23. A Hearth's Warming Present Crisis
At the top of Canterlot, Princess Twilight Sparkle was lowering the sun, and bringing the moon and stars up to begin the night sky. The Ruler of Equestria's royal advisor and friendship ambassador and adoptive brother Spike was not far behind her, standing right beside her as she turned day into night.
"Another well done, Twilight. The night sky is perfect, especially tonight..." Spike told his adoptive sister, who giggled in response.
"Sure thing, Spike. Hearth's Warming Eve, the holiday to celebrate and remember the founding of Equestria, is here once again." the alicorn said after her quick giggling.
Right after the sentence was finished, the two adoptive siblings heard bells ringing, and familiar music, causing them to look down below.
The different creatures of Canterlot sang, "Creatures' voices fill the night
Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again
Happy hearts so full and bright
Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again
Oh, what a sight
Look at the light
All for tonight
Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again"
A group of pegasi sang, "Clouds arranged so they're just so"
Another group of Pegasi flew around and sang, "Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again"
The former group of Pegasi sang, "Gonna make some awesome snow"
The latter group of Pegasi sang, "Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again"
Both groups of Pegasi then sang in unison, "The chill wind blows
Making a show
Snowflakes aglow"
All of the residents of Canterlot then sang, "Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again"
Princess Twilight Sparkle's old schoolmates from when she was Princess Celestia's student at the School of Gifted Unicorns could be seen and heard singing, "A day that's filled with songs to sing"
The other residents walked pass and sang, "Ding-dong, ding-dong-ding"
Saffron Masala walked out of her restaurant, singing "Cakes and pastries we shall bring"
The rest of the residents in Canterlot sang, "Ding-dong, ding-dong-ding
We're so busy making merry
Windigos should all be wary"
Stallions sang, "As our mighty voices carry"
Every creature sang, "Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again"
Rarity, who was organising the decorations in Canterlot, sang, "Perfection you just cannot fake"
Every creature sang, "Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again"
Rarity watched as the known-to-be careless Derpy Hooves was about to hang a fragile ornament on the giant Hearth's Warming Tree in the centre of Canterlot, singing,;
"Not one mistake
Don't let that break"
Unfortunately, like she did years ago, Derpy dropped the fragile ornament right in front of Rarty, causing it to break into pieces, and making Rarity face-hoof herself, singing, "Oh, goodness' sake!"
Every creature else sang in unison, "Hearth's Warming Eve is here once a—
Happy, happy Hearth's Warming Eve
Happy, happy Hearth's Warming Eve
Hearth's Warming Eve is here once again!"
From where they stood, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike smiled.
"Looks like everything here is ready." the Ruler of Equestria said.
"Indeed. Except for the Ruler of Equestria and her royal advisor should be down there, joining every creature as the royalty here." Spike stated.
"Of course, Spike." Princess Twilight Sparkle responded, before they both spread their wings to fly down towards the town.
Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Ponyville, the residents of the Castle of Friendship were getting ready for their Hearth's Warming Eve celebration.
"Cookies?" Starlight asked, upon entering the Castle's kitchen.
"Check!" Sunburst replied, levitating a rectangular tray of cookies in the shape of the Fire of Friendship, and coloured like the said fire, for his wife to see.
"Soup?" Starlight asked.
"Check!" Sunburst responded, tasting a bit of soup from the spoon that he dipped into the pot on the stove.
"The cake I made for this year's Hearth's Warming?" Starlight asked.
Sunburst went to the fridge and opened the door with his magic, revealing his wife's beautifully creative cake that was shaped like a 3 Dimensional Hearth's Warming Tree instead of a flat one.
"Safe in the fridge! nothing to worry about, Starlight! Plus, with ten heroes of Equestria living with us right here in this castle, what can go wrong?" Sunburst asked, before the married unicorn couple heard a scream that answered their question.
"The presents!!!" Krona screamed, summoning the rest of the Heroic Ten, and Luster Dawn's parents.
"The presents are gone!" the yak cried, making every creature gasp.
After the series' theme song intro played, the creatures gathered around the Heart's Warming Eve tree in the castle, as the presents they had for each other were supposed to be under the said tree.
"Gone?!" Nature Bloom repeated.
"But, presents can't move on their own! Having a remote to control them, or having magic to levitate them do not count." volcano explained.
"But my presents for all of you aren't remote-controlled! They don' have a remote that can control them!" Alkali announced.
"Neither are mine." Falcon Dive stated.
"Nor mine." Sunshine Rays contributed.
"Nor mine." Buffer added.
"I don't think any of us made presents that are remote-controllable." Evergreen figured.
"That leaves magic." Krona declared.
"But I didn't enchant anything! Especially not the presents!" Luster cried.
"I didn't enchant anything near the presents." Starlight Glimmer said.
"I only levitate the decorations, no enchanting at all!" Sunburst added.
"Then that leaves the remaining two unicorns here!" Falcon Dive announced.
In the Castle of Friendship's Library, Sunset Shimmer was reading a book right in front of the Crystal Mirror that she always guarded during the night, just before the doors burst open as Krona, Buffer, Volcano, Alkali and Buffer entered.
"Oh, happy Hearth's Warming Eve, every creature! Is the celebration ready..." Sunset Shimmer began to ask, but was confronted by the five creatures.
"Tell us, Miss Sunset. Did you go near the presents?" Falcon Dive asked.
"Uh, obviously did not! I stayed here in the library like I am supposed to! Washing and guarding the Crystal Mirror to ensure no creature goes into it, or out?" Sunset answered, "Although, I do leave to use the washroom whenever I needed it, but I teleport there and back! I need stepped a hoof around the presents! Unless you count the presents you gave me, plus the presents I got from the Council of Friendship, the Heads of the School, and Trixie and..."
"Any chance that Trixie gave you some extra presents, making it more than just one from her?" Falcon Dive asked, interrogating Sunset Shimmer.
"No, I counted the presents, and it's obvious that I got 1 present from each giver." Sunset Shimmer informed, levitating her pile of presents in the air for the creatures to see.
"1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." the griffon began counting the presents as he pointed his claw at each of them and carried on to the next.
"23!" Volcano cut Falcon Dive off before the griffon could even count up to 6.
"Wow, you count fast!" Buffer commented.
"23 is more than the number of givers, because the Heroic Ten plus the Council of Friendship makes 17, plus the Heads of the School of Friendship makes 19, plus Guidance Counsellor Trixie makes 20! There's 3 extra gifts!" Falcon Dive confronted the yellow unicorn in the library once again.
"I was going to mention that the tie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gave me presents, too. And each of them gave me 1." Sunset Shimmer explained.
"That explains why Miss Sunset has 23!" Krona exclaimed.
"I actually have 24 or 25 if you count the writings and drawings I got from my best friends who graduated from Canterlot High long ago in the other world. They write it in a magical book that is magically connected to my magical book here, like the one I had when I wrote to the former Ruler of Equestria, who is also my former mentor, Princess Celestia." Sunset Shimmer explained, levitating her book and flipping it to the page with the writings for the five creatures to see.
"You guys still think she has something to do with the presents?" Alkali asked.
"Obviously not."the other creatures plainly replied in unison.
Meanwhile, Luster, Sunshine Rays, Nature Bloom, Yellow Bright and Evergreen were interrogating Trixie around the blue unicorn's wagon.
"What? Missing presents?" Trixie asked.
"Please don't get...intense, Guidance Counsellor Trixie." Nature Bloom responded, before the confrontation began.
"Presents don't disappear on their own, and since none of them are remote-controllable..." Sunshine Rays pointed out.
"We suspected a magic-user taking them." Yellow Bright filled in.
"And since it wasn't me, nor my parents, and it obviously can't be a Kirin like Evergreen..." Luster went on.
"The only other magic-user around the Castle who could have done it, is you!" Sunshine Rays ended.
"WHAT?! How dare you creatures accuse me, the Guidance Counsellor of your final school ever, to have done something as horrible as taking your Hearth's Warming Eve presents?!" Trixie asked.
"It may be somewhat like accusation, but we..." Nature Bloom began, but an angry Trixie stormed right in front of the changeling, coming face-to-face with her.
"Somewhat like accusation?!" Trixie roared.
"If you want to put it that way, it's your choice." Evergreen apprised Trixie, "But what Nature Bloom was going to say is we're just asking you whether you did it or not."
"I certainly did not! I have enough Hearth's Warming Eve presents from the students and the Heads of the School, anyway! Why would I take an additional load of presents that aren't for me?!" Trixie asked, as she levitated a giant sack of presents from inside her wagon, and released the presents from the stack, forming a huge pile of presents that was even bigger than the blue unicorn's size.
"Wow! The sure is a lot of presents!" Yellow Bright exclaimed.
"And every reason to not want anymore!" Evergreen added.
"We're sorry for...accusing you, Guidance Counsellor Trixie." Luster apologised.
"You sure are sorry!" Trixie responded, still sounding angry.
"How about we make it up to you by cleaning your wagon for the next ten times you have to clean it?" Nature Bloom asked.
"So, you will have lesser work to do?" Yellow Bright supported.
"Sorry every creature, but in this case, the best way to make amends is to trust her more often!" Sunshine Rays shook her head at her best friends' suggestions.
"How about allowing you to come with us on our next mission, quest or adventure?" Luster proposed.
"Well, in that case! Apology accepted! And deal made!" Trixie announced, using her magic to take out a gavel and a sound block similar to what a Judge would have, and knocked the gavel against the sound block like what a judge wold do.
"You know that that wasn't necessary, do you?" Yellow Bright asked.
The Heroic Ten regrouped around the Hearth's Warming Eve Tree after their interrogation did nothing useful.
"Miss Sunset Shimmer did not do it!" Alkali told the other group of five.
"Guidance Counsellor Trixie did not, too." Evergreen informed.
"Worst of all, she figured that we were accusing her, and she accepted our apology when we made a deal." Sunshine Rays added.
"Made a deal? What deal?" Falcon Dive asked.
"A deal to allow her to join us on our next Heroic Ten quest, mission or adventure." Luster answered.
"What?!" Krona asked.
"It's just having 1 more creature with us temporarily, nothing much most likely." Buffer figured.
"But 10 plus 1 is 11! A prime number! What if we had to split-up and have no way to divide ourselves equally into smaller teams?!" Falcon Dive asked.
"Come on, every creature! We are always welcoming as heroes and friends! And we should be welcoming especially on this night, because it's Heart's Warming Eve!" Nature Bloom reminded.
"Nature Bloom's right we should be welcoming on this very night, and every other time!" Evergreen supported the changeling, walking right to her side.
"Sorry..." the other creatures apologised and stopped their argument.
"But, what about the presents we had for each other?! Where have they gone?!" Alkali asked.
"this is obviously a mystery, because we have to look for clues to find out who did it." Volcano stated.
"Do we have to hire a detective?" Yellow Bright asked.
"But, it's Hearth''s Warming Eve! Who will be working as a detective on a holiday like this?" Buffer asked.
"We will!" Luster answered.
"Of course we will!" Alkali saluted.
"Wait a second, 'we'?" Nature Bloom asked.
"The mystery is the mystery of the disappearance of our Hearth's Warming Eve presents for each other. Whys couldn't we be the creatures who solve it?" Luster asked.
"That makes sense..." Evergreen figured.
"I just hope we can find them before sunrise tomorrow!" Sunshine Rays stated.
"Not to be negative, but I suggest that we all should prepare ourselves for the possibility that we can't get our presents back." Volcano announced, causing all the other creatures with the exception of Luster Dawn and Sunshine Rays.
"In that case, we might as well make replacements!" Yellow Bright declared.
"There's still some time left! I got to make those replacements!" Alkali panicked, dashing off.
"Krona's presents for best friends must have a replacement!" Krona exclaimed, running off.
"Wait, every creature! Presents are not what Hearth's Warming Eve is really about!" Luster called, but all the creatures who departed did not return.
"Well, that sure didn't work." Buffer commented.
"I don't blame them, they just wanted to ensure we get something from them this Hearth's Warming." Nature Bloom spoke.
"But Hearth's Warming Eve is not all about giving presents, it's about celebrating friendship and getting together with others in harmony!" Evergreen stated.
"Indeed, but unfortunately, some creatures get too focused on the gift-giving and presents part to remember that!" Volcano responded, "Even my teaching assistant whom I rely on to ensure students' attention and as a result bring her to every class unless I have a good replacement."
"You could have just said that you were talking about Alkali instead of referring to her like that!" Bufer pointed out.
"Looks like we're down to six." Sunshine Rays announced, looking at the remaining creatures.
"But some creature got to tell those departed creatures that it doesn't matter if we don't get presents back, because what truly does matter, is that we're together as friends." Luster informed.
"I can control my heat to keep myself warm," Evergreen said, rising her front left hoof as she activated a bit of fire, "Maybe I can go after the through the snow."
"I know changelings aren't supposed to use their powers anyway they liked, but King Thorax and Prince Pharynx claimed that transformation is alright when it's an emergency, a job, or a play. And this seems like a bit of an emergency..." Nature Bloom said.
"So, Nature Bloom and Evergreen will go after the creatures who ran off and bring them back here to the castle!" Luster declared.
"Wait a second, Luster! Buffaloes may not be yaks, but I think I can manage it! I went to Yakyakistan before!" Buffer apprised.
"Sure, but don't forget to wear your winter outfit, because buffaloes aren't yaks!" Volcano reminded.
Buffer nodded and rn off to prepare for his search in the cold, leaving Luster, Sunshine Rays and Volcano in the castle.
"So...it looks like it's down to the three of us." Sunshine Rays said, "Unless, we don't want to solve the mystery."
"Not that those presents are very important, but I figure that we must at least try to find them before sunrise!" Luster announced.
"We better bring a clock or a watch to ensure we know what time it is, no matter where we are." Volcano noted.
"Let me get one of the watches I had when I was in my early teenager years." Sunshine Rays said, flying off.
"Anything else that we might need?" Luster asked.
"Well, detectives usually have a magnifying glass with them, not to look cool obviously, but it's mostly for taking a closer look into things." Volcano explained.
"No need for that, when we have My Magic!" Luster declared, lighting up her horn.
"But, Luster, I read a Detective's Real Story, and learnt that it's always good to have a back up. So, even though we have your unicorn magic, we probably should still bring a magnifying glass just to be safe." Volcano advised.
"I'm back with my watch! And don't worry, I changed its batteries and it should last longer than long enough for the whole night!" Sunshine Rays showed up, raising her front left hoof to show her watch attached to it.
"Now it's my turn to go, as I got to get everything that Luster thinks we don't need, but it's good to have them!" Volcano announced, flying off.
After the dragon left, Sunshine Rays flew slowly after Luster, who was looking carefully and closely around the Hearth's Warming Tree ad at the said tree.
"So, any luck finding clues yet?" the pegasus asked.
"Not yet..." Luster answered, before looking closer at the tree's branches, "Hold on..."
The unicorn used her magic to levitate something dark blue out of the tree's main thin leaves on a branch.
"Aha! A blue feather! It can be a clue!" Luster exclaimed.
"I'm back with all the things that we might..." Volcano announced, returning with a bag packed with supplies that was covered by the opaque material that the bag itself was made of, before noticing the feather that his unicorn Best Friend was levitating.
"Whoa! You found a dark blue feather?" the dragon asked.
"Luster found it, not me." Sunshine Rays informed.
"And this dark blue feather must belong to whoever took the presents!" Luster figured.
"Luster, maybe you should use the term, 'most likely', because there's a chance that whoever took the presents wanted you to find a fake clue to lead you away from finding out it was them!" Volcano corrected.
"But we should first investigate by following this clue! Like, find out what creature it belongs to" Luster exclaimed.
"It could be a pegasus, but obviously not me because my feathers are white. It could be a griffon's, a hippogriff's, or...an alicorn's?" Sunshine Rays made a list of possibilities.
"Alicorns are the rarest of all creatures! And last I checked, there are no known alicorn that has dark blue feathers, except for the retired Princess Luna, but there's obviously no way that it could have been her." Volcano pointed out.
"Volcano, I'm still learning the many different kinds of scan spells, and can't remember if I could do one that matches a belonging with its owner. So do you have anything that can help identify who or what creature's feather is this?" Luster asked.
"You're lucky that I never let my spare time go to waste!" Volcano replied.
In the mean time, Evergreen was running through Ponyville's snowy ground in search of the creatures who left the Castle to make replacement presents.
"Krona? Alkali? Yellow Bright? Falcon Dive?" the Kirin called as she passed the houses that were filled with lights and joy with creatures celebrating Hearth's Warming Eve.
Suddenly, Evergreen heard a loud familiar voice that went, "We have a winner!!!"
The Kirin turned to look at the familiar building behind her: Sugar Cube Corner.
"Mr. Cheese Sandwich's in there! Maybe he knows where Yellow Bright is!" Evergreen said to herself, trotting into Sugar Cube Corner.
The moment the Kirin entered, Cheese Sandwich and the Cake Twins automatically appeared around the door to welcome Evergreen.
"Happy Hearth's Warming!" the three ponies greeted in a singing style.
"Happy Hearth's Warming to you too, all of you." Evergreen replied.
"So, Miss Evergreen, what brings you here to Sugar Cube Corner?" Cheese Sandwich asked with a microphone right underneath his jaws, before placing the microphone underneath Evergeen's.
"First of all, you all can just call me Evergreen." the Kirin replied, causing Cheese Sandwich to turn the microphone in his front right hoof back towards himself.
"I knew that, I was just teasing you." the party pony said through the microphone, before turning thesis object back to face Evergreen.
"I came here because the workers here are known to be close to one of my best friends, Yellow Bright." the Kirin informed.
"Known to be close?! Miss Evergreen, you are mistaken." Cheese Sandwich responded with his microphone facing him again as he spoke.
"I thought you said you knew that you can just call me..." Evergreen began, but was cut off by Cheese Sandwich.
"The ponies of Sugar Cube Corner taught Yellow Bright ALL about hosting parties, being funny, spreading laughter, optimism, cheerful and everything positive! he probably wouldn't be the Element of Positivity if it weren't for us!" Cheese Sandwich explained.
"But Yellow Bright actually have Element of Positivity potential back before he went to the School of Friendship in Ponyville! And back then he lived far away in Manehattan!" Evergreen argued.
"That is only potential, Miss Evergreen, potential is not everything!" Cheese Sandwich stated, before changing into a different outfit in a flash, as he wore an intelligent professor's outfit and said, "Potential means having or showing capacity to develop something in the future. For example..."
"This is going to take longer than I hope..." the Kirin muttered, watching Cheese Sandwich's show.
Meanwhile, Buffer, in winter clothes, called for the friends he was looking for, "Krona! Alkali! Falcon Dive? Yellow Bright? If you can hear me, you don't really need to make replacements! Hearth's Warming Eve isn't entirely about them!"
Suddenly, the buffalo could hear some creature yelping in pain, "Ouch!"
"That yelp...it sounds like..." Buffer said out loud, before running in the direction of the sound and found Krona scratching her fur against a tree.
"Krona!" Buffer called.
"Buffer! Krona's busy right now! Getting the only material for the replacement gifts!" the yak responded.
"By scratching your fur against that tree?" Buffer asked in a puzzled tone.
"Krona trying to get her fur off her!" Krona answered, making Buffer's eyes widen in shock.
"WHAT?! Krona! Don't you know how important your fur is to you in the winter?!" Buffer asked, "You most likely can't even live without it!"
"Buffer, if you remembered your science correctly, yak fur can be cut off and grow back." Krona explained.
"First of all, the correct way to say that is' yak fur can be cut off, and it can grow back'. And second, Krona, there's actually no necessary need to make replacement presents." Buffer informed.
"But, every Hearth's Warming Eve, we give each other presents!" Krona stated.
"I know, but the presents aren't the real reason we celebrate; the real reason is to get together as friends in order to remember the foundation of Equestria, and how friendship was formed between the three different pony tribes, and how that friendship defeated the Windigos." Buffer explained.
Krona warmed up after hearing the explanation, crying a tiny bit before resisting it and answering, "You're right Buffer. Friendship is the real reason every creature celebrate, not the presents. Krona shouldn't have rushed off to try to cut off her yak fur to make a replacement gift out of it without thinking twice. Krona's sorry that she put Buffer in this trouble."
"It's not much trouble, Krona. It just costed a bit of time, or..some bit of time?" Buffer asked before shaking his head, "Anyway, let's just o back to the Castle and warm up."
Back at the Castle of Friendship, Luster, Sunshine Rays and Volcano were in the said dragon's room, where he took a metal cube that was the size of his cow out of one of his drawers.
"Behold one of my latest inventions, the DNA Detector. If the feather has DNA that belonged to a griffon, hippogriff, or a pegasus, the invention can tell us after the scan, because it has scanned before feathers from the said creatures." Volcano explained, flipping the top side of the cube and revealing a tiny red button that he pressed in order to allow the cube to transform into his machine that was 8 times the size of the cube it initially was.
"We all were there when you asked us to give you strands of our manes, one of our feathers and things like those!" Sunshine Rays reminded.
"So my machine can scan them and identify them from everything else!" Volcano answered.
"But it's still a good thing we did that...or we will never know what creature this feather belongs to!" Luster claimed.
Just then, the invention finished scanning and printed out the results on a script of paper that Volcano tore off and read silently.
"So...what does it say?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"It is a feather from a species that it has never scanned before!" Volcano gasped.
"A species the it's never scanned before?!" the mares asked in unison.
"According to the scan, the feather came from a bird." Volcano nodded.
"Hello? All birds have feathers!" Sunshine Rays reminded.
"Although, there might be some exceptions similar to how not all mammals give birth since the duck-billed platypus lays eggs, but Sunshine has a point." Luster corrected.
"Since my machine never scanned the DNA of this species, it cannot detect what creature this feather is from! We don't have a clue on who the culprit is!" Volcano apprised.
"Not completely don't have a clue! We know that the culprit isn't a griffon, hippogriff, nor a pegasus! And now we know that it is a bird with dark blue feathers!" Luster corrected.
"But, it's cold out there! Why would a bird take our presents?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"I have no idea unless there's food in them!" Volcano figured.
"But I didn't put any food in the presents I made for all of our best friends!" Sunshine Rays stated.
"Neither did I!" Luster contributed.
"Nor I!" Volcano joined in.
"And Alkali already said that her gift isn't food, guaranteed." Sunshine Rays recalled.
"Krona said her gift is not something to eat, nor something to et with." Luster remembered.
"And Falcon Dive said that his gift for us may help us get healthier, but it isn't food nor anything like that!" Volcano recalled.
"I don't think any of the presents is food!" Sunshine Rays summarised.
"But if none of the presents is food, why would the birds who took it take it?" Luster asked.
In the mean time, Nature Bloom was flying through the night skies as a snowy owl, in order to use the said animal's abilities to find things through the snow. She soon spotted Falcon Dive flying off from Canterlot and on his way to further ground.
Knowing that she had to catch up to Falcon before he could get to somewhere even further, Natue Bloom transformed herself into a peregrine falcon, the fastest bird known, and flew up high as she could before diving in like a real peregrine falcon would do to catch prey, only in her case, to catch a friend before they could get too far away.
Falcon Dive was flying in a straight line as fast as he could, when he felt something whoosh by him, and got ahead of him. Once she was ahead, Nature Bloom changed back into her regular changeling form, surmising Falcon Dive.
"Nature Bloom?! How did you...what are you doing out here?" the griffon asked.
"I got to get you to go back to the Castle right away because you don't really need to make replacement presents to replace the presents the are gone!" the changeling informed.
"But, we always give presents to each other to celebrate!" Falcon Dive stated.
"Giving presents is just a tradition! The real reason is friendship, Hearth'sWaring Eve is celebrated to remember the friendship that defeated the Windigos and united the Unicorns, Earth Ponies and Pegasi back when Equestria was found!" Nature Bloom explained, "In other words, what really matters on Hearth's Warming Eve, is creatures getting together as friends and family. Not the presents!"
Falcon Dive thought for a while before making up his mind, "You are right, Nature. Hearth's Warming is not about things, it's about others! Others whom we care about! We should o back, with or without presents!"
"It makes no sense!" Luster said out loud, pacing in Volcano's room.
"Birds usually don't like the cold unless they have the features to help them survive! And I don't think a bird with dark blue feathers is one of those kinds!" Volcano added.
"Birds that can handle the cold are usually black or white, or both!" Sunshine Rays added.
"I can't think of anything!" Luster announced, as she stopped pacing.
"I know this might sound shocking to you, but this is one of the times Yellow Bright's jokes can come in handy, as I feel like I need one right now." Sunshine Rays admitted.
"You actually like Yellow Bright's jokes?!" Volcano and Luster asked in unison.
"Not really 'like', they just make me feel like...like...everything's familiar. Because I experienced their presence in situations like this, when we are all thinking, Yellow Bright came up with jokes to lighten things up or to prevent us from getting bored...even though they can get boring when went on for long time, but the main point is, I must have warmed up with them in their absence, this Hearth''s Warming Eve." Sunshine Rays explained.
"That's like one of those very touching stories when characters never discovered how much they feel around something until that something is gone." Volcano commented.
"It's good to know that you warmed up with something you usually aren't warm with, Sunshine, but let's not forget the situation here." Luster reminded.
"Oh, right. Why would a bird take our presents?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"And why would it be here during winter if it's not a bird adapted to the cold?" Volcano asked.
"And where can it be with the presents?" Luster added.
At Sugar Cube Corner, Evergreen was getting tired of Cheese Sandwich's performance.
"And that's the story of how Yellow Bright got his job as a party pony's helper, and a comedian!" the party pony finished, before correcting his last statement, "No, it's the story of how Yellow Bright became two party ponies' helper and a comedian! No four party ponies' helper! Or is it five?"
"Mr. Cheese Sandwich, I really don't have more time to lose! I got to find Yellow Bright before Hearth's Warming Eve is over! We need to get back to the Case! And the only reason I came in here is to ask you if you seen him!" Evergreen finally spoke up.
"Then why didn't you say so, Miss Evergreen? What you're looking for is right upstairs!" Cheese Sandwich answered.
"Come on, we'll show you." Pumpkin Cake apprised Evergreen, leading the Kirin upstairs with Pound Cake.
Once they were on the second floor, they quickly arrived at the room Yellow Bright was in, making presents for his best friends.
"Yellow Bright!" Evergreen called.
"Evergreen?! You're here?!" the Earth Pony asked.
"Yes I am! And I can't believe that you didn't hear any of Mr.Cheese Sandwich's performance that happened downstairs, when it's so close to where you have been this whole time!" Evergreen responded.
"Sorry, Evergreen, I was busy making the replacements presents for every creature!" Yellow Bright answered, holding up a learn with a light bulb in it.
"That's your present for all of us?" Evergreen asked.
"I figured that these electronic lanterns will light the night as a perfect gift for every creature!" Yellow Bright explained.
"Speaking of gifts, yo don't really have to go through all this to make replacement presents! Even if we never got any presents, we will have each other like what Hearth's Warming is actually about! But if you go after gifts, there won't even be a Hearth's Warming spirit at the party you're supposed o be in." Evergreen informed.
"You mean...the real hing that matters is all of us being together?" Yellow Bright asked.
"As friends and family!" Pound Cake added, hugging Pumpkin Cake.
Seeing the Cake Twins together, Yellow Bright nodded, "Hearth's Warming Eve is about caring for one another, nt presents! I'm going back, even without completing the presents for every creature!"
"Thats the Hearth's Warming spirit!" Evergreen responded, before the two made their leave and galloped away.
In the Castle of Friendship, Trixie and Starlight Glimmer were sitting behind the tree, looking at it as they talked.
"Well, Starlight, isn't it great to spend time with a friend on Hearth's Warming Eve?" Trixie asked her bets friend.
"It actually is, and I'm glad that we're both free on this particular day. Or night." Starlight joked, causing them both to laugh.
"Guess who I found!" Buffer could be heard saying, as he and Krona returned.
"And here comes company!" Nature Bloom added, entering with Falcon Dive.
"And here comes more company!" Evergreen added, arriving with Yellow Bright.
"Well done, you've found every creature who ran off to get replacement presents!" Starlight complimented.
"Not really every creature..." Buffer responded, after taking a look.
"Where's Alkali?" Nature Bloom asked.
"She went off to get replacement presents, and we haven't found her!" Evergreen added.
"Over here!" Alkali's voice could be heard saying, causing every creature to turn their heads to look at where she was: Walking to the tree with Sunburst.
"Alkali!" the six creatures who just returned to the Castle of Friendship exclaimed in unison.
"Where were you?" Falcon Dive asked.
"I was in the Storage Room looking for materials to make the replacements." Alkali answered.
"And I found her when I went to teh said room in order to get some last minute decor." Sunburst stated.
"Speaking of last minute, where are Luster, Sunshine and Volcano?" Alkali asked.
"They're trying to solve the mystery of the disappeared presents." Starlight answered, a second before the three creatures arrived at the scene.
"We are, and we don't have much to report." Luster announced.
"Luster, Sunshine and Volcano didn't find Hearth's Warming presents?" Krona asked.
"We don't even know what creature has our presents!" Sunshine Rays informed.
"And we can't work out why it will take our presents if none of them have food." volcano ended.
"Maybe whoever took the presents knew it was Hearth's Warming Eve, and took our presents to give them to their friends and family!" Yellow Bright joked.
"I can't believe I missed that." Sunshine Rays remarked.
"The only clues we have are the facts that the culprit isn't a griffon, a hippogriff nor a pegasus." Luster explained.
"And they are most likely the owners of this dark blue feather found in hr crime scene." Volcano added, holding up the dark blue feather that Luster found earlier.
"Wait a minute, can I have that feather to take a closer look?" Nature Bloom asked politely.
"Sure, whatever that can help." Luster answered.
Nature Bloom examined the feather for a few seconds before telling the others, "This feather belongs to the largest flying parrot known today: The Hyacinth Macaw."
"Wow! She's as good as Fluttershy." Trixie commented.
"That's because Nature Bloom usually helps Madam Fluttershy with animals!" Krona answered.
"And get to learn a lot bout animals!" Buffer contributed.
"Hyacinth Macaws grow to be as big as a metre, and are social creatures as they live in pairs or in flocks. And they are vulnerable to extinction, so they are not very common." Nature Bloom explained.
"But why would they take our presents?" Sunshine Rays asked.
"They are intelligent to some extent, and might know what presents are and decided to give them to its mate." Nature Bloom figured, "Although, I never heard of anything like that."
"What are we waiting for?! Let's find that macaw!" Falcon Dive announced.
"But where do we look?" Evergreen asked, "We don't even know where the macaws might be!"
"Please don't freak out, but I think that they might be secretly residing somewhere in the Castle, where it's warm." Nature Bloom figured.
"But we cleaned all the rooms! Ddin't we?!" Volcano asked.
"We better double and tripe check!" Luster declared, causing the heroic Ten to split up.
"We'll help, too!" Starlight Glimmer called.
"Of course we will! It is Hearth's Warming Eve, after all!" Trixie supported, joining the search.
"I'm helping, too!" Sunburst contributed.
The creatures searched high and low around the castle, trying to find the macaws that had the presents.
Nature Bloom looked around the Gardening Room, the room filled with plants that were grown indoors and kept warm throughout the winter by a heater inside.
"We have loads of nuts and native food of the Hyacinth macaws here. Every reason to think that they're hiding here all along..." Nature Bloom told herself, before spotting a cluster of twigs and branches covering a certain part of a tree.
The changeling flew to the cluster, and was surprised by a dark blue macaw that squawked, "What are you doing here?! You're not invited to this family's dinner!"
"I'm sorry, I was just wondering if I could have a word with you..." Nature Bloom answered.
"We searched everywhere!" Alkali exclaimed.
"I thought they would be in the Relaxing Room because it's warm and relaxing there during cold times like this." Volcano stated.
"I searched the kitchen, thinking that the macaws will be after the food there." Buffer informed.
"I searched all the empty rooms I passed by, and no macaw." Sunshine Rays apprised.
"Hey, where's Nature Bloom?" Krona asked, noticing the changeling's absence.
"She said that she will be checking the Gardening Room, that's what I heard from her when we were close enough to talk during the search." Evergreen replied.
"Then that's where we will look now! Come on, every creature!" Luster instructed
The nine creatures raced to the Gardening Room and found Nature Bloom with the macaws they suspected to be the culprits.
"Nature Bloom!" the creatures shouted in unison.
"Don't worry, every creature. Hyacinth macaws can be very friendly, and I obviously befriended them in this short period of time." Nature Bloom assured, gently stroking one of the macaws.
"B...but... the presents! Didn't they..." Falcon Dive attempted to continue, but was prevented from doing so by Nature Bloom.
"The father macaw took the presents because he knew it is Hearth's Warming, and overheard us saying that our presents are the prefect gifts this year. So he decided to take them to give to his family, whom he cares about so much. He's really sorry for doing so, he thought that giving presents was how to show care n Hearth's Warming Eve, which he heard so much about."
After hearing Nature Bloom's explanation, the others were amazed.
"Wow, macaws understand what we were saying?" Evergreen asked.
"That's out of this world!" Yellow Bright commented.
"Animals can actually be smart! Very smart!" Volcano told the others.
But, why would macaws want to celebrate Hearth's Warming? Krona thought that animals don't celebrate much." Krona asked.
"They may most likely won't have anniversaries or that kind of celebrations, but if they ever thought of something like that like we creatures do, they might make something like that for their families and those they treat as friends." Nature Bloom explained.
"Speaking of friends, macaws, there's something important you must know about Hearth's Warming Eve: The real reason we celebrate is not the presents, it is to be together with friends and family as we remember the friendship formed between the unicorns, Pegasi and Earth Ponies, that created the Fire of Friendship that defeated the Windigos and drove them out of Equestria, never to harm us again." Luster explained.
"Unless there's disharmony between the different creatures like when Lord Tirek, Queen Chrysalis and Cozy Glow..." Volcano began, only to be cut off by Yellow Bright.
"I don't think we need that info now, Volcano."
The male Hyacinth macaw then squawked, "I'm sorry," for the creatures to hear, impressing most of them.
"Wow! Now that's what I call a cool bird." Falcon Dive commented.
"That's alright, we found our resents and can have them back, so everything is going to be fine." Nature Bloom assured.
"Just one more thing. How about we get our new friends who have been our castle-mates all this time, downstairs to the tree to celebrate Hearth's Warming Eve?!" Luster suggested.
"Sorry Luster, but not all of the macaws can make it!" Nature Bloom informed, flying to the tree and revealing the nest hidden behind the twigs and sticks. Four tiny heads popped into sight, surprising he creatures.
"The macaws have four new babies?! Congratulations!" Alkali exclaimed.
"Actually, those babies are not so new. They are about to be months old!" Nature Bloom corrected.
"Oh, in that case, they might not be so new..." Alkali figured.
"How about we bring our party here? For the very first time?!" Luster suggested.
"Um, Luster? This is actually our first Hearth's Warming Eve in this castle." Sunshine Rays reminded.
"We can have next year's downstairs like my parents used to! But this year, let's try to make an exception..." Luster told her best friends.
Later, luster rushed to her parents who were still waiting for her and her best friends.
"Mum! Dad!" Luster called, galloping towards them.
"Luster! Where are your best friends?" Starlight Glimmer asked.
"Where the party is going to be moved into: The Gardening Room!" Luster answered.
"WHAT?!" the older unicorns asked in unison.
"There have been macaws living in the Gardening Room for about 3 months or something like that. And they're our new friends who wanted to try celebrating Hearth's Warming Eve after hearing so much about it!" Luster explained.
"Animals wanting to celebrate Hearth's Warming?" Trixie asked.
"They can be very intelligent, and understand what we're saying." Luster explained, "They may not be the best talkers when it comes to our language, but they're friends!"
"Then we should do what real friends will do for them; help them get what they need!" Starlight Glimmer cheerfully declared, just before the heard a knock on the Castle's door.
"I'll get it!" Luster announced, rushing to the doors and opening them with her magic, revealing a pleasant sight.
"You came!" the pink unicorn exclaimed upon seeing the visitors.
"Of course we did, you invited us!" Eclipse Instant answered.
"And we were finished with our World Tour setting things right, spreading word about our reformations." Shapeshifter added.
"Good thing you're here, because we need all the help we can get to move a celebration!" Luster declared.
After some time, everything was finally ready for Hearth''s Warming Eve in the Castle of Friendship's Gardening Room.
"The macaws are saying 'thank you for everything', every creature." Nature Bloom told the other creatures.
"It was nothing..." Volcano replied.
"Or something! Let's celebrate!" Krona exclaimed, causing Yellow Bright to turn on the music on the music box.
Everything went on quickly; the opening of the presents, the serving of the treats and puddings, and the games.
"Happy Hearth's Warming, to one and all!" every creature exclaimed together, as they looked out the window to see the snow falling.
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What a great chapter to read on Christmas.