It was Hearth’s Warming Eve in Ponyville, and the town had never known a bleaker one. The loss of the children had cast a pall over any attempted celebration of the holiday. It would be passed over in complete silence, save for the sobbing.
Here or there, ponies trudged through the snow. Some were Cloud Kicker and her ersatz pony militia, which included a despondent Sparkler and her mother, the heartbroken Derpy Doo. They had joined in the slim hope of finding Dinky or at the very least, feeling better by actively doing something. Right now, both seemed far out of reach.
The group patrolled past Town Hall just in time for a bright light from inside to blare out through the windows, blinding them. “What is that?” Somepony in back shouted. “Is it an attack?”
Sparkler raised a hoof to shield her eyes from the glare. “I think … they’re back?”
Derpy suddenly zoomed between them, knocking Cloud down as she grabbed Sparkler. “Who is it!? Are they there? Who's with them!?” She hopped up and down, unable to control her excitement.
Sparkler couldn’t help but bring her usual teenage snark and aplomb to the situation. “Mom, you have wings.”
Derpy stopped her shaking and looked to her sides, where her wings were twitching in excitement. “…Right.” With that, she zoomed over to Town Hall, crashing through the doors. Dust and wood chips went flying as the doors fell in on the bubbly pegasus. “Tell the Mayor I’m sorry about the doors!”
Inside, the party from the Crystal Empire blinked at the sudden entrance. “Derpy? That you?” Rainbow asked. “Wait, broken doors – of course it is.”
“Isn’t that your Mom, Dinky?” Pipsqueak asked, pointing at the rubble.
“Mommy?!” Dinky’s eyes lit up. “Mommy!”
Beneath the rubble that used to be the doors, a gray ear twitched. “Dinky?” Hearing her daughter’s voice was enough. She blasted out of the debris and hurtled through the air until her outstretched hooves wrapped themselves around Dinky. Unable to stop, the two started rolling about on the floor as they waited for the momentum of Derpy’s charge to die down.
“WHOA!” Dinky yelled. “That was zoomy fast!”
Derpy lay on her back and held Dinky close, burying her face in Dinky’s mane. “My baby ... my baby ... oh my baby…”
From the doorway came another familiar face. “Derpy?” Cloud Kicker asked as she walked inside. “What was that abo—Dash? And … Alula?!” Then it was Cloud’s turn to charge in, albeit with more grace and precision than Ditzy had shown.
“Hiya Cloudy!” Alula jumped up and down, waving. Cloud sped over and began hugging and nuzzling her sister, trying to confirm that she was actually there.
“You okay?”
“M’fine.” Alula nodded. “We were inna cave and then we got lost, well, Dinky and Dummy got lost but I didn’t and I beat up a whole buncha monsters and…” she started happily babbling about her adventures as if she was retelling the events of a typical school day while Cloud just held her tight, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Sparkler slowly walked in, carefully stepping over the remnants of the door, “Mom, I know 'through the roof' is a turn of phrase, but—” she blinked trailing off when she saw Dinky and immediately galloped over to join the hug. Derpy began quietly sobbing as she held her daughters.
Dinky nuzzled her comfortingly. “I'm a'kay, Mommy, I'm here an' I'm home, an' Rainbow Dash an' her friends brought us ALL home!”
Rainbow fidgeted awkwardly as the room filled with the anxious parents of Ponyville, eagerly scooping up their missing children, overjoyed at their reunion. She saw Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s parents come over and embrace their two girls tightly … even the normally stoic Big Macintosh’s lip was trembling as he crushed Apple Bloom and Applejack to him, not noticing the slightly bluish tinge to their faces.
For a moment, Rainbow Dash was reminded that she was a new arrival to Ponyville. She didn’t have any family here. Hers was back in Cloudsdale. And with all these family reunions going on she stuck out like a crooked pinion. Even Pinkie Pie had the Cakes and Fluttershy had her animal friends to fuss over them. And Twilight had just been with her brother and her soon to be sister-in-law. But Rainbow Dash…
Sparkler, who was still holding her little sister tightly, looked up and caught sight of her. “Hey.” She nodded to Dash. “It’s okay. C’mere.”
With a deep breath, Rainbow trotted over, slowly resting a wing on Derpy’s back as she shed tears of relief. “Hey, s'okay. She's okay, Derpy.”
Derpy sniffled, hugging Rainbow tightly and nuzzling her. “Thank you. THANK you, thank you thank you th-thank you...” She sobbed quietly. “I thought I'd never see her again.”
“No. Way.” Rainbow held her. “I'd never let my friends down - especially when Dinky and the others were on the line.”
Dinky saw her mother crying and leaned over to hug her. “Why’re you crying? I'm here, Mommy … it's a'kay. I'm here.”
Derpy smiled through her tears and nuzzled Dinky back, her eyes still on Rainbow. “Thank you, thank you, THANK you ... thank you for taking the others to save them.” She bit her lip, fighting for composure. “Dinky ... she's ... Rainbow, I thought I'd lost my baby.” Derpy kissed her daughter’s forehead, and then turned to nuzzle Dash. “I knew you were an amazing godmother, but this ... thank you. Thank you.”
“Yeah!” Dinky wriggled free and gave Rainbow Dash a fierce tackle-hug. “You've been like my mommy 'cause you're always there for me an' you've loved me forEVER an' ever an' stuff as my godmommy even if you couldn’t be here in Ponyville but now you are an' I love you so, so, so, so, so, SO much! I love you, Rainbow Dash! I love you.”
Rainbow felt her lip tremble as a mushy, uncool emotion threatened to destroy her whole cool image … and for the life of her, she didn’t care. She wrapped Dinky up in a tight, tight hug that won a startled squeak out of the little filly. Rainbow was saved from having to formulate a further response by a new arrival stepping through the doorway and drawing all attention her way. “Princess Celestia!”
Everypony in the room quickly kneeled, cutting out their fond reunions with the appearance of their sovereign. The silence was broken by Dinky squirming in Rainbow’s grip and waving to her. “Hi Miss Princess! Rainbow an' her friends brought me home!”
Celestia smiled and walked over to the Doos and Rainbow Dash, gesturing for everypony to stand. “I am very glad to hear that.” She gave Dinky a gentle nuzzle. “Nothing makes me happier than knowing that all my little ponies are safe and sound.”
Dinky responded in her usual subdued manner by attaching herself to Princess Celestia’s face and giving her a combined glomp, nuzzle and dinky-sized kiss. Rainbow smiled at the sheer adorableness as she went over to nuzzle her mentor. “Princess…”
“Rainbow Dash.” Celestia returned the gesture, resting a wing across Rainbow’s back and laying her head on her student’s. “I’m so happy that you’re back and everypony is safe. But where are Princess Cadance and Shining Armor?”
“Oh, uh, right. Cadance wrote it all down for you in a note … I think Twilight has it. Nothing to worry about, everything’s fine.”
“I’m sure.” The Princess nuzzled her. “While I would like to talk to you more about your journey, it will have to wait. It is Hearth’s Warming Eve and now is the time to be with family. I suggest that you and your friends celebrate your good fortune together. But even without knowing everything that you and your friends have been through, know that I am so very proud of you.”
“Thank you.” Rainbow returned the nuzzle, just enjoying the Princess’ presence for a bit. After a moment she turned her head back to her friends. “Hey everypony! Who’s up for a Hearth’s Warming Eve celebration at my place!” Technically, her place was actually Derpy’s place, but Derpy was too busy hugging Dinky to register any objection. “Cider and hot chocolate all around!”
“And cupcakes!” Pinkie bounced up and down. “We need cupcakes!”
“Yaay!” Dinky cheered. “Can we have muffins? And cookies? And—”
Derpy made her way over and gently pried Dinky from the Princess’ face, nuzzling her daughter some more. “We can have absolutely anything you want, Muffin.”
“Whoa!” Dinky hugged her mother tight. “That sound rilly cool!”
“Yeah! Can we go too Rarity?” Sweetie squeaked adorably.
Apple Bloom waved her hoof. “Don’t ferget abou’ me!”
Rarity and Applejack looked at their families, then at each other. They smiled and looked to their younger sisters. “Absolutely.”
Scootaloo stood by awkwardly, scuffing her hoof against the floor. She wanted to go too, but didn’t want to be all pleading and stuff. That’d be lame. Besides, what if she was told no?
Rainbow Dash saw her self-declared number one fan looking down and regretted not having spent more time making sure she was okay too. Dinky was her god daughter of course, but she wasn’t the only foal in town who looked up to her. “Hey, Scoots, you wanna come too?”
“Do I?!” Scootaloo’s face lit up and her wings buzzed excitedly. Then she coughed and belatedly tried to recover her poise. “I mean, yeah sure. If you’re inviting me. I’ll just go and check with myparentsrightnowdon’tgoanywhere!” She zoomed off, presumably to find her parents and beg them for permission.
Rainbow smiled. “That kid is way too much like me.”
“I’ll say.” Rainbow turned to see Twilight walk up to her with a smile. “I don’t know if Equestria can handle two Rainbow Dashes.” Twilight mused teasingly.
Rainbow just shrugged with a grin. “Gotta leave a legacy of awesomeness behind for the next generation.”
“Oh, you’ve got that, don’t worry.” Twilight patted her shoulder. “After all this, there’ll probably be songs about you.”
“That sounds totally neat!” Pinkie exclaimed, sticking her head between the two of them. They hadn’t even noticed her approach, naturally. “Ooh, I got one!” She coughed and began to bounce around Rainbow, singing. “She's Rainbow Dash, and you bet she's gonna make a splash! She'll fly in and make the day all awesome and coool! And then she'll go over and pick up Dinky from schoool!”
Applejack rolled her eyes as she, Fluttershy and Rarity made their way over. “How about somethin’ more festive an’ less ego-riffc?”
“I’d like to sing some Hearth’s Warming Carols,” Fluttershy spoke up. “They’re so much fun.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Rarity agreed as Derpy, Sparkler, Cloud Kicker and even the Princess approached.
Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. “Ah, what the hay. Allright…
Old friends, dear friends. Here where we ought to be. We’ll be together at Solstice.
Old friends, dear friends. Living in harmony. We’ll be together at Solstice.
Some things change with passing years. Let this feeling staaay.
Dash smiled at the ponies surrounding her. Old flight camp friends, her new best friends, the Princess, her expanded Doo family … all together on Hearth’s Warming Eve. She’d kept her promise and brought the kids back, and just in time too.
Old friends, new friends. Home with the family. We’ll be together at Solstice.
Snowflakes, sleigh bells. Bringing back memories. We’ll be together at Solstice.
Some things change with passing years. Let this feeling stay.
Old friends, new friends. Hoping we’ll always be...
Here with each other together on Solstice Daaay!
Everypony applauded and stomped their hooves in approval. After singing, Dinky hopped down from her mother’s back and and scampered over to Alula and Pipsqueak, still being embraced by their families. “Hey 'lula, Pippy! C'mon an' meet Miss Princess!”
“Whooooaaa ... the Princess!” Pipsqueak gaped as he made his way over.
Alula fidgeted in Cloud’s grip, throwing the Princess a salute as Cloud Kicker finally set her down and trotted over to her friends.
Celestia smiled. “Dinky, is it? And Pipsqueak and Alula, correct?”
“Yah-HUH!” Dinky chirped, nodding to her friends. “We got lost an' stuck an' it was SUPER-scary sometimes, but Rainbow an' her friends came t'save us! 'Lula an' Pip were both rilly brave!”
“I'm sure you all were,” Celestia smiled as she bent down to nuzzle Dinky, Pip and Alula in turn.
“Gosh....” Pip blushed, shyly tracing his hoof across the floor.
Alula flushed, but managed to keep her composure a little better, throwing a tiny salute to the Princess. “Hello, Highness.”
Celestia smiled, dipping her head in acknowledgement. “You're a Kicker, correct?”.
“Yes, Highness,” Alula answered in an odd combination of meek but disciplined.
“I thought as much,” Celestia mused. “You made it through none the worse for wear, I trust?”
Dinky nodded sagely to the Princess. “'Lula got kinda hurt protectin' me an' Pip, but she's a'kay now!” Rainbow Dash flinched, looking towards Cloud Kicker. Alula’s sister bit her lip and looked like she had to restrain herself from flying over to immediately check Alula for her injuries.
Alula chimed in. “Yes, Highness. I got hurt a little, but not bad or anything.”
“Yeah! 'lula's rilly tough--kinda bossy, but tough!” Pip added.
“Thanks, Du—Pip.” Alula managed to give him a small smile.
Dinky looked up at Celestia. “Hey Miss Princess? Thanks for sendin' Rainbow an' her friends t'help us.”
“Anything for my ponies,” Celestia cast her gaze in Dash’s direction, making sure that she heard. “I knew Rainbow Dash and her friends would not disappoint.”
Rainbow couldn’t repress the goofy grin her mentor’s praise sparked in her. She was about to join the Princess and the kids when she found herself surrounded by grateful parents and family members of the rescued foals: Cheerilee almost crushed Rainbow’s neck with her enthusiastic embrace, Carrot Top shook her hoof so much it nearly fell off and Filthy Rich gratefully promised her a lifetime discount at his Barnyard Bargains store. Rainbow had no idea how so much gratitude could hurt. Big Macintosh’s tearful, mammoth, full-bodied hug put her in more danger of dying than all the bushwoolies under Sombra’s command.
She had no sooner gotten free of her well wishers than she found herself the subject of somepony else’s attention. “Dash?”
Rainbow turned around to see Cloud Kicker. “CK?” Her ears wilted slightly. “I’m sorry Alula got hurt.”
“It's fine, Dash. More than fine.” Cloud assured her as she leaned in close. “You brought my sister back to me. Thank you.” Then she kissed her.
“Hmmpphh?” Rainbow eloquently blurted out.
Dinky spotted them first and called out a warning. “Ackpt! Watch out for cooties, Rainbow!”
Alula turned to look, her eyes widening. “Whoa!”
Princess Celestia raised a wing to her face and covered her mouth.
“Oooooooh!” Rarity grinned manically as she watched. Fluttershy whispered something into her ear, prompting a titter and a gossipy giggle back from Rarity.
“Think ya can let her come up fer air now?” Applejack drawled from her place with her family.
“You're right!” Pinkie gasped. “Cloud, that's too long! Rainbow's turning blue!”
“Rainbow's always blue.” Twilight rolled her eyes.
Cloud Kicker slowly broke the kiss with Rainbow Dash. “Thanks,” She gently said again.
Rainbow Dash, whose eyes were busy imitating Derpy’s, smiled weakly as she rubbed her reddened cheeks. “W-welcome…” It was then that she became aware of the looks and giggles of her friends, Rarity whispering to Fluttershy and looking pointedly at Rainbow’s wings … which were now fully spread. Fluttershy covered her mouth with a hoof, letting out a quiet giggle as Rainbow fought to push her wings back down.
“Whoooaaa...” Dinky noted as she saw Rainbow’s slightly derped eyes. “Nice one, Miss Cloud Kicker! You fixed her eyes!” She tilted her head in confusion. “But why're her wings all sproingy?
“Because of reasons,” Sparkler explained as she hugged her sister.
Alula just looked back and forth between Rainbow Dash and Cloud Kicker with a huge grin on her face. “Cool!”
Princess Celestia coughed delicately. “Yes, well, I'll leave you to your ... celebrations. Happy Hearth's Warming Eve to all.”
“A'kay!” Dinky waved at her. Then she wriggled out of Sparkler’s hooves and ran after Celestia as she headed to the door. “WAIT! Miss Princess!”
Celestia stopped and turned back. “Hmm? Yes?”
“I gotta rilly 'portant question for ya!” Dinky proclaimed grandly.
“Of course.” The Princess nodded. “Go ahead.”
“Why do ponies call ya 'Your Highness'?” Dinky tilted her head back so she could look up at her. “Izzit 'cause you're so tall?”
Celestia just chuckled as Dinky looked up at her expectantly. “I ... suppose it is at that.” She ruffled Dinky’s mane with a wing, winking to her. “You are very adorable, Dinky Doo.”
“Thanks Miss Princess!” Dinky smiled. “But I dunno why ponies keep callin' me a door-a-bell. I just knock wherever I go!”
Dinky’s mother and sister groaned and did a simultaneous facehoof. “Oh my gods…” Sparkler groaned.
Derpy shook her head. “Oh, Dinky…”
“Silly Dinky!” Pip giggled.
“Yeah, she’s so goofy.” Alula nodded in a rare moment of agreement.
Princess Celestia shook her head. “Nevermind. Go and enjoy the holiday with your family Dinky, with my blessings.”
“Ooh. Cool!” Dinky grinned. “Thanks again Miss Princess!” She reached up and hugged the Princess’ face, giving her a kiss on the cheek before happily hopping back to her mother.
The Princess blinked at the filly’s unabashed forwardness and her sudden exit. “You’re ... welcome.” She shook her head once and made good on her earlier farewell.
After she had left, Cloud Kicker went over to Rainbow and draped a wing over her back. “So ... let's go do some Hearth’s Warming celebrations.” She gave Rainbow a squeeze. “I wanna hear all about what happened. Were you awesome?”
Rainbow puffed her chest out slightly, eager to “Uh, of course? Duh!”
“So...” Cloud grinned. “Got any good stories?”
“Well, let's see,” Rainbow mused coyly as she picked up Dinky and plopped her on her back. “I think I could tell some awesome stories over some hot chocolate. Maybe even open Hearth's Warming presents early”
“YEAH!” Dinky cheered as she hugged Rainbow around the neck, quickly echoed by Pipsqueak and Alula as the group: Rainbow Dash, her friends, their families, the Doos, Cloud Kicker, Alula, Pipsqueak and.
“So, about that story...” Cloud prodded.
“Oh, you wanna hear about how I kicked Sombra in the face?” Rainbow tossed her mane. “Well it started like this … I first had to fight my way through five hundred bushwoolies. By myself. Blindfolded, and with three hooves tied behind my back.”
“Rainbow...” Twilight chastised with a groan.
“Okay, okay...” Dash relented. “TWO hooves behind my back.”
Every adult present groaned and facehooved.
& & &
Far from the warmth and togetherness of Rainbow Dash and her friends, a lone figure trudged through the snow of the Frozen North. Zecora sighed, her breath a cold puff quickly lost to the biting wind. She had made her way out of the Crystal Empire while the others had debated Sombra’s fate. A quick incantation rendered Zecora invisible to the senses of the bushwoolies who inhabited the surrounding wastes. However, most of them were busy gobbling down quiches to notice her anyway.
While she wished she could have stayed to assist them in that difficult task, she knew that they had to find the solution themselves and not grow too dependent on anypony--or zebra’s--advice. Beyond which, they probably would not have looked too kindly on what she had done. Zecora looked up to check that she still had her prize. There, dangling from the top of her trusty staff, hung the Alicorn Amulet.
THE END