Cotton was bawling her eyes out as she lied on her bed. She kept herself shut in her room, leaving poor Pinkie and Cheese to stand helplessly outside and listen to her cry.
"It's my fault," said Pinkie. "I helped her get ready, making her think she was going to get the part." She frowned, "But I'm just as upset at Twilight. I really thought she would give the part to our sweet Cotton. After all, Whirl Wind got Commander Hurricane and that's who Dashie was. Gemstone is playing Princess Platinum, just like Rarity. So it seemed like the obvious choice at the time!"
"That's true, honey, but she did say she wanted to audition the girls, so there was no guarantee that Cotton was going to get the role."
"Oh…" She leaned her forehead to his. "Cheesy… what are we going to do?"
"I wish I knew, Pinkie… I wish I knew…"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the other side of the castle, Rarity and Fancy met with Discord, Fluttershy, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Soarin' in their suite.
"Fancy and I spent most of the night incorporating Nickens's book into a skit. It's almost done. All we need now are some players."
"We would be most grateful if you would consider acting out in our little play."
Rarity pointed, "I know Discord would make a fantastic Scrooge!"
"Oh, come on! It's because I'm old, isn't it? Centuries old! Perfect for an old geezer!"
The others tried their hardest to stifle their laughter.
Rarity shook her head, "Not at all, darling. It's someone with your… experience… that would contribute a lot into the character." She smiled hopefully.
Discord went deep into thought, "Well… when you put it that way…"
"Oh, yes, and you'll get to be on stage the whole time, since you'll be the star."
A smirk appeared on his face, "You sold me. What's my motivation?"
Fancy gestured, "First things first, old bean. We need to figure out who everyone else is playing."
Rarity mentioned, "Fluttershy will naturally play Belle, who is Scrooge's long-lost love."
Fluttershy glanced toward her husband and they held hooves.
Rarity continued, "I figured I should play the ghost of Hearth's Warming Past."
Fancy nodded and pointed to himself, "While I shall play Marley's ghost."
Rarity motioned toward Spike, "Spikey would be perfect for Scrooge's nephew."
"What are we going to play?" Rainbow pointed between her and Soarin'.
"I think you would work well for the charity workers that ask Scrooge for bits." said Fancy.
Soarin' shrugged, "I could work with that."
Rarity said, "But there is a matter of finding a ghost of Hearth's Warming Present, the Coltchits, Tiny Timberly, Fezziwig, and a few others. Although, I do think Pinkie would make an excellent Hearth's Warming Present and Cheese could be Fezziwig."
Spike asked, "Then why aren't they here?"
The unicorn gave a sad look, "You are no doubt aware of the auditions that Twilight had to do with the children?"
Fluttershy hung her head, "Oh, yes… Screwy told me. I was happy she got the part, but it is upsetting to know that Cotton is terribly sad because of it."
"Right now, their best place is to be with their daughter." said Fancy.
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Rainbow mentioned, "I hope she gets better soon. I can see why she be upset. I mean, Whirl Wind is taking over my part in the pageant, and Gemstone and Apple Jewel are doing the same for your guys' parts." She pointed to Rarity and Applejack.
"That is true," said AJ, "Pinkie was always Chancellor Puddinghead, so it did seem like Cotton would get it."
"Now wait a minute! Are you saying my little Screwy didn't deserve that part?!" Discord demanded.
Rarity objected, "No! Of course not, darling. We only meant that Screw Ball and Cotton were equally matched for the role, but given our history, it would make sense for Cotton to have it."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, but nothing about me or my offspring makes sense!"
Rainbow muttered, "He's got us there."
"The important thing," said Fluttershy, "is that we give them some time."
"I would like nothing better, darling," pointed Rarity, "but the show is less than a week away. We have to go over the skit to practice before the showcase."
"We know what you mean." said a voice.
They turned to see Cadence and Shining Armor by the door.
"Oh? Are you two going do something for the show as well?" Discord inquired.
Shining nodded, "We are."
Cadence explained, "We found this amazing book called 'The Gift of the Mane-gi' in our Crystal Empire's library. It's about a couple who are poor, but they are determined to get a present for the other, even if it means trading away their most valued possession."
Rarity exclaimed, "How utterly romantic!"
The group chuckled until the trumpets blared and someone called out, "The royal family of Marendelle approaches!"
"That's Apple Bloom!" Applejack jumped off her seat.
"And Scoots!" Rainbow flapped up.
"And Sweetie Belle!" Rarity put her hoof her heart before the three made a mad dash out of there.
The sleigh was being pulled by two pair of guards as the family drew near to the castle doors.
"We're here!" AB pointed.
"Finally!" Skater shivered, "It's freezing out here!"
Roller Blade shivered with his twin, "No kidding!"
"Yeah, I need to get to a fire, stat!" Apple Butter motioned.
King Button whispered to the rest of the parents, "Next time, we request a carriage."
They nodded in agreement.
Snow Pea, however, was the only one of her cousins who didn't feel cold. In fact, she hardly felt cold during the winter and during the summer, when everyone else got hot, she actually felt cool because of her powers. That was actually the one good thing about them, but other times… she felt unsure about them.
Little Button was grinning, admiring the snow around them and the decorations on the castle. To her, everything looked so pretty. She glanced at her sister and asked, "Isn't this awesome, Snowy?!"
Snow gave a small smile, "It is…"
The sleigh then stopped just as Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity made their way out, but the kids who were cold ran past them.
Rarity held out her arms, "Sweetie Belle, darling!"
SB ran into them. Applejack and Apple Bloom did the same while Scootaloo flew up to Dash and received a hug and noogie. Then they switched sisters to embrace, causing RD and Scoots to come down.
"Did you guys have a good trip?" Applejack asked after finished hugging Sweetie Belle.
"It was fine." she answered.
"Of course, once we got to the mainland," said AB, "the kids started getting cold."
"Makes sense," said RD. "They live on a tropical island, after all."
Rarity nodded, "Quite. They're not used to the cold weather."
"I am," said Snow Pea as she went by her mother's side. "It doesn't bother me."
Sweetie smiled as she nuzzled her daughter, "Go inside anyway, Snowy. It was a long way from the docks to here. I don't want you getting sick."
Snow nodded as she went to join her cousins and sister.
The three older sisters glanced at their younger sisters in confusion.
"That's odd," said AJ. "Snow Pea is always so playful…"
"Now she's all proper and serious," mentioned Rainbow.
"What's happened to her?" Rarity questioned.
The trio hung their heads as their husbands wrapped their hooves around for support.
Button said to Sweetie, "Tell them…"
She nodded, "Yes, but when we're all together."
Once they were all in the throne room-minus the children and Ra-Ra-heartfelt reunions were all around until Rarity mentioned that Sweetie had something to say about Snow Pea.
Celestia questioned, "Has something happened to my granddaughter?"
"In a way…" Sweetie hung her head as she began the tale, "There was an accident about a month ago. She and LB snuck out of the castle late at night and they were playing with Snowy's powers until LB nearly slipped into the nearly-frozen lagoon and Button and I managed to hear her shrieks and saved her in time. But since then, Snowy has been distancing herself from her sister and I don't think it helped that her father and I told her where she got her powers from."
Twilight inquired, "You told her about the Windigos?"
Button pointed, "We thought it would help, but maybe we should have stuck to our plan of telling her when she was older."
"Well, it's too late now," said Rainbow.
Sunset turned to Sweetie Belle, "Does she truly believe that she needs to isolate herself?"
"Yes. And that's what worries me," she felt Sunset taking her hoof in comfort.
"Let me talk to her."
Sweetie wore an unsure look, but said, "Well… alright. What have we got to lose?"
The kids - except Cotton - sat in front of the fireplace as some played with their Hearth's Warming Eve dolls.
Roller Blade made his doll look like it was flying and Skater was doing the same.
Fire Spark saw them and knew why they were doing that. Like their mother when she was little, their wings were too short to let them fly off the ground. The twins wanted more than anything to fly in the air like other pegasi. Then he noticed Apple Butter was trying to reach for her doll, but she was so short, like her dad was when he was young. Fire decided to help out and handed the doll to her.
Snow Pea just kept her distance from her cousins on one side of the room as she watched them play. Then she heard her little sister ask their older cousins.
"So you guys are going to play in the pageant this year?" LB asked, noticing the scripts next to them.
The cousins nodded and did random yeses.
"I'm Commander Hurricane!" Whirl Wind gestured.
"I'm Princess Platinum!" motioned Gemstone.
"Clover the Clever." said Starling.
"Smart Cookie." said Apple Jewel.
"The Narrator." said Fire Spark.
"And I'm playing Chancellor Puddinghead." pointed Screw Ball.
"Really?!" the younger cousins exclaimed.
"Does that mean Cotton is playing Private Pansy?" Skater asked.
Dignity shook his head, "No, we have someone else filling that role."
Whirl said, "Her name is Zoo-Zoo and she's a pegasus. Cotton doesn't have it because she's an Earth pony."
"So… Cotton won't be in the show, then?" Roller questioned.
Screwy hung her head, "Well, when she and I auditioned for Chancellor Puddinghead, she had her heart set on it, but then I ended up having the part and she got to be the understudy. She's in her room right now…"
"Crying." Gemstone added.
Screwy glared at her, "Yes… thank you for making me feel worse than I already am."
Jewel mentioned, "It's not your fault Aunt Twilight chose you."
Whirl said and turned to their younger cousins, "Well, let's not think on that. So, what's been happening in Marendelle?"
Snow Pea then turned her head away as the twins and Apple Butter glanced at her, but LB was the one who spoke.
"It's been great! Of course, I nearly fell in the frozen pond Snowy made, but luckily, Mommy and Daddy saved me."
"WHAT?!" they ended shouting out and stared at Snow Pea.
"I didn't mean to!" Snowy defended herself. "I thought it was frozen solid!" She then ran toward the door and was about to turn until she bumped into some pony.
On impact, she fell back to see her Aunt Sunset in front of her.