Hearths Warming a holiday celebrated all over Equestria as the founding of their great nation and the discovery of true friendship. To many it is a time for exchanging gifts, to thank both family and friends, and of course a time for food.
Looking out across the landscape one would see a soft blanket of only the purest white laid out over the land and forest, broken only by the occasional trail of a traveler, or an animal that has yet to hibernate. It is a peaceful scene with only the sound of gentle snowfall and the light wind to keep the travelers company.
However if you go into one of the many villages or cities that dot the world, it is here that the silence ends, replaced instead by the chaotic hustle and bustle of people traveling from store to store in preparation for the upcoming holiday. The joy in one of these towns is enough to melt even the coldest of hearts, as people that don’t even know each other wish one another a happy holiday.
Indeed the towns are a place full of joy this time of year. And it is in a town known as Ponyville that we begin our story.
“Hurry up y’all its cold outside”
Looking down from her spot in the sky an eccentric rainbow manned Pegasus stated with a smirk on her face “Chill out Applejack it’s not that cold outside”
“Well that’s easy for y’all to say cause you and Fluttershy got them feathers to help keep you warm up at those high altitudes.”
“Well darling you wouldn’t be so cold if you had just worn the jacket I made for you.”
“Yea well, speaking of Fluttershy shouldn’t she have met up with us already?”
“Ah think she said she was gonna meet up with us over at Twilights with Pinki so can we please hurry up ah don’t like bein cold.”
“Okay then, How about a race?” looking down on her earth bound friend, Rainbow smirked knowing how Applejack couldn’t ever turn down a challenge to prove who the better athlete was.
This fact alone has led to more than one hair brained idea in an attempt to see who was better. They have had ideas ranging from, wearing bees as clothes to seeing who could eat more hot peppers. Needless to say not very many of their ideas turn out as planned.
Looking up from her position on the ground the cowpony nodded and said. ”But ya can’t use you wings Rainbow, only your legs”
“Fine whatever let’s just do this already.” Coming down from her spot in the sky she drew out the starting line in the snow and began to get ready
“Umm Girls are you sure …”
She never got to finish her sentence as Rainbow yelled at the top of her lungs “GO!”
Kicking up two large piles of snow that ended up covering their unicorn friend they began their race through the town, dodging carts, stalls and other people. Finally when their target was in sight they both realized their mistake too late and began sliding on the ice, into the front door of the library and into a bookshelf.
“WHAT IN CELESTIAS NAME WAS THAT?!”
Coming down the stairs with a worried look was the town’s librarian and the third princess of Equestria, Twilight sparkle.
“Rainbow I swear if that’s you…”
“”Uhhh…. Sorry twilight, Me and Applejack here decided it would be fun to race and see who would get here first, my bad.”
“Sigh… You really thought it would be a good idea to race in the snow and ice?”
“I tried to warn them.” Coming through the door and looking around in awe she continued in saying “Twilight darling I love what you’ve done with the place, the tinsel looks absolutely stunning in that shade of gold”
Looking up from her spot under Rainbow the farm girl said ‘’Yea Twi, It looks real nice in here, now Rainbow, can y’all please get off me?”
Realizing her mistake the Pegasus quickly got off of her friend and began to look at all the decorations
“Wow Twilight I can’t believe you did all this by yourself.”
“Excuse ME but I Helped” yelled a bubbly voice
Following the source of the voice she noticed that it came from the kitchen, along with all sorts of amazing smells, ranging from cinnamon, to cupcakes, to all sorts of other amazing dishes.
“Hey Pinki we didn’t know you were back there, Is Fluttershy back there to?”
Poking her head out through the door Pinki said with a smile larger than most “Well, Duh of course I’m here, Why wouldn’t I be, who else would help out with all the super fun decorating, and cooking, OH! Yea Fluttershy is back here too, she’s been a super duper helper!” Moving out of the way so her timid friend could say hi, she went back to finish the food.
“Hello everyone, how are you all doing today?’’
“Well howdy Fluttershy”
‘’Hey Fluttershy”
“Hello Darling”
“Were all doing good how bout you sugarcube?”
“Oh, well I came over here to help Pinki with all the Baking, and Decorating, That’s why I had to meet up here instead of at the farm, I hope I didn’t cause any inconvenience.”
“Well of course not darling, the only thing you missed was these two making themselves look like idiots” Looking over to her two friends with a smirk, they shot her a playful glare back and all started laughing.
All that is except for one, looking down to the floor then quickly putting on a fake smile, in hopes her friends wouldn’t notice her mood, she quickly looked back up and pretended to be happy. “Well girls let’s leave Pinki and Fluttershy to their cooking.”
“Actually, we just finished preparing, all that’s left now is to wait and take the food out when it’s done, so we can all hang out while we wait! Isn’t that so awesome!?”
“Not as awesome as me!!!” she boasted proudly.
“Well of course not Dashie, Nothing is more awesome than the fastest flyer in Equestria!”
Looking over to her fellow unicorn rarity asked quietly “How are you doing?”
Looking back with a forced smile she said “I’m fine why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well it’s just that ever since…”
Cutting off her friend with a sudden scowl was enough to tell Rarity not to continue what her original sentience was going to be, so she instead chose to hug her.
Breaking the hug after a few seconds, the two realized that they had missed a joke as everyone else was laughing at another one of Pinki’s antics.
Looking up from her seat on the ground the bubbly pony asked “Why aren’t you two laughing? Should I have added more glitter?”
“No Pinki we were just talking and we missed it is all.”
“Oh Oki Doki LoKi.”
Looking back to her friends she began to go through the motions of the get together. She heard the stories but didn’t listen. Jokes were told but she didn’t laugh. Gifts were given but she didn’t want them. And food was eaten, but not tasted. For her all she could think about is the one thing she truly wanted more than anything for hearths warming, the one thing that would fill her heart with more joy than she could possibly hold inside herself.
But that was a foals dream, she wouldn’t get what she wanted for Hearths warming and she knew it, and it made her numb to the happiness of the holiday.
Eventually her friends began to finally realize that Twilight wasn’t getting into the spirit of the holiday.
“Twilight, what’s wrong sugarcube?”
“Nothing, I’m just not in the holiday spirit this year is all.”
Her friends all shared knowing glances as to why she wasn’t in the spirit this year. It was obvious to anyone that knew her personally.
Her friends all gathered around her to try and comfort her in a large hug, which she gladly accepted.
“Sigh… I’m sorry guys.”
Breaking the hug she stated in a voice softer than what she usually used. “Hey, it’s okay Twilight, I’m sure we would all be feeling the same way if we were in your shoes.”
Looking at her lavender friend Fluttershy said “Umm…. Twilight, I know none of us can really know how you feel right now, cause… this hasn’t happened to us, but…. as your friends you need to know that we are here to support you no matter what.”
Looking at her other friends for conformation they all nodded their heads in agreement for what Fluttershy just said. Because it was true, they helped each other get through the tough times in their lives, and have faced many challenges together, always coming out on top.
As they talked more about the challenges they faced she actually began to feel her spirits lighten as she remembered the time where she had what she wanted, they remembered all the adventures, the jokes, the dinners, even the silly times. Remembering these things made the spirits of the unicorn finally lift enough for her to smile a true smile.
As the night continued on, and stories were being told, the joy in the house could almost be felt if you just happened to pass by.
“So how’s your brother, is he good? I hope he’s good cause I need to throw him a ‘Glad you’re good’ Party!”
Giggling at her friends antics she said with a smile on her face “Yes Pinki him and Cadence are both doing fine. He actually sent me a book on advanced crystal magic theory for Hearths Warming, as an early present.”
Shivering slightly the cow pony took a look outside and said “Well gee Rainbow, Looks like we got a blizzard scheduled for today, am I right?”
“Yea it was kind of a last minute deal, we put it together so that everypony would have a good amount of snow for tomorrow.”
As everyone looked outside they all sat together and enjoyed the sunset.
However as the went down so did the temperature .And as he wind continued to batter anything unfortunate enough to be outside with snow, a figure tall, large and covered completely in snow could be seen braving the now blizzard.
As he walked into the town the ponies that saw him looked at him curiously as they couldn’t see who he was because of the scarf covering his entire face, except for his green eyes. As he continued walking he could feel the temperature outside continue to drop.
While he was walking several of the ponies tried to call to the mysterious man from their doors, but he didn’t hear them, he only had one destination in mind… the library.
Looking off into the distance through the blizzard, he saw his destination. Picking up his pace so he wouldn’t need to be outside any longer than necessary he smiled under his scarf knowing that he was almost there.
After several more minutes of traveling through the ever growing blizzard, he finally reached his destination on the library’s front door.
As the stranger looked at the door, he chuckled as he realized just how much he has grown since he last came here, last time he was here he couldn’t touch the bell on his toes, now however he reached up and touched it with no effort.
While the group inside the warm confines of the library, ate more food, and played games, they failed to notice the large black figure come over to the door. However what they did notice was the door bursting open, letting in the cold air and sending snow everywhere inside the building. Then almost as quickly as the sudden assault from the cold came, it was over.
Now standing on the rug in front of the door was a large black figure, covered completely in snow and a scarf over his face.
Walking over to the large figure Rarity said “My good sir, I’m sorry but the Library is closed today, and you just interrupted a party we were having”
The muffled response that came sounded like laughter. Slowly peeling of the scarf, letting the snow and ice buildup crack off the scarf and fall to the ground, the face behind the scarf was reviled.
Suddenly the whole room went quieter than it had ever been. Standing in the door way was the one thing that Twilight had wanted more than anything for Hearths warming, The joy she felt when she saw the man standing there was enough to cause her to start crying tears of joy almost immediately.
Sprinting off the couch and tackling the man standing there with a hug, she started crying into his shoulder “I thought you weren’t gonna make it home in time for the holiday Spike” she stated between sobs.
Looking at the group standing in front of him spike stated with a smile “Ha ha… hey guys, yea I thought so to until last week, so I decided to keep it a surprise for you guys, looks like it actually went pretty well if your reactions are anything to go by.”
“Spike darling you look magnificent if I do say so myself”
“Yea big guy we haven’t seen you since right after you came home from boot camp!”
Looking out across the room spike continued to get praises of the same type from everyone in the house.
After Twilight was able to tear herself away, leaving a dark spot on the chest of her younger but now bigger brother, they all came over and gave him a hug.
“So Spike what’s it like being stationed in Canterlot protecting the city? If you don’t mind me asking that is…”
Looking over at Fluttershy He said with a proud voice “I’s really intense, because I’m stationed in the city I’m able to train more often than if I were stationed in other parts of the world, say Manehatten or someplace else like that. Because of that I’ve picked up advanced swordsmanship, and hand to hand combat, that’s also why I’ve gotten so big, is because of all the training. But I’ve got to admit… I really do miss you guys more than you could possibly know.”
Suddenly taking in a gasp of air, more than should be possible for a person her size, Pinki shot up in the air and asked wit a smile on her face “You guys know what this calls for?”
“A party pinki?” asked Spike
“Well duh!!! We need to welcome you back!!!!” yelled Pinki crashing on top of rainbow
Looking around at his friends all laughing and having a good time, he couldn’t help but bring himself to smile. Thinking to when he would leave he quickly got rid of those thoughts. There was no need to ruin the moment with thoughts of the future, the future was then… but now is now. Looking back to the group he joined in on the antics that went on that night, enjoying himself and making memories that made his joining the guard worth it.
For what would the soldier be without a family that supports and loves him? If you were to ask any soldier, from any country on why they fight, the answers are all the same.
Honor, Country, Protecting the innocent are all common reasons why. But protecting the family and loved ones… That is the most important reason.
Author's Note
This was in fact my first story ever written if I could have any criticism that would be greatly appreciated.
This story is written not for the soldiers that are away for Christmas this year, but is instead written for the families of soldiers.
