Lazlo was once again standing on the balcony of his room in Canterlot Castle. The same room where he had spent a few nights a little over a month ago. It was the day before Hearth's Warming Eve, this world's version of Christmas Eve. Okay, to be honest, while the holiday itself was very similar, it had a completely different backstory and basis. Twilight had told him about it in the past; basically, it was about how the three pony tribes came to live together in harmony. The Unification.

However, unlike Christmas, Hearth's Warming Eve was in the middle of winter, on the fifteenth of Mid-Winter. Twilight told him that it was because the unification didn’t happen in a day, just the situation that led to the unification. It was still weird to him, not only because of the different position of the holiday on the calendar, but because for him, Christmas had only been a few days ago, when he got to Equestria, where at that time it was the second half of the summer.

The reason he was in Canterlot again was that Princess Celestia had asked the mares and Spike to play the main cast of the Hearth's Warming Pageant, with Spike as the narrator. And of course, Twilight wanted him to come to watch them, but the princess also invited him to watch the play with her and Luna from the Royal Balcony of the theater. The mares and Spike had been practicing for weeks in Ponyville, but for the last week, they had all come to Canterlot to practice in the theater with the other actors.

He watched the same landscape, this time covered with snow. It was still beautiful, and the winter dressing made it appear in a completely new light.

Knocking on the door interrupted his musings. It was hard to hear because he was outside, and the balcony door was almost completely closed to keep the room warm. He opened it but didn’t go back into the room.

"Come in!" he yelled and looked back at the room, seeing the door open and Twilight walking in. She joined him on the balcony. "How are you doing with the practice?" he inquired.

"We just finished and went to have dinner. I came to get you to join us," she said, looking at him. "Why are you out here?" she asked.

"Enjoying the view. It's truly beautiful. Can't get enough of it. It also reminds me of... happier times." He turned his gaze to her and saw her looking at him expectantly. "I wish my mom could be here to see this beauty too."

"But I thought that you and she weren't on good terms."

"That was just the past few years. Before that, it was the exact opposite. After my parents' divorce, she couldn't find another partner for a long time, so it was just the two of us. Every summer, we went to a part of the country we hadn't been to before for vacation, seeing the sights and such. Those were the good times," he explained. "Anyway, let's not make the others wait."

Soon, they joined the others in the dining room. Not only were the other mares and Spike there, but Celestia and Luna too.

"I must express my thanks to you for accepting my invitation to play the main cast," Celestia spoke. Then she winked at Spike. "And of course the narrator too."

"I agree," Luna joined in. "Today's heroes playing the heroes of the past." Several ponies blushed at the compliment.

"I can't wait till tomorrow!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It will be the best Hearth's Warming Pageant ever!"

"Of course it will be! I'm in it, after all!" Rainbow bragged. The others just rolled their eyes.

"I don't know..." Fluttershy said. "I'm not a good actor. And I'm not good on stage." She then looked at the princess. "Are you sure it was a good idea choosing me?" She bowed her head in respect.

"I believe tomorrow we will see a very special show. And it wouldn't be possible without you in it," Celestia answered with a smile.

"Well, I'm curious about this show too," Lazlo spoke up. "I mean, Twilight already told me what it's about and the history."

"Right, you will see it for the first time," Rarity said. "I'm sure you will like it."

"Well, duh. Hello. I'm in it," Rainbow bragged again.

"I am curious too about how much the Pageant has changed in the last thousand years," Luna said. "Sadly, I don't recall every part of it from the past Pageants I saw, but I believe my memory will resurface tomorrow."

"And I'm glad that you will be there beside me to watch this undoubtedly exceptional play," Celestia smiled at her sister.

"And we will still have some time together after the show," Applejack spoke up as well.

"Oh, that's so true! We will have a few hours before we need to leave for Ponyville, Cloudsdale, or my family's rock farm," Pinkie exclaimed.

At that, Lazlo's smile became a little sad. Hearth's Warming wasn't just one day, but three. Hearth's Warming Eve, when ponies go to see the Pageant and then spend time together. Many parks are filled with ponies who might meet for the first time in their lives but have a good time together, talking, enjoying a warm drink and meal.

The next day is the first day of Hearth's Warming. Ponies usually spend that day with their families. A big family gathering if possible, or at least as many together as possible. And then, the second day is when friends gather around and spend a day together.

Those traditions were based on the whole story of Hearth's Warming. When many different ponies were forced to survive together, then the next day, they reunited with their families, happy for being together again. And then they again met up with ponies who they befriended during their struggle.

But Lazlo didn't have any family here. They were all home, wondering what had happened to him. And this would be the first time he couldn't be with his family on this holiday. Before that, every Christmas was spent with his parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and whoever could make it.

The day after tomorrow, however, he would spend it alone in his home. And despite it being a different, though very similar, celebration. Despite for him it wasn't exactly one year that had passed. Despite having already spent many days alone in his house. Despite making peace with not seeing his family anymore, as much as he could, this one hurt him the most. Because every time it was special. Because of the traditions they upheld, be it cultural, religious, or just family, it was always happy, unique, and he wanted to experience it every year as long as possible. He never would have thought that the last one had already passed.

"You know, Lazlo," Pinkie spoke to the man, as she was the first one to notice that his smile had changed emotional tone, though it wouldn't surprise Lazlo if she had some kind of intuition or a 'Pinkie Sense' for it. "You can join me to visit my family. They would love to meet you and share the first day of Hearth's Warming," she offered as the others also realized what it was about. Now all the attention was on him.

"Pinkie is right, you don't have to spend the day after tomorrow alone," Twilight said. "My family too would be happy to have you." She looked around. "I'm certain that the others would too." The other mares nodded.

"Darn tootin'!" Applejack nodded.

"Sure!" Rainbow said, though she muttered something about 'parents' and 'behaving'.

"But of course, darling," Rarity smiled.

"I wouldn't want you to spend that day alone," Fluttershy agreed.

"And of course, you are also welcome to stay here," Princess Celestia offered.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be fine. I'd rather spend that day alone," Lazlo declined after a bit of thinking. More like pretending to think. He wasn't planning to accept any of their offers at all.

"But why?" Twilight asked.

"I'd like to be alone. Spend some time remembering things," he gave a short answer. But then he noticed Pinkie giving a small shake of her head.

She didn't buy it. She knew what the main reason was. He also didn't want to ruin the mood. And he felt what she was telling him with that shake of her head: that he wouldn't ruin the mood, but they'd improve his. He also gave a subtle shake of his head in response. Pinkie then smiled.

"Then how about we go to your place to celebrate the second day?" she asked him.

"Okay," Lazlo agreed to that. With that out of the way, they finished dinner and went to sleep. The Pageant was scheduled for the afternoon, but they would still have practice in the morning.

The next day, Lazlo went to the Canterlot Theater with Celestia and Luna. Cadance wasn't with them because she was invited to watch the Pageant in the town where she lived before becoming an alicorn, and she had promised to attend there before Celestia came up with the idea that Twilight and her friends should play the main roles.

The Royal Balcony was on the other end of the hall, facing the stage. It had eight chairs in two rows. Besides them, Prince Blueblood was there, sitting in a chair in the first row. Celestia and Luna took the two middle chairs in the second row, and Celestia offered the chair next to her to Lazlo. It provided a great view of the stage and the ponies who were sitting and standing below them.

The theater hall was filled with ponies, leaving only a narrow line free in the middle and some space on the sides, where Royal Guards stood. Some guards were also standing on the balcony near them.

Soon the curtains on the windows were closed, the lights dimmed, and the play began. A spotlight was lit and focused on Spike, who wore clothing that suddenly reminded Lazlo of bards in medieval fantasy stories, though not exactly.

"Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of the alicorns, and before ponies discovered our beautiful land of Equestria, ponies did not know harmony. It was a strange and dark time. A time when ponies were torn apart... by hatred!" he began, speaking as the narrator, or storyteller.

"During this frightful age, each of the three tribes—the Pegasi, the unicorns, and the Earth ponies—cared not for what befell the other tribes, but only for their own welfare," the narrator continued as the curtains were pulled back, revealing ponies of each tribe in dresses that were probably authentic to that age. Each tribe only stood with their own. Then the curtain hid the stage again.

"In those troubled times, as now, the Pegasi were the stewards of the weather. But they demanded something in return: food that could only be grown by the Earth ponies." The curtains were pulled again, showing a pair of Pegasi shaking a cardboard cloud as white paper strips fell from it. Then a pair of Earth ponies appeared with a cart full of food.

Lazlo had to admit, the actors were good. They really gave the feeling that they didn't want to be there, dealing with the other tribe, and only did so out of necessity. The Earth ponies gave some food to the Pegasi, then the unicorns walked in as well.

"The unicorns demanded the same in return for magically bringing forth day and night." The unicorns also received some food. Then, one of them lit her horn and the cardboard sun was swapped with a cardboard moon.

This was something that confused Lazlo, even though it had come up in the past when Twilight was giving him a summary of the history of Equestria. He had been in a completely different mindset then and hadn't thought about it. But now, he wondered why Celestia and Luna took over that duty. Then he remembered that Celestia had told him it was because the unicorns eventually lost their magic, while alicorns did not. Though another question still lingered in his mind: When did Celestia and Luna take over?

"And so, mistrust between the tribes festered until, one fateful day, it came to a boil. And what prompted the ponies to clash? 'Twas a mysterious blizzard that overtook the land and toppled the tribes' precarious peace."

The stage changed to a new setting with a village that had been overtaken by the blizzard. Big piles of snow were everywhere.

"The normally industrious Earth ponies were unable to farm their land," the narrator said as Earth ponies dug around the snow, but didn't find any living plants. The ponies were shaking as it became colder and colder. "The Earth ponies were freezing."

Then the scene changed to the Pegasi, whose home looked similar to Cloudsdale, just on top of a mountain. Both the buildings and the clothing and armor resembled the ancient Greek style. While it was hard to distinguish the clouds from snow, their forms gave some clues.

"The home of the Pegasi fared no better. The Pegasi were hungry."

Another scene change, this time showing a castle in the blizzard. But the cardboards stood there only for a few seconds, as the scene changed again to the inside of the castle. A table was placed on the stage and ponies stood around it as one brought a cauldron and took out a single bean, as it was the last food they had.

"And the unicorns were freezing and hungry." The castle gate was also brought to the stage, showing unicorns using their magic to try to keep it closed, but it burst open, and the cold wind flew in with snow. "Even the unicorns' magic was powerless against the storm."

"Each tribe blamed the others for their suffering, and the angrier everypony grew, the worse the blizzard became." Now, one pony from each tribe fought for the last batch of food. "And so it was decided that a grand summit would be held to figure out a way to cope with the blizzard. Each tribe sent their leaders."

The next scene was inside a building with an open space in the middle, a table, and an upper floor along the walls. There, each pony stood with their tribes. Then trumpets were heard.

"Daughter of the unicorn king, Princess Platinum." Rarity walked in, wearing a purple and white mantle and a silver crown with purple gemstones in it.

"Wasn't the king the leader?" Lazlo asked quietly.

"He and his wife were old and weakened by the blizzard and the famine. They were the leaders officially, but by that time, it was Platinum who actually ruled," Celestia explained.

"Ruler of the Pegasi, Commander Hurricane." Rainbow Dash, wearing black and gold armor, flew in.

"And lastly, leader of the Earth ponies, Chancellor Puddinghead." The third one was Pinkie, wearing a brown and yellow dress with a silly hat that looked like a bowl of chocolate pudding.

Lazlo heard Luna mutter something about how Pinkie was perfect for the role, as she looked like a female version of the late chancellor.

"Perhaps the three tribes could finally settle their differences and agree on a way to get through this disaster." The three leaders put their headwear down on the table and looked at each other. But they all just began arguing.

"All I want to know is why the Earth ponies are hogging all the food!" Commander Hurricane demanded. The pegasi on the upper floor voiced their agreement with their leader.

"Us?! We're not hogging all the food, you are! Oh, wait, you're right. It is us. Well, it's only because you mean old Pegasuses are making it snow like crazy!" Puddinghead responded.

Lazlo started thinking that maybe it was a little bit more Pinkie than Puddinghead. Then again, he wasn't there; he hadn't even taken proper history lessons, though the ones Twilight gave him were close to that, but she wasn't that good of a teacher.

"For the hundredth time, it's not us! We're not making it snow!" Hurricane said defensively.

"Hundredth time? Isn't this their first meeting? Or did that argument that I didn't understand imply that they went through the same circle over and over again?" Lazlo wondered.

"It must be the unicorns! They're doing it with their freaky magic!" The pegasus leader brought the third tribe into the argument with this accusation.

"How dare you!" Platinum gasped. "Unlike you Pegasi ruffians, we unicorns would never stoop to such a thing! H-m-ph!"

"Well, if you non-Earths aren't gonna stop using your weirdo powers to freeze us all, then I'm just plum out of ideas," Puddinghead said, and this just started to derail the summit from its original goal.

"What a shocker. An Earth pony with no ideas," the commander played the fake surprised insult.

"Commander Hurricane, please cease with the insults!" At first, it seemed that Platinum wished to stop the insulting, but it was clear from her tone that it was just another insult, this time from her to Hurricane.

"You're not the boss of me, your royal snootiness!" Hurricane flew close to Platinum.

"I beg your pardon?! I am a princess! I won't be spoken to that way!" Platinum put back her crown, though upside down, and started walking out of the room.

"Well, I'm leaving first!" Hurricane flew next to her.

"No, I'm first!" However, Puddinghead was already at the door. In the end, they managed to push themselves out of the door together, then went on their separate ways.

"And the blizzard raged on," the Narrator spoke as Lazlo facepalmed.

"Holy fucking hell. This has to be a very dumbed down version or just fully made up. Maya's and Nora's arguments were more intelligent when Maya could barely speak. This is like some shitty fake argument in a cartoon made for kids under six."

He heard Celestia giggle a little, probably at his facepalm, and heard Luna mutter something like, "They are good." As Lazlo looked at the stage again, he just saw for a moment that there were some cardboards among the clouds in the corner of the stage that had a picture of some kind of horse-like ghost creatures.

"So the summit of the tribes did not turn out as well as hoped, and the three leaders returned home to lick their wounds... and basically complain," the Narrator continued as a new scene was set up on the stage.

Now it was again the pegasi nation. The only pony there was Fluttershy in black and silver armor, and based on the design, Lazlo guessed that she was just an average soldier. She was Private Pansy. She was just watching the blizzard as it raged when the commander flew past her.

"Atten-tion!" Hurricane yelled, and Fluttershy saluted. "Well? Aren't you curious about how it went?" the commander asked not even a second later.

"Oh! Commander Hurricane, sir! How did it go, sir?" Pansy asked.

"Horribly! Those other tribe leaders are so disrespectful! Don't they realize that we are a mighty tribe of warriors and should not be crossed? We have got to break ranks with those weak foals!" The commander complained to the private.

Lazlo wondered why this private was so close to the commander; she didn't seem anything special. So he quietly asked Celestia while the scene was changing again.

"Each high-ranking pegasus had an... assistant; maybe squire would be a better word for it if you are familiar with it." Lazlo nodded. "Though I don't remember what it was called for them, squire is a word used by the griffons," she explained. "Private Pansy was the squire of Commander Hurricane."

The new scene was set up, back to the unicorn castle, as Princess Platinum entered.

"Clover the Clever! I need you!" she yelled for her advisor while shivering.

"Yes, your Majesty. Did the other pony tribes see reason as I predicted?" Twilight Sparkle walked in, dressed similarly to other unicorns, with a blanket in her magic.

Lazlo noticed earlier that Earth ponies and unicorns wore similar clothing. And he just called it the Balkan Grandma style.

"Those other tribes are impossible!" Platinum said as Clover shut the doors before following her. "I, for one, can no longer bear to be anywhere near those lowly creatures. The unicorns are noble and majestic. We will no longer consort with the likes of them!" the princess declared.

After that, another scene change was quickly made. This time, it was a small home with only a furnace in it and an Earth pony standing in front of a door, waiting. Then the chancellor suddenly landed in the fireplace, clearly having fallen in from the chimney.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to use the door, Chancellor?" the Earth pony asked as she turned around.

"Maybe for you, Smart Cookie." She looked at her secretary and started explaining. "But I am a chancellor. I was elected because I know how to think outside the box." She finally got up and walked back into the fireplace. "Which means I can also think inside the chimney. Can you think inside a chimney?" Her voice was echoing by this point.

At this point, Lazlo genuinely believed that Applejack wasn't acting at all, but her face showed her real feelings about the situation.

"I didn't think so." Puddinghead finally walked out of the fireplace. Then, her eyes widened as an idea came to her. "Oh my gosh. Hold on to your hooves! I am just about to be brilliant!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"That'd be a first," Smart Cookie muttered.

Lazlo, meanwhile, wondered.

"If Puddinghead was really like this, or even just partly, then what kind of fucked-up minds were the Earth ponies blessed with to actually elect her, if it was like a democratic system? Then again... Not like several elections on Earth are basically choosing which spice you want your shit with... Still though..."

"I have decided that the Earth ponies are gonna go it alone!" Puddinghead shared her brilliant idea.

"Aw, so you mean the other tribes didn't come around? Shoot... I really thought we could get through to 'em if we–" Smart Cookie was disappointed.

"Don't worry about them. We're the ones with all the food, right?"

"Actually, we're all out."

"Fine, then we'll have to go somewhere new where we can grow some new food," came the immediate solution to the sudden revelation. "And with me as our fearless leader, what could go wrong?"

"Where should I start?" Smart Cookie didn't seem certain of this idea or her leader.

"The point is..." Puddinghead started, but suddenly the other two leaders appeared.

"We must find a new land!" all three of them shouted at the same time.

Lazlo noted how many scene changes happened, and how short some of them were. He wasn't one to go often to theaters, but he remembered them having longer scenes, or at least solving it better by not using the whole stage for every part.

Now it was again focusing on Hurricane and Pansy as they flew in the blizzard.

"C'mon, Private Pansy, let's get a move on! Hup-one, hup-two!" Hurricane yelled at his companion as she was quite slow and got behind. "Get a hold of yourself, Private! We cannot let anything distract us from the mission at hand: to find, and if necessary, to conquer a new land!"

"Conquer, sir?"

"You never know where enemies might be lurking."

"I don't see any enemies, Commander. Just... snow."

"A-ha! What's that?!" Hurricane attacked a cardboard black cloud that looked like some kind of beast. Meanwhile, Pansy got scared of a small black cloud and rushed to the commander, who looked annoyed. "Okay. This is getting old."

Yet another change, and the focus was on the two unicorns now, who were walking in a forest.

"Oh, this is simply taking forever. My hooves are killing me! How long have we been walking?" Platinum complained.

"About five minutes, Your Highness," Clover answered as a cardboard tree next to him moved a little, revealing the castle on the painted background.

"Oh, I never imagined finding a new land would be so hard. But it'll all be worth it, don't you agree?" she continued to complain.

"Okay. There is no way that it was just the two of them. Guards, servants, possibly other nobles would be with them, that's for sure. Same with Hurricane, and if the pattern is followed, the same will be with Puddinghead. I guess it was easier to tell the story, or better for the narrative, I don't know..." Lazlo thought.

"I actually think that the three tribes could've tried harder," Clover said.

"Stop!" Platinum suddenly halted.

"What's wrong?" Clover asked as he ran up to her.

"That is what's wrong!" she pointed to the blue tape in front of her, which probably represented a small creek.

"Your Highness, it's just a stream. We can cross it easily," Clover explained and demonstrated by walking over it.

"I refuse to get my gown wet. I have no intention of arriving at my new land looking like a bedraggled Earth pony, or worse yet, a rough-and-tumble Pegasus. I, for one, have no intention of stooping to their level. On the other hand, I have no trouble watching you stoop down," she complained again, then looked at him expectantly.

Clover just groaned and walked back, letting Platinum climb on his back.

"And do watch the gown, darling. It's worth more than all of the books in your library," Platinum warned him as he crossed the stream again.

Lazlo wondered if those ponies were really like this or if the mares had added a lot of themselves to their characters. It was either a perfect match by Celestia, since she asked them and probably knew those ponies personally, or she just asked them because they were national heroes and were perfect in number and tribe representation. He filed a mental note to ask her after the show if they had time.

Finally, the Earth pony perspective came. Puddinghead and Sweet Cookie were walking on a mountainside, with the good chancellor having a map taped to her face with holes cut in it for her eyes and muzzle. They were just walking back and forth.

"Yes, yes. This is definitely the right direction," Puddinghead said with confidence.

"It feels like we're going in circles," Sweet Cookie told her, which was in this case true as they really walked in circles on the stage.

"But that's impossible. Are you suggesting that I'm reading the map wrong?" she accused her secretary.

"Absolutely not, your chancellorness. It's just that there are holes in the map, and—" she tried to explain herself, but was cut off.

"Of course! How else could I see where I was going?" came the response.

"Yeah, uh—" she tried to get back the word, but was cut off again.

"Or talk? I need to be able to talk! I mean, how would we survive if I just suddenly shut up?"

"Heaven forbid that should happen, your chancellorship. Heh. It's just that... the map is also upside down," Sweet Cookie finally got a chance to finish her sentence.

Lazlo couldn't see that detail but found this conversation quite humorous.

"I got a newsflash for you, Cookie. The Earth is round. There is no up or down," it seemed that Puddinghead had an answer for everything.

"You're right! It's such a relief to me that you're in charge of this map..." the secretary said sarcastically.

"Relief? You don't need relief! If anypony needs relief around here, it's me! I'm a chancellor! I'm a bigshot! You're just my, um... my, uh..." Puddinghead became angry for some reason.

"Secretary..."

"Whatever." Puddinghead pushed the map onto Sweet Cookie's face. "You take the map while I enjoy some relief." She then walked off the side of the mountain and fell down, luckily onto a mattress that was disguised as a pile of snow.

"Yes, Chancellor Puddinghead," Cookie sighed.

"And so, each leader encountered obstacles along the way, but eventually, they all arrived in a new and wondrous land. Nopony had ever seen paradise before," the Narrator continued the tale as new props appeared on the stage, without snow this time. The background looked like the mountain range Canterlot was built on and the land around it.

However, it was just the background, and other hills and mountains were placed on the stage. For the first time, it seemed that the stage was divided into three equal parts.

On the left, there were a few clouds with two pegasi.

"This is the new land we've been searching for!" Hurricane yelled excitedly.

"What a view... I can see my future house from here." Pansy's excitement was more moderate.

"I proclaim this new land to be... Pegasopolis!" He placed the pegasus flag, which was a picture of a pony head with a pair of wings and the background was a starry night sky.

On the right, there were the unicorns on a mountainside full of different gemstones.

"I've never seen such jewels! This ruby is dazzling. This whole land is dazzling. I'm double dazzled! In the name of the unicorns, I hereby dub this land Unicornia!" Platinum also placed a flag, which was a unicorn head on a purple background with many diamond shapes.

In the middle were the Earth ponies, Puddinghead on top of a small hill, Cookie standing close to her.

"The air! The trees! The dirt! This dirt is the dirtiest dirt in the whole dirt world!" Puddinghead praised.

"And fertile, too. Perfect for growing food," Cookie added her own observation.

"In the name of the Earth ponies, I think I'm gonna call this new place... uh... Dirtville!" The name she came up with didn't sound very good.

"How about 'Earth'?" Smart Cookie suggested.

"Earth! Congratulations to me for thinking of it." Puddinghead also placed the flag of the Earth ponies. Their flag was divided into four sections, with two pictures really: one side is a sunny field, the other is a hill with sunflowers.

"We found our new home!" the three leaders yelled together.

Then they realized that they were next to each other. And the argument started again.

"I planted my flag first!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"I planted mine earlier than first."

"All of you riffraff are trespassing in Unicornia!"

"The name is Pegasopolis!"

"Earth!"

"Pegasopolis!"

"Unicornia!"

"I say we fight for the land. May the best pony win!" Hurricane suggested the idea of the good old aggressive exchange of opinions.

"That's barbaric. Clover the Clever, throw that brute into the dungeon!" Platinum commanded.

"What dungeon? Look, perhaps if we all calmed down..." Clover tried to calm them down.

"I agree. Let's all calm down," Smart Cookie spoke.

"I vote for calm," Pansy agreed.

"I'll have you court-martialed for insubordination, Private! We settle this on the battlefield!" Hurricane threatened. However, snow also started falling here too. And the commander was hit with a snowball, which Platinum found hilarious and got a good laugh out of it.

However, the roles changed when the princess too was hit.

"Who dares throw a snowball at royalty?!"

And, of course, the culprit was the leader of the third tribe, who now just realized that snow wasn't there a moment ago.

"Wait a minute, where'd all this snow come from anyway?"

"Oh no. Not again," Hurricane said as the blizzard became worse, effectively the same as in their homeland.

And among the clouds, again those ghost horse cardboards were visible, flying around. Then the curtains dropped again, and the Narrator came back.

Even if Lazlo didn't know the story, it wasn't hard to figure out that those ghost things were responsible for the blizzard and they were drawn to arguments, or rather to destructive verbal fights.

"And so the paradise that the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow and hard feelings. Instead of beautiful, it was blizzardy. Instead of wonderful, it was wintry! Instead of spectacular, it was snow-tacular!" he continued the tale. "Everypony was forced to seek shelter. They searched high and low, but the only shelter for miles was a cold and desolate cave. And, of course, the three tribes had to share it, and nopony was too happy about that."

The next scene was revealed, showing the six ponies in a cave, standing close to each other while the blizzard raged outside.

"Please, Commander Hothead," Platinum was the first to voice her displeasure.

"It's Commander Hurricane," Hurricane corrected her, sounding very irritated.

"Please, Commander, could you just stand back and give me my royal space?"

Lazlo facepalmed again. He wondered if those ponies were really like this, because he realized that even if the mares couldn't exclude their own personalities completely, Rarity was nowhere like this. A drama queen from time to time, but nowhere close to this. The same could be said for others. But of course, most of these behaviors were because they viewed the other tribes as below themselves, which naturally didn't apply to any of them or any other pony Lazlo had ever met.

"You mean like this, Your Highness?" Hurricane just had to put his hoof closer to her.

"Indeed not! You see this invisible line?" She pushed him back and pointed to the ground before him.

"Private, outline our territory for everypony to see," Hurricane commanded, and Pansy began to dig a line on the ground, which in reality was just a thick thread to be visible to the audience. Hurricane even grabbed her to hasten the process. "See this real, non-invisible line? No unicorns or Earth ponies are allowed to cross it! This is the sovereign territory of Pegasopolis!" he declared.

Seeing this, the other two leaders also took action.

"Clover the Clever!"

"Smart Cookie!"

"I know, I know!" Smart Cookie said as both she and Clover began to do the same thing.

"What are you doing?" Hurricane yelled at Pansy when she avoided a rock in her line, but it excluded the rock from 'Pegasopolis'. "Don't go around the rock, go over it! I'm not giving up an inch of territory to the enemy!"

"That rock is clearly on the Unicornia side of the cave, and it belongs to us!" Platinum immediately claimed the rock. "Who knows? There could be jewels inside," she whispered to Clover.

"I claim this rock for Pegasopolis!" Hurricane meanwhile just pushed the rock into his territory.

"Unhoof that rock this instant, you scoundrel!" Platinum demanded. Meanwhile, Puddinghead also walked up to the rock.

"Oh, look, you found my rock. I've been looking for it everywhere," he said as he grabbed it and rushed off with it.

"Hey! You invaded our territory!" Hurricane accused.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers!" came the good old Kindergarten law as a response.

"That's the last straw!" the commander had enough.

"Give me my rock!" Platinum demanded.

And the fight continued as they began to run around chasing Puddinghead, who had the rock in his mouth. Meanwhile, Lazlo started to get annoyed.

"Holy fucking shit! I hope it ends soon. I'd rather watch a whole parliamentary session than this... Fucking hell..."

Fortunately, it ended soon as clouds appeared in the cave and ice began forming along the walls and entrance.

"Look, everypony! The entrance!" Clover warned them as the entrance was completely closed by ice and the walls were close to sharing the same fate.

"Great. Now there's no way out! We're trapped!" Hurricane spoke.

"You two deserve this horrible fate. You've done nothing but argue and fight with each other!" Platinum accused them.

"You've been fighting too, Your Highness," Hurricane pointed out. Meanwhile, the walls had a full ice layer and the ground was next.

"Yeah! Worse! I haven't been fighting nearly as much as you!" Puddinghead said as the ice reached him and began to trap him.

"How ridiculous! A unicorn never stoops to fighting!" Platinum continued the denial. But her hooves were already trapped in ice, and it continued its way over her whole body.

"That's just 'cause you wimpy unicorns know you'd never win!" Hurricane was sharing the same fate. But it seemed none of them realized what was happening to them. "Earth ponies are numbskulls!" was the last thing he could say before he turned into a complete ice sculpture.

"Pegasi are brutes!" were Platinum's last words.

"Unicorns are snobs!" Puddinghead closed the circle.

Now only the advisor, squire, and secretary remained as they backed away from the ice, which was still expanding, meeting in the middle of the cave. Looking up, they noticed the ghost creatures for the first time.

"W-W-What is that... thing?" Pansy asked, terrified.

"They must be... windigos!" Clover answered.

"Windigos?" the other two questioned.

"My mentor Star Swirl the Bearded taught me about them. They're winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred. The more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become!" he explained.

"Then... this is our fault. We three tribes... we brought this blizzard to our home by fightin' and not trustin' each other. Now it's destroyin' this land, too." Smart Cookie was the first to realize it.

"And now our bodies will become as cold as our hearts... all because we were foolish enough to hate," Clover concluded.

"Well, I don't hate you... I actually hate Commander Hurricane a lot more than I hate you guys," Pansy admitted as the ice was getting closer to them, leaving almost no space to stand. For some reason, the other two found this funny and began laughing. Pansy smiled too, but the ice reached them and began to trap them, starting from the hooves. "Actually, I don't really hate her; I just really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really dislike her," Pansy clarified, which just made the others laugh more.

"Well, I don't hate you guys either," Smart Cookie admitted.

"Nor do I," Clover said. Meanwhile, some kind of neigh sound was heard, and the windigos moved faster and faster.

"No matter what our differences, we're all ponies," Cookie concluded as the ice completely overtook them, but they all had smiles on their faces.

However, the tip of Clover's horn was still free and it began to glow. Then, a purple flame shot up from it, freeing them from the ice, while Clover's eyes glowed white and the flame began burning the windigos. The spell ended, but the flame was still there, taking the shape of a heart. Ice started to melt.

The ponies across the audience all gasped at the sight. The same was true for the ponies in the Royal Balcony. Even Lazlo felt something inside him, a strange warmth in his chest.

"Sister!" Luna whispered. "Is this...?" she couldn't finish.

"I believe so." Celestia apparently knew what Luna wanted to ask. "I knew asking them to play these roles was a good idea." She then turned to the man. "Lazlo, do you feel it too?" She put a hoof on her chest. Lazlo nodded. "That..." she pointed to the purple flame, "...is not a visual effect spell that we use. That is the true flame of friendship, the one that brought the three tribes together and defeated the windigos," she told him.

"Did you plan this?" Luna asked.

"I admit, I had hopes that something like this would happen. Twilight and her friends have already shown how powerful friendship is, and how well the three tribes work together. And everypony can feel it. It brings me so much joy to experience this miracle with you, Sister."

"It is really something," Lazlo admitted.

It seemed that the ponies on the stage were also caught up in their surprise. Even the frozen ponies managed to look at the flame in wonder. It took several seconds for them to realize that the show was not over.

"What was that?" Pansy asked.

"I didn't know unicorns could do that," Cookie said as both of them walked up to Clover again.

"I didn't either. Nothing like this has ever happened before," Clover admitted, then smiled. "But I know it couldn't have been just me. It came from all three of us, joined together, in friendship." He extended his hoof, and the others did the same, putting it on top of each other's.

The Narrator took over.

"All through the night, the three ponies kept the fire of friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs, which of course became the winter carols that we all still sing today. Eventually, the warmth of the fire, singing, and laughing reached the leaders, and their bodies began to thaw. And it even began to melt their hearts." The fire was still burning as the ponies just enjoyed each other's company. And the leaders joined when they were freed from the ice.

Finally, the ice over the entrance melted too, and they were free. They walked out, seeing the sun shining over the land that still had some snow, but it was quickly melting.

"The three leaders agreed to share the beautiful land and live in harmony ever afterwards. And together, they named their new land..." The six ponies together raised the flag of the Kingdom of Equestria, which was a light blue flag with the sun and moon in the middle and the two alicorns, responsible for moving them, flying around them, with silver stars all around.

"Equestria!" they yelled together. The curtains were dropped, and given the cheers, it seemed that this concluded the play.

But soon the curtains rose again, and the six ponies stood there. Spike ran up to them as they all bowed. Then all the other actors walked up in the background, and they all bowed again. Finally, they all began to sing with the audience joining them too.

In the Royal Balcony, Celestia used her magic to pick up Blueblood, who gave a surprised yelp, and pull him close to her, while she used her wings to pull both Luna and Lazlo to her sides, embracing them all. Even Lazlo wasn't immune to the effect, as he too began singing with the ponies.

[Everyone]

"The fire of friendship lives in our hearts

As long as it burns, we cannot drift apart

Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few

Laughter and singing will see us through (will see us through)

We are a circle of pony friends

A circle of friends we'll be to the very end"

Finally, the Pageant ended and ponies began to leave the theater. Celestia turned to the human.

"I hope you liked it. I'm curious about your opinion, but I'm sure your friends are too, so let's go back to the castle first," she suggested.

On their way back, Luna was telling them what she thought, since it was the first time for her since she returned from her exile. According to her, it hadn't changed much from what she could remember, and she praised the mares for creating the real flame of friendship. She was happy to see and feel it again after a very long time.

Soon they were back in the castle, in the dining room where the table was filled with various snacks. While they waited for the mares to get back, Lazlo began with some questions.

"So... Am I right to assume that it didn't happen like that at all? And those leaders weren't as... my apologies, but I have no other word for it, stupid as they were portrayed?" He hoped he didn't offend them too much by badmouthing the Founders.

"The core events are real," Celestia said after a chuckle. "The leaders were great minds, and their arguments were more sophisticated, and their fights were like actual wars. It wasn't just the six of them in search of the new land; each had a small group. All of them were in that cave that night. But it was Smart Cookie, Private Pansy, and Clover the Clever in the end who started the flame of friendship. When everypony realized what had happened, they decided there to form a new nation together. But first, they all went home to their families to tell them what happened. That is what the first day of Hearth's Warming is about," Celestia explained.

"Indeed," Luna took over. "While the windigos were gone, the damage was already done. The land suffered a lot. And thus, the three leaders gathered their tribes to lead all of them to the new land, telling them about their decision. The next day, the ponies who were in that cave went to meet up with the new friends they made. That is the second day of Hearth's Warming. This time, they made the journey to the new land together as one tribe. Of course, it wasn't just three days; the traveling took weeks."

"Okay, but what about you? How did you become the leaders? Where were you during all of this?" Lazlo asked.

"Our history would take too long to tell, maybe another time," Celestia said. "Starswirl the Bearded found us one day and brought us to the leaders. At that time, they were still forming Equestria, over a year after the fire of friendship. It was not easy to create a nation, especially with three different tribes who, despite everything that happened, still held grudges against each other. Starswirl suggested making us the leaders, as he already had knowledge about alicorns, even more than we had, though we were just fillies back then. The leaders were skeptical at first, but their assistants managed to convince them, and us too. Then they all began to teach us how to rule, and through that, they managed to finally create the Kingdom of Equestria. They helped to rule it, and the assistants worked to get rid of the hatred between the tribes until their passing," she finished with a sad smile.

"If I remember correctly, they were the ones to suggest Hearth's Warming as a holiday, and they came up with the idea of the Pageant. They told us about what happened exactly, as we weren't there," Luna added. "It was somewhat different at first though, but if my memory serves me right, they played their own roles and came up with the idea of simplifying, making their fight seem stupid because they felt that way." Luna looked at her sister, who gave a somewhat unsure nod.

Lazlo hummed, as he didn't expect this much. He already knew that the alicorns, while not having photographic memory, still remembered a lot of things and a lot of details. And if this was really just a fragment of it, then it was even more impressive.

Suddenly the door flew open and Pinkie hopped in, the others following her, simply walking.

"It was the best Hearth's Warming Pageant ever!" the pink mare yelled.

"So, what do you think?" Twilight asked the human.

"Well, it was childish and dumbed down sometimes, but it had a nice message, and I'm sure it's very important for you as it basically defined Equestria. Still, not really my favorite, making the characters seem so stupid, but the princesses told me how it came to that and what really happened."

Hearing this, the ponies turned to the princesses questioningly, except for Rainbow.

"What do you mean? The Pageant was awesome! I was awesome! Not like you humans could create anything close to this," she defended the play.

"Okay, I didn't grow up here, and I admit that it was overall great. I can understand the importance of this play and this holiday. We have a similar holiday, but with a very different background, though really similar to this. And we made a rock opera about the forming of my country, or rather about how our first king became the king. And that's awesome," he responded.

Apparently, the others heard him too, and were now curious about what he said and wanted more details, but he didn't want to talk about it at that time, so he excused himself as he had to pack his stuff since soon they needed to leave to catch the train back to Ponyville, or in Pinkie's case, the closest town to her family's rock farm.

Soon, they bid farewell to the royals and left for the train station. Twilight, Spike, Rainbow, and Fluttershy escorted them, as the pegasi would fly to Cloudsdale from there, Twilight and Spike would go to her parents' house from there.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? My parents would be okay with you spending tomorrow with us," Twilight offered again.

"I'm sure, don't worry about me. I'll be fine," he said, and since he didn't want to prolong this topic, he turned to the others. "And that's my answer to all of you. Thank you for the offer, but I'd better be alone tomorrow," he finished quickly as he realized that his voice had turned a little uneasy.

He had a feeling that tomorrow would be terrible, but he didn't want to ruin the mood of the others.

"Then we will meet up at your place the day after!" Pinkie yelled and then broke the laws of physics by pulling all five ponies, one dragon, and one human into one big hug.

Saying their goodbyes, the two pegasi took off, Twilight and Spike left, and the others got on the train.

Author's Note

Well, the first chapter of Hearth's Warming is done, though it's really just Lazlo react to the episode basically, though I added some lore and stuff.
Hope you still enjoyed it.
Well, since there is still two days of Hearth's Warming so next up is the first day.