Chapters A Hearths Warming Tragedy
It was a snowy day in Sires Hollow, and many ponies were frantically buying last minute gifts and singing carols. However, most ponies who lived in the small town were off on vacation, you know, to get out of such a small area. You see, it was Hearths Warming! Anyway, Firelight and his daughter, Starlight Glimmer were staying in their hometown for Hearths Warming. Starlight was visiting him for the holidays, and they couldn’t be happier together, despite Firelight occasionally slipping up and saying cute nicknames to Starlight. However, instead of getting mad, Starlight would just roll her eyes and smile at her dad, which told him to stop. As the two were heading home from buying cocoa, they smiled and laughed all the way home, telling stories about their adventures since they last saw each other.
When they finally reached home, Firelight asked his daughter of she wanted to decorate the tree with him.
“Sure dad! You know, it’s been a while since we did this together!” Starlight happily replied.
“You’re right, sugarbun! It had been quite a while! Well, I’m glad we’re doing it now,” Firelight said as he levitated an ornament on the tree. “Just two more days until Hearths Warming Day!” He continued.
As Starlight was about to reply, the two ponies noticed the bookshelves appeared to be vibrating! Then, the whole room started shaking aggressively! It was an earthquake!
“Starlight! We have to get out!” Firelight shouted.
“Okay! We need to hurry! THE HOUSE IS FALLING DOWN!” Starlight screamed as the two ponies started running! Pieces of the house’s walls were caving in, and the ceiling was falling down bit by bit. Then, Firelight got his hoof stuck on a piece of wood from the floor! Starlight noticed that her dad was not following her, and then saw he was stuck.
“DAD! NONONO!! PLEASE, TRY TO GET OUT!!”
“I can’t! I’m stuck! Starlight, JUST GO! LEAVE ME HERE! JUST GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!”
Starlight had no choice but to run. It was either her dad got buried alive in there, and Starlight could get help, or they both stayed in there and nopony would know! So Starlight chose to evacuate, in hopes her dad would be okay until she got some help.
When Starlight was finally out of the house, she could see that Firelight was free, bit the door was blocked and he was struggling to find a way out.
“Dad! Jump out the window! The window!” Starlight yelled as loud as she could to him! Firelight nodded and ran toward the window. However, just as he was about to make it to the window, a huge chunk of the ceiling fell right on top of him!! He fell and didn’t show up to the window again.
“DAADDYY!!!!” Starlight screamed at the top of her lungs in fright!
Starlight noticed the shaking had stopped, so she ran into the house window to find her dad. When she found him unconscious, she felt tears in her eyes. She quickly pulled him out of the house by his tail and brought him to the door, or, what was left of it.
“DAD! ARE YOU OKAY?! PLEASE, WAKE UP! Please!”
Starlight kept shouting phrases like this at her dad until she realized he had no heartbeat! He was....dead....
Starlight started to sob as she hugged his dead body. Even though she knew that he was gone, she still kept sobbing things such as, “Wake up!” and, “Don’t go!”.
After about 10 minutes of sobbing, a stallion finally came up to her. He was wearing a face shield and goggles. He saw Starlight and spoke into his walkie-talkie, “So far, we have 14 survivors, 5 injured, and 1 dead. Over.” Then, he tapped Starlight’s shoulder, and she instantly looked up, eyes bloodshot from crying. He asked her who this stallion was, referring to Firelight.
Starlight sniffled for a minute, then quietly cried, “My dad.” Then, the stallion with the mask asked how old she was.
“Why do need to know?!” Starlight asked.
“We just need to know your age, ma’am,” the stallion replied.
“Fine! I’m sixteen! Happy?!” Starlight said as she cried more. The stallion just thought for a moment, before asking, “Where’s your mother? You have another pony other than your father to be your guardian, right?”
“What are you talking about? I’m sixteen! I don’t need to have a guardian anymore!” Starlight said confused.
“Well, the law says that anypony under 18 needs to have a respected guardian. So, do you have anypony else?” Said the stallion.
Starlight just sat there, and looked up sadly, “No, I don’t. My mother left me and my dad for Las Pegasis when I was born. And my grandparents are both dead now.”
The stallion sighed and said, “Well, if that’s the case, I need to report you to social services.”
Starlight looked angry. “What?! No! I’m not being put into foster care. I’m sixteen! I can take care of myself! Just leave me alone!”
“Alright, but I’m afraid I’ll have to come back soon. But, for now, I’ll leave you be. And I’m sorry about your dad.”
Starlight said nothing as he walked away to check more buildings. However, what she didn’t know was that word had gotten to Ponyville about the earthquake.
A Hearths Warming Tragedy
As Starlight was sitting on the pathway to her dad’s now torn down house, still softly crying to herself, she thought about all the times she had with her dad. The memories started flooding in like a rampaging river.
A three year-old Starlight and her dad were playing on the swings together at the Sires Hollow playground. Firelight was pushing Starlight gently, and Starlight was laughing and grinning the whole time. She had always loved to play at the park with her dad, and he loved playing with her, too.
It was Starlight’s first day of school, and Firelight was making sure Starlight had everything she needed. Pencil, notebook, crayons, lunch, etc. He told her to be nice to all the fillies and colts and play games they wanted to play too. He also made sure Starlight knew where her lunch and supplies were. Starlight rolled her eyes and told her dad he was too overbearing. Firelight laughed and gave her a hug and kiss before walking her to school.
Starlight hated to admit it, but she longed for the days when she was still a foal, her only worry about what fun she would have today. She wished she could go back to the days when she would walk back home from school, her dad waiting for her with her favorite snack of milk and his homemade cookies.
Starlight came running home happily with a colt following along. They had just met, and had already had a lot in common. Their interest in magic, love of reading, and they even like the board game “Dragon Pit”! When they reached Starlight’s home, the colt by the name of Sunburst was introduced to Firelight. Firelight treated Sunburst like his own son, inviting him to dinner and even baking him treats to take back home for he and his parents.
Starlight briefly smiled at these memories, before closing her eyes again to reminisce more.
It was a tragic day for Starlight. Her only friend, Sunburst, had gotten his cutie mark in magic, and left her behind. Starlight was devastated. And even though her dad cared about her troubles, he just didn’t have the time to help her through it. He had just got fired from his job, and he was forced to find another job, one that had little pay and long hours. Starlight thought that her dad didn’t care, so her relationship with him faltered.
Starlight frowned at the memory. She wished she had understood his reasoning back then, but she couldn’t go back and make herself. She also knew time travel was not an option right now. She had known that for a while.
After coming home from a hard day of getting made fun of at school, Starlight ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. Firelight looked on at her in concern. After about an hour of crying from the bullying because she didn’t have a cutie mark, Starlight decided to pack a few supplies and jump out her window, and never come back home.
Starlight started to cry some more as she thought of this memory. She remembered about how she struggled to survive in the desert, and how hard it was to find ponies who didn’t like their cutie marks. If only she had just talked out her problems with her dad.
After being redeemed by Twilight and her friends after traveling back and time to get revenge on them, she visited the one pony she hadn’t seen in years, her dad. When she reached Sires Hollow, Firelight was overjoyed to see her. However, Starlight was nervous to tell him what she did. She finally did, however, and instead of her dad getting mad at her, he started smothering her with love and treating her like a filly. Once again, this messed up their relationship again.
One day, Starlight and Sunburst were called by the Cutie Map to solve a friendship problem in their hometown. They are both nervous about their parents smothering and trying to take control of their life. When they reach Sires Hollow, Starlight’s dad starts treating her like a filly, again. And Sunburst’s mom, Stellar Flare, tries to make all sorts of plans for him. Eventually, the ponies talk it out with their parent, and they both promise to stop being so overbearing.
Starlight cried again. She wished she could erase all her mistakes from the past. After all, her dad was just trying to make up for not being there much when she was a foal. How could she be so foolish!? To completely ignore his support and love. Starlight eventually cried herself to sleep on the cold sidewalk.
A Hearths Warming Tragedy
After a couple of hours of traveling, the Mane 6 finally reached Starlight’s hometown of Sires Hollow.
“Well, if we’re gonna go, let’s go,” Twilight said nervously.
The girls all jumped out of the train and stepped outside. The newspapers weren’t kidding! The whole town was destroyed. Buildings were barely recognizable, smoke and dust took over the town, and there wasn’t a pony in sight.
“Maybe everypony escaped?” Rainbow said nervously, her voice shaking.
As the seven walked through the town, gazing at all the destruction, they came upon the stallion whom Starlight talked to.
“What is the princess of friendship doing here?!” He asked, shocked. “The town has been hit by a powerful earthquake, there were only 23 ponies here before it happened, and most managed to escape or survive. So what brings you six here?”
“Seven!” Spike shouted from the group of ponies.
Twilight spoke up. “Well, we saw from the newspaper that there had been an earthquake here, and we wanted to check up on a friend. How many deaths were there?” She asked sadly.
The stallion looked at his notepad and replied, “There were 15 survivors, and only one death.”
The girls looked at each other with worry. They thanked the pony and set off further into the town. They passed through countless destroyed buildings and rubble. Most of them were trudging along with a frown, except that Pinkie was bouncing along the path with a smile. She wasn’t clueless about the situation, she was just trying to lighten the mood. Plus, it was just a habit of hers.
After about 10 minutes of searching the town for Starlight and her dad and not finding them, they git worried. Even Pinkie started getting anxious. However, after they had almost given up, assuming they had escaped, Fluttershy heard a sound. It sounded like breathing. However, it wasn’t coming from any of the girls, or Spike. When they got closer to the sound, they could finally see what was making the sound. Starlight Glimmer. They had found her!
“Starlight!” All the girls, and Spike, exclaimed joyously. They all ran up to her and noticed she was sleeping.
“Starlight! It’s us! Oh, do wake up!” Rarity said. That was when they realized what, or, who was beside her.
Starlight was startled out of her sleep and looked up at the girls. Then, she started sobbing uncontrollably. The girls noticed that the pony beside her was, Firelight, her dad! And, he appeared to be….to be…….dead. He had no heartbeat, and he wasn’t breathing. The girls and Spike all hugged Starlight while they cried. Her dad had just died. But, Applejack especially, was crying, as she knew what it felt like to be without her parents for a very long time. However, in Starlight’s case, it would be forever.
They all eventually broke the long, heartfelt hug and looked at Starlight with sadness. Starlight’s eyes were especially puffy, as she had been crying for a long time. Then, Starlight spoke up.
“Sniff* How did you guys know about the earthquake?”
“W-we saw it in the newspaper. So we decided to come and check on you and your dad, and the town. We……didn’t know what we’d find. I’m so sorry, Starlight. I don’t know what to do. Apparently, there was only one pony dead. And, well, uh, never mind,” Twilight sadly answered.
Starlight looked down at the cold ground. Her tears could almost freeze on it, it was so cold. Then, the snow started to fall down on the town.
“Darlings, it’s getting cold. We should get indoors,” Rarity said after some awkward silence.
“Where? Everything’s destroyed! This place ain’t getting fixed for a long time,” Rainbow Dash answered with worry.
Starlight hugged her dad once more and cried into his cold fur. She could still hear her dad calling her cute nicknames and getting on her nerves. Why did it have to happen to him?! On Hearths Warming?! This was the first time in years she had even attempted to spend Hearths Warming with her dad, and it was all ruined. By a STUPID EARTHQUAKE!!
Twilight sat down by Starlight and wrapped her wing around her. She couldn’t stand to see her friend this broken. Starlight was freezing and shivering, both from crying and the temperature. She then looked up at Twilight. Her face appeared sad and weak.
“What do you say we go home? It’s about dinner time. And the temperature’s dropping as we speak. We could come back for your dad later and give him a proper burial,” Twilight offered gently, trying to lighten the mood for Starlight.
“Sniff* O-okay.”
The girls and Spike all felt compassion for their friend, so they all told her that they would always be there for her. Then, everypony boarded the train back to Ponyville.
A Hearths Warming Tragedy
Word Spreads To Ponyville
A few hours after the earthquake, news starts to spread to Ponyville. You see, earthquakes are very uncommon in Equestria, as earth ponies usually predict them coming and stop them. Soon, Twilight and her friends hear about the terrible news.
“Earthquake in Sires Hollow?” Rainbow Dash stated confused.
“It appears so,” Twilight said just as concerned.
“What’s an earthquake?” Pinkie Pie asked just as cheerful as ever.
“Well, sugarcube, it’s like, when the ground shakes, and it can cause a lot of damage,” Applejack answered.
“Wait, Sires Hollow. Darlings, isn’t that where Starlight’s spending Hearths Warming?” Rarity asked full of concern.
“Oh! You’re right! Starlight’s spending the holiday there with her dad! Oh no! Starlight! Do you think she and her dad are hurt?” Twilight asked with fright.
“Oh, goodness! Oh, Twilight, this is bad! What if they got hurt! We need to check up on them! And the rest of the town!”
The girls looked at her and then looked at Twilight. Twilight knew what they were thinking.
“Okay, but we need to hurry. After all, our families will be waiting for us if we stay for too long.”
The girls nodded and agreed. Even Spike was for it. He cared a lot for Starlight, almost as much as he did for Rarity!
So the girls packed some supplies and got ready to go on the train to Sires Hollow.
