The Family of the Season

by CartoonNerd12

Chapter 1

"We're hunting presents…" Screw Ball held the binoculars to her swirly eyes as she, Apple Jewel, Gemstone, and Cotton Candy were hiding in the dining hall, which was near the Hearth's Warming tree that was in their Everfree Castle. "Target sighted…" she said, spotting the presents under the tree, "Now on my signal, we move in three-"

"One!" Cotton Candy shrieked as she jumped out and ran toward the presents. She was about to land on them until the presents disappeared in a flash. "Oof!" she looked around and exclaimed, "Hey! What happened to all the presents?!"

There was chuckling and the parents came in the room.

Cheese Sandwich gestured, "You know the rule, Cotton…"

Applejack motioned, "And that goes for all of ya."

The kids came out from their hiding spot and groaned.

"Why do we have to wait until Hearth's Warming?" Gemstone inquired.

Rarity answered, "It's a tradition that goes back a thousand years."

"Where did you send the presents, Daddy?" Screwy asked with pleading eyes.

Discord started, "Well…" But his wife gave him a warning glare and then he smirked at their daughter, "Nice try, but you're just going to have to wait."

She groaned.

Rainbow Dash then whooshed in, "What's taking you guys so long? The sleigh's all ready!" She whooshed back out.

"Wonderful!" Rarity exclaimed as she led her family out.

They got out to the front of the snowy castle to see a sleigh large enough to fit them all while two pairs of guards were attached to the sleigh to pull it. Shortly after they were all in, it started moving. Fluttershy, who was up front with her husband, said, "I can't wait to see Twilight again!"

Pinkie pointed, "I know! It's been four whole months since we last saw her!"

"At least Uncle Flash, Fire Spark, and Starling were able to come stay with us a few times." said Whirl Wind.

"I can't wait to see Star!" said Gemstone.

Unbeknownst to them, Discord had snapped his tail and a nearby tree branch suddenly had mistletoe on it. And they were about to go underneath it.

"Heads –up!" he said. "Mistletoe straight ahead!" Then he twitched his eyebrow at his beloved, who blushed but giggled. All of the other couples glanced at each other and then right as they were going under the mistletoe, they all started kissing.

The kids glanced at who they were sitting next to - such as Screw Ball and Whirl Wind were near each other - but once they realized what the mistletoe was for, they gagged at the thought.

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While half of the royal family was a sleigh ride away, Queen Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot started fretting in her throne room that not every one of her family members was going to be here.

Flash saw his wife pacing the floor as he sat in what was the previous king's throne. The previous king was Twilight's father, King Sombra. Flash kept watching her as did their children, who were also in the room.

"What are you so worried about, Mommy?" Starling asked.

"Oh," Twilight stopped for a moment to look back at her daughter, "sweetie, I'm just worried that your aunts and uncles and your cousins might not get here safely. What if something were to happen, like an avalanche, or a huge blizzard that came out of nowhere?! Or maybe…"

"Mom! Calm down!" Fire Spark flapped to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. Flash shortly joined them.

"I'm sure they're fine, honey… You know they always are…" he smiled.

"I know… but I can't help worrying. Ever since I took up the duty to care for all of Canterlot and some of its surrounding areas, I feel like something bad is going to happen on my watch."

"Mom, it's almost Hearth's Warming Eve. You should relax a little and enjoy the season." said Fire Spark.

"With all our relatives coming, that should help you." Star faced her mom.

Twilight had a grin grow on her face and moved her children closer to her.

"You are the best kids a mother could ever ask for."

Just then, the predecessors of Canterlot came through the door.

"Are they here yet?" Celestia asked her daughter.

"Not yet," replied Twilight. "But hopefully soon."

"But when they do get here, will everything be ready for the holiday showcase?" Sombra asked.

Twilight beamed, "I've spent weeks preparing! As you know, ever since we were little fillies, we always play the lead parts of the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant. But as we got older, we felt bored of having to do just the pageant and decided to add on more performances like songs and skits before, between, and after the pageant. It our favorite Hearth's Warming Eve tradition! This year, it'll be extra huge with Sunset coming and I've invited a special guest to come perform."

"Special guest?" Celestia said with intrigue. "Who?"

"It's a surprise," Twilight smirked. "One I know my sisters will love."

Sombra and Celestia smiled at each other.

Up high on the castle's watchtower, a guard was looking through a telescope until he spotted something coming. He shouted to another guard that was stationed on the tower steps. "The royal sleigh approaches!"

The guard on the stairs then passed the message to the next guard nearby, "The royal sleigh approaches!"

This was a chain reaction until a guard was near the throne room and ran in. "Your Highnesses! The royal sleigh approaches!"

Twilight gasped in excitement, "They're here! They're here!" She ran out the room, followed by her husband and children.

The sleigh was nearing the castle doors and Applejack pointed out, "There it is, home sweet home."

Pinkie said, "I think you mean 'castle sweet castle'."

Apple Jewel questioned, "I thought the Everfree castle is our home?"

Her mother responded, "It is, but Canterlot is our home too."

"We get two castle homes!" said Rainbow.

Pinkie mentioned, "I can't wait to see Twilight's face when she sees us!"

"That might be quicker than you think," her husband gestured to the purple blur that rushed out the castle doors just as the sleigh stopped.

The sisters gave out shrieks of joy as they hopped out to tackle the alicorn. It was one big embrace as the husbands stood by to admire the scene and Flash greeted his fellow brothers-in-law while the cousins met up to catch up with each other.

"She's been looking forward to this moment for weeks," Flash mentioned.

"So have they," said Fancy Pants.

Discord questioned, "So are we the only ones to have arrived?"

"So far," answered Flash. "Cadence and Shining Armor should be arriving by chariot soon and it's hard to say when Sunset will get here."

The cousins were chatting away as Screw Ball said to Fire Spark and Starling, "We were so close to getting those presents!"

"Yeah!" said Cotton, "until Uncle Discord made them all go poof!"

"I believe my Dad hid the presents somewhere in this castle, and we need your help to finding them."

Brother and sister glanced at each other before Fire said, "We may live in the castle now, but we still don't know where everything is."

"It's so huge!" Star cried out.

"So I don't know if we would be of much help. Our parents know the place better than we do."

"And we can't ask them for help… Darn it!" Screwy grunted.

The mothers were still in a tight embrace when Twilight said, "I'm so glad you got here all safe and sound, because I got a surprise that I know you will adore!"

"SURPRISE?!" the sisters all shouted out.

Pinkie had big eyes and a huge grin as she asked, "What kind of surprise?!"

"That's the thing. It's not here yet, but it will be soon. But for now, let's get you guys inside to warm up."

Everyone followed after her as they made it inside the castle. The kids were trailing right behind their parents as they eyed the walls, ceiling, and rooms for possible signs of hidden gifts.

Once they made it to the throne room, the girls and the children were embraced by Celestia and Sombra, who were happy to see their beloved daughters and grandchildren. Servants brought in cocoa and cookies for all of them to snack on.

"It's hard to believe that all of you are growing up so fast," Celestia told her grandchildren.

"We are grown up!" Whirl Wind proudly said.

Sombra chuckled, "You certainly are. You are all growing up into fine princes and princesses."

"Thanks," the kids simultaneously said.

While the grandparents were busy with the children, the parents gathered around Twilight and Flash and told them of their present dilemma back in the Everfree castle.

"Screwy has been looking for presents ever since the beginning of the month." explained Fluttershy.

"And the others gradually joined her." said Rarity.

Soarin' mentioned, "We've been able to waylay them until today."

Pinkie went up to Twilight's face, "Cotton was this close to jumping into all the presents."

"That's why I'm glad Discord teleported them all." said Cheese.

"Where?" Twilight raised a brow at the draconequus.

"Someplace Screw Ball would never find them." He leaned down and whispered the location in Twilight's ear.

"Hmm… But surely with her powers, she could find them again…"

Rarity pointed, "What do you suggest we should do?"

"They need a distraction, one that won't make them think of presents. Something that would keep them busy until Hearth's Warming Eve…" Suddenly, her eyes widened, "Wait a minute… That's it!"

"What's it?" everyone around her asked.

"The pageant! They could perform in the pageant!"

They had confused glances as Rainbow said, "Uh, Twi? Don't we usually perform the pageant? It's kind of our thing every year."

"Yes, but girls, we were their ages when we first did the pageant for all our subjects to see. Don't you think maybe it's time we let a new generation take it over?"

The sisters had wide eyes until Applejack smiled at her little sis, "I reckon you're right, Twi. It's time we let the kids take the reins."

"Absolutely!" Rarity agreed enthusiastically.

Fluttershy beamed, "If it keeps Screw Ball out of trouble, then I'm all for it!"

"Sweet! I can't wait to see them in action!" exclaimed Dash.

They turned toward the children with smiles on their faces and Twilight called out, "Oh, kids!"

The children turned around to see their parents with weird smiles on their faces.

"Yes, Mom?" Fire inquired.

"How would you kids like to be in the pageant this year?"

"WHAT?!" they yelled. "BUT WHY?"

Rarity spoke then, "We figured it was time that you were old enough to perform and are able to carry out the tradition we started."

Rainbow smirked, "So, think you're up for it?"

Whirl flew up in exhilaration, "You know we are!"

Twilight gestured, "It shouldn't be hard as to who should be who, but we have one earth pony too many and we're short a pegasus. We'll have to hold audition who gets what part and to find someone who can play Private Pansy. I'll have messengers out to deliver the news. This isn't what I was expecting for this year's pageant, but I think it'll be even better! Wouldn't you agree?"

The adults all agreed, but some of the children felt uncertain.

Comments

[MinionsFanatic]

YAY, NEW STORY!!!!
I love this family!!!
can´t wait to see Sunset again, and the SURPRISE!!!

[Godslittleprincess]

Let me guess. There's going to be a part where Sunset and her friends from The Phoenix Tear get caught in a snowstorm, and then they get involved in increasingly wacky hijinks in order to some how get Sunset to Canterlot so that she can finally have her first real Hearth's Warming with her family. "fingers crossed"

[Skye Mist]

Ooh...I wanna see where this goes!

...I even thought of the casting in the pageant already!
Whirl Wind- Commander Hurricane
Cotton Candy- Chancellor Puddinghead
Gemstone- Princess Platinum
Starling- Clover the Clever
Screwball- Smart Cookie
???- Private Pansy (Maybe...NVM, IDK)

[Godslittleprincess]

I'm not making demands or anything, but if you're open to suggestions, how would you feel about a hijinks-filled comedy holiday special involving ponies trying to get home for Hearthwarming despite several unforseen obstacles? I mean, I know it's been done to death, but I can't help but want it anyway.