The sun finally dozed off into the horizon, waiting for the moon to take its place for the night. Now with the sky displaying a gradient of deep purple and orange, it was time for the snow to make its debut as it gently flew through the chilling air until each flake found a home on many houses and buildings in Ponyville.
Every creature went outside to pitch in for the night. The pegasi, dragons, hippogriffs, and changelings added several lights and ribbons onto the rooftops and cane-shaped poles. The earth ponies and yaks baked several goodies for everyone to share. And the unicorns used their magic to levitate more decorations onto various places. All with warm smiles on their faces as they did so.
At Twilight’s Castle, The Mane Six and Spike sat comfortably on pillows around a large table next to a roaring fireplace. Bursting through the oaken doors guarding the chatter, Starlight held up several mugs.
“Who wants hot chocolate?!”
They all raised their hooves and claw in excitement. After she levitated the mugs to each member, Rainbow took a sip of hers. Once she was done, a chocolate mustache came above her lips. Everyone laughed, much to her confusion.
“What?”
“Uh… Ya got something…” Applejack pointed at her own muzzle to show Rainbow.
She glanced down. “Oh!” She understood, wiping the stauche off. Everyone giggled again.
“So, any plans for the holidays, girls?” Rarity asked.
“Well…” Twilight scratched her head. “It’s just me, Spike, and Starlight here, so we’re just going to stay in and watch some movies.”
“Oh, that sound great!” Pinkie beamed. "Ooo! I've got something I want to show you!" She was holding an armful of party supplies, which she dumped onto the table.
“What’s this?” Applejack asked.
“A fun party!”
“It sounds like you already talked about this before the meeting,” Applejack replied.
“Oh, I just wanted to be spontaneous!” Pinkie gave her a wink.
"What will you be doing for the holidays, Rarity?"
"I'm going to Manehattan with Sweetie Belle for a little holiday shopping."
"Oh yeah?" Rainbow chuckled. "I could go for some shopping too."
"Rainbow, but you already have everything."
"Yeah, but...I don't have any new stuff to go with the new look."
"Why don't you come with us, Rainbow?"
Rainbow hesitated, debating whether or not she should join them.
"Well… I'll think about it."
After Spike and Starlight cleared the table, it was time for the holiday party. The ponies trotted to the halls where every other creature, including their students, gathered together. They all shared many treats with their friends and families and sang carols.
Later on, they all gathered around the large Hearth’s Warming tree, gasping in awe at its many decorative ornaments and glowing star on top.
“We love Hearth’s Warming Eve!” They all cheered.
“I-I h-h-hate H-h-hearth’s Warming E-e-eve!” Sid, Equestria's resident evil scientist, chattered.
Of all the holidays he went through, Hearth’s Warming was not on his favorites list, that's for sure. It was probably the coldest night of the year, the night where the snow grew bigger and the blizzards heavier. And since he lived in such a freezing place like the Frozen North, saying that he couldn’t handle it would be an understatement. His skin literally turned blue with icicles hanging from his antennae, just like everything else in his lab. Regardless, he had to get to work if he wanted to keep this place from turning into a full-on popsicle.
“J-just gotta scr-screw in this last b-bolt,” he said, struggling to push down on his small, frozen wrench, which broke in half. “Come on!” He tossed the pieces into the pile of other snapped wrenches behind him and took out another one from a bucket.
“Hey, boss?” Tinker asked, inadvertently making Sid snap his wrench in half on reflex.
“Ugh!”
“Oh, sorry. I just wanted to know if you needed another blanket.”
He sighed. “N-no thanks. I-I just need to c-concentrate while I f-finish this new contraption.” He threw the pieces back.
“Isn’t it too cold in here to be doing anything evil tonight?” The robot minion snarked.
“It’s not anything evil. I’m just trying to build a ‘Heat-Making Contraption’ that will melt all the ice in here,” Sid explained while trying to not quiver.
“Why not just put on your winter attire?”
“B-because of that.” He pointed at the huge blocks of ice encasing his jacket, pants, and boots.
“Oh...”
“Now, let me just f-fasten this final b-bolt.” With one careful push, the screw loosened downward without breaking the wrench this time. “There. Behold! My ‘Heat-Making Contrap--!” An icicle fell from the ceiling, prompting Sid to dodge. “You know what? Forget the introduction.”
And so, with the push of a button, the blower turned a red-orange color that emitted a slight sizzling sound. Water started dripping as the ice soon thawed from the machines and furniture.
“It’s working! It’s working!” Sid rejoiced.
The floor was soon flooded, but Tinker pulled the handle next to him.
Flush!
All the water circled down a small hole in the center of the floor like a whirlpool. Sid cringed at the sound, then sighed. “Now with the lab heated up, we can finally relax without almost freezing to death. Though I’m sure I’m going to get a heating bill for all this, but eh.”
“Hey, boss! Why is it so-- Woah! Nice work here!” Tin gave a thumbs up.
“Thanks.” Sid hopped on his bed near the contraption.
“Okay. So, are you sure this isn’t going to blow up or anything?” Tinker asked.
“Pfft! Don’t worry. I’ve already worked out all the kinks to make sure that wouldn’t happen… Or, at least I think I did…” He explained, tapping on his chin. But he simply shrugged the thought out of his mind. “Uh, whatever.”
The two stared at each other for a second or two before shrugging as well and leaving the room. Unbeknownst to all of them, a green line inside the contraption changed to yellow as it jerked up.
Three hours later…
“So…” Sid groaned, opening his eyes. “How much time is left?”
“Uh...” Tinker fidgeted in place. “About six hours…”
“Six hours?!”
“Uh, yeah, excuse me? What are you doing at this time?”
“Ugh… I have no idea. I just feel really tired right now.”
“Well, you’d better get back into bed then.”
“Yeah, I am pretty tired.” Sid pulled the covers over him. “Mmm, nice and toasty.”
“Hmm... A little too toasty,” Tinker said.
“Huh?”
BANG!
The ‘Heat-Making Contraption’ had taken a toll on the bed and scorched his feet, making him yelp as he leapt out of the covers in pain. After rubbing and blowing on his feet, he saw that the entire contraption was burning red.
"That doesn't look good."
“Nope,” Tinker replied. “Uh...”
“Oh! The fire extinguisher!” Sid exclaimed, noticing the red canister on the wall. He grabbed it and aimed at the machine. “Time to put this out!” He pulled the trigger, but instead of spraying out a water-based substance, it started spewing fire extinguishing foam. “Uh-oh…” The foam engulfed the room in a matter of seconds, making Sid cough. “I-I should’ve known that would’ve happened!”
“Yeah, you should have!” Tinker said, swatting the foam off of him.
The foam soon collapsed under its own weight, leaving the lab in a giant puddle of water, foam, and electricity.
“I’ll get this cleaned up.”
While Tinker went out to get a mop and bucket, Sid carefully examined the machine. "It doesn’t make sense. How would the contraption overheat, unless…?” He spotted the formerly green line rising up halfway to orange. “Oh no.”
“Hey, boss?” Tin asked, entering the lab. “What’s going…? Woah.”
“Not now, Tin. I'm thinking. Hmm… if my calculations are correct, and if the ‘Heat-Making Contraption' reaches its full temperature, then that means…!”
“Means what?!” Tin panicked. "What does it mean?!"
“...We have to get to Ponyville and fast!”
Back at Twilight's Castle, every creature exited out the door in a single-filed line once the party was over.
"That was some great party, Pinkie. Thanks to you, I think we're all going to have a great night tonight," Twilight said, smiling.
"You're welcome!" Pinkie beamed.
"Hey, y'all wanna take some leftovers with ya?" Applejack asked, offering several large bags of food. "I made way too much for one party."
"But won't you-"
"Don't worry, I'll eat it all myself. It's my party, after all!" Pinkie Pie laughed.
"Oh. Alright then," Twilight replied with a softened smile. "Thanks for everything, Pinkie."
"No prob--"
Sid and his minions burst through the doors open, startling the gang. "Oh, thank badness, you're all still here."
"Sid?! What are you doing here?!" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, you already missed the party." Pinkie chimed.
"That's not important right now!" Sid shouted. "You see, I accidentally activated a machine I was working on, and now it's going crazy! It'll destroy all of Equestria if we don't stop it!"
"Really?” Applejack was shocked. “That’s terrible!”
"What kind of machine?" Fluttershy asked.
"A... 'Heat-Making Contraption'! Which, when it reaches its maximum temperature, will turn Equestria into a hot, smoldering crater!"
"A hot, smoldering crater?" Rainbow Dash repeated. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"It's true! I swear!"
"Okay, seriously?! First, you're late for a party, then you're telling us that one of your contraptions is going to destroy all of Equestria?!"
"Slow down, Twilight," said Rarity. "If this is true, then we should listen to him."
"Ugh... No time for idle chit-chat! Come on!"
Sid and his minions raced outside while the others followed suit.
The gang made it to the Frozen North. The roof of Sid's lair unleashed a red coloration that was so hot, it melted the snowy ground into a large puddle.
"Sid, you made that thing! How do we turn it off?!" Spike asked.
"There's a button on the side that can shut it down easily, but it's overheated, too. We need to find some way to cool it off long enough to press it!" Sid quickly explained.
"But even if we do, how are we going to get up there without burning our hindlegs?!" Applejack asked.
"Ooo! I've got an idea!" Pinkie Pie chimed in. "We can use these heat-proof oven mitts to safely walk into the lab!"
"Goodness! Will that work, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"We don't have a choice. Everyone grab some oven mitts!"
The gang wrapped their hooves, feet, and hands in the oven mitts and teleported inside.
"Sid, where's that contraption?" Twilight asked.
"It's over there!" He pointed at it near his bed. "But it's way too hot to even get close to it!"
"W-We're going to get burned!" Pinkie Pie panicked.
"S-Sid, are you sure there's no other alternative?" Fluttershy stuttered.
"There is no other option, Fluttershy! If the contraption reaches its maximum temperature, then we're done for! So, if the rest of you want to get out of here, then we better get that machine turned off!"
"You heard him! We've got to turn that thing off!" Twilight commanded.
"Hmm..." Sid was in deep thought. "Oh, what about this?" He picked up a metal golfing rod.
"Well, press it! And hurry!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
Sid shoved the rod into the machine's 'mouth'. It started to cool down enough for him to press the red button on the side.
Sid pushed the button and the machine stopped making noise. The 'Heat-Making Contraption' slowly cooled down until it was no longer red.
"Oh, thank Celestia! We did it!" Rarity sighed in relief.
"Yeah! Great work, guys!" Sid raised his hand up. "High five!"
He was met with scowls and indignant frowns instead.
"Or… High hoof, then?"
"Sid. You nearly got us killed!" Twilight reprimanded.
He dropped his hand. "Yeah, I know."
"And you almost turned all of Equestria into a giant crater!" Applejack added.
"Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me."
"Pretty stupid?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, absolutely stupid!" Sid sighed. "Guess I'll be going to Tartarus while I'm at it."
"Look. I just don't understand why. Why would you do such a thing?" Twilight asked.
"Because it's usually freezing in my lab during Hearth’s Warming, so I wanted to make some sort of heater to warm up. But it got out of hand, thanks to my poor foresight." Sid explained.
"Why couldn't you just move someplace else?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm on a budget, okay?!" He bellowed. "So, am I going to Tartarus or not?"
"Hmm… Actually, I have a better idea." Twilight said.
"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow.
Sid sighed in relief, wearing black shades as he, Tinker, and Tin melted on folded chairs in front of a cardboard beach standees, embracing the newfound heat from the magic air conditioner.
"This is life. Equestria is saved, we finally get the heat we've always needed, this year, and the best part is: we didn't have to go to Tartarus like we thought. It's a win-win." Tinker said.
"Agreed." Tin chimed. "And these mugs of hot oil and chocolate are really good."
"Thanks, guys!" Sid waved.
"No problem." Twilight replied, closing the curtain that wrapped around the trio in the middle of the lab. Her horn illuminated as she zapped a beam at the conditioner, giving it more energy.
"So, how long is that magic going to last?" Applejack asked.
"As long as it takes." She replied.
Burp!
"Excuse me." Tin emitted.
The gang giggled while Twilight just shook her head with a smile.
Author's Note
Originally, Sid was written to be thrown in Tartarus for accidentally putting Equestria at risk. But due to the criticism of my bad habit of going too far with my characters' punishments, it was changed. Hope you enjoy.