision to the UV, to pass through the clouds, and see. See the sufferings to which her impotence condemned her subjects, and, since she was no more a monster, at least share those with them.

> 2. An invitation is an invitation
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Dear Trixie

I know that there have been misunderstandings between us in the past, but I want you to know that I do not hold any resentment towards you. I hope that’s true for you also, but, even if that’s not the case, in the spirit of this celebration, I hope that you will accept my invitation to spend the Hearth's Warming holiday in Ponyville with all of us. 

For the night before Hearth's Warming, the traditional pageant is planned at the City Hall starting from 9:00 pm, then, a party organized by my friend Pinkie Pie will last, predictably, all night long. It would be wonderful if you could join us in time.

I'm sure we'll find out that the things that unite us are much more than those that divide us.

In the event you can not come, I wish you a wonderful Hearth's Warming, wherever you are.

Your friend
Twilight Sparkle

A tired and chilled Trixie, in the light of her horn, and using her telekinesis to shield the paper from the blowing snow, read for the umpteenth time the letter, then rolled it up and put it under her cape again. Continuing to laboriously pull her wagon under the icy gusts. The content was precisely the kind of idealistic mawkishness that she would have expected from the pampered witch that she had loved to hate. But an invitation was an invitation. They were rare goods for traveling performers like her. Given the objective difficulty to invite someone you do not know where to find  in first place (and, indeed, Trixie had not well understood how that wall eyed pegasus mailmare had managed to find her, while she was pulling her wagon in the middle of nothing, a week before). She had not been invited to a Hearth's Warming celebration since she left her hometown, years before, and her showpony self hated to let down those who wanted to see her.

Besides, she had to admit that the purple mare had her reasons. Trixie had avoided the area around Ponyville since the incident with the Alicorn Amulet. That area had been like a black hole in her mental map of Equestria cause, well, she was scared of that place and the reactions it's inhabitants could have had towards her. And Trixie hated both of being afraid of something and of having precluded places. The Great and Powerful Trixie was not somepony that could be afraid of some ponyvillain, or that could not be free to direct her wagon where she wanted to. But, if the spirit of the holiday was to make peace with former enemies, it could be that she would be able to make peace with that town, so regaining her spotless record of traveling magician and heroine.

That was why she was reading and rereading the letter. To remind to her shivering self that, since she agreed, even if only mentally, to spend the Hearth's Warming holiday in Ponyville, that was a contract she had to comply with, and so she had to pull the wagon to her destination, where her public was waiting for her, and she had to ignore the urge to seek refuge in it and wait there, in company of a hot stove and a mountain of warm blankets, until the end of the storm.

However, given that had been already a while that the road was flanked by apple trees, it would not have taken much more to reach her destination. Trixie had specifically chosen the road that ran alongside Ponyville, to arrive at the Apple family orchard without entering in the town. Despite Twilight's assurances in fact, the young mare was not at all sure of the reception she would have received in Ponyville. After the Ursa Ma... ahem... Minor incident, Trixie had unwillingly had to learn how to manage the hatred against her, but the vandalizing of her wagon was something that had really hurt her the most in the past. Fortunately, it seemed that such acts had ceased for a while, and Trixie was regaining the love of her public and a satisfying career (actually Trixie suspected that both having the fame of having took control of an entire city with her powers, and that of having performed a pyrotechnical display for the Princesses, in some way, helped her previously dwindling career), but Ponyville was not like the other places, and Trixie preferred to avoid unnecessary risks. She was not expecting to be welcomed by the earth pony that ran the farm too, as Trixie remembered well of having played a couple of nasty tricks to her, but that 'Applejack' seemed to be a mare of her words. If she would have allowed her to park the wagon into the farm, this would have been safe, and Trixie could have gone to the town without worries.

Her original plan was to arrive at destination a couple of hours before sunset, so having two or three hours to take a nap in the wagon before having to get ready for the night. They would have been helpful, if she really had to keep going until morning, after having had to pull the wagon all day long. But then, that storm had suddenly begun. The road was filled with snow to the point that it would have been better if the wagon have had skis instead of that cursed wheels. Its load had seemed to become more and more heavy. Despite her efforts Trixie have had to slow down her pace, and the sun had set with her still on the road. Having the luxury of bringing her home with her, she was not really worried for herself, but the thought of missing an appointment because of a trivial thing like the weather was really upsetting her. Like every time the universe seemed to conspire to deny the perfection of her plans, or her rightful place in the spotlight.

Trixie was lost in these thoughts when, topping a shallow hill, she could see, in the glow of the falling snow, the entry of that 'Sweet Apple Acres' farm, enlightened by the warm light filtering through the windows of the barn-house immediately behind.

Refreshed by the sight, the prospect of being able to rest soon, and with the help of the road finally running downhill, Trixie quickened her pace, and was soon inside the fence and right in front of the house. Normally she would not have entered directly with the wagon, without permission, in some other property, but she judged that the conditions justified this breach of etiquette. Then she freed herself from the harness, carefully shook the snow off her cape and hat, stroked her mane and, judging to have regained a presentable aspect, put on her best polite smile and walked, head up, to the door, where she knocked firmly, but without being too rude, before taking her hat in her hoof and waiting for an answer.

Trixie had seen many cold glances in her life, most of them directed to her, but that of the orange coated mare that opened the door could certainly compete for the position of the most chilling one. "Of all the ponies that I expected could knock on my door on a night like this," she said, "certainly you were not on one of the first places."

Trixie maintained her warm smile, and quickly pulled Twilight's letter out of her cape, making it levitate in front of her, without unrolling it. "The Great and Powerful Trixie had been kindly invited by your friend, Miss Twilight Sparkle, to the Hearth’s Warming celebration in Ponyville, and she gladly accepted." Then, a bit lowering her head and showing a more humble expression. "But, for reasons you can surely comprehend, Trixie would prefer her participation to be somewhat low profile, so she would like to ask you if it's possible for her to park her wagon in your property, to be able to enter in the town without being noticed too much."

Applejack's expression did not change a bit.

Trixie took a more worried expression. "The wagon is completely self-sufficient," she explained, putting a hoof at her chest. "Trixie wants to ensure you that she will eat and sleep there, without any disturbance for you."

No changes at all.

"It's only to not leave it in the middle of the road... You see..."

Trixie was about to put her hat back on, and take her way, when: "There is something dangerous in there?" Applejack asked.

Trixie frowned, surprised for a moment by the question, first to think that Applejack was surely referring to something like the Alicorn Amulet, So she was to reassure her...

"I mean your explosives," Applejack said.

Trixie was shocked. "Explosives?"

"It happens that, for some reason," Applejack looked behind her, inviting Trixie to do the same."I find myself having to look after three pests this evening." 

Trixie peeked into the house, seeing three fillies sitting on the floor of the living room, apparently intent on doing something with scissors, string and paper. She recognized two of them as those that helped Twilight Sparkle to make a fool out of her. 

The one wearing a big bow, had raised her front hoof, looking at Applejack "We were freezing in the club-house," she said. The other two nodded in unison.

Applejack looked back at Trixie "Given the ability they have to get into trouble, I'm terrified to find out what they could do, finding in their hooves something that could explode."

"But there is nothing explosive in Trixie's wagon!" Trixie replied, not understanding why Applejack could think otherwise.

Applejack sighed. "I'm referring to the fireworks you use in your show."

Trixie wasn't able to suppress a snicker. She first showed to Applejack the empty inside of her hat, then she slipped a foreleg deep into it, pretending to look for something, and finally she jabbed her hoof to the sky. A green colored spark rocketed upward, fizzling, and exploded few meters higher, with a soft bang. Next, Trixie put her hat back on, then lifted first one, then the other edge of her cape, showing the inside to Applejack, let them go, and shook the fabric, as to shake off the snow. Many colored sparks seemed to fall from the inside of the cape, crackling around Trixie's hooves.

"No more fireworks." Trixie announced.

Applejack looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"There has never been any fireworks," Trixie explained benevolently smiling. 

"But you had just..."

Trixie sighed. To fully explain the tricks, even the simplest, was terribly unprofessional. The public must always be left in uncertainty about the powers of the performer. But, on one hand, Trixie could understand Applejack concerns, as she was worried for the safety of her family and friends and, on the other, Trixie was really bothered when somepony didn't understand the care that she put in making her performances absolutely safe for the viewers.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is very talented at pyrokinesis" She stated, raising her head. "It would be dangerous to use real fireworks so close to the crowd".

Applejack seemed remarkably unimpressed by the revelation."Well. In this case, park your wagon near to the barn and come in," she said "It's freezing out here!"

Trixie was not completely sure of Applejack's intentions, however, biting the harness instead of wearing it properly, to not waste time, she quickly pulled her wagon to what seemed to be the more sheltered side of the barn, then she reached Applejack on the doorstep again. There, Applejack entered first, ahead of a rather perplexed Trixie. 

"You can leave your cape and hat there." Applejack said casually, pointing an hanger next to the door.

Trixie had not planned being invited into the Apples' house. Applejack was being kind after all, But Trixie hoped that, for whatever reason she had invited her in her house, she could be quick too, as the time she had planned to use for her nap was rapidly running out. Years spent as a traveling performer had taught her the importance to stick with the schedule, and her showpony self was feeling a little uncomfortable with that further unexpected occurrence.

Moreover, Trixie was little comfortable with houses in general. She had a broad experience of streets, squares, stages, inns, fairs, even some  theater, but private houses were something she had very little experience of, and one of the few places she admitted to herself of having little clue about how to behave into. So, while following the blonde mare, Trixie could not help that looking around nervously, and at the same time feeling odd for being nervous about a place that seemed so warm, comfortable, and, come to think of, wonderfully fragrant.

Without realizing it, Trixie must have visibly sniffed the air, infact Applejack, looking at Trixie over her shoulder, smiled at her from the first time, "It smells good, don't it?"

Trixie nodded slowly, a little annoyed for having lost her composure in front of others.

Applejack pointed her hoof to an open door to the right. "We are in charge to provide fifty apple pies for tonight's party, you see, but the weather had forced us to look after the farm and we are a little late, so Granny Smith and I were a little busy right now".

Trixie peeked into the door, where there was a kitchen and, in it, an old mare incredibly busy with flour, apples, pots, baking pans, and other kitchen tools. A discreet pile of already cooked pies was cooling on one side of the room, spreading that wonderful smell.

Trixie recognised the old mare too, as the one that had played the part of an older Applejack during the Alicorn Amulet incident. "Welcome young mare!" Granny Smith, distracted for a moment from her work, said to Trixie, smiling and waving at her. "Do you like some? We have plenty of."

Surprised by the offering, Trixie realized that she was, in fact, very hungry, but she thought that, If what Applejack said to her was true, they had not "plenty" of those pies, and each one could be important for them to reach the order they had to deliver. Trixie knew very well the importance to comply to the contracts. She did not want to offend, but she thought she had to find a way to politely decline. "Thank you for the kind offer Miss Smith," She said at last, with what she thought was a warm smile (was a warm smile like a stage smile done slightly narrowing the eyes? Trixie had not much experience of warm smiles), "Trixie would be very glad to eat a slice with you later, when you will be less busy".

Once get through that formality and left the old mare to her work, Trixie followed Applejack in the living room. The room was half adorned with paper decorations, a still unadorned fir was standing on a side of the room, and the three fillies were apparently intended in trying, without much success, to complete the decorations, aided by a big red stallion with apparently not much clue about what he was doing. Trixie recognised the stallion too as the one that played the part of a male Applejack to trick her, months before. 

To Trixie, it seemed that her past humiliation was to be laid endlessly in front of her in that place, and once again she hoped to get out of there as soon as possible.

"These are my brother Big MacIntosh, my little sister Applebloom, Rarity's little sister Sweetie Belle, and their friend Scootaloo" Applejack said pointing to the ponies she mentioned. The three fillies waved enthusiastically at her, while the stallion nodded calmly, warmly smiling (so that was a warm smile, Trixie took a mental note on how to reproduce it better).

"Ahem... Trixie is enchanted to know you" Trixie said, looking nervously around, once again a little surprised by the warm welcome.

"Forgive us for a moment" Applejack said placing a foreleg around Trixie's neck and pulling her aside.

Applejack pulled Trixie up to the base of the stairs to the upper floor, then stood in front of her. Trixie thought it was the right time to thank her for the not-so-expected-welcome, and take leave. "You have a wonderful family, and all," she said. "But Trixie thinks is time for her to return to her..." She interrupted, cause she saw Applejack staring coldly directly in her eyes.

"Listen Trixie," She said putting both her front hooves upon Trixie's shoulders. "I know the Ursa Minor was not entirely your fault, and I can believe you were not completely yourself when you were wearing the Alicorn Amulet. I can forgive you for what you have done to me then. But now there are no stages, there are no amulets, there are just you and me. You are not here to play some dirty trick, are you?"

"Wah...?!" Trixie was outraged. "Trixie is here only cause she was formally invited!" She protested. "Trixie is not evil!" She would have liked to turn her nose up and leave, without deigning that neighsayer of another sight, but for some reason she was unable to look away from the blonde mare's gaze. Somehow It was not as she was accusing Trixie. It was as she was almost... pleading.

"Good," Applejack finally closed her eyes, then smiled and released Trixie's neck. "Then, can I ask you a favor?"

Trixie was disconcerted. She had never been a scrounger, and certainly she ought Applejack a favor for having allowed her to park her wagon, but she was not expecting to have to repay her immediately. She thought she could say goodbye to her much deserved nap.

"Trixie thinks It's fair." She finally responded unenthusiastically.

"Thank you sugarcube, it's very important to me." Applejack said smiling. Then she flanked Trixie, pointed an hoof to the door and lowered her voice. "You see, we already have had problems here with this storm, and it seems is getting worse. I'm worried for the situation in the city, and I want to go take a look, to make sure that my friends are fine, but I'm also worried about here. Granny Smith can take care of the remaining cakes, and Big Mac can take care of the farm, but Granny is too busy to take care of the fillies, and foalsitting is not Big Mac's cup of tea. I'm afraid they can trick him and do something very stupid. Especially if Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo begin to worry about how things are going at their homes. Do you understand?"

Trixie was afraid she understood.

"I'm keeping them busy making the decorations. You have only to make sure that they remain here and finish them. I'll be back soon, and we'll go to the party together. You are a showpony right? Your job is to make sure the public does not want to leave. Can you do it for me?"

Trixie snorted without being noticed. She could not have said that she wanted. All that stuff was of no interest for her, when she could have simply slept a couple of hours in her wagon without having to care for anypony instead. But she also understood that Applejack was entrusting her with an important task. In a certain sense, she could not believe how important it was. She was entrusting her of the safety of her family! Obviously Trixie was worthy of it. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie after all, but she would have never believed that, to entrust her of such an important task, would have been one of her previous vict... ahem 'collateral damages of her past misfortunes'. An heroine could not decide when she was needed after all.

"Trixie’s long-run show lasts for three hours," Trixie said snickering and looking down upon Applejack "and nopony has ever wanted to leave. This will be piece of cake for her."

"I'm counting on you then." Applejack concluded.

"Fillies!" Applejack announced "I will go for a moment to take a look at how the preparations are going in town. Trixie has agreed to be our guest until we go to the pageant, and to help us with the decorations here. I'm expecting you to show her the Apple's hospitality until I'm back. Can I count on you?"

"Yay!" The three fillies responded as one. While Applejack was already wearing boots and scarf. Then she left, nodding to Trixie one last time.

Trixie gave a closer, and critical, look to the uncertain realization of the decorations already made, and to the mess of coloured paper, strings, glue and popcorn strewn, both on the floor and on the three fillies’ manes.

"Ahem..." she began. "Fillies and gentlecolts, the Great and Powerful Trixie will now show you how to properly make Hearth's Warming decorations".

> 3. The way this town works
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With her legs sunk in the snow, holding her hat with an hoof, to not let it fly away, Applejack turned back one last time, to see the light filtering through the windows of her house, and told herself that her had been the right choice. The barn was built to be sturdy, but she and her brother have had to work hard that evening to prevent the storm to damage it. Many of Ponyville’s buildings were not so sturdy, and had not an Applejack or a Big Mac to make them safe. Moreover, many ponies would have been occupied to prepare the celebration at the city hall, and her friends would have been among them. At that moment, Applejack couldn’t help but be concerned about them even more than she was for her family, and she wasn’t even sure Rarity knew were her sister was. Granny Smith could take care of the pies, Big Mac could take care of everything that could have happened to the farm, and Trixie would have kept the fillies out of troubl… well, maybe the fillies would have kept Trixie out of… well, every plan had a weak point after all.

Applejack could not repress a smile thinking of Trixie in her house. She should have been very mad at Trixie for what she had done. She would have wanted to be very mad at her. But she realized she couldn’t be. The blue unicorn’s inability to deal with even the more ordinary acts of courtesy reminded her too much of another social awkward unicorn that showed up at the farm some years before. Certainly she preferred to hide herself behind a checklist instead behind being an obnoxious braggart, but a shield is a shield anyway.

As she had anticipated, the short trip to Ponyville wasn’t easy. The wind hit Applejack so hard to make almost impossible to walk in a straight line, and the cold made her most exposed flank almost numb. She couldn’t believe that, in those conditions, that showpony managed to pull a wagon for who know how much miles. The blue unicorn had to be stronger than she seems in that smallish frame of her. Certainly being able to use the telekinesis to at least shield the eyes from the snow would have been of help. But Applejack knew that road well enough to walk through it even with her eyes closed.

Once into the city, the wind seemed to rest a little bit, but the sight in front of Applejack’s eyes was not encouraging. The streets were empty. If it were not for some lighted windows, Ponyville would have looked like a ghost town. The remnants of the Hearth’s Warming decorations, arranged in the streets the days before, had been ripped and piled up in the corners by the storm, or were still rolling on the roads. 

Only once reached the city hall’s square Applejack could relieve, seeing that there were still some life in the city after all, and that there were things that would never have changed. There were some ponies coming in and out the front door, and, just inside, she could recognize her friend Twilight Sparkle talking with the Mayor with what seemed a concerned expression, while, behind her, Spike was holding a long scroll and a quill.

Applejack quickly crossed the square, and entered in the hall when the old mare had already left her friend alone. In the big room there were a couple dozen or so ponies busy with the preparations. All her best friends, besides Rainbow Dash, were there. But Applejack had the impression that there was a little less confusion respect to what she had expected, everypony seemed to move slowly, and the atmosphere seemed to be a little oppressive.

“Yo Twily! Spike!” She said to the two, that were the closest to the door, at least trying to seem the more energetic than she can. “Guess who’s at the farm right now?”

“Applejack!” Twilight expression brightened, first to cock her head and look puzzled for the question.

“Your second guest has arrived.”

“Trixie has come?” Twilight smiled almost incredulously.

In the meantime Rarity had noticed the arrival of Applejack, and was approaching, with Fluttershy half hidden behind her. Pinkie Pie too, from the back of the room, was coming, with her usual bouncing pace, and holding the threads of several balloons in her mouth. 

Applejack had not realized how tense she was until she saw her friends around her, and the tension disappeared. Everything was going to end up well. Things tended to end up well when they were together.

“I left her at the farm to rest a little,” Applejack replied. “It seems she have had a pretty tough day so far, and I needed a little favor.”

“Sweetie Belle is with Applebloom at the farm, isn’t her?” Rarity asked as soon as she arrived, smiling, but with a little anxiety in her voice.

“She is,” Applejack said ”I was saying Trixie is with them too.”  

The smile froze on Rarity’s face.

“I-It’s getting late,” She said, slowly heading to the door. “M-maybe it’s time I go and bring her home.”

“If it would have been possible I would have taken with me both her and Scootaloo. But the snow is already too high for them to walk. I’ll bring them later, with the pies and the other stuff, in the cart.”

“You know Trixie will not do anything bad to them,” Twilight said, stopping Rarity. “Even when she was under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet she had not been harsh with foals. She is a showpony. She has entertained foals for who knows how long!”

Rarity sighed. “This thing is important to you, isn’t it?”

“I know we can be friends,” Twilight replied. “ We have so much in common... We just got off on the wrong hoof. And Gilda too… had been a precious friend for RD for a long time. It would not have been possible if it weren’t any good in her.”

“Rainbow cannot stand bullies,” Fluttershy said, almost imperceptibly, from behind Rarity.

Applejack had almost forgotten the first of Twilight’s guests, that she knew had arrived earlier that day. Actually she had never shared the enthusiasm of Twilight for that plan, nor her optimism for success. It would have been even too good if the old grievances could have been solved with an invitation and a bit of kindness. But Twilight was her friend, and she had to help her the best that she could. “By the way, how it’s going with Gilda?” She asked.

“Queen Mean has not moved from there for at least two hours, …Oh?!” Pinkie said, inevitably releasing the balloons and following them with her eyes, while pointing an hoof to the first row of seats, were a big two-colored griffon was sitting, looking in front of her with a bored expression.

“The attempt to involve her in the preparations has not been very successful” Rarity said.

“Wow! At least Trixie was in a better mood” Applejack replied.

“I admit I thought it would have been easier,” Twilight said, smiling sheepishly “But we have still plenty of time. If only we could finish the preparations here…”

Applejack remembered the real reason why she was there. “How things are going?” She asked.

“We are way behind the schedule” The unicorn said sadly, looking at the scroll held by the dragon. “Many of those we were waiting, to help with the preparations, have not come. Those who are here, those who are not pegasi at least, are afraid of not being able to return home if the snow continues to accumulate. The Mayor is already of the idea to stop it all if the Weather Team doesn’t manage to get rid of this snowstorm quickly, and I cannot blame her, but I managed to make her accept to continue with the preparations till they are still trying.”

“There is Rainbow Dash up there,” Applejack said turning her head to the door. “If it’s up to her, she will never give up.”

“If things will continue like this, I’m afraid it will be up to me to make her give up,” Twilight said. “But I don’t want to quit. Not after all we have already done to prepare for this night, and after I invited two people I want to make peace with. I really wanted this to be a special event...”

“...But we should not be pessimistic, should we?” Twilight continued after a brief pause, with a strangely high pitched voice and a tight smile on her face. “We must have faith in our Weather Team, and do all we can to prepare everything in the best possible way here. At what point had we arrived, Spike?”

“Point 24,” Spike said with a professional tone. “Roof decorations. They had not been even started yet.”

Twilight’s smile tightened further.

Applejack rolled her eyes. The last thing they needed at that point was the responsible for the Hearth’s Warming celebration of Ponyville lost in one of the not-up-to-the-schedule loops of her. Fortunately she was still only dealing with the scroll, and had not yet thought about resorting to a manual on how to prepare celebrations faster.

“Spike,” The purple unicorn said sweating. “Maybe Social Meeting’s manual on festivity planning had a chapter we skipped on what to do when you are running out of time. Can you go to the library and keep it for me?”

“Aye-aye Sir!” Spike replied military saluting “I’ll melt my way!” Then he prepared to run outside.

Applejack casually nailed Spike’s tail to the floor with her front hoof, stopping his rush.

“See?” The blonde mare said. “RD is coming. Maybe she has good news.” But she had not much hopes really.

In fact she had seen the pegasus slowly descending directly in front of the door of the hall, as the two were speaking. Applejack was almost surprised seeing Rainbow Dash really landing before entering. The mare had to be really tired to not keep hovering as usual.

“Hi Rainbow!” Twilight said to the pegasus without changing her overexcited tone, nor her tight smile. “How are things up there?”

“Not good,” Rainbow said with a serious expression, taking off her goggles. “The Night Guards are shuttling between the towns, flying over the clouds, and they brought us the news. The storm is wide. It seems it covers the entire continent. The weather teams of all the towns west of Canterlot had already given up. The ponies have taken refuge in their houses, and are waiting for the storm to pass. Thankfully almost all the houses are full of food in this season, so there are few real emergencies, but this will not be a great Hearth’s Warming for many ponies.”

Twilight sighed, regaining her composure. “There are hopes for us to get rid of the storm?” She asked.

“I’m here cause I need every wing of Ponyville,” Rainbow said. “The rest of the team is calling the pegasi that aren’t here. Maybe all together we can sort something out.”

“But that way you let us with even less helpers than we already have!” Twilight weakly protested.

“Every wing.” Rainbow repeated. “And I don’t guarantee. I’m sorry, but there is not only the celebration at stake. Those clouds are the most dense and thick I have ever seen. So far we have managed to make them partially spare the city, but if we don’t get rid of them quickly, the entire town will be blocked.”

Twilight didn’t reply. She and the others followed the blue pegasus into the main hall, where Rainbow Dash stood, in front of the Mayor.

“Weather Team report!” Rainbow begun. “The layer of clouds over Ponyville ad not been eradicated yet. I’m here to recruit every pegasus of the city to join the Team. We will get rid of those clouds, or we will die in the attempt!”

Everypony in the hall turned at Rainbow with an alarmed expression. The Mayor giggled instead. “It will not be necessary to go that far Rainbow Dash. I know you all will do your best. Please, just be safe.”

Rainbow Dash nodded, then turned to the centre of the hall. “Did you heard? Are you waiting for an encouraging speech? Get out of here. Others can take care of the preparations. The weather is up to us!”

About ten pegasi were in the hall. They left what they were doing and went out, without enthusiasm, but without complaining too. To Applejack they seemed mostly worried, but also determined to carry on their duty. Rainbow Dash knew her fellow.

But the blue pegasus had not finished yet. While the others came out, she approached the stage, and flanked Gilda.

“We’ll try the cut-and-kick.” Rainbow said to her. “I need you too to cut.”

Gilda smiled viciously and stood. “It’s obvious you need me RD,” she said to the pegasus. “if it were for those weaklings, the town would be doomed.” 
Then she headed for the door “I’ll wait for you outside,” and then, looking to the group of mares, especially to the pink one, “it’s stuffy in here”.

Twilight approached Rainbow Dash when Gilda was out, shook her head and sighed. “Will she ever understand?”

“Maybe not,” Rainbow replied. “But she is really good at flying, and I really need her up there” Then she turned to a pile of props near to the stage. “In this regard…”

Rainbow trotted behind the stack. “I said every wing!”

The answer was too low to be understandable.

“You will be up there with any of us! I can not make exceptions for friends!”
Then there was a soft ‘Eek!’, and finally Rainbow Dash stepped out from behind the pile, a pink tail tightened in her mouth, and a yellow pegasus mare, desperately flapping her wings to flee back behind the shelter, attached to it.

“I want to fight the storm from here!” Fluttershy cried.

“Fee you lader,” Rainbow said, or at least tried to, while leaving, dragging her friend with her. “Don’d worri. We will ford oud fomeding”.

“And now?” Twilight asked hopelessly, mostly to herself,  once the pegasi had left, while looking at the alf made preparations, and at the few ponies remained.

“It will not work” Applejack said, looking at the door.

“What?” Twilight roused from her thoughts.

“Surely the other towns tried it too,” The blonde mare continued, heading to the front door of the hall, followed by the others. “maybe not the big cities, but all the towns of the size of Ponyville had certainly tried to recruit all the pegasi in their weather teams, but in the end, they all gave up, and I think I know why.”

“See?” Applejack, once reached the door, pointed to the windswept roofs the other side of the square. “is the same problem we had at the farm. It only takes more time here, since the town had been partly sheltered. The wind makes the snow accumulate on one side of the sloping roofs, and don’t allow it to fall. Rainbow Dash had not  realized it yet, but the great part of the pegasi of Ponyville lives in normal buildings, not in cloud houses, and they are not built to withstand that weight. The pegasi will soon have to decide whether to continue to fight the storm, or save their houses.”

“And the others too,” Rarity added. “In the country, farmers do it themselves, but in the town usually are the pegasi that shovel the snow off roofs, since they are not at risk.”

The four stood in silence for a moment, looking at the wild night on the other side of the door. Applejack still felt the calming effect of having her friends with her. But that time perhaps, not everything was going to end up so well. Of course, nothing irreparable was going to happen. Only another town buried in snow. Maybe she still had  time to reach the farm, and spend the Hearth’s Warming with her family, the other fillies, and that mad showpony. Maybe she could invite the others too. It could have been even funny. And certainly there would not have been shortage of pies. But she felt sorry for Twilight’s efforts.

Applejack noticed that, behind them, the Mayor-mare was approaching too. She thought it was better that way after all. It would have been up to the Mayor to tell Twilight that, with so few helpers and so little possibilities that someone would come to assist, it was better to give up with the celebrations.

“That’s not right.” Twilight finally said.

Applejack looked at her, thinking that her disappointment was easily understandable.

“The pegasi are doing all the work!” Twilight continued, surprising the blonde mare. “They are up there, fighting the storm, and maybe they will have to shovel the roofs later while, apart for the few that are here, all the others are hidden in their houses. This is not what I learned here! This is not the way this town works!”

“But what could they do?” Rarity asked soothingly. “Only the pegasi can take care of the weather, and those that are not, would be hardly able to shovel the snow off a roof in normal conditions, let alone with the storm out there. It may seem unfair, but somepony falling from a roof would be worse.”

Twilight Sparkle turned to Applejack, looking at her with pleading eyes. Obviously she was expecting her to say something, to support her position. 

Applejack looked down, and started to scrape the floor back and forth with an hoof. She could not have said that she liked the situation. Thinking of doing nothing while others were working for her was something more than annoying. Something almost inconceivable for her. The more so, as she was used to do that job by herself at the farm. But it was not something that the ponies of the town could learn in few minutes and put into practice under the storm.

However, not everypony were incapable of doing it. Some of the farmers were in that same all, helping with the preparations. There were the construction workers, and some some other pony she knew that she could trust for that kind of work. On the other hand, if they had failed, she would have probably lost even the chance to reach her family.

“Maybe we can put together a team to shovel the roofs. That way the pegasi could work without other concerns” She finally said. Then, smiling to Twilight, “Maybe I know the right ponies for the job, but no offense, there will be no unicorns there. The telekinesis of many of them isn’t strong enough to really handle a shovel, and they are not used enough to use their hooves to do it standing on a roof.”

“Good!” Twilight said smiling, her eyes shining, then, turning to the mayor “In any case we need another team too, to shovel the streets, otherwise the roofs will be clean, but the town will be blocked. This job would be safe for everyone.”

“And we need a team to continue the preparations here!” interjected Pinkie Pie with her usual, overexcited tone.

Applejack would not have wanted to spoil Pinkie’s party, but she thought she had to. “I’m sorry Pinkie,” she said, ”but there is much more than the party at stake, and probably we don’t have enough ponies to…”

“But we have to find them silly-filly,” Pinkie interrupted her, smiling and staring directly into her eyes. Then, bouncing around ”That,s why we are doing this. There is no need to shovel the streets without the party, right? We want to clean up them to allow everypony to come. As everypony wants to come to the Hearth’s Warming party tonight!”

The four other mares looked at each other. Applejack had the odd impression of having forgotten something important, until Pinkie had reminded her. The real reason everypony would have helped them, the desire to spend that night together anyway.

Rarity snorted, turning to Applejack. “She is right, isn’t she?” 

Then, the three young mares turned to the Mayor questioning her with the eyes.

“So be it!” She finally said. “Ponyville will remain open for business tonight!”

“But the teams will need coordination.” She added, addressing to Twilight.

“That’s for sure,” Applejack said.”We must pull the ponies out of their houses. It needs a work plan for the roof team, and to coordinate it with the street cleaners, and…” Just listing everything they had to do was enough to confuse her.

“We’ll make it,” Twilight interrupted her with a self confident tone. “First of all… Spike, do you have other scrolls?”

Spike Was already holding a new scroll.

“Brilliant, first assistant. We need to cut to the bone the points for the preparation of the pageant, only the minimum to have an acceptable show. Pinkie?”

“I’m here Sir!” Pinkie saluted, standing on her hindhooves with a serious expression.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, but I think you have to prepare the party alone for now. I don’t know how many ponies I will have for the preparations of the pageant here, and the preparations for the party can be still finished during the show.”

“There will be no problems, Sir! Everything will be ready in time.” then, resuming her usual expression. “I’d better start now!” And she left, bouncing toward the backstage.

“You have to find the ponies you were talking of.” Twilight said to Applejack. “For when you will come back I will have a work plan ready for your team. Then the rest of us will have to convince the others to start shovel the streets”

Applejack looked at the door. “Hoping that, up there, they will be able to give us a clearing. Otherwise, all this may be useless”.

> 4. What's good
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trixie suppressed a yawn and put another popcorn in the string.

Trixie had chosen the easiest job for herself, and was doing it at one tenth of the speed she could have kept. After all, it was not to really make Hearth’s Warming decorations that Applejack hired her, and to asten the work could have been a bad idea, as the fillies would have run out of things to do.

On the other hand, the work was coming out really well. It took only a few of her tips for the fillies to learn how to make very nice paper decorations, bows, little boxes and rosettes, even the stallion was showing a truly surprising ability with those peasant’s hooves of him. A decent pile of already prepared decorations for the still unadorned tree was lying at their hooves, along with scattered material, popcorn and cotton wool. Fortunately, for how much skilled they had become, the fillies arranged to slow down the work by themselves. Stopping each time they completed a decoration to check if something had popped up on their flanks, and commenting afterwards the fact that nothing in fact happened.

Also the noises coming from the kitchen had become less frantic, and several times the old mare had peeped out of the door to check what was happening in the living room and to rest a little. A signal, for Trixie, that the granny was not having much problems in completing the order for the party.

Certainly Trixie could not have said she was having fun. On the contrary, she was bored, and she would have still preferred her nap instead, but she had to admit there was something pleasantly relaxing in the time she was spending with that ‘extended family’ so far.

Trixie returned her gaze, from looking at the door of the kitchen, to the three fillies, only to see that the white unicorn one, that ‘Sweetie Belle’, was staring at her, smiling. 

Trixie raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“You are good!” Sweetie Belle said.

Obviously Trixie was much more than simply ‘good’, but she was however curious about how the filly had come to that sudden realization. But a quick glance to the other two didn’t gave her any answer, as they seemed surprised, as Trixie was, by Sweetie Belle’s statement.

“She is putting the popcorn in the string behind her head,” continued Sweetie Belle turning to her friends. “It’s difficult. Even my sister doesn’t use the needles where she can’t see.”

Trixie smirked. The telekinetic sense of touch, the ability to know form, dimension, weight, texture and position in space of what a unicorn was moving with his telekinesis, was part of the telekinesis itself. Without it, it would have been impossible to levitate delicate objects without breaking them. But many unicorns tended to forget it, ending up levitating objects only in front of them, cause it was easier that way. Many of Trixie’s tricks, on the other hand, depended on her ability to manipulate objects out of her and the public’s sight. For that reason, to keep her abilities in practice, she had trained from fillyhood to do everything she could without looking at it, until it had become a habit for her.

To be impressed by so little, however, it meant that those three were hungry for real talent.

Trixie wondered for a moment whether she should or not do something to satisfy them, but there was not a real struggle on the matter.

She was a showpony, after all.

“Actually, it was not that good,” Trixie said complacently, while suppressing the glow of her horn below perception level. A much more difficult trick for which nopony would have ever complimented her, but it didn’t matter, since it was for the success of the show. Then, still looking at the three fillies, she stood up on her hind legs. 

Trixie had to stand on her hind legs for much of her show, so she had practiced her standing position for years, to maintain it without effort while being elegant, until it has become the most perfect she had ever seen. Another thing for which nopony would have ever complimented her. But it didn’t matter, since it was for the success of the show.

Behind her, the string of popcorn began to move right and left, high in the air, swaying like a snake, first slowly, then with more and more ample movements. Trixie observed with satisfaction the gaze of the three fillies and of the stallion, almost hypnotized, shaking their heads, to follow the movements of the head of the popcorn snake.

Behind them, called by Trixie’s telekinesis, her cape and hat were coming, her cape floating like a manta ray, her hat tumbling. Perfect movements that only Trixie could see, until they passed over the heads of her viewers, startling them and making them look up in unison. Then, with a last graceful movement, her cape tied around Trixie’s shoulders and, with a last tumble, her hat ended up perfectly on her head.

The string of popcorn was still moving left and right behind her. Everything was ready. All the eyes were on her. There was no reason to be loud in that room, so her words came out soft, slow. “Watch in awe,” she said.

Trixie pointed her left front hoof to the bowl of popcorn, a few step farther. Her hat was not on her head by accident. It was part of her show. It had the function to cover her horn and it’s glowing without Trixie having to bother to suppress it. A unicorn that moved things with her telekinesis was trivial. A pony that moved things pointing them with an hoof, was a show.

One after the other, precisely paced, at the same rhythm of the popcorn snake behind Trixie, a movement forward and a stop, moving jerkily in unison, a row of popcorn came out floating from the bowl, marching like soldiers, followed by the wondering gaze of the three fillies and the stallion. Trixie was careful to make that their path was not straight, but had curves while the row lengthened, directed by her hoof, passing to her left. getting closer and closer to the swaying snake, until the first popcorn of the row ended up catched in the string. Then, at every step, another popcorn ended up in it. 

“A good effect needs little effort.” Trixie reminded to herself. The pace was the secret to move large numbers of objects. If every piece was moving at the same pace, then Trixie could put all of them in a corner of her mind, paying them little attention as they kept moving almost automatically, and turning her mind to the more difficult tricks.

Trixie pointed her front right hoof to the pile of decorations ready to be put on the fir.

For a well studied moment nothing happened, while the gaze of her public shifted from the hypnotic movement of the popcorn snake to the new target, then the decorations started to move. First they began to just slowly shaking, as if they were only caressed by the wind. Then those at the top began to move in a circle. Soon all the others followed them, as if they had been caught in a whirlwind. Finally, directed by Trixie’s hoof, the whirlwind of decorations rose from the floor, high, above the viewers’ heads.

At that point Trixie was standing with both her forelegs pointed to the sky, her cape agitated by a non existing wind, a hieratic expression on her face, her gaze, as anypony’s other, pointed to the decorations’ whirlwind above their heads. She knew the popcorn string, that was still swaying behind her, was then almost completed, so, without anyone noticing,  she stopped the exit of other grains from the bowl “The Show has to flow, one marvel after the other, The transitions must be highlighted, or not shown at all.” Then she divided the whirlwind into three different rotating circles, one above the other, the central one slightly larger than the other two.

Slowly turning, while keeping her forelegs pointed to the spinning circles, trixie moved them across the room, towards the fir, until they were above the popcorn string, then she turned the swaying motion of the snake in the upward spiral of  dragon ascending to the sky, counter rotating in respect to the decorations’ circles, and enclosed it into the three rings.

“Watch me now.” Trixie was not looking at the audience, but she knew them being agape and thrilled for what had to come. She knew it, cause it was for those moments that she had become a performer. A moment of joy only for herself, as outside she had to maintain the most dignified expression. The moment when every eye was admiring her and what she was doing. The moment when their attention was in her power. She was born to be in the spotlight. 

She continued to slowly move the flying carousel in her magic field, until it was directly above the three, then she slowly lowered her front hooves, making it descend, until all the objects were circling around the fir.

It was not enough. Trixie knew perfectly the tempo of the show. She knew that the tension was at it’s peak. Somepony just good would have performed the finale at that point. Somepony great would have stretched it to the limit. Trixie then put all the spinning carousel in a corner of her mind. The show was not finished yet. 

Trixie slowly raised her forelegs again, making all the cotton wool they had prepared, rise from the floor and levitate in the air above their heads, then, as she was standing, her front hooves raised, staring at the tree, she made the wads of cotton gather over the fir, in a single layer, turning, more slowly at the periphery, faster at the centre, like the layer of clouds over a tornado.

Trixie noticed the sweat was wetting her forehead, and her teeth were clenched. She was then moving too many different objects to manage to maintain a relaxed expression any more. “If you cannot make them believe something, make them believe something else.” Trixie frowned her eyebrows and bared her teeth, showing a far exaggerated effort in respect to that she was actually doing. To make things more credible she managed to suddenly widen the orbit of some object, and resume it right after, as if she was no longer able to hold them. Then she looked for a moment at the fillies with a worried expression, and was satisfied seeing them look back at her frightened, in their eyes the fear that all the carousel was about to explode in the room. But actually, Trixie had already found the right place for each one of the decorations she was juggling with, and had tied them with her magic.

That was the moment. With a last, sudden, movement she lowered and crossed her foreleg, while closing her eyes and lowering her head as well. What she had to do was not something she could have done while disturbed by the sense of sight. Every decoration left its orbit and fell on the tree, as pieces of iron attracted by a magnet. Trixie laced every one of them in its position at the same time, while wrapping the popcorn string around the fir, and leaving the cotton wool fell apparently casually, like snow, over the tree, while actually directing it where its position would have seemed more ‘natural’.

In reality, four pieces of decorations missed their planned spots, Trixie managed to recover two of them and fixed them in different positions, while for the last two she could only let them fall behind the tree, out of the sight of the viewers. Part of the cotton wool fell wide of the fir too, but that seemed to only make the snowfall look even more ‘realistic’. She was sure that nopony noticed the errors, and besides, she had not expected not to do any. All in all, it had been a pretty good juggling performance, counted the fact that she had not practiced it before.

Trixie slowly turned to face the audience. With her eyes still closed, she  made a deep, long studied, bow, and finally get back on her four legs. Then, opening her eyes, she enjoyed the view of three fillies and a stallion agape, speechless and motionless. “Now, that was good,” she complacently said.

Apple Bloom was the first to move, slowly starting to alternately stomp her front hooves to the floor, at first without even changing her expression. The others soon followed her, stomping faster and faster,turning their agape expressions into a joyful smiles and screams, until the applause turned into a rumble so loud that even the old mare emerged from the kitchen to see what was going on.

“Thank you, thank you,” Trixie said, bowing again, and mocking the end of her real shows with a far too serious tone. “You are too kind. It was a pleasure.” 

Trixie was a little surprised to hear her own words. To make fun of her job was not like her. Usually she would have boasted her greatness even for a so small-scale success. It was deserved after all, ever since her performances had begun to have success. It was part of her reward for all the time and efforts spent in learning stage magic. All the people that had mocked her in the past, when she was too inexperienced to perform very well, she could marvel them by then, as she had demonstrated to be better than they would ever be. But, for some reason, she was taking more pleasure in having fun with that small crowd without much professional involvement that time. Maybe it was that domestic atmosphere, that she was not used to…

Slowly the rumble ended, and the three fillies started to chat each other, commenting some part of the performance, like every crowd used to do at the end of the show. But, only shortly after, the three stood silent, and Trixie noticed that Sweetie Belle was again staring at her, looking like somepony who had something to ask.

“Yes?” Trixie encouraged her.

“Can we ask how had you earned your cutie mark?” Sweetie Belle asked smiling, backed by the other two.

“Err… Well…”