//------------------------------// // Act 1: First Hearths Warming // Story: Starfleet Magic Movie: How the Finch stopped Hearths Warming // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// ACT ONE Hearths Warming: an Equestrian holiday… …A time of year when ponies and other creatures would gather together with loved ones and friends, and wish each other peace and joy. This tradition was still celebrated in the new world of United Equestria, where the Equestrians and the Space Ponies Even still, others took time to remember those who were no longer with them… Commander Lightning Dawn especially did, as he stood in the New Canterlot memorial grounds. There had paid his respects to his lost parents, but also to the memorial monument of Twilight Sparkle. He just stood there in the snow, looking down at the grave with a rather downed look on his face. “Hi, Twilight…” he said to the stone. “I’m here again, like I always come every year. I’ll bet you knew I was coming.” He didn’t really expect an answer as he just looked down at the stone with a perfect carving of Twilight in it. The pony commander sighed, “I’ll never forget the very first time this holiday came into my life. I learned so much from you then, and you learned much yourself. …I remember like it was yesterday.” He flashed back to five years ago… The Great War had long since passed, and United Equestria had been formed after the destruction of the planets Equestria and Unicornicopia. The Equestrians and the Space Ponies were all learning to live together in peace and harmony, while at the same time, many Equestrians, including Twilight Sparkle and her friends decided to join up with Starfleet, to train to be better prepared for any new threat that would dare come to cause trouble to their world. Of course, even in United Equestria, the holiday traditions still came by. It was Mid-December, and New Canterlot was all white with snow on the ground and many ponies were busy decorating and preparing for the arrival of Hearths Warming… Hanging bright lights on fixtures and rooftops… Wrapping presents… Some were hard at work, helping shoppers find those special gifts. Rarity was especially hard at work, knitting mittens, sewing dresses, and much more as her mind just exploded with ideas for the holiday seasons. Some dresses were pure white as the snow, others were silver and blue like the snowy night skies, and others were red and green. “I must say,” she boasted to herself “I’ve never dreamed of getting this much done like this.” She referred to that this was her first-ever Hearths Warming since becoming a humanoid pony. This meant her body was a new shape, and therefore, all the outfits she made had to be fitting to go with her customers and their news bodies too. …Still, with her new hands combined with her magic, she was able to go through twice as much work than ever-- once she got used to her hands and how new everything was. Pinkie Pie and Applejack worked together to bake loads of cakes, pies and other goodies for Christmas parties. Still, as new cadets to Starfleet, they were to remain on schedule as well-- keep up with their training, their schooling, as well. The only one who didn’t enter the academy was Spike. He didn’t feel he had what it took yet, but he still remained a trusted ally, especially when helping Twilight with her studies and training for the future ahead, especially ever since her alicorn wings were destroyed, and she was now a Unicorn once again. Of course, with Hearths Warming season, their royal majesties, Grand Ruler Celesto, and his wife of six months, Queen Celestia, did allow the ponies to take breaks from it all, and just enjoy the time of year and have some fun… …and it was a perfect day to go ice-skating. The lake in New Canterlot was much wider than ever since the new world was formed, and this made room for many more skaters, or those who wanted to play hockey. “Here I come…!” shouted Rainbow, and she zoomed past her friends leaving a bright rainbow trail behind, nearly knocking some of her friends down… …The space ponies of course were more than ready for it. Buddy leapt up high dodging her, while Starla pirouetted out of the way. “Wow! Cool moves.” said Pinkie “I’d like to try that.” And she leapt up high doing half a spin in mid-air, before suddenly stopping, “…Uh-oh!” and she began to fall towards ice, but Applejack sped right in and caught her. “Easy there, sugar-cube… I think you need a bit more training for that stuff.” Buddy and Starla skated up to their friends, and Pinkie hated to admit out of jealousy, “You guys make it look so easy.” Starla chuckled, “We train to fight in any sort of terrain. The only problem is we’ve trained for many, many years. You’ve all just started.” Buddy agreed, “But don’t worry, you’ll get it soon. We’ll even give you some pointers.” Applejack and Pinkie were delighted, and Rainbow joined them. Starla and Buddy showed the correct stance, and how to position their bodies to leap up and make perfect landings. While the skating continued, Artie was more preoccupied in his ice-sculpting. He had made beautiful carvings of snow-ponies, a large yeti, and even a snowy volcano erupting, but easily, his best and favorite was a large heart with a big star in the middle. “Oh, it’s so pretty.” commented Fluttershy. Artie nodded and explained, “The Heart represents the Equestrians, and the star is for the Space Ponies. Both of them together is my way of showing how happy I am that we’ve joined together.” Rhymey felt the same way as he gazed at the shiny sculpture… “It really is a symbol of heart, to commemorate our new world’s start.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but ask, “How did you all live on Unicornicopia without Hearths Warming?” “Not just Hearths Warmings,” replied Artie. “There was no Hearts and Hooves Day, No Summer sun Celebration… not even any Winter Wrap-up-- since we didn’t have winters anyway.” Fluttershy looked hurt for the others, unable to imagine a life with no such holidays or celebrations. Rhymey explained, “To us space ponies, the holidays were unknown, for they are traditions not of our own. Grand Ruler had never explained these things, And never showed us the joy is brings. Perhaps it was because they brought him pain. It reminded him of his old life again. Missing his home, and Celestia too, I’m sure it would make him feel real blue.” Artie hung his head low, feeling sorry for his majesty and how all those centuries must had felt. Fluttershy almost felt like shedding a tear. “We still had celebrations.” said Artie. “We didn’t have holidays, but we had feasts, and families would gather for parties and reunions, and we all just got along with one another to celebrate being alive, and to the fall of every enemy Starfleet vanquished.” Now Fluttershy felt better, and happier and prouder to have such wonderful new friends in her life to share the joys and wonders of Hearths Warming. Twilight and Spike were making snow angels on the ground. Twilight’s looked pretty good, but Spike, due to his pudgy and pint size, looked more like a little blob, which made him sigh. “Oh, don’t feel bad Spike.” Twilight said, and she used her magic to shove more snow in and out of places to straighten the angel out to make it look better. “Gee, thanks, Twilight…” said Spike “…Although, did you have to make it look like a pony angel instead of a dragon?” Twilight fully realized her little error, and she gave a nervous smile while rubbing the back of her head. “Why don’t you make one, Rarity?” Rarity nearly gasped in shock. “And ruin my expensive, one-of-a-kind, designer parka? I think not. Why just even the slightest speck of snow would--” she stopped when suddenly a big snowball came from out of nowhere and hit her in the side. Twilight and Spike gasped, and Rarity slowly gawked down at the wet spot on her parka. Her eyes were wide and quivering as she looked ready to scream. Then she and the others heard the sounds of laughing, coming from Dyno and Myte. “Bullseye, I got her…” cheered Dyno. “Ole!” chuckled Myte. “YOU!!” shouted Rarity, and she angrily used her magic to gather up more snow into a huge ball and threw it at the twins, which they dodged easily. “GRRR!!” growled Rarity, and she made more balls and began to throw them swiftly, to which the twins kept dodging, and then hit her with a couple more balls, which actually made her crack a naughty smile. “Just you wait until I get you two…!” “Come and get us, Chica.” taunted Myte. “I knew this would break her out and have fun.” whispered Dyno. No longer caring about her clothes, Rarity really got into the fun of the snowball fight, prompting Twilight and Spike to join the fun too. “Hey, where are Lightning and Krysta?” asked Spike “They’re missing having all the fun.” “I saw them in the field.” said Twilight “Lightning was still training harder than ever, and Krysta wanted to keep him company.” Captain Lightning Dawn was hard in training… He would practice his stance and his fighter moves-- punching and kicking the air. He ran through deep snow to build up more endurance, and improve his ground speed, and then he had Krysta use her magic to chuck endless amounts of snowballs at him to improve his dodging. “Okay, Lightning, get ready for the big one!” called Krysta. “Bring it!” he called back. Krysta used her magic to form the biggest barrage of snowballs, enough to amount to a small avalanche, and Lightning looked ready to take them all on… …But when Krysta tried to launch them, the balls did not move for they had been contained in a large light barrier. The barrier had been cast by Grand Ruler Celesto, who descended upon the field with his wife, Queen Celestia. Lightning and Krysta immediately bowed to their majesties. “I thought I gave you time off, Lightning?” asked Grand Ruler. Lightning shook his head, “I never take time off from training, Master.” Celestia sighed, “That’s very noble of you Lightning, and I understand how you feel about it, but you really should take time to enjoy yourself. It’s your first Hearths Warming after all.” “She’s got a point, Lightning.” said Krysta. “I wouldn’t mind joining in on all the fun myself.” Lightning stared down at the ground, and he couldn’t deny, and he agreed to go on. He bowed again to their majesties, and then he and Krysta flew off. Celestia held her husband’s hand and rested her head on his strong shoulder, which made him feel warm. “You’ve trained him well.” she commented. Her husband nodded, “But I think he’s a little down inside. This sort of holiday may be bringing him a little emotional trauma.” It was moments like this that made him feel rather guilty and ashamed for never having revealed the Equestrian holidays to his own people while they lived on Unicornicopia. “But you know…” said Celestia “It’s your first Hearths Warming in a long time.” He gazed back at her smiling, loving face. “How I missed these times.” He and his wife shared a deep embrace in those open fields… …While unbeknownst to them, or to anyone at all… someone was watching from way up in the clouds. A large, female creature, wearing a white robe and hood, staring down at all the holiday cheer and the happiness going on; making her snicker deeply and wickedly, and around her neck, worn on a white string, shined a snowy, silver amulet in the shape of a Windigo. “Soon, Hearths Warming will be no more.”