Night Crystal’s POV:
I wake up to see that my house is somehow decorated for Hearth’s Warming. I wander downstairs to see Twilight in my kitchen cooking up breakfast for the two of us. “Where’s Spike?”
“Ahhh!” yells Twilight, flipping a pancake and having it land on my head. “Sorry, Skylight, you scared me is all. You are so silent walking around, I never even knew you came downstairs. Spike is doing the same thing for Starlight right now. I decided since you don’t have anypony near you I thought you might like breakfast homemade.”
“You can cook? Well Twilight, you never cease to amaze me. I am a terrible cook so yeah, I don’t eat a lot of homemade meals ever. What does Starlight think about Hearth’s Warming?”
“Honestly, no idea. However, the real question is, what do you think about Hearth’s Warming?”
“I understand the legend behind it and why ponies celebrate it, but as Changelings, we don’t celebrate it. So I guess I really only know what I have been told. I don’t particularly see why we need to celebrate it. But, I am open to the idea of celebrating it regardless, to stay in spirit.”
“What do Changelings do for holidays?”
“Nothing, we were so used to not celebrating anything. We participated one year in the Crystal Fair with the Crystal ponies but we didn’t enjoy it. So we ejected never to go again. Now we don’t do anything, but we still live happy lives with our families regardless of the fact that we don’t do anything. I don’t really have a family other than you guys now so I will celebrate Hearth’s Warming with you guys.”
“That means so much to me Skylight. I so hope you enjoy the holiday, and by the way, I will be reading one of my favorite stories for the 10 of us tonight. Let’s eat and then you can join us later tonight, since I am assuming you still have to wrap gifts.”
“You are correct in that assumption. By the way, breakfast looks delicious!”
As we eat, Twilight tells me that it is a tradition for them to gather in her castle to exchange gifts before actual Hearth’s Warming. Also they will usually go see a play about how Hearth’s Warming Eve came to be, but this year Twilight has chosen to read the book: A Hearth’s Warming Tail. Twilight says I don’t get to know what the book is about right now, and I just have to wait and listen to her read it tonight. We say our goodbyes and I rush to my side room to begin wrapping all of the presents. I am glad Twilight's was near the bottom so she couldn’t have seen it. I wrap all of the presents then send Celestia’s, Luna’s, and Cadence/Shining Armor’s presents to them. About 5 minutes later I receive three presents back from them. Celestia gave me an expert Alicorn guide to magic. Luna gave me a sword with the word Changeling written down the shaft of the blade. Cadence/Shining Armor gave me a Crystal Empire cookbook. I set my gifts aside, grab the others, and head off towards Twilight’s castle.
I arrive at Twilight’s castle to see that they did there little Mane 6 get together and gift exchange early, so only Spike, Discord, Starlight, and I have presents let to give/exchange. Fluttershy saved our gift to Rainbow Dash for me to give to her so we give it to Rainbow and she does a triple loop de loop in Twilight’s castle. Next Starlight and I exchange, she loves it. She gave me a herbal recipe book that Twilight had a copy of laying around. I give the rest of the Mane 6 their presents and they all enjoy them very much. Spike and I exchange next, he gives me another different book about herbal remedies that he found in the library as well. I give him his gemstones and he hugs me because no one else gave him gemstones. I hug him back, seemingly uncomfortable because I have never had anypony or dragon hug me before. Not even my own foster parents ever did that. Sombra never did, he only ever kissed me on top of my head before he left after meeting with my foster parents.
We finish up the gift exchange and then went into the room to have a huge feast, and I sit between Applejack and Rarity. During the meal we all have a little bit of conversation, mostly focusing on eating the huge meal in front of us. Some of the time I would have Applejack ask me for a roll, or a something way across the table that she wanted; and since she was an earth pony it is kind of hard to get. No big announcements were made, just plenty conversation.
We gather in the library after the meal and Twilight begins to read A Hearth's Warming Tail to us. Eventually we come across the part where the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Yet to Come has a little song that she sings. Twilight asks me to sing that song, I don’t want to because I don’t think I can sing that well. Everypony cheers me on to do it. Since I supposedly have a nice voice, and apparently it would just be perfect to sing the song; at least according to Rarity and Fluttershy. I begrudgingly agree to do it, but everypony has to be quiet.
I see a cold wind blowing through
I see days neither fun nor free
I see a future caused by you
I see a path not meant to be
The future should be filled with magic
Dreams and wishes brought to life
But the days ahead are dark and tragic
No time for hope when all is strife
Whatever might have been
All the dreams that ponies share
Because of you, Snowfall Frost
Now the future is a cold nightmare
I finish and the whole room is sitting in stunned silence. Everypony claps and then once everypony calms down, Twilight continues. She tells about how Snowfall didn’t believe in Wendigos. However, in the end, Snowfall learned that Hearth’s Warming is a vital part of Equestria, eventually letting the spirit of the holiday into her heart.
“That was a wonderful story Twilight,” I say, smiling at Twilight.
“Agreed. It shows that even those that have doubts can eventually see the importance of the holiday and its traditions,” adds Starlight.
Everypony finishes their hot chocolate and then say their goodbyes. I am last to leave, and I say goodbye to Spike and Twilight. Starlight is at the door waiting for me. I approach her to see her crying. “Why are you crying Starlight?”
“What!? I’m not crying.”
“Yes you are Starlight, don’t deny it. Why? What has made you so upset on this holiday?”
“It’s just that I brought up my past to Twilight and she didn’t say anything back to me. She just looked sad, nodded at me, and walked away. I don’t know what to think about that.”
“It’s okay Starlight, what you did was not your fault. You were scared about what your future might hold so you made yourself friends. Even if it wasn’t in the best way possible, but you got past that, look where you are today. The pupil and friend of Twilight Sparkle. On top of that, you even have a lot more friends here for you, including me.”
“You just say that, but you have nothing that you aren’t proud of.”
“I have a lot of things I am not proud of Starlight. Pretty much as bad as yours. But my past doesn’t define who I am. We are who we make ourselves to be, for better, for worse. We all have our flaws, so stop acting like everybody around you is perfect, they’re not. Nopony is, nopony ever will be, not even Celestia and Luna. So you truly believe that every villain doesn’t deserve a chance at redemption?”
“No, everypony deserves a second or even third chance. Discord, Sombra, Tirek, me, and even our friends make mistakes. We forgive them every time, but unlike villains, they get hundreds of chances. Villains only seem to get a total of 2.”
“If Sombra came back, would you give him a chance to prove himself? To prove he was changed and was worthy of another chance?”
“I would, because he only got one. Especially because it was started by two noble ponies, not even the leaders were the issue. He just took the fall for the actions of his noble.”
“Well, thank you Starlight. Remember you are so much more important and worthy of forgiveness than you think. Good night.”
“Good night, Night Crystal.”
I walk home and curl up in my bed. I go to sleep that night thinking of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. About how Fluttershy helped Rainbow find her own special pet. Maybe I should get a pet somewhere down the road soon. It would be nice to have a companion to talk to, even if they can’t talk back to me. A pet that knows the real me, and will stick by me through the end.