The girls all met in the Sweet Shoppe, where they all quietly sipped some hot drinks while they were thinking of ideas. The middle of the round table that they sat in had a few scattered pieces of notebook paper, with some scribbled words and even a couple rough sketches. Clearly, this idea wasn’t going to be an easy as they thought.
“I think we should be considering,” Applejack finally spoke, “exactly what makes Christmas special. Like family, and giving, and…”
“All the fashionable winter clothing,” Rarity added in.
“Maybe, but…”
"Not to mention candy, cheer, and presents!” Pinkie said.
“That’s not really what I was thinking…” Applejack tried to reply.
“The pure peace and goodwill toward everyone?” Fluttershy blissfully added on.
“Don’t forget all the snow sports!” Rainbow Dash added on, her sneakered feet laying on the table.
“Girls!” Applejack finally shouted, which caught some brief attention from the other patrons, much to her embarrassment. Finally, she took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m glad there’s so much to be happy for with the holidays, but what about it do you think will win over Sunset Shimmer?”
Rainbow Dash was quick to defend herself, returning to a more normal posture. “Well, it’s not like we really know how Sunset used to celebrate.”
"Come to think of it…” Fluttershy pondered, “we don’t really know anything about what Equestria does for its Winter holidays.”
“That’s right… this is not familiar customs we’re talking about here,” Applejack said, putting a finger to her chin in deep thought. “I wonder…”
Out of nowhere came Pinkie Pie's idea. “Maybe we could message the pony princess Twilight Sparkle with that little magical, texty journal of hers and ask her to tell us about her winter holidays and even give us an idea on what we could do to help Sunset, thus getting her into the holiday spirit through her old memories?”
After a brief, still pause from the entire party, a surprised Twilight expressed the entire group’s thoughts. “That makes more logical sense than any other idea I have in mind. I know I always get fond over occasional nostalgia."
"I concur," Rarity said, turning her neck between girls. "We're going with your plan, Pinkie."
"Yay, I'm two for two on ideas today!" Pinkie said happily.
“But we’d have to reach Princess Twilight with Sunset’s journal,” Applejack said. “How in tarnation would we get a hold of that?”
“Here ya go!” Pinkie inexplicably pulled the magical journal out of her backside, handing it over to Applejack.
“…But how did…”
“She always leaves it by her loose window, and I somehow knew we’d need it around now.”
Applejack was a little bothered by that, and still had a few questions in mind, but shrugged it all off because it sure did indeed come in handy.
She briskly turned the pages until she found the first blank one available. Using her free hand to carry the pen from the table, she looked around in case anyone had any hesitation with her writing inside. But if anything, they were giving hand gestures that encouraged her to go on, so with confidence, she began. “Dear Princess Twilight…”
***
Five girls were still sitting at the same table as before, having finished their drinks and looking tiredly at each other, sometimes a little gesture such as Rainbow twiddling her thumbs and Pinkie endlessly tapping on her phone.
Finally, however, the door opened, bringing not only the rather annoying gust of wind into the café, but also Rarity alongside Princess Twilight, wearing a light blue fur coat, plain black mittens, and matching suede boots.
“Sorry I’m late, girls,” Rarity said. “But I absolutely had to make sure our friend was properly dressed for the weather.”
The girls, however, only really paid attention to Princess Twilight, who cheerfully waved. “Hello, girls! Long time no see!”
“Yee, Princess Twilight, it’s so great to see you again!” Pinkie hugged. “We haven’t seen you since the Battle of the Bands! Oh, we have so much to catch up on!”
“I… could… say the same…” Twilight said, struggling to get a word out from her pink human friend’s tight grip.
“Ooh, sorry,” Pinkie said, quickly releasing her embrace.
Applejack tipped her hat as she stood up. “Anyway, Princess Twilight, we definitely could use your help.”
“So you told me,” Twilight said, taking a seat of her own. “I must say, it's great that you want me to help you girls bring a little Hearth's Warming cheer to Sunset Shimmer. So, I brought this book with me that shows the story behind our own festivities.”
She took out of her saddlebag-turned-backpack the vibrantly-illustrated cover of a book simply entitled, "The Founding of Equestria". It depicted three ponies; an earth pony in a farm area, a pegasus on a cloud, and a unicorn on more mountainous terrain; all of them wore furious scowls at one another, as a storm could be seen brewing in the background.
"Ooh, we would love to hear,” Fluttershy said sweetly.
“Yeah, plus it actually looks pretty awesomely intense,” Rainbow added on, giving her full attention toward the foreign princess.
“Alright, then,” Twilight said, opening the book to begin.
She told them the origin of the Equestrian winter holiday as the storybook described and visualized, from the conflict between the various pony nations, to how they constantly got in the way of each other's plans, and finally how they all came together under a cold, snowy, windigo-invested cave by vowing to always look out for one another and show unconditional love. It was obviously simplified since the book was intended for fillies, but as an entirely different species who knew next to nothing about such an otherworldly nation, the girls were in complete awe throughout. Some like Fluttershy and Pinkie outright weeped as Twilight told of the more dramatic parts.
“…So, the tribes founded the land of Equestria together, and all the ponies have celebrated this moment’s anniversary every year since,” she finished, shutting the book with a proud look.
“That was such a lovely story,” said Fluttershy.
"No kiddin'," Applejack replied, especially impressed.
“I’m not sure I would go that far, but I’ll admit, it was pretty satisfying to see how far putting aside their differences went.” Sci-Twi added on.
“I especially loved how happiness was what saved the day in the end!” Pinkie Pie grinned.
"Was it really that suspenseful?" Applejack then asked.
Princess Twilight slightly blushed. "Eh, probably not, but it's still really neat and it does greatly show the importance of unity and friendship."
“I guess… that’s what Christmas is really about.” Rarity thought out loud. The others lightly nodded in agreement.
“When I was a filly,” Princess Twilight continued, eyes closed as memories flooded her mind, “Shiny and I always loved to dig into our presents. But we were always so happy to see our gifts to our parents bring happiness into their lives as well. These days, Spike and I like to each open one gift early just because it makes the happiness last a little longer.”
“So, what we need is something that would leave a memorable and meaningful impact on Sunset Shimmer?” Sci-Twi asked.
“Exactly,” The other Twilight said, winking at her born-human counterpart. “I knew we’d both be on the same page.”
"Perhaps," Applejack said, occasionally pausing to think over her words, "we could try to set up this big, extravagant event to bring all these… Hearth’s Warming traditions right to her. Make her feel right at home, just like I always do with mah own family…”
"Ooh, I can design some quick outfits that match the tribes!" Rarity cooed in excitement.
"And I can have some of my adorable little animals dress up like the windigoes," Fluttershy said.
Applejack chuckled. "Sounds great to me." She then cast a side glance to a certain girl setting next to her. “Now if only we had some kinda party planner…”
Pinkie Pie excitedly pulled a big clipboard and pen out of her hair. “Just let me know what you’ll need and I’ll be at it on the double!” she said eagerly.
“Hang on,” Rainbow said, pointing one finger upright. “Where exactly will we pull this off?”
“…Her apartment, I guess,” said Applejack, “but we will need some way to get her out long enough to set all this up…”
Sci-Twi stood from her seat. “Well, I suppose I could ask to have a nice, intimate walk with her around the city. She’s… admittedly known me for less time than the others, so I think she will be a little more open with me.”
“Good,” the princess went. “Now, for the rest of us, here’s the plan…”