“—and then I floated all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. That’s where some of my balloons got caught in one of the apple trees and I wound up stuck there all night until Applejack found me the next morning,” Pinkie Pie said as she trotted alongside Fluttershy. “Thankfully, all Applejack needed to hear was that I was up there because of some super-secret Hearth’s Warming Business and she helped me down. I had been a little worried that she might leave me up there because the spirit of Hearth’s Warming Haterness might have gotten to her, but luckily she’s still on our side.”
“Spirit of…?” a very confused Fluttershy started to ask, having been somewhat preoccupied with working out how she was ever going to look Twilight or Moonwhisper in the eyes again after hearing Pinkie’s story.
“Hearth’s Warming Haterness. You know, the opposite of the Hearth’s Warming Spirit! I was a little worried it might have gotten Applejack after she stopped me from trying to get through to Moonwhisper earlier at the castle, but it looks like she’s alright after all!”
“So, does this mean you’re going to stop trying to force Moonwhisper to be more festive?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.
“Of course not! But, I do have to be sneakier about it now that Moonwhisper’s got his guard up,” Pinkie Pie replied.
“Why would he—actually, never mind, I think I know,” Fluttershy said.
“I know, right? After last night, Moonwhisper definitely knows I’m coming to teach him the joy of Hearth’s Warming, so he’ll be on the lookout for any signs of holiday cheer. If I want to get to him now, I’ll have to catch him while he’s off guard, and the best time to do that is when he’s on guard! It’s the perfect plan, he’ll never see it coming!”
“Uh huh,” Fluttershy replied somewhat listlessly. By this point, it was clear that this was a more severe bout of Pinkieing than usual, and in Fluttershy’s experience the best course of action was to try riding things out while avoiding getting swept up in the craziness herself. If Pinkie Pie noticed Fluttershy’s lack of enthusiasm, however, she didn’t show it.
“No matter how much of a grumpy pants Moonwhisper might be, he still takes his responsibilities really seriously. Responsibilities like going on patrol through town every day,” Pinkie paused for a moment to give Fluttershy an opportunity to marvel at her brilliance before continuing. “So, since Moonwhisper goes through town every day, I’m going to use that to show him how Hearth’s Warming makes everypony happy, and that should help him to start feeling the Hearth’s Warming Spirit! I even called in a favor from Prince Rutherford to have a couple of yaks visit and show off some of their holiday traditions too. That way, Moonwhisper can see how the holiday makes everycreature happy. And nocreature knows more about making things perfect than a yak, so there’s no way my plans can go horribly and unexpectedly wrong again,” Pinkie added happily.
“I didn’t even know yaks celebrated Hearth’s Warming,” Fluttershy said with genuine surprise.
“They don’t,” Pinkie replied. “The yaks celebrate something called Snilldarfest around this time of year. But, if it’s anything like Yickslurbertfest than it’s still going to be great!”
“If you say so,” Fluttershy said as the pair finally reached Ponyville’s Town Square. It would have been something of an understatement to say that Fluttershy may have been a bit dubious of Pinkie Pie’s plans. Even so, Fluttershy was forced to admit that Pinkie had truly outdone herself in terms of turning Ponyville into a showcase of the holiday spirit. The town had been transformed into a veritable Hearth’s Warming wonderland, with lights and decorations everywhere. Even the ponies themselves showed signs of Pinkie’s efforts, with everypony in sight bearing a candy cane, present or some other accoutrement of the holiday. “Wow, Pinkie, you really went all out getting the town decorated.”
“Of course! I can’t convince Moonwhisper to embrace the magic of Hearth’s Warming if I don’t give it one hundred and ten percent! No, one hundred and twenty percent! No, wait…one million percent!”
“Well, I think it looks nice, no matter how many percent you put in,” Fluttershy said quickly.
“Thanks, Fluttershy. Now, all that’s left to do is to show all this to Moonwhisper so he can let the magic of Hearth’s Warming flow through him. Speaking of whom, he should be coming by on his patrol right…about…NOW!” As Pinkie Pie spoke, she fixed her attention on a nearby side street, but Moonwhisper failed to come marching out as expected. “Huh, maybe he got caught up helping somepony out in a way that shows he has a heart of gold underneath his grump exterior. If that’s the case, then he should show up right about…NOW! Or…NOW! How about…NOW!”
“Good morning Miss Fluttershy, Miss Pie.”
“Oh, hi Moonwhisper,” Pinkie replied before turning her attention back to the side street. “Okay, Moonwhisper has got to be almost here by now, so—” Pinkie Pie froze and spun around to see Moonwhisper standing right behind her. “But, wait…when did you…how…what?”
“I adjust the specifics of my route through town on an irregular basis to prevent any potential hostile forces from using it against me,” Moonwhisper said, prompting Pinkie Pie’s eyes to twitch slightly. “In any event, the town certainly looks festive,” Moonwhisper quickly added.
“It does, doesn’t it? And see how happy everypony looks? Isn’t it great how Hearth’s Warming fills everypony with joy and happiness?” Pinkie said, recovering almost instantly from her funk.
“Yes, that is one of the things I’ve always appreciated about the—”
“And it’s not just ponies, either!” Pinkie added as she grabbed Moonwhisper and began pulling him through the streets. “Everycreature loves the holidays around this time of year. We even have some yaks visiting from Yakyakistan to share some of their traditions with us in the town square! Come on!”
“Wait, we have yaks visiting the town?” a suddenly very concerned Moonwhisper asked as Pinkie continued dragging him through the streets.
*********
“Ponies! Yaks here to show you traditional way to celebrate yak holiday Snilldarfest! Snilldarfest best holiday!” An assortment of curious ponies had gathered around the two cheerfully yelling yaks in front of Ponyville Town Hall. The pair had set up a display of an array of the traditional elements of a perfect Snilldarfest, most of which were completely unidentifiable to the assembled townsponies. Even so, the assembled ponies were happy to share the yaks’ good cheer, if for no other reason than for the fact that happy yaks were less inclined to smash things not intended to be smashed. Besides which, even if the precise elements of Snilldarfest were unfamiliar, ponies could still appreciate the holiday spirit behind them. Snilldarfest holiday treats were just as tasty even if you could pronounce what they were called, and several of the local fillies had already learned the words to a traditional yak carol.
“YAK SONG! YAK SONG! NOT VERY LONG, SING AGAIN!”
“Pony fillies sing yak song perfect!” one of the yaks said as the Cutie Mark Crusaders finished their umpteenth rendition of the song.
“Wow, even me?” Scootaloo asked. “Nocreature’s ever called my singing perfect before.”
“Yak song all about emotion, and filly singing fully embrace emotion of song. Now come, it almost time for brother yak to demonstrate most important part of Snilldarfest, smashing of traditional Snilldarfest log!” As the yak spoke, her brother dramatically whipped a cloth off a log that had been placed in the center of their demonstration area. “Hold on, that not look like yak log. Prince Rutherford say we supposed to show pony friends authentic Snilldarfest. How we supposed to show authentic Snilldarfest without authentic yak log?”
“No, Prince Rutherford say we should share Snilldarfest with pony friends, that mean help ponies do pony-style Snilldarfest. And pony-style Snilldarfest mean using pony log,” her brother retorted with an annoyed snort. “How you expect ponies to do Snilldarfest log smash if ponies need to go all way to Yakyakistan for smashing log? This log perfect.” While the two yaks bickered over the suitability of the log in question, Pinkie Pie looked on with nervous trepidation as she tried to gauge Moonwhisper’s reaction to the situation.
“Ah ha ha, you know how yaks are, it’s really important to them that things be perfect,” Pinkie Pie said with a nervous laugh. “And it’s probably extra important that they make all this perfect, since they’re trying to share their special holiday with their friends.”
“Mmhmm,” Moonwhisper replied absentmindedly. Strangely, Moonwhisper’s attention appeared to be completely focused on the log the yaks were arguing over. “Pardon me,” Moonwhisper finally said as he approached the yaks. “But, if you don’t mind my asking, where exactly did you find that log?”
“This? Yak find log in forest near pony town. Yak search for long time to find perfect Snilldarfest smashing log. Most pony wood not perfect, not look like it have right crunch when smashed. Pony want help with Snilldarfest log smash? Yak show pony proper smashing technique.”
“If that log is what I think it is, then I’m afraid we may have more than enough opportunities for smashing,” Moonwhisper said ominously as he started slowly backing away, ears fully alert as he cautiously eyed the streets leading out towards the Everfree Forest.
“Is something the matter?” Fluttershy asked. Scarcely had the words left her mouth when a bone-chilling howl could be heard from the direction of the forest, along with the panicked cries of several townsponies.
“That ‘log’ isn’t just a log. It’s a portion of a partially developed timberwolf. And, from the sounds of it, bringing it into town has attracted the rest of its pack. If you’ll all excuse me, it would appear I have work to do.” Before Pinkie could utter a word of protest, Moonwhisper dashed off in the direction of the Timberwolves howling, with the two yaks rushing off to join him. In moments, Pinkie and Fluttershy found themselves alone in the center of town, the sounds of shouting and smashing wood echoing from the direction Moonwhisper had run off in.
“On the plus side, the town square really does look very nice,” Fluttershy offered.