A Hearth’s Warming Tail - Extended Edit.

by UltraSonicRainboom

The Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents

Snowfall Frost found herself in her bed again after the spirit of Hearth’s Warming Past left. Snowfall didn’t have to wait long for the next spirit, for it was almost 2 o’ clock when she found herself in her room again. The bell on her grandfather clock struck 2. Snowfall looked, but nothing came. “Maybe it was all a dream?” She thought to herself. Then she laid back in her bed to try to sleep when she heard a loud voice call her name in the distance. “Snowfall Frost!” the voice said. The voice terrified Snowfall, but saw confetti coming out of nowhere. “.It is I,” the voice said, on top of a large pile of wrapped presents, “the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents!” (Played by Pinkie Pie.) “Um, don't you mean 'Present', like the time?” Frost. “No! Toys, Hearth's Warming doll... Here, want a cupcake?” The spirit said as she gave Snowfall a toy, a doll, and a cupcake.” “Fine, ‘Presents’. All of the pointless things ponies waste their time on.” Said Snowfall Frost, throwing all the toys the spirit gave her in the trash, still feeling remorse for the holiday even after what she’s been through. “Oh, Snowfall, it's not what the gift is that matters, it's what the gift means!” Said the spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents. “It doesn't mean anything. It's just stuff!” Scoffed Frost.

“Exactly!” Said the spirit energetically. “Sometimes a cupcake means "I love you!" Or a toy means "Hi, how're you doing?" Sometimes a book means "Your mane looks amazing!" And sometimes a scarf means... Well, a scarf usually means you look cold. That one's easy. But sometimes it can also mean “thank you!”” Snowfall Frost was confused. “I don't understand anything you're saying.” “Whoa! Whoa!” The spirit was shaking and twitching her tail. “What's happening to you?!” Asked Snowfall, now concerned. “My Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents Sense is going off! That means a song is coming on!” Then the spirit took Frost and herself outside into the city street and she began to sing:

(Listen to the song and watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPzQA9xeT7E)

“Take a look at everything around you

All the smells that surely will astound you

Open up your heart, it will surround you

In the magic of Hearth's Warming Eve

The little things that make it better

Little ponies spreading cheer

Give a toy, a hug, a sweater

Memories that last all year

The present's always filled with presents

Large, medium, and small

Sometimes the most important things

Aren't very big at all”

[tap-dancing solo]

“What a party, there's so much to see here

Can't believe you didn't want to be here

You'd have had a blast, I guarantee here

This is the spirit of Hearth's Warming Eve

Cider's flowing, this is living

Come on and feel the beat

Life is better when you're giving

Each time you do it feels so sweet

The present's always filled with presents

So come on, open your eyes

Spend time with ponies just like you

And watch your spirits rise

The present's always filled with presents

Take a look around

The reason for the holiday

Is quite easily found

Yes, the reason for the holiday

Is quite easily found

And the reason is to be with your friends!”

Snowfall Frost and the spirit found themselves standing outside by the window of the house where Snowfall Frost’s niece Starshine was having the Hearth’s Warming party, the one that she invited Snowfall to earlier. “Starshine!” said a pony in the party in a kind way as a greeting to Snowfall’s niece. “Hey Marry…” said Starshine. (Marry was played by Rarity, and if you forgot the first chapter, Starshine is played by Twilight Sparkle.

(In case you’re wondering: I swapped Rainbow Dash with Twilight in this scene to make it more in line with the book and because I’m using Rainbow in place of Bob Krachet so I want to use Rainbow Dash to be with Tiny Tim.)

“Why, whatever is the matter, darling?” Asked Marry looking concerned, for the way that Starshine said “Hey Marry”, was in a rather upset tone of voice. Another pony jumped into the conversation. “Was it the eggnog? Oh, I knew I put in too much cinnamon!” Starshine replied “Oh, no, the eggnog was great, Flutterholly, I'm just mad at somepony who was complaining about how awful Hearth's Warming Eve is.” (Flutterholly was played by Fulttershy.) “I don't suppose that pony's name starts with "Snow"? Asked Marry. “And ends with "Frost"?” Asked Flutterholly. “She said Hearth's Warming Eve is just an excuse to party, and we would all be better off spending time working to make Equestria a better place” said Starshine. Everyone was listening and all the ponies into the room started to boo at what Snowfall Frost had said. Snowfall Frost watching this all happen felt embarrassed. She knew that most ponies liked Hearth’s Warming Eve, but seeing ponies disagree with her in person made it feel more real and she was beginning to wonder if Hearth’s Warming isn’t as bad as she thought. “What does Snowfall think a better Equestria looks like?” Marry asked. “Ponies working hard, learning, and using their abilities for the benefit of Equestria” said Starshine. Flutterholly and Marry both giggled.

Snowfall was still watching this happen outside through the window and then a snowball hit the window. Frost looked and she saw a few fillies playing in the snow building a snowpony enjoying the holiday. Then Snowfall heard Marry speak again “It looks like we've got everything on Snowfall's list right here.” Then Flutterholly said “I think a perfect Equestria looks a lot like a Hearth's Warming Eve party.” Snowfall Frost started to tear up as she was realizing all the wasted years she could have spent with friends and family on Hearth’s Warming, but she instead spent them alone hating the holiday.

The spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents looked at her said face and said sweetly “come on. Let’s go see another place on this Hearth’s Warming day.” They walked through the city to a small shabby looking house. “Where are we now?” Asked Snowfall in a curious way. “This is Snowdash’s house, and Snowdash’s family is enjoying a wonderful Hearth’s Warming” explained the spirit.

Snowfall looked inside and saw a pony cooking a Hearth’s Warming feast. It was not a huge feast, but just enough for their family. There was also a small Hearth’s Warming tree by the fireplace no taller than a filly that had very few ornaments on it. Snowfall looked but didn’t she her employee. “Where is Snowdash?” She asked. “She’s right over there silly!” Said the spirit, and she looked where the spirit was pointing and she saw Snowdash flying home with a young little filly named Tiny Kim (played by Scootaloo), who was Dash’s daughter. Snowdash was holding her up as she was flying. While Tiny Kim was a pegasus like her mother, her wings were too weak, but not just because she was a filly, but because she was physically disabled and would probably never be able to fly even at an older age. They were flying at a moderate speed, not at all slow but not too fast so that if Snowdash dropped Tiny Kim on accident Kim wouldn’t get too physically harmed. “Woo hoooo!!! I’m flying!” Exclaimed the young pegasus. “Yes you are!” Her mother said. Within a few seconds after Snowfall noticed them, they were already at the door and then Snowdash stopped flying, put Tiny Kim down on the ground, and then they entered the door. As the door was open, Snowfall Frost tried to enter the door, but it closed too soon and shut in her face. “I guess we’re stuck out here” she said. “That’s okay!” Said the spirit. “You can go anywhere if you’re not really here!” And then the spirit walked through the wall and entered the house. This greatly surprised Snowfall, but she knew that she could probably do it too, so she took a deep breath, and slowly walked toward the window and she was able to phase through the wall and found herself inside the house with the spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents.

“Ah! You made it!” Said Mr. Dash (played by Sorrin) to his wife and daughter as they entered the house. Then he said “And just in time too! The food was starting to get cold!” “Good!” Replied Snowdash. “I am sooooo hungry!” She said. Mr. Dash gave Kimmy her cane, as her legs were weak and she was a cripple. Tiny Kim looking at the food said “everything looks great Dad!” Snowfall looked at their feast, but it wasn’t that much, and yet, they still seemed happy with it. Snowfall Frost then said to the spirit “I pay Snowdash such a small amount. How can they be happy when they have so little?” The spirit then said “oh silly Snowfall! You don’t have to have a lot of money and a lot of stuff to be happy, you can be happy if you have each other no matter how poor you are. The question is, are you happy with how much you have?” Snowfall was surprised by that question, but quickly responded like a knee jerk reaction out of force of habit “well of course I am!” But then she quickly blushed with embarrassment and looked away from the spirit, for she knew that what she said wasn’t true and that she wasn’t happy even though she had so much.

Tiny Kim was then greeted by her two sisters, Rosetta (played by Sweetie Belle) and Adriana (played by Apple Bloom). “There you guys are!“ said Rosetta. “We’ve been starving! Now we can finally all eat together for Hearth’s Warming!” Said Adriana. “How was the church?” Asked Mr. Dash to Snowdash. “It was great. Tiny Kim was hoping that if this is the last time ponies see her, a crippled, on Hearth’s Warming, they would have hope because they would see that she still has hope.” Snowfall looked concerned after hearing that.

Then Snowdash said to the family “alright everyone, let’s give thanks…to Mrs. Frost! The founder of the feast!”. Mr. Dash scoffed and said “the founder of the feast indeed. If she was here I would give her a piece of my mind and I hope she’ll choke on it!” Snowdash looked shocked and said “come on. The Children. Hearth’s Warming Day.” Mr. Dash then relented “oh, all right, but only because it’s Hearth’s Warming. To Mrs. Frost who’s having a fine day today, I have no doubt!” Those last words were said sarcastically. Snowdash then took her drink, held it high, and said to everypony “to Snowfall Frost! God bless us!” “God bless us! Everyone!” said Tiny Kim, “and God bless Mrs. Fros-“ that last word was cut short for she started to cough violently and repeatedly.

“Spirit. Tell me. Will Tiny Kim live?” Asked Snowfall Frost. “Let me see what my Spirit of Hearth’s Warming sense says.” The spirit’s ears started to move uncontrollably, and her eyes blinked a few times. The spirit then gave out a great gasp and said “my Spirit sense said that there will be an empty seat where Tiny Kim is sitting, and a cane without an owner by the fireplace corner. If this remains unchanged, then I believe that little filly will die. But if she’s going to die then she better do it and decrease the surplus population! After all, isn’t that what you said?” “Oh spirit!” Replied Snowfall. Frost looked back at the filly, then suddenly everything started to fade to black around her and disappear, but Snowfall kept her eyes on Tiny Kim until the last moment. Then when everything was black, it then started to brighten up, and Snowfall found herself outside surrounded by snow in a deep thick snow blizzard, so thick it was like a fog where you could only see a few feet in front of you. Snowfall looked around her, but the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents was gone. “Spirit? Where are you?” She yelled out into the void. There was no answer. But Frost did see a large figure appear in front of her out from the snowy fog.