//------------------------------// // 5. Joy to the World // Story: A Hearth's Warming Carol // by Punch Line //------------------------------// “Twilight.” A grunt, obviously meant to convey some sort of protest. “Twilight.” “Mmh… Fay’mre ‘inuts….” “TWILIGHT!” “GAH!” The unicorn leapt up from her study table and whirled around to find Spike standing beside her, arms crossed and feet tapping the floor impatiently. “Oh. Hi, Spike. Morning!” she greeted the small dragon cheerily. He only rolled his eyes at this. “Yeesh. I know I told you to get some sleep last night, but I didn’t mean for you to do it at your work table like that!” The slightly-irritated look in his eyes gave way to concern. “Having you flat-out asleep there instead of on a bed’s really not an ideal way to celebrate Hearth’s Warming, you know.” She opened her mouth to form a reply, but the realization had struck home. “Wait.” She turned to Spike, a crazy look dancing in her eyes. The baby dragon backed away slowly, in case she did something rash. “Hearth’s Warming? Today?” “Uh… yes?” “Thank goodness for that!” The purple unicorn leapt up into the air again and began bouncing as soon as she landed on her hooves. “Uh… Twilight?” “Deck the horse with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la…” “Are you okay?” “Why, of course I am, Spike!” she said, grabbing his face and smooshing it between her hooves. “It’s Hearth’s Warming Day, aren’t you just glad?” “Well, yeah,” he said, retrieving his face and re-smooshed it back to the way it was before. “But I didn't expect you among all ponies to be so excited about it.” “But why wouldn’t I be excited?” she said, now beginning to prance about the room. “After all, I organized today’s festivities and if everypony’s excited about today, then why wouldn’t I be?” “See, that’s the thing,” he began. “The festivities you’ve planned out for today are going to start anytime soon now and – ” “Oh my gosh! The festivities! You’re absolutely right, Spike!” Twilight said and levitated him over to her back. “Let’s go!” And with that, she rushed out the door with Spike riding on her, but not before the baby dragon swiped the unicorn’s trusty checklist off her work desk. The door slammed shut and everything in the Library was at ease again. Owlicious flew down to the table from his perch and cocked his head at the door. “Who?” … /// … The day’s Hearth’s Warming celebrations had come to an official close and the activities lined up for the holiday were all as fun as Rainbow Dash had promised the Ponyville residents. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had dropped by to take part in the celebrations and both had praised Twilight and her friends for pulling off another successful event. Now, the sun was beginning to set and everypony had long gone home tired, but extremely happy with how their Hearth’s Warming Day had went. The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, however, had other plans. Gathering in the Library, they, along with Spike and with the exception of Twilight, sat down and listened to what the unicorn had to say. And so, Twilight set about telling them all about the grand adventure she had last night, complete from the first Pony Spirit to the last. Of course, she left out the bit about the surprise party, since nopony had mentioned it yet. “Gosh,” Applejack said, tipping her hat. “Well now, Twi, that there was one darn fine adventure ya jus’ had.” “Yeah,” Spike agreed. “And just when I thought you weren’t getting any shut-eye last night too.” “Are you kidding?” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing in her seat. “That was super cool! Especially that Pony Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past… I think we’d be super-duper-badooper best, best, best buddies if she was real!” Fluttershy smiled and gave Twilight a gentle nudge. “Oh, but Twilight, I do hope you’ve learned something from all this. Even if it was all just a dream.” Then, she paused. “A very, very lovely dream at that.” “As a matter of fact, I have!” Twilight nodded her head, stood up, and prepared to impart her wisdom with her friends. But before she could get a word in, Rainbow Dash was right there to beat her to the punch. “And that lesson was to never mess with the Dash, or else face death!” The pegasus strutted proudly, then launched herself up in the air, continuing to strike various poses without the aid of gravity. Back on the ground, Twilight, Spike, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were applauding and cheering their friend on. Applejack only rolled her eyes at the display. “Rainbow, Ah do believe Twi was in the middle o’ sayin’ somethin’. Why not let her finish and – ” “… Well not really die, but you still gotta admit, that was the most awesome story anypony’s told of me, ever!” “But RD, that wasn’t you in the story, you realize.” “Ah, shut up, AJ. Let a pony dream, why won’t you.” “Oh, do behave, you two. And how rude to interrupt Twilight just as she was going to start speaking,” Rarity interjected, before the two ponies could engage in another one of their usual arguments. At the sound of her name, Twilight snapped back to attention after admiring Rainbow Dash’s aerial display. “What?” She turned towards Rarity, who prodded her into continuing. “Oh, right. Anyway, girls, I’ve learned a very important lesson last night.” She cleared her throat and at her signal, all the ponies and the baby dragon in the room shut up, sat down, and listened. Pinkie Pie had to be stared down by Applejack and Rarity after asking if Twilight was going to start singing a song. Rainbow Dash started snickering, while Fluttershy and Spike tried to get her to quiet down as well. “When everypony’s out there, having fun and just being with each other, I learned that not only is it tiring to find a reason why – I learned that it was frustrating too. Not just for me, but for other ponies too. See, the only thing they want to do is to have fun, yet here I am, trying to dissect everything, trying to find a reason for everything, when in fact… “In fact… Sometimes, there just might not be a reason for the season at all. “Even my earlier guesses of having gifts as causes for happiness were disproved, since what really matters right now is the company you’re sharing the holidays with. And thanks to the Pony Spirits in my dream, I’ve learned to be thankful for everything and everypony who’s made my past year so special. I mean, even if the last Pony Spirit was such a mean bully at first…” Here, Rainbow Dash made a face. “The important thing is that I’ve learned my lesson. And thanks to that, I’ve quit trying to research on the Hearth’s Warming phenomenon and just let it be. The Pony Spirits were right: instead of finding out where all the love and joy is coming from, I should just sit down and let them come anyway. “Girls, Hearth’s Warming really is the most wonderful time of the year.” As she closed her speech, her friends gave a cheer, agreeing immensely with the lesson she had learned. Pinkie Pie engulfed Twilight in a noogie with an enthusiastic “C’mere, you!”, while Fluttershy and Applejack tried to pry the pink pony off a now-choking Twilight. “Booooring!” Rainbow Dash sneered with a carefree smile, showing that she wasn’t serious about that remark at all. “Now that that sappy stuff’s done with, let’s start opening the presents!” “Yay, present time!” Pinkie Pie cheered and in her joy, ended up chucking a gift at Rainbow’s face. “Nothing like the present time to open up the presents!” She continued to bounce around merrily, ignoring the pegasus, who’d fallen face-first on the floor. Meanwhile, Fluttershy now diverted her attention to her fallen friend, who sat up with a groan and a now-growing lump on her head. Once Rainbow Dash regained her senses, she made to lunge at Pinkie Pie in revenge – and she was almost successful too, if not for Applejack’s resistance. “Rainbow Dash, Ah said no! Pinkie Pie didn’t mean it an’ ya sure know it!” “Lemme at her, lemme at her!” “Rainbow Dash, please! You just took a bad fall, please try to calm yourself!” “Hey, Dashie, I think I found a present with your name on it!” Twilight only stood and shook her head, watching her friends tease each other good-naturedly. Beside her, Rarity sighed and rolled her eyes at their antics, now fully convinced that she was the only unicorn who acted her age in this group. Then, she turned to her friend and gave a smile. “But you know, dear, that rousing speech you just gave? It would make a marvelous letter to the Princess.” Twilight’s eyes… well, sparkled at the idea, but before she could agree with her friend, Spike came running up to her, a wide grin on his face. “Yup, which is why I’ve written everything down, all ready for the Princess to read!” He waved the rolled parchment proudly, earning a wide smile from Twilight. She extended a hoof and drew him close. “Oh, whatever would I do without you, Spike?” “Well, aren’t you being just a dear this Hearth’s Warming!” Rarity complimented, causing the baby dragon’s face to flare up rather violently. Twilight cleared her throat, snapping him back to attention and erasing the hearts from his eyes. “Wha? Oh, right!” Then, Spike drew himself up to his full height (which wasn’t very much), took a deep breath, and engulfed the parchment in his green flame, sending it off to the Princess in record time. The four ponies who had been arguing earlier were now in a good mood again, with Rainbow Dash eating the cake Pinkie Pie had given her as a peace offering. Applejack was laughing at some joke Fluttershy had made, while Rarity was still complimenting Spike, much to the baby dragon’s delight. All appeared to go well, however, until Twilight couldn’t help but say what had been on her mind all this time. “So, Pinkie… what’s the word on that surprise celebratory party you planned for me?” Suddenly, all conversations grinded to a screeching halt and from Spike’s panicked expression, it looked like he was in on the plan as well. Smoke was now coming out of Pinkie Pie’s ears and she stretched her neck to look at everypony – and every dragon – in the room, except for Twilight. “ALL RIGHT, WHO WAS IT?” she demanded. “WHO TOLD TWILIGHT AND RUINED THE SURPRISE? WHO RUINED THEIR PINKIE PROMISE TO NEVER TALK ABOUT THE PINKIE SECRET UNTIL I SAID SO?!” … /// … And so it was that Twilight Sparkle learned the real reason behind the season, After which, she educated her pony friends and her baby dragon. She became a much better pony because of it, Learning that a pony’s happiness was not based on her gift. And it was thanks to this lesson that she was now able to say with all her might, “Happy Hearth’s Warming – ” “Who?” Owlicious cut in, wanting to know who Spike was talking to this time. Twilight was in her bedroom, finally enjoying a good night's sleep after her friends had left to spend the rest of Hearth's Warming with their families. Owlicious was on the windowsill this time, cocking his head at the baby dragon, still waiting for an answer. Spike only shrugged, gave a grin, and winked at the owl. “Happy Hearth’s Warming to all, and to all a good night!” - END -