Operation: Hearthwarmer

by FanOfMostEverything

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Lightning Dust, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Death, Alternate Universe, Drama, Rainbow Dash, King Sombra, Adventure, Violence, Pinkie Pie
Length: 4368

As winter worsens in the Frozen North, a mare named Twilight Sparkle believes she can end the Crystal War.

The year nears its end, but the war seems to stretch on forever. General Winter has sided with Sombra, and morale runs low among most Equestrian forces. Hearth's Warming seems like a bitter joke.

But a mare has come to the front from Canterlot, and she's brought one Tartarus of a present.

Written for Silver Shadows as part of Jinglemas 2019. Cover art by AaronMK, used with permission. Special thanks to Antiquarian for advising on military ranks.

Published 2019-12-22 23:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-12-22 23:20:01 UTC

For the Stallion Who Wants Everything

Twilight took a deep breath as she stood before... well, not the throne room. The throne room was over a thousand miles south. But even a tent worn ragged from getting moved back and forth along the shifting front, distinguished from the rest of the camp only by a different stenciled number, felt like a throne room when she knew who sat inside. The chills running down her spine came from more than just the bitter winds blowing right through her parka, though winter in the Frozen North certainly didn’t help.

The guard in front of the door nodded as he finished looking over her credentials. "Alright, you're clear." His horn flashed, and the tent’s flap was free to move in that same bitter breeze.

The immobility seemed to carry over to Twilight's breathing. She barely had the presence of mind to nod and say "Thank you, sir" as she stepped inside. And within...

She wasn't sure what she expected. Stained glass? A fountain? A chair? Maybe a chair. Seeing Princess Celestia sitting on a cushion like everypony else in the magically insulated command tent was more than a little off-putting. As was the mare herself. The Celestia Twilight remembered from all-too-infrequent guest lectures had been regal, commanding, emitting an aura of confidence and beauty and all that was good in the world.

She wasn't supposed to have bags under her eyes and unpreened feathers sticking out of her wings. She wasn't supposed to have little magnetic anomalies curlicuing away from the aurora of her mane. She wasn't supposed to look tired and anxious and equine.

After a moment, Twilight realized that the murmur in the room had died down and all eyes were on her. She jumped as close to attention as she could and nearly clipped her ear with her salute. "S-sorry, Your Highness! I'm—"

"Twilight Sparkle.” She even sounded tired. “At ease.” Something like a smile crossed the princess’s lips. “Technically speaking, you didn't even need to salute."

"Right. Yes. Of course, Your—” Twilight locked up as she registered just why she’d been interrupted. “You remember me?"

"I try to remember all of my students, Twilight, not just my personal proteges. And…” The princess squeezed her eyes shut, as though in pain. “Moondancer often spoke fondly of you."

"Ah." Twilight hadn’t seen Moondancer since the other mare had moved to Ponyville. She had visited, sure, but Twilight had always been working, especially once the war started. "I... We've all been busy, Your Highness. The fate of the world matters more than one schoolyard friendship."

For some reason, that made Celestia look even sadder than remembering Moondancer. But only for a moment. She put back the careful mask she’d worn when Twilight had entered. "Very well. To business, then.” She looked around the tent. “Everypony, I must ask you to give us some privacy. This is the mare I told you about at the beginning of the meeting." She waited for them to filter out, shooting suspicious and sympathetic looks to Twilight in equal measure, before producing a manila folder stamped DARPON: CONFIDENTIAL from beneath the low table. “I have already looked over your proposal."

A cold pit in Twilight’s stomach eliminated any warmth the tent might have offered. "Y-you have?"

"I do have some time between missions. I try to stay on top of current events off of the battlefield as best I can. And Regent Cadence marked it high priority."

"Ah.” A lump in Twilight’s throat joined the pit. Swallowing did nothing. “A-and your thoughts?"

The princess let the question hang in the air for a moment. "Before I offer them, I feel I should note that I have also looked over several of your other proposals."

Twilight winced and kept her eyes shut afterwards. "I apologize. Project Lunar Vengeance was the product of a lot of coffee, more alcohol, and not nearly enough sleep. I didn't even mean to submit it, much less have it—"

"Twilight. It's alright.” Only after hearing that did Twilight crack an eye open, seeing a calmer Celestia than she’d have ever expected given that proposal. "To be honest, I was in a similar state when I first saw it. And I seriously considered it."

It took a moment for Twilight to process that. "You... You did?"

"Luna might well have wanted it. A way to atone for the Nightmare." The princess shook her head. "But we are not yet so desperate as to inflict an undead alicorn upon the world. Fighting monsters with monsters merely guarantees a monster will triumph."

“So, going back to Project Refractor..."

"Yes.” The princess frowned, but it was with sorrow, not the rage or disappointment Twilight had expected. “Knowing that Lunar Vengeance was the product of a temporarily unbalanced mind does assuage some of my concerns, but I am still uncomfortable with the costs of even an ideal execution."

"With all due respect, Your Highness, thousands of ponies have already laid down their lives in this war. We would be saving millions. And even if we fail, the cost is minimal."

Celestia shook her head. "Every pony matters, Twilight. Throwing one away like this—"

Twilight gritted her teeth. "As I have told many, many others, if you can show me ways to improve the matrix, I will happily take them into account,” she said. “But power demands a price. The power to end Sombra demands a heavy one." She blinked and drew back as she realized just who she’d lectured. “I, that is—”

"No, no, I see you've already made your decision." Celestia sighed. “You remind me of another headstrong young mare. One I should have listened to. If I could have given her what she’d asked for, perhaps…” She looked towards Twilight, but not at her, lost in some distant memory.

After a few moments, Twilight cleared her throat. "Your Highness?"

Celestia shook her head. “No use dwelling on might-have-beens. Please forgive an old mare for letting her mind wander. Very well, Twilight. I approve the implementation of Project Refractor. Though I must insist on a security escort."

Twilight nodded. "I expected as much, Your Highness. Did you have anypony specific in mind?"

“That’d be us.”

Twilight blinked and looked behind her. Three mares in combat uniforms shuffled into the command tent, an earth pony and two pegasi. Two very familiar pegasi. “You, you’re...”

All three saluted, but the mare in the center still flashed her a grin that had graced the Canterlot Herald plenty of times before. “Master Sergeant Rainbow Dash reporting, Commander.”

The princess nodded. “At ease, ladies.”

The other pegasus waved a wing at Twilight. “Hey there. Technical Sergeant Lightning Dust. I do the work so Crash here can get the glory.”

“Really?” said Master Sergeant Dash. “‘Cause I’m pretty sure I’ve got you beat on the life saving eight to five.”

“We’ve got time.”

Twilight realized her jaw had dropped from shock. She shook herself and said, “I… I’m happy to see a prompt response from such accomplished soldiers, but how in Equestria did you know about this meeting?”

“Specialist Pinkamena Pie,” said Celestia. The earth mare nodded, her dour expression unchanging. “She has demonstrated a truly uncanny degree of intuition multiple times since enlisting.”

“First rule of Mena Sense,” said Dash. “Don’t question Mena Sense. Just go along with it and you’ll get out in one piece.” Her augmetic wing twitched. “More or less. It’s why her sister’s not with us; Mena said she shouldn’t be.”

“I find the concept highly unlikely, but I suppose I can’t argue with experience. I am—”

“Twilight Sparkle,” said Specialist Pie. Then she kept going, gaze still locked on the opposite side of the tent. “Salutatorian of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Class of 1081. Still resents coming in second. Joined the Defense Advanced Research Projects Operational Network to prove herself to the Princess by making a discovery that will win the war.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped again. “H-how did you know all that?”

Specialist Pie finally relaxed a little, turning to her and tilting her head in genuine confusion. “Is it not obvious?”

“Okay,” Twilight blurted out, “how are you not in covert ops?”

“Rockbreaking is far more valuable against King Sombra than skullduggery.”

Dash grinned. “So, how are we dugging his skull?”

“Officially,” said Twilight, “diplomatic escort duty.”

All three military mares shared incredulous looks at that. “No, seriously,” said Technical Sergeant Dust, “what’s the plan?”

“Officially diplomatic escort duty. We’re going to use Hearth’s Warming as a way to sue for peace. When better than a time when all ponies should come together?”

Dash snorted. “You really think that’s going to work?”

"As you have already surmised,” said the princess, “we do not expect Sombra to respond well to any diplomatic overtures. However, the world is watching, and while they all fear he won’t stop at Equestria, they don’t know for sure. Even his power cannot stand against every other nation united against him. He has been careful to play us against one another, but word of him turning down even an attempt at peace will tip the balance in our favor. He knows that."

“So what are we doing unofficially, Ma’am?” said Dust.

Princess Celestia narrowed her gaze and swept it across the tent. “Only two mares in the world know the details. By the end of this briefing, that number will more than double. Needless to say, I do not wish for that number to rise further until Sombra finds out firsthoof."

All three snapped to attention anew. "Yes, Ma'am!"

Twilight couldn’t help but wince.

She heard Dust say, "You okay, Sparkle?"

Twilight bit her lip. The princess spoke up. “Twilight has some history with—”

"My brother was Shining Armor."

For a few moments, the only sound was the wind howling outside. "Oh. Shit." Lightning stiffened, her eyes darting to Celestia. "Beg pardon, Ma—!"

"I have heard far worse, Technical Sergeant Dust. If a bit of profanity were enough to drop me, this would have been a very short war. Continue, Twilight, if you think you can."

"I... I've barely even talked to anypony after he died getting Cadence back out of the Empire, after..." Twilight took a deep breath, her eyes still squeezed shut. "This blend of military professionalism and casual camarderie is... very familiar. I... I don't know if—"

A hoof on her withers made her open her eyes. Specialist Pie looked back, her gaze hard but not unkind. "I know well the sting of losing an older sibling to the tyrant. Limestone enlisted to redeem the honor of the first rock farmers, survivors of the Empire when first it was lost. When we received notice of her passing, I enlisted in her stead, and Maud followed. I fight to end this war that causes such loss. Will your mission end it?"

"It…” Everything that could go wrong flashed through Twilight’s mind. “I-Ideally, given everything I've studied about applied emotional wavelengths and—"

"One word. Yes or no. Will. Your mission. End it?"

They were close enough that Pie… that Mena was all but pressing her forehead against Twilight’s. Her doubt fell into sapphire-ringed pits and she never heard it hit bottom. "Yes."

Mena embraced her. Twilight flinched at the sudden contact, but she still heard the response. "Then use Shining as I use Limestone. As you drive your blade into Sombra's blackened heart, remember your brother."

"It's... not exactly going to work like that. But I do like where you're coming from."

Once Mena had released Twilight and she wiped the tears from her eyes, Master Sergeant Dash—Rainbow?—said, "Okay, so if Mena's through psyching you up, what is the plan?"

"Well, as you know—"

Princess Celestia cleared her throat.

Twilight gave her a confused glance. Then she considered her audience’s unadorned foreheads. "Okay, laypony version."

The two-pegasus chariot design hadn't changed since before the war, leaving the passenger cabin open to the Arctic winds. Twilight tried not to chatter her teeth too much. The pegasi pulling the chariot didn't even bat an eye at the conditions, and Mena, standing next to her, seemed similarly indifferent. Even in her borrowed unicorn-spec tactical armor, the air still cut through her face like a knife.

At least squinting her eyes shut meant she didn't have to look too closely at the Crystal Empire or its anti-air defenses. The floating platforms of black ice could just be spots in her eyes. The helmeted pegasi watching their every move were barely even perceptible aside from the glowing eyeslits.

A drawn-out whinny like a dying gasp made Twilight wince. No amount of deluding herself could block out the windigoes Sombra had twisted with dark magic, forming the Empire's final line of defense. But even as her horn twinged against the corrupted energies, the horrors let them pass.

Beyond their ranks lay an obsidian nightmare. The spikes filling the area suggested buildings, but they seemed built more to impale the unwary than provide shelter. The palace was worst of all, like an enormous piece of broken glass pointed at the heavens and ready to stab.

And, of course, they were headed right for it, where the stallion himself waited for them. Even before they began their final approach, Twilight could almost sense the arrogance wafting off of him. The honor guard of enslaved crystal ponies helped there.

Sombra smiled as they landed, or at least bared his fangs. "Welcome, honored diplomats. So wonderful to see Celestia reopening negotiations."

Twilight could see everypony else tense at that, but at least they held their tongues. Once everypony had gotten either off or unhitched from the chariot, she said, "I don't suppose we could speak to the true Sombra?"

"Oh?” said Sombra, still far too amused. “Am I not the ‘true’ Sombra? I stand before you, do I not?"

She narrowed her eyes. "We've known you project your consciousness into crystal golems since the Battle of Anthracite Ridge. The illusion has small imperfections one can spot if they know what they're looking for."

He nodded. Somehow he even nodded in an unctuous, mocking way. "I see. Fascinating. And what would those be?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Why don't we add that information to the list of negotiable terms?"

Sombra chuckled at that, and Twilight longed for a shower. "Twilight Sparkle, wasn't it? You are a delight. Perhaps it's simply a matter of unfamiliarity, but I find you so much more engaging than Celestia."

"So, returning to the matter of speaking to you directly?"

That wiped the smile off his face. "Well, that wore off quickly. I must refuse. Especially given how this entire exercise is clearly some sort of ruse."

The soldiers tensed at that. Twilight’s mouth worked silently for a few moments. "I... I beg your pardon?"

"And I deny it,” he spat, all amusement gone. “Did you think I wouldn't recognize some of the most persistent nuisances I've encountered in this war pulling your chariot?"

Dash smirked. Dust gave what Twilight understood to be an extremely rude wing gesture. With both wings.

"But I welcomed you into my home regardless. Do you know why?"

Twilight gulped. “Be-because of the spirit of Hearth’s Warming?”

Sombra rolled his eyes. "Please. Why should I care about the traditions of a nation I will inevitably conquer? No, I did it—"

"Because now we can be your nuisances," said Mena.

"Because now you can be my..." Sombra scowled. "Just for that, you get a week in the mines. Guards!"

Magic gripped the Equestrians as a quartet of helmeted unicorns flickered into visibility around them. Before Twilight could even gasp, helmets slammed down on each of the soldiers. Her own slid on more slowly, threading through her horn. Had Sombra used his sealing crystals, it never would've fit.

Which was, of course, part of the plan. Even as the dark magic of the helmet began to glow green, it ran into a spell Twilight had cast before they'd even taken off from the base. A spell she'd practiced until she knew it as well as basic telekinesis, one she'd cast so many times she'd found herself invoking it in her sleep.

And the helmet crumbled around her like dry clay.

Sombra's eyes widened as he looked from mare to mare, each of them surrounded by the crumbled ruin of his trump card. He took a step back.

The Scourge of the North took a step back from her. From little Twilight "Silver Medal" Sparkle.

She couldn't help but smile.

"What is this?" said Sombra. The unicorns stood stock still, their master’s shock expressed through their inactivity.

Twilight sneered. "We got one of your helmets at DARPON moons ago. Did you really think we’d never figure out a counterspell?"

"I see.” Foul energies roiled along his horn. “Then I will simply eliminate you and erase this ins—"

Mena moved faster than Twilight could process. One moment, she was shaking her head clear of the lingering traces of dark magic. The next, she was where Sombra had stood, and he was flying into one of the palace's support pillars. The jagged golem lay exposed, its head severely fractured.

"You really don't get how science works, do you?” Twilight called after it. “That spell is codified in triplicate. Ponies are practicing it as we speak! I just figured it out first."

Dash gave her a lopsided grin. "Don't think he can hear you, egghead."

"I know, but the backlash won't keep him down for long and condescension is the best way for me to get into the mindset for dark magic." Even as Twilight spoke, fell energies sizzled along her own horn.

Dust’s ears folded back. "Uh, did we just replace Sombra with a worse option?"

Twilight shook her head. "I had to copy the spell in the helmets to find the counter." The controlled unicorns twitched as she sent the commands into their helmets, their horns lighting up as they obeyed.

The mind ward flared from all four simultaneously, destroying not just their helmets but those of the entire crystal pony honor guard, which hadn’t budged from their arrangement around the central dais beneath the palace the whole time. Twilight sprinted for that dais even as the freed ponies tried to find their bearings.

She jumped to the side, barely in time to dodge a blast of shadows from Sombra. The illusion of his form over the golem flickered fitfully, but the snarl on what remained of his face was plain enough to see. "Insolent little yearling, meddling with the work of her betters!" The crystal ponies didn't even bolt, instead cowering before him.

Then Mena popped up behind him and punched him again, sending him in the middle of four recently liberated unicorns and two pegasi with several skeletons’ worth of bones to pick.

Twilight took the opportunity to stand at the center of the Empire and focus on the other spell she'd developed for the mission. "Everypony! I freed you, I can free your friends! Your families! Focus your hope on me!"

The crystal ponies muttered and traded uncertain looks. One stepped forward. "The Heart!" he cried. "You need the Heart!"

Twilight shook her head and lit her horn. Her mane began floating as though submerged and the rest of her followed suit, leaving her hovering a few inches off the ground. "For this, I can be the Heart."

Amethyst seemed to crawl along her form from the horntip down, making cracking sounds as it went. Chunks of her mane and tail broke off and circled her in staggered orbits. A bit of her coat followed suit, revealing gleaming ruby beneath the surface. She winced and cried "Do it! Now! Please!" Every shout spread more cracks through her body.

The crystal ponies gasped and formed a circle around her, kneeling and glowing with a faint inner light. Crackling noises heralded two crystal spires emerging from above and below Twilight, shining with a clean purity unlike anything she'd seen in the Empire. She soon followed suit, making her crumble even faster under the increasing strain.

Lightning Dust went flying past her, followed by the much-abused Sombra golem, which had abandoned its guise entirely and now seemed designed to impale as many ponies as unpleasantly as possible. Lightning didn't get back up, but the golem did. It lacked eyes, but it still stared at her for a moment. The crystal ponies' ears all turned to the monstrosity, but that just made them hope all the more.

Twilight felt the energy pass a critical threshold, like a bubble rising in her soul. She grinned. "Happy Hearth's Warming, you son of a mule."

And in a burst of brilliance, she knew no more.

The Elysian Fields were not what Twilight had expected. They were supposed to be a land beyond pain and worry, but her body apparently hadn't gotten the message. The slightest motion felt like lines of fire crisscrossing her body, and that naturally concerned her. Plus, she thought she'd be standing in her first postmortem moments, not lying down, and the Forever Meadow smelled an awful lot like antiseptic. And whatever angel was making that regular beeping sound...

After a moment, Twilight managed to put the evidence together and opened her eyes. As she'd concluded, she was not in fact in the Elysian Fields. Not unless they looked a lot like a field hospital, in which case she had a number of questions.

Well, she had a lot of questions anyway, but she'd have more.

"She has awakened," Mena said from her right.

"Mornin’, egghead,” Rainbow said from her left. “How you feelin'?"

Twilight tried to speak, but could only manage a dry croak.

"I got her." Lightning Dust came into view, a glass of water in her unbandaged wing. Twilight did her best to drink at a reasonable rate, not easy given how wonderful the water tasted.

Once the glass was empty, she managed a "What happened?"

"Well,” said Rainbow, “after Sombra tossed Dusty into the castle, Mena hit him again."

"It was most cathartic."

"Then we saw that you were following through on the last phase of the plan, but, well..."

"You were cracking apart like a flawed opal,” Mena said in a tone eerily reminiscent of Twilight’s mother scolding her about magical experiments done without supervision. “You had not mentioned that part."

"The equine body can't handle that kind of strain.” Twilight shut her eyes and admitted, “I... hadn't expected to survive."

Lightning nodded. "Yeah, that's what the other unicorn who was still up said. We weren't gonna let that slide.”

“That's when Mena had her bright idea," added Rainbow.

"You were focusing hope and friendship to purge a great boreal evil plaguing ponykind. On Hearth's Warming, no less. Clover the Clever could not have performed his miracle without Private Pansy and Smart Cookie. Why not fill the roles?"

"At the time, she just said 'It's Hearth's Warming' and ran for you, but I got the idea."

Twilight gasped as she followed Mena’s train of thought. "So... you both..." She looked to each side, the pain of doing so now far less important.

Dash smiled, the one eye visible through her bandages still bearing that winning gleam. "We ain't in the beds next to you for a nap, Sparkle. But we'll all live."

"You will do much more than that." Lightning snapped to attention, as the only one in the room who could. Twilight at least sat up a little, wincing as she did so, to see Princess Celestia come into view.

If anything, the princess looked even more disheveled than when Twilight had last seen her, but this was the unkempt look of a filly at a carnival, too excited as she went from attraction to attraction to bother with her mane. The light had returned to Celestia's eyes, and she bore herself lightly and eagerly. Of course, the smile on her muzzle was also a tipoff. "Together, you have done something truly incredible, an act worthy of the founders."

"So it worked?" said Twilight.

From anyone but the princess, the answering nod might have come across as giddy. "Indeed. Your counterspell spread across the Empire and beyond. We still haven't found Sombra's body, but his influence has been banished from the city entirely. One of our scouts was even able to locate the Crystal Heart and return it to its proper place, where it continues the work you and your friends began."

"And the other enslaved soldiers?"

"Our current estimates put over ninety percent of them freed by the burst. The remainder could not receive new orders and were standing idle. Others trained in your liberation spell have been tracking them down and releasing them from their bondage.” And then, impossible as it seemed, Princess Celestia bowed to her. “Equestria owes you an incredible debt, Twilight Sparkle."

"I'm just glad I could do…” Twilight trailed off, too many emotions to list churning inside her. “Well, something."

Celestia rose and squeezed between the beds. "Is something wrong?"

"I... I had…” Twilight wiped at her tears with a foreleg. “I was going to see Shining and Moondancer again."

A broad white wing spread over her. "And you will, one day. But a brilliant mind such as yours will be invaluable as we rebuild. And you have made some fine friends in the meantime."

Twilight blinked and looked up at the princess. "I have?"

"Um, yeah?” said Rainbow. “Anypony who blows up Sombra is a friend of mine."

Lightning nodded. "Same.”

"Aye," added Mena. Twilight took a moment to boggle at what the blast had done to her mane.

Princess Celestia’s voice broke her out of her reverie. "And I would be honored if you called me friend as well."

"I... Everypony…” Twilight shut her eyes and, for the first time since the war began, smiled with joy in her heart. “Thank you. All of you. Happy Hearth's Warming."

An earth stallion poked his head into the room. "Technically, Hearth's Warming was three days ago."

"Don't spoil the moment, Medical Officer Mudbriar,” said the princess. “That's an order."

Author's Note

See here for afterthoughts and a cut scene.