For over a thousand years, the Festival of Hearthswarming has been celebrated throughout Equus as a ceremony of harmony and friendship. On that fateful evening, long ago, two exceptional fillies were given to all of ponykind; the regents of the Sun and Moon. It marked the beginning of an era of peace and plenty.
But now, something has gone terribly wrong.
In a universe that is a twisted mockery of the one where Twilight Sparkle and her circle of friends carry out their lives' work, the only fires that burn are those spread by the Equestrian Solar Empire as it wages a pitiless crusade to bring about Perfect Harmony – both on this world and that of recently-encountered mankind.
As a new year dawns, Queen Celestia sends out her assassin to deal with the reindeer Spirit of the Holiday. Their confrontation tonight will decide the future of Hearthswarming. Perhaps it is destined to die and leave the worlds a colder, more cruel place. Or maybe, just maybe, will its true meaning live on in some small spark.
A tale set in the greater universe of Spectrum, formerly The Other Side of the Spectrum, though knowledge of those works is not required to understand this short story.
I'm so very glad to see this in the public eye at last. Working on it with Sledge, the guys and yourself, Vox, was an absolute pleasure, and I hold this up as a collaboration I am proud to have had a part in.
On a personal note, as Sint and Elsa's 'creator's it is amazing for me to see them developed with such care and affection. The mysterious 'Weaver' also stands out as one of the most complex and intriguing characters in the Spectrum roster - contributing to her ongoing characterisation was a treat and a privilege.
Congrats Vox!
5424188
Thank you very much! But I will let our readership know that this story owes an inordinate amount to your encouragement and active support. Really, the only thing here that truly belongs to me is the original 'Weaver' character, whom I hope will be well received.
And one last time, Merry Christmas!
~Vox
Ah, such a pleasure to work on this thing. I didn't even do all that much, on account of working on chapter 3 of Light at the moment, but... I'm so happy to have worked on it. Hell, I'm happy to have worked with you, TB3, and Sledge on this.
5424195
Never forget sir that you were the guiding intelligence and final word on this work sir, a role you've already filled with aplomb as an editor. It's great to see you making your debut as a writer in your own right.
And since there's still an hour to go until midnight, let me take the chance to wish you and anyone else reading this, a very Merry Christmas, or Happy Hearthswarming!
5424333
Thank you, same here in regards to working together!
Would you care to tell us what you thought were the strongest parts of this story? In the meantime, I'll get around to reviewing your latest updates for Light Despondent soon enough, before year's end.
I also comment again because that season with Frost Wind was so SAD!
5424359 That... is not an easy decision to make. I really liked the segment with Frost Wind, but the setup was fun to work on...
I can't complain. I literally can't.
Me after reading this:
And then later:
It will be so fun to destroy the evil ones... ever so much... 
A really good side story as well, Vox! I really felt for the Erklasses and the four siblings, and felt downright sick with "Weaver's" hypocrisy, and for the especially harsh sting that all the children of Equus will feel once they see that Sint is gone. Wonderful job, and I'm really glad to have someone of your talent here on our team.
5424363 If you thought that was sad, wait until you see the two possible fates that await him.
I was going to work on the special myself, but stuff got in the way. And I'm glad it did; I actually teared up halfway through (gotta start working on adding tropes to this)
Anyways, thank you guys, for the opportunity to help work on this. I really do.
Also, Elsa's probably in the hands of a Norwegian carrot farmer/skier named Olaf. Yeah.
Also bit of a problem:
"Morning" should be changed to "Snowdrop" here, right?
Seriously, this is sublime from start to finish and I've nothing to complain about. Whatsoever.
...
Vox, TB3... why didn't you tell me you were doing this!? I actually thought up a vague reference to the TCB-Raindear for Unsung it-
*sighs*
Nevermind, back to the drawing board it seems; but this is another dark thing... figures two of our guys in Europe would be willing to bring death, gore and destruction on the holidays
5426216 Because it's a Christmas Surprise?
s.mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-1528141-1-tumblr_mhyyl2fbQb1s5og25o1_1280.png
5426299 *slaps bun away* No! No buns! I need to brood over this!
5426304 don't worry, they didn't tell me until it was almost done either.
5426299 *Stomps on buns*
I hate cinnamon!
5428268 *munches on Fried Chicken*
5424743
Thanks! Hope you had a good Christmas, and I'm glad to see you enjoyed this so much.
Your praise of my writing abilities is one of the nicest comments I've read on this website. Yet credit should also go to TB3. He helped me immensely in keeping it all polished. Plus, adding the kids was his idea – originally, the story was going to have a far bleaker ending, with Elsa as the sole survivor of the reindeer race.
And Weaver... perhaps this will sound odd and disquieting, but I see Weaver as my personal Viktor Kraber. Quite a bit of myself went into writing her character. The following line?
Yeah, that's how depression can make you feel, though real-life melancholics are likelier to get apathetic and introspective than actively murderous. Fortunately I've never had to live for too long with the 'black dog'...
But I can't stand it when every villain has no motivation beyond "they're just evil". It's so easy to write about being heroes from behind the safety of a computer screen. We like to think we'd never become monsters, yet if I were exposed to tough circumstances such as those of Spectrum, I'm not at all convinced I'd do the right thing. Which is a big reason I feel it's important to treat the bad guys as more than one-dimensional cartoon Nazis.
Please don't worry if you find this message overly gloomy, especially for the holiday season. I assure you that I'm in fact doing very well right now, in no small part due to posting my first story on Fimfiction! Getting to participate in writing Spectrum has been a highlight of my year, and as ever, I look forward to more in future. Good luck with your own Asia Side-Story and that other new idea you told me about recently.
Happy New Year,
~Vox
5428268
But you knew we were doing it.
Hope you liked this little addition to the universe you first set in motion.
5424782
You are welcome, thanks again for coming up with the idea to begin with.
As I said, the Spectrumverse is very much a group effort. Case in point, the goof you pointed out has been corrected, merci.
5426216
You Americans are such prudes.
On your side of the ocean, you've forgotten the true meaning of celebrating the death of the old year and the passage into a new one in all its bloody glory. (TB3 actually told me he drew some inspiration from Terry Pratchett's Hogfather to co-write this.)
But joke aside, I hope you still enjoyed this story and it didn't mess up with your plans too much.
.
5424917
Ace! Thanks!
5430650 No, its too late Mr. French Blood Brit; I need to go back to the drawing board and craft something new... along with the other stuff I've got in mind.
5430672
Really, the only reason you've got to believe I'm French is the picture of Albert Camus that I use as an avatar.
5430686 ...No, by the way are you ever going to spoke that cigarette?
5430687
It's a metaphor. (Bonus points if you get that reference.)
5430687
Though I actually didn't think much of The Fault in Our Stars, I genuinely thought that line about Gus's cigarette was amusing.
5430698 Eh, take you can get Vox; right now I'm working on ranking this year's 12 Animated Films that were released in the United States in the manner of Top 5 Worst, Honorable Mention and Top 5 Best.
5430703
That does sound interesting! Would you mind telling me which films you liked most? I can't believe I've yet to see Frozen, even though one of the characters in this story is named after that movie's heroine.
5430710 You should see Frozen, its the best Animated Film of 2013 and amazing... it was one of the only two films that were actually good that year.
5430715
Totally on my list for January, then.
5430718 I'll send you the rankings when its done
5424917
And now I've checked the TVtropes page again. Really, what can I say about how, exactly, I feel at being cited at the header?
This is one of the few times that words fail me.
5430773 The emoticon of Rarity being starry-eyed sums it up pretty well.
By the way, I do love that you like to bring moral complexity to the enemies that our protagonists fight. I've played too many videogames for me to really think along those lines - PER or Imperial forces in my stories usually exist to get shot at or reduced to pink mist. Still... Imma try to learn from this mindset. Especially because I really hate the 'always chaotic evil' trope.
5430631 You're welcome!
I definitely do appreciate the moral complexity, or at least the way Weaver knows she's a hypocrite. it gives more nuance to the overall universe for sure~!
That was amazingly well written. Plenty of emotions and backstory that may or not pop up later... damn, that was great.
Also, everyone is talking a about Elsa and Frozen, but noone is mentioning Eadmund, Lucie, and Zusan (aka Edmund the Just, Lucy the Valiant and Susan from the Chronicles of Narnia).
5432555
And don't forget their big brother Pyotr
5433454 Yeah, I wonder where he was...
5430787
Indeed, painting all our antagonists with the "always chaotic evil" brush would be falling into the same trap as Chatoyance in her attitude towards humanity.
And have no fear, I fully intend to keep going down this path so long as I've got anything to offer Spectrum. Expect to see more blurring of the lines between good and evil to come.
To my mind, Tirek is the only truly evil character in this verse. Everyone else, even Reitman, is ultimately his pawn or his victim. The real question lies in just how willing each person is to let themselves be used like this.
5432555
Thank you very much!
Adding the children named after the main characters from The Chronicles of Narnia was an idea first put forward by TB3. We on Team Spectrum love to keep our lore growing.
Forget grey and blurring the lines; XenoCelestia is a CUNT, plain and simple. I'd better warm up the Purifier Beams I think, and charge up the crystal capstone. Canterlot burns, tonight...
"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, Celestia's Genocidal Plot. I know of no reason why the Genocide of Humanity should ever be forgot... FIRE ALL WEAPONS!"
5445288
The Solar Tyrant (and especially the entity behind her actions) is unambiguously evil. But that does not mean that everyone who works for her is a monster. And despite their hypocrisy, many of the points the TCB!Equestrians make about humanity are not without a certain merit.
From your response, I would hazard a guess that you think the best way to prove mankind isn't composed of homicidal maniacs is to obliterate those who accuse us of being so with all our firepower.
Sounds legit to me.
Yes, but it's taken to extremes. TCB should be genuine sci-fi, exploring what it's like to undergo a transformation process from human to pony, exploring things like transhumanism, does the body make us human, the psychological aspects of going from human to pony, living with this other race, etc. Instead we have ridiculous stories like this one - grimderp as fuck - where XenoCelestia has her patsy kill the spirit of Christmas - the reindeer - there because hey, can't have Christmas in Equestria, it's called Hearth's Warming, now... Ugh.
Just once I'd like to see a story where the humans are in the right and it's XenoCelestia's world that turns to utter shit because of too many Newfoal Immigrants, or that fucking potion failing, or her own ponies turning against her... anything where she is ultimately made to suffer as her so-called perfect world comes crashing down in flames. TCB is a genre done to death and deserving of death. But that'll never happen, not as long as there are misanthropes who use TCB to write their version of a power fantasy and vent their worthless spleens.
5446428 ...but aren't humans in the right here? Didn't you get all the anvilicious messages in the other side stories?
5446428
This story is part of the verse of The Other Side of the Spectrum, which, though far from perfect, is an anti-Conversion Bureau tale if there ever was one. Aspects you wish to see like TCB!Celestia being in the wrong, ponies such as Lyra Heartstrings turning against her, Equestria suffering from excessive Newfoal immigration, or the potion failing are integral to the Spectrumverse and looked at in great detail, particularly within the stories Last Train From Oblivion and Calm Before The Storm.
I feel a need to enquire as to which fanfic you thought you were reading, since the co-authors and I worked hard to depict the extermination of the reindeer and the death of Hearthswarming as a bad thing, with the unexpected survival of the two fawns serving as a spark of hope for both ponykind and humanity.
If there are shades of grey here, they lie in the characters of the ponies sent to carry out the atrocity. When I first put forward my pitch to TB3, we agreed we wanted to explore what sort of person would do something like that without being simply a brainwashed or unthinking slave to the Solar Tyrant. History is full of intelligent, otherwise-decent people who were guilty of some truly horrific actions, and that fascinates me a great deal.
I hope this helps clear up any confusion.
Happy New Year,
~VoxAdam
If it's not too late, I dedicate this story to the victims of the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004.
There is always a ray of hope after a disaster.
I've sought to try and find a way to describe how the story makes me feel...
I suppose it's best explained in how you handle the villain, the dream weaver, our child murderess. It reminds me of one of my own principle villains. They're both doing ugly, hateful things, nigh unforgivable things. Yet forced to do so out of what they feel is necessity and they both know full well they're doing the wrong thing and are guilt-ridden about it. It doesn't make them good people. But it makes them a unique shade of grey that can be very hard to get across and portray well.
You portray her spectacularly. Though you'd think more of the Solar Tyrant's people (at least the ones who aren't still brainwashed) would find something at least a bit off about essentially killing the Equestrian version of Santa.
Also, I noticed the two reindeer children's names. Are they merely shoutouts or...something more? Because in all honesty, I'd be surprised if it was the real Lucy since supposedly she was killed...that whole train crash...
5475995
Ah, muchas gracias, mate!
This story was cobbled together in less than a week before Christmas, following an exchange of ideas between TB3 and I that resulted in our saying "let's just do it". I am honestly surprised at how well it holds up given the lack of prior planning.
The dreamweaver is a character whom I first introduced back in the "Training Days: First Month" chapter of Spectrum because I wanted to make Catseye and her rabble seem like legitimate threats to Luna's regency. When you're going up against a demi-goddess who can look into your dreams, it's best to ensure a few safeguards.
Another reason I created Weaver was to provide the Spectrumverse with a more three-dimensional villain, and I'm glad to hear you think I pulled it off. She's based in part on the Operative from Serenity, intended to come across as an extremist that knows she's doing awful things, yet believes it will all serve the greater good.
Lucie and Edmund were added by TB3, who wanted the story to have a somewhat more upbeat ending. Most of the references to Christmas-themed stories and concepts are his work.
5476233
Ahh, I see.
5446428
So you basically want to read this story.
I love this one. However, what happened to Anna? Sint Erklaus couldn't save her? Also Weaver is a sanctimonious bitch.
5674064
Thank you very much!
The name 'Elsa' is meant as a reference to the character from Frozen, but they are not the same person, hence why there's no mention of an Anna except in a brief, throwaway line.
What I like most about creating Weaver is that no two responses to her are the same.