//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 
// Story: The Family of the Season 
// by CartoonNerd12 
//------------------------------//

The next day, everyone was in the theatre for the start of rehearsals, even those who weren't performing would be watching to see what everyone else would be doing. Twilight had her clipboard at the ready as she had her performers in front of her.

She said in a loud, clear voice, "Last night, I made the program, so here is how the showcase will go this year. We'll have an opening song and the first half the pageant. After that, we'll do Shining Armor and Cadence's skit, followed by Scootaloo and Rumble's dance recital, and then our Hearth's Warming Carol skit. Next, there'll be the second half of the pageant, and finally, the closing number by Ra-Ra. Are we clear on that?"

There were random agreements.

"Great."

But then, Discord raised his hand.

Twilight looked at him wearily, "Yes, Discord?"

"Just what is this opening number that you're talking about?"

"Oh, well…" she eyed her sisters and turned back to the spirit, "it's just something the girls and I have planned out."

"Really…?" he glanced at his wife. "Why wasn't I aware of this?"

The other guys looked at their wives, wondering the same thing.

Twilight quickly spoke on their behalf, "Just trust us. We have something ready, but we don't want to reveal it until the show." She then turned to the kids before Discord or any of the other guys can ask more questions. "Let's begin with the pageant rehearsals first. Since we have given our roles to the children now, they're going to need all the practice they can get."

Fire Spark, Starling, Whirl Wind, Screw Ball, Apple Jewel, Gemstone, and Zoo-Zoo immediately took to the stage. Cotton, in the meanwhile, went backstage to start observing.

Twilight called out to them, "Now, let's start at the beginning. Fire Spark, you will be narrating. The rest of you will wait for your cues. Okay?"

They nodded and Fire got the signal to start. He looked down at his script on a stand and his eyes widened in shock, realizing just how many lines he was going to have to learn within a week. He took a deep breath and read out, "Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of Celestia, and before ponies discovered our beautiful land of Equestria, ponies did not know harmony."

A dramatic gasp came from his Uncle Discord, but Fire Spark looked down to see his mother rolling her eyes and shaking her head. The colt knew to ignore it and continued on, "It was a strange and dark time. A time when ponies were torn apart. By hatred. During this frightful age, each of the three tribes, the pegasi, the unicorns, and the earth ponies, cared not for what befell the other tribes, but only their own welfare. In those troubled times, as now, the pegasi were stewards of the weather, but they demanded something in return, food that could only be grown by the earth ponies. The unicorns demanded the same, in return for magically bringing forth day and night, and so, mistrust between the tribes festered, until one fateful day it came to a boil… and what prompted the ponies to clash?

"'Twas a mysterious blizzard that overtook the land, and toppled the tribes' precarious peace. The normally industrious earth ponies were unable to farm their land. The earth ponies were freezing. The home of the pegasi fared no better, the pegasi were hungry. And the unicorns were freezing and hungry. Even the unicorns' magic was powerless against the storm. Each tribe blamed the others for their suffering and the angrier everypony grew, the worse the blizzard became. And so it was decided that a grand summit would be held to figure out a way to cope with the blizzard. Each tribe sent their leaders. Daughter of the unicorn king, Princess Platinum. Ruler of the pegasi, Commander Hurricane. And lastly… leader of the earth ponies, Chancellor Puddinghead. Perhaps, the three tribes could finally settle their differences and agree on a way to get through this disaster."

Whirl took over, "All I wanna know is why the earth ponies are hogging all the food!"

Screwy read out loud, "Us? We're not hogging all the food, you are! Oh, wait… you're right, it's us, well, it's only 'cause you mean old "pegasusususes" are making it snow like crazy!"

Cotton humphed and muttered under her breath, "It's "pegasusususes"…"

Whirl read out, "For the hundredth time, it's not us. We're not making it snow, it must be the unicorns! They're doing it with their freaky magic!"

Gemstone recited, "How dare you! Unlike you pegasi ruffians, we unicorns would never stoop to such a thing! H-m-ph!"

Screwy delivered the next lines, "Well, if you non-earths aren't gonna stop using your weirdo powers to freeze us all, then I'm just plum out of ideas!"

Whirl then read off, "What a shocker, an earth pony with no ideas."

Dignity whispered to his parents, "Wow. Was every pony during that time really that mean to each other?"

Fancy whispered back, "Unfortunately, yes."

Gemstone read out her lines, "Commander Hurricane, please cease with the insults!"

"You're not the boss of me, your royal snootiness!"

"I beg your pardon, I am a princess! I won't be spoken to that way!"

Whirl read, "Well, I'm leaving first!"

Screw Ball read on, "No, I'm first!"

Fire Spark read his line, "And the blizzard raged on."

After Whirl and Zoo-Zoo delivered their lines like in the auditions, Gemstone said the next set of lines.

"Clover the Clever, I need you!"

Starling read her lines, "Yes, Your Majesty. Did the other pony tribes see reason as I predicted?"

"Those other tribes are impossible. I, for one, can no longer bear to be anywhere near those lowly creatures! The unicorns are noble and majestic. We will no longer consort with the likes of them."

Apple Jewel read, "Wouldn't it be easier to use the door, Chancellor?"

Screw Ball read out, unaware that Cotton was glaring, "Maybe for you, Smart Cookie. But I am a chancellor. I was elected because I know how to think outside the box. Which means… I can also think inside the chimney! Can you think inside a chimney?"

"Uh…"

"I didn't think so."

"Ugh…"

"Oh, my gosh! Hold on to your hooves, I am just about to be brilliant!"

"That'd be a first…"

"I have decided that the earth ponies are going to go it alone!"

"Aw, so you mean the other tribes didn't come around? Shoot. I really thought we could get through to 'em if we-"

"Don't worry about them. We're the ones with all the food, right?"

"Actually, we're all out."

"Fine, then we'll have to go somewhere new where we can grow some new food. And with me as our fearless leader, what could go wrong?"

"Where should I start?"

"The point is…"

Then all three kids playing the leaders said, "We must find a new land!"

They read out the rest of the play and they got to the end as Fire Spark said, "And they named their new land…"

They said together, "Equestria!"

There was clapping as Twilight said to them, "Great job! Now for the next few days you'll need to memorize your lines and attend every rehearsal."

"Do I really have to learn this many lines, Mom?" Fire pointed out.

"Yes, sweetie, you must."

He groaned.

Gemstone mentioned, "I'm with him. There's so many lines that Princess Platinum has to say. How did you do it, Mommy?"

The other kids nodded and did random agreements, asking their mothers the same thing.

Twilight and her sisters exchanged glances before she turned back to the kids, "I know it's a lot to ask, but we have faith in you."

Applejack gestured, "And we'll help you every step of the way."

Rainbow said, "We know this play inside out. If you have any trouble, come straight to us."

That seemed to set the kids at ease.

Twilight looked at her clipboard, "Thank you, kids. Now, let's move on to Cadence and Shining Armor's skit of 'The Gift of the Mane-gi'."

The kids went backstage as Whirl looked at his pageant partner, "You were great by the way, Zoo-Zoo."

Starling, Gemstone, and Apple Jewel agreed with him.

Zoo-Zoo blushed, "Oh, thank you, but Your Highnesses were just as great."

Screw Ball pffted, "Don't call us 'Your Highnesses'. Here, we're friends."

Fire nodded, "Screwy's right."

"So where in Canterlot do you live?" Gem asked.

"Oh, in the lower parts…" she felt embarrassed to admit that.

"Really? My daddy told me he grew up there until he came to the castle and met my mommy."

"He… he did?" Zoo-Zoo was intrigued.

Most of the kids surrounded Zoo-Zoo, asking her more questions and she gave her best answers.

Screw Ball watched on until she felt a tap and turned to see Cotton.

"Cotton!" she smiled, "I'm so glad to see you! After yesterday, I was so worried!"

"You were?" the young pink filly felt confused. She thought Screw Ball was thrilled getting the part.

"Yeah, I wanted to go to you, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to see me…"

"Well… I was pretty upset… I really thought I was going to get the part…"

"Me, too."

Her eyes widened, "You did?"

"Sure, it was Aunt Pinkie's role after all. I thought you would get chosen."

"Yeah…" Cotton slightly turned her head away.

"So… cousins?" Screwy held her hoof out.

Cotton gave a small smile and shook, even though she still had some envy in her.

"Hey, I have an idea. Since you're my understudy, you can see things from backstage that Aunt Twilight and I can't see. Maybe you can give me pointers of how to improve my act!"

Cotton eyes gleamed at the thought, "I would love to!"

Screwy beamed before she rejoined the others not, seeing Cotton's growing smirk.

She'll never know what hit her…

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When rehearsals were over for the day, Sunset noticed her sisters were surrounding Ra-Ra as they complimented the countess on what a great song she wrote. Sunset knew it wasn't her fault she didn't get to know Ra-Ra like they did. She was, after all, taken by some pony who wanted payback for her parents. But the fact remained that she was left behind on what could never be.

Suddenly, she felt someone's hoof on her shoulder and she looked to see Flash and most of her brothers-in-law.

"You know… as long as they're busy," started Flash, "we could use your help on finding the right gifts for them on Hearth's Warming."

Sunset smiled as they led her out of the castle and into the snowy streets of Canterlot. Everything was just beautiful.

Spike said, "We saw that look you were giving to Ra-Ra."

Sunset replied, "It's not like I'm jealous of her, but I wonder what it would have been like to be in her place, that it was me growing up with them… We're sisters. I deserved to be with them."

"That you did, Sunset. That you did." nodded Fancy.

"We know how you feel." said Soarin'. "The girls have been spending most of their time with her and we don't know anything they're talking about."

"So we're in the dark just as much as you are." said Discord.

"But you got to admit: she's got really good pipes." motioned Cheese.

They all agreed to that statement.

Sunset decided to change the subject, getting back to why they were there in the first place, "So, you boys are looking for presents for your wives?"

Flash gestured, "We just don't like the idea of showing up empty-hoofed on Hearth's Warming in case they got us something."

Sunset smirked, "Good point." She saw a nearby store, "May I suggest we start here?" She led them in.

It was like that all afternoon, with them shopping and having some fun on the side. Cheese, at one point, started a snowball fight and as much as Fancy tried to stay dignified throughout the whole thing, he gradually let loose and became a fighting machine with the use of his magic, throwing three to four snow balls at a time.

Sunset was having so much fun with her brothers-in-law that she could see why each of her sisters fell in love with them. Discord and Fluttershy and Applejack and Spike were unusual pairs, but they were perfect for each other. The rest of the matches made sense, too. Rarity and Fancy were obvious; Twilight and Flash were sweet together; and Pinkie and Cheese…did she need explain? It's no wonder they took a chance on love when their mother was forcing them to marry other royals, not being aware of the pending danger.

Of course, that just reminded her of what she had missed while being hidden away from the world. Had she grown up with them, would the same thing have happened to her? Finding love? And ended up having children at this point in her life? The thought escaped her as a snow ball hit on the side of her face and she glared at whoever threw it.

Discord was laughing his head off.

Sunset slowly grinned snidely before she used her magic to make a large snowball. The rest of the boys gaped at the size of it.

Discord's eyes widened and slowly backed away, "Now, Sunset. Let's not be hasty… Don't do something you might regret…"

Sunset took a couple of steps forward as they waited to see what she might do. Then she softened her grin, put the large snowy mass down, and started shaping it into a pony.

"Had you going there for a second, didn't I?" She smirked at the spirit while the others laughed.

Discord pouted, "Humph! I knew what your plan was all along, Sunset Shimmer! You didn't fool me for one bit."

Spike muttered, "Sure, you did." He nudged Soarin' and they snickered, but stopped when they saw Discord's deathly glare.

Fancy then summoned a pocket watch, "I say, it's getting late. We best return to the castle."

They mumbled in agreement.

As they were nearing the castle doors, Sunset quickly went in front of them.

"Hey, thanks for letting me hang out with you. It was a lot of fun."

Flash said with a shrug, "What's family for?"

She smiled as they got back inside.