The Heart's Shell

“It was absolutely darling of Fluttershy to invite us to her cottage” Rarity said to Twilight Sparkle. “And I must admit, Opal was just dying for some exercise, weren’t you Opal?” The cat on top of Rarity just meowed and continued to look bored.

“I’ve already spent some time with Spike, so I think it’s fair to spend some time with my friends as well” Twilight replied “Even if Pinkie Pie and Applejack can’t make it”.

“But what about Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked “Did Fluttershy remember to tell her to come, you know, despite Tank not being able to?”

“Even if Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash can’t make it” Twilight sighed.

The two mares just laughed and trotted over to Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight knocked on the door as Fluttershy quickly answered it.

“Oh goodness. Hello Rarity! Hello Twilight!” Fluttershy smiled. “I’m glad you two could make it”.

“We’re glad we could also, Darling” Rarity replied.

Fluttershy just nodded her head and sighed, heading towards her dining area with her head drooped.

“We already assumed that Rainbow Dash would not be here” Twilight said trying to comfort Fluttershy. “You know, with Tank hibernating and all”

“I know, I just feel so bad for her” Fluttershy replied. “She has suffered through a lot in the past 3 weeks. She can’t even spend Hearth’s Warming with her pet”. She sat down on her couch and sighed again, trying not to cry again. She still remembered what she had said to Rainbow, and it wasn’t something she was going to forget.

“Oh well, some things can’t always go the way we want to” Rarity said. “We can still have a Hearth’s Warming party even without Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash”.

Fluttershy agreed and started setting out food for the mares. There was fruit, punch, cookies and cakes. Rarity and Twilight dug right in. Opal and Owlowiscious walked up to Gummy, Winona and Angel. They just stared at each other in silence. Even though they were animals, they also felt the void of Tank not being there.

Like the mane 6, they had formed a close friendship, and they had stereotypes of their own. For example; Angel was the evil, devious one. Owlowiscious was the voice of reason. Gummy was the psychic who had deep thoughts all the time. Winona was the cheerful one of the group. Opal was the grump. And Tank was the loyal one. Fluttershy was right about one thing, they couldn’t really have a Hearth’s warming party without all of their friends.

“Oh cheer up, fellow critters! I have made special party hats for all of you” Fluttershy broke the silence as she gave the pets their hats. All of them except Opal were enjoying them. The cat just sighed and wore a look of boredom. Most likely she was woken up from her nap before they left.

Fluttershy dug into the food with the others after she put on some music suggested by Pinkie Pie.

“This is a pretty good food” Twilight commented, finishing one of the cookies. “How did you have enough time to prepare all of this food?”

“Well you could say that I had some help from my animals” Fluttershy replied.

Twilight and Rarity stopped chewing their food for a second.

“Um darling, did you just say your animals helped you make the food?” Rarity asked.

“Well yes. But you don’t have to worry. They all remembered to clean themselves first. I made sure of that” Fluttershy responded. “But how do you think I did?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean with the party. I mean I followed some tips from Pinkie Pie as well as come up with other ideas of my own”

“I think this is lovely” Twilight complimented, looking around at the decorations “And the good thing is, it’s not as loud as last year’s party. It was all fun and all, but I could hardly hear myself think”

“Well, it’s definitely a nice and quiet environment here” Fluttershy replied, the pets though again were being disruptive. Opal and Angel were having a bit of an argument. “I count the animal ambience as being quiet”

“Opal, stop it. You might hurt him!” Rarity complained, getting out of her seat and picking Opal from the ground. “I’m so sorry Fluttershy. I don’t know why my cat is behaving this way. She’s been acting weird lately, a bit short tempered if you will”

“I’m not too worried about it. Angel is pretty tough. You’ll be amazed what he could get through. Though, I’d prefer not to talk about it”

“That’s ok, you don’t have to”

Rarity went back to her seat as Fluttershy put the karaoke record on. This made the other mares jump for a second.

“Who’s ready for some karaoke?” Fluttershy asked.

“We are!” Rarity and Twilight said in unison. Opal, Gummy, Winona, Angel and Owlowiscious ran over to the couch to watch their owners sing.

First up was Twilight Sparkle.

‘We wish you a happy Hearth’s Warming

We wish you a happy Hearth’s Warming

We wish you a happy Hearth’s Warming

And a happy new year!

Good tidings we bring

to you and your kin

We wish you a happy Hearth’s Warming

and a happy new year!

Now bring us some apple cider

Now bring us some apple cider

Now bring us some apple cider

To fill us with cheer!

We won’t go until we’ve got some

We won’t go until we’ve got some

We won’t go until we’ve got some

So bring some out here!’

Rarity and Fluttershy applauded happily.

“Thank you, I do have a talent for getting around tongue twisters and fast passages” Twilight replied.

“Ok, who’s next?” Fluttershy asked.

“I will go next” Rarity replied as she snatched the microphone from Twilight. The next song started playing.

‘Deck the halls with boughs of Holly

Tralalalala tralalala

‘Tis the season to be jolly

Tralalalala tralalala

lalalalalalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaaaa’

As she was singing, she was unintentionally decorating Fluttershy’s house with streamers, but not just the house.

“Um, Rarity” Fluttershy interrupted. Rarity stopped singing and looked behind her. Fluttershy and Twilight were completely covered in streamers.

“Oh, my apologies” Rarity replied whilst holding back laughter.

“I guess it’s my turn now” Fluttershy responded, getting the last of the streamers off her.

‘Silent night

Holy night

All is calm

All is bright

Round yon virgin

Mother and child

Holy infant so

Tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace…’

“Twilight!!” Spike called out as he raced towards the house. Twilight let him in. He was trying to catch his breath.

“What’s wrong Spike?” Twilight asked.

“I thought we were going to spend Hearth’s Warming together!” Spike replied.

“I did” Twilight replied. “But Fluttershy invited us to her party, remember. You could have come too if you weren’t asleep by the time I was leaving”

“Oh, that” Spike sounded disappointed. “Now I feel stupid! I completely forgot about it! I went all around Ponyville asking every pony where you were. I even asked Rainbow Dash who was busy sulking by her fireplace”. The three mares gasped in shock.

“You asked Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, but I think at the time, she was busy having a nap” Spike replied.

“Spike. Don’t you remember that Rainbow is going through a hard time right now?” Twilight asked. “Tank is hibernating. I thought we already talked about it.”

“Oh yeah” Spike replied. “I guess that’s why I left quickly; I guess she wanted to be left alone.” The little dragon just sighed and sat on Fluttershy’s couch.

“Spike, you are welcome to have some food” Rarity said breaking the silence. “Although, I’m afraid there are no gems”

“That’s ok” Spike replied. He climbed up to the table the mares were sitting at and had a go at eating some of the other food Fluttershy had provided. It was all going well until he accidentally sneezed setting the whole table cloth and food on fire. Fluttershy quickly got some water to get rid of the flames before any more of the house got burnt.

“Spike, are you ok?” Twilight asked.

“Sorry. I guess I’ve just caught a cold trying to search for you” Spike replied, looking at the table, how black it was. “Well, at least that wasn’t the scariest thing that happened to me today! There was a huge shadowy figure that came from Rainbow Dash’s fireplace earlier!”

“What!!??” the three mares gasped in unison.

“You told us that all you did was tried to talk to Rainbow” Twilight said, concerned. “You didn’t tell us anything about a shadowy figure before”.

“Yeah, it was so scary! It didn’t even startle Rainbow, but that’s why I ran away” Spike replied.

“But Rainbow lives in a cloud house, how did you even get up there?” Rarity asked.

“One of the pegasi flew me up there, duh” Spike replied. Every pony just looked at each other, confused. All of them then raced out of the cottage. “Where are we going?”

“To save Rainbow Dash” Twilight replied. “That shadowy figure you described can’t be good”. The three mares and the dragon soon pursued to Rainbow Dash’s house in order to save her from whatever this shadowy figure was.