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          The Best Hearth's Warming Present Ever           
                   -by PRlNCESS CADENCE-                   
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                        It was YOU!                        
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It was YOU!
It was the day before Hearth’s Warming Eve, or “Hearth’s Warming Even Earlier” as Pinkie Pie liked to call it, and on this day, the seven most important ponies in Ponyville gathered together in Twilight’s castle for a friendship celebration before the whole town came together for the Hearth's Warming Eve party the next day. Sure, they would all see each other the following day, but this was a special event for the close friends to have their own memories that they could share intimately with each other during the most festive season of all. With a magical fireplace installed into the castle library for just the occasion, the room had an even cozier atmosphere, but this was no time to relax! At least not for Pinkie Pie!
“Where is it? Where is it?!” she exclaimed as she popped out of random corners, from behind walls to underneath hats, even underneath the one that Rarity was wearing!
“I’m glad y’all are havin’ fun,” Applejack said, “but I don’t think it’d be in a place that only you could get to.”
“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash chimed in from above. “I don’t think it’d be under the chimney, if that’s where you were going to check next.”
Pinkie Pie raised an eyebrow. “Why not? That’s where presents normally come from, isn’t it?”
“That may be true,” Rarity began, “but I doubt anyone would hide your present under the chimney when there’s a fire underneath it. Also, you’re a little heavy. Would you mind…”
The pink mare then looked down and saw that she was still standing on top of Rarity’s head, causing the unicorn’s legs to begin to wobble. “Oh,” she said, jumping back to the ground and handing Rarity her hat back. “Sorry about that.”
“What’s the rush, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked with a grin. “I mean, not everypony can find their present as quickly as I can, but it’s not a race.”
“You mean you found yours already?! Where?! Where?!”
“The ledge of highest window in the library. I wonder who could have put it there.”
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, all the eyes in the room glanced over at Fluttershy, who ducked behind her mane in nervousness. “I hope it wasn’t too hard to find,” she said quietly.
“Naw, it was easy!” Rainbow answered, holding up her gift: a new sled, made completely out of acorns. “But, it’s not much of a secret gift exchange if we all know who the gift was from.”
As the rest of the group’s attention shifted back to Rainbow Dash, Pinkie had already begun sniffing the ground all around her, searching anxiously for her present, but still not able to find anything. “Ohhh, where else could it be?! I’ve checked the hallways, the attic, the basement, the throne room, and the bathrooms!”
“Have you checked--oh, I don’t know--this room?” Starlight asked with a smug grin.
“Starlight’s right, Pinkie,” Twilight added. “If you were giving a gift to yourself, where would you put it?”
“Me? Oh, that’s easy! I’d put it right under the tree where it would be easy to--*gaaaaaaaaasp!*”
As soon as the words left her mouth, followed by half the air in Equestria, Pinkie looked under the tree and found a pink package with a purple bow and a small note with Pinkie Pie’s name on it. Before anypony even had time to react, Pinkie zipped to the present, tore off the wrapping paper, opened the box, and found inside a breath-taking, heart-shaped necklace with Pinkie Pie’s cutie mark engraved inside. Once the others finally noticed Pinkie Pie sitting with her present in her hoof, they all stared in awe at the beauty of the gift, which was bringing the normally cheerful party pony on the verge of tears.
“Oh, my goodness!” Rarity exclaimed. “That pendant is gorgeous!”
“Yeah!” Rainbow agreed. “It’s almost as awesome as my present!”
Suddenly, Pinkie stood up and raised her gift into the air, making the others around her tilt their heads in confusion. “Who gave me this present?! I need to know so that I can bake her the best thank you cake ever!”
“Uhhh, Pinkie?” Applejack began. “I don’t think that’s how a secret gift exchange works.”
Again, at speeds faster than mortal eye could detect, Pinkie charged her way to Applejack’s face, getting so uncomfortably close that Applejack reflexively took a few steps back. “Be honest with me, Applejack. Was it you?”
“Sorry. Can’t tell ya.”
“LIIIIEEEES!!”
“Maybe we should get back to the party,” Twilight said, breaking the tension in the room. “At least you and Rainbow Dash. The rest of us still need to find our own presents.”
With all the other mares in the room nodding their heads, the search began again with the five remaining ponies searching the room for their hidden presents, leaving Pinkie Pie deflated in her unsatisfied curiosity. When she looked back down at her necklace, however, she couldn’t help but smile, holding it close to her chest with her heart as warm as the crackling fireplace.
The next day…
*knock, knock, knock!*
Almost immediately, the front door to the castle creaked open, revealing a smiling lavender mare magically pulling the doors apart behind them. “Oh, hey, Pinkie Pie!” she said merrily. “Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve!”
“Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed emphatically. “You’re just the pony I needed to see! Here! Put this on!”
Before Twilight could respond, however, Pinkie placed an outfit over her shoulders, similar to what an old mystery detective would wear. “Uhh… Pinkie? Why am I wearing this?”
“I’m glad you asked!” Suddenly, Pinkie began searching the contents of her mane until she pulled out her silver necklace from the night before. “You’re going to help me look for whoever gave me this present at last night’s secret gift exchange!”
“I am? But… doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the secret gift exchange in the first place?”
“You seem kinda suspicious, Twilight. Was it because you were the one who gave it to me this whole time?! And I thought we were friends!”
The pink mare then began shaking Twilight violently as she bawled comically, forcing Twilight to teleport a couple steps back to get herself out of her grip. “That’s not what I’m saying, Pinkie! What I mean to say is, if whoever gave it to you wanted you to know who she was, wouldn’t she leave you some kind of hint?”
Pinkie Pie then pulled out a pipe from her mane, placing it in her mouth and rubbing her chin as bubbles began floating out of the object between her teeth. “I see. Excellent deduction, Twilight Sparkle. I guess we have no choice, then.”
“...We don’t? For what?”
“We have no choice but to look for clues. You know what they say! Two heads are more than one, and the more the merrier!”
“Wait! That’s not what I was saying at all!”
“That’s exactly why I hired you for this mission, Twilight. With the two of us putting our brains together, we’re sure to find the culprit, and I think I have an idea as to who else might have a pinkie keen eye for jewelry like this…”
*knock, knock, knock!*
After a few moments of silence, the front door to Carousel Boutique opened up to reveal a white unicorn mare with several colorful fabrics lying across her mane and back. “Oh, Pinkie Pie! Twilight!” she said with surprise. “I’m so glad you’re here! You see, I’m still not sure what I should wear to our holiday soiree tonight. Do you think I’d look better in magenta or--er, Twilight? Why are you wearing that?”
Rarity then motioned to the detective outfit that Pinkie had forced onto Twilight, but before Twilight could respond, the pink mare butted in loudly. “I don’t remember giving you permission to speak! You have the right to remain silent!” Without speaking, Rarity turned her attention to the assistant by her side, but Twilight simply shrugged in way that communicated her own confusion. “Now, as soon as you answer a few of my questions, you’ll be free to go.”
“Erm… Alright. What would you like to know?”
“Everything! I wanna know the details! Now, what do you know about… THIS?!”
Pinkie Pie then held out her necklace, making Rarity’s eyes sparkle at the sight of the beautiful ornament once more. “Oh, darling, you know how much I love jewelry, especially if they’re as chic as this necklace, but I’m afraid I don’t know anything about it other than it was your secret gift exchange present from last night.”
“Aha! So you admit it!”
“I… I did?”
“Let me take this,” Twilight said before Pinkie could make Rarity any more uncomfortable than she already was. “Pinkie Pie is looking for whoever gave her her secret gift exchange present last night.”
“But… doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a secret gift exchange in the first place?”
“YOU SEE?!” As Twilight voiced her opinion toward Pinkie Pie, though, the pink pony continued to stare at her necklace, both entranced by its beauty and contemplative as to how she would figure out who the secret gift-giver was.
“Likely story, Rarity,” Pinkie said, snapping back to reality. “IF THAT IS YOUR REAL NAME!”
Twilight groaned. “Pinkie Pie, I’m sure Rarity hasn’t been lying to us about her name this entire time.”
“But who else would have an eye for something like this? Maybe she’s an accomplice! Maybe she made it for the perpetrator! You wouldn’t mind if I checked behind the walls around here, would you? Or are you hiding something back there that you don’t want us to see?”
“Pinkie Pie! That’s enough!” Twilight then cast a magic barrier around her partner to help alleviate the tension before she had the chance to goof up any more. “Sorry about that, Rarity. By the way, I think magenta would look perfect for tonight.”
Rarity smiled. “You don’t think it will clash with all the snow we’re supposed to have tonight?”
“Not at all! In fact--” Even though Pinkie Pie was silenced by the soundproof bubble she was in, her wails were still visible as she pounded on the forcefield. “Weeee should probably get going. I’m sure she has lots of other questions for somepony else, and I want to keep her out of trouble as much as I can.”
“Thanks for stopping by, girls! Tataaa~!”
As soon as the door slammed closed, Twilight released Pinkie from the bubble, who heaved for air on the ground. “I almost didn’t make it there,” Pinkie said between breaths. “I coulda been a goner.”
“Well, whether or not Rarity did make that gift for you, it didn’t look like we had any evidence to prove it.”
“Drat! That Rarity is a sneaky one!”
“You know…” With Pinkie Pie gazing back into her necklace again, Twilight placed a comforting wing on her shoulder. “...you seem to like that gift you got. Don’t you think the person who gave it to you is happy just knowing that you appreciate it?”
As soon as the words escaped Twilight’s lips, Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin, pulling her bubble pipe out of her mane as she thought deeply. “Somepony who’s happy that I’m happy without wanting to draw attention to herself. That’s it, Twilight!”
“...What’s it?”
“There’s only one logical explanation for this!”
“How could you have possibly gotten an explanation out of that?!”
Pinkie Pie then grabbed Twilight by the cheeks and brought their faces together urgently. “No time! There’s only six hours left before the Hearth’s Warming party, and I think I’ve just found out the mare of mystery’s true identity.”
*knock, knock, knock!*
With the two ponies standing in the doorway with completely opposite expressions, the door to a small cottage just outside Ponyville opened up to show a timid, yellow pegasus with a bright pink mane covering her face. “Hi, girls!” she exclaimed quietly. “What can I do for you?”
“You can start by answering some questions!” Pinkie Pie shouted at an almost opposite volume, making Fluttershy shrink to her hooves.
“Hold on, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said sternly, seeing Fluttershy’s obviously frightened reaction. “You’ve gotta be a little more gentle with Fluttershy.”
“Oh, you’re right! Good cop, bad cop! Wait, which one am I?”
“Umm…” Fluttershy mumbled, hoping that she wasn’t interrupting something important. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Not at all, Fluttershy,” Twilight said softly. “Pinkie Pie here is just trying to find out who gave her her present last night, and I’m just here to make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie leaned into Twilight’s ear with her hoof covering her mouth just enough to where Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to read her lips. “Good call, Twilight! I think she bought it!”
“I wish I could tell you,” Fluttershy began, “but I honestly don’t know any more than you do.”
“What a coincidence,” Pinkie Pie said with a smirk on her face, “because I know that you’re the one who gave it to me!”
“I--Umm… I don’t--”
“Pinkie Pie! How could Fluttershy have given you that present when she gave Rainbow Dash her present?”
Pinkie Pie then switched glances between Twilight and Fluttershy, who traced her hoof along the ground as her cheeks went a bright red. “Do you really think it was that obvious?” the pegasus asked quietly.
“Hmm…” Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin again, this time for several moments as she tried her best to come up with a rebuttal. “Maybe you’re right, but how do we know Fluttershy wasn’t still part of this somehow? It’s all one big conspiracy, I tell you!”
“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, opening up her wing to intervene between her two friends. “I’ll see you at the party tonight?”
“Oh, definitely! Bye, Pinkie Pie. I hope you find out who gave you that necklace, and also that whoever gave it to you doesn’t mind that you found out it was her. Bye, Twilight!”
As soon as the door to Fluttershy’s cottage closed back up, Twilight folded her wing back to her body, staring angrily into the energetic mare’s eyes. “Pinkie Pie! What did I tell you about being gentle?” Pinkie Pie, however, was too distracted from looking at her shiny new necklace to answer her, smiling from ear to ear as she swung it back and forth in front of her eyes.
“You know what, Twilight? Out of all the presents I’ve ever received, this is probably my favorite one of all.”
“Really?” Twilight responded with a smile. “You like it that much?”
“It’s like whoever made it for me knew me better than anypony else, like I was meant to spend the rest of my life with her, and that’s why I need to find out who gave me this gift!” Pinkie Pie then stuffed the necklace back into her mane and stood at attention. “Alright, my trusty sidekick! What do we know so far?”
“Honestly, I think the only thing we know is that it wasn’t Fluttershy, but it sounds like whoever got that for you really did her research if you like it as much as you say you do.”
Pinkie Pie then gasped, pulling the necklace out of her mane and switching looks between the alicorn and her gift. “That’s it, Twilight! Whoever got me this present must really love research! That means that Starlight is the only logical explanation!”
Twilight tilted her head to the side with an eyebrow raised. “Wait… the first pony you think of when you think of research is Starlight Glimmer?”
The pink mare shrugged. “Meh. You gave up studying to be princess a long time ago. Starlight is the one who lives in the library now.”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Hey! I study really hard too, you know!”
“Come on, Twilight! We’ve gotta hurry if we’re gonna find out who gave me this present before the Hearth’s Warming Eve party!” The pink pony then galloped away faster than Twilight had ever seen, but Twilight was too busy holding her hooves up in shock to move.
Finally, once Twilight had regained enough composure to follow Pinkie Pie back to the castle, the two mares found their way into the castle library to see none other than Starlight Glimmer, peering over old text about ancient magic. “Oh, hey girls!” Starlight said, pulling her head out of her book. “What are you two so out of breath about?”
“You… this… necklace… present…” Pinkie Pie panted profusely, holding out her necklace while she attempted to catch her breath.
“Umm…” Starlight replied, looking up and down the panting mare in some attempt to make sense of the situation. “You… want me to shine your present for you?”
“What I think Pinkie Pie is trying to say,” Twilight began after a few breaths of her own, “is that she’s looking for whoever gave her this necklace at the gift exchange last night.”
“But… isn’t the point of a secret gift exchange for you to not know who gave you the present?”
“THANK YOU! STUDENT OF THE MONTH RIGHT HERE!”
Pinkie Pie then looked back at her present, but instead of smiling like she had done at every point up until now, tears began to well up in her eyes, pouring down her cheeks as she sobbed into her hooves. Without wasting a moment, both Twilight and Starlight put a hoof around their friend, patting her on the back as the two of them tried to calm her down. “What’s wrong, Pinkie Pie?” Starlight asked. “It wasn’t something I said, was it?”
“No,” Pinkie replied with a sniffle, slowly rising to her hooves and wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s just… This is the most perfect present ever, and I wanted to make sure to thank whoever got it for me.”
“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said, smiling wide in an attempt to cheer up her friend. “I’m sure that after all the effort you put in today, whoever got it for you must be very glad that you like your gift, and that’s all the thanks anypony could ask for.”
“But… but…”
“Twilight is right,” Starlight agreed. “Sometimes, beings friends just means giving something without needing anything in return. I’m sure whoever gave it to you wouldn’t want you to return the favor. That would just defeat the purpose of a giving a gift in the first place.”
Pinkie Pie thought the concept over in her mind, but no matter how many time she thought about it, she had a hard time accepting that she would just have to be happy knowing that she couldn’t thank the gift-giver in person. “Maybe…” she began. “Maybe you’re right, girls. Still, though, do you think I’ll ever find out who gave me this necklace? I wanna know mostly out of curiosity at this point.”
“Maybe,” Starlight replied, “but maybe you should worry about that after the Hearth’s Warming Eve party tonight.”
“Shoot! You’re right!” Pinkie exclaimed, snapping out of whatever funk she was in. “I’ve gotta make sure all the preparations are ready in time! Bye, girls! See you at the party!”
Later that evening…
This year’s Hearth’s Warming Eve party was the biggest it had ever been, with creatures visiting from all over Equestria and beyond to celebrate their country’s founding together. Ornaments were hung all over the castle walls with a giant Hearth’s Warming tree in the center to broadcast the joy of the holiday season to everycreature who attended. The entire party was filled with laughter, singing and cheers, except for one pony who stood by the punch bowl away from the others, sipping her drink solemnly while the party unfolded behind her.
“Pinkie?” Twilight said after finishing a conversation with a visiting hippogriff. “What are you doing over here? Are you not enjoying the party?”
Pinkie sighed sadly, holding up the gift that hung around her neck. “I really tried to be happy about receiving a present without having to give one back, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize something.” Twilight perked up her ears as Pinkie’s eyes met hers in quiet desperation. “It’s not just that I want to give something back; I want to be sure to spend my Hearth’s Warming together with her!”
Twilight smiled tenderly, holding a hoof to her heart. “That’s so sweet, but you’re spending it right here with all of your friends. It’s not like you won’t be with her.”
“You don’t understand!” Pinkie’s muzzle was now a half inch from Twilight’s face, making her flinch involuntarily. “I don’t want to just be with her on Hearth’s Warming! I want to be just with her on Hearth’s Warming! This pony seems to know what makes me happier than anypony else in the whole world, and if that’s the case, it would make me the happiest mare in the world to be with her during the most important time of the year!”
Twilight rolled her eyes with a smile, but then, looking around, she nudged herself right next to the pink mare so that nobody could hear what she had to say. “I think I might know who gave you that gift. If I’m right, you’ll be able to meet her on the balcony in fifteen minutes.”
Pinkie Pie’s mouth dropped to the floor. Literally. “You know who it is?!”
“Maybe, but you’ve gotta keep quiet until then, OK? Just enjoy the party for right now.”
The pink pony then rose her jaw from the floor and gave the princess a royal salute. “You can count on me! I’ll liven this place up like last year’s Mule Ball!”
Of course, some things are easier said than done, and in the case of Pinkie Pie trying to keep her secret to herself while she enjoyed the party, it was more of a battle between hard and impossible. Even her signature dance moves seemed off as she bit her lip violently, sweating bullets as her hooves moved more like a spider than any sane pony. Luckily for her, most of the ponies just attributed it to Pinkie being Pinkie while the other creatures thought that it just must be some kind of pony thing, but Pinkie Pie knew that if she were going to keep her secret, she wouldn’t be able to hold it in much longer.
Fifteen minutes seemed like fifteen days, with each passing second feeling like a bubble in the pink mare’s lungs that kept her from breathing, but fortunately, time passed by quicker than her breaking point. As soon as the fifteen minutes were up, Pinkie Pie raced her way up the castle steps until she made her way to the balcony where she would meet the pony she had been searching for all day. The possibilities were racing through her mind as she contemplated what she would say and how she would react if it were this pony or that pony, but once she stepped hoof onto the balcony, she couldn’t help but squint her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.
“Hey, Pinkie Pie.”
The party pony couldn’t believe it. After all this time, the mare who had given her the gift was secretly…
“Twilight?”
Standing on the ledge of the balcony, looking up at the moon in the night sky as snow gently fell down to earth was none other than the princess of friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie Pie tilted her head, still in shock that after spending the entire day together, the pony who had given her her present had been right under her nose the entire time.
“Yeah… Happy Hearth’s Warming.”
“But--but--but--I don’t understand! If it was really you the whole time, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I tried telling you that it was supposed to be a secret, but you just seemed so adamant about finding out who it was that I just couldn’t keep it from you anymore.”
Pinkie Pie looked back down at her necklace and smiled. “How did you know that this would be the super most bestest present in the whole world?”
“Maybe because…” Twilight brushed her bangs behind her ear as her cheeks began to glow a deep crimson. “...because I love you, Pinkie Pie.” The earth pony’s mouth didn’t drop to the floor this time, but it still trembled as her eyes went wide in surprise. “I’ve loved you since not long after moving to Ponyville. You always make me laugh, you’re full of energy, and you make me feel like the super most bestest pony in the whole world.”
“Well, that’s silly.” This time, it was Twilight’s turn to drop her jaw, but that was quickly erased as the pink mare engulfed the alicorn into a warm hug that seemed to counteract the cold, snowy weather. With her muzzle snuggled into Twilight’s fur, she said, “Because you’ve always been the super most bestest pony in the whole world, and I love you too.”
The two ponies then held each other for what felt like several minutes, neither of them speaking as the two of them held the most important pony in each of their lives. Then, once Twilight lifted her head to speak, Pinkie immediately silenced her with a soft kiss, keeping the magic of the moment alive for just a little while longer. Finally, the meaning behind Pinkie Pie’s necklace was beginning to take shape: her balloon cutie mark inside a heart, which was even more perfect as the pink pony held the closest thing to her heart in her hooves where she would never have to let go. Her Hearth’s Warming wish to spend the season with her favorite pony in the whole wide world had been fulfilled.
“We should probably be going back to the party,” Twilight said once the kiss finally broke.
“Hey! Does this mean I can start calling you by a pet name from now on? How about Muffin Cake!”
Twilight giggled and kissed Pinkie on the forehead as the two ponies began their happy lives together, filled with both magic and laughter. “Sure thing, Sugar Bear.”