//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: A Monster of a Pudding // Story: My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever // by Postwarmonkey50 //------------------------------// Everyone that were in the castle was now in a very huge predicament. They expected Hearth’s Warming to go smoothly, but now it’s nearly turned into a disaster for them. For both the Winterzilla and the pudding were slowly closing in on them. ‘What is that?!!’ shouted Rainbow as everyone turned to look at the approaching pudding. ‘Magic Pudding!!’ shouted Twilight before turning back to their furry intruder ‘What is that?!!’ Everyone turned to look at the roaring furry monster as Rainbow shouted ‘A Winterchilla!!’ Twilight slapped her forehead as she said ‘They turn into Winterzilla after dark!!’ ‘And you brought that thing here?!!’ shouted Starlight. As everyone gave Rainbow the stink eye and “Really?” looks, Rainbow shouted ‘Does everypony know this except me?!!’ ‘Well,’ said Sunset ‘Considering that Fluttershy and Genus told us of what dangerous animals to avoid after the whole Parasprite incident whilst you were fast asleep through the whole conversation.’ ‘YES!!!’ shouted everyone in the room, much to Rainbow’s groaning annoyance. They all quickly ducked when the Winterzilla swung its claw at them, with Ignis saying ‘Can we please discuss Rainbow’s lazy educational mind later?!!’ However, the Winterzilla somehow has its eyes on Spike for some reason and let out a grin. It leaned closer to Spike as it was focused on him. Spike yelped and quickly hid behind Twilight, whilst she looked at Spike and noticed that he was sparkling and realized the Winterzilla liked sparkly objects, causing her to gasp as she had an idea. ‘You like the Sparkly?’ said Twilight, causing her to lift Spike up, gaining the Winterzilla’s attention before she said ‘Just follow it this way.’ Twilight levitated Spike around, causing the Winterzilla to follow the panicking dragon. The Winterzilla followed Spike whilst Twilight levitated it over, trying to lead it outside. ‘Is this honestly the best plan we can come up with?!!’ shouted Spike whilst Twilight continued to lead the Winterzilla outside. ‘You got any better ideas Uncle Spike?!!’ said Moonlight. ‘Yeah,’ said Beau ‘That’s the least you deserve!!’ ‘What’s that supposed to mean?!!’ snapped Spike back. ‘Everything was going great preparing for the holidays until you had to open your big yap and made Twilight stress, again!!’ shouted Beau. ‘I’m sorry, okay,’ said Spike as Twilight continued to use Spike as a lure to the Winterzilla ‘I didn’t mean to make her stress, you didn’t had to throw a book in my face!!’ Twilight overheard it and was shocked to hear that, so whilst she focused on keeping Spike safe, Twilight shouted ‘You threw a book in his face?!!’ ‘Hey!!’ shouted Bolt, speaking for Beau ‘’Do you have any idea how hard it is to calm you down whenever you get stressed out!! You’re a fully grown mare for crying out loud and you still panic over the smallest things!! This is just like the “Want it, Need it” spell, all over again!!’ ‘Don’t you speak for him!!’ said Twilight ‘You’re the ones who brought the Winterzilla here!!’ Then Bolt said the worst ‘At least I didn’t try to steal a magic pearl and used my friends to distract a queen like they were expendable deadweights!!’ Everyone was silent in shock, even the Winterzilla looked at Bolt in shock. Twilight felt disheartened over that, whilst Shining resisted the urge to strangle him. ‘Wow,’ said Spike as he crossed his arms ‘That’s cold dude.’ The monster quickly ignored it and focused on Spike as Twilight tried to make sure Spike was safe. ‘That’s low even for you.’ said Sunset. ‘Hey, you weren't there during the Storm King’s invasion.’ said Bolt ‘Beau nearly died and Moonlight was traumatized after the whole event. We tried to defend Ponyville as best we could when we retreated from Canterlot. Where the heck were you when all of this was going down?’ ‘Hey,’ said Ignis ‘We were on our monthly visit to Sunset’s friends. Besides, if you were so concerned for them, why didn’t you and the others go with them?’ ‘Someone had to protect our kids.’ retorted Bolt. ‘Oh, what and we didn’t?’ said Chance ‘Starlight was captured and she couldn’t defend everypony. Even when we did, it wasn’t her fault that the Princesses stood around like a bunch of buffoons and got them self encased in stone.’ Chance then turned to Cadance and said ‘Except for you Cadance. You did the best you could and you didn’t know that your magic wouldn’t work against the Storm King’s magic.’ Cadance smiled, for she appreciated that, even Shining Armour and Blade. Beau, who had had enough of Bolt’s chastising of Twilight, spoke to him directly. ‘And will you just let that go already?’ said Beau ‘She said she was sorry, but she was the only princess left, obviously she was being stressed out again because she thought her friends didn’t care. It could happen to anybody.’ ‘Oh, right.’ said Bolt ‘Just like she didn’t bother to tell her friends that she had all of the Princesses magic when Tirek came along, or the fact that Chrysalis nearly got us all killed. And now this…’ Bolt showed them the massive pudding that was there ‘All because she didn’t keep a proper eye on it. First rule when it comes to cooking, never leave your post.’ ‘Well, I didn’t know Flurry and Raging were going to tamper with the pudding!!’ said Twilight. ‘Oh yeah!!’ said Bolt sarcastically ‘Who’d thunk that two of the most destructive Alicorns that were birthed by the Princess of Love, would tamper with the most dangerous contents of pudding known to Equestria!!’ ‘Trixie doesn’t mean to sound mean about it,’ said Trixie as she pointed out ‘But they do have a point.’ They glared at Trixie, with Mystic saying ‘Well it’s true.’ ‘Or did all of you forget what she did during the Crystalling that caused a massive snow storm. Or that time that she botched up Twilight’s attempts to entertain sick foals when all of them had the bad case of the horsey hives?’ said Trixie. They remembered, causing them to groan about it. However, Bolt Jr. instantly figured his father out and said ‘You’re just mad at them because they didn’t save any cookies from last month and pudding samples for you.’ Bolt immediately got flustered and said ‘Below the belt, son. Below the belt.’ They instantly dodged a pudding tentacle that tried to grab them. Starlight, Trixie and Sunset fired their magic at the pudding tentacles, with Mystic doing what he can to block them using his psychic powers. ‘Now that’s, Pudding in their place.’ said Trixie. The others looked at her with flexed eyebrows. ‘Really?’ said Sunset. ‘What, it was a good pun.’ said Trixie before her hat got swatted off by the tentacles. ‘Honey, see if you can teleport us there.’ said Chance. ‘Got it.’ said Starlight, allowing her to teleport them towards the balcony whilst watching the action from afar and keeping their children safe. Rainbow Dash on the other hand looked at Discord, who was sitting on a chair whilst eating popcorn at the same time. ‘Can’t you do something?!’ said Rainbow Dash as she was mad at Discord. ‘I did.’ said Discord whilst Rainbow was glaring at him. He instantly turned himself into a bow and attached itself to the Winterzilla’s ear and said ‘This is Fluttershy’s gift.’ ‘What?!’ shouted Rainbow Dash. ‘Are you for real?!’ shouted Genus as he looked at Bolt ‘You guys thought that thing would be a perfect gift for my wife?!!’ ‘Hey,’ shouted Junior ‘Don’t blame us, it was Discord’s idea!!’ ‘Yeah,’ shouted Bolt ‘If she had known what that thing was and we remembered from earlier, we wouldn’t have brought that thing here in the first place!!’ The pudding tentacle came from out of nowhere and grabbed Rarity’s leg, taking her by surprise. She grunted whilst trying to pull away, but it was quite stubborn. ‘A little help, please!!’ shouted Rarity, gaining everyone’s attention. ‘Hey, let go of my wife!!’ shouted Silver as he smacked the pudding ‘Nobody touches my wife’s beautiful legs and starts being fresh with her, but me!!’ Two more pudding tentacles came from out of nowhere and grabbed both Silver and Crystal, making them panic in the process. Shining Armour turned around, preparing his horn for a magic attack whilst Blade pulled his sword out as both husbands said with a smirk ‘We got this.’ However, Cadance interrupted them whilst she handed both Flurry and Raging over to them as she said with a smile ‘Which one of us can fly, darlings?’ Cadance instantly flew up and fired her magic from her horn straight towards the tentacles, freeing Rarity, Silver and Crystal, allowing her to carry them to safety from both her arms and her magic. She flew them to safety whilst dodging the tentacles and landed safely on top of the balconies with Starlight and the others. ‘Your mom sure is something.’ said Shining to Flurry. ‘That mare really knows how to capture the hearts of those around her.’ said Blade as he agreed with Shining. Shining ran with Flurry Heart using his magic and jumped in the air, with Blade and Raging Halberd following close by. Then Shining Armour held onto Flurry whilst he grabbed the tapestry and swung himself, with Blade holding onto Raging as he too grabbed the tapestry and ran alongside the wall whilst he held onto it. They both jumped forward, allowing Shining Armour to use his magic to destroy one of the pudding’s tentacles whilst Blade sliced the other, allowing the both of them to arrive safely next to their wife. Cadance blushed whilst she fanned herself and said with a smile ‘You two aren’t so bad yourselves.’ The two husbands smiled with pride, but it was short lived whilst they looked at the Castle Entrance, for Twilight was still having trouble trying to lead the Winterzilla away from the entrance using Spike. However, the Winterzilla slipped and ended up falling off of the stairs. The creature groaned for a bit, only for it to be attracted by the sparkling Christmas decorations. It went over to it and started eating one of them, with Twilight flying close by with Spike as she said ‘No, no, no! Not that sparkly, this one.’ However, the monster was no longer interested, causing it to flick Spike away, making him crash against the wall, with Twilight still holding up Spike. ‘Uh, I’m okay if he doesn’t want to chase me anymore.’ said Spike in his worried tone. ‘Hey, hands off!!’ shouted Beau. Beau, Emily, Genus, Bolt, Frosty and Bucky jumped onto it and tried to get it away from it, whilst Moonlight fired her magic at it, with Mystic who decided to jump down and join in whilst he lifted the Winterzilla with his psychic powers. ‘Do you have any idea how hard it was to set those up!!’ shouted Moonlight. ‘Those things don’t come cheap you know!!’ shouted Emily. The Winterzilla then tossed them away, causing them all to collapse onto the ground. ‘Did someone get a number on that cart?’ said Frosty. As Mystic struggled to keep it in the air, the Winterzilla looked like it was going to explode, until it ended up farting, making Mystic gag as he said ‘Oh, that’s just…’ Because of his concentration being broken, the Winterzilla landed on top of Mystic, making him grunt and mumble and panic at the same time whilst trying to get out. ‘You know,’ said Bolt after Rainbow helped him up ‘If we weren't being threatened by magic pudding and a giant furry monster, I would seriously find this very hilarious.’ ‘How are we gonna get rid of this thing?’ said Applejack. ‘Darn tootin’,’ said Apple Slice after he helped his father up whilst Pinkie and the Pie twins dodged another pudding tentacle ‘If that thing keeps this up, it’ll ruin the castle, Ponyville and Hearth’s Warming Eve.’ ‘Oh, for Scorpan’s sake.’ said Discord as he was now frustrated, for none of them have figured it out from the beginning. ‘Hello!!’ said Discord as he teleported in front of them, gained their attention and turned into multiple pointing signs as he said ‘If only one of you had a way with animals?!!’ They saw that he was pointing at Fluttershy, much to the mare’s fright. ‘Oh my.’ said Fluttershy whilst covering her mouth. ‘Fluttershy,’ said Genus, gaining her attention whilst he held onto her and said ‘I know you’re not comfortable with these things, but you have to do this. If not, then Hearth’s Warming Eve will be ruined. And Comfy Breeze was really looking forward to all of this.’ Fluttershy saw that her daughter was on the verge of tears, for she couldn’t believe that the holidays are about to be ruined. Seeing that she didn’t want to see her daughter like this, she quickly flew up to the Winterzilla. As the Winterzilla continued to eat the decorations, Fluttershy flew up to the Winterzilla, cleared her throat and said ‘Uh, excuse me.’ The Winterzilla simply roared at her, making her spin backwards and yelped out loud whilst her mane covered her eyes. She then removed her mane from her eyes, for now she was really mad, causing the kids to gasp and realize what she was doing. ‘The stare.’ said the kids at the same time, causing Fluttershy to fly straight towards the monster, stared at it down, causing the Winterzilla to be surprised as it leaned its head backwards. ‘This is supposed to be the happiest time of year.’ said Fluttershy as she was face to face with the Winterzilla whilst scolding at it ‘If this is how you plan on behaving, you can march yourself right back to where you came from.’ The Winterzilla suddenly whimpered, causing it to cry as it went to a corner and cried, whilst sobbing at the same time and sat down. Everyone just stared in shock as they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. ‘Wow,’ said Frosty ‘Who would’ve thought that big monsters can be big crybabies.’ ‘Well what did you expect?’ said Warm Breeze ‘The bigger the monsters, the bigger their emotions.’ Fluttershy flew over to the crying Winterzilla and said ‘Awww, your family is gone for the holidays and you’re all alone?’ before wiping its tear away. The Winterzilla nodded yes, for he really was alone. ‘So that’s why he was cranky.’ said Warm Breeze ‘He was lashing out because his family’s not around to celebrate it with him.’ ‘Poor sad, sad Winterzilla.’ said Comfy Breeze as she flew up and hugged the top of the creature’s head. ‘I’m so sorry.’ said Fluttershy as she hugged the Winterzilla ‘If you calm down, I’m sure you could join us.’ ‘That’s true.’ said Genus as he stood near the monster’s foot and tapped on it for comfort ‘There’s always room for one more and it wouldn’t feel right to exclude everybody.’ The Winterzilla smiled, for it was liking the idea. The others below were smiling as well, for the beast had been calmed down. That was, until the pudding tentacle poked on Pinkie’s back, gaining her attention as she yelped, with the pudding slapping her and the Pie twins, especially Frosty away. Just before the tentacle could swat Twilight, Bolt ended up grabbing her and pulled her away from the tentacle’s attack. As they landed, with Twilight appreciating the save, she fired her magic at the tentacle. ‘Uh, how about we do the sappy stuff, after we deal with the pudding situation.’ said Bolt. ‘For once we are in an agreement.’ said Twilight. As Twilight and Moonlight continued to fire at the pudding tentacles, Rainbow, Bolt Junior, Bolt and Spike carried the others to the balcony to rejoin Cadance and the others whilst Discord teleported to them. After they were cleared, Twilight and Moonlight saw that they kept on coming. ‘How are we going to stop them?!’ said Moonlight. ‘I don’t know.’ said Twilight. ‘Uh, maybe leave the baking to me next time.’ said Pinkie as she giggled whilst she, Peacon, Lemon and Frosty were sitting in a floating barge that looked like Princess Celestia. Pinkie and the twins tasted the pudding with their own spoons. ‘Actually,’ said Pinkie after she tasted it ‘It’s pretty good.’ ‘Really good.’ said Peacon Pie. ‘Really, really good.’ said Lemon Pie. One tentacle came from behind, until Frosty whacked it away with his oar and said ‘Back foul beast.’ Twilight came from behind and shot her magic at the tentacle that tried to get its tentacle on Frosty. ‘Chancellor Puddinghead’s recipe.’ said Twilight as she and Moonlight flew over. ‘The pudding of all puddings that became the best Hearth’s Warming meal.’ said Moonlight. ‘Oooh,’ said Lemon Pie ‘So that’s why the pudding looked so familiar.’ ‘And why it tastes so good.’ said Peacon before he drooled. ‘Now that’s and impressive desert.’ said Pinkie. ‘It’s your Hearth’s Warming present.’ said Twilight. ‘We thought of something that all of you would enjoy, so we thought that this would be the best choice.’ said Moonlight. ‘Really?’ said Pinkie Pie as she leaned near the boat ‘That’s so thoughtful.’ ‘And really sweet.’ said Peacon Pie. ‘Both figurative and literal.’ said Lemon Pie. ‘It took a lot of research.’ said Twilight whilst a pudding tentacle slowly approached her ‘But I…’ Thankfully, Shining Armour destroyed the pudding before it even had a chance. Twilight and Moonlight looked up and saw that everyone and everypony was looking at them. ‘Maybe focus on the task at hand, Twiley?’ said Shining Armour. ‘Yeah,’ said Beau ‘Can you please save you’re a-dork-able moments until after you start pudding the desert in its place.’ All of them looked at him with flexed eyebrows, with Beau groaning loudly as he looked at Trixie and said ‘Thanks a lot Trix. Now you got me doing it.’ Before even Trixie had a chance to respond, they heard loud whimpering. The Winterzilla slowly backed away from the pudding that crept slowly towards it, whilst Fluttershy quickly took her husband to safety and rested on top of the Winterzilla as Warm Breeze and Comfy Breeze quickly joined them. ‘Right,’ said Twilight as she continued before she trailed off ‘The recipe needed to be exact. I think Flurry and Raging added something whilst I wasn’t looking…’ ‘Which we shouldn’t have…’ said Moonlight as she and her mother were sheepishly ashamed over their mistake. ‘But we have no idea what to add to adjust it.’ said Twilight as Pinkie and the others thought about it. Suddenly, Frosty, Pinkie and the Pie twins figured it out. ‘Teaspoon of Nutmeg?’ said Frosty. ‘Three sugarplums?’ said Lemon Pie. ‘Extra Gingerbread?’ said Peacon Pie. ‘Four more Candy Canes?’ said Pinkie Pie. ‘How do you know the recipe.’ asked Twilight. ‘Oh, that’s easy,’ said Peacon ‘It was because…’ Suddenly, Pinkie, Peacon and Lemon realized what Alice had said back at Gift Giver’s Grove. ‘I don’t get it.’ said flashback Pinkie. ‘You will.’ said flashback Alice. Then suddenly, came the part where Alice kissed Peacon. The flashback ended with Peacon staring at the sky daydreaming, with Pinkie and Lemon looking at him with flexed eyebrows, with Lemon slapping Peacon to reality. They came around and looked at the gift that the gift givers had given them. ‘Happy Hearth’s Warming Twilight!!’ shouted Pinkie as she was in Twilight’s face. Both Peacon and Lemon Pie instantly lifted their father up as he said ‘Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!!’ ‘We’re your Hearth’s Warming Helpers!!!’ shouted the Pie twins. Pinkie and the Pie twins, with Frosty in tow, jumped right into the pudding monster, causing everyone in the room to gasp at the sight. When all of a sudden, the said ingredients that they mentioned popped out of the pudding, causing them to shimmer and glow, affecting the ocean of pudding in the process. Once the glow died down, the pudding monster was no more and the pudding had been restored the way it should be. Twilight looked around, searching for any signs of Pinkie and her family. Pinkie and the twins instantly popped out with smiles on their faces. Twilight and Moonlight instantly lifted them up using their magic and hugged them with smiles on their faces. Frosty popped out next and ended up tasting the pudding. Suddenly, he gave the widest smile he had ever given and said ‘This is by far, the best pudding EVER!!!!’ Frosty laughed, as did his family. The Winterzilla peeked and saw that everything was back to normal and made a few happy grunts, with Fluttershy giggling as she held her husband close, with both their children hugging them too. Everyone on the balcony cheered for them, for they were happy that all of this was over. ‘Uh,’ said Discord as he had a half disappointed look on his face whilst he was holding a checklist and said ‘A bit reindeer ex machina, but…’ Suddenly, two of his thumbs appeared that had rocket exhausts under them, with him saying loudly with a smile ‘Two thumbs, way up!!’ The thumbs flew in the air and exploded like fireworks, lighting up the entire room, with everyone cheering, as it was quite the chaotic experience they’ve ever had. They then heard groaning from the door, and out walked none other than Flamethrower, Spike and Emily’s son. ‘What’s all the noise outside?’ said a sleepy Flamethrower. ‘Wait,’ said Moonlight ‘You were asleep the whole time?’ ‘I had a cold, okay can you blame me?’ said Flamethrower. ‘Oh, were you sick?’ asked Rarity. ‘Yep,’ said Flamethrower ‘I was a bit restless too, so Zacora gave me a sleeping potion to last for a few days so that I could sleep until my cold passed.’ ‘So that’s why y’all have been quiet for so long.’ said Apple Slice. Spike picked Emily up and flew down towards their son. Emily then stood on her knees and felt her son’s forehead and said ‘Well the fever’s gone.’ ‘That means he’s well enough to be part of the gathering.’ said Spike. ‘Wait,’ said Flamethrower ‘It’s nearly Hearth’s Warming?’ ‘You’re just in time too.’ said Discord as he created some lava cookies from out of nowhere and gave it to the young dragon. ‘Thanks Discord.’ said Flamethrower as he took a bite from his first cookie.