//------------------------------// // Hearths Warming Eve. // Story: A New Tale In Equestria. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ____*Gwen's house, the basement, two days before Hearths Warming Eve*____ Fang sighed and stood up, he walked over to a stack of boxes, Spark watched as Fang searched through the boxes until he pulled out a thick leather journal, Fang walked over to his bed and sat down. Spark was starting to get worried as Fang opened the book and looked through pages, his left arm twitched and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Um.....dad?" He asked with worry. Fang looked at Spark and sighed, he rubbed his eyes and closed the journal. "It's.....complicated." He said. Spark gained a curious look and stared at Fang. "Why?.....she.....she didn't leave me did she?" He asked with a slightly breaking voice. Fang's eyes widened and he waved his hands back and forth. "No no no, you got me all wrong! she loved you, but you didn't let me finish." He replied hurriedly. Spark took a quick set of breaths after realizing what he asked, he tried to calm himself down as Fang continued. "Listen.....your mother didn't leave you, it's just that.....well." He paused as he thought on how he should say it. Spark gulped and his right claw clenched into a fist. "What?" He asked. Fang sighed and opened the journal, he quickly flipped through the pages, until he found one between the middle of the front. "The thing is Spark, your mother lived around a thousand years ago, she didn't want to give you up, but she had no choice." He started. These words quickly confused Spark, his rational side wanted to protest, but his curiosity wanted him to let his dad finish. "But you weren't alive a thousand years ago." He pointed out. Fang nodded and glanced at the journal. "True, but around the time that she gave up, she was working with a friend of hers to find a way to save the world from the corrupted God of peace, Jandoka, one of their experiments was a time related spell." He explained. Spark raised an eyebrow but remained silent as Fang continued. "Now, a while ago, I went on an adventure with some friends, and after a while we encountered some more traveling companions, some time later, I was at a small pond with two of my companions, and it was there that I encountered the first vision." He explained. [1] Fang took a quick breath before continuing. "The vision I had was that of a world on fire, but it wasn't until later that the visions become more.....lucid, eventually my group found, or more accurately, fell into the temple of Jandoka, we were separated, after a while, another vision appeared......and that's when I saw your mother, a Pegasus mare called Verdant." He explained. Spark was now listening intently as Fang continued. "I followed Verdant and her friend, a unicorn called Frost, they opened a secret passage that led to a dragon hatchery, the two had a short conversation which seemed to be focused on two dragon eggs in particular, one was lavender with purple polka dots, and one was orange with a dark green stripe down the middle, eventually however I discovered that my visions were actually the result of Verdant of Frost's experiments, I found this out due to Frost speaking to me directly." He continued. Spark nodded but soon thought of something. "Wait a minute, what does this have to do with my mom?" He asked. Fang chuckled and looked down at the journal. "Because Spark.....Verdant was your mother, from one thousand years ago, she gave me your egg to protect you, she wanted to keep you from becoming a sacrifice, you see, when they started the experiment, it was to find someone to stop Jandoka, but they decided to save an innocent from their turmoil, and that innocent......was you." He replied. Spark took a deep breath, he looked at Fang again with a skeptical look. "Then why didn't I hatch until a few weeks ago?" He asked. Fang sighed. "It was an enchantment of Frost's, it put your egg in stasis for all those years, Verdant wanted you to live a normal life....at least that's what I know, so when I returned to the present, I went to the hatchery and recovered your egg, eventually we got out of the temple and returned home, you hatched and you know what happened after that." He explained, hoping to end his son's curiosity. Spark however had one last question. "Hey dad, what did mom look like?.....if you don't mind me asking." He asked. Fang chuckled and closed the journal. "Believe it or not, she looked a lot like Gwen.....the only noticable difference was the eyes, Verdant's eyes were, well.....'verdant' green." He joked. Spark stifled a laugh at the joke, he then watched as Fang put the journal back among the boxes. "What about the rest? I know there has to be more to the story." He said. Fang shrugged. "I'll tell you the whole thing some other time, just not so close around Hearths Warming, come on, let's head upstairs." He said. Spark nodded and followed Fang up the stairs. 'My first Hearths Warming....should be interesting.' ____*meanwhile*____ 'This is going to be a nightmare....if it's ANYTHING like Nightmare Night, I'm going to die from boredom.' Complained a familiar golden bear. Derpy rolled her eyes. "Calm down Golden, we haven't had a brawl with Luna in almost a week, I think she gave up." She said hopefully. Golden huffed. "Not likely, a woman like that is far too stubborn to simply give up." He countered. Derpy sighed. "Fine, be paranoid, but still....we should be careful, Luna sometimes visits Ponyville around the holidays, or so I'm told." She said. Golden materialized a couch and laid back on it. "Fine, but don't yell at me when I say 'I told you so'." He replied. ____*Hearths Warming Eve, Gwen's house, 7:28 AM (I don't know if Hearths Warming Eve is the holiday or the day before.)*____ The entire house was quiet that morning, Fang and Roxanne were unknowingly fast asleep in each others arms, Spark and Firefly were asleep in their beds as the sun slowly rose in the distance, Gwen was out cold on the floor next to her bed, Skitter was the only one currently awake, she was in the living room, sipping on some hot cocoa. Skitter sighed as the sun began to illuminate the room, she ignited her horn and a disguise began to shape around her, the disguise was one of her own design, it was that of an orange Pegasus with short faded orange hair with a slightly dull white streak on the far right,, her eyes were a fiery Amber, and her cutie mark was a burning eye, she had even gone so far as to come up with a name for the disguise, she knew that since they were in Equestria, the name would have to be somewhat obvious, but she really didn't give a damn. [2] Skitter chuckled. "Star.....heh, ain't called myself that in a while." She laughed softly as she let the sun wash over her fur. "Well, I'm not staying inside, but I'll wait." She said as she walked to the kitchen. As she walked, 'Star' realized something, she looked at where her horn should be and saw an orange horn with a spiral pattern, it glowed with an Amber aura, she grumbled and walked into the kitchen, she set the hot cocoa on the table, she quickly made her horn vanish from the disguise. "I need to get back in practice." She muttered quietly as to not wake anyone up. Star sat down at the table and continued to drink her hot cocoa, after it was gone she sat up and set the mug in the sink, she walked into the living room and walked over to one of the chairs, just as Star went to sit down, a knock came at the door. Star grumbled and walked over to the door, she opened the door and saw Twilight who had a thin layer of snow on her, she sighed at Twilght's confused look. "Come on in." She said while getting out of the way. Twilight nodded and walked inside, once she was inside, Star closed the door and turned to face Twilight. "Hey magic girl, why are you here so early?" She asked. Twilight sighed. "Well, I'm actually here to see if Gwen and the others are available for the pageant, have you seen them miss?..." She asked. Star rolled her eyes. "They're asleep.....and its me, Skitter." She replied. Twilight halfway nodded before giving Skitter a skeptical look. "Alright, who are you disguised as?" She questioned. Star shook her head and walked towards the kitchen. "Nobody, this body is one of my own design, oh and by the way, call me Star while I'm in this body......ok? so magic girl, want anything?" She asked innocently. Twilight grumbled to herself, it sounded like she was annoyed but Star shrugged it off. "I'm fine." She replied. Star nodded and walked into the kitchen. "So, what's this pageant?" She asked as she started pulling some things out. Twilight walked over to one of the chairs and sat down. "It's the Hearths Warming Eve pageant, we hold it every year, I came over to see if any of you were coming over." She said. [3] Star walked out of the kitchen, she walked over to the couch and sat down. "I think we had plans today, besides, if the pageant is about the three pony tribes......no thanks." She said. Twilight raised an eyebrow and looked at Star. "Why not? everypony comes....and what's wrong with the pageant?" She asked, soemwhat offended. Star sighed and rubbed her eyes. "What isn't wrong with it? it's neutered.....the last pageant I went to that had that story, I simply picked the entire thing apart, the only thing that WAS even remotely close to the original was the three tribes fighting over the same spot of land." She countered. Twilight huffed and crossed her hooves, she gave Star an annoyed look. "Look, I've read all about it, and I can tell you that the version that I know is completely accurate." She argued. Star smirked and laid back on the couch. "Where did you find this information?" She asked. Twilight seemed to be caught off guard by the question but answered regardless. "The library.....why?" She asked. Star chuckled and looked at Twilight from an upside down point of view. "Time for a history lesson magic girl." She said. Before Twilight could speak up, Star had already begun. "Now then.....a long time ago, in a far away land.....before Equestria was founded, there were three separate pony tribes, the Earth ponies, the Pegasi, and the unicorns." Star began. "Even though the tribes were essentially the same race, they were at war....they fought over the lands resources and even used their unique powers to try and get an advantage over each other, the Pegasi used their weather magic for constant hazardous weather, the Earth ponies withheld food, and the unicorns used their magic to control the sun and moon, it was a battle of attrition.....but none of the races were willing to openly attack, they were content to wait for the others to give in." She continued. "It wasn't until twenty four years later, that the three tribes agreed to send a representative to a conference to negotiate a truce, the Earth ponies sent Chancellor Muddingham, the Pegasi sent Commander Hurricane, and the unicorns sent Princess Platinum, it was there that the war ended.....but the animosity between the three nations remained." Star continued. Twilight cleared her throat, Star looked at her. "Don't you mean Chancellor Puddinghead?" She said, Star shook her head. "Nope, that's in the neutered version.....now do you want to hear the story or not?" She asked in annoyance. Twilight sighed and allowed Star to continue. "Now, at the conference, the unicorns had demanded that the Pegasi cease the hazardous weather or else they wouldn't let the sun cover their lands, but Chancellor Muddingham had stopped that threat by stating that if they did that, then the Earth pony lands couldn't get any sunlight, and the crops would die out......needless to say, the unicorns threat was nullified, the Pegasi seemed to be somewhat willing to cooperate, and by that they were willing to cancel the hazardous weather, as they had lost good flyers because of it, the Earth ponies were the most cooperative however, as they seemed to be tired of the war, after hours of debating, the three races left the conference in sour moods." She continued. Star took a quick breath before continuing the tale. "A week later, the three representatives found an unclaimed land that had more than enough room for a nation, so they alerted the leaders of their nations and were tasked with creating a settlement for colonization, little did they know, the other representatives were tasked with the same mission, a few weeks later, they arrived at their destination, they had just barely began construction when they found each other." She continued. "The three representatives argued over who the land belonged to until an unnatural chill sent shivers up their spine, they looked around and were horrified at the sight.......everyone that they brought for the colonization were frozen solid by a large creature that stood upright on two legs, Commander Hurricane identified them as yeti, creatures that fed on hatred and negative emotions, the three quickly fled the area, along with the people they trusted the most, Sergeant Swift, Commander Hurricane's life mate, Clover the Clever, Princess Platinum's oracle, and Bison, Chancellor Muddingham's advisor." She continued. Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Wait a moment, I've heard of Clover the Clever, but i never heard of the other two." She said. Star nodded. "It doesn't surprise me, Bison stuck to the background, he was fine with his position as the unknown advisor, and Sergeant Swift.....well, let's just say the modern day pony would much rather have a private called Pansy in the story, then a sergeant." She replied. "Anyway, the six soon found a cave to hide in, they quickly entered the cave to hide from the yeti, the Chancellor suggested they start a fire, so he left the cave along with Clover the Clever, the two found some firewood and made their way back to the cave, Commander Hurricane and Sergeant Swift found some stones and they began to make a fire, fortunately, Bison knew a way to make a fire last just as long as a normal fire, and give off more heat, he found some blaze root and he added it to the fire, Platinum pitched in by igniting the fire, soon however, came nighttime, the three groups sat around the campfire as the night slowly passed, and it was then that Clover the Clever suggested that they put their differences aside and try to save their people, the three representatives reluctantly agreed and they soon started to discuss possible outcomes." She paused and looked at Twilight. Twilight was now silent as she listened to Star's tale. "Go on." She requested. Star nodded. "Now, while they talked, they reasoned to only put up suggestions until they found one to agree on.....the night passed by quickly as over fifty reasons were discarded, eventually however, Clover the Clever, Bison and Sergeant Swift, had all come together and suggested unification, the suggestion silenced the three representatives for the longest time, until the Chancellor spoke, he had said that he agreed to the idea, he claimed that if his advisor agreed then he would back it up, Commander Hurricane had talked to her Sergeant in private about her suggestion, and Platinum had a discussion about it with her oracle." She replied. "Hurricane had agreed to the idea soon after her talk with Swift, the night had ended with only Platinum contemplating the idea of unification.....the next day, the group of six awoke to a cold morning, a few hours passed and Platinum had finally made her decision, she agreed to the unification idea, with that the group of six left the cave and set out to free their people, Clover the Clever had discovered through a vision that the yeti draw their power from negative emotions, and positive emotions weaken them, with this knowledge, the six ponies returned to the area they had fled from, they found that the yeti had rounded up all of the frozen ponies and stuck them in a single area, the six ponies headed into the camp and they battled the yeti......the records of how they defeated the yeti exactly were never found, but the original belief was that they freed the ponies during the fight and convinced them to set aside their differences, there was some bloodshed, but they had prevailed.....obviously." She paused. "The Chancellor was injured by an attack at his legs, he was healed by Princess Platinum, much to the surprise of everyone there, after that, the three representatives and their respective groups continued to build the settlements, they had connected the three and eventually, word had spread about the small community, it took a few years but the three pony tribes eventually combined and formed the kingdom of Equestria, with the town of Everfree as the Capitol of the nation, the tradition of Hearths Warming Eve was founded as a holiday, on the same day the three representatives came together to free their people.....sadly the tradition was slowly forgotten over the years, it's become a shell of the original." Star finished. Twilight couldn't help but give a small clap, she heard Star chuckle. "I think I see what you mean.....if what you say is true, then the story really did change." She replied. Star sat up and then looked at Twilight. "Yea, but hey, I don't speak for the others, so go ahead and ask them......ain't no way I'm staying inside today." She said. Twilight nodded and looked at the stairs as footsteps could be heard, she watched as Firefly came down the stairs with a sleepy look. "Morning Firefly." She said. Firefly nodded and walked into the kitchen. "Morning." She replied simply. Star got off the couch and looked at Twilight. "You up for breakfast?" She asked. Twilight's stomach answered for her as it growled loudly. "Guess so." She replied. Star nodded and headed for the kitchen. Twilight looked around the room for a moment before spotting some photos, she got off the chair and walked over, just as she reached the photos, Fang came out of the basement followed by Spark and Roxanne, they all looked tired. Spark noticed Twilight and gave a short wave. "Morning Twilight, are you staying for breakfast?" He asked. Twilight nodded and looked at the photos, there was one of Firefly and Roxanne standing outside of Sugarcube corner, and another with Spark and Firefly, Dinky was there along with Spike and the crusaders standing outside of the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse, Applejack was standing behind them with a slightly annoyed look on her face, Twilight chuckled at the memory as she looked at other photos. One was of Gwen and Derpy before......the incident, they looked so happy, Gwen had some dirt on her body and face from a stunt and Derpy looked like she was laughing, a more recent photo was that of Roxanne and Fang with Firefly and Spark in front of their respective parents, Twilight smiled and looked at one last photo, it was Gwen and Derpy again, but this time it was recent, Gwen was grinning next to Derpy who had her right eye revealed, she was smiling as well, but what caught Twilight's eye was something that was barely visible in Derpy's eye, she looked closer and saw a faint figure.....she looked even closer and saw that the figure was that of a golden bear. "What the?" She mouthed. A familiar voice started Twilight. "That would be Golden." Said the voice. Twilight looked at the source of the voice and saw Fang standing there. "Who is he?" She asked. Fang sighed and picked up the photo. "My old coworker, we were children's entertainers back home.....I have no idea how he got here." He replied. Twilight nodded as set of footsteps came down the stairs. "Morning everyone." Said the voice. "Morning Gwen!" Star called. Gwen walked into the living and noticed Twilight, she gave her a sleepy wave before heading into the kitchen. ____*ten minutes later*____ Gwen was sitting at the table, she was eating a simple breakfast of eggs, toast and potatoes, the breakfast itself was quiet, save for Twilight and Roxanne discussing......something. Eventually however, the subject of their plans for the day.....it was then that they realized they had no plans, for the day, Twilight had suggested the pageant but Skitter had revealed that she had no interest in it, they had all laughed when Roxanne called the changeling a regular old Scrooge, after that, Spark and Firefly decided that they wanted to play with their friends, Gwen and Roxanne decided to go to the pageant along with Twilight and Derpy, Skitter simply wanted to be outside today and was quickly recruited to go with the kids, Fang however did not reveal his plans for the day, he said that he would find something to do. With that the group went and got themselves ready for the day ahead, Fang went down to the basement and walked over to the boxes, he went through them until he found the journal, he walked over to the bed and sat down, he opened the book and looked through it...until he found one page in particular, he began to read the page when the door opened, he quickly closed the book and looked to see who it was. "Why do you keep that book hidden Fang?" Asked Roxanne. Fang said nothing as he stood up and walked over to the boxes, he hid the book amongst the boxes and looked at Roxanne. "Can't tell you, sorry." He replied. Roxanne sighed and walked up to the bed, she walked up to one of the tables and grabbed a talisman, it was an old bronze talisman, it had the symbol of a diamond on one side and the symbol of a broken horn on the other, Roxanne had found it in the treasury, she sighed and walked back to the stairs. "Fang.....go outside for once, you've been cooped up in here for weeks with that book, get some air." She said. Fang looked back at where the book was, he heard Roxanne walk up the stairs but he paid it no mind.....instead he walked over to the boxes and pulled the book back out, he laid back on the bed and started reading it. "Maybe later." He said absently. ____*four hours later, Ponyville park, 11:52 AM, the tale of the kids*____ Firefly laughed as she unleashed a hail of snowballs at her opponents, it was the crusaders, Dinky, Spark and Firefly against six other fillies and colts, Firefly ducked behind her wall as two snowballs were launched at her, she looked over at her allies and saw that they were holding the line, Spark however had found an evil trick, right before he threw a snowball he would heat it up, causing the snow to melt into water upon impact with the opposing teams wall, it forced the one unicorn colt, Snips, to cease fire so he could repair the walls. The rule that they had set was that they could not hit each other in the head or eyes, but they said nothing about dragon fire, Firefly quickly popped up and threw a rather large snowball at the opposing wall, which forced one of the other unicorn colts, Snails, to repair the now broken wall. Spark gathered some snow and right as he went to make a snowball, an idea came to mind, he chuckled and began to make a unique shape, Scootaloo had raised an eyebrow but didn't question the dragon, she quickly threw a blind snowball at the enemy, which had resulted in Snips getting hit in the chest when he went to gather some snow. "I'm going to get some snow." Sweetie Belle told Applebloom, she went to leave cover when Firefly stopped her. "Huh?" She asked. Firefly raised a hoof and motioned Sweetie Belle to come closer, she whispered a plan in her ear and Sweetie Belle nodded. "Alright." Applebloom raised an eyebrow at this but her eyes widened as she watched Sweetie Belle jump right over their wall, she quickly popped up out of cover and threw a snowball for cover. Firefly grabbed a snowball and looked around, once she was certain that no one was looking, her hooves glowed a faint silver, she chuckled and popped up, she threw a snowball at Snails as he popped up to throw a snowball at Sweetie Belle, he gasped and quickly dove out of cover....only to receive a small barrage of snowballs to the side. "Your out Snails!" Called Star from a cloud above the battlefield. Star had volunteered to be the ref for the match.....she claimed it was because she would be an easy target, but it was actually because she didn't want to give the opposing team a hatred of snowball fights when they lost. Dinky and the crusaders gave Sweetie Belle cover as she gathered snow from the middle of the field. Firefly watched as Sweetie Belle returned with a decent sized pile of snow, she grabbed some and began shaping it into a snowball. Spark chuckled as he continued his project, it was a handheld snow drill made out of snow, he breathed a slow stream of fire onto the drill as he put more snow in its place, eventually, the drill had an icy head, he whispered his plan to Dinky and Scootaloo and they nodded, soon they started to target two separate parts of the wall, Spark relayed the plan to the rest of the group and they nodded in acknowledgement, Spark bided his time until he saw his targeted spot become empty, he popped up and threw the drill, the drill flew through the air and it slammed right into the wall and even went beyond, eventually the drill stopped when it was two feet farther then it's intended destination. Firefly's hoof glowed again and she popped up, she noticed Snips attempting to repair the now shattered wall, she threw the snowball, Snips didn't know about the snowball until it landed, she heard Star declare Snips out of the game. The rest of the match went by smoothly, without Snips and Snails repairing the walls, the rest of their team fell quickly.....however, some more kids showed up and declared that they were the reinforcements. "Wonderful." Firefly said. The group quickly went to a defensive strategy, with Spark, Firefly and Scootaloo fending off the now twelve kid strong army, with the original six and six new players, the group of six was drastically outnumbered, Spark would throw his melting snowballs at certain spots in the wall, forcing one or two of the enemies to repair, Applebloom, Sweetie Bele and Dinky went to gather snow, but even though they were fending off the army, it was clear that they were losing, eventually however, when the two crusaders and Dinky returned with the snow, an unexpected surprise came for them. "Need some help?" Asked a voice. Spark looked in surprise but soon sighed in relief, it was Sparkler, Dinky's sister, Spark nodded and lobbed a snowball at the enemy. "We're a bit outnumbered. Sparkler grinned and got into cover, she ignited her horn and soon brought a large amount of snow to them from a nearby area. "Let's level the playing field eh?" She suggested. Spark nodded and an idea popped into his head. "Alright, I have an idea, Sparkler, how good is your reaction timing?" He asked. Sparkler shrugged. "It's good, why do you ask?" She asked as she threw a large snowball at the other fort. Spark peeked at the enemy, they had increased the size of their fort to accommodate for more people, he noticed that they had three people repairing, six people throwing snowballs, and three gathering snow. "Ok, one of us needs to focus on gathering snow, one needs to repair, the rest are for combat, Sparkler, I need you to steal the opponents snowballs as they throw them, can you do that?" Spark asked. Sparkler peeked at the opposing fort and chuckled at how slow they threw, she ducked down again. "Oh yea, I got this, but what do I do with them?" She asked. Spark threw a blind snowball over the wall. "I need you to set them down over here, at least we'll have a constant supply." He replied. Sparkler nodded and popped up, she quickly nabbed some snowballs mid flight and set them down near Spark and Scootaloo. Applebloom decided to repair the wall while Sweetie Belle gathered snow, Sparkler continued to steal the snow as she realized the genius of Spark's plan, he was forcing the enemy team to waste their snow, while her team had an ever increasing stockpile, she noticed Spark working on something. "What is that?" Sparkler asked. Spark paid no mind as he worked on his design, he was working on a thrown projectile that would explode into more snow in a radius. "Just keep in the game, I have an idea." He said. The game continued like that for five minutes, with the team of twelve maintaining their fort, and the team of seven stealing their snowballs and maintaining their fort. Eventually, Spark finished his project and threw the snow bomb, the bomb impacted on the enemy wall and exploded in a flurry of snow, the explosion revealed three of the opposing teammates, they were soon barraged by Sparkler, Scootaloo and Firefly. And just like dominoes, the opposing team fell one by one, and the team of seven was declared the winner. Spark and Firefly high fived eachother in celebration. "Good job!" Spark said. The group started congratulating each other on their victory, Sparkler smiled at the happy expressions on the six friends faces, she looked up and saw Star smiling softly. 'This is a day to remember.' Sparker thought. ____*meanwhile, Outside the town hall, the tale of the friends*____ Twilight and Roxanne left the building with smiles on their faces, they had seen the pageant and saw that it was the traditional tale of the three pony tribes. Derpy and Gwen had parted from Roxanne and Twilight, they said that they wanted to spend some time together, Roxanne rolled her eyes and let the two Pegasi wander off, she looked at Twilight. "Now what?" She asked. Twilight thought on it a moment before looking at her. "I guess we could go into town?" She suggested. Roxanne shrugged and started to walk towards the town. "Hey Twilight.....how's Dark?" She asked. Twilight caught up to Roxanne and hummed a small tune. "She's doing alright, if anything, she's glad that she wasn't arrested." She replied. Roxanne nodded and put her arms behind her head and looked up. "That's good, it would suck if she got arrested.....mainly because I would end up having to rescue her, and that wouldn't be pretty." She commented quietly. Twilight blinked and had a surprised look on her face. "Umm.......ok, in that case I'm glad i could convince Celestia not to arrest her." She said plainly. Roxanne and Twilight then spent around half an hour wandering the town, they looked in the shops and the stalls, they had even bought a few things, Roxanne rolled her eyes at some of the ridiculous things for sale in some of the shops, but then they passed by another store, and it had something that caught Roxanne's eye. Roxanne walked up to the store and looked at the window display, it was a hobby store, but one item on display caught Roxanne's eye, it was a simple wooden case, it was golden brown with a spiral pattern on it, the case was the size of a simple cigar case but Roxanne didn't mind, she walked into the store, Twilight followed with a curious look on her face. Roxanne walked up to the wooden box and looked at the price, it was fifteen bits, Roxanne shrugged and grabbed the box, she then proceeded to browse the store, Twilight followed while looking around the store, eventually. Roxanne approached the register and got in line behind a unicorn stallion, after the stallion was finished, Roxanne walked up and set the box on the counter. The stallion behind the counter looked at the box, then at Roxanne, he had a nervous expression but started working. "Fifteen bits." He said. Roxanne reached down to her pouch and withdrew three five bit coins. [4] The clerk took the bits and then put the bits in a box below the counter. "Enjoy." He said. Roxanne nodded and walked away with her new box. Twilight simply followed her friend out of the store. 'That was weird'. Twilight thought. ____*meanwhile, Gwen and Derpy*____ Gwen and Derpy walked through the park casually, they seemed content to simply be in each other's company, they looked around at the sights of the town and then they spotted what seemed to be the aftermath of an enormous snowball fight, they also noticed Star simply sitting on a bench looking around. The couple decided to let Star enjoy the peace and quiet, they continued through the park in silence, no words needed to be spoken, they saw a few familiar faces like Lyra and Colgate, Carrot Top and Thunderlane, they even saw the Cakes out and about. Eventually the couple stopped at an empty bench, they sat down and Gwen put her arm around Derpy. "Nice day huh?" She asked casually. Derpy nodded. "Yea, you can say that again." She said. 'Ugh......so, sappy!' Golden complained. Derpy rolled her eyes. 'Shut up.' She replied. Gwen looked around the park and saw families playing in the snow, her smile slowly became a sad one as she watched all the other families. 'That could be me.' She thought to herself. Gwen looked at Derpy who seemed to have zoned out. 'Must be talking to Golden.....but still....' Her thoughts trailed off as Derpy looked up at her. "Sorry for the interuption, but I'm taking over for a little." She said in a slightly dark voice. Gwen tensed up and she released her arm. "Golden.....what are you doing?" She asked accusingly. Golden chuckled. "It's alright, me and Derpy are ready to switch at a moments notice, I just wanted to be able to move for once, watching is boring." He replied calmly as he sat up. Gwen sighed and moved over so Golden had room. "So, why today eh?" She asked. Golden shrugged and looked around. "Well, two reasons, the first being that I wanted to see how different this holiday is from the one I know, and the second being....she owes me." He replied simply. Gwen shook her head and looked around the park. "So, what are you going to do Golden?" She asked. Golden put a hoof under his chin and an idea came to mind. "Well, I do have a completely innocent idea...." He trailed off. Gwen gulped as Golden stood up and walked off, she decided to follow......just in case. ____*ten minutes later, Golden Oaks Library*____ Gwen could only facepalm as Golden made illusionary fires on the books, they hadn't found Spike so they assumed that he went out, after Golden made the sixth illusionary fire, Gwen had to draw the line. "Alright Golden, that's enough.....we don't want Twilight to die from panic." She said. Golden chuckled and tossed a book in. "Come now, I can tell you for a fact that, that cannot happen." He replied. Gwen walked over to the door and opened it. "Come on, let's go before Twilight gets back, I REALLY don't want to be here when she gets back." She said. Golden nodded and followed Gwen as they soon took flight, they made sure they closed the doors and headed for the town. "Hmm, now what?" He wondered. Gwen flew up next to Golden. "Now you give Derpy control again, I think you've had enough." She said. Golden stopped flying forward and glared at Gwen. "Seriously?......seriously?" He asked. Gwen nodded firmly at that and Golden soon heard a voice in his borrowed head. 'It's alright, let me talk to her a moment, she's being protective again.' Derpy said. Golden rolled his eyes and looked at Gwen. "Call incoming, it's for you." He said plainly. Gwen raised an eyebrow at that but did not question it as Derpy spoke. "Ok Gwen, we need to talk a little." She said. _____*meanwhile, Fang, tale of the old wolf.*_____ Fang sighed as he laid back on his bed, he had spent every moment reading the book....he wouldn't say anything to anyone that day but he had found something that disturbed him, the journal was once Verdant's, he had begun reading the book, and the more he did.....the harder it was to resist reading it twenty four seven, it was a record of her time in the temple, and it was there that she discovered something odd when she was experimenting with the Vision spell, there was a strange side effect that caused the recipient to experience visions without the spell.....and Fang was concerned that he may have them. For the past few weeks, Fang had been catching glimpeses of Verdant's life, he had even seen something he never heard about before, it was a large black crystal with a black shadow looming over it, last night however had terrified Fang, he had seen a vision of Twilight being trapped inside a black crystal prison with no magic to aid her, an unknown unicorn stallion with a corrupted horn, an alicorn projecting a shield over what seemed to be a city.....what truly horrified him however was the black shadow the loomed over the city, the shadow seemed to be fighting something, but Fang could not make it out. Fang rubbed his eyes and he quickly his the book amongst the boxes, his right hand twitched ever so slightly, Fang walked up the stairs to leave the basement, he opened the door and as soon as he entered the next room.....another vision was forced onto Fang. "Not again." He mumbled. The vision this time had the house around him disassemble around him, he sighed as the vision sped up until the house was gone and he was standing on dirt, he looked around and saw that the town was also mostly gone, he could see some people off on the distance so he started walking, he saw that there were a few buildings in a row and some more on the side, Fang assumed that this must be when Ponyville was first being founded, so he resolved to find out what he could before the vision ended. Fang approached the small town and saw that he received some terrified glances, he grumbled. "Great, this again." He whispered to himself. Fang started to explore the town but as he did he realized that nearly everyone in the town shot him either terrified or furious glares, he ignored it as he walked around, after ten minutes of effortless he eventually stumbled across a group of ponies around a stall, they seemed to be getting ready to sell their goods, he spotted some young mares getting some things for the stall when one of them tripped and dropped a box of apples, one of the mares hurried over and helped the mare get up, Fang sighed and walked over, he recieved some angry glares from the other ponies but he paid them no mind, once he reached the two mares he kneeled down, the two gave him curious stares but Fang paid no mind as he gathered the scattered apples and put them back in the box he picked the box up and looked at the other ponies. "Where do you want it?" He asked. The stallion seemed to be shocked but he pointed to the stall regardless, Fang carried the box over and set it down on the stall, he looked over at the mares and noticed something familiar about the one. "You, green one, what's your name?" He asked calmly. The mare in question gulped and went to say her name, but a loud bang censored it. "You know what.....just call me Smith." She said grumpily. Fang nodded and reached down for his satchel, he opened it up and pulled out an iron coin with a dragon symbol on it, he set it down on the stall. "Keep it Smith, I'll be back for it." He said simply as he walked off and put his theory to the test. The vision seemed to fade around Fang as he walked, once the world was back to normal, Fang noticed that he was now in the park, he looked around his general area and sighed in relief as he saw that nobody noticed him, he decided to save his theory for another day and he began to take a walk through the park. 'I'll see if this works sometime.' He wondered. ____*meanwhile, Skitter/Star, tale of the form changer*____ Star walked into Sugarcube corner and saw that the place was practically empty, she saw Pinkie Pie bouncing around, she walked into the bakery and Pinkie immediately noticed, this was self evident as she waved in Star's direction at the excact moment that Star's foot moved. Pinkie bounced over to Star and promptly conked her on the head. "Ouch!" Star exclaimed. "Yea, I don't get how you could handle it all those times." Pinkie commented as she rubbed her head. Star rubbed her head and she looked Pinkie in the eye. "What possessed you to do that Pinks?" She asked. Pinkie shrugged and bounced toward the counter. "Do you want anything?" She asked. Star shook her head and walked over to one of the booths, she sat down and laid her head back. "Just need some privacy." She replied. "Okie dokie loki!" The pink mare replied as she headed back into the kitchen. Star rolled her eyes and then closed them, almost immediately, thoughts of the twins and Vulture entered her head, she sighed and opened her eyes and leaned on the table, she set her elbow on the table and let her head rest on her hoof. Pinkie entered the room from the kitchen and saw Star, she walked over and sat down on the opposite end. "Are you alright?" She asked quietly. Star scoffed. "What do you care? your people hunt my kind, I'm basically a prisoner and I'm at the mercy of ponies who hate me because of a racial difference, no one cares." She retorted. Pinkie rolled her eyes and looked at Star, she gave the mare a sincere look. "Drop the disguise." She said. Star looked at Pinkie with disinterest, she sighed in defeat and she let the disguise fall. "Happy?" She asked hostility. Pinkie looked Skitter right in the eye and soon smiled. "You know, it's just a disguise, I can tell its you just by looking at you." She said calmly. Skitter chuckled and leaned back on the booth. "What do you expect me to do? go out in public like this.....I would be hated on the spot, the only person who understands my pain is dead.....what do you want?" She asked. Pinkie then got up out of the booth and looked at Skitter. "I know that my race hasn't given you much reason to trust us....." She was going to continue but was cut off by Skitter. "Your race either arrests or kills us on sight, those of us living normal lives were torn away from their families because they were changelings.....I'm lucky to have gotten away when I did." She countered. "But!" Pinkie interrupted. "There ARE good ponies out there, you just need to find them." She replied. Skitter chuckled and looked up at the ceiling. "You have an optimistic view of the world, but still....kinda hard to find equality amongst a race where it's ruler considers my race to be abominations." She said with disgust. Pinkie sighed and walked over to the counter. "I'm not going to convince you, but you don't need to be so negative, your safe.....nopony is going to attack you today, or tomorrow for that matter." She argued. Skitter blinked as she seemed to think it over, eventually after five minutes, her horn lit up and she became Star again. "I can't take that chance." She said sadly as she stood up and walked to the exit. Pinkie shook her head and continued to work. "Be careful Star." She said.[5] Star exited the bakery and headed home. "I'm done." She stated to herself. _____*later that day, 5:19 PM, tale of the psychic.*_____ Golden wandered the now bare streets of Ponyville, he had borrowed Derpy's body and let the mare sleep, although Gwen protested, she was quickly silenced by Golden reminding her of Derpy's decision, annoyingly enough, everyone had gone inside for the night....which was completely riduculous to Golden, he looked up at the moon and chuckled as it was full. "Always did like full moons, what do you think?" He asked. Four footsteps landed on the snow behind Golden, he turned around and saw a VERY familiar lunar alicorn. "Hey Luna." He said. Luna walked up. "Greetings, We are not here to fight you." She stated as she looked up. Golden nodded and looked up at the night sky and admired the handiwork. "I take it your proud of what you do?" He asked. Luna nodded and looked at Golden. "Indeed, although we are curious as to why you are roaming the streets, are you not concerned?" She asked. Golden shook his head. "Na, I just felt like stargazing." He replied. Luna nodded and soon Golden spoke up again. "We need to stop our fights." He said simply. Luna looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked. Golden sighed and sat down. "As much as I'm going to hate telling you this......our fights are actually killing Derpy, and I don't know about YOU but I need this mare alive." He revealed. Luna mirrored Golden's actions and looked at him. "Very well, we shall cease our combat with you, if what you say is true, then I have no choice.....so, you like stargazing?" She asked with a change of subject. Golden smiled and welcomed the subject change. "Yea.....used to do it all the time back home, gotta say though....the stars do top ours by a longshot." He complemented. Luna grinned. "Thank you, it isn't easy, but I can make some good constellations." She replied. Golden nodded. "Yep, but still...." He looked at Luna. "Isn't this the same reason you became Nightmare Moon? because everyone would shun the night or something corny like that?" He asked. Luna sighed sadly and nodded. "Unfortunately yes, but it was more of my jealousy that made it happen." She replied. Golden nodded again and looked at Luna. "Well, I guess that's all sorted out huh?" He said. Luna chuckled and looked at Golden. "Yes, but we have a question for you now." She stated. Golden rolled his eyes and laughed shortly. "Go ahead, you caught me In a good mood." He replied. "Why do you not return to your body?......surely you have one." She asked. Golden shrugged. "Eh, old coworker rammed into it and demolished it, apparently it wasn't very durable.....if I do have a body, it's back home at Freddy's." He replied. Luna raised an eyebrow. "Who's Freddy?" She asked. "Children's restaurant, it has animatronics for the main attraction, I used to be the main one, until the bite......can we change the subject?" He asked quietly. Luna had gained some curiosity but she respected Golden's wish. "Very well, but may I ask who this coworker of yours is?" She asked. Golden shrugged. "Fang, he just showed up out of nowhere one day, didn't even know they were making another animatronic, he's a good guy but we......never saw eye to eye." He said. Luna seemed to think about it for a moment before her eyes widened in realization. "The wolf? he's your coworker?" She asked. Golden nodded at the question, Luna had stood up and looked at Golden. "Let's go pay a visit." She said cryptically. "Uh.....ok?" He said with confusion clear in his voice. Luna started walking towards Gwen's house and Golden followed close behind. 'Hopefully this will end in disaster.....at least it will avert the awkward feeling.' Golden hoped. ____*Gwen's house, ten minutes later*____ Fang chuckled as he leaned against the wall, he watched as Gwen and the others gathered around a bare tree, he could only roll his eyes as they all participated in decorating the tree, Sparkler and Dinky had even pitched in by putting garland up, Fang was the only one who didn't want to participate.....Roxanne had pointed out that he was killing the mood but Fang had insisted that he had already done his part. This was true, but Roxanne simply wanted to tease her partner, but Fang had brought the tree in and set the entire thing up, he chuckled again as Star and Sparkler fumbled on putting the garland up. 'Maybe I've been taking this vision thing to seriously.....why would I want to give this up?' He asked himself. "I bring a guest!" Proclaimed Derpy as she entered the house. Fang looked over and saw Princess Luna walk inside, he looked at Spark and motioned him over. Luna noticed the tree and smiled.....she saw that several ponies in the room had bowed, she had mentioned that she was here for a casual visit and everyone in the room eased themselves as they went back to what they were doing, she then looked around the room and noticed Fang leaning against the wall casually, she caught a brief glimpse of a baby dragon hiding behind his leg. Derpy walked over to the group of friends and joined them in decorating the tree. Luna walked over to Fang with a neutral expression. "Hello." She greeted. Fang nodded. "Hey......it's been a while." He said. Luna noticed a small head pop out from behind Fang's leg for a moment. "And who is this?" She asked as she knelt down. Fang looked down at his leg, he chuckled as the baby dragon hid from the alicorn. "This is Spark......my son." He introduced as he gently nudged the dragon, who in turn gulped and came out of hiding. Luna knelt down to the dragon height. "Greetings young one, I am Princess Luna it's nice to meet you." She said calmly. Spark nodded and slowly approached the nocturnal alicorn. "I uh.....nice to meet you?" He replied nervously. Luna gave a soft smile, she had dealt with this often in the Dream world.....she slowly stood up and looked at Fang. "If I may.....what was his egg like?" She asked. Fang raised an eyebrow, he sent Spark over to the others and gave Luna a cautious glare. "It was orange with a dark green stripe down the middle.....why do you ask?" He questioned. Luna looked at the dragon and then back at Fang. "Because.....I know the mother of the dragon." She replied simply. Fang's heart seemed to have skipped a beat, he sighed and looked at the tree. "We need to talk in private after the party." He stated. Luna nodded and looked to the group of ponies decorating the tree. "This will be an interesting night....." She mumbled.