Author's Note
Well Silver here with a one shot. Let me know what you think.
Hearth Warming Eve.
It was the day before Hearth Warming and Ponyville was covered in snow not that the inhabitants gave it any mind. Some were trotting about getting any last minute presents while others were helping decorate the town. The foals were making snow forts and having snowball fights. Unseen by all on a cloud overlooking the village sat two pegasus like figures one being bigger than the other. The bigger of the two had red dragon-like scales instead of fur. His pegasus wings were the same color as his scales. His green colored mane was spiked up on his head the points of which almost reached the golden ring that floated above his head. The smaller one while being the same species had white dragon scales and silver pegasus wings. Her silver mane was put up in cattails. She also had a golden halo over her head.
“Now it is our duty to encourage unity among the ponies. It has been so since the ponies almost went extinct at the hooves of the wendigos five thousand years ago. When the last three surviving ponies stopped fighting and banded together to help one another did they discover the fire of Harmony. It was from the fire that the tree of harmony came to be. ” The older looking figure said. The younger figure listening to his lecture in rapt attention.
“It was from this tree that the first Longma were born. As spirits born of the tree, we survive on the energy of positive interactions between ponies. We then take the energy generated by these positive interactions and feed it to the tree of harmony. Are you still paying attention Snowdust?” he asked his small charge.
“Yes master Fogbank.” the young drakine replied her young voice filled with curiosity. “But if the wendigos are gone then why do we gather and then give positive energy to the tree of Harmony for?” Snowdust asked Fogbank.
“There are other threats to harmony then the wendigos and who said the wendigos were gone,” Fogbank answered Snowdust. “Now enough lectures it is time for you to go down there and foster some friendships.” He said with a wave of his left claw. He let out a small chuckle after seeing how nervous Snowdust suddenly looked.
“Don't worry you see our halos.” He said as he pointed to the golden ring above his head. “ These make it so we are invisible to mortal eyes. So you need not worry about being seen as you go about doing your task.” He reassured the young Snowdust. Snowdust for her part just nodded her head. “Don't worry I will be here watching just in case anything goes wrong. So go down there and just do your best.”
Snowdust the spread her wings and flew down to the middle of Ponyville. She landed in front of a building that looked to be made out of gingerbread. She felt the negative energy coming from inside the building followed by arguing and decided to investigate. As soon as she stuck her head through the door the negative energy disappeared and she was overwhelmed by the amount of positive energy that suddenly appeared in the building. ‘There is enough energy here that you would think that there are at least twenty ponies in here but there is only five.’ Snowdust thought as she looked around the building. She saw an orange colored earth pony stallion leaving the room for another one. There was a blue colored earth pony mare behind a counter.
Sitting at a table were an orange colored earth pony with a blonde main done up in a ponytail and a blue colored pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane. Situated in between the two was the pinkest pony that Snowdust had ever seen. Everything about the earth pony was pink except her blue eyes. The majority of the positive energy came from this pony. ‘It seems that they solved the argument without me. Oh well, might as well collect some of the abundant energy. Don't want it to go to waste.’ She thought as she began to pull the energy into herself. She continued to gather the energy until she was about half full of it. “Thank you for the energy,” Snowdust said out loud even though she knew that they couldn't hear her.
“You are welcome!” The pink one said as she looked straight at Snowdust for a second.
“Umm, Pinkie who are talking to there is nopony there.” The blue pegasus said to Pinkie.
“I am talking to the invisible dragon pony of over there.” Pinkie said as she pointed her hoof in Snowdust’s direction. “Ahh, You scared her off Dashie.” Pinkie said as Snowdust ran out of the building.
Snowdust didn't stop running for about five minutes. When she did stop she found herself in a park. She took a moment to settle her nerves. ‘ Master Fogbank said that they couldn't see us as long as we have our halos.’ She thought as she looked up at her halo. ‘Yep still there. Then how did she see me.’
Just as Snowdust started to muse about it she felt the negative energy coming from a couple of ponies sitting on a bench. “What do you mean that you won't be able to make my concert tonight?” A brown colored earth pony mare with black hair was yelling at a white colored unicorn with a two-tone blue mane.
“Like I said they need me in the studio to re-record the music for my album. The studio said that when they went to mail it to manehattan they couldn't find it. I am so sorry.” the unicorn replied.
The earth pony shook her head in disbelief and looked at the unicorn. “Just let me know if things change,” she said as she got up from the bench and left.
The unicorn ran her hoof through her mane and let out a sigh. “I wish I didn't have to cancel on her again. Tavi has been working hard practicing for this concert.” The unicorn said to herself.
‘Ah, a wish for somepony else's happiness. Now how did master Fogbank say we do this again? Ah yes, I remember.’ Snowdust thought. She then concentrated on the unicorn and focused her energy on the wish. After about five minutes a bright white light flashed and a record appeared on the bench next to the unicorn. Startled by the light the unicorn took a moment to look around to see where the light came from when her eyes fell on the record.
“ What's this?” she asked and upon reading the label on the record her eyes grew wide. “ This is the missing record! But how did it get here?” She questioned herself before she shook her head. “ No doesn't matter, I have to get this back to the studio. Ah yeah, looks like I am going to Tavi’s concert after all.” She said as she picked up the record in her magic and rushed out of the park leaving behind a plethora of positive energy. Snowdust collected the energy it filling up her little body. As soon as she was done drawing in the energy she started to glow with a soft white light.
“Good job Snowdust. You have gathered as much positive energy as your body can handle. Now we should go deliver this energy to the tree of harmony.” Master Fogbank said as he landed in front of Snowdust.
“But there still is tons of energy around shouldn't we collect more?” Snowdust asked with a tilt of her head.
“No young one. Your body is still growing and can only handle some much energy. If you don't pay heed to your limits you take the chance of the energy changing you into a spirit of disharmony. It happened once about thousand years ago. A young longma thought that he would gather more energy for the tree. While his intentions were pure he did not notice the changes happening to his body. You see by absorbing so much positive energy he had thrown his body into imbalance. It soon started to generate energy of its own.” Fogbank lectured the young Snowdust. “ However this energy was not positive but negative. With so much positive energy in his body, it was trying to balance out.”
Fogbank to a couple of minutes to figure out how much he could tell Snowdust without breaking the law about not mentioning the fallen one. He looked at the sky and noticed that it was starting to get late. “I will continue that lesson later. Now come it is getting late and we must get this energy to the tree of harmony.” He said as he took flight toward the Everfree forest followed closely be Snowdust.
An hour later found the two at the entrance to the cave that housed the tree of harmony. The entrance was guarded by six longmas in full plate armor. Each armor was a different color. Upon the approach of Fogbank and Snowdust one of the armored longma, (Their armor being lavender) walked forward to get Fogbank. “So how did she do?” he asked Fogbank.
“Oh, she did fine for her first collection,” Fogbank answered then smirked. “ Though she did have a run in with Ponyville’s positive energy factory.”
“On her first day?” The guard asked then whistled. He turned his head to Snowdust. “I hope she didn't give you too much of a fright.”
Snowdust stuttered for a moment before she managed to get anything understandable out of her mouth. “You mean that you knew that she could see us and didn't warn me?” She questioned her master.
Fogbank then burst out laughing which caused Snowdust to puff out her cheeks in annoyance. After taking five minutes to get his laughter under control Fogbank ruffled Snowdust’s mane. “Forgive me, my apprentice. You see that mare is Pinkie pie of the pie family. Ponies of that family are able to see and sense that which is hidden from others. My own master did the same to me with the mare’s grandma.” After mentioning his master Fogbank’s good mood faded. He turned back to the armored longma. “Well, my apprentice has the energy to give to the tree. Is it clear for her to go in now?”
“Yes, actually it is the perfect time as the tree is just about full of energy and just needs a little more energy before it is ready to power the barrier against the wendigos.” The armored longma answered as he ushered Snowdust in. Once in she was greeted by the sight of a giant crystal tree with the symbols of the sun and moon in in truck. She slowly approached the tree and sat in front of it. Snowdust took a deep breath and then let it out. ‘Okay, I just need to release the energy I gathered and aim it at the tree.’ Snowdust reminded herself to calm her nerves. She then felt inside herself and felt the energy she had gathered. She then directed the energy to the tree letting it flow out of her and into the tree. Once she was done the tree’s branches flashed with a rainbow of colors before a wave of energy of shifting colors expands outward from the tree. When the field of light passed through Snowdust she thought she felt a feeling of pride and love coming from it.
“Well looks like the tree has taken a liking to you young one.” A voice said from behind her giving her a start. She looked back and saw the oldest looking longma she had ever seen. His scales were a dull rust brown color and his mane a uniformed grey. Snowdust bowed to the elder.
“Umm, I don't mean to be rude but what do you mean taken a liking to me?” Snowdust asked with her head tilted. In answer, the old longma just pointed to her flank. When she looked she was surprised. What had been bare before was now adorned with an image of a blue crystal tree covered in snow. “A cutie mark? But I thought that longmas couldn't get cutie marks?”
“ While that is true for the most part there is one exception.” The old longma said as Snowdust continued to look at her flank in disbelief. “ The tree marks the flank of a longma each century. The one so marked is to be the tree’s next caretaker and speaker of the tree of harmony,” he said as he turned sideways to show that he to had a cutie mark. While his was also of a crystal tree, the tree was surrounded by six stones of different colors. “ Now go young one and tell your family the good news because tomorrow your new duties await.”
