The city of Canterlot was covered with all sorts of decorations, ranging from simple lights to entire buildings being changed into giant gingerbread houses. All around them were 8-foot candy canes, and next to each one foals had created a snowpony to take part in the festivities. Perhaps most notable, however, were the Hearth’s Warming trees; some small enough to be carried in a foal’s hooves and some so large they towered over most buildings. They were all carrying many amazing decorations, ranging from candy canes and Hearth’s Warming spheres to ornaments that foals had made for their class projects to be displayed around the royal city.
Lucian, along with the element bearers and the cutie-mark crusaders, had arrived a short while ago after a relatively uneventful train ride. After arriving, the ponies had separated into several groups and dispersed into the city. Lucian and Twilight were leading Spike and the cutie mark crusaders across town. They passed Doughnut Joe’s bakery, and the three fillies were stopped in their tracks by the scent of hot chocolate and gingerbread.
“Mmm,” they uttered in unison, lifting their noses to inhale more of the scent. Lucian smiled as he watched them smile
“Doughnut Joe has some of the best hot chocolate in all of Equestria,” he said. “I’ll be you three could sure go for some of that right now, don’t you think?”
“Yes!” said the trio.
“Oh, I’d love some hot chocolate!” said Spike. Before anyone could go in, Twilight lifted her hoof to stop them.
“Sorry girls,” she said. “Your sisters won’t be happy if I let you eat too much sugar.”
The cutie mark crusaders and Spike uttered a sigh of resignation.
“Sorry guys, but no. And don’t try any funny business. My will is unshakable.”
As if deciding to challenge her assertion, the three fillies turned their heads towards Twilight, giving her their most pleading puppy dog eyes. She tried to resist, then looked away, and even closed her eyes, but no matter how hard she tried, she was helpless against the little filly eyes she was receiving.
“Oh, all right,” she said finally. “Go have your hot chocolate.”
The victorious fillies cheered, and then rushed into the shop. Amazed by what he had just seen, Spike followed them into the shop, intent on finding out the secret to their ability to bend older ponies to their will. Lucian looked towards Twilight with a smirk on his face.
“So, what happened to that unshakable will of yours?” he asked playfully.
“Oh, shut up,” she replied. “And please, not a word to anypony else. I swear, if Scootaloo’s mom hears about this-”
“Relax, my lips are sealed,” said Lucian. “Now come on, don’t you want some hot chocolate? I’m paying for it.”
“Aw, you don’t have to do that,” said Twilight.
“Come on,” said Lucian. “A pretty mare like you deserves special treatment once in a while!”
“Oh, I guess that’s all righ- wait,” she said, realizing what Lucian had just said. “Did you just call me pretty?”
“What? No!” said Lucian as his face turned pink. “I mean, yeah, or, well, I meant to say, as a compliment, because, well, mares like to be called pretty, right?”
“Oh, well, yeah, I guess…”
Lucian blushed nervously as Twilight stared at him in confusion.
“L-let’s just go get some hot chocolate,” Lucian suggested.
“Yeah, chocolate,” said Twilight. “Good!”
The two of them tried to walk into the bakery. Unfortunately, it was not meant for two ponies to walk in at the same time.
“Oh!” said Twilight. “Uh, why don’t you go in first?”
“Well, maybe you should go in first?”
“Well, I mean, you could always go in first?”
“No, ladies first,” said Lucian. “I insist.”
Twilight chuckled awkwardly, and then walked in. Lucian sighed as he followed her in.
About an hour later, the group arrived at Canterlot Castle. As they walked through the hallway, the crusaders began to dart around, admiring the many wonderful items that were on display. Lucian chuckled at their antics before her heard a pony clearing their throat. To his surprise, he saw Celestia standing before them.
“Hello Lucian and Twilight, it’s good to see you again.”
As Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo ran around the royal hallway and Spike chased them desperately to prevent them from breaking anything, Princess Celestia walked next to her sibling and student, excited to hear all they had to tell her about their lives in Ponyville. Twilight had a big smile on her face as she walked alongside the royal siblings. Lucian was smiling too, although his was smaller and less enthusiastic.
“I’m so glad to see you too, Princess,” said Twilight. “I can’t believe we haven’t seen each other since, well… that one time.”
She chuckled awkwardly as she remembered the circumstances that had led to Lucian’s current predicament, while he in turn merely groaned and held his hoof against his face. Celestia’s expression, however, did not change. She did, however, turn towards the three hyperactive fillies.
“I think we should go somewhere a tiny bit more private, don’t you agree?”
The two ponies nodded as they walked away from the royal hallway and into the throne room, leaving the chaotic trio in the not-so-capable claws of Spike. As Celestia closed the doors behind her, there was a sudden loud noise, similar to the breaking of a fine china vase, and then another one, which sounded like a flat metallic object crashing against the ground. With each new sound, Celestia winced visibly, although the smile on her face never quite faltered.
“Oh well,” she said. “It can’t possibly be worse than the lightbulb incident.”
“Want to bet on that?”
Celestia turned towards Lucian, who had a confident smirk on his face. Twilight, on the other hand, was shaking her head violently, trying to discourage Celestia from making any sort of wager.
“Fifteen bits,” said Celestia, causing her faithful student to slap her hoof against her face.
“You’re on,” Lucian said with a smile, giving his sister a hoofshake.
“All right,” said Twilight. “Now that we’ve taken care of that, we can begin our actual conversation.”
“Indeed we can,” said Celestia. “So, how has Ponyville been, Lucian?”
“Well, it's been pretty good,” said Lucian. “So far I've made several good friends, like Derpy and the Doctor, and Big Macintosh. Of course, Twilight and her friends are pretty close to me too.”
“That's good to hear,” said Celestia. “I had a feeling that Twilight would be able to help you find friends, and she certainly did a good job herself, don't you think?”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” said Twilight, a sheepish smile forming on her face.
“Hey, you still deserve some credit,” said Lucian. “I mean, if it weren’t for you, I would’ve been completely lost as to what to do after I became a guy!”
Upon hearing Lucian’s encouraging words, Twilight smiled more confidently. Meanwhile, Lucian began to ponder his life in Ponyville.
It was hard to believe that he'd only been a stallion for just under three months. Between coming to live with Twilight, befriending the Doctor and Derpy, becoming the unwitting object of affection for Rainbow and Rarity, and dealing with the strange feelings that he was beginning to develop towards Twilight, he had barely gotten to think about his transformation. Now that he thought about it, however, he was surprised to realize that it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would.
But that can't be right! he thought to himself. I've never been a stallion before! I shouldn't be comfortable with being turned from a mare to a stallion! I mean, maybe if I had a lot more time, I could realistically come to accept my position, but I've only been like this for a few months! Of course, Twilight's made adjusting a lot easier... and she's so kind, smart, beautiful...
NO! Bad thoughts! I'm not supposed to fall for Twilight! She's my roommate, for Faust's sake! And she's a mare! And I'm supposed to be a mare! It's not supposed to work like that! ...Except that Celestia has told me that those kinds of relationships are more widely accepted nowadays, so I really shouldn't have to obsess so much over- DAMMIT STOP THINKING THOSE THOUGHTS!!!
“So what else have you been up to, Lucian?”
“I DON’T WANT TO MOUNT TWILIGHT!”
He immediately covered his mouth up, but it was too late; Twilight’s eyes had gone wide while her face had turned a deep crimson. Celestia on the other hand, seemed to be struggling not to fall to the floor laughing. The dark blue alicorn tried desperately to think of something to distract the two mares as he felt his face burn hot enough to put his sister’s sun to shame.
“Oh, um… Did you know that Rarity and Rainbow Dash both developed crushes on me?”
“Have they?” asked Celestia, her curiosity aroused.
“Yeah,” said Lucian, making a point to look directly at his sister, and not at Twilight. “Apparently, they both think I’m quite an attractive young stallion.”
“Well, it’s a shame for them that you’re only interested in Twilight."
“CELLY!!!”
The tall white mare couldn’t help but chuckle as she watched her student and sibling both look away in absolute embarrassment.
“So, I’d say we ought to go join the others,” said Celestia.
“Yes! Let’s!” Twilight shouted out a bit too loudly.
“Yes! We need to go now!” Lucian yelled.
Celestia smirked, and then opened the doors and stepped out.
The smile on her face vanished as she looked at what was once the royal hallway.
The first thing that came to Celestia’s mind upon seeing the wreckage was “Ursa Minor nesting grounds.” There was debris everywhere, ranging from broken glass and china to large pieces of marble. The windows had been smashed into oblivion, and the curtains were shredded, with only a few small pieces still recognizable. Any objects sturdy enough to remain in one piece were bent to the point of being unrecognizable, and the floor was full of craters, many of them big enough for multiple ponies to hide in. The largest of these was in fact hiding three arguing fillies and a badly battered purple dragon.
“Well, if we’d just done what he told us, we wouldn’t have messed up!” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah, but that wouldn’t have been as fun!” said Scootaloo.
“Well ah still think someone needs to re-analyze the construction codes and whatnot, because this was just way too easy!”
As the cutie mark crusaders continued their squabble, Celestia’s left eye began to twitch. Meanwhile, Lucian couldn’t help but grin.
“You owe me fifteen bits, sis.”
The next day, the element bearers, Lucian, Spike, and the cutie mark crusaders began to prepare themselves for the Hearth's Warming play. Lucian watched in fascination as Twilight, her friends, and the cutie mark crusaders got into their costumes for the annual Hearth’s Warming play. He remembered hearing that the element bearers had acted as the main cast in the previous year’s play, and that said play had been one of the best received interpretations of the story in recent history.
Luna had completely missed out on that, as with so many other things.
True, the story itself had been around long before his banishment. However, rather than a day of celebration, it had been seen as more of a day of recollection, to remember that one lived not just for oneself, but for all ponies. In addition, winter had been a harsh time during which ponies rarely ventured forth from their homes, awaiting the coming of spring. The fact that both Hearth’s Warming and winter had become a time of celebration had been quite confusing to Luna, who chose to spend her time studying the history of the Hearth’s Warming celebration rather than celebrating with her family.
“So, how do I look?”
Lucian looked back towards Apple Bloom, whose mane had been de-bowed and combed into a pair of large curls and dyed white. In addition, she was wearing a pair of small pegasus wings, and her body was now a light blue.
“Aw shucks,” said Applejack, who had taken off her hat and curled her hair into a tight bun, and was now putting on a pair of fake wings. “Ah think you look mighty cute, Apple Bloom.”
“Indeed,” said Rarity. “Especially with that coloring spell Twilight used on you.”
“Oh, that wasn’t too hard,” said Twilight. “Anypony can do a color-changing spell. Remember how easily Trixie made your mane green?”
Rarity whimpered, and began to shiver.
“Please don’t remind me,” she said. “Green is such a ghastly color.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Twilight said as she cast the spell. “It’s just a temporary spell.”
Rarity turned towards her now pink mane and sighed.
“I suppose it could be worse.”
“I thought so,” said Twilight, her horn glowing with magic once again. This time, however, the spell took longer to fully take effect, as she was focusing on her whole body, rather than just her mane. Even so, Twilight seemed quite calm as her mane became a light blue and her body became dark blue.
Satisfied with her results, Twilight turned towards Lucian.
“How do I look?”
“Like a princess,” Lucian said jokingly, although he gave Twilight a knowing wink, which caused her to chuckle briefly.
“Well, just wait until I put these on,” she said as she levitated a pair of blue wings onto her back, and put on a silver crown, necklace, and slippers. Rarity did the same with a pair of white wings and golden regalia.
“Wow,” said Sweetie Belle, who had combed her mane very carefully to hide her horn, and was now wearing a pair of fake wings. “You look just like Princess Celestia!”
“Well, of course I do!” said Rarity. “I’m playing her!”
“Just like I’m playing Luna,” said Twilight.
“Speaking of Luna, I wonder where she is,” said Pinkie Pie. “I’ve been all over the palace and I haven’t seen or heard anything about her! I mean, I really wanted to throw her a “Welcome to Ponyville” party since she left before I ever could back on Nightmare Night! Speaking of which, does anypony think that it was kinda lonely without her this year?
Pretty much every pony laughed at this, though Twilight and Lucian were slightly more nervous about it than most. Fortunately, nopony seemed to notice.
“You know, it is kind of funny,” Scootaloo said once everypony had a chance to calm down. “I figured she’d be with Celestia when we went to see her, but she was nowhere to be seen!”
“I really hope she’s okay,” said Fluttershy, whose mane had been combed to look somewhat shorter and messy, but still straight. “It would be such a shame if she were sick during such a lovely time of the year.”
“Eh, she’s probably fine,” said Rainbow. “She’s probably off doing something Princess-y in another country.”
“Well, yeah, she sort of is,” said Twilight, ready to give her official explanation for Luna’s absence. “Apparently she’s off someplace learning about friendship.”
“Just like you, Twilight,” said Applejack.
“Yeah,” said Twilight with an awkward chuckle. “Just like me.”
“Five minutes to curtain!” said Spike. “We’d better be ready to put on a show!”
“All right,” said Lucian as he began to walk towards the auditorium. “Make sure you girls put on a good show!”
“Yeah,” said Pinkie as she bounced behind him. “Make this a superrific show!”
“Totally,” said Rainbow as she got up and followed them. “Especially you, Scoots.”
“Omigosh I will so do my best!” squealed Scootaloo. The rest of the cast simply smiled at the three as they left for their seats.
As they walked towards their seats, they took a moment to observe the sheer number of ponies who had entered the theater. Lucian had heard that tickets were sold out, but even that didn't quite justify the sheer number of ponies who had shown up. There was not a single seat that was not taken, and even the walkways were full of ponies.
“Wow, we’re lucky we have seats reserved on the front row,” he said thoughtfully.
“Yeah,” said Pinkie. “But there are a whole lot of ponies before we can get there!”
“It could be worse,” said Rainbow. “I mean, we still have some time before the show starts.”
“Don’t worry girls, I got you covered,” Lucian said as his horn glowed with magic energy.
The next thing anypony knew, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Lucian had been teleported right into their seats. The two mares blinked and looked around, briefly confused by their quick movement. As soon as she had recovered, however, Pinkie began to ask Lucian all sorts of questions, nearly knocking Rainbow out of her seat as she did so.
“Wow! I didn’t know you could do that! How did you do that? Did you learn it like Twilight did? Do you use it a lot? Does it make you feel tingly like fizzy soda pop when you do it?”
“I don’t understand a word you’re saying,” said Lucian.
“Pinkie! Get off me!” screamed Rainbow.
“Hey! Be quiet! Some of us want to see the show!” a pony behind them yelled.
“You mean the one that hasn't even started yet?” Rainbow grumbled while Pinkie shrunk back into her seat.
“Sorry guys,” she said quietly. “I just got a bit carried away.”
“It’s all right,” said Lucian. “Just don’t do it again.”
“Yeah,” groaned Rainbow. “For the sake of my ribs, don’t do that again.”
“Oki Doki Loki!” said Pinkie, her voice immediately regaining its strength. She then got close to Rainbow and whispered “Hey Dashie! You should totally snuggle up to Lucian!”
Rainbow’s eyes went wide as she realized what Pinkie was saying. She then grinned and grabbed Lucian’s hoof, bringing him in closer to her. He gasped in surprise, but then gave a resigned shrug as he realized what was going on.
“I really hope you’re prepared for Rarity’s wrath,” he said quietly.
“Relax, we’re not gonna kill each other over some colt,” Rainbow reassured him. “Especially not a colt like you.”
Lucian rolled his eyes, then looked back towards the stage.
“So, how much do you girls know about this story?”
“Not much,” said Rainbow. “I hear that some towns always use it instead of the regular Hearth’s Warming tale. Apparently it inspires fillies and colts to do better, or something.”
“Yeah, and this year Princess Celestia wants every town to show it!” said Pinkie Pie. “I think that’s great, because we never ever get to see it, and the regular story can get tiring after a while, you know? What do you think, Lucian?”
As inconspicuously as he could, Lucian let out a sigh. He was somewhat afraid of opening old wounds, but he was determined to make the show as enjoyable for everypony else as it was for him.
“Let’s just say… this story holds a very special place in my heart.”
As they finished their conversation, the lights went dim, and the curtains rose. As they did so, a familiar voice began to speak, one which Lucian could recognize a mile away.
“There is nothing in this world quite so amazing as the first winter snow,” Celestia narrated, “the first few flakes falling from the sky signifying a great change.”
The ponies in the audience listened in wonder as they watched the ponies on stage playing happily in the snow, watching the beauty that fell around them, and helping animals collect food and stay warm. A smile formed on Lucian’s face as his sister described how so many wonderful things could come from the magic of the snowflake.
“Some might scoff at the idea that something so small could hold such power,” said Celestia, her opening narration reaching its end. “But they are the ones who have forgotten how the snowflake came to be.”