//------------------------------//
// Hearth's Warming Day Spoof - Eastern Part of Canterlot 
// Story: Chess Game of the Gods Spoof Chapters! 
// by Cloud_Surfer 
//------------------------------//


Written by Proud-Dust


This chapter and further future chapters of the Christmas spoof can be read in anachronic order. 

The Eastern Part of Canterlot –Orphan Finding Incident
 
Her cheeks were hollow, unlike the hearts of those around her. Her breath was foggy, matching the bleak future she held for her life. The snow on her mane clung with the same grip like the anger in her heart. With only a cardboard box and newspapers, thrown by a family’s careless whim, covering her, she was holding onto the only warmth she had at hoof.
 
From the alley, she watched as the merry lights danced, the way ponies’ faces lit as they went off with their families by their sides and the songs that were sung for the merry nature of Hearth’s Warming Eve. All of it disgusted her. The lights blinded her eyes, the faces mocked her and the songs tore violently into her ears.
 
She shifted her newspapers to cover more of her body. She needed to stay warm into order to get by the cold night of Canterlot. She snickered, with only herself to hear it. Every other filly only had to worry about whether or not they were getting presents. She, on the other hand, had the torture of winter’s frigid touch to live through.
 
She shivered and sneezed. She thought about how cold these Canterlot nights were. For a few years now, she had to endure this period of white for a while. Her body didn’t adjust to the biting snowflakes that mercilessly dropped on her. Perhaps she would never get suited to them.
 
She gazed at the foals on the streets, watching them throw snowballs at each other with their coats and garments. She grinned sadly and rocked her body for more warmth, imagining a world where she was having fun with friends.  When the brief illusion of imagination faded, she settled for assuming her cardboard box to be a fort, herself, a queen and the snow, enemy troops attacking her fort.
 
Engarde, she thought. Occupying her time for a few minutes were the enemy troops being stopped by the strength of her fort. She smiled, no one could stop her. With a hoarse laugh, the fantasy propelled her hooves forward to squash the enemy troops. With a forceful push, she lifted herself away from the box and tripped on the snow. Her mouth was covered in dirt snowflakes.
 
It was then she realized what her fantasies were always: fantasies.
 
With what little dignity she retained, she crawled into the box and continued to hold herself, grabbing the newspapers that had fallen from her earlier descent. She continued to occupy her time by viewing the ponies that seemed to have nothing better to do than wander Canterlot’s white scenery.
 
Her eye was caught by a cloaked creature. It didn’t move like the other ponies, having two feet on the ground instead of four. Its face and body were covered by the cloak and only its sharp claws showed. She felt a fear towards the strange being. An inescapable claw tugged at her heart violently. She was frozen, unable to move.
 
It spotted her spying on it. Her eyes screamed for it to stay away from her. It took a few steps towards her. Go away, she thought with a scream in her head. The creature walked forward until it faced her. The tension was suffocating to her. Her pupils expanded to the size of saucers.
What was it going to do to her? She thought with anxiety in her mind. She shut her eyes tight, awaiting for what was going to happen.
 
A few seconds of stillness passed. The creature breathed out and in heavily, like it was preparing something. She dared to crack open one eye, expecting a deadly surprise. Her eyes widened at what she saw: The creature holding a sketchbook, scrawling in it with a pencil. After she realized she wasn’t going to get hurt anytime soon, she craned her neck to see what was hidden behind that cloak. This creature’s quite tall, she realized. She decided to wait until the creature was done doing what it was doing in its sketchbook, suspicion turning into curiosity.
 
The scratching noise of pencil against paper stopped. The creature lowered the sketchbook, turning it to let her see what was drawn. She saw what was looked like her, smiling and having fun in the land of snow. She sniffed at what was once reality. Just as suddenly, she sneered. Harsh reality surrounded her as the snowflakes ate at her body warmth. She glared at the covered from head to toe being. How fortunate it was, to be clothed in such warm fabrics to protect it from winter’s harsh bite.
 
The creature let out a big sigh and set down its hood, revealing a snout and a face, blacker than smog with green markings. “Hi, I’m Jack Daniel.” The creature said gently, like a whisper. It started to kneel down to her level. He descended to the point of facing her with only the minimum of neck craning. “Would you like me to take you away warm?”
 
She stared at the strange creature. Where would it take her, to its lair for feeding? Then again, it wasn’t tried to hurt or eat her yet. She didn’t want to think too hard about it. The only thought that invaded her mind was the cold. She nodded silently and exposed herself to more of the snow.
 
The creature called “Jack Daniel” smiled innocuously at her. Lifting her up with one arm like a big Christmas present, he readied himself. “Close your eyes.” He said to her. The little filly responded in kind, shutting her eyes away from the raging snowflakes. The next thing she knew, she felt a surge of air as her body felt forcibly shifted. This process repeated twice. The second time, she felt a noticeable thump as they touched earth.
 
“Open them.” Jack Daniel requested. The little filly opened them. She saw a large mansion, second or third only to Canterlot Castle in terms of size. She also saw a paper bag in Jack Daniel’s free hand. He trudged a few steps until he got to the door, grandiose in design and large in scale. Jack Daniel knocked on the door tepidly.
 
Out came a strange creature, it looked like a pony, except black and with a leathery hide and standing on two hooves. His red eyes were joyous at the arrival at a new guest. "Boldog Karácsonyt!" Jack Daniel said with his face aglow with joy. “Jack! How’s life treating you, buddy?” The black pony-lookalike laughed. Jack Daniel let the filly down and greeted the other creature with a hug. “"Not much, Knightmare. I bought a little surprise for tonight,” he said while waving the paper bag content, a vintage bottle of Hungarian Brandy (Pálinka), in front of Knightmare’s eyes.
 
“Oh, thank god, we need more alcohol. Khajiit and Zeta have been getting restless and we just emptied Notus’ wine collection… oh and Khajiit just knocked out Necore, good times.” Knightmare said with complete genuineness and a big smile. Knightmare then spied his eyes on the filly. “I see you brought two little surprises for tonight.” Knightmare said while mid-hug.
 
Knightmare disengaged the hug and looked curiously at her. “I just brought her here,” Jack said with a shrug. “You have a name, little filly?” Knightmare asked her. She didn’t answer, her mouth sealed shut.
 
Knightmare nodded. “The more, the merrier!” He said with a smile and, resuming his jolly demeanor, cantered off inside, signaling the odd pair in front of the door inside for the festivities. Jack Daniel went first inside. The little filly peeked to see what she was getting herself into.
 
It looked one crazy party, with all the singing, drinking and dancing going about in the foyer alone. There was a skeleton looked like it was knocked out, a cat creature that seemed drunk off the atmosphere, a winged wolf that was showing tongue, and a griffin that was one drink away from showing the entire package.
 
Yet, in the little filly eyes, everything about this joyful image seemed to spite her. She ran away from the image, far away from the light, from the mansion, running far so she never had to see it again in her life. Her tiny, weak hooves carried her in the middle of the white laden streets. Her ragged breath tore at the air and made her realize she was going to faint. Her strength leaving her, she felt the need to lie down and sleep.
 
She was about to until she was stopped by a distant sound, slowly growing louder. Her hazy eyes focused onto a group walking through the streets. Perhaps the first thing she realized was the strange creatures in it. There were fillies and colts alright. Two pegasi mares joined them, nothing out of the ordinary yet. The grey filly with multi-colored hair, wolf with two horns, the winged cat thing and the snake thingy struck her strange.
 
She dragged herself away from them, no more weird creatures for tonight, she thought. Her hind hooves limped a bit from fatigue of running. Her vision was slowly fading. Not yet, she was going to get out of here before she fell. Darkness swallowed her up before she finished her next thought.
 
In the fortress of her subconscious, images of her childhood were conjured to hurt her, to make her remember what couldn’t be anymore. She remembered a happy family. She felt her sister’s hooves hugging her tight every Hearth’s Warming Eve and being told she was loved. A gesture that should be unsaid but the little filly treasured it nevertheless. She remembered her father burning the celery every year, being scolded by her mother for opening the presents too early and then being kissed and laughing with her mother due to her inability to have a good hiding place.
 
One day, her father and mother were called to work, about to help out with the delivering of toys to little foals who believed in Santa Hooves. She smiled an uneasy smile at them when they were about to leave the door. There was a record storm raging on outside. She remembered being nuzzled, having her fears unfounded and told that they’d be home soon. She waited and waited… but they never got home.
 
Her sister tried her best to care for her afterwards but even she could see how wore out her sister was turning, sagging eyelids, dark spots under the eyes and droopy cheeks. Her sister had laughed it off, alleviating her fears with a hearty laugh. She knew better, knew that she was the reason that her sister was in such dispiriting conditions. That night, she had yelled at her sister, told her that she should just leave her if she’s such a burden. The first and last time she was hit. Not a burden, her sister said with a hug, my sister. A few years of her sister being overworked to the bone and she was now an orphan.
 
She felt their presence next to her. She wanted to hug her sister back for once. She wanted to laugh with her father as he burned the turkey again. She wanted to tell her mother that she won’t look for the presents anymore. She wanted to tell them that she’ll hug and tell them she loves them as much as they did for her. She wanted to say anything to stop them from leaving but, of course, they had left a long time ago.
 
Her conscious was being stirred awake, a sharp feeling on both sides of her face. She woke up with blazing cheeks and found herself still on the streets, the air aglow with frost that tore through her weakened eyes. She found herself wrapped in a cloak and scarf, slightly big for her tiny frame. She turned her head to face the creature that pinched her. It was the winged cat thing.
 
She suddenly realized she was surrounded by fillies and colts, the same ones she saw before she fainted. The familiar sight of the two horned wolf, the grey filly with varying shades of mane, the snake thingy. She, at a moment’s notice, felt more awkward than she ever felt before. She was prodded by the touch of the snake thingy. She recoiled at once at its touch. The snake thingy didn’t seem offended, retaining a calm air about him. “Are your parents nearby?” It said.
 
She cringed. There was no way she could answer truthfully to this. If she did, she’d be a burden to someone else again. She nodded, her parents were nearby. The snake thingy seemed to take that as an answer. However, she almost missed that glint of doubt in his eyes. At the very least, he was respectful to her wishes and stubbornness. “Would you like a song then, little filly?” It asked.
 
She nodded again. It would be rude and suspicious to refuse their chorus. At that cue, the group began to sing. A sweet song flowed like a mare’s milk into her ears. The biting frost of the air gave way to the soft melody of the group, harmonizing as one to conjure the images of fluffy pillows, easy to fall asleep in. A groan of pain came with her cracked lips gaping. She remained mesmerized in the dances of nature’s faeries and spirits she saw that moved in the symphony of the group that sang. Finally, the winged cat finally finished the song off, ending with a soft note.
 
She cried a single tear, her reality giving way to the innocence of such a song. She silently sobbed, lifting the scarf up to hide her tears from them. She realized that she had never cried these kinds in her years alone. That gave way to more sorrowful emotions pouring out. Suddenly, she felt her body squeezed, the grey filly hugging her with all her might. She choked back a gasp and let the embrace warm her body up.
 
The grey filly gave her a silent smile, as if to tell that it was going to ok. The gesture stung, not as bad as before but there was a pain that lingered. The filly felt her strength return with the warmth of the scarf and cloak. The filly pushed the grey filly, gained the element of surprise and ran away into the darkness of Canterlot, the alleyways.
 
Her breath grew more ragged with each dash forward, each corner turned and each thought racing through her mind. Finally, she found herself at her cardboard box and blanket of newspaper. The corner of her lips turned a whisper of a smile. She returned into her fortress. It was the same as before, except with the added bonus of the cloak and scarf.
 
She tried to snuggle with her newfound warmth. Not long after she settled down, she heard the thudding of footsteps. Her heart raced at the thought. Did one of those carolers find her? She didn’t want them to take her burden. She held her breath back, turning silent, with only the blustery sky resounding. The footsteps grew louder and louder. Go away, she thought. I want you to go, go, gogogogogogogoGO!
 
The footsteps stopped. She didn’t breathe. A few anxious seconds passed, she finally judged that she was going to be left alone. She sighed with a breath of relief. A second after that, she felt the box tugged by the edges and found her faced with a strange creature. A rather handsome face with goat horns on the sides of his head. She turned silent at the sudden intruder. She felt him peering at every inch of her starved body. She felt very self-conscious at the moment. “Sorry, wait here,” the goat man said before he ran off.
 
A fury of emotions stormed her mind, the strongest was confusion. What was that, she thought. A good few minutes later, she heard the galloping the goat man’s legs. The goat man knocked on the cardboard box and peered down to face her. “Are you ready for a special treat, an exclusive show from the Amazing Ace?” He said with a dramatic voice. The confusion turned to apprehension. She nodded with a reluctant face.
 
The goat man called Ace started flourishing his hands in a showy manner, taking out a cloth out of his belt, waving it as if to hide something. “Now for the magic to work, you must close your eyes, you know that. You must believe in the magic for it to come true.” He smiled a flamboyant expression. The filly compiled. A few seconds passed. “Ok, now you can open them,” the goat man said. What the filly saw surprised even her.
 
Plates of toasted bread, tomato soup, apple pie and a glass of apple cider was what she opened her eyes to. She first felt a surge of anger at being pitied again, then a flood of self-depreciation for herself for letting this happen. Ace sensed this. “I’m not saying I’m giving this to you for any special reason. I’m giving this from one street wanderer to another.” This reasoning stirred a feeling of hunger in the little filly and a sense of acknowledgement to the street magician.
 
Ace watched as the filly dug into the plate, eschewing manners, savaging tearing into the toasted bread, slurping the tomato soup, biting chunks of the apple pie off and chugging the apple cider in a gulp. She burped with a loud volume. She blushed at Ace’s chuckle at her lack of décor. “You wanna take a walk with me?” Ace offered. The filly nodded this time, less reluctant then before. She followed after him.
 
 They walked through the city covered in white. They saw families wandering off the few hours before their dinners, little fillies tripping as they ran off and slipped on a bit of ice and adults coughing fits and grumping that they should’ve went home earlier. Most of these events made the filly sad again but this time, with the street magician, he managed to make her laugh at least at times. He remarked on how some adults’ face looked like blowfish, puffing his cheeks out to look like a fat stallion’s. He sometimes would even find a piece of bread, for the filly to nibble on, behind her ear.
 
Finally their trip ended as they returned to her cardboard box. Ace turned to the filly. “You wanna come with me? I’ll take you somewhere warm,” he said, reassuring in tone. The filly felt her first urge to let someone take her away, being so moved with this creature’s sympathy. However, she felt the need to refuse, shaking her head. Not yet, she thought. The street magician nodded, turning his feet at her and walking away with a light step.
 
Now, at least she could get some peace and quiet. That last creature was fun though, she thought. She felt lonely though. She snuggled with her cloak and started to close her eyes. Before she completely closed herself from the rage of outside, she heard the flapping of wings. She arched an eyebrow at the strange notion of a winged creature flying in this storm. She looked out her box. She saw a griffin, hovering above her. With the snow clinging onto him, it looked like a guardian angel to her eyes. Strangely enough, it flew past her once he saw him.
 
She decided she was going to close the lids of the cardboard box this time, to finally get some sleep. With outstretched hooves, she finally closed herself from the outside storm. She clutched her shivering body for warmth. Using the scarf and cloak as a blanket, she finally seemed to get some sleep. She groaned just before she completely closed her eyes. More footsteps, she anticipated this. She opened the lid and peered outside to see a sight for sore eyes.
 
It was a white wolf, dressed in a weird combination of billowy lower wear and coat. The only clue that it was strange was that he had a red and blue eye, juxtaposing each other. He saw her. “Konnichiwa,” (Hello) he greeted her in a strange tongue. His footsteps carried him right beside the filly. With a solemn expression, he sat down right beside her.
 
A silence came to pass the next few seconds as the wolf gathered his words. “You’re alone in this world, aren’t you?” He quietly prodded at the filly’s heart. This time, however, the filly felt it was time to open up to someone for once. She silently nodded. “You lost your parents awhile ago?” She nodded again with a twitch of cold. The white wolf noticed, took off his coat and wrapped the filly in it.
 
“I lost my parents very early in my life.” The creature opened up. The filly was shocked. She, at least, knew her parents. “I’ve been mostly alone for most of my life until awhile ago.” He continued on. “You know… you got some good stuff to reflect on, a family who loved you… I mean, the people who loved you never truly leave you, do they?” The filly sniffed. They never left but they never could come back to her again. “Still, maybe that’s not enough but that’s what the people around you are for, to help you when you’re down, when you’re feeling hurt. You can hug them and cry on them. That’s what those trying to help do for you, be there for you.”
 
“…Let it out, crying helps.” The white wolf patted the little filly that finally let the floodgate of emotions flow free into his fur. From the last word said, a part of her heart finally cracked open. She wasn’t alone in this world. There were people willing to help her. Every moment of weakness in her finally came rushing out like a stream in motion.
 
As her wretched cries were muffled and her hooves jerked its fur, the white wolf knew the full weight and volume of the little filly’s tears every second she cried. Finally, she cried herself asleep, the darkness taking her consciousness away from the world around her.
 
Her family standing beside her followed her to the land of dreams. She clung to them once more but this time, she found herself accepting of their fate. She’d never forget her family but she would never let their fate weigh her down again. As if wanting to tell them that, she hugged them tightly but let them go, telling them with a sad acknowledgement that she never forget, but she had to move on. Her family smiled, her sister hugging her, her mother pecking a kiss on her forehead and her father’s laughter echoing through the world one last time before they walked away from her. Her family being alive was a dream that would never turn reality but who said the next dream wouldn’t? The dream of people being there for her that would be her reality for her from now on.
 
When she woke up, she found herself wrapped in a blanket. She found an assorted feast of food in front of her. Bread, salad, tomato soup, apple pie, apple cider and cake laid out for her. Further surprising her were the various hosts of creatures surrounding her. She remembered this morning when she didn’t have a single person to trust in the world. As the tears flowed down her cheeks, she already had a group of people willing to help in front of her. She wasn’t alone in this world anymore. She would never be again. Her tears of happiness told everyone in sight that.
 
Jack Daniel is from Reaper1543’s fic “Travels of a Hunter”.
Knightmare is from JJ Malcolm’s fic “From Nobody to Knightmare”.
Ace is from Barrel-of-Fun’s fic “Wild Card”.
Aoi Myoujin is from IoKusanagi’s fic “The Blue Stranger, The Red Curtain”.
Marty Stu is from Keairan’s fic “A Marty Stu invades the Multiverse”.
Rachel is from rigomi’s fic “The Spoken Word”.
Lycan is from CrypticKey’s fic “Flames of the Fateless”.
Alif is from RemnantoftheWatcher’s fic “All Things of Moderation”.