Chapter 18: Hearth's Warming (Equestria's Christmas)
Winter has come to Ponyville. Earlier than any other village or city within Equestria. Twilight, Night Light, Velvet, Spike and Nyx were decorating the family room. Dusk and Daylight were passing the room in the hall. Then they both stopped and walked back, and looked into the room.
"Whoa!" Daylight said. "Is this...?"
"It's probably Equestria's version of it back on Earth," Dusk said.
Twilight looked towards the door, smiled and said, "Hey, you two. Come on in here and help us decorate for Hearth's Warming."
"What's Hearth's Warming?" Dusk asked.
"Oh, that's right," Twilight said. "You two haven't been here that long." She then looked over at Nyx and asked, "Hey, Nyx. You celebrated Hearth's Warming back in your Equestria. Why don't you explain the holiday to them while the rest of us decorate?"
"Okay, Twilight," Nyx said. She then led Dusk and Daylight out of the room and into the Castle's Library. Nyx then pulled out every book on Hearth's Warming and showed them to Dusk and Daylight. "Hearth’s Warming is a celebration of the founding of Equestria. It’s the day the leaders of the three pony tribes agreed to live together in harmony and friendship after almost freezing to death at the hooves of Windigos."
"Really?" Dusk asked.
"Uh-huh," Nyx replied. "And Hearth's Warming is a holiday where everypony in their family exchanges gifts and raising a flag to honor the first flag of Equestria, and the youngest one gets to put it up." She then looked over at Daylight and said, "Well, that's you."
"Yeah, I guess that's true," Daylight responds.
"So, it's almost like Christmas back home," Dusk said.
"Christmas?" Nyx asked.
"It's a holiday that celebrates the birth of the son of god," Dusk said. "I remember this one Christmas when we went to visit some relatives in Palm Springs. That was the Christmas before I died. Grandpa fell asleep with a Christmas Tree cookie on his face, and he fell asleep in the sun without sunscreen."
"He did it again," Daylight said. "But last time, with a gingerbread man." She then started laughing. Dusk and Nyx joining in.
"So, what did you do last year for the holiday?" Dusk asked, looking at Nyx.
"Actually..." Nyx said, her ears drooping. "It was my first Hearth's Warming last year. And... let's just say it started off good, but things... started going wrong during the Hearth's Warming Pageant."
"Pageant?" Dusk and Daylight asked in unison.
"Yeah, every year in every part of Equestria, the ponies put on a play to remind everypony the history of how Equestria came to be," Nyx said. "There were some paparazzi ponies trying to reveal me, which ruined the play, Uncle Shining thought I was the one who destroyed the theater in Canterlot, and he also thought I was putting Twilight under mind control. That caused Twilight to be mad at him, and I ran away crying. It wasn't until Shining Armor, along with help from Princess Luna, to find me, apologize and return me to Twilight."
"Wow," came another voice. "Guess that was a little harsh for the other me to do." The three of them looked towards the door to see Shining Armor and Cadance, who had a belly that looked about 3-4 months pregnant.
"Uncle Shining! Aunt Cadance!" the three of them called out as they were running up to the royal couple and hugged them.
"Has it really been that long since we all saw you?" Cadance asked. "I could've sworn you all were at least two inches shorter the last time we saw you."
"Nah, we been this height for a while," Dusk replied. Nyx then put her ear on Cadance's bump.
Cadance giggled when she saw that and said, "I'm afraid that the baby won't be kicking for another two months, Nyx."
"Aww..." Nyx said, getting down and walking over towards Dusk and Daylight.
"Well, you can't blame her," Shining said. "She did say that the other you back in her Equestria was pregnant."
"Yeah, I guess that's true," Cadance said. "So, where are the rest of the family?"
"This way," Dusk said, leading the grown up ponies towards the family room. Of course, they all had to move slowly for Cadance to keep up. They eventually made it to the family room of the castle. "Mom, Uncle Shining and Aunt Cadance are here!"
"Already?!" Twilight asked. She then saw Shining and Cadance coming into the room, and Twilight had the biggest grin. "You two made it!" Twilight then hugged her brother, and she and Cadance did their special nursery rhyme since they were younger.
"Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs Awake. Clap your Hooves and Do a little..." Cadance barely got to do anything else after clapping her and Twilight's hooves. Instead, she hugged her belly in pain.
"Are you okay, Cadance?" Twilight asked in worry.
"Yeah," Cadance replied. "Not to self, don't do that dance until after the baby is born."
Twilight nodded and said, "Good to know."
"So, is all of your friends have gone out of town?" Night Light asked. "I was hoping to see them here, for the Fire of Friendship."
"Well, they all have family of their own," Twilight said. "The Apples, Pinkie and the Tri-Pies left for the Pie family Rock Farm. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went to their families in Cloudsdale. And Rarity and Sweetie Belle went over to meet with their parents in Manehattan. I really wish they could've stayed for the festivities here."
"They're really missing out," Spike said.
"Yeah," Twilight said. "So, what do we have for dinner?"
"We got a nice family dinner tonight," Night Light replied. "Velvet and I are gonna prepare it." Then they headed out of there. Cadance then walked over towards the couch and laid on it.
"Oh, that's so much better," Cadance said. "It's getting harder and harder to move with a foal on the way."
"I know the feeling," Twilight said. "Although, it's gonna hurt a lot when your water breaks. Trust me. I still remember the pain when I gave birth to Dusk's new body."
"I still can't believe there's a flower that can make a mare go through pregnancy in minutes," Shining Armor said.
"And the soul of that foal has to come from a foal who made one last wish before he died," Twilight said. "Zecora, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna explained it to me."
"Well, I hope I can take on the full pregnancy as much as you took the extremely quick one," Cadance said, looking at her stomach.
Dusk looked around and asked, "Where's Spike?"
"He's waiting outside for Jumber Jack to come with the wood," Twilight said.
"Who's Lumber Jack?" Dusk asked.
"He's an Earth Pony who sells special wood this time of year," Nyx said. "Usually, when he meets a new pony, he comes up with a nickname for them. When I first met him, the Twilight in my Equestria enchanted my headband to make my coat white, and he hung me upside down and called me Little Snowflake."
Shining Armor chuckled and asked, "Was the enchantment also covering your wings, or were you wearing a sweater?"
"Sweater," Nyx said. "Twilight also said that Jack called her Brainy Grape."
Shining Armor laughed and said, "He did. I still remember that."
Then Spike came in with the Earth Pony known as Lumber Jack. He had in a bunch of logs. "Hello, Princess Twilight. "Vhat a vonderful time to see you again."
"It's good to see you, too, Jack," Twilight said.
Lumber Jack then looked over and saw Dusk, Nyx and Daylight. He then smiled and said, "Twilight Sparkle, vhy didn't you tell me your parents had some more foals? I vould've sent presents."
"Actually, they're mine," Twilight explained. "The colt by magical pregnancy, and the two fillies by legal adoption."
"They're... they're yours?" Lumber Jack asked.
"Nyx, the black alicorn, came from an alternate Equestria," Twilight said. "She was my adopted daughter from that Equestria, and she had already met you. Of course, she was in disguise. She had an enchanted headband to make her coat white, and a sweater to cover her wings. What was that nickname she called you again, Nyx?"
"Little Snowflake," Nyx said. That made Lumber Jack chuckle.
"I can see that," Lumber Jack said. "Vell, vhat about the blue filly?"
"She was originally a human once before," Twilight said. "She came from an entirely different world. Her parents died, and Princess Luna brought her here. But there were two more reasons why she was brought here. One, her abusive aunt and cousin wanted to treat her like a slave just like they did with her older brother."
"Vow," Lumber Jack said. "That vould've been bad. And the other reason?"
"Well, let's just say that her brother's body died in this world, only to be put into another young foal, here," Twilight said. She then looked over at Dusk. Lumber Jack looked over at the colt. They saw Daylight walking up to Dusk and she laid next to him on his right side. Nyx came over and laid on Dusk's left side. Twilight sighed and said, "They three of them really have gotten used to each other."
"Yeah," Lumber Jack said. "Well, I must unload these logs your father ordered."
"Allow me," Twilight said, lighting up her horn. She then levitated the logs to box that was newly built, thanks to Applejack. "Thanks for the assist, Jack. How much do I owe you?"
"Not a bit," Lumber Jack replied. "Your father had prepaid for these logs about a veek ago. Asked me to deliver them to this castle. Vhich I might say, it's very amazing."
"Thank you, Jack," Twilight said. "I'll see you next year." Lumber Jack nodded and headed out of there. Twilight then looked over at the kids and smiled. "There's one more tradition to Hearth's Warming that everypony does." She then levitated some dolls that looks like her and Spike.
"The Hearth's Warming Dolls!" Cadance said. "I remember that tradition. Aunt Celestia and I did it together every Hearth's Warming ever since she took me in."
"Yeah," Shining said. "Let's get to making them."
"Oh, boy," Dusk said. "Not the needles."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
"Aunt Bonnie made me sew up a tear on her favorite dress before I came here," Dusk said. "But I kept pricking my finger. Then she locked me up in my room for getting blood on her dress."
"Well, you won't have to worry about that," Twilight said. "Now that you have magic, you will never prick any limbs today." Dusk then looked up at his horn and smiled.
"So we can make our own dolls without lifting a finger? Er... Hoof?" Daylight asked.
"Yes," Twilight said. "And, before Rarity and Sweetie Belle left, I asked for her help for picking out the fabrics for the dolls that match your coat and mane colors. Luckily, Dusk and I share the exact same colors."
"Of course, we'll have to shorten the length of the mane and tail of Dusk's doll to make sure who's who," Spike said, chuckling. "And maybe a little smaller than Twilight's."
"Good point, Spike," Twilight said.
"On the night of Hearth's Warming Eve, we all made a tradition to open one present before bed," Shining said. "Spike was because of that tradition because he was always eager to see what he got." That made Spike blush.
"I don't remember doing that last year," Nyx said. "Well, maybe it was because of the theater in Canterlot getting destroyed by that paparazzi pony chasing me through the rafters."
"Well, they might have wanted you to take it easy after what happened," Twilight said.
"And after what I said in that Equestria," Shining said.
"Shining, I'm getting hungry," Cadance said. "Double for the baby. How about we start on the doll making in the dining room? That way, we can make the dolls and wait for the food to be ready."
"Of course, Cadance," Shining said. "That is, if it's okay with Twylie."
"Sure we can," Twilight said. "Let's get you to the dining room." Twilight and Shining helped Cadance up and all of them headed out of the room towards the dining room.
Later that night, Dusk was walking down the hall from the kitchen, still a little sleepy. But then something caught his ears. The sound was coming from the library, and he heard a mare yelling. Dusk was more awake and he went into the library. He looked over and saw a pile of books on the other side of the room, across from the mirror. Dusk walked over to the pile of books and used his magic to unbury who was under there. And under the pile was Sunset Shimmer.
"Ugh..." Sunset said. She then looked over at Dusk with her vision a little out of focus. "Princess Twilight? Is that you?" Then her vision came clear and she saw Dusk.
"No, sorry, Sunset," Dusk replied. She then helped Sunset up and Dusk then put the books back where they were before. "What brings you back here to Equestria?"
"Well, I'm just here to..." Sunset trailed off. "I actually came here to..." She then sighed. "Well, since it's the holidays, my friends are out with their families. And since I don't have family there, I might as well try to see my family here." She then sighed. "I just wish I had the courage to try and reunite with them. But after everything I've done in the past, how can I even see them."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Dusk said. "You got the courage to come back here. You can do the rest. Maybe have a little push to get you the rest of the way."
"Wow," Sunset said. "Thanks." She then pulled a photo of her and her family. "This is my family right here."
"Wow," Dusk said, looking at the photo. "Nice family."
"Thank you," Sunset said. Dusk then looked at the colt in the picture.
"Who's the colt?" Dusk asked.
"That's my little brother, Sunburst," Sunset said. "Last time I saw him, he was attending Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." She then sighed. "I helped him out with his magic. I hope he was doing alright without me there. He also had some help from a friend of his before he got it. A filly named Starlight."
Dusk raised his head a little bit in shock and asked, "Starlight? Starlight Glimmer?"
"Yeah, that was her name," Sunset said. "You know her?"
"Yeah... I know her, in a way," Dusk said. He then sighed. "I don't know how, but she's angry at Cutie Marks for some reason. She even found a spell to removed them and replace them with equal marks."
"What?!" Sunset asked, before covering her mouth. She then quietly said, "What? How? It's not like..." She then got an idea. "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Before he got enrolled in the school, Sunburst had recently got his Cutie Mark."
"Starlight must've been there with him when he got his Cutie Mark," Dusk said.
"Mom and Dad immediately took him to Canterlot to get him enrolled," Sunset said. "He must've forgot to keep in touch with Starlight when he went to the school. She must've lost it and wanted revenge on Cutie Marks for her friend moving away."
"Okay," Dusk said. "Now we know the why. Maybe it's time that the two reunite. But finding Starlight is going to be a challenge." Sunset nodded.
Meanwhile... Back on Earth...
Devon was sitting in his room, grumpy that he failed to get his cousins back. He was even more grumpy when he heard that his Mom got the electric chair. Just then, Starlight teleported in.
"What are you doing here?!" Devon asked.
"I'm here to get you out," Starlight said. "I'm sorry about your mother. Now grab my..." Starlight held out a hoof, but Devon smacked it away.
"No," Devon said. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You brought me and my mom to that place to get my good for nothing cousins back to Earth, but it all went down in flames because of you." He then showed an ankle brace on his ankle. "Plus, they have the police keeping their eyes on me. Only a police official can remove it, and I'm not allowed to leave the place. So, our partnership is over! I don't ever want to see you again!"
Starlight then got angry and said, "Fine. I don't need you anymore, anyway. Have fun here." She then teleported away, leaving Devon all by himself.