> Hearth's Warming in Klugetown > by Zenitram Nadroj > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Heading to Klugetown > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once upon a time in the kingdom of Equestria, a place that was inhabited by ponies, lead by two alicorns named Luna and Celestia, the citizens in the kingdom were all gathering and swarming, because it was almost time for the best day of the year, Hearth's Warming. The holiday was created when three races were at war, with pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies fighting, fighting, fighting and nothing more. But then a herd of Windigos attacked the three tribes. Causing the three leaders to be trapped, giving themselves bad vibes. But soon the Fire of Friendship stopped all the madness, and as a result the races then found their gladness. They all worked together and formed a band. The new group of friends then founded the new land. They dubbed the land, Equestira, where ponies of all races can live. And there was no better gift to the citizens for them to give. From that day forward, Hearth's Warming was a time to gather around. And if it wasn't for the leaders, this land would have never been found. One day in Ponyville, in Twilight Sparkle's castle, she and her friends were decorating without hassle. They were getting ready for Hearth's Warming, ready for the celebration. This is, until Pinkie Pie made a startling realization. "Oh, my goshy, goshy, gosh!", Pinkie exclaims. "What's up, Pinks?", Rainbow Dash asks. "I just remembered there was a friend I forgot to send an invitation to." "Pinkie, you've practically sent everypony in the kingdom an invitation. Who could you possibly have forgotten?" "I'm talking about Skystar, duh!" "Hey, wait a minute.", Twilight says. "You sent an invitation to her last week, right?" "Yeah, she did.", Applejack answers. "And the week before that.", Rarity says. "And the week before that.", Fluttershy states. "What's going on? Why hasn't she sent any replies?", Pinkie asks. "I mean she and I are like to peas in a pod. It's not right for her to not reply to an invitation sent by one of her bestest friends." "Well we better pay them a visit.", Spike proposes. "If we're gonna want some answers, we're gonna have to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. Or hippogriff's mouth in this case." "We can't, Spike. We've been banished.", Twilight reminds them. "I tried to take their pearl and we are not allowed to enter their kingdom anymore." "Come on, Twily. I need to see my friend again. Please, please, please, please, please with sugar, sprinkles, frosting hot fudge and a cherry on the tippy, tippy top!", Pinkie begs. "Alright, Pinkie. Sheesh. I'll see what I can do.", she gives in. "Spike, write a letter to Celestia and tell her, Luna, Shining, Cadance, Flurry and Starlight to meet us at the train station." "I'm on it.", he responds as he takes out a scroll and quill pen. Later that day, Twilight and the others went to the train station and waited for their friends and family with not too high and not too low expectations. Celestia and Luna were the first to arrive. Then Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart came next with complete strive. Starlight Glimmer was the last to the group and she was so exhausted that her mane started to droop. With the friends and family noticing Pinkie with no cheer, Twilight approaches them and they ask why to meet them here. "Twily, why are here? Hearth's Warming is in a few days and the train station is already closed.". Shining asks. "Don't worry, BBBFF, we all asked a certain somepony to take us to the end of the kingdom.", Twilight says. A train suddenly appears right out of a portal and the engineer of that train was a creature immortal. It was none other than Discord who was driving the train. While he has been reformed some still call him a pain. "Hello there, my friends.", Discord exclaims. "You got Discord as the engineer?", Starlight asks. "Yeah, we were a bit skeptical about that, but he's the only one who can take us.", Twilight says. "Alright. If you say so." "All aboard for Klugetown!" "I can't wait to see one of my bestest friends again! My mane and tail are standing up on end.", Pinkie exclaims. They enter the train and Discord blows the whistle, and as soon as they all got in it bolted out like a missile. They all sing songs along the way, though they do wish to save them for Hearth's Warming day. They then arrive in Klugetown which was completely bland. They then set off to find the hippogriffs and with answers they'll demand. Discord exits the train shrinks it down to size. He then takes the train, puts it in his pocket and prepared to explore with chaos in his eyes. The draconequus, princesses, stallion, filly and mare are about to enter the town without knowing what's out there. They enter the town and see revolting citizens and broken down homes. Like they had just entered the Equestrian catacombs. "Uh, what is this place?", Cadnace asks. "This is Klugetown.", Rarity asks. "We were very nervous about entering this place, because the citizens wanted to purchase us." "That's terrible." "It is. That is until a charmingly handsome cat, named Capper, managed to help us escape and get us to safety." "Well, I wouldn't exactly call myself charmingly handsome." They notice the voice and turn to the source. And they see who it is, Rarity being stunned of course. It was Capper, the former con artist cat, still wearing his snazzy cape and his fancy top hat. "Capper, it's so good to see you again.", Rarity says. "The pleasure's mine, Rarity.", Capper says. "So you're Capper, huh?", Shining asks. "Yep. Capper's the name. Charming's my game.", he says with charisma. "And you are?" "I am Prince Shining Armor. The ruler of the Crystal Empire." "Oh, so you're the ruler's husband, yes." "Yes. I am.", he says dejectedly. "And the filly is Princess Flurry Heart, I presume?" "You presumed correctly.", Cadance says as she and Flurry approach him. "She really loves to meet new faces." Flurry Heart was astonished by the cat's handsome grin. If there were a grinning competition he would've no doubt win. Starlight then approached him with slight doubt, because any creature with a terrible past is a terrible moral route. "Hello, there. My name is Starlight Glimmer.", she says with caution. "So you're Starlight Glimmer. Twilight Sparkle's former pupil.", he says. "It truly is an honor to meet the former pupil of the Princess of Friendship herself." "Oh, please. You're making me blush." "Well since we are getting acquainted around here. Allow me to introduce myself.", Discord intrudes. "I am Discord, the lord of chaos." "A lord of chaos, huh? Well there's something you don't see every day." After the introductions were out of the way, Pinkie breaks up the reunion, having something to say. "Alright now that we all know who we are, I'll just explain what we're doing here.", she says. "Capper, do you have any idea how to get us to Skystar's underwater home?" "Hmm. I'm actually not sure about that. But, I'll tell you this, I'm certainly not smuggling you into the kingdom." "Ugh, isn't there anypony in this place who can show us how to get to the underwater kingdom!" Pinkie's voice was so loud, which was louder than a preacher, it actually caught the attention of all the Klugetown creatures. "Pinkie!", her friends say. "We better get going." Pinkie bolts out faster than lightning. And they don't blame her because being caught was frightening. "Enough with the rhyming. This is supposed to be a mission.", she scolds. Pinkie knows there's no stopping the rhyming, but soon she bumped into someone in such poor timing. When she saw who it was she did a quintuple take, in front of her was Grubber holding a seven layer cake. And who else does she see coming up ahead. It was Tempest Shadow, or Fizzlepop Berrytwist as she's called, with an expression deader than dead. "Grubber, you didn't eat a piece of cake, did you?", Tempest asks him. "Um, no.", Grubber says with a mouthful of cake. "Ugh, Grubber that's third cake you've taken a bite from today. Oh, hello Pinkie Pie." "Hi, Fizzy. Hello Grubby.", she says with glee. "Hi, there. What brings you here?" "Well we were just looking for my friend Skystar." "'We'?" Pinkie gestures the two to her friends. And they were both surprised to see the others were the friends the two made amends. The hedgehog and unicorn immediately recognized the alicorn, two pegasi, two earth ponies, dragon and other unicorn. "Hey, wait. If the narrator says the same word twice in a rhyme, does it count?", Pinkie asks. "Fizzlepop, Grubber, it's so good to see you two again.", Twilight says. "What are you doing here?", Rarity asks. "Me and Grubber were just picking up a cake for the queen's birthday.", she answers. "Wait, Queen Novo's birthday is today?!", Pinkie asks. "And we weren't invited?!" "Sorry about that. Pinkie gets really high strung when she doesn't get invited to a party.", Rainbow says. "Yeah, we'll keep that in mind.", Grubber says. "Hey, Twilight, who are these two?", Shining asks. "Oh, Shining, this is Grubber and Fizzlepop Berrytwist.", Twilight answers. "They used to be the followers of the notorious Storm King, but soon, Fizzlepop found compassion with us and helped us defeat the Storm King." "And what happened to her horn?" "She lost it when she went into and Ursa Major's cave. But soon she then realizes that she can be a friend horn or no horn." "Hey since you're all here, how about you come with us to find the queen.", Tempest asks. "Wait, you can get us in their kingdom?" "What do you mean? The queen is here in Klugetown, but we all got lost and we have no idea where we are." "No need to worry.", Capper reassures. "I've been in this town for so long, I practically know this place like the back of my paw. There's only one special place to hold special celebrations, the center town square." "Alright, Capper, lead the way.", Tempest says. They all follow the cat to find the hippogriff queen. Although some of them were still not so keen. "Do you think we can really trust him?", Cadance asks. "Don't worry, Cadance.", Rarity says. "He's learned his lesson. I mean have you seen that hat and cape. It makes him even more stunning." > No Creature Cheer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The friends travel through Klugetown to find their hippogriff friends. And they're bracing themselves for what could be around the bends. They hope to find them and return home with saving graces, until they soon notice some more familiar faces. Up ahead out of the blue, there was Captain Celaeno and her pirate crew. "Ahoy there!", Celaeno says. "Celaeno, long time, no see.", Rainbow says as they bump claw and hoof. "What brings you here?" "I was just showing our new friends where the center of Klugetown was.", Capper says. "What are you all doing here?" "Me and my crew were being aware of thieves. They're trying to steal Queen Novo's presents." "What?! She gets a cake and presents?!", Pinkie shouts. "That's it. We really need to find them and give them a good talking to." "Hey is there anything to carry these presents in, we've been carrying them since we got here." It was true. They were carrying them to the hilt. So Discord snaps his fingers and a wagon is immediately built. They marvel at the creature that made the wagon for the gifts. And once they were all there the draconequus gave it a lift. "Thank goodness. I thought our arms were gonna fall from their sockets.", Celaeno says. "Well it is an honor to meet you and your crew, Captain.", Discord says. "So, Capper, which way were we going?", Starlight asks. "It was that way.", the cat says. "I hope that cat knows what he's doing.", Celaeno says. "Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking.", Cadance replies. They traveled deeper and deeper into this decrepit land, and they just found more buildings and more vendor stands. They were about to call it quits when suddenly Capper took a whiff. He then recognized it. It was the scent of a hippogriff. "Hey, gang, I found them.", he announces. "They're this way." "Follow that cat.", Celaeno shouts. They follow the cat and there, they enter, the place they were looking for, the Klugetown center. Capper finds the source and what do you know? The scent was coming from Princess Skystar and her mother Queen Novo. "Skystar!", Pinkie shouts. "Pinkie Pie!", Skystar shouts. The pony and hippogriff bolted out as swiftly as blades and they gave each other a hug like they haven't seen each other for decades. The hippogriff queen approached the hugging pair and what she sees up ahead are the dragon and other mares. "Oh, hello again.", Novo says. "I actually wasn't expecting all of you to be here." "Hello again, Queen Novo.", Twilight says and she and the others bow to her. "And I see Celestia, Luna and Cadance came along as well." The three princesses approached the hippogriff queen. And they gave her a hug each, trying to to make a scene. "Still looking as royal as before.", Celestia quips. "It's all thanks to my personal seaweed rap.", Novo says. "I tell you, that Jamal really knows how to find the right spots." "Hey, what are we, chopped liver?", Capper asks. "Oh, right. I almost forgot about all of you. You're Capper and Celaeno, right?" "It's Captain Celaeno, actually, but yes.", Celaeno says. "I already know you two so well." "The feeling is mutual, Your Highness.", Tempest says. "Here's your cake and presents, by the way.", Grubber gestures. "And who are they?" "Let me introduce them.", Twilight insists. "This is my brother, Shining Armor, my niece, Flurry Heart, my friend and former student, Starlight Glimmer and this is our other friend Discord." "Hang on. That thing is your friend?" "I'll have you know that I am the lord of chaos, thank you very much.", Discord says. "You better be aware of what I can do." "Twilight has told me a lot about her adventure to find you.", Starlight says. "Well it's nice to see that someone has been learning from their mistakes." "Don't remind me, please.", Twilight says blushing. "What are you all doing here?", Skystar asks. "We all came her to ask if you got the invitations I sent you" "All I've gotten were soggy pieces of paper." "Soggy pieces of paper?" "Pinkie, have you actually tried using waterproof ink for the invitations?", Cadance asks. "Um....no.", she says embarrassed. "Anyway, why you haven't come to Ponyville for Hearth's Warming?" "What's Hearth's Warming?" Pinkie laughs and guffaws at what her friend had just told her. She thinks that joke was funnier than her other jokes she told were. "That's funny, Skystar.", Pinkie says. "No. Seriously, what's Hearth's Warming?" Pinkie then realized she was telling the truth. And it was more painful than her rotten sugar tooth. "You really don't know what Hearth's Warming is?" "No. Why do you think I asked?" "Actually, I've never heard of Hearth's Warming.", Capper says. "Neither have we.", Celaeno says. "Gee, don't any of you celebrate holidays?", Shining Armor. "Well other than my birthday, no. We've never celebrated any other holiday.", Novo says. "Oh, my goodness. This is more serious than I thought.", Twilight says. Twilight and the others were all in dismay. They learned that they not only never celebrated Hearth's Warming, but never celebrated any holiday. "You all never celebrated any holiday ever?", Spike asks. "So what do you all do together?" "Well I don't have anyone to celebrate with.", Capper says. "I lost my home and all of my people to the Storm King." "I still have some of my crew. But we never knew what it's like to get together as a family.", Celaeno. "As for me. I've been working for the Storm King for so long, I completely forgot how Hearth's Warming is celebrated.", Tempest says. "I just eat cake and that's it.", Grubber says. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a birthday to attend.", Novo says. "Come along, Skystar." "Sorry, Pinkie. We can catch up after the party.", Skystar says. Twilight and the others have never seen anything like this. They all have never had time for days of bliss. "Sorry, Pinkie. I guess they aren't interested in spending the holiday with us.", Twilight says. "I guess not.", Pinkie says as her mane and tail wither. And just when they were about leave the town, Pinkie Pie gets an idea giving her a smile bigger than a clown. "Guys wait, I got an idea." "What is it, Pinks?", Spike asks. "Since they've never heard of Hearth's Warming, why don't we bring Hearth's Warming to Klugetown?" The others were skeptical about the mare's plan. Twilight Sparkle tried to understand it as much as she can. "Pinkie, are you sure this is a good idea?", she asks. "Look around you. Do you really think this is the type of town that can actually like a joyous holiday?" "I know it so sudden, but just hear me out. Skystar is my best friend. And giving her and the others this holiday has to be the most nicest gift to give them. Come on, Twilight let's help them. Pleeeeeeaaaasssssse." "Alright, we better go back home and make an announcement." Pinkie hugs the alicorn with much delight. And decided to make a plan when she's at home tonight. She approaches the group and informs them her suggestion. But the idea that they heard does make them question. "You'd really bring this holiday to this run down town?", Capper asks. "Of course, it'll be easy-peezy.", Pinkie says. "It will be the biggest Hearth's Warming we've ever celebrated. Just meet back here tomorrow morning and we will show you the magic of this day." "Alright. If you say so.", Novo says. "I just hope this won't be a disappointment." "I pinkie promise we won't let you down. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." "OK, we'll see all of you tomorrow.", Skystar says. They all get on Discord's train and head back to Ponyville, for they have to be ready for a promise they need to fulfill. Celestia and Luna wrote scrolls to the citizens and for some reason, Pinkie suggests to make the scrolls smell like cinnamon. They then went to bed to prepare for the next morning. However, Pinkie doesn't sleep a wink for tomorrow was the day before the day of adorning. > Bringing the Holiday > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, all the citizens had awakened from their sleep. They then notice a scent that started to seep. They follow the scent to see where it lead, until they saw it came from a scroll on their beds. They unravel it with no hassle and the scroll then reads to meet at the friendship castle. It took almost an hour, but the citizens have arrived. The princess then announces her mission to strive. “Attention, everypony, we're are not going to celebrate Hearth's Warming in the Castle of Friendship this year.”, Twilight says. The citizens were confused, what did the princess mean? Did this have something to do with the hippogriff queen? Sure enough it was, but not what they thought. What they acutally heard a ridiculously clever plot. “Instead, we're going to celebrate Hearth's Warming in Klugetown. You see, yesterday, me and my friends went there to ask why Princess Skystar hasn't responded to Pinkie's invitations.” “When we all went there, they couldn't read them, because Pinkie didn't use waterproof ink.”, Rainbow says. “But that's not all we found out. It turns out that none of them have ever heard of Hearth's Warming nor any other holiday.” “So, I decided, why don't we bring Hearth's Warming to Klugetown?”, Pinkie says. “Everypony, we propose that we should celebrate the first Hearth's Warming in Klugetown.” The citizens were perplexed by the party mare's plan. But they try to cooperate as much as they can. “Yeah, we thought it sounded absurd as well, but she begged us to help them.”, Rarity says. “Well now that we've all gotten the gist of her plan. Let's get going and give the denizens of the town a Hearth's Warming.”, Twilight says. “I mean this is the holiday for getting together. Don't you think other creatures deserve a chance?” Discord brings them to Klugetown with his many trains. But not without giving the passengers severe speed migraines. They all brought decorations, presents and trees. Pinkie hops around, hoping it will be a breeze. "Pinkie, calm down. You've been hopping around since we left.", Cadance says. "Can you blame me? We're about to give all the citizens in this town their very first Hearth's Warming.", Pinkie says. "I pinkie promised them not to let them down. There they are." Pinkie found her friend where she found her last. She then bolted to her faster than fast. They both hugged each other and the others came too. They approached the queen, Tempest, Grupper, Capper, Celaeno and her crew. Novo looks ahead and there she sees are all the citizens with decorations, presents and trees. “Pinkie Pie, what is all this?”, she asks. “These are all the stuff we need to celebrate Hearth's Warming.”, Pinkie replies. “I'm going to make your first Hearth's Warming the best Hearth's Warming ever.” “Gosh, if those things were treasure, all of you would be the kingdom of pirates.”, Celaeno says. “I would've bought all of Klugetown with that kind of treasure.”, Capper says. Tempest approaches the mare with concern. She hopes the idea will have an upturn. “Pinkie Pie, I haven't seen this much cheer for this holiday since I was a filly.”, she says. “Don't worry, Fizzlepop. I'm sure putting everything up will make you remember. Come on, everypony let's get to decorating.” The citizens put up the decorations all over the land. They put boas on the buildings and ornaments on the stands. The vendors take desserts that Pinkie has baked, Grubber even tasted them to make sure they weren't faked. They planted trees in the town and hanged wreathes everywhere. The hippogriff queen could just stand and stare. With no more time for the citizens to spare. All the decorations are finally set up and prepared. “Wow, Pinkie, there sure is a lot of decorating for just one particular day.”, Novo says. “That's nothing. You know what's more popular than decorations?”, she asks. “Singing songs.” “There's lots of singing, too?”, Celaeno asks. “There sure are. And we've brought somepony who can sing one Hearth's Warming song better than any of us.” Approaching the group, glowing brighter than a jade, is the best singer in Equestria, Songbird Serenade. “Hello there.”, she says. “Pinkie personally requested me to perform a song for this holiday.” “Well, let's see if you can impress us.”, Novo says. The mare and her dancers perform the best song, while standing on a stage that was eight feet long. The citizens are enamored by the holiday performance and the way they're performing does make sense. They're happy for the day all cheery and happy. While some of them shed tears, becoming all sappy. The song then ended with a bang and all the citizens applaud. Now they all see why she performs abroad. Pinkie then gives Skystar a gift. The princess then opens up the present so swift. “Is this a cannon?” “Yup. It's my very first party cannon.” “Wow. Pinkie, you actually gave her your first party cannon?”, Shining asks. “Uh huh. It stopped working for some reason. So I decided to give it away.” “Enough of this talk, why don't we get to eating already?”, Capper says. “He's right, Pinks, we haven't eaten since we got here.”, Applejack says. They all gathered in the center square with tables filled with eats. Which consisted of yams, sweet potatoes and candied beets. They also had banana bread, steamed carrots and green beans. And in the center of the table is the most decorative cake ever seen. Grubber kept his eyes on how delectable the cake was. However, Pinkie tells him the cake gets eaten last just because. After the feast has been eaten the cake was eaten last. There wasn't a lot of it for Grubber was eating it fast. The citizens were full and to finish this day, Twilight Sparkle and her friends put on the Hearth's Warming play. "Gee, I had no idea that these ponies were so cultured.", Capper says. "They doing good. But I just can't wait to use my present.", Skystar says. "How do you use this?" "Skystar, wait!", Pinkie shouts. Skystar starts the cannon, but nothing came out. And Pinkie thought that there was nothing to worry about. Suddenly the cannon ended up shooting the mare. It sent her flying into Spike, which made him shoot a firey flare. The fire spread all over the town, it then burned all the buildings causing them to fall down. The rubble then fall on Novo, the group gets to her on the double, however the friends knew that there would be serious trouble. The queen is then pulled out, but she's fit to be tied. She then walks out moving the others aside. She approaches the mare with a disappointed look. Pinkie tries to please her by taking one of Twilight's books. "Pinkie Pie, you promised that you wouldn't let me down.", Novo says. "But look around you. This holiday destroyed this town and almost got me killed." "Novo, I...", Pinkie says before she's cut off. "No. I don't want to hear another word from you. This has been the worst Hearth's Warming we've ever had. Now I want you and everyone else here to leave this place at once." She let the queen down, something she had feared. And because of that, Pinkie was left in tears. "Pinkie, are you...", Twilight says. Twilight tried to console the mare, but she bolted off right past her. Pinkie ran of brokenhearted for her plan was a complete disaster. The other citizens couldn't think of words to come to mind. So they took the queen's advice and left the town behind. > Fixing the Delight > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The sun rose on Hearth's Warming day, a day to be cheery. But this year wasn't for a certain mare was all teary. At Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie cries her eyes out. Instead of celebrating up and about. A knock on the door was suddenly heard. But not expecting company was what she preferred. “Come in.”, she says depressingly. The door then opens and who was on the other end? It was only Twilight Sparkle and the rest of her friends. “Hey, Pinkie. Happy Hearth's Warming.”, Twilight says uneasily. “How are you feeling?”, Spike asks. “Oh, I'm just doing good. I'm helping the cakes prepare the baked goods, I helped set up the decorations for the town hall and I'm planning on visiting my family at the rock farm.”, she says sarcastically. “How do you think I'm feeling?!” The mare stopped herself, realizing what she said. She then started crying again and plops on her bed. “Pinkie, we can't stand to see you like this.”, Fluttershy says. “I just wanted my friend's first Hearth's Warming to be the best one ever, but everything went wrong. And now Novo will probably never let me talk to Skystar again.” “Come on, Pinkie. I'm sure it's not that bad.”, Rarity says. “I mean sure, the stage caught fire and the buildings collapsed and some of the rubble got on the queen....I'm not helping, am I?” “Come on, Pinkie, everypony is waiting for you at the castle. We better get over there.”, Applejack says. With no other choice, the mare composed herself. She then got her clothes off her top shelf. They all left the bakery and hurried off to the party. But Pinkie was still sad and is no longer feeling hearty. In Seaquestria, Novo was trying to relax, by having her butler make her back bones give loud cracks. Skystar felt sad, sadness to the core. And thus the hippogriff princess couldn't take it anymore. “Mom, we have to talk.”, Skystar says. “Skystar, can't you see I'm busy right now?”, Novo replies. “No, Mom. I want you to go back to the surface and apologize to Pinkie.” “Apologize? For what? She promised that she wouldn't let me down and everything went terribly wrong.” “Mom, if you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. It's not Pinkie's fault. It's mine. I activated my party cannon which caused her to fly off and start the fire.” “Skystar that was just an accident. But broken promises cannot fly. We were better off with no other holidays.” “No, Mom. You were better off with no other holidays. I actually liked something other than your birthday.” She grabbed her shell friends and was about to head out, when she hears her mother giving a shout. “Skystar, I'm not allowing you go to the surface without my permission again.” “I don't care, Mom. What I do care is making my friend happy.” “Skystar! Skystar!” The princess left the kingdom and went up to land. The queen couldn't believe her daughter ignored her command. In the airship, Celaeno was sailing the ship. With tea in her claw she then took a sip. The members of her crew were busy swabbing the deck. But she knew that something was becoming a pain in the neck. She finishes her tea and then gives a heavy sigh. When she notices something peculiar coming from the sky. She takes out a telescope to see what was ahead. It turns out to be Skystar with a face filled with dread. “Hey, Skystar, what are you doing up there?”, Celaeno asks. “I'm going to Equestria to find Pinkie and cheer her up.”, she answers. “Well this is one thing for certain, you can't go alone. You don't mind if we come along, do you?” “Not at all. The more the merrier.” “Well, let's find the others.” The princess and captain have just formed a troop and set off to find the rest of the group. Back in Ponyville, the party was being thrown. However, one pony was emotionless like a drone. Pinkie was just there all miserable and sad. Her friends tried to cheer her up, but nothing could make her glad. The other citizens tried to help out the party mare. But whoever tried to cheer her up received a cold, icy glare. It was no use, the mare didn't even smirk. And everypony knew nothing else will work. “Pinkie, we've tried everything that makes you happy. Isn't there anything that will get you to smile again?”, Starlight asks. Pinkie didn't answer she just looked down and drooped. Fluttershy then gave her her favorite vegetable soup. “You need to at least eat something.”, Fluttershy says. “Thanks, Flutters. But it's not gonna cheer me up.” “Pinkie!” They then hear a familiar voice and immediately know who said that. They then ran out like they were being chased by fruit bats. They go outside and see Skystar and the others. But they notice that Skystar is not with her mother. “What are you all doing here?”, Twilight asks. “We all came here to try and cheer up Pinkie.”, Capper says. “Where is she?”, Tempest asks. “Over here.” The party mare came out from her friends. Skystar wished her mother was here to help make amends. “I'm sorry my mom couldn't come. But she didn't want to talk to you.” “Skystar, I'm really sorry I let all of you down.” “No, Pinkie. It was my fault. I tried to start my cannon, but you tried to stop me.” “I guess, I should've told you that it was a bit unstable.” “Well if you had just told her that, I guess I would've been a bit more understanding.”, a voice says. They turn to the voice and who do they see? It was Queen Novo landing in front of Pinkie. “Hello, Pinkie Pie.” “Novo, I didn't mean to break my promise to you.” “Pinkie, I think there's something you should know about.” “What is it?” “Pinkie, the truth is, we did celebrate other holidays.” “What?”, the others say. “You actually did have other holidays?” “Yes, we did.” “So why did you stop?”, Twilight asks. “It all started back in Mt. Aries. I wasn't alone. There was a king alongside me named King Gold Wing. We used to celebrate all kinds of holidays together. That is until the Storm King took over our home. Gold Wing fought against the Storm King giving us enough time to escape. But he couldn't escape the Storm King's wrath. I was so devastated about it, that I decided we would never celebrate any holiday besides my birthday ever again. And I told my daughter to keep her beak shut about it.” “So you decided to cancel all of your holidays just because you didn't have your king to celebrate them with anymore?”, Twilight asks. “I'm afraid so. I know you were all just trying to help us.” “Novo, just because you don't have your husband anymore doesn't mean you can't celebrate the holidays. I mean, you still have your daughter, right?”, Pinkie asks. “Yes. I do.” “And family doesn't just have to be your specific race.”, Twilight says. “Family consists of all the friends of all races you've made. That's how Equestria was founded to begin with.” “Oh, my goodness. I had no idea.” “It's true, Novo.”, Celestia says. “If it wasn't for the three races, we all would have never celebrated this holiday.”, Luna says. Novo finally saw the error of her ways and she made Pinkie turn her gaze. “Pinkie Pie, I'm truly sorry for what I said to you and the other citizens. I've been so secluded by what happened to my husband, that I desperately needed to see what the light of day truly was. What do you say we go back, fix Klugetown and celebrate the holiday you promised us?” Pinkie squealed and hugged the queen really tight. She was once again filled with delight. She then gathered her things and was about to head out. But Twilight stopped her making sure she wasn't having doubts. “Pinkie, listen, I know that your first try was a disaster but are you absolutely sure that it won't go wrong this time?” “Absolutely-tootly! Now come on, that town isn't gonna fix itself.” > The Best Hearth's Warming Ever > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- They all go back to Klugetown, still burnt to a crisp. And there is still smoke coming out in wisps. Twilight and Pinkie had no idea how to repair all of this. But they had to repair for there was a holiday they cannot miss. “Twilight, I'm not sure how we're going to repair this whole place before Hearth's Warming is over.”, Pinkie says. “Not to worry.”, Tempest says. “Me and Grubber hired a few helping claws.” The helping claws she referred to were the Storm King's storm creatures. The mares were so impressed how they were friends with such a preacher. “Alright, everyone. Let's get to work.”, Novo says. The citizens from both lands helped out with the fixing, Starting with making diagrams to doing plaster mixing. They found the foundations to keep the buildings from falling. With the small parts for them were creatures that do crawling. They used pieces from the old buildings that were burned from the fire. The one who suggested it was the Canterlot town crier. All the buildings were repaired and then came the vendor stands. However all the fruits have been grounded into the sands. The gardeners suggested to give their fruits to them. And the florists suggest flowers with fanciful stems. The place was almost completely revived. The was one more section that needed some strive. It was the center town square it was still in shambles. And Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie started to ramble. “Oh, my gosh. This was the place where everything went wrong.”, she says. “I'm still shook up by how everything was destroyed and became a disaster.” “Pinkie, I thought you were 'absolutely-tootly' sure that nothing will go wrong this time.”, Twilight reminded her. “Oh, sorry. I forgot.”, she says with a blush. “Don't worry, I'll help you.”, Skystar volunteers. “So will we.”, Celaeno announces. “Us, too.”, Tempest and Grubber say. “I guess I might as well lend a helping paw myself.”, Capper says. All of the friends have repaired the center square. And there was still time for there was a holiday to prepare. They put all the decorations, presents and trees again. And the queen had rated it twenty from a scale of one to ten. “I gotta say Pinkie Pie, these decorations look even better the second time.”, Novo says. “I'm glad you still like them, Novo.” “I guess I didn't have to keep you all from seeing us again. All I had to do was open my eyes and see what the holidays were really about. Thank you very much, Pinkie Pie.” “I'm glad you appreciate it.” “Hey, everyone. Who wants to go ice skating!”, Discord shouts. Discord snaps his fingers feeling so bright and nice. And suddenly the streets of Klugetown were covered in ice. “What's ice skating?”, Novo asks. “Oh, you're going to love it. Come on, I'll show you.” Everyone in the town were skating on the streets. And they even got Songbird Serenade to come up with another Hearth's Warming beat. “Alright, everyone. It's time to give this town a Hearth's Warming to remember. Here's a song, I think you'll all enjoy.” The citizens in the town skated all merry. Novo couldn't skate at first, so she had to be carried. They all keep skating and what do you know. Something was falling from the sky. It was the first Klugetown snow. Some of them stop skating and play around in the snowy white. They made snow ponies and had snowball fights. The citizens gather around the biggest Hearth's Warming tree. And the sight of it filled the citizens with glee. They put up all kinds of lights and ornaments a pop. And Novo was given the honor to put the star on the top. The tree was glowing, illuminating the town. And everyone marvels at it up and down. They all hold each other with more joy bringing. And to top it all off they all started singing. They sang and sang until they couldn't sing anymore. And they have been giving presents galore. The clock struck twelve meaning the holiday was over. It was the best day even for citizens in clover. “So, was your first Hearth's Warming as good as I told you?”, Pinkie asks. “No, it wasn't.”, Novo answers. Pinkie was confused, how could she not like it? Did she really not like the holiday one bit? “It was better.” “Oh, my gosh. I knew you would love it.” “Novo, it was really nice that we could give you your very first Hearth's Warming.”, Celestia says. “Indeed, we should do this everyday.” “Actually, Hearth's Warming only comes once a year.”, Luna says. “Oh, well I guess we can make plans for a future occasion.” “This holiday sure was a holiday rush. And I appreciate all the presents you've given to me and my crew.”, Celaeno says. “No problem, Celaeno. Consider this treasure that can be given to you.”, Rainbow says. “The Hearth's Warming play was really classy. I guess we can give some thespian schools in this town.”, Capper says. “There's no need for modesty, Capper. However if you need any advice, give me a call.”, Rarity says as she give him her business card. “Well we better get back home, Discord doesn't like to wait.”, Cadance says. “Come on, I'm not getting any younger, even though I'm already thousands of years old.”, Discord shouts. “Twilight, thank you for reminding me how beautiful this holiday was.”, Tempest says. “I've missed so much.” “I'm glad we can help you, Fizzlepop.”, Twilight says. “Also you may want to take Grubber to a doctor.” “Oh, I think I ate too much of that special cake.”, Grubber says before belching loudly. “Pinkie, I really enjoyed spending the whole day with you.”, Skystar says. “I'm glad, Skystar. Hey maybe you can come to our Hearts and Hooves day party.”, she says. “What's Hearts and Hooves day?” “Uh oh. Well here we go again.” They all headed out back to their home in Ponyville. The first holiday in Klugetown was a real run of the mill. It was the best first Hearth's Warming for the whole town alright. So happy Hearth's Warming to all and to all a goodnight. THE END