A Wonderful Hearth's Warming
Note: I do not own My Little Pony.
But just for today, I'm going to let that slide. Happy holidays, Hasbro. Go choke on something.
-]When Buck says "Play that funky music", you should hit the provided BLUE link!-
I don't own that either, by the way.
This is a special holiday chapter. Enjoy!
SPECIAL HOLIDAY CHAPTER
CHAPTER NINE
A WONDERFUL HEARTH"S WARMING
A mysterious event has occured all across Ponyville. Presents have appeared on the doorsteps of all the residents of the town. Nopony knows where the presents come from. The only clue as to who left them is on a small card attached to each box.
The tags read:
From: The Stone Apple
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Princess Luna peeled the last bits of wrapping from her present. It was an abacus, a type of ancient calculator that worked by sliding beads on numerous strings suspeneded by a square frame. She hadn't seen one of these since before her banishment. The modern-day calculators confounded her to no end. The Princess let loose a squeal of delight. Holding a reliable mathematical instrument in her hooves sent tingles of joy down her spine.
Princess Celestia gave an evil smile as she hefted her gift over her shoulder. It was a brand new, state of the art, pastry launching bazooka. Otherwise known as the Pie-Flinger 2000, it was a must-have of any serious prankster's arsenal.
A maniacal cackle sounded throughout the castle. April Foal's Day was going to be a massacre next year.
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Rainbow Dash stared googly-eyed at the opened package in front of her. There, glinting in the morning sun, lay two powerful wing-mounted rockets. They were painted with a striped rainbow theme, and greatly resembled jet engines. The thrust produced by these babies would propel her to unimaginable speeds with ease. Forget Sonic Rainbooms, from now on, she was going to be breaking the clopping speed of light.
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At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity appraised her gift with the practiced eye of an entrepreneur. Somepony had obviously seen fit to give her an industrial strength, diamond edge saw. Perfect for cutting gems into exquisite shapes. Rarity turned on the saw with her magic. It gave out a mechanical shriek as it spun. Rarity allowed herself a small grin. Business was going pick up around here.
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Scorch marks dotted the floor of the Ponyville town library. Twilight was slumped in a corner, passed out. She clutched an enormous book in her hooves tightly to her chest even while she was unconscious. She'd fainted in delight after opening up a copy of Equestria's Big Book of Everything. Spike, meanwhile, was immensely enjoying the metals stakes he'd received to spit roast the pile of gems they'd been accompanied by. A bonfire roared in the middle of the room, ignited by dragonfire. Spike rubbed his rounded belly with a sigh of contentment, brushing off crumbs from the various toasted gems he'd put in the blaze.
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Applejack twirled her new hat appreciatively. It looked almost exactly the same as her old one, with a few differences. Applejack ran her hoof over it reverently. Made from fine leather, the new brown Stetson gave off an oily sheen that only newness could bring out. Her old hat had been getting rather worn out and patchy, so the replacement couldn't have come at a better time, what with the harsh winter sun glaring down from above. Besides, she knew who needed her old hat more.
The tool belt jangled merrily around Apple Bloom's waist. A new, pink bandanna was wrapped around her head in place of her usual bow. Wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, and a plethora of other useful building instruments crowded for space on the specially constructed belt. Nails, screws, sockets, nuts and bolts filled the many pockets. Apple Bloom's mind was already filled with the various things she could construct to help the Crusaders receive their marks. A catapult? Go-karts? A dueling arena? The possibilities were endless.
Apple Bloom walked around the ranch home, trying to find the pony she knew had given her the treasured gift.
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Fluttershy was busy enjoying the luxurious space of the military grade panic room somepony had set up in her back yard, a great big red ribbon set on the top. The bomb, manticore, and Nightmare Night-proof shelter smelled like fresh concrete. Fluttershy felt tears welling up in her eyes. Here was a place where she'd never have to be scared again.
Angel Bunny was suffering from a carrot overdose, brought on by stuffing his face full from the basket left at the front door with his name on it, and was now tripping balls in the living room. He stood on the table, a closed umbrella in his paw like a sword. The martians were trying to steal his carrots. Not on his watch. CRASH! Another piece of furniture met it's grisly end at the hand of pychopathic rabbit.
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Sugarcube Corner was shaking. Or, to be more accurate, vibrating. The Cakes were locked in their room, trembling with fear. In the kitchen, pastries of all sorts littered every available surface. Cupcakes were stacked on the ceiling fan's rotors, while freshly baked pies, cakes and a colorful assortment of frosted truffles covered the table, severely bending its legs. The counter tops were buried beneath a mountain of ingredients, mixing bowls, utensils, and half-finished mixes. A pink blur shot around the room like a pinball of adorable destruction. The object was moving so fast, that it could not be seen clearly.
Earlier, the pink blur had consumed an entire five pound bag of specialty, high grade, imported sugar. The gift had most likely been intended as an ingredient, but it had been consumed straight out of the packaging.
Celestia help us all...
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Ditzy Doo and her daughter, Dinky, had stood in the front doorway for a while now, in shock. Dinky waved a hoof over the present left for them. Nope, they weren't dreaming. Ditzy took in a deep breath, and inhaled the scent of freshly baked chocolate chip banana-nut muffins. Best. Hearth's Warming. Ever.
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Big Macintosh almost floated over the unplowed ground. The shining new plow trailing behind him cut through the earth like a hot knife through butter. It had been magically enchanted somehow, to never break, to never dull, and to even assist the motion of whomever was using it. A practical gift for a practical pony. Big Macintosh shook his head, still not believing his good fortune. He allowed himself a rare grin to spread over his normally serious features.
"Eeeyup..." Not much else could be said.
Unlike almost every other pony, his family knew who to thank.
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Standing on the roof of the Sweet Apple Acres barn, two figures shared a laugh. A large, dark teal earth pony sporting a yellow bandanna around his neck slammed his hoof into that of the second figure in a guesture of affection commonly known as "giving a brohoof". The second figure was an oddity. Lean, hairy legs traveled up to a compact, muscular brown body. The figure's head bobbed with a deep, masculine laughter, the large horns coming from it's head making a soft swooshing noise. The figure rubbed its bright red nose with a hoof.
The dark green earth pony chuckled. "Good onya, Rudy. You've me quite a solid here. I don't know how I'll ever repay ya, mate."
The reindeer shook his head. In a twangy, northern accent, he profused, "Ach, ye know I don' wannae be called that, Buck. Mae name's Rudolph. Say it with mae now, Ay know ya can! Anyway, 'ow did ya ever manage tae get all them presents? Last time I saw ya, ya 'ad this weeeee little wallet, 'an barely any bits innit!"
Buck snorted. "Leavin' all yer cash in a bank fer a thousand years on 3% interest is a great way ta make money, mate. I've got more bits than I know what ta do with. So, will ya be stickin around fer later tonight, mate? It's gonna be wild."
"Ya know Ay cannae ever miss a party thrown by the famous 'master 'o cermonies' 'imself!" He pointed to his glowing red nose with a sly wink. "I'll even put on a show for yer new family, just fer old times sake, eh?"
"Righto. I like yer thinkin'. Give the old deer my regards when ya see him next. Oh, and thank him for lettin' me borrow that list 'o his. I don't know anypony 'roud here, so I couldn't just guess at what they needed."
The reindeer nodded. "He'll hear 'a this, don'cha know. Now, Ay believe we've got a wee bit 'a work tae do, now, yep?"
The earth pony grinned. "Eeyup!"
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It was late evening by the time they finished.
The entire village of Ponyville was gathered in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. A stage had been set up at the far end, curtain still drawn. Various speakers and musical tech had been generously donated for the event by Vinyl Scratch, Ponyville's resident DJ. Nopony knew what was going on. They'd all been brought here through either curiosity, pleading, or veiled bribes of apples. Applejack and Big Macintosh had spent all day going around town spreading the word.
The weird thing was, not even they knew what was going to happen next. They'd been coerced by their Uncle into rounding up the populace for this. Only he and, strangely, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Princess Luna, as well as an incomprehensible and bed tempered reindeer with a red nose, knew what was going on. And they had spent the whole day in the barn, building this stage.
The curtain rose, the lights dimmed, and everpony in the barn eyed the stage expectantly. A spotlight ignited from above, brightly illuminating the various particles of dust and hay floating though the air. A large, dark teal stallion sporting a yellow bandanna around his neck, weights around his hind legs, and an old, battered Stetson on his head walked into the circle of light. He adjusted the microphone in front of him in a relaxed, swaggering manner.
A gasp was heard from the audience as a particular pink mare realized she'd been beaten in planning a party for the newcomer.
The stallion fixed the audience with a look for a few moments, before slamming one of his hooves onto the stage. The rest of the stage was suddenly illuminated as Apple Bloom, who was working the lights, reacted to the signal. The other two Cutie Mark Crusaders were there, silly grins plastered onto their adorable faces. Scootaloo was sitting at a small drumset, consisting only of a base drum, a snare, and some jingle bells. Sweetie Belle blushed furiously from behind a microphone she held in her hand. A reindeer with a faintly glowing nose was standing on a platform at the back of the stage, the light from his nose reflecting off the party shades worn over his eyes. Princess Luna stood off to the stallion's left, wielding an abacus like some kind of guitar.
The entire audience was thinking the exact same thought. "What the hay is going on here?"
The stallion fixed the audience with another look. He then calmly turned to the Princess and spoke in a gruff, accented voice.
"Play that funky music, Luna."
The crowd erupted into cheers as the Princess of the Night closed her eyes and plucked at the strings of her abacus, sending out the twangy, echoing riff that signaled the start of Paul McCartneigh's "A Wonderful Hearth's Warming." A few lines in, Scootaloo added to the sound with her base drum and jingle bells.
The stallion began to sing.
The spirit's right
The moon is up
We're here tonight
and thats enough!
Siiiimply haaaavin'
a wonderful hearth's warming!
Siiiimply haaavin'
a wonderful hearth's warming!
The party's on
the feeling's here
that only comes
this time of year!
Luna ripped into her abacus for a double beat as the next chorus came and went. The audience was going crazy.
The choir of fillies sing their song!
Luna spiderwebbed a few more notes together, bridging the gap between verses. Sweetie Belle cut in with her fabulous voice for the next few lines.
Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding!
Oooooooooo-hoo-hoo!
Oooooooooo-hoo-hoooooo!
Doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo!
Luna's abacus thrummed with lower notes. Her head bobbed up and down with Scootaloos' beat. The bandanna wearing stallion launched into the next chorus with gusto. By now, all of the unicorns in the audience had the tips of their horns lit, and the whole mass was swaying to the music.
The word is out
about the town
to lift a glass
oooh, and don't look down!
For the next chorus, the reindeer standing on the platform shot out a spectacular light show from his nose. Red bolts of color swam over the audience as if a scarlet disco ball were being hit with a floodlight. Sweetie Belle threw in her soft treble into the fray with the dark teal pony for the remaining versus.
The choir of fillies sing their song
they've practiced all year long!
Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong-ding!
The party's on
the moon is up
we're here tonight
and that's enough!
Siiiiiimply haaaaavin'
a wonderful hearth's warming!
We're siiiiiiimply haaaavin'
a wonderful hearth's warming!
The singer pulled out a guitar from the case by his hooves and played a riff, standing back to back with Luna he did. One final chorus sent the ponies gathered into a cheering frenzy. As the last notes faded away, there was not one hoof that wasn't pounding the ground in applause. The dark teal stallion looked up to the rafters and gave a wink to Apple Bloom above before turning to his fellow stagemates.
"Crikey, that went well!"
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Luna had outdone herself tonight. The dark canvas above was absolutely blazing with pinpricks of light, and the moon hung in the air as a paper-thin crescent. Not a cloud was in the sky, thanks to Ponyville's weather team. Luna smiled as she gazed down at the surrounding countryside from the top of the barn. After her performance, the stage had been swamped with ponies all clamoring to congratulate her, Buck, and the crusaders. Introductions had been made, and by this time Buckshot's name was known to all of Ponyville. Never having been one for crowds, Luna had tolerated the wave of fans for as long as she could before slipping out through the barn door to come up here and get some space.
The view was worth it. A fresh snowfall coupled with the starlight served to turn Sweet Apple Acres into a silvery winter wonderland. Luna could feel the barn vibrate in time with the music coming from below. The DJ from Ponyville had taken over the stage after her performance. The Apple barn's foundations were shaking from the bass and dancing ponies inside. Luna felt a particularly large vibration through her hooves. Thinking something had hit barn, she looked around.
Buckshot was standing a few feet behind her, brushing some snow off of his mane. He'd jumped straight onto the roof from the ground, approximately thirty feet below. Luna smiled to herself. Buck was such a showoff when it came to his legendary leg strength.
He joined her at the edge and sat down beside her. "Had a feelin' you'd be up here."
Luna merely nodded. Sometimes words were unnecessary. A softly glowing aurora started up in the skies above. A streak of blue and green, playfully dancing among the stars. Ponies sometimes said that auroras signaled good times ahead. It was a superstition, but one that Luna liked rather fondly. The aurora was, after all, her creation.
"I don't blame ya. Never liked big parties like that meself. Anyway, I wanted ta thank ya," he exhaled, and great clouds of steam billowed forth from his nostrils. "By tellin' me about the whole Nightmare Moon thing, ya showed me that I'm not alone after all. I'd thought I'd left my family behind, but apparently they're still here," he paused to think for a moment. "... Sort of," he shivered slightly from the cold.
Luna wrapped a wing around his shoulders.
The knight continued, "But I've learned something else, to. I learned that no matter where, or when, ya are, there's always gonna be someone ya can call family," he finished awkwardly. "So thank you fer showin' me that."
Luna responded by giving him a tender squeeze with her wing, leaning her head on his sturdy shoulder. The pair looked at the world around them. So much had been altered in their absences, but some things never change. The apple knight had been her greatest friend in ancient times, and his disappearance had greatly accelerated her transformation into Nightmare Moon. But he was here now, and that was all that mattered to the princess.
Behind the knight and the princess, two faint outlines could be seen in the starlight, had they bothered to look. They were vaguely pony-shaped. One was a slender, red mare with short, spiky hair and blue eyes. The other was a creamy yellow mare with a curling red mane, a faded pink bandanna wrapped around her head. They gazed at the two ponies sitting on the edge of the barn with sad eyes.
A voice could be heard, nothing more than a whisper in the breeze, as the yellow mare turned to the red one.
"He needs this, momma. What happened wasn't his fault."
The red mare looked at her daughter for a moment, before turning back toward the ponies sitting on the edge.
When she spoke, her voice was calm and accepting.
"I know."
And with that, the two specters faded into the night.
Author: Oh yes. Yes I did. Shit just got real. Dont worry, everypony! You'll be seeing more of Blossie and Leafdapple in the future. As for Buck/Luna shipping... well... I guess we'll find out!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Oh, and I got Skyrim. So, if my updating seems rather infrequent, you know what to blame.
FUS RO DAH!
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Love your story bro
Skyrim FTW!
man, all you people with Skyrim... have they released the DevKit yet? I need it first to make My Little Skyrim a reality
Coincidentally, I accidentally played "Dragonborn" on my harmonica.
Again It is Derpy Hooves. I also got Skyrim and a Xbox.
Welp. Somebody needs to get Buck a ponified santa outfit. Eeyup. >_>
Not gonna lie, clearing 5k views is a gift all in it's own.
87447
Congratulations bro! (Lifts bottle of soda) Here's to another 5k views!
87449
-Lifts a bottle of rum- I'll drink to that, mate
87452
You'll drink to anything!
87483
Eehehehee...
Eeyup.
Confound these calculators! They drive me to abithici!
87700
*notices the complete and utter typo*
Time to make another account!
87702
Or just somehow shift the blame to a completely different source, like politicians do.
87708
Therefor, we must use the Orbital Friendship Cannon against the Taliban! Then we will have North Dakota secede and become the New Republic of Newt Gingrich! It seems like the next logical step in history!
It's the ancient Greeks' fault! They're the ones who misspelt it! They also predicted their economic collapse, making each American pay quadrilians of dollars just to have them aid the Nazis in a galactic holocaust against my Shy-Shy!
87800
Congratulations grasshopper. You have learned the ancient art of politics.
87452 why rum? this calls for something fancier *lifts bottle of champagne cider
love it
The story.. ME GUSTA
I think Luna just invented the Abacaster.
skyrim would have been 20% cooler with ditzy as a character choice and a special shout of MUFFINS for her
Ah you must mean FUS RO YAY!!!
At the beginning of the song, you put "The spirit's right, the moon is up." But it's actually, "The moon is right, the spirit's up."
Later, you say "Sweetie Belle threw in her soft treble into the fray with the dark teal pony for the remaining versus." The plural of "verse" is "verses," not "versus."
After that, you say "The party's on, the moon is up." But it's actually, "The party's on, the spirit's up."
"Thinking something had hit barn, she looked around." I think you meant "the barn."
t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRUBMQ6QSlgbTMjmFZFXKwDfNGZyDehfUX5js0vv1HBQqyrQPqxjveTbONB3A
The beginning of the Summer is always a good moment to read a Christmas chapter. The sun is shining, it is outside 20 degrees Celsius and I'm reading about snow and listening to Christmas music...
"Sweetie Belle blushed furiously from behind a microphone she held in her hand."
87504
I accept your Paul Mcartney and challenge you a twisted chrismas carol
and yes I stopped listening to the horribleness you get a rating pf
two ratings away from my highest for posting an epic Christmas chapter