//------------------------------// // Episode 8: A Hearth's Warming Tail // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6] // by Mister E-Nonymous //------------------------------// My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Extra Character Edition) [Season 6] Episode 8: A Hearth's Warming Tail Ponyville was getting ready for that time of the year again. Hearth's Warming: In one room, there was a projector being set up at the top of the room, being set up by Alex Lynol, hanging by a grappling arrow attached to his belt. "Okay," said Alex. "That should do it." He then pushed a button on his belt, and he started coming down. "You sure this'll work?" Mutt asked as he and M.C. walked up to him. "Positive," said Alex. "Remember, I see all possible futures, remember? By the way, Mutt. I see your Mom coming. She'll be here in 10 minutes. Better prepare." "Sweet," said Mutt. He then rushed out. "Thanks for coming here," said M.C. "No problem," said Alex. "I was hoping to see the future, but I guess it's not as tech related as everyone expected." He then pulled out something that was wrapped up and handed it to M.C. "By the way, Merry Christmas." M.C. took it, and unwrapped it. He was surprised and said, "Is this our version of a Christmas Carol?" "Yep," said Alex. "Shadow the Hedgehog as Ebeneezer Scrooge, you as Bob Cratchit, Sonic as Fred Holywell, Blaze the Cat as the Ghost of Christmas Past, me as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Silver as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Tails as Tiny Tim, Manic as the Ghost of Jacob Marley, and Sonia as Emily Cratchit." [Does not really exist] "I hope that the young ponies here will enjoy it," said M.C. "Oh, they will," said Alex. "I've seen their reaction already. Even some of the grown ups enjoyed it. Well, I gotta get back to my time. My dad and I have to head across the country." "What about Maria?" asked M.C. "She'll be spending Christmas with Shadow," said Alex. "Plus, she signed up to do college classes. She wants to be a teacher." "Oh, I'm sure she'll be a good teacher," said M.C. "We seen how Maria was good with kids. Especially when she was watching the kids on the beach by the campsite in Disney World." "Yeah," said Alex. "I'm sure she'll get in. She really wants this." "Tell her that I wish her luck," said M.C. "I will," said Alex. He then headed out. M.C. then chuckled. Meanwhile, back in the opening room of the castle, Starlight Glimmer was looking down at all of the ponies celebrating the holiday. Then Twilight and Spike walked towards her. "Hey, Starlight!" said Twilight. "Ready to celebrate your first Hearth's Warming Eve here in Ponyville?" "I was thinking I might just skip it," said Starlight. That made Twilight and Spike gasp, and the contents in the present Spike was holding coming out of the bottom, and all that was in there was a single candy cane. "Skip Hearth's Warming Eve?!" Spike shouted. "I just find it all a little silly. It's mostly a day dedicated to presents and candy, isn't it?" Starlight said confused, and walking away. Spike walked up to her and asked, "And why would you deny yourself presents and candy? That's crazy talk!" He was then grabbed in Twilight's magic, and was moved away from Starlight. Twilight walked up to her and said, "I think what Spike means to say is Hearth's Warming is about more than presents and candy. It's a time to spend with friends and family when we celebrate a very important day in Equestria's history." "I think to most ponies, it's just an excuse for silly songs and fun, not a day to remember some old story," said Starlight, trying to avoid this conversation. Twilight was thinking of something, then she got an idea, and then teleported in front of Starlight. "Maybe you just haven't heard the right Hearth's Warming Eve story yet!" Twilight said. "Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns sing songs around a hearth to fight back an eternal winter caused by the mythical windigos?" Starlight asked before scoffing. "Ha! Every foal and filly knows that story." "Not that one," said Twilight. "My favorite holiday story, "A Hearth's Warming Tale"!" "Oh, I love that one!" said Spike. Later in the library, Twilight used her magic to pull a book from one of the bookshelves. "This is the story of a powerful unicorn named Snowfall Frost, who hated Hearth's Warming Eve," said Twilight. She then started reading. "It all began many moons ago in Canterlot..." It then sequenced to a Canterlot that looked like 19th Century London, and all of the ponies there looked like ponies from Ponyville. Doctor Hooves, Spoiled Rich, Diamond Tiara, Octavia, Bon Bon, and so many more. And in the background, Twilight was still narrating. "Every home in Canterlot was filled with holiday spirit. Every home... except one. It was said of Snowfall that she was almost as studied as Star Swirl the Bearded. Almost, since everypony knows that Star Swirl was an expert at everything from transfiguration, dimensional calibration, teleportation—" Inside, the mare, Snowfall Frost, who was a copy of Starlight Glimmer, was holding a piece of coal and reading a book. Then the image froze when Spike's voice came in, saying, "We get it. Star Swirl's awesome." "Right." Then the picture started moving again. "The point is, Snowfall was also a powerful unicorn. She wanted to be perfect. Anything that got in the way of that was a waste of time." Snowfall Frost gave a confident smirk after reading, and then approached a cauldron. She then used her magic to turn the piece of coal into gold. But then she was startled by the sound of bells, and dropped the piece of coal. She then looked out a window to see a bunch of bit collectors ringing bells through the streets. Snowfall Frost then said, "Well, that batch is ruined. Snowdash!" "Snowdash was Snowfall's loyal assistant." Then a mare with a groomed mane came in. And that mare looked like Rainbow Dash. "What do you need?" asked Snowdash. Snowfall Frost levitated in a broom and handed it to Snowdash, saying, "Get this mess cleaned up. Those foolish ponies were ringing those blasted bells outside the window and I lost my concentration!" Snowdash then started sweeping the floor while flying and said under her breath, "Whoa, ponies actually enjoying Hearth's Warming Eve. Where did they get that crazy idea?" Snowfall Frost walked towards the window and said, "Today is nothing to celebrate. Hearth's Warming Eve is a menace. A dangerous day for all of Equestria." Snowdash was in disbelief and said, "Dangerous?! It's awesome! It's the day we remember how unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies came together in friendship to defeat the windigos!" "That silly legend is the problem!" said Snowfall Frost in anger. "Telling everypony that "singing songs and being nice" will solve anything? I've spent years studying magic, and that's not how it works." "I think you might be missing the point," said Snowdash before she got pushed down when Snowfall Frost teleported to her. "Work hard, learn, and use your skills to better Equestria," said Snowfall Frost, before heading back to her working table. "That's a worthy goal for any pony." She then said to Snowdash in a sarcastic tone, "But, by all means, if you want to go home early, ignore all of the work you have, and spend the rest—" Snowdash was sweeping up the mess in the dustpan as Snowfall was talking sarcastically, but then she flew up, saying, "Sweet!" Then she flew out of there, making Snowfall Frost roll her eyes and groan. She then looked out the window and saw Snowdash zipping through the streets. Snowfall Frost turned around and angrily said, "I hate Hearth's Warming Eve! All of Equestria would be better off if we just skipped the day altogether." She then broke into song. Later, Snowfall Frost was continuing her spell making. "Once the spell is cast, all of Equestria will be better off, and they'll have me to thank for it!" Snowfall Frost said when turning around. Then the image froze. "Wait a minute!" came Starlight's voice. It then sequenced back to the real world. Starlight then asked, "Snowfall doesn't like Hearth's Warming Eve so she decides to cast a spell to get rid of it altogether? That seems a little extreme." "Says the pony who tried to make everypony the same by replacing their cutie marks with equal signs," Spike muttered before taking a sip of his hot cocoa. Then Twilight covered Spike with her right wing. "I think what Spike is trying to say is that everypony has their reasons for doing things," Twilight said. "Even Snowfall. And if I could continue the story, we might just find out what they are." "Proceed," Spike said when Twilight folded up her right wing. "Snowfall was all set to cast her spell that would erase Hearth's Warming Eve for all time..." Twilight said as it was sequencing back to the story. "...when a voice from the hearth caught her attention." "You sure you wanna go through with this?" came a voice, getting the attention of Snowfall Frost. "Huh?! Who's there?!" asked Snowfall Frost, looking all over the room. Then the liquid in the cauldron started bubbling, getting the attention of Snowfall Frost. Coming from the liquid was the spirit of a pony that looked like Applejack, wearing a fancy dress with snowflake patterns and a fancy hat. "The Spirit of Hearth's Warmin' Past, that's who," said the spirit. "And you and me have got to have us a little chat." "A spirit?!" asked Snowfall Frost. Then she got suspicious. "I didn't cast any spirit summoning spell. What are you doing here?" "You don't think a spell like that would get by without some powerful forces noticin'?" said the spirit, walking through Snowfall Frost. "You've got our attention, Snowfall Frost, and we've got some pretty strong opinions on this spell of yours." ""We"?" asked Snowfall Frost, confused. "They'll be along in a bit," said the spirit. "For now, it's just you and me. Let's get a move on. We got a ton to see and barely any time to see it." Then a purple top hat landed on Snowfall Frost's head. She looked at in, and said, "I'm not going anywhere." She then turned towards the cauldron and said, "I've got a spell to cast, and I don't need a history lesson about Hearth's Warming Eve." "We aren't goin' to the past to learn about the holiday," said the spirit before pulling out a lasso. "We're goin' to learn about you." She then spun the lasso, and wrapped it behind Snowfall, and she took Snowfall for a ride. In Snowfall's past, she was happily setting up some Hearth's Warming decorations. She started with a star ornament and she hung it on something. But it was the class professor, Professor Flintheart, and he was not happy. "Just what do you think you're doing, Snowfall?" asked Professor Flintheart. "Decorating the classroom for Hearth's Warming Eve, Professor Flintheart!" young Snowfall answered. "You said you wanted to learn to be a powerful unicorn, did you not?" asked Professor Flintheart, unamused. "I do!" said young Snowfall. "And what is the way that one becomes a powerful unicorn?" asked Professor Flintheart. Young Snowfall cleared her throat and said, "Work hard, learn, and use your skills to better Equestria." She then grinned widely. Watching them were the present Snowfall and the spirit. Snowfall grinned embarrassed while the spirit was smirking at her. Professor Flintheart sneered and asked, "And how do these help you to learn magic?" "I want to be strong enough to stop windigos and help ponies!" said young Snowfall. "That's just a story we tell little ponies," said Professor Flintheart. "Real magic takes time to learn." He then crushed the ornament in his magic right in front of her. Young Snowfall was sad to see her ornament broken in front of her. " It's your choice. Spend your time learning to become a powerful unicorn or play with your toys and make nothing of yourself." He then kicked the box towards young Snowfall sad. Snowfall Frost found herself standing in front of her cauldron in her present time. She then gasped and then asked, "Spirit? What am I supposed to—" She didn't see the spirit when she faced away from the cauldron. Then she turned her head to her left, seeing a giant present box. Then the top of the present ripped open, revealing a black figure. But then the figure came into the light, and the figure looks like Pinkie Pie, and she said, "Snowfall Frost! It is I, the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents!" "Um, don't you mean "Present", like the time?" asked Snowfall Frost to the spirit. "No!" said the spirit coming in from behind Snowfall. She was then going all over the place, handing Snowfall Frost some gifts. "Toys, Hearth's Warming doll... Here, want a cupcake?" "Fine, "Presents"," said Snowfall Frost. She then turned towards the trash can, and she put all the things she was handed into it. "All of the pointless things ponies waste their time on." The spirit then grabbed the stuff out of the trash can and said, "Oh, Snowfall, it's not what the gift is that matters, it's what the gift means!" Snowfall facehoofed and said, "It doesn't mean anything. It's just stuff!" "Exactly!" said the spirit before lifting up a cupcake. "Sometimes a cupcake means "I love you!"" She then held up a toy. "Or a toy means "Hi, how're you doing?"" Then she grabbed a book and said, "Sometimes a book means "Your mane looks amazing!"" She dropped if before she said that last quote. And then she grabbed the scarf, wrapped it around her neck and said, "And sometimes a scarf means... Well, a scarf usually means you look cold. That one's easy." "I don't understand anything you're saying," Snowfall said, deadpanned. And just like Pinkie Pie's senses, she reacted. Her eyes were fluttering, her tail was twitching, and then she convulsed, all saying, "Whoa! Whoa!" She then stopped. "What's happening to you?!" asked Snowfall, worried. "My Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents Sense is going off!" said the spirit. "That means a song is coming on!" Then she pulled down the fourth wall. The confetti sequenced to where Twilight was reading the book. She then did a sing-song voice, imitating Pinkie Pie, saying, "And the reason is to be with your friends!" She then saw Starlight's expression, got confused and asked in her normal voice, "What?" "You know you're doing your Pinkie Pie voice, right?" Starlight asked, with an amused smirk. "I was not!" Twilight complained embarrassed before hiding her face behind the book. Spike was laughing. "You totally were!" said Spike. "You did it almost as good as M.C. does." "Oh," said Twilight. "Well, I don't know, but I think I can do way better than M.C. on impersonating somepony." "Is that so?" came Pinkie Pie's voice, when Twilight had her eyes closed. "Perfect," said Twilight. "Pinkie's in the room. I bet she can judge on who can do a better job." "Uhhh... That wasn't Pinkie Pie," said Starlight. Twilight then opened her eyes and saw M.C. standing at the door. "Too easy," said M.C. "Anyway, Sparkles, your family have all arrived. And they're watching the movie I put in with a bunch of other ponies." "What's the name of that movie?" asked Spike. "It's actually similar to that story you're reading," said M.C. "A Christmas Carol. Me and some heroes from my time did some acting." "Wow," said Twilight. "I would like to see that, sometime." "I'll play it again tomorrow," said M.C. Then his glove started beeping and said, "Oh, shoot. I got some cookies in the oven. Gotta pull them out." He then rushed out of the room. "So, what happens next?" Starlight asked. Twilight responded with, "Well, the party was—" Then she was interrupted by Spike. "Wait! Can we take a quick break? I need to refill my cocoa." That made Twilight groan. Spike then ran out of the room towards the kitchen. Twilight peeked her head out the door and said to Spike, "But hurry up! We're almost to the best part!" Spike came back with a refilled cup of hot cocoa. He blew on it and said, "Okay, I'm ready." Twilight then gave Spike "the look" and then continued with the story, ""The party was in full swing."" It then sequenced back into the story. At a party, Snowdash was looking around for somepony. Then she heard a voice. "Snowdash!" came a pony's voice. The voice of that pony was of a pony that looks like Rarity. Her name was Merry. Standing next to her was a mare that looked like Fluttershy. That mare was Flutterholly. "Hey, Merry," said Snowdash, a little sad. "Why, whatever is the matter, darling?" asked Merry. "Was it the eggnog?" asked Flutterholly. "Oh, I knew I put in too much cinnamon!" " Oh, no, the eggnog was awesome, Flutterholly," said Snowdash, "I'm just mad at somepony who was complaining about how awful Hearth's Warming Eve is." "I don't suppose that pony's name starts with "Snow"?" asked Merry. "And ends with "Frost"?" asked Flutterholly. "She said Hearth's Warming Eve is just an excuse to party," Snowdash said, getting the attention of the ponies around her, "and we would all be better off spending time working to make Equestria a better place." That made all of the other ponies booed. Outside, Snowfall and the spirit were watching the commotion from outside. The spirit winked at Snowfall, and then Snowfall got worried. "What does Snowfall think a better Equestria looks like?" asked Merry. Snowdash then made her mane look like Snowfall's and put on some small spectacles, and impersonated Snowfall, saying, "Ponies working hard, learning, and using their abilities for the benefit of Equestria." That made Merry and Flutterholly giggle. Snowfall was feeling ashamed for a moment. That was quickly interrupted when a snowball almost hit her. She turned around to see three young foals playing with a snowpony. She gave a stern look until she heard Merry's voice. "It looks like we've got everything on Snowfall's list right here," said Merry with her voice muffled due to the glass. "I think a perfect Equestria looks a lot like a Hearth's Warming Eve party," said Flutterholly, her voice also muffled. Then the curtains closed. "Me too!" said the spirit, startling Snowfall. "Too bad it's going to be the last one ever! Ever! Ever! Ever!" She was walking backwards into an incoming fog, and her voice echoing while she was fading away. "Spirit? What do you mean?" Snowfall Frost asked confused. "What's going to happen?!" She was then covered up in the fog. She had no idea what was going on. She walked backwards until a chilling wind blew around her. She then saw a hug shadow in front of her in the form of a really tall unicorn pony. She then asked it, "Who are you?" "I am the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come," the spirit responded before revealing wings, making the spirit an alicorn. Snowfall Frost was covering her eyes so no snow would fly into her eyes. She then asked, "Are you here to show me what future Hearth's Warming Eves are like?" "No, for there are no more Hearth's Warming Eves for me to show," said the spirit. "Why not?" asked Snowfall Frost, confused. "You will succeed in erasing the holiday, as you wished," said the spirit, revealing her face. It was the face of Princess Luna. "And what happens?" asked Snowfall Frost. Snowfall Frost saw Windigos fly past her into the sky behind her. She then said, "Windigos?! They aren't real! It's just a little filly's story!" "They are all too real, Snowfall, and your actions will allow them to return," said the spirit. "The future of Equestria shall be bathed in a blanket of eternal snow!" The spirit then started fading away. "No!" said Snowfall when the Windigos started circling her. "I never meant for this to happen! I didn't understand! I didn't see how important Hearth's Warming Eve was! Please, spirit! I haven't cast the spell yet! Is there still time?! I'm sorry!" The last words echoed as she covered her face. She waited a while until the wind stopped. She uncovered her face and saw that she was back in her study and she was wearing that top hat she got from the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past. She then walked over to the window and saw all of the ponies outside ringing bells and getting ready to sing. "There's still time!" said Snowfall Frost. Back at the party that the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Present showed earlier, a bunch of ponies were talking to each other. But then there was a knocking at the door. Merry and Flutterholly walked towards the door. They opened the door and were surprised to see who was at the door. "Oh, my," said Merry. "Snowfall... Frost?" asked Flutterholly. "I was hoping I wasn't too late for the party?" said Snowfall Frost. "I brought gifts." She levitated a bunch of gifts. Then the sound of a record scratching came in when Snowdash was flying over drinking something. She then did a spit-take. "Boss?!" asked Snowdash. "I was wrong earlier, about Hearth's Warming Eve," Snowfall Frost said, coming in. "It's not all about singing and presents. The singing and presents are all about celebrating the ponies in our lives. The ponies we should listen to more often: our friends." She then handed out gifts. Snowfall handed Snowdash her gift, she took it and unwrapped it. She was confused about what was in it and asked, "Dragon toenail? Uh... thanks?" "I was in a hurry," said Snowfall. "I'll do better next time." "Ha. You kidding?" asked Snowdash. "No one's ever given me dragon toenail before! It's awesome! Now come get some eggnog!" As Snowfall was enjoying the party with the others, Twilight was narrating again. "And from then on, it was always said of all the Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations, Snowfall's was the Hearth's Warmingest." It then sequenced to back in the real world. "The end." She then closed the book. She then got up and said, "Well, that's it! Thanks for letting me read you the story." She then put the book back on the shelf. "Guess you can call it a night. Spike and I are heading downstairs, and if you wanted to, you'd be welcome to join us." Then she and Spike headed out of the library. Starlight thought about it. She was deciding whether to head to bed, or go celebrate Hearth's Warming. Starlight then came over the balcony of the main room of the castle, and saw all of Ponyville talking to each other. Some ponies were talking to M.C. about the movie they watched. Then Twilight noticed Starlight looking over the balcony. "Welcome to the party!" said Twilight. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Starlight." "Happy Hearth's Warming, Twilight," Starlight responded. M.C. chuckled and Mutt walked up to him. M.C. then said, "Don'tcha just love the magic of the holidays?" Mutt nodded in response. Then the two of them joined in on the fun.