• Published 4th Nov 2013
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The Lost Prince Returns - Robobrony



The long lost little brother of the royal sisters has finally come home.

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Chapter 19: A Royal Hearths Warming Part Two

Chapter 19: A Royal Hearth’s Warming: Part Two

Hearth’s Warming Eve had finally come. Dawn Light was being treated to a play he had never seen that told the story of how Hearth’s warming and the founding of Equestria came to be. He and his family had a perfect seat where they could see the stage but not be obstructing any pony’s view. Dawn Light sat with his mother, father, and nephew on his left and his big sisters, Celestia, then Luna, followed by Cadence on his right. Twilight and her friends were performing in the play again as they did once before. They were more than happy to do it so they were all backstage getting ready to perform. “It sure is Nice of Twilight and the others to want to do this for me.” Dawn stated with his signature bright smile. “I’ve never seen a play before, I wonder what it will be like.”

Cosma lowered her head to nuzzle her son. “You’re going to like it son, trust me.”

“I do mom, I’m really looking forward to this.” Dawn stated as he nuzzled back.

“As are we little brother, I’ve never seen the play myself but I have heard good things about it.” Luna added. Dawn Light had asked Discord if he wanted to come but he refused, he didn’t really care much for plays. Tooky was left at the castle too under the care of one of Dawn’s guards.

Spike soon came on stage and began his narration of the story. “Fillies and gentlecolts…..”

As the play went on, Dawn listened intently as Spike narrated and the girls acted out the scenes. He was enjoying every minute of it and kept his eyes glued to the stage. By the end, he was clapping his hooves and whistling out with approval as he hovered in the air. “WAY TO GO, THAT WAS GREAT!” He shouted to make sure the girls and Spike heard him.

The royal family couldn’t help but laugh some at his antics. “All right Dawn, I think they heard you.” Solaris said with a small chuckle. “Come along son. Now that the play is over, Twilight wanted to introduce you to her family….which by marriage of your cousin Cadence makes them your family.”

Dawn’s ears perked up at this and turned his head to face his father. “Right, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

The royal family met up with the seven friends and exchanged pleasantries. Dawn giving off a bunch of compliments about the play to each of them and how good he thought they each did individually. “Okay Dawn, we get it, you really liked the play.” Twilight said with a laugh.

Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof as she hovered above the group. “Awe lighten up Twilight. If the kid wants to say how awesome I…I mean…we were, let him.”

“Let’s not ferget Dash, Twi’s takin Dawn ta meet her family here in Canterlot.” Applejack pointed out.

“Awe, and I was hoping to hang out with him some more.” Pinkie whined.

“Oh, I’m sure we’ll get some time later, won’t we?” Fluttershy asked.

“I hope so.” Dawn said. “I like being with you all.”

“Come on Dawn, we’d better get going.” Twilight said.

“Have fun little brother.” Luna said.

“Twilight, we know you’ll take good care of your cousin.” Celestia said.

“You can count on me.” Twilight said back with a confident smile.

“Come on, let’s go already.” Dawn said with a hop. Clearly he was eager to get going and meet his aunt and uncle in law.

“Hold on Dawn.” Cosma said. “You need your coat so you won’t get cold.” She lit her horn up and made a coat appear on Dawn with a scarf and ear muffs. “There we go, now you’re ready.” The coat was light yellow and the scarf was light yellow and light blue to match his colors. The earmuffs were just yellow. The queen looked to Rarity. “Thank you again for making these for my son Rarity.”

Rarity gave a bow. “Always a pleasure your majesty.”

“Yeah, thanks Rarity. Okay can we go now please.” Dawn was very anxious to go.

“All right, come on.” Twilight ushered him along with a wing. The group waved good bye as Dawn, Spike, and Twilight walked away. Twilight grabbed her own purple coat with scarf and earmuffs and Spikes green jacket.

As they walked through the snow covered streets of Canterlot, Spike started talking about all the fun they had planned. “This is going to be great Dawn. We’ll roast marsh mellows and help bake Hearth’s Warming cookies, and sing carols….” He trailed off.

“This does sound like fun.” Dawn said with a smile.

The trio soon arrived at a large two story house painted white. Twilight walked up to the door and opened it. “Mom, dad, we’re here!” She called.

“Twilight, there’s my baby princess.” A unicorn mare with a grey coat and a grey and purple mane and tail walked up to Twilight and hugged her. She had three purple stars for a cutie mark.

“Hi mom, it’s good to see you too.” Twilight said as she hugged back.

“And there’s my little Spike, how are you? Twilight isn’t working you too hard is she?” The mare asked as she hugged Spike.
Spike waved a dismissive claw. “Nah, things are great at the library.”

“That’s good.” The mare then turned to Dawn Light. “And you are Dawn Light, the little brother of the princesses, right?”

“That’s me.” Dawn said as he placed a hoof to his chest. “It’s nice to meet you.” He extended a hoof for a shake.
Instead, the mare bowed to Dawn. “It’s nice to meet you prince. My name is Twilight Velvet.”

Dawn’s smile fell a little at that. “Thanks.”

Twilight Velvet looked up with a single eye, she got up and pulled Dawn in for a sudden hug. “Dawn Light, Twilight told me how you want friends instead of respect. I was only kidding.”

Dawn’s Smile grew again as he was hugged. He happily hugged her back. “Thanks, you have a nice house by the way.”

Velvet broke the hug. “Thank you, you are so polite. Come on in, Night Light is in the kitchen. Night, our kids are here with the prince.” She called out.

As Dawn entered, he used his magic to remove his coat, scarf, and earmuffs and hung them on a coat rack nearby. Twilight and Spike did the same.

A unicorn stallion with a blue coat, dark blue mane and tail, and a crescent moon and star for a cutie mark entered the living room from the open kitchen. “Hey there, it’s so good to see you again dear.” Night walked up to Twilight for another hug. “Welcome home.” More greetings and pleasantries between the family went on before Night Light went to Dawn. “And you must be Dawn Light, the young prince, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too. So is it all right if I call you uncle and aunt?” He asked with a squee and a grin.

Twilight and Spike shared a laugh at the sudden request. Night Light and Twilight Velvet looked at each other, then back to Dawn. “Um…sure…okay.” Night Light said.

Dawn Light fluttered his wings in joy. “Great! So what are we going to do first?” He asked excitedly.

Night Light spoke up. “Well, why don’t you come help me in the kitchen, I was about to get started on making cookies.”

“Okay.” Dawn followed Night into the kitchen. There was a pile of dough sitting on the counter ready to go already. Dawn flew up and looked it over. “Ooh, bread dough.”

“Yep, here, you can help with the first step.” Night Light floated a rolling pin over. “Use this to flatten the dough. Into a nice sheet.”

“You got it uncle Night.” Dawn said, already using the uncle title.

Night Light looked to Dawn quickly when he was addressed as uncle. He found himself actually smiling at that.

“Let’s see…” Dawn trailed off as he held the rolling pin in his magic. He proceeded to pound the dough with the pin.

“Whoa, whoa, easy there Dawn, you don’t just hit it.” Night said as he stopped Dawn. “It’s called a rolling pin for a reason you know. You’re supposed to roll it over the dough and flatten it like this.” Night took the pin from Dawn in his own magic grip and demonstrated the proper way. “See? You just roll it over the dough, now you try.”

“Okay, I got it now.” Dawn proceeded to do as Night showed him.

As Night Light taught Dawn the finer points in cookie making, Twilight and Spike were chatting with their mother in the living room. “So Twilight, how are things going being a princess?” Velvet asked.

“Okay I guess.” Twilight said.

“Okay?” Velvet pressed. “Why do you mean by ‘okay’?”

Twilight gave a sigh. “It’s just my roll as a princess doesn’t seem to mean much. I mean, sure I’m treated as a princess and all but…I just don’t seem to have much of a roll as one. I mean, what am I supposed to do as a princess?”

“Twilight, I’m sure princess Celestia has something in mind for you. She wouldn’t have made you a princess if she didn’t think you deserved a role as one now would she?” Velvet challenged.

“Exactly.” Spike agreed. “Just because you don’t have a role to play like the other princesses now doesn’t mean you ever will.”

“You should listen to Spike, he’s pretty smart.” Velvet commented.

Spike gave a small blush. “Awe, thanks mom.”

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Night Light was showind Dawn the cookie cutters and cutting the dough into different shapes. “So we have pony shapes, deer, trees, stars, or just circles. Now that we have the cookies cut out, next we add the icing.” Night floated over multiple icing dispensers, each colored differently to show what colors they had. “Now watch how I do it, then you can do your own.” Night decorated a cookie with the icing to show Dawn. The icing was red and Night made a zig zag pattern with it across a round cookie. Then placed small white spots on it between the lines.

Dawn smiled as he watched Night. When he was done, Dawn took hold of a green icing dispenser in his magic and started going over a tree shaped cookie with it. Once it was completely covered. Then he took the red dispenser, a yellow one, and a blue one and made little dots, making it look like a tree. “How does that look?” He asked Night.

Night smiled as he answered. “Looks great Dawn.” They continued on like this till the cookies went to the oven, baked, then came out looking delicious. “And there you have it. You did good Dawn Light.”

“Thanks uncle Night.” Dawn said with a smile.

“Now let’s serve them to the ladies.” Night levitated the cookies up and led Dawn to the living room. “All right girls, fresh cookies made by yours truly and Dawn Light.”

Twilight looked the cookies over. “Ooh, they look tasty.”

“I’ll say.” Spike agreed.

“They look wonderful. You two did a fine job.” Velvet said with a smile.

Twilight levitated a cookie and was the first to try it. She took a bite and closed her eyes in delight. “Mmm, delicious.”

Spike and Velvet took one soon and tried one for themselves, then Dawn and Night.

After a gulp, Dawn looked to Night. “Uncle Night, could we make a couple more? I want to make a few special ones for my family.”

“Sure Dawn, we can do that.” Night said.

“Great.” Dawn chirped with a hop.

“For now, let’s get ready to do some caroling.” Velvet suggested. “Every pony get your coats.”

Dawn gasped at that and rushed over to the coat rack and immediately got his coat, scarf, and muffs on. “Ready!” He cheered.

The others just laughed at how eager he was. They all soon got their coats together and headed out for some caroling. This also gave Dawn a chance to marvel more at the decorations and enjoy the sights covered in blankets of snow. He was also enjoying the crunching sound he made with each step from the snow.

The family went about the neighborhoods singing carols for everypony. Needless to say, a lot of them were surprised to see the young prince and princess Twilight singing carols for them. Dawn was just happy to spend this time with his new family and was having a good time singing with them. After a while of singing carols, Night Light made a suggestion. “How about we go ice skating next.”

“That sounds nice.” Velvet agreed.

“But…I don’t know how to skate.” Dawn pointed out.

Twilight placed a comforting wing on Dawn’s back. “Don’t worry Dawn, I can teach you. I didn’t know how to skate at first either, but it’s pretty easy to pick up.”

Spike chuckled out. “You should have seen her the first time she tried to help with winter wrap up in Ponyville, it was hilarious. Heh hah hah.”

Twilight gave a small glare at Spike. She just let that go and looked back to Dawn. “Like I said, it’s easy to pick up.”

Dawn gave a smile at Twilight’s words. “Okay, sure, I’ll give it a try if you’ll teach me.”

“To the skating rink!” Spike declared with a raised claw.

The family made their way to the rink. It was an outside skating rink that had a couple food stands set up with warm goodies and drinks to help keep a pony warm. Twilight went up to the pony in charge of the rink. “Hello there, me and my family would like some skates please.”

The mare gave a small gasp. “Princess Twilight, what an honor.” She then noticed Dawn Light giving a warm smile as a greeting. “And the young prince, it is an honor to have you both. Of course, no charge for you.”

“That’s really not necessary, we can pay you.” Twilight insisted.

“No really, it’s fine. It is a pleasure to serve the royal family.” The mare insisted back.

Twilight rolled her eyes and used her magic to pull out a bag of bits. “Just take the money please, you have a business to run.”

The mare was surprised by this. “Oh, um, all right, if you insist, thank you your highness.”

Spike and Dawn couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene. They tried to hide it with hoof and claw over their mouths.

The mare produced a set of skates for each pony and a pair for Spike. They went over to a free bench where they sat down to put their skates on. Night Light used his magic to put on and tie his own skates as well as Velvet. “Why thank you dear.” Velver said to Night.

“You’re welcome.” Night said back. He stood up and helped Velvet stand up with a hoof. The two made their way to the rink while Twilight got her own skates on and helped Dawn with his. “See you two on the ice.” Night and Velvet made their way to the rink and started skating around next to each other among the other couples and families.

“Okay Dawn, first we’ll practice walking with the skates.” Twilight instructed. “Once you can find your balance, skating will be easier, okay?” As she talked, Spike got his own skates on and hopped off the bench. He waited for Twilight and Dawn.

Dawn Light nodded. “Okay Twilight, I think so.” To start off with, Dawn hovered off the bench and lowered himself to the ground with his new skates on. Upon touching the ground, Dawn held his wings out to the side to help with balancing. He was a little wobbly at first but soon was able to at least stand up. “Whoa, this is harder than it looks.”

“You’re doing fine Dawn, now try to walk.” Twilight encouraged with a smile.

“You can do it Dawn.” Spike encouraged further.

Dawn smiled at the encouragement. He slowly and carefully lifted his front right hoof and moved it forward. His hoof was a little wobbly as he set it down but he was able to keep from falling down. Then he moved his back left hoof, followed by his front left hoof, then his back left. Soon, Dawn Light was walking in skates.

“There you go, you got it.” Twilight cheered. “Now let’s move on to the ice.” She helped walk Bright over to the entrance of the ice rink and went onto the ice first. “Okay Bright, just walk onto it nice and easy.”

Bright did as Twilight said and slowly made his way onto the ice and up to Twilight. Just like before, he was a little wobbly on his hooves but he managed to stay upright. “Hey, I think I’m getting the hang of it….WHOA!” Spoke too soon. After his next step, he slipped and fell flat.

Twilight went up to him as Spike skated up to the two. “Dawn, are you okay?” Twilight asked as she helped him up.

“Yeah, I’m okay, guess I still need a bit more work.” Dawn joked.

Twilight giggled at his little chide. “I guess so, good thing we’re here.”

“You can do it Dawn, just try again.” Spike encouraged.

After a while, Dawn was starting to get the hang of it and was skating slowly next to Twilight. “There you go, front left and back right, then front right and back left, you’re getting it Dawn.” She cheered again.

“Wow, I am, this is fun.” Dawn Light cheered.

Spike skated along next to him. “Great Dawn, I knew you could do it.”

Dawn looked over to Spike. “Thanks Spike.”

“Woo hoo, he hah!” Twilight Velvet cheered as she and Night did a few fancy skating moves together and having fun.

“Humpf, show off.” Spike commented with a smirk. “Hey Dawn, watch this move. Spike skated ahead faster and did a jump, managing to land and slide backwards. Then he faced forwards again and did another jump where he tried to spin in mid air. He ended up landing flat on his belly. “OOF!”

“Who’s the show off now.” Twilight teased as she skated over to him and used her magic to lift him up back on his feet.

“Good try though Spike.” Dawn said. Dawn got an idea of his own. “Twilight, watch this.” Dawn Light spread out his wings and used them to propel himself at a fast speed. “Woo hoo! Who needs the leg motions when you got wings!” He exclaimed. He was able to move himself about the ice as if he were flying. “Oh yeah! Now this is more like it!”

“Be careful Dawn, you don’t want to run into anypony!” Twilight called after him.

After about a minute of this, Dawn came back to Twilight. “All right, guess that makes me a pro skater now huh?”

“Maybe, but there’s no challenge if you use your wings like that.” Twilight said with a smirk.

The family continued their fun on the ice for a little over an hour before they decided to call it quits. They each returned their skates and went to one of the stands for some hot Coco. “All right everypony, we’ll head back home to rest up and help Light make a couple more cookies, then head to the castle to spend the night for Hearth’s Warming tomorrow.” Night Light informed.

“Sounds like a plan.” Velvet said. They soon got back to the house and Velvet helped Dawn make the cookies this time. He wanted to make some holiday cookies for his family that had their cutie marks on them. One with a crescent moon out of black frosting and whit frosting for the crescent moon, another that had Celestia’s cutie mark, then his mom and dad, and of course Cadence. And he wasn’t about to forget his nephew Blue Blood and Shining Armor either. He also wanted to make a couple for Twilight, Spike, and his new aunt and uncle. Dawn received a round of gratitude from everypony and dragon there.

The cookies were done, everypony was rested up, and now they were ready to go. Twilight Velvet wrapped each cookie up in individual plastic packages for safe keeping for Dawn. They headed out again and went right to the castle.

Upon arrival and entering, Dawn was greeted by his sisters and Cadence and Shining armor. “Dawn, there’s my favorite cousin.” Cadence said as she walked up to him and picked him up in a hug with a nuzzle.

“Hi cousin, it’s good to see you.” Dawn said with a smile as he hugged back.

Shining armor walked up to them as Cadence set Dawn down. “Hey there champ, did you have fun with my family?”

“I sure did, we made cookies, went caroling, and Twilight taught me how to skate.” Dawn explained with enthusiasm. The joy was quite evident in his words.

“Sounds like you had fun then. I’m glad.” Celestia said.

Dawn used his magic to open the saddle bags Velvet gave him to carry the cookies. “And, I made some special cookies for every pony. You can tell which is for who by the cutie marks on them. I did have help from Velvet making them.”

Velevet walked up beside Dawn. “Now don’t be modest, you did do most of the work.”

“Awe, thank you Dawn, they look delicious. And you did a good job making my cutie mark.” Cadence said as she took hold of her cookie wrapped in plastic.

“Thank you Dawn, they look wonderful, almost too wonderful to eat.” Luna said as she looked hers over in her magic grasp.

After a bit of chatting, the king and queen approached. “There’s my baby boy, come here you.” Cosma picked Dawn up in her hooves and nuzzled him lovingly, followed by a kiss on the cheek. “So how was your time with Twilight and her family?”

“I had a great time mom, I even made these for you and dad.” Dawn presented the cookies for his mother and father.

“Well I’ll be, they have our cutie marks on them.” Solaris took hold of his cookie in his magic aura. “Looks like you did a good job son.”

“My boy the baker, who knew.” Cosma set Dawn on her back. She walked up to Twilight Velvet and Night Light. “Thank you for watching over our son, I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.”

“Hey, since when am I troublesome?” Dawn asked accusingly.

“Not at all your majesty, we had a great time with him.” Night Light said. “In fact, we wouldn’t mind having him visit us more often if that’s all right.”

“Of course.” Solaris answered.

As they talked, Dawn was waving a hoof through his mother’s flowing gold mane. “How does it do that?” He asked himself. “Hey mom.” He spoke to get her attention.

Cosma looked back at Dawn. “Yes Dawn?”

“How come your mane and dad and Celly and Lulu’s manes flow like this but mine doesn’t or Cadence or Twilight?” Dawn asked.

“Well son, Cadence doesn’t have as much magic as we do, and Twilight was made an alicorn recently so her mane doesn’t flow like ours. As for you, you just need to grow more and get older.” Cosma explained. “In time, when you get older and your magic pool grows, you’ll have a flowing mane like the rest of us.”

“Oh, okay.” Dawn accepted the explanation. More good times and simply chatting amongst one another followed through hearth’s warming eve as they were gathered around a fireplace until it was time for bed. That was signaled by Dawn Light who gave a Yawn. Celestia had already set the sun down and Luna set the moon on its nightly path.

“Uh oh, looks like someponies tired.” Cosma said with a smile.

“No I’m not…I’m *yawn*…fine.” Dawn tried to argue but yawned through his words.

Solaris stood up and used his magic to gently lift Dawn onto his back. “Come on Dawn, time for bed.”

“All right.” Dawn relented. “Good night everypony.” He gave a tired smile. Everypony responded in kind as he was carried out of the room and right to his.

Solaris used his magic to move the covers back and gently placed dawn on his bed, then covered him up. “Good night Dawn, sweet dreams.”

“Dad, are you sure Santa Hooves knows I’m back, I don’t really care if he brings me anything, I’m happy with just you and my family and friends.”

“I’m sure Dawn, he knows you’re back from that awful place you were in. And I bet he’s going to bring you a bunch of toys that are super fun to make up for a thousand years of missed Hearth’s Warming’s.” Solaris nuzzled Dawn at the last words which elicited a giggle out of him. “Now go to sleep, and tomorrow will be Hearth’s Warming where we’ll have even more fun as a family.”

“Okay, good night dad.” Dawn snuggled up under his covers and lay his head down. “Good night Tooky.” Tooky was perched on his stand near Dawn’s bed. He gave a squawk good night.

“Good night Dawn, sweet dreams.” Solaris turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Hearth’s Warming Day was the best day of Dawn’s life. As soon as he woke up with the sun, he and tooky flew to the room where the tree was with excitement at what he would find. As soon as he reached the tree, Dawn gave a drawn out gasp. There was quite literally a TON of presents for him in front of the tree. Sure some of the presents there were for his family and friends that were there, but Dawn had the most presents, practically a mountain of them; Not just from his family and the friends he made in Ponyville, but some from a few ponies of Canterlot and a few marked from Santa Hooves himself.

Dawn Light stared at the mound of gifts just for him as a smile grew on his muzzle and his eyes sparkled with joy. “YAHOO!” He cheered before diving into gift mountain. From then on for the day, not only did he have a large amount of presents to go through and new toys and such to play with, but he got to have fun with his family as well. It was the best Hearth’s Warming Day ever for Dawn Light.