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// Chapter 2- A Huge Hearth’s Warming Eve part 2 
// Story: Holiday Love Keeps Getting Bigger 
// by BottleH2O 
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In the kingdom of Equestria, everypony was sleeping. Not a single creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Well, aside from the nearly 7000-meter-tall princess of love causally stepping over a mountain as she walked over the landscape. Cadence giggled musically as she leaned down and nuzzled a nearby village with her snoot, providing all the little sleeping ponies a sense of comfort and safety as the slept. 

Cadence’s horn lit up as she did, and from her gift sack, floated out hundreds of tiny little gifts that made their way over to all of the little houses that were scattered about by her hoof. The brightly wrapped presents settled down by the front of doorsteps, magically passing through windows like they were ghosts and neatly placed under each ponies respective decorated tree.

With a satisfied smile, the colossal princess of love stood back up, her immense shadow spanning for miles across the landscape under the shining moonlight as she continued her country wide trek. With another mighty step her huge hoof landed with a BOOM! Next to another remote village. This one looked like one of the most backwater villages she’s ever seen. With very few houses and only a single general store. But being as attuned to emotions as she was, the pink titaness was able to pick out all of the love sprinkled in the air from the tightly knitted community. 

It warmed her heart to see all of her little ponies continuing to surprise her with all of the ways they spread their love and joy to each other’s hearts. Cadence summoned her magic again, its dark blue aura swirling around the gigantic arcane spiral on her forehead as she levitated more presents from her bag and gently set them down next to, and inside each one of the houses.

“This is such a wonderful community,” Cadence thought fondly as she stood tall over it, her hooves big enough to squash the entire village and surrounding mountains around it “For as poor as they are, these ponies still manage to maintain a positive attitude and a smile on their faces as they uplift others,” 

A sad smile settled upon her lips as she looked down at the speckle that was the backwater town, it laid bare and slightly unkept below her as the extremely little ponies slept, blissfully unaware of the fact that the titanic crystal empress towered above them. As Cadence eyed up the mountains in the surrounding area, an idea suddenly popped into her mind. Lighting up a metaphorical lightbulb above her head as she took in the state of the town and the lack of a weather factory.

“That’s what’s missing!” She thought gleefully “The poor little dears did everything they could to make a memorable Hearth’s warming eve, from the trees to the food they cooked, and even the gifts they made themselves. But if I really want to set the mood for tomorrow then they’ll need a little snow!”

Cadence thundered over to where the ant hill sized mountains were and unfurled a wing from her side, its shadow covering the landscape like a blanket as the pink titaness lowered it towards the ground and, as gently as somepony her size could, scooped up a wingfull of snow off the mountain.

Giggling, Cadence made her way back over to the remote village and began to sprinkle some of the snow down onto the town below. She smiled softly as the village began to resemble something out of a hearth’s warming greeting card as the snow continued to fall. Cadence was certain that this would be a welcome and pleasant surprise to the ponies down below who wanted a white Hearth’s warming day, namely the fillies and colts living in the town. Her quick emotion probe of the town had confirmed that. With no weather factory present in the town, it was really rare that the residents got to see that much of a weather change, and Cadence wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity to give the little ones something they wanted so badly.

“A bland Hearth’s Warming Day? Ha! Not on my watch! This gigantic mom is gonna make sure that tomorrow is going to be something special little ones, this I promise you,” Cadence thought with a determined look on her face as she leaned down once more to give the residence and town one last loving nuzzle. Her gargantuan pink muzzle lowered itself from the sky again, blotting out all light as it smothered the entire miniature town in it’s warmth and rubbed back and forth against it.

Smiling, Cadence stood up tall, her head above the clouds as she heaved the gift bag over her back, now considerable lighter due to how many presents she had given out. With a satisfied nod she pulled her Santa hat over her ears to keep them warm as she set out again, causing more tremors to rock the world as she went, determined to deliver more presents to the fillies and colts of the world.





A gigantic, muscular, blue and white hoof landed next to Manehatten with a soft THOOM! Rattling the ground. Blinking, Shining Armor looked down as he noticed the pebble sized city by his leg. “Well,” he thought “Good thing I had the hindsight to cast that spell on Cady and I so we don’t hurt anypony. I might have accidently stepped on that city and would not have even noticed!”

Warm air blew through Shining’s nose as he exhaled in relief that no one was harmed. The wind blowing from his nostrils parting a few clouds by his head as the Emperor of the Crystal Empire activated his magic once more.

With a soft Pop! Shining’s now mountainous book materialized into view. It’s gigantic shadow covering a good portion of the country as it floated ominously in the sky in Shining’s magic. Shining Armor opened up the book and started flipping through the places he had visited thus far. He had been to a few remote villages, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and Appleloosa. All of which time he had stopped his globetrotting and delivered his presents. 

Before he and Cadence had split up, Cadence had casted a spell on their lists of families in the Crystal Empire. Their books had expanded in content and now reflected all of the ponies in Equestria as well as the cities they were in. For each one of the towns that Shining Armor and Cadence visited and delivered presents to, their names would be crossed out in red ink, signaling to the two of them that said family’s gifts had been delivered. And the best part was, Cadence had taken a page out of her dear sister in law’s book and organized all the pages to show every town and city in the nation and all the families that lived in each one. This way they could keep track of where they went as they went about on their global present delivering.

Shining’s horn flashed pink, and he watched with a gentle smile as millions of little gifts floated out of his sack of presents and fly off towards the inhabitants of the city. Shining turned his attention back to his book and gave a content nod as he saw all the names in Manehatten get crossed off in red ink.

“Excellent, just a few more stops to go,” Shining though happily as the last of the presents floated over to the final building. As that was going on, he skimmed through the book once more, taking note of all the places that he had gone to, and that Cadence had gone. He had taken all the areas on the East and Cadence had taken all the locations on the West, with the two of them moving towards each other. Shining’s ears perked up as he realized that his next stop was Ponyville. A small, well-intentioned smirk crossed the colossal captain of the guard’s face as he quietly closed his book and stuffed it into the gift bag.

“Ready or not Twily, your REALLY big bro is coming to town,” Shining thought with a chuckle and smile on his face “What kind of gift should I leave Twilight and Spike?” Shining mused out loud as he stepped over Manehatten, the mere sound of his powerful voice shaking the air around him. Shining’s titanic form displacing the air as he went, sending powerful drafts of wind shooting in every direction, buffering the snow on the ground. His hoof landed on the ground outside the city with another THOOM! As he set off towards the tiny town where his little sister and even littler brother resided. 

As Shining walked over the tiny kingdom, shaking it to the core with each step, and dispersing more presents to the various locations that he passed, Emperor Shining Armor thought back to his little sister, brother, as well as his children. For as long as he could remember, he has been looking out for others and taking care of them. First it was Twilight when she was a filly, she had been so young and innocent back then. Shining remembered when she had gone to her entrance exam at the castle as a filly, she had been so nervous at first, and then he remembered seeing the joy on her face when she came back with Spike. Shining at first had been apprehensive about this as the caring older brother. Twilight had been so adamant about raising Spike by herself but Shining knew about the risks of having dragons near ponies. Tales of ponies being burnt to a crisp and being eaten by fierce dragons. But Twiliy was adamant about it, and before he knew it, Shining had another younger sibling. But even after Spike had proven that he was harmless, Shining Armor had found himself enjoying looking after the little dragon, and was proud to call him a little brother.

The moment where he found himself looking after another soon came to pass again after his marriage. After his dear daughter Flurry Heart was born. And being the good father that he was, Shining did everything in his power to love and protect her. This even applied to Thorax as well. He will admit that when Thorax first showed up at his doorstep, his initial feeling towards him were not the best because of the traumatic events that had been done to him by Chrysalis. And he unfairly projected that onto Thorax when he and Spike confronted everypony in the throne room. But after taking Thorax under his and Cadence’s wing, Shining felt nothing but a blossoming paternal love to him as well, especially when the young changeling recalled the horrible conditions at the hive and how poorly his mother, Queen Chrysalis treated him for being different. It was there Shining made up his mind to be a better parent the that evil queen ever was (which admittedly wasn’t hard for anypony to pull off) and do his absolute best to help raise Thorax and guide him on the path so he could become the best changeling he could be. 

It was then, Shining realized as he strolled past a cluster of mountains with his footsteps shaking the snow off them, that he enjoyed looking after others. More specifically the small, tiny, and helpless. Which is why, at least he suspected, that he got an ant farm in his later years before marriage to take care of. He enjoyed taking care of the little ones and watch them grow in their habitat. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside knowing that he played a large (pun intended) part in helping them survive and grow. Cadence would also use to tease him and say it’s because he enjoyed taking care of tiny things. Which wasn’t untrue. Shining blushed a little as he walked, realizing that may have had something to do with why he decided to remain as a giant for the night. This way he was fulfilling some unconscious desire to help and take care of the little guy. And that still seemed to translate into his normal life now, when he wasn’t over several miles tall. He still enjoyed taking care and loving others, which he was doing in the form of fathership, looking after and raising Thorax and Flurry. And even now as he traversed the miniature land, Shining Armor still felt like he was accomplishing that. Now that he was standing at a mighty 7000 meters tall he felt like he was fulfilling his role and duty as a parent by looking after all the fillies and colts in the kingdom for Hearth’s Warming Eve and delivering them as well as their families gifts for the holidays. And that fact made him feel good about himself and had seemingly lit a protective fire of care in his heart.

A smile graced Shining Armors lips at the revelation as he made his way over to Ponyville, covering thousands of feet with each step. Perhaps this was why he was trying so hard to look after everypony, from helping to raise Twilight to Flurry and Thorax and now even helping to guide the Crystal ponies to a better tomorrow as their new emperor after so many years under Sombra’s rule. After spending nearly all of his life caring for others it seemed only natural, he’d want to do it in his adult life as well.

As the titanic ruler reached his destination, Shining shook his head to clear the thoughts so he could focus on the task in front of him. He ignited his horn again and floated all the presents to their recipients down below by his gigantic hooves. Nodding with a satisfied smile at the act, Shining turned his head towards the outskirts of the town was. Where a certain tiny crystal tree was. Chucking to himself, Shining stomped up to the small crystal speck on the ground. The little castle coming up just a little higher than ground level next to his gargantuan blue hooves. Shining didn’t even bother with magic for this, he simply reached down with his hoof and tore the gnat sized castle out of the ground like it was sand. Shining held the little tree up to his blue eye and looked down, smirking at just how tiny it was now. He sent along a few very special gifts he had reserved specifically for Twilight and Spike down into their castle: A huge stack of rare and new comic books for Spike along with extensions to his ogres and oubliettes game, and a signed by the author collector’s edition of advanced spellcasting for Twilight as well as a five-foot-tall fluffy smarty pants plushy.

But as the gigantic stallion was about to set the little castle down, the door to the balcony opened and out stepped an extremely sleepy Twilight. 

Twilight yawned and blinked sleepily a few times before looking up at the sky, taking in the aqua blue eye looking down at her. 

“S-Shiny?” Twilight yawned, smacking her mouth a little as she tiredly looked skyward “I heard a noise outside and came to look…” 

Twilight trailed off as she let out a small snore, she stumbled a little on her hooves before falling onto her rump. She let out a cute little snort and jolted awake again.

“It’s ok Twily, it’s all just a dream,” Shining Armor spoke as softly and gently as he could, his inner big brother taking over momentarily “You should head back to bed sleepyhead, there’s going to be a big surprise for you and Spike tomorrow,”

“O…Ok Shiny,” Twilight yawned again, her sleepiness not allowing her tired brain to register the situation. The vibrations in the air from Shining’s voice seemed to sooth her because before she knew it, the tiny purple filly was asleep again. 

Shining’s eyes danced with mirth at the familiar scene as a soft pink hue surrounded his sleeping little sister and gently carried her back into her room and tucked her in. Very reminiscent of when the two of them would try to stay up all night for Santa but Twilight would fall asleep after some time, so Shining would tuck her back into bed before retiring himself, because after all, Santa surely wouldn’t visit their house if two foals were waiting for him right?

Smiling, Shining Armor carefully set the tiny castle back down into the ground by his hooves and repaired any damage with a quick flash of magic. As he towered over Ponyville Shining quietly materialized the book in front of him and check it over. With a grin he saw that Ponyville was the last stop for the night, it was time to meet up with Cadence at the Crystal Empire. 

Shining turned to go, but as he took a few steps he stopped and turned back around, the giant looking back down at the miniscule town on the ground behind him. “Happy Hearth’s Warming LSBFF,” Shining said quietly before taking his leave, his hoofsteps sending quakes through the ground as he went, pleasantly rocking the little ones behind him to back to sleep.





The Crystal Empire remained quiet through the night as the residents slept, the excitement of their rulers growing into unimaginable sizes from before had gone completely unnoticed by the individuals. And it would remain this way as the two titans returned from their kingdom wide walk of gift giving. Aside from poor Sunburst, who was waiting outside the royal suite with a spellbook in tow, having finally found the counter spell.

Shining and Cadence met up back at the Crystal Empire, the both of them sharing a loving nuzzle as they loomed over the mountains

“How was it sweetie?” Cadence asked, nestling her head against her husband’s broad chest. Shining kissed her forehead as he replied “Very enjoyable Cady, it felt great to give a little to all the families in the Kingdom. Just as a little thank you to them for all they have done for us over the years, after all, what is royalty without loyal subjects who love and trust them? They matter just as much as we do after all,”

Cadance giggled and booped Shining’s nose playfully “Now that’s the right answer dear, I raised you well in the wonderful world of royalty,”

Shining simply smiled as the two of them looked down at their little empire, a warm feeling grew in their hearts as they took it in. It was such a different perspective from up there, knowing that down below there were thousands of tiny little ponies who put their faith and trust into them and that they would lead them to a better future. They put all their trust into them, and now the two royals were happily repaying their gratitude for the holidays. 

With a quick flash of pink magic, Shining opened his and Cadence’s gift bags again and sent all the remaining presents down to the houses below, each one of the gifts, like all the others that were sent to every family before, were magically inclined to become something that the recipient would want for the holidays. 

After that was done, Cadence had one more surprise in store, the Empress of the Crystal empire reached down and plucked the little thing out of the ground, holding their empire snugly in her wing, her eyes filled with love and care as she beheld the tiny kingdom. Cadence leaned down and smothered the little empire with one last loving kiss, her lipstick leaving its mark down as a mountain sized kiss was printed onto the empire below. Giggling musically she held the Crystal Empire up higher so she and Shining could lean in, and together, the two royal titans said softly to their tiny subjects “Happy Hearth’s Warming our little ponies,”

Cadence gently set their Empire back down on the ground and spied little Sunburst in the castle, completely covered in her lipstick from the kiss and clinging to the rail of the balcony as his entire world was set down by his Empress. Cadence smiled softly as she spied the tiny mage down below “Sorry sweetie, I didn’t mean to be too rough handling the empire. You weren’t hurt, were you?”

Sunburst shook his head, despite the scary experience, he still had a huge smile on his face, knowing deep down just how kind and caring his two rulers had to be to do something as incredible as what they did just now, delivering presents to literally every family in Equestria as well as one final, special message for their home.

Cadence brightened at Sunburst’s answer “Thank goodness, if it’s all right with you Sunburst, can you return Shining and I back to normal now?”

“Ok Princess Cadence!” Sunburst hollered up to the pink titaness and begain to charge the counterspell. And with a quick flash of orange magic, the rulers of the Crystal Empire found themselves standing on their balcony with a grinning Sunburst behind them.

“Welcome back your majesties,” he said “Did you enjoy your walk?”

The two laughed and Shining patted Sunburst on the back “We sure did buddy, we sure did.”

After everything was cleared up, everypony thought it was well past time for all of them to turn in for the night. Sunburst headed back to his quarters while Shining Armor and Cadence discreetly headed back to their suite, trying not to wake up their children. Cadence and Shining removed their Santa hats from their heads and set them down on the dresser. The two of them settling down inside their bed, eagerly awaiting the next day as well as the anticipated joy on everyponies faces when they see their special gifts from the royal parents. And as the two settled in for the night, one last gift from the present sack had been put under their tree, courtesy of Shining Armor.

And it said: Happy Hearth’s Warming! From yours truly, Shining Armor, Cadence, Flurry Heart and Thorax