My Little Warcraft - Happy Hearth's Warming Feast of Winter's Veil Eve!

"I didn't think it would be snowing here of all places," uttered Gai'vahros in wonder as he gazed out of the library window to the grounds below.

For him, it was one of the grandest thing he had ever seen -- a place that was once a land of sunshine and gentle breeze turning into a winter wonderland. Snow fell gently upon the trees, buildings, and the joyful folk of Ponyville. He saw all of them smiling as they talked with one-another, walked with one-another, and played with one-another. He even saw Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Pipsqueak have a snowball fight, although it was more of a handicap fight with Pipsqueak baring the heavy assault.

"Do you not have snow where you come from, Gai'vahros?" asked Twilight as she put on her snow boots.

"We do," responded Gai'vahros, "but only in a few places. Azeroth has a number of snow places -- Dun Morogh, Winterspring, the majority of Northrend, to name a few. But Azerothian climate is pretty stagnant as far as weather is concerned. Quel'Thalas sees rain but never snow."

"You're missing out, darling," joined Rarity, trying to unfold her mane from being trapped under the hood of her coat. "Snow is always a lot of fun. Well, until a snowball ruins your eyeliner."

"Hey, hey!" cried Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down. "Do you celebrate Hearth's Warming Eve, Gai?"

The elf turned to Pinkie Pie with a raised eyebrow. " "Hearth's Warming Eve"? What is that?"

"Only the most fun, awesome, cool, totally party-rific day in the whole year!"

Twilight sighed gently, smiling as she shook her head a little. "Hearth's Warming Eve is the time where Equestria celebrates its founding. To celebrate, each town holds a pageant that reflects upon the values we learned."

"And there's lots of presents, too!" added Pinkie Pie with a huge grin on her face.

Gai'vahros gave a half smile as he took his hand off of the windowsill. "Sounds like a fun holiday for everyone."

"Do ya not have somethin' similar back on Azeroth, Gai?" asked Applejack.

"We do. We call it the "Feast of Winter Veil". But its meaning has been blurred through the generations, it seems."

"But it's still a fun time of year for people, right?"

"I guess. But it's nothing for me to celebrate, though."

"But why --"

"S-sorry to jump in on you guys," lurched Spike, holding his stomach, "but I'm getting that feeling again." Suddenly the little dragon belched a torrent of green flame, materializing a large, rolled up piece of parchment onto the floor. "Phew… I needed that…"

"A letter? From Celestia?" pondered Twilight, grasping it with her magic and unravelling it in front of her.

"Dear Twilight,

As you know, Canterlot always holds the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant at Canterlot Castle. Because of the huge, positive reception that your pageant received last year, we would like to ask you if you could perform once more. I hope that you accept our request, and please respond to me as soon as you can.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"How absolutely fabulous!" exclaimed Rarity, almost jumping out of her boots. "I never imagined that we would be asked again to do the pageant!"

"Pfft, we were totally awesome last year," spoke Rainbow Dash as she folded her forelegs across her chest. "Of course she would ask us again this year!"

"So it's decided, then," spoke Twilight. "We're all going. You can come with us, too, Gai'vahros."

"Sure. Beats getting my hair ruined by snowballs."

"I'll let the Princesses know right away. Spike, a letter, if you please."

"Now hold on a minute," interjected Rarity. "If we're going to let the Princesses know, then why don't we go see them in person? If we're going to do the pageant then we'll have to go to Canterlot anyway."

"She's right," agreed Applejack. "Two birds with' one stone 'n' all that."

"O-oh, please don't say it like that," squeaked Fluttershy. "I don't want any birds getting hurt…"

Chuckling softly, Gai'vahros gave a smile to all. "very well then. Shall we take the next train, ladies?"

Small flakes of snow padded the length of the train as it drove down its tracks. The snow had begun to die down a lot more as it sped towards Canterlot, when compared to Ponyville at least.

The group sat upon the fine, silk cushions as they awaited their stop. Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack sat near the windows of their respective seats, each of them with their heads out of the window as they let the gentle snow and rushing wind race through their manes -- and Applejack's hat, which had nearly got blown right from her head, much to Rainbow Dash' amusement.

Rarity and Fluttershy sat beside Applejack and Rainbow Dash respectively, the two of them in small talk about how well the play would go, or even what they would do. Twilight, however, was fairly certain of what she wanted the play to be about.

"Why don't we do a play about what Hearth's Warming Eve means to all of us?" suggested Twilight. "We could show everyone just what friendship has done for all of us."

"Not to be too picky, Twi," spoke Applejack, retreating her head through the window, "but isn't that a bit too… "closed"?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like the play is about the six of us. Kinda makes it look like we're tryin' to promote ourselves and what we've accomplished rather than what everyone should be about."

"Hmmm… I guess you're right."

"I believe," intervened Gai'vahros, "that the play should have some sort of moral value as the moral of the story. What does Hearth's Warming Eve mean to you? What makes it celebrated?"

"You see, Gai'vahros," responded Twilight, "Hearth's Warming Eve celebrates Equestria's founding, but its value to us is that it reminds us that the three tribes of ponies -- Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasi -- worked together, and lived in peace to create what we now see before us."

Despite the happy tale that came from her, Gai'vahros did not crack a smile. Instead, he turned to look out of one of the windows and watched as the snow-filled fields raced by. "And ever since that time, one thousand years ago, Equestria has seen no wars? No conflicts?"

"Well… there's been some fights and such, like the return of Nightmare Moon and Queen Chrysalis. But we've not had any wars like, say, the dragons or with the Griffon Kingdom."

Gai'vahros sighed softly, his head slightly turned to Twilight. "It must be great for you -- for everyone here -- that they get to live in relative peace without having to fear for the world they leave behind for their children and grand-children."

The girls turned to him, all noticing that sombre tone in his voice whenever he felt distraught or upset.

"But what about your holiday, Gai?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Didn't you say you celebrated the… uh… "Feet of Winter's Trail"?"

"Heh. You mean the Feast of Winter Veil," he corrected. "No one truly knows how it came to be. They say that the races of Azeroth venerated a great spirit of winter who, once a year, on this very day, would walk through the lands, followed by the cold winds and gentle blizzards. Anyone who welcomed him would be given great bounty.

The dwarves believed the spirit to be some sort of supernatural being, or even a Titan himself, and so they felt that they were close to him in an ancestral sense. And so it was the dwarves who created the Feast of Winter Veil -- the time of year in which they would celebrate him. Gradually the other races began to come together for the occasion, creating a time of year where all of the races could get together and share their happiness together."

Twilight looked at him, puzzled. "Shouldn't you be happy, Gai'vahros? Shouldn't you join in and celebrate the fact that everyone is getting together under a single banner?"

Gai'vahros paused. He looked at the seven of them as they gazed back at him, awaiting an answer. "I don't need to celebrate something that I do every single day," he finally replied. "Plus it wasn't something we celebrated until a decade or so ago. It just isn't something that I've taken to."

"So you're… pretty Scrooge-y," spoke Pinkie Pie with narrowed eyes.

"Pinkie!" scolded Applejack. "Ya shouldn't be rude to him. Everyone has the choice to celebrate somethin' or not, so long as they don't go 'round ruinin' it for everyone else."

"Besides, Gai has already said that he embraces the sentiment of it every day," added Rarity to his defence.

"I was just --" Twilight paused before she spoke further. "No, you're right. You don't have to celebrate everything that everyone else does."

"We can still buy you a present, right?" asked Pinkie Pie with a big smile.

For the first time since they had left Ponyville, Gai'vahros gave a small smile. "Sure you can. But you really don't have to."

The site of Canterlot drew ever closer as the train headed past the guard booths, lined on each side by four guards holding long halberds and spears. The platform was merely yards away from them.

"We're here, girls," spoke Twilight. "And guy."

Even the halls of Canterlot Castle were festive, so Gai'vahros thought. Along the walls at their very height hung many decorations -- lengths of glistening tinsel, ribbons of green and red, and hanging baubles and gold bells stretched the entirety of the hallway and around the rooms, or so he could see in the distance.

"It's great to see everywhere so festive," said Rarity as she marvelled the decorations around her, "especially in the castle! It just looks so beautiful amidst everything else!"

"I'm glad you like it, Rarity," a voice called out from in front of them. As the group looked forwards, they spotted both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna make their way from the landing of the red, carpeted stairs.

Both of them were dressed especially for the festive occasion. Celestia had upon her head a red, pointed hat of cotton, with white fur around the bottom of it and a little white, fluffy ball on the point of it. She wore a long, red dress of the same design, with white fur along the skirting. Luna didn't wear as much as her sister, though, opting only for a small, bright red nose that gently clamped around her snout, and a pair of long antlers.

"We didn't have much time to put up the decorations and such," admitted Celestia, "what with all of the hassle we've had with… you-know-who."

Gai'vahros sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry for the trouble that we have caused, Your Majesty."

"Don't be silly, Gai'vahros. It is not your fault that this has happened -- regardless of what she says." She turned to Twilight. "I'm glad that you took the time to accept my request, Twilight."

"How could I say "no", Princess?" she responded with a smile. "We would be honoured to perform the pageant again. It's just that…"

"What troubled you, my student?"

"Well… it's just that we're not sure what to do this year. We've had a few thoughts on the journey here but nothing really stood out as… well, outstanding."

"You're free to repeat what you have performed last year," approved Celestia.

"We kinda talked about it," spoke Applejack, "but we agreed that the crowd might not enjoy a repeat performance of last year -- from the same ponies, no less."

"Well, you have some time to collect your thoughts before the pageant starts," assured Luna. "Since you will be staying here, you can take the time to come up with something. I just hope it doesn't take too long -- we've not much time to find a backup if you've nothing to come up with."

Twilight gulped, feeling the pressure upon her shoulders. "O-oh! Well, uh, I'm sure we'll come up with something by tomorrow at least," she replied with a sheepish smile.

"U-um… can I say something…?" spoke Fluttershy as she half-hid behind her hair. "Why don't we… um… make a pageant around Gai'vahros' holiday…?" The group turned to her, making Fluttershy whimper a little. "I-if you want to… or not… I'm sorry…!"

"I think…" spoke Twilight, pondering for a moment. "I think that sounds like a good idea, Fluttershy. We could do a play based around the Feast of Winter Veil and how everyone should celebrate with one-another despite their differences."

"I cannot accept this," intervened Luna. "How could we do a play about something we do not celebrate? How would the ponies react to it? Will they even appreciate such a thing?" Luna turned to Celestia, wanting to ask for her agreement in the matter, but she saw that look on her face -- that look of contemplation. "Sister… you cannot seriously be giving this idea the grace of thought?"

"… I think it could be a good idea," responded Celestia with a smile. "The point of the pageant isn't to celebrate the holiday, but to show the importance of friendship, companionship, and teamwork. So long as we show that, it doesn't matter how we do it.

However…" Celestia turned to Gai'vahros. "Although it is our place to approve the pageant, I don't believe that we should be the sole deciders of it. Gai'vahros, are you okay with all of this?"

The tension for the group began to fester evermore the more they awaited for the elf's response. His eyes shifted from pony to pony, looking upon their faces as they awaited his judgment. "… I approved of this," he finally responded. His friends gave their greatest of smiles -- especially Fluttershy -- although Luna rolled her eyes. "Under one condition," he added.

"What would that be?" asked Celestia.

"That I am to write the play."

"I don't think we could have it any other way. After all, you know a lot more about this holiday than all of us."

"Brilliant. I'll get to writing the script now."

"For your sake, it had better be your best writing, Gai'vahros," retorted Luna. "I do not want Canterlot being the laughing stock of Equestria because of it."