Cozy Glow was an adorable pegasus that had become quite popular at the School of Friendship and even became a personal assistant to Twilight Sparkle. But beneath that adorable surface lied a manipulative and somewhat psychotic pony that wanted to make herself the Empress of Friendship. She tricked the mane 6 into getting trapped in Tartarus and even tricked Super Stallion into thinking Tempest sent her a letter asking for help asap. But as masterful as her plan was, she failed all the same thanks to half a dozen students that got a little help from the Tree of Harmony.
"I'm so disappointed in you Cozy," Twilight said. "Friendship is powerful but it's not the reason that you make friends." Twilight tried to get Cozy Glow to see reason but she wouldn't and tried to fly off but various ponies blocked her exits.
"Oh golly I’m surrounded, good thing I decided to hold onto this." Cozy Glow then made a portal with the medallion she took from Chancellor Neighsay. "We'll meet again." And with that Cozy Glow vanished before any creature could get her.
"No she got away!" Gallus called out as he slammed his fists onto the ground.
"Don't worry Gallus," Silver Stream said who flew over and put her arms around him a bit. "We still stopped her from stealing all the magic from Equestria."
"Besides you heard her, we'll meet again. And we'll see if she can get away then," Twilight said.
After that Twilight got to work getting her school back in order and before she knew it Hearth Warming was just around the corner. In no time at all Twilight was stressed out trying to get gifts for her friends that was until Applejack suggested that the mane 6 each get a gift for only 1 other of the group.
"Thanks Applejack this should make things a lot less stressful," Twilight said, starting to calm down.
"Hey do you think I can pick a piece of paper too?" Spike asked from not too far away from the mane 6.
"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled as she ran over to the dragon who ran over to her as well and they both hugged each other. "What are you doing here?"
"What? You think I wasn't going to come see you all on Hearth Warming of all days?"
"Are your parents here too?" Applejack asked.
"No but they'll be here in a little while," Spike answered. "Dragons aren't too fond of the cold but I convinced them to come by and see what it's like here on just about the best time of the whole year. They just want to spend some time with their dragon friends first so I came ahead."
"Wait, you came all the way here from the dragon lands?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah after some practice with my parents I almost feel like I could stay in the air all day." Spike then picked a piece of paper and lucky for him, he got Rarity.
After that Squeaky Clean who came by to wish Twilight a happy Hearth Warming in equine. However along the way he spotted Stone Wall of all ponies not too far away from where he was.
"Stone Wall, is that you? What are you doing here?" Squeaky asked as he walked over to his old friend.
"Better question, what are you doing here without a royal escort? You are a prince now after all."
"Oh come on Ponyville is a nice little town you can trust ponies here, besides I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," Squeaky said as he patted his saddle bag a bit.
"You still should have brought a guard or 2 all the same superhero or not, royals can't just wander off."
"I'll keep that in mind but you still haven't answered my question."
"I came here to see Princess Twilight and her friends, mostly Princess Twilight really. I've been traveling around a bit visiting those that I wronged during my "episode."
"Oh come on Stone Wall how many times do we all have to tell you that wasn't your fault your head was scrambled!"
"Yes but it didn't take away the damage I did so I made a list of all those I wronged and I'm making it up to them. All things considered, it's actually been rather fun."
"Really?"
"Yes I helped Applejack on her farm and since I bucked so many apples they let me take home a pie, or 4. I helped Fluttershy with her animal sanctuary and expanded it a little. Rarity got me to help her with a lot of what she called her latest genius contribution to the fashion world and as for Rainbow Dash I got the Wonderbolts to act more like a team when I saw a practice of theirs up close."
"Really how did you do that?"
"As it turns out the Wonderbolts had a rather bad habit of calling each other a rather mean spirited name like Rainbow Crash or Clipper or well you probably don't want to know Spitfire's name."
"Oh come on how bad can it-" Squeaky was interrupted when Stone Wall whispered the nickname into his ear. "Wow."
"Yeah, so I explained to them about a line between friendly teasing and bullying. I mean yeah sure I was hard on the other guards myself but that was to toughen them up. After that I helped Pinkie Pie throw several parties in 1 day, turns out she has a whole party cave."
"What? You're pulling my leg."
"No really, I'll show you later if you want."
"Maybe later. So now it's Twilight's turn?"
"Yes, that's why I'm here."
"Well I'm going to see Twilight as well so we might as well go see her together."
"I suppose that would be nice," Stone Wall said, liking the idea a bit more than he was leading on. As they were making their way to the castle they spotted Spike who was rather running around Ponyville looking at all of the various stores. "What's with the dragon?"
"Don't know, but I know a way to find out. HEY SPIKE!"
"Oh hey Squeaky," Spike said with a wave and then walked over to the 2 stallions. "It's nice to see you again."
"Spike, last I heard, weren't you living in the dragon lands now?" Stone Wall asked having heard what happened to him through Princess Celestia who was told by Twilight not too long after he left.
"Yeah but I came here to visit for the holiday. Are you here to visit Twilight too?"
"In a manner of speaking, since you're here I suppose now is as good a time as any." Stone Wall then explained to Spike how he's been making it up to those he wronged and Spike was on the list. Spike, like others before him, told Stone Wall that he didn't have to but Stone Wall insisted that it was something he had to do.
"Well if you really want to make it up to me you can help me find the perfect gift for Rarity?"
"Seriously?"
"Yes seriously this might be the most important Hearth Warming for me because it's the first one where Rarity and I are going out. This could help cement our entire relationship. But if I screw it up and give her a gift she doesn't like that could make our romantic life take a turn for the worse and what if she just thinks the gift is okay that could-"
"Okay that's enough," Stone Wall said as he cut off Spike by putting his hoof in Spike's mouth. "First of all you're overthinking the whole thing. I'm not exactly a love expert but I've gotten Princess Celestia a gift every Hearth Warming since I met her. Getting somepony a gift is simple, just make sure you give it out of love and you'll find something that you'll want to give her for Hearth Warming."
"You think so?"
"I know so, young colt or whatever you call a baby dragon."
"Hey I'm not a baby anymore I'm a big dragon now," Spike said as he puffed out his chest a bit.
"Of course, you do have a special somepony now after all."
"Yeah thanks Stone Wall. But I'm still a little conflicted, like maybe a small crystal statue version of her or maybe a necklace or a sewing machine. Wait, what if I get Rarity something else entirely?" Spike asked himself. "What if I make a song just for her, a song that tells her how much she means to me?"
"Get her the statue,” Stone Wall said.
"Then the song afterwards," Squeaky said.
"Yeah I think I'll go with that," Spike said.
Before long the 2 old friends made their way to Twilight's castle where they saw Twilight was already busy trying to figure out the perfect gift to give Pinkie Pie. Twilight got the idea to make a very special pudding and when Stone Wall explained why he was there she asked him to help her make the pudding. Not too long after that Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart who upon seeing Stone Wall flew over to him and hugged his leg showed up.
"I take it you remember me," Stone Wall said. "Come on, get off my leg." Stone Wall then walked around a bit gently trying to shake her off then he walked over to Cadance and Shining Armor with Flurry Heart still keeping a rather firm grip on his leg.
"Aw that's so cute she really loves you doesn't she?" Shining Armor asked.
"Well what's not to love about him?" Cadance asked. "He's such a lovable stallion and his tough act can't always hide it."
"Oh don't you start too," Stone Wall said as he reached down and pulled Flurry Heart off of his leg and put her on her mother's back.
"Uncle Stone Wall," Flurry Heart managed to say as she flew over to him and this time grabbed Stone Wall's head.
"Okay that's going a bit too far," Stone Wall said as he once again pulled Flurry Heart off of him. But as he told Flurry Heart that she gave him a kiss right on his muzzle. "Okay, uncle is fine."
"When did you get so popular with the baby alicorn?" Squeaky asked.
"Since I visited the Crystal Empire to cross her and her father off my list."
"What about Cadance?"
"I gave her away when she and Shining Armor renewed their vows. I wanted to cross her off my list when I came to the empire but she said it was more than enough. After I arrived she and Shining Armor got me to foalsit Flurry Heart for a while and for some reason now she's nuts about me."
"Wow well I guess it's good to know that if the whole captain of the guard thing doesn't work out you can always start a foalsitting service," Squeaky said.
"After that he helped me train the guards at the Crystal Empire and he got them to become much more lean and mean fighting machines in no time at all."
"Yes," Stone Wall said with a bit of pride. "I still got the old touch so those guards in Canterlot will be getting quite the workout when I get back to Canterlot."
"Uh Stone Wall can you come into the kitchen please," Twilight asked. And so Stone Wall went to help Twilight with her special pudding for Pinkie Pie. But as the 2 got to work on that Flurry Heart dropped numerous items into the pudding which caused the pudding to start to overflow. Seeing what she did Stone Wall used his magic to bring a small wooden spatula over to him and grabbed it with his hoof. Seeing that made Flurry Heart's playful smile disappear and was replaced by a look of fear.
"Flurry," Stone Wall said as he gestured to the baby alicorn to come over. "Come here Flurry." Flurry Heart then shook her head and began to make up from the stallion. "Come here," Stone Wall repeated and Flurry ran. Stone Wall chased her as Flurry Heart flew over to her parents and hid behind her mother's head.
"Stone Wall, what are you doing?" Shining Armor asked
"Flurry Heart needs to learn a little discipline," he answered.
"That's no way to do it, she's still just a foal," Cadance said. "She just needs patience and understanding."
"No, she needs a tranquilizer gun and a kennel. That's what she needs."
"Oh come on what could she have done that was so bad?" Shining Armor asked and just after he did the pudding started to spill over to where they were.
"That," Stone Wall asked. Everypony and Spike tried to stop the pudding however things got out of hoof as the pudding started to grow uncontrollably. Things went from bad to worse when a Winterchilla which turned into a Winterzilla after dark came into the castle but thankfully Fluttershy was able to calm it down. As for the pudding Pinkie Pie literally jumped right into it making everypony and Spike gasp with the exception of Stone Wall.
"I am never going to understand how the pony's head works," Stone Wall said calmly, figuring she did that for somewhat of a good reason. And she did as Pinkie Pie had just the thing to stop the pudding not too long after that Spike's parents showed up and saw the giant pudding. Coal Diamond and the Winterzilla were able to eat up the pudding and some of the ponies helped as well.
"Wow this is good, Scales you have to try this."
"In a little bit dear, are pony holidays always like this?"
"No trust me mom this is the first time something like this happened around here," Spike answered.
"Now remember Flurry Heart," Stone Wall said when he finally caught the young princess. "Don't go dropping whatever you want in a pot when somepony is cooking. I know you wanted to help but that's not how to cook something right, understand?" Flurry Heart then nodded her head and hugged her uncle Stone Wall. "Good because I don't enjoy punishing other ponies, unless they're criminals that really have it coming. But I need to at times to make sure ponies learn their lesson." Stone Wall then bopped Flurry Heart on the head with the wooden spatula that he still had but not too hard. "So let's keep the monkey business to a minimum for the rest of the night, alright?" Fluffy Heart nodded again and hugged Stone Wall when he offered to read her her favorite story.
"Well problems aside I think we can all agree this was a very good Hearth Warming," Twilight said and her friends agreed. Suddenly there was a knock at the castle door and Twilight was the first to open it. "Thorax and Starlight, what a nice surprise." Suddenly a rather large cloud of blue smoke appeared and Trixie appeared between Thorax and Starlight.
"And don't forget the great and powerful Trixie!"
"Of course Trixie we could never forget you," Twilight said.
"No matter how hard we try," Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack who laughed.
"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."
"Yeah sorry Twilight we wanted to get here sooner but Thorax and I had to get quite a few things in order," Starlight said as she grabbed Thorax's hoof.
"Like what?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well," Thorax said, pausing for a minute. "We're getting married." Hearing that surprised everypony and the dragons in the room.
"A pony and a changeling getting married," Scales said surprised. "How did this happen?"
"Well it's kind of thanks to Stone Wall after he spent some time at the hive," Starlight answered.
"How the heck did you pull that off?" Squeaky asked.
***
"Thanks for all the help Stone Wall, we really appreciate it," Thorax said.
"It's the least I can do," Stone Wall replied. "Considering"
"Ah that, well if you feel that bad about it maybe you can talk about it in the feelings forum."
"The what?" Stone Wall was then brought to the very forum but things took a turn for the worst when they started talking about Thorax's brother.
"Everyone please! I understand Pharynx can be challenging at times," Thorax said, trying to calm the others down.
"That's an understatement, he filled a hallway with thorns."
"He teaches little changelings to growl and hiss."
"He poisoned our water supply, burnt our crops, and delivered a plague unto our homes!"
"He did?" All the other changelings and Stone Wall asked.
"No, but are we just gonna wait around until he does." Hearing that Stone Wall thought there might be a way to really help the changelings.
"Excuse me?!" Pharynx said to Stone Wall when he approached him and offered to help him accept love. "There's no way I'm going to accept love, especially from you. And another thing, don't think just because there's peace between our races that I'm going to forget about everything you did."
"I'm starting to think you don't like me very much," Stone Wall replied, thinking Squeaky would be proud of his comment.
"Of course I don't, you always got in my way and foiled my plans. I don't know when, but somehow someway I'm going to settle the score with you once and for all."
Suddenly the changelings started screaming and panicking as the hive began to rumble and shake. Stone Wall and Pharynx made their way outside and saw the dread maulwurf attacking. Quick to act as usual Stone Wall charged his horn and then hit the creature with a large magic beam so powerful and so concentrated it knocked the maulwurf out cold to Pharynx's utter shock.
"Uh never mind," Pharynx said. "You and I, we're cool."
"Oh good, now how about you and I talk about love a little more. This may come as a shock to you but I'm not exactly the touchy feely kind of stallion."
"What are you talking about? You strike me right from the start as a pony that rather keeps his emotions inside."
"Humor is a foreign language to you isn't it?" Stone Wall then talked with Pharynx and eventually managed to get him to finally accept love.
"Nice work Stone Wall," Starlight said. "I was beginning to think he was a lost cause."
"He and I are actually rather similar," Stone Wall replied. "He's kind of the captain of the guard here like I used to be in Canterlot. It's weird seeing the changelings like this, but it's nice to see they're in good hooves."
"Yeah, especially with Thorax as their leader. He's really something special isn't he?"
"Well you seem to think so don't you? After all that's why you 2 have been dating for a while haven't you?"
"How did you know?"
"Being a royal guard sometimes we're called in to investigate crimes and we have to train our eyes as well as our muscles. Plus I spent quite a bit of time with Princess Cadance so I'm rather good at telling who has a crush on who, most of the time anyway."
"Really? Well I was thinking of asking Princess Cadance about this but, well I'm thinking of going to the next step, he and I both really but I'm not sure if we're ready."
"Well I'm not exactly a love expert but I do have this advice to give, may your heart be your guiding key."
“You know,” Starlight said. “You just might be onto something.”
***
"The advice was simple but it was more than enough to get us to take the next step."
"Plus he even helped Trixie make a new magic act, one of her best actually," Thorax said.
"Yes and while I probably could have figured it out myself it was still quite the gesture," Trixie said.
"Wow Stone Wall you've really been busy for a stallion that hasn't even gotten his job back," Pinkie Pie said.
"Between all the stuff you've done and what Cozy Glow almost did and Spike's parents showing up I've been missing out on a lot of stuff," Squeaky said.
"Sucks doesn't it?" Discord asked who did his usual thing of appearing right out of nowhere. "I was built up and built up but now I'm hardly in this story anymore."
"Discord you're here too? Well call it a Hearth Warming miracle if I can cross another name off my list," Stone Wall said as he approached him to tell him about his list.
"Oh that whole thing from chapter 37," Discord replied as he swung his finger making his name get crossed off the list. "Getting to smash that sphere you had was worth the beating I took so no worries from me. I wonder if I'll get to do something like that again," Discord said as he subtly looked at Squeaky who backed up while holding onto his saddle bag.
"Though if you want to make it up to me Stone Wall I could still use help. Organizing some paper I have as well as getting a few things ready for Starlight's wedding."
"Fine with me," Stone Wall said as he walked off with Twilight. After that Squeaky said goodbye and went back to Canterlot to spend the best time of the year with Princess Celestia and the 3 beautiful children.
***
The next day Stone Wall managed to help Twilight get everything in order at the School of Friendship. "Thanks for your help Stone Wall I could really have used it."
"I can't believe you had so much to do. It was actually easier when I made it up to Clover the Clever by helping her organize everything in her cabin."
"I think it's nice that you want to help every creature that you hurt even if it wasn't technically your fault."
"I know it doesn't make much sense but I feel like it's something I had to do."
"Speaking of which, I'm rather curious. What are you going to do for Celestia and Luna?"
"I came to them first and made it up to both of them as well as Squeaky Clean and Swift Sweep by foalsitting their children."
"Wow more foalsitting," Twilight said as she remembered how much Flurry Heart liked Stone Wall. "You know if the whole captain of the guard thing doesn't work out you could always try a foal-"
"Squeaky beat you to that joke," Stone Wall interrupted.
After helping sort all of Twilight's things Stone Wall made his way to Canterlot to see Princesses Celestia and Luna to tell him he was finally ready to retake his former position as captain of the royal guard if he could.
"Well as I told you before Stone Wall you are more than allowed to return," Celestia said as she and her sister were sitting next to their husbands. "However you won't be serving under us for that much longer."
"What do you mean?" Stone Wall asked, raising his head up as he was bowing.
"Well Celestia and I talked it over," Luna said. "And we've decided to retire."
"Retire!?" Stone Wall said standing up in shock now. "You can't retire, who will look after Equestria?"
"Twilight will," Celestia answered. "She's more than capable of doing just that and she'll have her friends to help her and now you."
"Celestia wanted to crown her right away but I convinced her she should prepare Twilight a bit until she's completely fit for the role," Squeaky said.
"That may take a while," Stone Wall said.
"I don't think so. Twilight is very smart and if she gets in trouble I'm sure Super Stallion will show up to help every now and then," Swift Sweep said blissfully unaware he was the only pony in the room that didn't know Squeaky's secret.
"So will you come back to the royal guard and serve her like you served Luna and I?"
"Okay Princess Celestia," Stone Wall answered.
"Good now I suppose all that's left is for us to break the news to Twilight when she gets here, which is going to be soon actually," Celestia said.
"Wait, you've already asked her to come over to tell her this?"
"Why not?" Celestia asked.
"Well it was a big shock for me alone if you tell Twilight she might faint or something."
"Oh she's not going to faint. I've known her for years. She's practically my daughter. I know she's not going to faint."
"Well I think I'll get to cleaning while I still have a job," Squeaky said.
"I'm coming too. I don't like sitting all day," Swift Sweep said and the stallions made their way out of the throne room.
"But seriously Stone Wall might have a point, try to tell her gently," Squeaky said.
"She's not going to faint," Celestia said, a little upset.
"So you're going to retire with them? You're not even in your 40s?" Stone Wall asked when the stallions left the room.
"I'll admit it's a little weird but it would help Swift Sweep and I focus on raising our families. Plus you kind of have to expect stuff like this when you marry an older mare."
"Right," Stone Wall replied.
"Speaking of which, are you okay with me being married to Celestia? I mean you don't think it's weird or anything do you?"
"Oh why would it be weird? The pony that's essentially my brother is married to my mother?" Stone Wall asked sarcastically.
"It does sound kind of weird when you put it like that," Swift Sweep said.
"Brother?" Squeaky asked rather touched. The 2 princes then helped Stone Wall find his old guard uniform then went to cleaning and 1 or 2 royal duties. Stone Wall then got on his old uniform and was happy to see it still fit when suddenly he was approached by Princess Celestia.
"Uh Stone Wall no big deal but would you happen to know where I can find some smelling salt?"