The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming

Chapters

I Just Don't Know What Went Wrong
Day 1: I'm Okay, Not Too Sure About Ponyville, Though
Day 4: Snowboarding Competition Is A Go, First Step Is To Learn How To Snowboard
Day 5: It's A Gift That Keeps On Giving
Day 6: I Guess You Could Say I'm Dashing On The Ice
Day 7: Light It Up
Day 8: The Best Gift You Can Give Yourself Is To Give To Others
Day 10: Smile, You're On Camera
Day 11: Giddy Up, Go Go Go
Day 13: And Down We Go
Day 14: It Burns, It Burns
Day 15: And They Lived Happily Ever After, Minus Getting Eaten In The End
Day 17: In Three, Two, One
Day 18: Ornaments And Lights, But Mostly Lights
Day 19: What To Buy, What To Buy
Day 20: See The Lights, See Them See Them
Day 23: It Looks Perfect
Day 24: It's Party Time
Day 25: Happy Hearth's Warming
Day 2: Snowball Fight Has Been Declared, This Isn't A Game It's War
Day 3: Hot Cocoa's Only Good If It's Warm
Day 9: Fa La La La La La La La Ah
Day 12: Bring It To The Right, Not That Right, My Right
Day 16: The Last Finishing Touch, There, Perfect
Day 21: This One's Cool, Really Cool, This Will Be The Perfect Choice
Day 22: It Needs More Chocolate Chips

I Just Don't Know What Went Wrong

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
I Just Don't know What Went Wrong
Sparkle Productions

The wind whistled violently. Ponies happily trotted around picking up gifts and other supplies. Or at least the ones who were out. It was freezing.

There was no snow. At least yet. Lead weather pony, Cloud Chaser and her backup Flitter were determined to fix that. Dash had left the weather team after achieving her dream to become a Wonderbolt.

The weather team was working as hard as they could after their delivery of snow clouds got mixed up with regular ones. "What do you mean no snow!" Rainbow Dash yelled at Flitter.

"What I mean is that it takes too long to manually put snow in the clouds. Unless the premade snow clouds come, we won't have snow," Flitter's voice was calm and gentle, in contrast to how loud and violent Dash's voice had been.

"Well, aren't there other solutions! I demand to speak to Cloud Chaser!"

Flitter looked down at her master scheldue of the day. "Cloud Chaser is booked all day. Right now she's trying to reason with the company that sent the wrong clouds. Then later on she's going to be trying to manually make some clouds. She doesn't have time to reason with you when there are more important matters on hoof."

"Ugghh!" Dash groaned. "Fine. I'll be back later to check in again."

"Don't bother. She can't see you later either."

"They're gonna make me regret my decision of resigning, aren't they?"

☆☆☆☆☆

The Wonderbolts Headquarters was bustling with activity. Some were flying on the training grounds. Others were praticing combat. Fleetfoot flew out of the doors, leaving.

Walking through the halls Soarin observed this, "Why's Fleetfoot leaving early? The day isn't over yet."

Spitfire looked out the window as well, "Oh, that's because I let her off early. Today's practice is only for Squad Three, who doesn't get how to do a carosel twirl," she looked up as if recalling something. "Squad Five needs to work on their combat as a whole. You're free to leave if you want. Being here today doesn't serve you any good."

"Lemme get my things first."

"I think I already know where you're going. Two words. Get. Pie. From Applejack's farm in particular." Ever since Soarin had found out from Rainbow that Applejack had made the pie from the gala, he had been going there nonstop.

"No, but now that you mention it Applejack's pie does sound good. Really good."

"Well then, seeya Soarin!" Spitfire called out as he was on his way.

"See you, Spitfire!"

☆☆☆☆☆

Sweet Apple Acres was quickly approaching at the speed Soarin was going. He slowed down as he reached the ground, his hoofs scraping against the dirt trying to stop the acceleration from being in the air. "Woo doggie, Ah'd say that was a landin' if Ah had ehva seen one. And Ah have aftah bein' friends with Dash for so long," Applejack teased.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Soarin profusely apologized.

"Ah'm jus' teasin'. No need to get yer tinsle in a tangle." Applejack had a hearty laugh after her little joke. "So, what brings ya here anyway?"

"Apple pie."

Applejack was flabbergasted, "That's yer 13th pie and it only Thursday."

"What can I say? I just really love pie."

"Ah think that's more then love. That's addiction. How do ya nehva gain weight?"

"Wonderbolts training is hard."

"It's on tha house. You probably need it."

After the pie was ready, Applejack sat Soarin down at a picnic table in the fields. "So...where's the snow?" Soarin said trying to start up a conversation.

"Ah don't know. Dash is more up to date with weather then I am." Apple Jack shrugged.

Rainbow flew out of an apple tree near the picnic table, "I'll tell you what happened to the snow!"

"Now Rainbow, how many times do Ah havta tell ya to stop sleepin' in our trees? They're apple trees, not yer bed," Applejack chided.

"What?" Soarin was curious on what happened.

Dash was upset. No upset didn't even begin to describe how she felt. No word did. "The order of snow clouds got mixed up with regular clouds. It takes too long to manually make snow clouds. So now there won't be snow. Nothing like this ever happened when I was in charge."

"Well have ya ehva thought that maybe not everypony is like ya. Everypony makes mistakes sometimes."

"What are we gonna do? Winter Wrap Up can't happen. I've never had a Hearth's Warming without snow."

"They'll fin' a way outta no way. Don't stress."

"Thanks for the advice. Bye AJ!"

☆☆☆☆☆

The weather factory was busy trying to make snow to no avail. "You suspect that if I replicate already existing snow flakes, we'll be able to produce snow. I'm not sure Ditzy. Using magic on natural processes like these doesn't work out too well in the end." Twilight looked through her book. "My magic won't pick up on each individual snow flakes, producing more then necessary."

Ditzy nodded, "Yes, I'm sure it'll work."

"I'm not sure. All evidence concludes that I shouldn't be doing this."

"Please princess. You're our only hope!" Ditzy begged, her golden puppy dog eyes being too cute to resist.

"Fine~," Twilight's resistance broke. "I'll try."

"Yay! Thanks princess!"

"Anytime Ditzy." Twilight focused her magical aura on the snow machine. The only thought in her mind was to replicate the pre-existing snow flakes by 100. Her aura disappeared showing that the spell was complete. She glanced around the room and the outside. "I don't think the spell worked. Sorry Ditzy. I told you, magic doesn't work on natural elements."

Ditzy had a look of disappointment plastered on her face. Until an idea came along. "Let me try something."

Twilight looked up from her book Magic And Natural Elements: What You Need To Know, "Go ahead, Ditzy."

Ditzy lifted her hind legs and bucked the machine back to December, which was next month. The impact from her kick, sent snow falling to the ground. Too much snow.

"Ditzy! What did you do?" Twilight said, abandoning her book.

"I just don't know what went wrong."

Alarms sounded off all over the weather factory. Flitter rushed into each room telling everypony to evacuate. "Cloud Chaser isn't going to like this," she kept muttering to herself.

☆☆☆☆☆

All that was left of the pie was a few measly crumbs. "What do you mean you don't like pie?" Soarin asked.

Dash rolled her eyes, "It means exactly what you think it means. I just don't like it."

"But it's so~ good~"

"No, to me it's pretty nasty."

First there was an explosion. Then, before they could blink, snow covered the whole of Ponyville.

☆☆☆☆☆

Soarin and Rainbow Dash flew to Dash's cloud mansion. "I need to consult Twilight and ask her what happened. Unbelievable."

Soarin suppressed a chuckle, "Well hey, at least you got your wish. Asked for snow, you got it."

"This was not what I meant. You can barely even walk to your house, let alone your home in all this snow."

"By the way, where will I be staying since it's almost night-time?" Soarin asked.

"I guess with me?" They landed on the front porch. Dash unlocked the door. Inside there were two sofas - on opposite ends - and a coffee table between them.

Soariin picked up a booklet laying on the couch labeled Pinkie's 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming Challenge . "Hey Rainbow, you should do this. It seems fun."

"Nah, I'm good. Seems pretty boring and uncool to me."

"Oh."

Dash picked up on the disappointed tone on Soarin's voice. "I'll look through it, it seems pretty interesting."

Soarin sat on the couch before patting a spot next to him, signifying that Dash should sit there. She complied. "How about we look through it together. It does intrigue me."

☆☆☆☆☆

The mail pony - who was a pegasus - delivered the morning paper and letters before flying off. Only it wasn't exactly the morning but the afternoon. News was traveling slow from the snow incident.

"Dash!" Soarin called from downstairs. "You might want to see this!"

"Five more minutes!" Dash lazily replied back, half sleep. Today was a Friday, meaning she could sleep in.

"You might want to see this! It's urgent!"

"Fine~!" Dash whined out, delirious. "But you have to make coffee!"

"Deal, just see this!"

After what seemed to be an eternity, Dash made it down the stairs and into the kitchen. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee greeted her. "Y'know I was just kidding when I said that, right?" You didn't have to make me coffee."

"No, but even if I did I would still keep my word."

"Okay then."

Soarin poured the coffee in to two mugs. Wonderbolt mugs. "We have quite the fan, don't we?" He smirked.

"For your information, I got those before I made it on the team."

"Whatever you say, Dash, whatever you say," he smirked.

"No, it's true, it's true!"

"I never said it wasn't."

A deadly silence ensued. "Anyway, read this." Soarin shoved what seemed to be a letter in Dash's face.

ᴅᴇᴀʀ ᴄɪᴛɪᴢᴇɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴏɴʏᴠɪʟʟᴇ,

ᴀꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴇ ᴀᴡᴀʀᴇ ᴏꜰ, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀ ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜꜱ ꜱɴᴏᴡꜱᴛᴏʀᴍ. ᴅᴜᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴀ ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇꜰɪᴇʟᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴘᴜᴛ ᴜᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴘʀᴇᴠᴇɴᴛ ᴘᴏɴɪᴇꜱ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴄᴏᴍɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏɴʏᴠɪʟʟᴇ. ᴄᴏɴꜱᴇQᴜᴇɴᴛʟʏ, ɴᴏᴘᴏɴʏ ᴄᴀɴ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ. ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴛʀʏ ᴛᴏ ʟɪᴠᴇ ᴀꜱ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ᴀꜱ ᴘᴏꜱꜱɪʙʟᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʜ'ꜱ ᴡᴀʀᴍɪɴɢ ᴀꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟʟʏ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ. ʟᴇᴛᴛᴇʀꜱ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ʙᴇ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴇɴᴛ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴅᴇᴄᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 1ꜱᴛ ᴇɴᴅꜱ.

ꜱᴏʀʀʏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀʟʟ ɪɴᴄᴏɴᴠᴇɴɪᴇɴᴄᴇꜱ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴍᴀʏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇᴅ.

ꜱɪɴᴄᴇʀᴇʟʏ,
ᴍᴀʏᴏʀ ᴍᴀʀᴇ

After re-reading the letter a couple of times, Rainbow still couldn't wrap her hoof around it. Even the coffee didn't prepare her for this. "Wait. That means we're stranded in Ponyville?" Soarin nodded sadly. It wasn't that she didn't like Ponyville. In fact she had chosen to live there on free will. And she had no problem staying there. But the loss of freedom, not being able to leave as often as she liked, was what irked her.

"That means that I'll have to spend Hearth's Warming here," Dash glared at him. "No offense but it would be different than I'm used to."

"None taken. I get what you're saying. I could never spend a holiday away from home." Rainbow gave a sympathetic look. "I jcan't even begin to imagine what that would feel like, and I won't."

☆☆☆☆☆

At least 50 complaints were issued throughout the remaining of the day. Mayor Mare had tried to get Twilight to speak with the angry ponies, but she refused to try and reason with ponies who were unreasonable.

"Everypony calm down!" Mayor Mare yelled furiously at the croud of pegasi at her door. "I said calm down! Doing this won't fix our predicament. Stop and leave at once!"

Twilight - who was hiding until the situation got into control - knew she had to take action at once. Using a voice amplifier spell she yelled as loud as she could, "Everypony stop and go home! Reacting like this doesn't make this situation resolve any faster. I'm really disappointed in all of you."

A random stallion surfaced from the crowd, "My family was going to visit!" He violently yelled.

Twilight was at the ends of her ropes. She was tired. The night time forcefield took away the majority of her energy. Yelling took the rest. All she wanted to do was sleep and resolve everything later.

Chaos was everywhere. Ponies were fighting. Not just ponies but other species too. Twilight's eyes glazed over the crowd. In the distance a black dragon along with an entourage of other mighty beasts were chasing a purple haired pony. Or she thought it was purple. She was so dirty it was hard to tell. Nopony was more mighty than the black dragon, with long claws and a big gold chain to match his ferocious look. It said 'woo woo', whatever that meant. He blew his fire over the purple haired pony until her mane was as black as tar. "That'll teach that equine not to mess with me!" He roared out.

That was the last straw for Twilight. She had to calm them down and fast. With a burst of magic everypony was frozen in place. "Stop! Look at yourselfs. Fighting and yelling. Would your family be proud of this? I would think not. Calm down. Everything's being sorted out as soon as it can." She released the poniees from her spell.

The pegasi and dragons returned to their homes. Twilight took a sigh of relief. But that relief was short lived. She called upon her royal guards to begin the process of clearing the snow so the earth ponies and unicorns weren't stranded in their homes.

☆☆☆☆☆

Pinkie Pie bounced through the snowy streets of Ponyville without a care in the world. Despite the fact the snow covered the first and almost all of the second floors in Ponyville. "Heya, Dashie!" She shouted cheerfully as she spotted her Rainbow fly past in a hurry.

"Hi Pinkie! Bye Pinkie!" She called out before realizing something. How in the world did Pinkie leave her house? And how was she not sinking into the snow? "Pinkie?"

Pinkie smiled oblivious, "Yeah, Pinkie Pie is my name! Baking sweets is my game!" She laughed. "Whatcha doin'?"

"But uh y-you can't leave. H-how did you leave? "

"Don't be silly. I left through the front door. Where is A J? I need some apples asap!" Pinkie looked left before checking right. Her voice fell into a serious whisper, "Don't ask why," she zipped off into the distance at a speed nopony knew was possible. As she jogged her memory she zoomed back even faster. "Silly me I forgot for you to tell me what you're doing. So~ whatcha doin'?"

"Looking for Twi!" Rainbow said as quick as she could. "Oh and AJ can't leave her house. Snow remember?"

"Aww~, I really needed those apples," Pinkie pouted. "Why're you looking for Twilight? I need answers now~! Gimme answers now~!" Pinkie whined.

Rainbow looked left into the distance. "Sorry. Gotta go!" Before Pinkie could say pie she was off.

"Wait~! Hey, how are you?" Pinkie stopped mid-whine to greet Soarin, who was flying at a leisurely pace.

"Tired."

☆☆☆☆☆

"Look, I don't have time for this. All you need to know is that I'm doing the best I can," Twilight said to Dash, who was exasperating her with endless questions.

"When will it be fixed? When can we see our friends? How do we know they're okay? Did you try clearing the snow?" A low growl from Twilight stopped Dash from asking any more questions.

"I said I'm working on it," Twilight pointed to a wooden box with a slit on top of it, obviously just for paper. "If you have a question or complaint leave it in the complaint box and please leave. I'll answer them later."

"But-"

"No buts. I'll answer them I promise."

"Okay," Dash filled out a small piece of paper, leaving it in the box before leaving. "Thanks for your help, Twi."

"Anytime, Dash."

Once she was gone Twilight rested her head on her desk. She was about to doze off when somepony opened her door, "Where did Dash go?" Soarin asked.

Twilight refrained from growling out of frustration. "She's on her way home."

"Thanks Twilight," he flew away.

Twilight had all the quiet she needed for the next few minutes, but there was one problem. She couldn't go to sleep.

They would all have to adjust to this. Good thing they all had friends to help them with it.

Author's Note

This is the first chapter!! :pinkiehappy: :derpytongue2: Stay tuned for more!! :raritywink:

Day 1: I'm Okay, Not Too Sure About Ponyville, Though

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 1: I'm Okay, Not Too Sure About Ponyville, Though
Sparkle Productions

A day had passed. Twilight Sparkle's royal guards sprinkled salt and tried to shovel as much as they could. Good news was that they shoveled a almost clean path from Apple Jack to Rarity. Bad news was that they hadn't shoveled much else.

Just above Ponyville was a cloud mansion, Rainbow Dash's place of residency. Today was exactly December 1st. After a day of careful consideration, Dash realized that participating in Pinkie's 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming Challenge wouldn't be that bad. After all the first activity was making Hearth's Warming cards. Since today she would write a few letters, it was basically the same as making cards. Right? And how hard was making cards anyway?

She stretched before hopping out of bed, and gliding downstairs. What awaited her was the scent of freshly made pancakes and coffee, along with hash-browns and hay bacon. "I see somepony was up early making breakfast," Dash said.

Soarin set up the table, "I couldn't really go to sleep. Somepony's snoring kept me up."

"I doubt it was that. I barely ever snore," she washed her hoofs before taking a seat in one of the two chairs. "Probably was from sleeping in a foreign place. No place is like home."

"Probably was," it wasn't but Soarin was in no mood to argue.

The breakfast was delicious. Rainbow ate her pancakes with confectionary sugar and strawberries. Soarin had his pancakes with syrup and chocolate chips. After the hearty breakfast they were ready to take on the day and it's challenges.

☆☆☆☆☆

Twilight had the letter station already set up. In Town Hall there were six tables with jars of quills and ink. Scrolls were set up on empty bookcases, courtsy of the furniture store. All that Twilight was waiting for were the citizens to arrive.

She wouldn't have to wait for long. Ponies lined up waiting for Twilight to open the doors. When she did a selected few eagerly wrote letters to family, explaining the situation. Even with how fast ponies were going in and coming out, the line was still ridicously long.

The delivery process was another story. It took the mail ponies forever to deliver the letters before coming back for more. Even with pegasi pitching in to help - making it a delivery team of 30 - it still took a long time to deliver the letters.

Soarin and Rainbow arrived at 12:33 PM and were appalled at the length of the line. After all the doors had opened at 12:15 PM.

They took their place at the end of the line and waited. "This line is so~ long~," Dash whined out, bored. A few ponies glanced at her from the unexpected noise, disrupting the quietness.

Soarin glanced at Dash as well, surprised at how impatient she was being. "You do realize that we've been in this line less than five minutes, right?"

"Only five minutes. It feels like it's been an hour all for one stupid letter!"

"I don't think informing your family not to visit is unimportant, Rainbow."

"Fine. It is important. I'm just so bored."

Soarin thought for a moment what they could do while waiting when an idea hit him. "How about I spy?"

Dash rolled her eyes, "That game's so stupid."

"If you don't want to be bored, you have an odd way of showing it," the line inched forward as three ponies exited while six more ponies entered. "Rejecting the only source of entertainment you have."

A forced smile appeared on her face, "Let's play. I spy with my little eye something that's white."

Soarin glanced around for a moment, "The snow?"

"Yeah, you got it!" Dash said with faux excitement.

"That was easy. I spy something that is purple."

Rainbow looked around, "Twilight letting more ponies in?" Soarin nodded. "I spy something that's black."

"That weird black dragon and his entourage?"

"Yeah, what a weirdo." Dash noticed a gold chain on his neck saying the oddest of things.

Soarin thought about what he would say, his eyes settling something a soft yellow"I spy something that's yellow."

"Fluttershy?" Soarin nodded a yes. "I spy something that's orange."

He checked out his surroundings, "That frog with the body of an orange?" She shook her head signifying no. "Applejack walking over here?"

"Yeah," Dash turned around to greet her friend. "Hey AJ! Wanna play I spy?"

"Well Ah'd reckon Ah have nothin' behtta ta do. Let's play!" Applejack pretended to look around even though she already knew what she was going to say. "Ah spy with mah lil' eye somethin' that's blue."

Rainbow took a quick glance over her surroundings, "The sky?"

Applejack refrained from laughing, "Tha sky looks more like a dusty gray color. Especially with all them clouds."

Soarin was next to guess," Dash? Me?"

"You've got it!"

"Which guess?"

"Ah'm not tellin'."

Dash rolled her eyes at Applejack's antics. "The joke's supposed to be that since we're both blue, there was no definet answer."

"Ding! Ding!" Applejack joked, "Rainbow takes the win! Haha!"

"Oh," Soarin said as he realized this.

"Joke's not funny to anypony but you."

☆☆☆☆☆

After an hour of playing I spy they were about to go in. "Ah had fun with y'all. We should do that more often," Apple Jack sat at an empty seat. "Sit nexta me."

Rainbow sat next to her and Soarin sat next to Dash. After writing her letter Dash reviewed it.

Dҽαɾ Mσɱ αɳԃ Dαԃ,

Sσ Ⴆαʂιƈαʅʅყ Pσɳყʋιʅʅҽ ʂυϝϝҽɾҽԃ α ԋσɾɾιႦʅҽ ʂɳσɯʂƚσɾɱ. Wҽ, ƚԋҽ ƈιƚιȥҽɳʂ, ƈαɳ’ƚ ʅҽαʋҽ αɳԃ ɳσ ρσɳყ ƈαɳ ҽɳƚҽɾ ҽιƚԋҽɾ. Bҽƈαυʂҽ σϝ ƚԋιʂ ρʅҽαʂҽ ԃσɳ’ƚ ƚɾყ ƚσ ƈσɱҽ ʋιʂιƚ. Mαყσɾ Mαɾҽ ʂυʂρҽƈƚʂ ιƚ’ʅʅ ʅαʂƚ υɳƚιʅ Hҽαɾƚԋ’ʂ Wαɾɱιɳɠ αɳԃ ɱαყႦҽ αϝƚҽɾ ƚԋαƚ. Tσԃαყ ιʂ ƚԋҽ σɳʅყ ԃαყ ɯҽ ƈαɳ ɯɾιƚҽ ʅҽƚƚҽɾʂ ʂσ ԃσɳ’ƚ Ⴆσƚԋҽɾ ɾҽʂρσɳԃιɳɠ. I’ɱ ʝυʂƚ ιɳϝσɾɱιɳɠ ყσυ ʂσ ყσυ ԃσɳ’ƚ ɠҽƚ αɾɾҽʂƚҽԃ. I'ɱ σƙαყ, ɳσƚ ƚσσ ʂυɾҽ αႦσυƚ Pσɳყʋιʅʅҽ, Tԋσυɠԋ.

Lσʋҽ ყσυ Mσɱ αɳԃ Dαԃ. Sҽҽ ყσυ ʂσσɳ.

Lσʋҽ,
RαιɳႦσɯ Dαʂԋ

☆☆☆☆☆

Applejack wished them farewell, before going to the farm. Soarin and Rainbow Dash flew throughout Town Square. Groups of ponies scattered about, some having already finished their letters. Others on their way to do just that. "What do we do now?" Soarin asked, bored.

"My challenge! My challenge!" Pinkie appeared from seemingly no where. "I have a Hearth's Warming Challenge, y'know!"

"Yeah, I guess we could do your challenge. Don't have nothing better to do," Dash said casually. "Besides, it might be fun."

"Let's get the list then," he said.

"Dontcha worry 'bout that!" Pinkie pulled the from her poofy cotton candy mane. "I always keep a spare!"

Dash hesitantly grabbed the list, "Thanks," her eyes glanced over the almost book. "First activity is to make Hearth's Warming cards. Easy enough."

☆☆☆☆☆

"What are you drawing?" Rainbow glanced at Soarin's card. It looked like a collection of scribbles.

"Us spending Hearth's Warming together," Soarin pointed his hoof at a particular area, "That's your friends." His hoof moved somewhere else, "That's the citezens of Ponyville." Soarin pointed to the center of the card, "And that's me and you."

Dash scribbled some more on her card, "That's cool. I'm drawing the cool Hearth's Warming party that happens every year at Town Square."

"Who's your card for?"

"It's a secret. Yours?"

"Mine's too."

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed!! Tomorrow the next chapter will be posted.

In case you couldn't read the Rainbow's letter:

Dash's Letter:
Dear Mom and Dad,

So basically Ponyville suffered a horrible snowstorm. We, the citizens, can’t leave and no pony can enter either. Because of this please don’t try to come visit. Mayor Mare suspects it’ll last until Hearth’s Warming and maybe after that. Today is the only day we can write letters so don’t bother responding you. I’m just informing you so you don’t get arrested. I’m okay, not too sure about Ponyville, though.

Love you Mom and Dad. See you soon.

Love,
Rainbow Dash

Day 4: Snowboarding Competition Is A Go, First Step Is To Learn How To Snowboard

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 4: Snowboarding Competition Is A Go, First Step Is To Learn How To Snowboard
Sparkle Productions

A lovely day at Ponyville as usual. Stands were set up at the market. Birds chirped and whistled through the air. Scootaloo climbed the steepest hill. It took forever but she thought it was worth it. Pinkie and a group of ponies all were there too, but for very different reasons. Pinkie's group was there for the challenge. Scootaloo was there to practice snowboarding.

She readied herself forward on her board murmuring to herself, "Snowboarding competition is a go, first step is to learn how to snowboard. You can do this, Scootaloo. Really nothing to it." Flashing a confident smile and sticking her left back hoof out, she gave a powerful kick. Only, it didn't do much but send her a centimeter through the steep snow. Propelling her wings, with a sturdier kick, she was off. Racing down the hill at breakneck speeds, Scootaloo found it hard to control her board.

Yelling a frightened "yelp" she couldn't stop. An incoming rock was coming speedily ahead. Hitting the rock, her board cracked, Scootaloo now going down the hill without a snowboard. Shutting her eyes as tight as she could and getting into fetal position, she slipped and swirled her way down. Scootaloo opened one eye slightly before shutting it even tighter as she saw she was about to crash into a branch. Scootaloo's tail getting tangled in a branch was the only thing that was preventing her from falling into the icy pond.

Suddenly a rainbow blur appeared out of nowhere, quickly descending down. That blur was no other than Rainbow Dash. The branch sunk lower and lower with each wing beat. Without warning it cracked, with Scootaloo on it. Dash grabbed her tail in the nick of time, as the branch made it to the pond and cracked the ice.

Rainbow flew to a nearby cloud with a relieved Scootaloo. She spat out the remaining purple hair in her mouth. "What were you thinking?! You could have died!"

Scootaloo gave a nervous smile, "You wanna hear the long story or short one?"

"Whichever explains why you were sliding down a hill in fetal position."

"That answer's easy. My snowboard cracked on a rock."

"Why were you snowboarding to begin with?"

Scootaloo took a big gasp of breath, "Diamond Tiara said the crusaders were invited to her father's ski resort for Hearth's Warming but I don't know how to ski. Then she said she was going to enter a snowboarding contest there and the prize is 10,000 bits. I so wanted to enter! She was going to teach me how to snowboard but I didn't want her help so I said I knew how to already. She did give me that snowboard though. I went here - the tallest hill in Ponyville which is kinda like a mountain - to practice. I hit a rock, my snowboard cracked, so I slid down uncontrollably. Then I ran into some branches, almost fell into a frozen pond, but you saved me! You're my hero, Dash!" Scootaloo said in one breath.

Rainbow was flabbergasted, "H-How did you do that?"

"Trick Pinkie Pie taught me."

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. What does is that you shouldn't have done that. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry for trying to snowboard without supervision."

"What? No! You misunderstood me. What I was implying was that you should've asked me to teach you. They don't call me great at snowboarding for nothin'.

"What? Nopony ever says that-"

"After all, snowboarding is my middle name."

"Didn't you say it was 'Awesome'-"

"Doesn't matter. I can help ya."

Scootaloo's questioning expression switched to a smile, "Yay! Let's snowboard!"

"Uh, squirt? You do realize you don't have a snowboard, right?"

Scootaloo's smile quickly became forced, "Oh. Yay, let's not snowboard?" She said with weak happiness.

"Hold on. We'll be able to snowboard in at least 30 minutes."

☆☆☆☆☆

After 45 tiring minutes the snowboards arrived. Rainbow and Scootaloo watched the other snowboarders go down the hill. Pinkie was a natural at this. Soarin was tired. He crash landed on the cloud."So," he huffed, "tired."

"Sorry to ruin your relaxing time but," Dash nudged her head at Scootaloo, "Scoots here needs a snowboard too. "Soarin took a large annoyed sigh. A huge frown appeared on his face before an overly happy smile took it's place. "You okay?"

He shook his head, "Yes! Never been better."

"If ya say so. See you in a few!"

"Yeah, 'see you in a few', too," Soarin muttered to himself sarcastically, angry.

"You say something?"

"Nothing!" He called out from a distance.

☆☆☆☆☆

The sun lowered it's place in the sky. Soarin flew back, exhausted. "Hey, you finally made it back after forever," Dash teased.

"Yeah," Soarin gasped for air. "I guess I did."

"Well, who's ready to snowboard!" Scootaloo yelled.

"Me!" The group yelled back, laughing at Scootaloo's eagerness.

Eventually - after many falls and fails - Scootaloo became good at snowboarding. She even won the competition.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiesmile:

Day 5: It's A Gift That Keeps On Giving

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 5: It's A Gift That Keeps On Giving
Sparkle Productions

Twilight woke up, the bright sun shining through her window. With a gleeful smile she went down the crystal stairs of her castle, ready to take on the day. "Spike! Have you finished the preparations Pinkie asked you to do?" Twilight yelled, her voice echoing through the castle.

Spike flew down the stairs quickly, checklist in hand. "Yes, I have. What's gotten into you? This is like the hundredth time you've asked this."

Twilight blushed lightly, "I know. Just making sure that the preparations are in order."

"Have you even eaten breakfast?"

"No, but this is important to my friend meaning that this is important to me," she got the basket using her aura. Preforming a spell, it transformed into a top hat. "Spike, can you get me the slips of paper?"

He gave a comical solute, "Of course. Spike is at your service." In a minute or less the bag of paper was downstairs.

"Thank you. I knew I could always count on my trusty number one assistant," Spike smiled. "Everypony's there, right?"

"Yeah."

"You sure? Don't want anypony feeling left out."

"Yes, I'm completely and positively sure. I checked, double checked, then triple checked just to be sure."

Twilight gave a confident smile, "Good." Using her magic she emptied out the bag of paper into the top hat. "We're early. Let's go eat breakfast."

"One problem, Twilight."

"What?"

"I already ate."

"Oh, I'll go eat breakfast then," Twilight's smile fell.

"I'll make you some, though."

"Okay."

☆☆☆☆☆

The whole of Ponyville showed up to Twilight's castle. She welcomed them in. "You were invited here today to be a Secret Santa, it's a gift that keeps on giving. With that being said, when given the gesture, please step forward to receive your pony." Grabbing the top hat in her magical aura, she beckoned the first pony closer. That pony was Berry Punch. Twilight pulled out a slip of paper, "Your pony is Ditzy."

Berry took the paper in her mouth, "Okay," she said before trotting off.

Over the next 30 minutes or so, three fourths of the line was gone. "Pinkie, your pony is Nurse Red Heart."

"Yay!" Pinkie bounced giddily throughout Ponyville, back to Sugar Cube Corner.

With a gesture Rainbow was brought closer. Twilight, eyes closed picked a slip of paper with her aura. Opening her eyes once more, she read the results, "Your pony is Rarity."

Dash stood dumbfounded, wondering what she would buy Rarity that could match her tastes in such little time. Especially when she could only get something from Ponyville and Rarity was the only dressmaker there. She would certainly suspect something if all of sudden she wanted a frilly dress. And Rarity would definitely know that the dress was for her because she knew this event was taking place. Stepping forward to take her paper after a moment of continuous thinking, her thoughts resumed.

Flying back was a quiet journey. When she finally made it back, she looked over her paper to make sure it was Rarity.

It definitely was.

Author's Note

That image was a nightmare to make. :raritydespair: Stay tuned to find out what happens next!! :raritywink:

Day 6: I Guess You Could Say I'm Dashing On The Ice

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 6: I Guess You Could Say I'm Dashing On The Ice
Sparkle Productions

Another amazing day in Ponyville. Pinkie Pie bounced throughout the kitchen of Sugar Cube Corner. One minute she was whisking away at double chocolate chip and apple cinnamon cookies, the next she was frosting vanilla cupcakes with lemon icing. All the while, she was tending to customers, who were there for a delightful breakfast.

Mrs. Cake came downstairs after checking on the twins, who were playing upstairs. "What would I do without you here?" She said out loud to Pinkie.

"I don't know, what would you do?"

Mr. Cake had gone to the store an hour ago for some ingredients needed for a cake. While he was gone and Mrs. Cake was tending to the twins, Pinkie was taking care of the bakery, making confectionery after confectionery while maintaining cleanliness around the shop and customers.

Mrs. Cake took her place at the front counter, "How about you go take a 45 minute break. You deserve it after all your hard work. I'll manage the shop. Be prepared to make some more deliveries when you come back."

"Okay, thank you Mrs. Cake!"

"You're welco-," she started but Pinkie was already gone. She gave an amused smile before setting a timer for exactly 45 minutes. She then began working on chocolate chip muffins. After those were in the oven she started on a cinnamon crumb cake and coconut and chocolate cupcakes.

☆☆☆☆☆

Pinkie bounced throughout the snowy streets of Ponyville a big smile plastered on her face. Today's activity was ice skating. Arriving at the pond, she saw her friends Rainbow Dash and Soarin were already there.

"I see you're here," Dash said smiling. She had her saddle bags on, in them what appeared to be skates. "Ready to skate?"

"You know it! I have 45 minutes until my break is over, and I plan on using every second!"

"Let's get this show on the road, then!" Dash wasted no time in getting her skates on, before gliding on the ice. Pinkie joined her soon after, then Soarin.

Soarin's legs shook, trying to keep his balance to no avail. "Get up you silly filly!" Pinkie joked before jumping up and twirling, landing on her hind legs.

Dash slid by gracefully, lifting her front right leg and left hind leg. "Surprise surprise, our favorite Wonderbolt - who's known for being a graceful - can't even keep his balance, unlike me," she teased and bragged.

"Shut up," he said in a joking way.

"What? You cant handle the truth? Didn't know you were so sensitive."

"Something's wrong with being sensitive all of a sudden?"

Pinkie glided between them, "Guy! Stop fighting!" She yelled, oblivious to the whole ordeal.

Dash rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

Pinkie - with grace - ice skated on her hind legs, "Hey! Hey! Look at me!"

"How're you doing that?" Dash demanded to know.

"I guess you could say I'm dashing on the ice!" Pinkie yelled in-between laughs.

"Never say that again."

"Okay!"

☆☆☆☆☆

Pinkie bounced home a minute early. "Hi, Mrs. Cake! How's the bakery been going since I've been gone?"

"Pretty well," Mrs. Cake cleaned the now empty tables. "Try to get back fro deliveries before the lunch rush comes."

"I will!" Pinkie trotted off again. Turning around and waving she yelled, "See you soon!"

"See you soon as well!"

Pinkie bounced throughout the streets somehow with a cart, continuously happy. Meanwhile all of her friends were around Ponyville were too, happy. After all, Hearth's Warming was soon so what was there not to be happy about? Absolutely nothing at all.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 7: Light It Up

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 7: Light It Up
Sparkle Productions

As Hearth's Warming was approaching at a rapid pace, more and more houses in Ponyville turned into grandiose displays. Mainly because there was a decorating competition coming soon. If ponies' houses weren't decorated yet, they soon would be because one of Pinkie's challenges was to decorate your house. Or in Rainbow Dash's case, cloud mansion.

Pinkie had gotten up early and already started decorating. Mainly because Sugar Cube Corner was closed in the morning for the time being and wouldn't be open until the afternoon. That was due to it being dangerous. Anything could happen such as an ornament hitting somepony in the head or the lights electrocuting somepony.

Rainbow had gotten up for that sole purpose too. After searching in the attic for the miniature ornament box, she finally found it. There was an assortment of red, blue, gold, yellow, green, white, and many more colors of the ornaments. She also found a collection of miniature trees, stars, and other displays outside displays.

The first step Dash started was to hang a giant green wreath on her door. A huge red bow along with some pine cones that encircled it. In the center of the wreath there in shiny gold cursive letters read, 'welcome'. She sprinkled some white sparkly confetti on it to mimic snow.

After that was done, Dash next put the 12 miniature trees near the rainbow waterfalls, on the sides of her door, and the rest where ever she could find the space to put them. Then, she added the ornaments. Once she had done that, she sprinkled some more sparkly white confetti to accomplish the effect of snow.

Soarin had come outside to do his part of the agreement. "I'm ready to add lights and the rest of the displays," he said, already grabbing the lights.

"Tell me when you're finished," Dash said. And with that she was ready to relax.

There were colorful lights, white and gold, blue and white, red and green, and gold, silver, and rose gold. Soarin decided on the colorful lights to decorate the house with. He then decided on gold, silver, and rose gold for the trees near the rainbow waterfalls. Next he chose blue and white lights for the trees near the door. For the rest, he decorated them with red and green lights. Next he randomly added the gold, silver, rose gold, or white stars for the trees.

Then he strung the colorful lights around the house. He also put red or green bows around the house as well. Decorative miniature stockings were also put on the house decorations, each with a plushy sewed in them. The last thing Soarin did was add a large gold light up sign that read, 'Happy Hearth's Warming' on the roof.

Darkness had approached quickly soon after finishing. Getting the power socket and attaching every single light up decoration he readied himself to press the button that would light up their a beautiful display. Dash saw this and came outside, "This looks great! It's going to look even better when you press the button. Light it up, Soarin!" He pressed the button, and the display lit up with brightly colored lights. She did an air flip from excitement, "This looks so awesome!"

Soarin admired their hard work, "Yeah, it does. We make a great team."

"Yeah. Yeah, we do, don't we?"

Author's Note

I bet that display looks amazing!! :raritystarry: Stay tuned for the next chapter!! :raritywink:

Day 8: The Best Gift You Can Give Yourself Is To Give To Others

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 8: The Best Gift You Can Give Yourself Is To Give To Others
Sparkle Productions

Pinkie Pie always liked to help out others when she could. That's where the inspiration for this activity came from, helping out at the the Ponyville orphanage. She put on her saddle bags and headed out early into the bright and sunny day. Pinkie began the long journey to the outskirts of town where the orphanage was located.

Ponyville wasn't a huge town, but traveling to the outskirts on hoof was long and tiring. Despite that, nothing could stop Pinkie when she was determined to do something; especially when it involved making others smile.

With a bright cheery smile, she bounced on her way.

☆☆☆☆☆

Rainbow and Soarin were ready to help, just wasn't ready for the long trip there. They had a some toast and yogurt, as well as drinking plenty of water. Rainbow wasn't quite sure what to bring since the list never specified what kind of helping she would be doing. After awhile she decided to bring some Wonderbolt fan merchandise - the new figurines Spitfire had wanted her to test out before putting them out on the market - hoping they were fans.

While it was still morning, they headed out into the warm sun with the occasional cool breeze.

☆☆☆☆☆

Arriving, Pinkie saw three little foals playing outside. The snow was still thick in the outskirts of town. They all wore dull colored hats and scarfs with tiny holes scattered about. She felt a sense of pity for them, took a deep breath, and confidently bounced towards them.

They all looked at her with adorable innocent eyes, curious. Pinkie let out a "squee" noise at how adorable they were, "Hiya, little foals! I came here to visit you with a special surprise! Guess what it is!"

A yellow filly with a peach and mint colored mane approached her, "Are you going to adopt us?" She asked in a squeaky voice, no older than five.

That broke Pinkie's heart into a million little pieces, "No," she said sadly, "but I have something better."

"Oh," was all the filly said, "I'll never get adopted."

"No! Don't say that! You will, just not by me."

"Yeah, I guess," the yellow filly sounded unsure. "I'm Minty Crumble."

"I'm Pinkie! I bet your special talent has to do with baking! Maybe you can bake at Sugar Cube Corner sometime with me!"

"I know. You were here last year, you gave us these hats and scarfs."

"I remember you too!"

"Pinkie, you were here last year?" Rainbow slowed down, then began to hover in place.

Pinkie smiled, "Yeah, of course! I come here every year to help out!" Pinkie pointed at her, "Meet my friend, Minty Crumble!"

"H-Hi," she said nervously, "y-you're Rainbow Dash, right?" Rainbow nodded, "Pinkie tells us so much about you and your friends. That's so cool how you saved the world!"

"Yeah, that's us. The Elements Of Harmony."

Soarin arrived out of breath, "You have to *pant* stop leaving me *pant* behind."

"Now that you're here, let me show you my surprise! Close your eyes and don't open them until I say open!" Pinkie yelled, and everypony followed the instructions. A minute passed and a cacophony was heard. "Open your eyes!" Everypony looked about. A bouncy house was present, along with a balloon animal stand, and some more hats and scarfs.

"Pinkie, I also brought something," Rainbow said, amazed that all of that could fit in Pinkie's saddle bags.

"Save it until I rally everypony outside!" A moment later, all the orphans - about 30 colts and fillies of all ages - were out of the orphanage. "Now what is it!"

Dash rummaged in her saddle bags for a few seconds. She pulled out a collection of at least 50 figurines. "Spitfire wanted me to test out these prototypes. What do ya think?"

"I love it!"

☆☆☆☆☆

"That was fun," Rainbow said, after helping out all day. The setting sun guided their path back home.

"Yeah, it was," Soarin replied, glad Rainbow was flying at a leisurely pace.

"Pinkie, what make you start helping the orphans at the orphanage?" Dash asked.

"Granny Pie always told me to help whenever I could. After all, the best gift you can give yourself is to give to others," Pinkie brushed off the praise, that wasn't what mattered to her. What did was to be able to put s smile on those sweet orphans' faces.

"That...really does make sense," Soarin agreed.

"You really are one of the nicest ponies I know," Dash added.

"Aww, you're making me blush!" She joked. Pinkie was right, when they helped out they felt good inside and made other ponies feel good too. And that was better than any praise.

Author's Note

Aww, this chapter was amazing to write!! :yay: And this lesson can be applied to anywhere, it always feels good to help; no matter how big or small the act of kindness is. It's made a difference in somepony's (or someone's) life. Take this lesson to heart where ever you go. :twilightsmile: Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 10: Smile, You're On Camera

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 10: Smile, You're On Camera
Sparkle Productions

A large crowd gathered in Twilight's castle. Today was holiday photo day. Pinkie was cheerful as usual.

The first pony was called, which was Ditzy. Then the next pony was called.

Rainbow and Soarin took their photo together. "Are you sure we have to share a scarf, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes! Smile, you're on camera!"

It was a happy day. Everypony's photo looked fantastic and the snow glistened in the sun. Nothing could ruin it. Nothing at all. Even Rainbow enjoyed sharing a scarf with Soarin. Pinkie enjoyed that part too.

Author's Note

Sorry it's so short. I was pushing for time. :twilightblush: Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 11: Giddy Up, Go Go Go

The 25 DaysOf Hearth's Warming
Day 11: Giddy Up, Go Go Go
Sparkle Productions

The wind whistled and the snow glistened in the dull cloudy sky. Rainbow flew around looking for a sleigh for today's activity. A good 15 minutes passed and she couldn't find anything.

Out of nowhere Pinkie appeared, "Whatcha doin'?" Rainbow opened her mouth to answer before Pinkie cut her off, "Let me guess! Let me guess! You're looking for the sleigh we're going to ride, right?"

"Yeah, how did you know," Dash asked.

"Just a hunch!" She shrugged it off. "Since I couldn't get a real sleigh due to the accident, I'm using a wagon! An Apple family wagon, and Big Mac's pulling it!"

"Sounds fun."

☆☆☆☆☆

Big Mac pulled up with a large wagon to the large crowd. Everypony wanted to join in the sleigh ride. Pinkie popped up, "This isn't gonna work, is it?" She asked.

"Nope."

☆☆☆☆☆

Big Mac got ready to go. Pinkie showed up with some reigns, "Giddy up! Go go go!" And so they were off into the snow.

☆☆☆☆☆

After several sleigh rides, Big Mac was finally done. Pinkie said on his back, "We did a great job, didn't we?"

"Eeyup."

Author's Note

Sleigh rides are pretty fun, right? Eeyup, of course they are!! :eeyup: Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 13: And Down We Go

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 13: And Down We Go
Sparkle Productions

The wind whistled violently up the hill. The sled had been strenuously dragged up there. Pinkie was cheerful the whole way through. "You ready?" Pinkie asked, excited.

"You know it!" Dash replied. The steep hill didn't phase her.

"I'm definitely ready. I've never been sledding before," Soarin said.

"Well you're in for a treat!" Pinkie and Rainbow said in unison, laughing afterwards.

"On the count of three!" Pinkie yelled. "One two three! And down we go!"

The sled went down fast. Pinkie and Dash screamed of excitement. While Soarin just screamed out of fear. "This is awesome!" Dash called out.

The sled stopped at the bottom of the hill. "Wee! That was fun we should do it again!" Pinkie called out.

"No!" Soarin quickly said out of fear.

"Somepony's being a scaredy cat. No wonder you were holding onto me so tight," Dash teased.

"I was not!"

"You were~!" Pinkie said in a sing-songy way.

"If you weren't then prove it!" Dash challenged.

"You're on!" Soarin said in a competitive spirit. The went on again and he screamed and seemed even more scared than before. Yep, he was definitely scared.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 14: It Burns, It Burns

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 14: It Burns, It Burns
Sparkle Productions

The stars glistened in the night behind the clouds. The large moon hung overhead, lighting up the sky. A large gathering of ponies hung around around the fire in Town Square. Today's activity was roasting marshmallows. Joyous laughter filled the air as ponies - young and old - talked in the night.

Pinkie threw a hooful of marshmallows in her mouth, swallowing all of them in one loud audible gulp. "Mmm, those're delicious!" She smiled and bounced around the fire, seemingly at all places at once. Pinkie kept constant chatter the whole way through.

Scootaloo came out of the bushes with sticks in her mouth. "Here're tha sticks ya asked me for, Pinkie," she said, mouth full.

Pinkie grabbed them and hoofed one around to each pony. A large container of marshmallows sat to the left of the fire. Each pony put three or four marshmallows on their stick.

Ponies squeezed through the crowds to roast their marshmallows. Pinkie roasted the sweet treats until they were black from burnt and were on fire. She stuffed the - on fire - marshmallows in her mouth. Everypony looked in Pinkie's direction, hoping she was okay; the roasting went silent. A good three seconds passed with no sound. A loud shriek from Pinkie emerged from the silence, "Aah! It burns! It burns! Get some water! Get some water!"

Rainbow watched at the back of the crowd, wondering what Pinkie was thinking. She quickly brought back a bottle of water. Hoofing it to her she asked, "Pinkie, are you alright?"

After that one sentence a large array of questions were yelled at Pinkie. "What were you thinking?", "Be careful, okay?", "Do you need a medic?" were only a few questions from the crowd. Pinkie watched, happy so many ponies cared about her. "Everypony, don't you worry. Your Auntie Pinkie is fine."

"You're not my aunt," Dash said, in remark to her statement.

"Says the pony who's always changing her middle name," Scootaloo teased.

"Whatever."

"You know what will make this marshmallow roasting even greater?" Pinkie asked. In response everypony asked, "what?". "Smores!" Pinkie pulled gram crackers and chocolate out of her mane. Ponies rushed to get their share of the marshmallows, gram crackers, and chocolate.

Ponies had already started munching on their smores. "Is anypony gonna question how safe it is to eat those out of Pinkie's mane?" Twilight asked.

"Don't worry you silly filly, Twilight. I change the sweets in my mane periodicly. That way, nothing's ever old," Pinkie smiled.

"That still doesn't explain how you're keeping sweets in your mane in the first place," Twilight said.

"Just continue enjoying the marshmallow roasting for the sake of this chapter."

"What chapter?"

"Oh, nothing, Twilight."

They continued having fun until the sunrise began and their stomachs hurt from one too many sweets. Except Pinkie, who was perfectly fine afterwards. But it really was fun. The group just couldn't wait to see what tommarow's activity had in store for them. Thankfully, they wouldn't have to wait long. Not long at all.

Author's Note

I've had smores for the holidays before. They were delicious!! Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 15: And They Lived Happily Ever After, Minus Getting Eaten In The End

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 15: And They Lived Happily Ever After, Minus Getting Eaten In The End
Sparkle Productions

Twilight welcomed in a group of fillies and colts. They sat down on the rug in front of the fire and waited. After five or so minutes, she came back. "That was the last foal. Ready for me to read you a story?"

"Yes!" The foals called out with glee.

Opening a red book with her magic aura Twilight began, "Once upon a time-"

The door to the castle opened revealing Pinkie, Rainbow, and Soarin. "We're here like you requested," Dash said walking next to Twilight.

"Great," was all Twilight said. Picking up where she left off she continued, "A little gingerbread family lived in Gingerbread Land. And there in Gingerbread Land-"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders barged in drenched in sweat. "Sorry *pant* we're late, Twilight. Scootaloo here wanted to try *pant* a new trick on her scooter and *pant* Apple Bloom here encouraged it. I, of course, went along with it. We ended up *pant* getting stuck in a rose bush that was *pant* hard to get out of. Then we rushed here as fast as we could," Sweetie Belle said in between breaths.

"'ey, don't blame this *pant* on us," Apple Bloom replied.

"It doesn't matter," Twilight forced a smile, "all that does is that you're here now. Let's continue our story." Opening the book with her magic she continued, "And there in Gingerbread Land was a gingerbread family. There was the mother, Frosting. The father, Peppermint. The sister, Gumdrop. And the brother, Ginger. In a world named Equestria was a young filly, Butterfly Blossom who loved gingerbread. She made and decorated a gingerbread house every-"

"Um, how long is this story? Not that I have anything to do but, *yawn* I'm tired and want to take a nap later on before it's too late," Dash interrupted.

"Are you sure your middle name isn't lazy?" Scootaloo teased.

"No it isn't."

"If you have a problem with the length of this story, you can kindly leave. I won't blame you. This is a foal's book after all," Twilight said annoyed.

"I think I'll stay here, thank you very much," Dash retorted.

"Okay then," Twilight picked her book back up, "every year. This year was no different. She iced the house and built each gingerbread with tender, love, and care. Very carefully she set up the house. When it was up to perfection, she smiled. That gingerbread house lasted all year round. And her Hearth's Warming was filled with happiness and smiles. The end," Twilight close the book. "Did you enjoy the story?"

"No. It's missing something," Dash said flatly.

"What?" Twilight said unamused.

"The ending is off."

"How about you make up your own ending," Twilight said through gritted teeth.

"Okay. And they lived happily ever after. Minus getting eaten in the end. There, perfect."

"Rainbow, you know this is a foal's story, right?"

"Of course. You like that ending, right foals?"

"Yeah!" They yelled laughing.

"Unbelievable. Just unbelievable," Twilight said under her breath, "I just can't believe the kind of day I've had today."

"What was that, Twilight?" Dash asked with a smirk.

"Nothing. Who wants to here another story? Dash would you please read our next story?"

"Yes!" The foals yelled with cheer.

"You know I will," Dash said. "You know I will," she repeated under her breath. The rest of the day was filled with stories. But mainly Dash read stories with her own commentary added throughout the story. Foals smiled with glee and begged their parents to let them stay longer. It truly was an amazing day.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for more!! :twilightsmile:

Day 17: In Three, Two, One

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 17: In Three, Two, One
Sparkle Productions

The houses - plus Rainbow's cloud mansion - all looked beautiful. But there was one thing missing. Decorating Town Square. Pinkie was up bright and early buying decoration supplies. Lights, banners, and ornaments galore.

"Everypony ready to get decorating?" The large crowd that had accumulated there cheered "yes". "Let's get started then!"

☆☆☆☆☆

Town Square was covered with bright lights. Decorations hung from stalls to Town Hall. Stockings graced Town Hall each customized with a citizen's name on it. Mayor Mare smiled, rejoicing with glee, "It looks magnificent! Fine job everypony!"

"You ready to light it?" Pinkie yelled. Yeah, the crowd cheered. "In three. Two. One. Lights!" With the tap of her hoof the lights lit up the whole of Ponyville.

"It looks amazing, doesn't it?" Dash asked.

Yeah, it does," Soarin replied.

The citezens all were happy as the stars twinkled in the beautiful night sky. Ponies laughed and talked for seemingly all night, not a worry in the world. All the worries disappeared and were replaced with happiness, seemingly never-ending happiness. Pinkie was confident all of Equestria could see this and how wonderous it really was. And in a way, just decorating had brought the town just a little bit closer. Or maybe it was the nearing Hearth's Warming, who knows?

Author's Note

Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 18: Ornaments And Lights, But Mostly Lights

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 18: Ornaments And Lights, But Mostly Lights
Sparkle Productions

The sun wasn't shining through the clouds as usual. In fact, it was gloomier than ever. Light hail rained down on the snow that surrounded Ponyville. A perfect day to sleep in. Or not if you could be decorating the tree. The artificial tree.

The tree had been shoved in the closet since getting it and hadn't been released from it's confinement. That is, until today. Rainbow and Soarin were going to decorate it. After all, it was a requirement of Pinkie's challenge and they were going to complete it.

"You ready," Rainbow asked to Soarin who was thinking about how they should decorate tree.

A cyan hoof waving in front of his face snapped him back to reality. "Oh, yeah! Yeah, of course I am!" He said hoping she wouldn't notice his lack of attention.

"You weren't paying attention, were you?" Dash asked knowing full well he wasn't, "I'm not dumb y'know? And I wasn't born yesterday. Know that and remember that," she said in a knowing kind of way.

"Nope, no, and of course I will," Soarin answered each question and one sentence.

☆☆☆☆☆

The tree was beautiful. It had rainbow ornaments with white lights.. In the center was a picture of Dash and her friends. Each had a smile, glad to be to together on that sunny day, on a picnic. They always looked like that together.

Soarin snapped a photo of the tree before heading out with Rainbow. Pinkie had requested they meet at Sugar Cube Corner to show each other their trees.

☆☆☆☆☆

"That's so pretty!" Pinkie yelled. "What's yours mostly made of? Mine's mostly candy!"

"Ornaments and lights, but mostly lights," Dash replied. She had so much fun deecorating with Soarin. And only more good times were destined to come after this.

Author's Note

Another nightmare image to make. :raritydespair: By the way the vector images don't belong to me. All credit goes to the original creators and owners. Stay tuned for more!! :raritywink:

Day 19: What To Buy, What To Buy

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 19: What To Buy, What To Buy
Sparkle Productions

Rainbow and Soarin went into a small shop, Trendy's On-Trend Shop: Find Something For Any Occasion. There were clothes, trinkets, toys, and even candles. Dash looked around for gifts for her friends, a bright blue pony trotted up to her; she had her green and purple mane in a crazy spiky style. She wore a black and white checked scarf. "Hi, I'm Trendy. Trendy Apparel. Welcome to my shop! Need help?"

"Nah, I'm just looking around. What to buy, what to buy," Dash casually said, before murmuring to herself, not paying much attention to Trendy, that is, until she felt her watching her. "Do you mind?”

Trendy stared back with her green eyes, "You sure you don't need help? What about with picking out a present for your hot coltfriend?" She bounced her eyebrows suggestively.

Dash quickly turned red, "What?! No! No! You have it all wrong! And he's not hot, he's just my friend! He'll never be my coltfriend! I'm too cool for that anyway!"

"That doesn't mean you don't wish he was," she laughed, "shoulda seen your face! You are so more than friends. Let your good friend Trendy hook you up with a present that expresses how you truly feel inside." With a hoof, she beckoned Dash's face closer to hers, "By the way, you're friends with Celestia, right?" Dash shook her head, "Then you should thank her that your 'friend' is so hot. Don't deny it."

"N-No. He is not, and I repeat, is not hot. Just help me pick out a present."

"Yeah, whatever you say."

☆☆☆☆☆

Soarin and Rainbow came out of Trendy's shop with at least 15 bags counted together. "I think I found something you'd totally want," Dash said.

"Oh, really? I think I found something you'd like too," Soarin grinned. This was the first time Dash had noticed that Soarin actually was pretty attractive. She blushed at the thought before shaking her head violently to try to clear her head of it."Are you okay Rainbow?"

"Yeah, of course I am," Dash lied. He gave her a kind charming smile and she found fuzzy feelings that were hard to identify. What was the new feeling? "Of course I am," she said to herself quietly. The walk home felt awkward; she walked home with her head hung low, not wanting those thoughts to resurface themselves. Her face stayed a bright red as what Trendy said kept on repeating itself in her mind. "That doesn't mean you don't wish he was," did she really wish that? Did she, did she really? And if she did, how could she confess those feelings? After all, her tough ponysona always said she didn't need a coltfriend. But was what her ponysona always said really what she felt?

Soarin glanced at his friend. She looked cute with the fiery blush on her cheeks, not that he would ever admit that to her; that is, unless he wanted to get beaten up. But, he did admit that he had a small crush on her since the gala. But he knew since the beginning of it that he never stood a chance, however, that was okay because that didn't mean he couldn't like her from afar. After all, that was better than nothing. Especially since she wouldn't reciprocate his feelings even a little bit. Not ever. The awesome Rainbow Dash didn't and never would fall in love.

Author's Note

Edits Done By Qibli2

Thank you for editing this chapter!! :pinkiehappy:

I tried to follow the advice of my editor, Qibli2. So, did I fix the errors with choppy sentences? Also, I'm in love with Trendy's personality. I imagined her as bit of a free spirit. And extremely lovey-dovey. Stay tuned for more!! :raritywink:

Day 20: See The Lights, See Them See Them

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 20: See The Light, See Them See Them
Sparkle Productions

Night was quickly approaching. The festival had took up the entire day and was very tiresome; the entire festival consisted of assigning roles for party preparations, mainly Twilight. Rainbow had fallen asleep halfway through her lecture, which Twilight got upset about and scolded her. Now Mayor Mare had called them all to gather around the stage, something about a ceremony. Ponies walked on and off the stage, preparing for what Mayor Mare had planned. They checked the microphone, cleaned the stage, and got the podium and speech ready.

After those boring long minutes of waiting, through the wait it was definitely night, Mayor Mare announced her presence by clearing her throat, "Hello everypony. I have gathered you here today for a very important reason. But before that, I must thank you all for being so kind as to have volunteered to help with party preparations. I'm lucky to be serving such a kind and helpful town. Now that I've gotten that out my way, the news is that our situation has cleared." The crowd began to ask questions about what she was talking about. "Now, now, calm down everypony," the crowd silenced, "the snow has cleared enough for us to let down the force field. Everypony may leave now that the situation has resolved."

Dash turned to face Soarin, an apparent sadness on her face. “I guess after tonight you'll be gone."

Soarin returned the look of sadness, "Y-you wanted me to stay?"

"Of course! Your spirit always brightened my day, and let's not forget the upcoming party. I want you to be here, for me and the challenge," Dash realized what she was saying, a bright blush appeared on her cheeks. Why was she saying these things? Why, why, why? Did she really care about him like that? "Mostly for the challenge!"

Soarin blushed as she said this, it increased by a tremendous amount after each sentence," Oh, well if it means that much to you," a mean glare came from a blushing Dash, "I mean, the challenge, then I'll stay." Does she really like me back? He wondered to himself.

Pinkie pulled down the lever, lighting the entire town with rainbow lights; fireworks quickly surfacing afterwards. "See the lights! See them! See them!"

Rainbow still wondered if she liked him. Maybe in the back of her mind she truly did, who knows?

Author's Note

Edits Done By Qibli2

Thank you for editing this chapter!! :pinkiehappy:

Stay tuned for more!! :twilightsmile:

Day 23: It Looks Perfect

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 23: It Looks Perfect
Sparkle Productions

Twilight levitated streamers and banners. Rarity made the decor, streamers, and an ice sculpture which said "Happy Hearth's Warming". Pinkie made the banners and inflated the balloons, while Rainbow trained to preform her legendary Sonic Rainboom. Fluttershy had finally worked up the courage to sing in front of the crowd, her animal friends providing the instrumental; she now was doing vocal warm-ups. Applejack began preparing samples of pie to glazed apples galore; all of which would be tested by the Main Six before she even thought about serving those to the guests.

Soarin stood by idly, bored out of his mind. He watched as each of Rainbow's friends preformed their roles and felt nothing less of useless. He watched from afar how all her friends seemed so close, so happy. It reminded him of his friendships with Spitfire, Fire and Lightning Streak, and Fleetfoot; he missed them. Sure, being there with Dash was nice, but she had her own set of friends; he didn't belong there. He belonged with those who could understand him; the ones who understood that even though they were doing what they loved, they now would forever be confined to those who were of the same social standing. After all, those who weren't often wanted popularity, to date them, bits, or all three of those things.

He found the urge to just leave, he could now and all he was doing by staying there was being a nuisance. Soarin readied himself for take off. He skimmed his hooves against the pavement, building acceleration until he was off into the crisp early air. He remembered why he began flying in the first place; the feeling of freedom, being alone with the wind. Rainbow noticed and zoomed off after him.

"Wait! Where're you going!" The wind blocked the majority of her voice, only bits and pieces were heard but that was enough for Soarin to understand what was said. Enough to make him speed off faster. A purple trail was soon next to him, Twilight.

She panted for air but was persistent, "What happened?! Was it something we did?!" Twilight's voice cracked from yelling as loud as she could, if not louder. "Please stop! We can talk this out!" Twilight screamed even louder as they neared the Everfree Forest; she knew it wasn't safe for Soarin to go into the wild and unforgiving forest.

"I can't! I have too leave, I don't belong here!" Soarin stayed vague, not wanting to explain his reasoning. He zoomed off leaving a large gap in distance, Twilight and Rainbow flapped their wings as fast as they could, desperately trying to catch up. Sweat drenched their coats but they didn't quit, they wouldn't quit until they got a straight answer.

"You do! We love you staying here! I'm not sure what's gotten into you!" Dash had tears down her cheeks from the sheer effort and speed they were flying at, it was absolutely exhausting, Twilight looked the same.

A cloud of thick bushes blocked their view; Soarin knew that diving into there would be the only way to escape. After swallowing all of his doubt, he took the chance dodging branches and thorns on his way down. He crashed landed into the thick itchy grass, he couldn't care less of his bottom itching as he began running on hoof, trying to find a good hiding spot into the distance. He arrived to a cave that was covered inn leaves, hiding him perfectly/

Five minutes passed, the only sound present was the sound of Soarin's heavy breathing and his heart pounding. He almost fell asleep waiting for the perfect opportunity to escape, he didn't want to escape prematurely and they happen to still be there waiting for him. Now that he was alone he thought about why he had run off into hiding in the first place. Soarin felt so out of place. He wasn't sure why he had felt this way all of a sudden when he hadn't at any other occasion. His head began to hurt from all of the thinking he was doing, coming to the conclusion that it was jealousy, there was no other way to explain it. He didn't want to believe it but he didn't have any other explanation. Whenever he was out her friends always asked him if he liked Dash, he always said no. Deep down in his heart maybe he did have a little infatuation with her. He did admit that he had a crush, but liking somepony and a crush were two completely different things. But maybe they weren't all that different. She was always nice to him, it was almost impossible for somepony not to like her;

A rustle startled Soarin, it could've been some barbarous animal, who knows what? A rainbow haired mare with a cyan coat appeared, no other than the one and only Rainbow Dash. A red blush graced her cheeks as she deliberately avoided eye contact. "H-Hey, Soarin. I don't want you to go. Please don't. I have a confession to make," she looked into his eyes for just a moment before turning away again.

"What is it?" He watched as she slowly approached as if with caution. Finally arriving in front of him, she gave a nervous smile. He wondered what she was going to say. Maybe it was that she thought he was guest so she didn't want him to do any work.

She inched closer, taking a deep breath. Then she pushed him to the back of the cave wall, putting her front hooves on opposite sides of him roughly, demonstrating just how much authority she had over this situation. Then a dam broke as tears cascaded out of her eyes. "You worried me! I thought you were gonna leave me!" She took shaky breaths before continuing, "M-My confession is-," she turned her head away as if a deep emotional battle was happening inside her. A battle she couldn't win limiting what she could say. "Buck! I can't say it! I practiced s much too! What a waste of time!" A sad frown contradicted her angry speech, angry she couldn't express this with no problem just like everything else. "I'll let actions do the talking. They speak louder than words after all. Close your eyes, " he complied as Dash took deep breaths repeatedly. All Soarin could feel was something soft against his lips. He opened them to find a blushing Dash kissing him. He began blushing as well. She removed herself from him for air, "S-Sorry for violating your space," she let him free.

"I-It's okay," this time taking initiative, he kissed her back. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she smiled, her feelings returned. "Let's head back."

"One thing," Dash turned around, " Will you be my marefriend?"

"Yes! I mean, yeah sure."

☆☆☆☆☆

"What do you think of the decorations?" Rarity smiled, looking at the colorful decoration, "We spent all day on them."

"It looks perfect," Twilight smiled, happy with the outcome. She wasn't the only pony happy with today's outcome. Applejack had chosen the perfect menu. Fluttershy sounded beautiful. Pinkie had prepared a perfect party. Rainbow and Soarin had obtained a new colt and marefriend. And Twilight had strategically placed everything in the perfect place. Rarity had made magnificent decor. In the end everypony was happy with a happy ending for all.

Author's Note

This chapter was so cute!! :raritystarry: The party is a coming along with a newly blossomed relationship. Stay tuned for more!! :raritywink:

Day 24: It's Party Time

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 24: It's Party Time
Sparkle Productions

A crowd of ponies young and old gathered in Time Square. They all smiled for this was a party. Happiness was contagious. Pinkie bounced around hyping everypony up. When it was officially night the lights lit up. "It's party time!" Pinkie screamed over the loud music.

Rarity levitated a mistletoe in the doorway of Twilight's castle. The dancing went on for an eternity. It was finally time to begin the Secret Santa event. "Ponies gather around and get your presents," Twilight yelled over the blaring music.

Rainbow gave Rarity her gift. Rarity opened it revealing a flower crown, made with artificial flowers. "Thank you, I love it!" Rarity squealed before hugging Dash.

Soarin gave Amethyst his gift. It was a turquoise ribbon with artificial diamonds glued to it. "I'll wear this everyday!" She put it on her ear before hugging Soarin.

Twilight gave Rainbow her gift, a half of a heart rosy magenta necklace with "MF" in cursive. "Thank you, why is it a half of heart?"

"You'll find out if you go to Soarin."

Soarin had received something similar only green with "CF" in cursive on it. He had gotten it from Applejack. "You got something similar," Rainbow glanced at her half of the necklace.

"It's made of clay and hoofmade. Me and Twi knew you would be datin' soon enough, chemistry was too strong not ta. Got a magnet on it so put it together for the whole heart," Applejack sensed what they both were thinking.

Fluttershy sung the whole night, Rainbow and Soarin having fun on the dance floor. After the party ended the Main Six - plus Soarin - went inside for some hot cocoa. "You're under the mistletoe so now you gotta kiss!" Pinkie joked around. They kissed for a couple of seconds. "Dashie and Soarin sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage!"

"Shut up!" Dash said with faux anger, it taking everything to not burst out laughing. When the others laughed she couldn't hold back anymore. The party had brought everypony just a little closer and that was the happiest and best present pf all.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for the final chapter!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 25: Happy Hearth's Warming

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 25: Happy Hearth's Warming
Sparkle Productions

The Main Six - plus Soarin - had fallen asleep at Twilight's castle. It had been a fun night, in fact it had been a fun 25 days. Nopony wanted it to end but all of them very well knew all good things eventually came to an end.

Pinkie was the first one to get up, "Happy Hearth's Warming!" She woke everypony up. Rainbow and Soarin - who were cuddled together - were the first to rise. Then Twilight before everypony else rose as well. They all smiled in happiness.

What a happy Hearth's Warming it was indeed. And only more happy times were destined to come in the not so distant future.

The end.

Author's Note

Special thanks to Qibli2 who edited my story. Thank you again. :twilightsmile:

To everypony who stuck around, thank you for viewing my story and I hope you enjoyed!! :twilightsmile: :raritywink: :pinkiehappy:

Day 2: Snowball Fight Has Been Declared, This Isn't A Game It's War

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 2: A Snowball Fight Has Been Declared, This Isn't A Game It's War
Sparkle Productions

Thick ice still remained in Ponyville's streets along with the remains of snow. Today was a gloomy afternoon, the perfect day to sleep in. When Rainbow Dash had eventually decided to wake up, deeming it too late to continue her slumbers, she slowly ate an omelet.

Soarin hadn't been there when she woke up, so Dash had assumed he went out for a while. After eating for at least a half hour he came through the door. "Where've you been this whole morning, er, afternoon?" Dash questioned.

Soarin pulled something out of a bag, "Getting these," what he pulled out were hats, scarfs, and socks. "Perfect for today's activity. Snowball fights!"

"What are we waiting for, let's go!"

"I haven't ate and you haven't finished your omelet."

"Oh," Dash rubbed the back of her head in shame. "Totally forgot about that."

"I can tell."

☆☆☆☆☆

Pinkie Pie bounced through the snow on her way to the park. A hooful of other ponies were going the same way, preparing for a snowball fight. "Everypony this is gonna be splenderious fantastic amazingly amazing fun! Ooh I'm so excited!" Pinkie's voice bounced through the crowd along with the sound of her hoofs when they hit the snow,. Which sounded a springy sound, adding a whole new meaning to the phrase 'spring in her step' only it wasn't a step but instead a bounce.

Rainbow glanced at Pinkie, "When aren't you?"

Pinkie stopped dead in her tracks, "Well~, there was that time when Tirek came. I was pretty scared. Then there was Discord, he made me think ponies were laughing at me which-"

"You know what," Dash interupted, "forget I ever asked."

"Okie dokie lokie!" They continued on their way until they reached the park. "Okay, they'll be two teams! Red team and green team!" Pinkie pulled a list from out of nowhere. "I'm captain of Red Team, Bon Bon you're captain of Green Team! Captains pick the members of your team!"

Bon Bon stepped to the front of the crowd, "Lyra you're on my team," she wore a confident smile.

"Dashie, you're coming with me! You're wearing red too! Supporting the team you didn't know you were apart of! Goodie!"

After 15 minutes Bon Bon had called her team which consisted of Lyra, Amethyst, Soarin, and Doctor Whooves.

Pinkie looked at the once full crowd. She looked deep in thought with the very obvious answer, "Derpy you're with me! That's everpony! Let's play!" Pinkie's team consisted of Dash, Berry Punch, Caramel, and Ditzy.

Pinkie hid behind the Red Team's fort, which in actuality was a bench with snow on it. Across was the Green Team's fort, the same situation as the other fort. Bon Bon had her group huddle together. "A snowball fight has been declared. This isn't a game it's war! The most important aspect of this is stealth and mystery. Don't let them in on your plans. Don't take your eyes off them. Don't throw rapidly, they're expecting that. Throw very few times. When they run out of snowballs, attack. Never let your guard down." Bon Bon looked at Pinkie who was dancing to nonexistent music. "Especially on her. We don't know what she's capable of."

On the other side Pinkie was explaining her plan. Well, dancing out her plan. Red Team - besides Pinkie - was confused. "All in all don't slip," she smiled. Most of their mouths opened in shock before closing it when no words would come out. They were truly speechless. "What~? Snow is slippery. Sheesh! Tough crowd."

Dash stepped forward, "Our should be to make as many snowballs as possible before firing rapidly. With precise aim of course."

"Okay. That's our plan! Along with don't slip."

"Understand!" Bon Bon yelled in full commander mode.

"Yes sir, er, ma'am!"

"Good!"

"You ready!" Pinkie yelled.

"Yes!" the crowd responded.

"On your marks...," ponies readied themselves, "get set...go!" It was crazy. In the end Bon Bon's strategy worked. Red Team was drenched in melted snow. But it was fun and that's all that matters.

☆☆☆☆☆

"We totally won no matter what the delusional Green Team says. They cheated! So unfair," Dash flew home, Soarin tailing behind.

"I'm pretty sure we won. Deal with it," he said, tired.

"Only if you can catch me!" She sped off as quick as she could.

"You're on!"

Rainbow Dash did eventually deal with it.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 3: Hot Cocoa's Only Good If It's Warm

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 3: Hot Cocoa's Only Good If It's Warm
Sparkle Productions

It was cold. Colder than usual in fact. Not only was there a chill in the air, but Soarin and Rainbow Dash were especially cold after the snowball fight. Cold balls of snow were fired rapidly - from Red Team mostly - that eventually melted on them. Then they flew home, the cold air hitting them in the face making them colder.

Today was definitely a good day for hot cocoa. Rainbow had checked the christmas challenge checklist and luckily it was in fact time for cocoa.

Soarin had slept in usually late but when he had gotten up, it wasn't any warmer. "Today's a good day for it. Want some coffee?" Soarin asked, half sleep. Dash usually did.

"Actually, I want some cocoa," he gave a puzzled stare. "Y'know, hot cocoa."

"I know what it is. It's just unusual."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dash said defensively.

"Nothing. You just normally want coffee is all."

"Oh," was all she said. An awkward silence followed. The only sound that was heard was of the Dash preparing the cocoa. She sat down at the coffee table, the clanking of the mugs on wood a cacophony in the silence.

Soarin gulped the hot liquid. "Pinkie's challenge?"

"Yeah," she lightly blew the chocolate. "While I wait for the cocoa to cool, Imma go exercise. Feel free to join me."

Rainbow began her journey upstairs. "Wait."

She turned back giving a puzzled stare, "Huh? Something wrong?"

"You don't like your hot cocoa hot?"

"No, why?"

"Hot cocoa's only good if it's warm. It's in the name, hot cocoa."

"Too hot for me," she watched him drink the burning chocolate straight down like it was some water. Cringing a little she headed for the stairs.

The exercise room was medium sized at most. Spending a good 30 minutes on the treadmill, lifting weights, and doing wing-ups, Rainbow figured that the chocolate should be cool by now.

Back downstairs, Soarin had prepared some waffle ice cream sandwiches. Each one was covered in had chocolate chips and chocolate syrup. The hot cocoa was definitely cool. "Sorry, if I seemed to be angry with you. It's not much, but here's some breakfast."

"It's okay," Rainbow gave him a hug, "I forgive you." A light, barely visible blush appeared on their cheeks.

"Well, let's dig in then!"

The breakfast was truly delicious. It was a great day.

Author's Note

Sorry it's so short. :fluttershysad: Stay tuned for more!! :raritywink:

Day 9: Fa La La La La La La La Ah

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 9: Fa La La La La La La La Ah
Sparkle Productions

The sun was setting in Ponyville. A group of ponies gathered in Town Square ready to sing some carols. Lyra carried a small square radio in her magic. "Let's get going!" Pinkie yelled enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" The group responded. And they were off.

☆☆☆☆☆

Pinkie knocked on the door three times. Out came Pokey Pierce, who looked exhausted. "You mind if we sing a carol for you?" Pinkie asked.

"No," he stepped outside, "go ahead."

Lyra turned on the radio, beginning the light piano melody. Pinkie sung the first notes, "Ohh~ ohh~, yeah~." When the other instruments came in, the group all started singing.

When I'm outside I see snow
Feel the cold wind blow
Only~ during this season

☆☆☆☆☆

Rose Thorn was delighted to see the carolers.

Ponyville is so amazing
The spirit hangs in the air
Can ya feel it

☆☆☆☆☆

Color Crafts was happy to see the carolers.

The Hearth's Warming spirt's here
(Fa la la)
Green and red
Everywhere
Little foals are in their beds
(Fa la la)
Waiting for Santa
Festive ribbons in your hair
At the end of the day nothing compares
When your family is there
(This Hearth's Warming~)

(Oh oh oh oh-woah~)
This Hearth's Warming

☆☆☆☆☆

Twirly Baton felt nothing but glee.

Decorate the tree
Hanging up the wreath
Can't you see~
Your family is all you need

Ponyville is so amazing
The spirit hangs in the air
Can ya feel it

(Oh oh oh oh-woah~)
This Hearth's Warming

☆☆☆☆☆

Yellow Butterfly danced along to the song.

I don't want to be anywhere but here
(Fa la la)
Nopony ever sneers
(Fa la la)
I feel the Hearth's Warming cheer
And nothing's ever gonna change that~~
(Fa la la la la la la la la)

(Oh oh oh oh-woah~)
This Hearth's Warming

(Fa la la la la la la la ah!)
This Hearth's Warming~

Discord had appeared, "What was the point of screaming, I'm not that scary y'know."

"You surprised me," Bon Bon said shy, a little scared to be around him.

Discord mocked being offended, "I can tell when I'm unwanted."

☆☆☆☆☆

Rainbow collasped on her couch, "That was fun but tiring," she found herself already half sleep.

"I agree," Soarin was almost sleep on the other couch. Caroling definitely was a great new - also exhausting - experience. Rainbow and Soarin would for sure try it again sometime.

Author's Note

What do you think of the song? :applejackunsure: Stay tuned for more!! :twilightsmile:

Day 12: Bring It To The Right, Not That Right, My Right

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 12: Bring It To The Right, Not That Right, My Right
Sparkle Productions

"Listen up everypony! Due to unforseen circumstances, we won't be able to pick out live trees, " Pinkie explained to those in Town Square. A collective, "aww," from disappointment was heard. Pinkie continued, "But, we can buy artificial trees." An even louder, "aww," was heard. "We have to make due with what we have."

Ponies began yelling complaints at Pinkie. "Everypony, it's not Pinkie's fault. And I bet our trees will look awesome. Mine will be awesomer, of course," Rainbow said.

"That's not a word!" Twilight yelled.

"Anyway, what I'm saying is that we should have a competition for the best tree."

"There you go making a fun activity a competition!"

"Twilight, what's gotten under your coat?" Pinkie asked.

"Spike dropped a family heirloom. It was an ornament that was passed down for 43 generations. And just like that, it's broken! Gone! Never to be seen in one piece again!" Twilight's voice was angry with a hint of sadness.

"Have you tried gluing it together?"

"No, that would never work."

"Give me the ornament," Pinkie demanded. Twilight transported the broken shards in front of Pinkie. In a blur, the ornament was fixed in less than a minute. "There ya go!"

"Thank you!" Twilight was so grateful to have been able to get the ornament fixed.

☆☆☆☆☆

"Bring it to the right!" Dash commanded. Soarin brought the faux tree to the right. "Not that right, my right!" He moved it to the opposite side of the living room. "No, not there! Let me place it." She moved the tree an inch over. "There. Perfect."

"Oh. Wait, what did you change?"

Author's Note

Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 16: The Last Finishing Touch, There, Perfect

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 16: The Last Finishing Touch, There, Perfect
Sparkle Productions

Rainbow leaned over her present; examining it closely. It definitely wasn't the best gift in the world. Granted, she wouldn't really want this as a present. Sure, this would never be something she would ask for. It was messy from being made with her hoofs. But it was the best she could do. Grabbing her working utensil, she added a finished up. "The last finishing touch," Dash heaved a long deep sigh. "There perfect."

Soarin watched from afar. He was impressed at what she had created and was confident Rarity would like it. Especially if she knew the time and effort it had taken Dash to create it. He had already finished his present for Amethyst early in the day. It was now nearing night. The sun was beginning to set as the moon began to rise. He gave a soft smile.

Dash sure was something else. It was sure to be an amazing Hearth's Warming. That was a guarantee.

Author's Note

This chapter was purposely vague. Stay tuned for more and to find out their gifts!! :twilightsmile:

Day 21: This One's Cool, Really Cool, This Will Be The Perfect Choice

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 21: This One's Cool, Really Cool, This Will Be The Perfect Choice
Sparkle Productions

The sun rose brightly in the morning as usual; today was the day to wrap presents. Rainbow had kicked Soarin out temporarily so she could wrap the presents she bought. She took the materials out of the bag; wrapping paper, ribbons, name tags, some tape, gift bags, scissors along with a pair of scissors that weren't packaged to open the packaged ones, tissue paper, and some new pens.

Dash brought a blanket to the floor to begin wrapping the gifts. Beginning, she cut the wrapping paper and put the gift in it, then she taped it finishing the present with a name tag and a ribbon. She checked the bag for her special wrapping paper - it was Wonderbolt and Hearth's Warming themed - deciding to wrap her next present in that. "This one's cool, really cool," she said to herself, absolutely in love with the wrapping paper. "This will be the perfect choice," was all she said before wrapping the present.

Rainbow spent the majority of her day wrapping presents; meanwhile Soarin wrapped his presents in a spare room in Twilight's castle. Dash finished it off by putting all of the presents underneath the tree. Hearth's Warming anticipation rose; it would be coming soon, but not soon enough. Everypony was already wondering what their presents were, but who really knows, besides the gift buyers of course.

Author's Note

Edits Done By Qibli2

Thank you for editing this chapter!! :pinkiehappy:

Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy:

Day 22: It Needs More Chocolate Chips

The 25 Days Of Hearth's Warming
Day 22: It Need More Chocolate Chips
Sparkle Productions

Rainbow had woke up early to make it to an event being held at Sugar Cube Corner; Soarin was already out doing errands and said he would meet her there. Dash trotted to the bakery whistling a happy tune to herself. Arriving there a sign hung saying "cookie workshop"; without hesitation she walked inside. Separate tables were set up for partners. "Hi, Dashie!" Pinkie bounced over to Dash's direction.

"Hey, Pinkie," Dash smiled, "how's the day been going?"

"Splendid!" She turned to the group, "It's time to partner up! Soarin, will you be my partner?"

"Sure," he shrugged and headed over to Pinkie.

Applejack headed over to Dash; she could've sworn she saw Applejack wink at Pinkie. "Be mah partner, Dash."

"Okay..."

Pinkie shouted directions as they baked, "Now add chocolate chips!" All the groups added approximately a cup full of chocolate chips. After putting the cookies in the oven, they all waited. Occasionally Dash glanced over at Soarin, a sour feeling growing deep inside. "You okay, Dashie?" Pinkie snapped Dash out of her trance.

"Yep! Of course I am!" Of course she wasn't.

The cookies were ready shortly; Pinkie volunteered to taste test each batch, "It needs more chocolate chips! They all need more chocolate chips! Except ours, right Soarin?"

She hoofed him a cookie with a playful wink, "Yeah?"

"As you can see, folks, this is how you make a good chocolate chip cookie!"

Soarin and Rainbow walked home together, Dash still wondering what she was feeling; why she was feeling that way. "Are you okay, Dash?" Soarin broke the dead silence.

"Yeah," her stomach suddenly had butterflies in it. He actually cared enough to ask, as a matter of fact he noticed something was wrong. Well, Pinkie noticed too but that's irrelevant. She smiled a bit more confidently, "Yeah, I'm okay," she said in a confident voice. Everything would be okay and work out fine in the end, Rainbow was sure of it.

Author's Note

Stay tuned for more!! :pinkiehappy: