The next few weeks came and went, as the excitement for Hearths Warming drew nearer. It was nighttime in the Crystal Empire, as the royal family was preparing for their long trip to Canterlot first thing in the morning. Mavis was taking her time with packing her things. She had already gotten her clothes packed, save for her dress, which she wanted to wear for the Ball. She had a bag in place for her toys and her Pokémon, as she still wanted to sleep with her stuffed animals, "I should ask Maman about what to do about mon dress," Mavis said to herself, as she looked at the dress that was hanging in her closet. Just then, knocking could be heard from her door. Swablu went to open the door. Opening it revealed Cadence and Nathan.
"Mavis, are you done with your packing?" Cadence asked.
"Almost. I want to pack mon dress, but I was hoping you could help me with it?" Mavis asked.
"Of course. I think this bag should work," Cadence said, as she wrapped Mavis' dress in a bag, and, while keeping it on it's hanger, levitated it out of the closet, and with the rest of Mavis' luggage.
"So tiger, ya ready to go ta Canterlot?" Nathan asked. Truth be told, Mavis was still on edge about celebrating a holiday similar to Christmas, as she feared being greedy and selfish.
"Well, I.... uh," Mavis tried to reply, but to no avail.
"Now Mavis, you needn't worry. We know you don't like getting a lot of presents, so we'll try to keep it to a minimum," Cadence suggested. Mavis breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ya just gotta take your time with celebratin'. Ain't no one gonna force ya," Nathan said, as he left the room, leaving Cadence to tuck Mavis into bed.
"Good night Mavis. Sweet dreams," Cadence said, planting a kiss on Mavis, who nestled up in her bed, and prepared to fall asleep.
A few hours later,
It wasn't long before Mavis began having a dream. But this dream seemed very real, and not in the good way. All around her, she saw what appeared to be a castle, beginning to crumble, as a bunch of ships, which she recognized all too well, were firing at the castle. Looking around, she saw all her new friends, humans, ponies, Nymphs, and Pokémon, all buried under rubble, badly injured.
"Non.... non! This cannot be!" Mavis quivered, as she heard several people running towards her. Turning around, her face paled at the sight of the pirates that had been hunting her in her home town, along with King Sombra, who looked maliciously around.
"Thar she is, ye scallywags! Grab her, and get back to the boat!" one of the pirates ordered, as they all charged for Mavis, who ran away.
"Have to get away! I can't let them catch me!" Mavis said to herself, as she continued running. She eventually ran into a separate room, and hid. When she heard the pirates run past the room, she breathed a sigh of relief. But her relief was cut short when she found herself standing in front of a mirror. The problem with said mirror? Looking at her reflection, she saw a horribly evil version of her, smiling with razor sharp teeth.
"Well, well, well, what have we here? A scared little baby, who selfishly abandoned her friend and family just to save her own flesh. My, my, how disappointed they should feel that you would ditch them without a second thought," the evil Mavis said in a taunting tone, as the room around Mavis turned darker, and she soon found herself surrounded by all of her friends, who looked angry or disgusted or both at Mavis.
"Well Mavis, I hope you're satisfied with yourself. Not only have you abandoned us, but now ALL of Equestria is now under the control of King Sombra, and is infested with pirates," Celestia said, sounding incredibly displeased with Mavis.
"B-but I....." Mavis was silenced by the sight of the human children all pulling out knives, swords, or other forms weapons.
"Do not even THINK of lying to us now! This was your plan all along! You just wanted to ruin all of OUR fun by bringing those pirates with you from your world!" Brian yelled at Mavis.
"Well, in any case, we'll deal with the pirates, after we deal with you of course," Wanda said, as everyone closed in on Mavis, who cowered at being harmed by the people she thought were her friends. She waited..... and waited..... and waited for them to do what ever kind of harm they were planning, but it never came. Peering fearfully through her hands, she saw that all of them were gone. She slowly looked up, and found she was in a peaceful meadow.
"What... happened?" Mavis wondered.
"Are you alright, Mavis?" the little girl turned to see not only Cosmo, but Luna standing in her presence.
"Cosmo, Princess Luna. Oui, I am, Merci Beaucoup," Mavis replied respectfully.
"You're very welcome, sweetheart. But I'm afraid I must ask, but who were all of those humans that were allied with Sombra?" Luna asked.
"They were the pirates that did this to me," Mavis sorrowfully replied, looking at her artificial arm.
"I see. Well, you needn't worry. We're more than ready to deal with Sombra, should that cur even try to attack again," Luna said, trying to comfort Mavis.
"And you needn't worry about those awful pirates. They have no means of getting to Equestria," Cosmo added. Mavis felt a little better about being safe, but she still had uncertainties about the whole nightmare she just had.
"Now then Mavis, you just worry about getting rest, and we'll worry about those awful pirates and that vile King," Luna said, as she and Cosmo set up a dream that Mavis would easily enjoy. Mavis saw that she was in a Parisian city square, with a bunch of Rubber Ducks falling from the sky. Mavis almost instantly forgot her nightmare. While both Luna and Cosmo smiled at the young girl's antics, Cosmo couldn't help but wonder about the image of the evil Mavis that she saw in the mirror.
'Something about that seemed, frightfully familiar,' the Nymph wondered, as she and Luna exited Mavis' dream.
The Next Morning,
The Crystal Family had woken up early so that they could catch the train, and they were all gathering in the main foyer, "Ok everyone, do you have everything you need and want to take with you?" Cadence asked. Shining Armor, Nathan, and Mavis, who still looked sleepy, all nodded. Shining Armor was also pushing a stroller that held Skyla and Guard, who were still half asleep, "Ok then, the train will be here momentarily, so we need to head towards the station now," Cadence said, as the family started heading towards the station. Along the way, Mavis took in the sights and smells that reminded her of Christmas back in Paris. Her thoughts were interrupted when they all arrived at the station, which was decked out for the holiday.
"Six tickets to Canterlot, if you please," Shining Armor asked, paying the ticket attendant, who gave the alabaster unicorn the tickets. And just in time too, as the Crystal Express had just pulled into the station.
"All aboard! Please have your tickets prepared!" the conductor announced, as everyone on the platform began boarding the train, presenting their tickets to him. Shining Armor did that as well, as the Crystal Family boarded a special royalty passenger car that was attached the back of the train, "We hope you will enjoy your trip, Princess. It's a non-stop trip all the way to Canterlot," the conductor said to Cadence.
"We're hoping for a smooth trip as well," Cadence said, as they all settled in. It was about five minutes when everyone boarded the train, before it took off. Upon feeling the train beginning to move, along with her already sleepiness, Mavis fell back to sleep. But she, nor anyone else, could predict the chaos that would ensue at Canterlot.