Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned about the value of teaching others. There will be many times where someone may come to you in need of help or guidance. Sometimes they can teach you. Today I taught a family the value of Hearth’s Warming.
The snow was out of control, slamming up against the window in loud bangs. Diamond Tiara stared out into the black and white nothingness of the night. With the fireplace to her back, the room was quite the opposite of how baren it was outside.
She sat on lush sofa in the living room with all of her posh family members hustling and bustling behind her. The fancy dresses and all the hors d'oeuvres going back and forth. The halls were decked in garland and lights, however the beautiful scenes were lost on Diamond tiara as she sat alone staring out at the snow.
Her best friend, Silver Spoon, had been sick with the flu the entire week, leaving Diamond Tiara alone surrounded by all of the adults. She turned to face the front of the room after hearing the tinkling of a knife on a glass. Her mother stood, gathering everypony's attention. “Good evening everypony. It is now time for me and my husband to open our Hearth’s Warming gifts. The very first gift we will open tonight is from our darling Diamond Tiara. Oh, Diamond.” she sung, “Please come to the front while we open our gift, would you?”
Panic briefly appeared on her face before Diamond quickly got up, dashing over to her Father’s side. As she looked at the masses, her tiny legs started to shake. She looked up as her mother and father opened her gift. Her parent’s gift was wrapped lavishly like their mansion was decorated with festive cheer, with it wrapped in the classic reds and greens. As her mother ripped through the wrapping, she thought she heard hooves scraping on a chalkboard. Her mother lifted the lid off of the box and gasped.
Everypony moved slightly closer, dying to see the expensive gift that she must have gotten her. Spoiled Rich lifted up their gift from the box, showing it off to everypony in the room. It was a large picture frame, decorated in silver and gold paints, with tiny designs engraved into the wooden frame. She had been working on the frame for weeks, placing in her favorite family photo. Her mother’s face started out confused, but then distorted into disgust. “What is this, Diamond?”
Diamond Tiara swallowed, a huge lump in her throat. “It’s a picture frame I made in class. I thought you guys would like it.” She plastered on a smile, looking around the room. She heard the disgruntled mumbles of the wealthy ponies.
“That is so disgusting.”
“That costs absolutely nothing.”
“How preposterous.”
“I would be ashamed if I got something like that from my daughter.”
She looked back at her mom as she saw the frame fall to the floor, shattering upon impact. She could feel her face heat up, tears welling up in her eyes. As her vision starting to blur, she saw her mother stomping a hoof on her frame. “How could you? We are the most wealthy ponies in all of Ponyville and you give me this worthless piece of trash?!” Her screams filled the room as all of the other ponies nodded in agreement.
Tears ran down Diamond’s face as she watched her Mother stomp on her gift even more. She didn’t even see her Father try to pull Spoiled Rich away before she fled the mansion in tears, nothing protecting her from the harsh and cold winds of the night.
She shivered as she pushed through the waves of snow, hitting her like rocks all over her body. She could no longer cry, the tears almost freezing in the cold wind. The middle of Ponyville was like a graveyard, the windows of every house looking like tiny lanterns. She knew that everypony was either with their family and too busy to take her in or they didn’t care about her.
As she was passing by the window of Sugarcube Corner, she decided to see what the Cake family was doing. She saw Mrs. Cake laughing as Mr. Cake played with Pumpkin and Pound Cake. Both of the twins got their own little stuffed animal. Pumpkin was given a little orange rabbit while Pound got a green bear, both wearing little sweaters. The lights on the tree where the only thing lighting the room as the twins and Mr. Cake played with their new toys.
Diamond Tiara could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again. She wandered away, trying to find somewhere and anywhere that would take her in for the night. The same flashback of her mom stomping on her gift played over and over in her head.
I am worthless to my family. I worked so hard to make that frame. It would have looked great in the forer. All those other ponies looking at me, thinking about how terrible of a daughter I am. I guess I am trash.
She walked aimlessly for what seemed like hours. It was like she was put in the middle of a cold and barren desert.
Off in the distance she spotted a soft pink glow, urging her to come near. The closer she came, the more she could make out that it was none other than the Castle of Friendship. She felt as if this was her angel dropping down from heaven as she walked up the icy incline, stopping still at the massive doors. She knocked, mustering up all the strength in her body. Before she could even wait for an answer, everything faded to black.
As she slowly woke up from her short slumber, she felt the warm sensations she had longed for out in the cold, wrapped in a warm blanket by a roaring fireplace. She could hear the faint crackling of the fire, some wood squeaking, and some snoring. The air smelled of hot chocolate, filling her nostrils to the point of finally opening her eyes. As she woke, she found herself on a warm couch, wrapped in a purple fleece blanket dotted with tiny books. She looked up from the couch to find Twilight Sparkle, rocking back and forth in a rocking chair beside her. She was reading a history book, her glasses half way down her snout as she read.
Diamond scanned the room and detected where the snoring was coming from. Spike, was snoring away in what seemed like a dog bed. She looked back at Twilight, her voice horse, “Princess Twilight?”
The lavender alicorn looked up from her book, “Oh, you’re awake! I’m glad I heard you knock on the door or you would have ended up as a ponycicle.” She placed the book down on a small table beside her as she got up out of her chair. Her warm smile soothed Diamond as she came closer to the young filly. “How are you feeling now? Spike and I tried our hardest to get you all warmed up again.”
Diamond spoke again, sounding more like herself, “I’m fine. Thank you.”
Twilight grinned, “I am so relieved! Do you need any soup or hot chocolate? I already made some just in case.” Diamond could feel the tears welling up in her eyes yet again. Twilight rested a hoof on her cheek, “What’s wrong? Why were you out there in that storm?” She could feel the tears streaming down her face like waterfalls. Twilight hopped up right beside Diamond Tiara on the couch, snuggling up with her under her blanket. “You know what? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want. Let’s just enjoy the warmth of the fire.” She could feel Twilight’s wing wrap around her body, making her feel entirely safe. She nuzzled into her fur, letting out tiny sobs. The two slowly nodded to sleep to the rhythmic snoring coming from the purple dragon. As she finally nodded off, she showed a small smile.
Diamond Tiara woke to Spike poking her in the nose. With Twilight nowhere in the room, she shakily got up out of the bed.
“Don’t move too fast,” Spike said as Diamond Tiara fell into his arms. She picked herself up, steadying her pace.
Spike meandered behind her as she walked throughout the massive castle. She made her way to the front door, taking a deep breath before opening it. The door swung open to show three ponies standing in the walkway. She slowly labored through the white fluffy snow to get behind Twilight. She was wrapped in a red and white striped scarf while she chatted with two other ponies. Those ponies so happened to be none other than her parents. She could see that her mother was crying while her father was holding something in his hoof. She leaned up to take a look at what it was, finding that it was her very own frame that was crudely taped together. With a smile, Twilight ussered Diamond Tiara out from behind her.
The moment Spoiled Rich saw her daughter, she wrapped her hooves around her in a hug. “I am so sorry Diamond, my dear. I shouldn’t have done that to that gift. I...I just…” she trailed off as she continued to cry.
Diamond’s Father chipped in, “She was only trying to impress the other ponies at our party. After you left she started crying, and we told everypony else to go home for the night. We looked for you all night, knocking door to door. When we couldn’t find you, and our hooves were about to freeze off, we went home for the night. Neither of us slept, we were so worried for you. I even found your mother trying to piece together your frame.” He held out the patchwork frame, showing her family photo that was still intact. Her Father then brought out her pesent, the one that she didn’t get to open that night. As she slowly opened the box, her pace quickened with a tinge of excitement. Inside the small box was small stuffed snow leopard. Every speck on the animal’s body shimmered with silver glint. She remember the stuffed toys that Pumpkin and Pound cake got, feeling a sense of childlike joy coarse through her body.
Happy tears began to roll down Diamond’s face as Twilight spoke, “They came to me this morning, telling me what had happened. It doesn’t matter how grand or expensive the gift is. Heck, Hearth’s Warming isn’t even about the presents. It’s about being with friends and family, celebrating time with them.” Twilight smiled as she and Spike waved goodbye to the Rich family.
“Do you think Spoiled Rich actually learned something?” asked Spike.
“Of course she did…”
By the way that she cried and worried over her daughter being lost out in the snow, I knew that she learned from her mistakes. She understood that Hearth’s Warming isn’t even about the present she had gotten, but by spending time with her daughter the next day. She realized how much Hearth’s Warming really meant!
Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle
Author's Note
Wow i honestly think that this is the best story! Thanks to Not Enough Coffee for editing
