“Come one, Applejack! We have to get to Twilight’s Castle as soon as possible! All of Hearth’s Warming Eve could depend on it!” Pinkie Pie cried out as she led Applejack on a mad dash through the festively decorated streets of Ponyville.
“Ah’m comin’, Pinkie!” Applejack said as she charged through the snow. “But, just what is this all about, anyway. Y’all didn’t really tell me anythin’ when y’ grabbed me out of the bar, ‘cept that it was some kind of emergency. Ah know it ain’t another map mission ‘cause mah flank ain’t glowin’, but that’s just about all Ah know.”
“Well, I was in my party planning cave getting ready for all the fun things that are going to go on during the holidays when suddenly it hit me!”
“What did?” Applejack asked.
“A box of streamers. Gummy knocked it down by accident while he was crawling around on the shelves. But, while I was putting everything away, I realized that this is going to be the first Hearth’s Warming that Moonwhisper has spent in Ponyville,” Pinkie said.
“Yep, it sure will. And that’s nice and all, but Ah don’t really see why it’s somethin’ worth kickin’ up a fuss over. Ah’m pretty sure Twilight’s got all that under control on her end.”
“Don’t you see, Applejack? Moonwhisper may not be a bad guy or anything, but he’s still a super grumpy-pants most of the time, and if Hearth’s Warming stories have taught me anything, its that grumpy-pantses always hate Hearth’s Warming and need to be taught the spirit of the holiday!”
“Uh huh,” Applejack said, starting to seriously doubt that she and Pinkie Pie were in agreement as to what sort of things constituted emergencies.
“If we don’t do something, Moonwhisper’s bad mood could ruin the holidays for Twilight and make her loose her Hearth’s Warming spirit too! And if the Princess of Friendship loses her Hearth’s Warming spirit, then that could make ponies all over Equestria stop caring about the holiday! It would be the end of Hearth’s Warming! And then, with Hearth’s Warming gone ponies would start being mean and fighting each other and the Windigos would come back and Equestria would be buried under snow and ice for a thousand years!”
“Are y’all really sure it’s all as serious as that?” Applejack asked. The farm pony knew from long experience that dislodging a ridiculous notion from Pinkie Pie’s mind was often akin to disarming a bomb. It required a delicate touch, and one wrong move could have explosively messy results. Still, Applejack felt compelled to try, if for no other reason than the fact that she was already caught in the metaphorical blast radius. “Besides, we don’t even really know how Moonwhisper feels about Hearth’s Warmin’ really. Fer all we know he might actually like the holiday.
“Oh Applejack,” Pinkie Pie said sadly as she shook her head. “If only things were that simple. Trust me, Moonwhisper needs help to see the wonders of Hearth’s Warming Eve, and I’m going to open his eyes or my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie! Which it is! Unless mom and dad and my sisters have all been lying to me, but why would they do that? I mean, I guess it could be some kind of prank, but that would be a really long time to set up a prank, even for me. Plus, dad doesn’t even like pranks. Nope, my name’s definitely Pinkamena Diane Pie.” By the time Pinkie had resolved her brief existential crisis, the pair had arrived at the front doors to Twilight’s castle, the outside of which already bore a festive assortment of garlands and lights.
“Ah dunno, Pinkie, Twilight’s place sure looks like it’s been done up proper fer the season. Are y’all still sure Moonwhisper’s some holiday hatin’ grouch?” Applejack asked hopefully. Pinkie, however, didn’t seem particularly surprised by the revelation.
“Well, dud, Applejack, of course the castle’s going to have been decorated. It is Twilight’s, after all,” Pinkie Pie said as if she were explaining the painfully obvious. “I didn’t think Moonwhisper would suck out all the holiday spirit from Twilight that quickly. Now come on! We have a Hearth’s Warming to save!” Without waiting for Applejack to come up with another objection, Pinkie Pie knocked on the doors before letting herself in, Applejack reluctantly following behind.
The castle’s foyer was uncharacteristic mess, with various open boxes of Hearth’s Warming decorations strewn across the floor. Twilight herself was rushing from box to box with a long scroll held in her aura, while Moonwhisper was cheerfully humming a Hearth’s Warming carol to himself as he levitated streams of garland across the hall’s columns.
“Are you sure we have enough tinsel for the bannisters on the upper floor? It just feels like we’re going to need more than this,” Twilight said as she looked over a box overflowing with coils of silvery tinsel.
“I assure you, Twilight, I was quite thorough when calculating how much tinsel we’d need for the planned application and I confirmed this morning that our supplies meet our requirements allowing for a minimum ten percent margin for error,” Moonwhisper replied. “Barring any major unforeseen issues, we should be able to have the entire castle decorated well ahead of schedule.”
“Alright, well, if you’re sure then – oh, Pinkie, Applejack, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked as she finally noticed her friends’ arrival.
“To be honest, Ah’m startin’ to ask mahself that same question,” Applejack replied, much to Twilight’s confusion. Pinkie, meanwhile, ignored Twilight’s question entirely as she rushed over to Moonwhisper, who was still focused on decorating.
“Hello there,” Pinkie Pie said, trying far too hard to sound casual. “How have you been doing?”
“I’m fine, Miss Pie, just setting things up for Hearth’s Warming. Will you and Applejack be staying for lunch? Spike’s been working on some new recipes and –”
“I NEED TO SHOW YOU THE MAGIC OF HEARTH’S WARMING!” Pinkie suddenly yelled as she grabbed Moonwhisper’s face in her front hooves.
“…What?” Moonwhisper managed to blurt out before Twilight rushed over and pulled Pinkie off of him.
“Pinkie Pie! What in Equestria are you doing?” Twilight demanded as she levitated Pinkie Pie away.
“Pinkie’s somehow gotten it into her head that Moonwhisper here hates Hearth’s Warmin’, and that fer some reason it’s up to her to teach him the meanin’ of the holiday or somethin’,” Applejack explained.
“Pinkie, Moonwhisper doesn’t hate Hearth’s Warming,” Twilight said. “In fact, he’s been helping me get everything set up for Hearth’s Warming since yesterday. Why in Equestria would you think he hates Hearth’s Warming?”
“In fairness, I do fit the stereotype of the villains typically featured in foal’s holiday stories,” Moonwhisper mused, as much to himself as to anypony else, before he noticed the stares he was receiving from Twilight and Applejack. “Some of my former commanders found it amusing to assign me to read to orphans during the holidays, so I’m familiar with how those stories usually go. For what its worth, I do actually rather like Hearth’s Warming overall.”
“See, Pinkie Pie?” Twilight asked as she plopped Pinkie back down. “Moonwhisper doesn’t hate Hearth’s Warming after all. Now, why don’t you and Applejack join us for lunch and—” Before Twilight could finish her sentence, Pinkie Pie darted back towards Moonwhisper. With an uncharacteristically intense expression on her face, Pinkie Pie leaned in close to Moonwhisper until her face was mere inches away from his.
“You may have fooled everypony else, but I’m onto to you, buster,” Pinkie said. “I’m going to fill you up with holiday cheer no matter what.”
“Really, I’m not trying to fool anypony, I really do enjoy the holiday,” Moonwhisper protested as he looked over to Twilight for assistance. “I’m being completely honest; Hearth’s Warming is a representation of the values I’m sworn to protect as a member of the guard. Also, Penumbral Dusk did hate the holiday, so I supposed the argument could be made that I also enjoy Hearth’s Warming out of spite, but still.” As Moonwhisper spoke, he slowly backed away from Pinkie, who continued to advance until Applejack grabbed her by the tail and yanked her back.
“Alright, Ah think this has gone just about far enough,” Applejack said as she began to drag Pinkie Pie away. “Sorry about all this. Ah’d love to stay fer lunch, but Ah think it’d be best if Ah got this one somewhere se can simmer down.” Twilight nodded in agreement as Applejack proceeded to drag Pinkie Pie out the door as the latter protested.
“But I haven’t gotten him to see the magic of Hearth’s Warming yet! We didn’t even get to have a festive and uplifting musical number!”
“Yeah, that’s a real shame there. Now come on,” Applejack grumbled as she dragged the pouting pink pony out the door, leaving Twilight and Moonwhisper to ponder just what exactly had just happened.
“Was that strange by Miss Pie’s standards?” Moonwhisper asked. “I don’t know her nearly as well as you do, and her baseline behavior makes it hard to tell sometimes.”
“No, that was definitely strange even by Pinkie Pie standards,” Twilight replied. “I wonder what brought all this on, anyway?”
“Celestia only knows. The holidays do tend to have an odd effect on ponies, though,” Moonwhisper added with a shrug. “So, what would you say are the odds that Pinkie’s going to let this go and we won’t hear any more about it?”
Twilight thought about it for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “Probably about the same odds Discord will make a New Years Resolution to not cause any trouble. And then actually keep it.”