Pip and Tia: The Heart’s Warming Tale
Pip and Tia: The Heart’s Warming Tale
By Numbername
Snow was still one of the wonders of the above world that amazed Pip even after years of witnessing it. snowflakes gently rained down onto a blanket of white that covered the land, creating an almost sea of pure white as far as the eye could see. For most of her life winter was something she only heard about in books but the real thing was another experience entirely.
But seeing the snow was only half the joy. Seeing foals playing around in it warmed her heart, making snow Alicorns, building snow ponies, having snow shootouts. (Maybe the naming was a bit morbid but what could you do when all foals grew up in the Wasteland.) “Goddesses, I wish it could last forever.”
“Careful what you wish for little one. You might find you get more than you bargain for.” Pip turned to see the tall majestic form of Celestia wearing an ugly sweater with the words big mama written on it. The white Alicorn’s aurora-colored mane was done into a ponytail that still flowed for some reason. “Winter’s fun until you have to go outside at 6 in the morning and chip ice off the carriage.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I live in this tower. I get to experience all the beauty of winter without any of the pain.” Little Pip sometimes took a little relief in the fact she was trapped in the tower without dealing with the hassles of everyday life. “Plus I get to see Heart’s Warming from around Equestria like a free endless TV special.
“Speaking about that.” Celestia interjected. “What are we doing for Heart’s Warming?”
That was the question of the month, the last few years the two had just spent the day enjoying each other’s company, but this year they wanted to do something for the creatures of the land below. “We could create a country wide rainbow.” Little Pip suggested. “Rainbows are the symbol of peace and all that.”
Celestia gave it a thought for a minute before shooting it down. “Good but no, I was thinking we should give ponies gifts more directly.”
Pip looked puzzled, give gifts? What, were they supposed to leave this tower and fly everywhere giving gifts. “We don't have the time, money, or ability for that Tia. I can’t be Equestria’s secret gift giver.”
The Alicorn just chuckled at that. “No Little one I was thinking about using the power of the S.S.P towers.” With a tap of her hoof screens appeared all around the pair, showing various places from every corner of the Wasteland. “Let us use this power to stare at the down trotted and lost to give them their desires or something close to it. Let us be their angels this season and give miracles to those who need them.”
The idea sounded right, with the towers they had eyes and ears almost everywhere, could control the weather, and hack into still working systems. Helping ponies with their personal problems seemed like a perfect gift. “Okay, but where to start Tia?”
The Alicorn took the shorter mare under her wing and brought her to one of the screens. “Let us watch and listen for their prayers, Pip.”
Fillydelphia had been through a lot in the last two hundred years. First becoming a center of industry might for Equestria’s war effort, then being destroyed for that might when the bombs burned the world. Only to live on as a shadow of its former self with its inhabitants becoming little more than tribals, that was until the arrival of Red Eye and his slavers. From the ashes, he brought the city’s might back on the lives of thousands of slaves. It was only with the heroics of the Lightbringer that the city was saved from slaver tyranny and brought under friendlier ownership.
This was a city of history, a city of progress and pain, a city of hope and the future. Golden Heart walked through it all taking in the sights and beauty of everything. The streets were busy for the season, ponies and creatures coming and going. But the sun bright mare walked with purpose, she was not here for the city’s pleasures or to seek the boundless opportunity of it. No, she came here on a personal journey.
“It should be here.” Her eyes darted from building to building as she pushed and circled around the wandering crowds. Finally, she decided to do what all travelers do, pester a local for questions. “Excuse me, sir, excuse me!” She galloped to a griffin in combat armor who was sitting at a cafe, taking a break by smoking a cigarette with a holstered rifle on his back. “Excuse me, sir!”
The very dangerous looking griffin spared the sun bright mare a glance before returning to his cigarette. “Sir please, I would like some directions.” Golden kept hoping the merc wouldn’t blow her off.
Finally, the griffin let out a puff of smoke then looked at her. “What do you want to know kid?”
Not wanting to seem rude the sun bright mare took up a seat opposite of him. “Do you know where I can find town hall or any place that has records?”
The griffin scratched his featherhead with his talons, dealing with tourists was always a pain. “The only place I know like that is the MOM hub the old boss used as his headquarters.” The griffin pointed a sharp claw down the busy road with dozens of carts tailing along it. “It’s four blocks down and three blocks to the left. The big pink building can’t miss it.”
Golden Heart almost wished to hug the stranger but she knew how much griffins hated that type of sentimental stuff. So she kindly bowed to the bird, said her thanks, and galloped off. The griffin watched as the mare disappeared into the crowd, letting out a tired sigh. “Looks like another pony trying to find a loved one.” He took a hit of his cigarette before letting out another puff of smoke. “All your gonna find is disappointment at best or tragedy at worst.”
The Ministry of Morale hub, shorted to MOM by most, was the most out of place building in the city. 200 years had done little to fade the bright pink coloring of the building, nor was the roller coaster spurting out of it any worse for ware from far away.
Being one of the hubs of the former government ministries, it came with many editions that made it favorable to Red Eye and his Slavers. When he was ousted the structure became the main office of Filly’s new government, The NCR. The hub had become home to several companies and administration offices that made the building blossom with life.
Golden Heart got the full experience from standing in line from the front desk to waiting two hours for an appointment. But finally, she was sent on her way again as she trotted up the stairwell of the hub. “By the goddesses this place is huge, I'm used to traveling but even this is a bit much.” Golden wasn’t a weak mare by any means, a lifetime traveling the Wasteland had hardened her body to resemble a mare who could easily smash your head in, along with her combat armor many thought she was a merc but it was just a safety measure.
After trotting down a hall that probably was the most well furnished it had been in 200 years, she came upon a door with the label ‘Fine Print’s record and file storage.’ With a gentle knock on the door, an elderly voice on the other side answered. “Come in.”
Opening to the sight of a grey earth pony stallion with a fuzzy greying mane, who seemed to be adjusting his glasses as he looked over papers on his desk. “Sorry dearie, my desk is a bit busy at the moment. Could you take a seat while I sort through this?” Not wanting to seem rude, Golden Heart complied, taking one of the stools in front of the desk and eagerly waiting while the stallion put away papers.
From the looks of him, Golden guessed he was from Tenpony, his classy attire, top hat, and golden reading classes all portray a pony who has some wealth behind him that was rarely seen. A few years ago seeing a Tenpony pony was like seeing Gems, they made for perfect targets of opportunist Wastelanders. But now Golden was starting to see them everywhere in some high position, a sign of changing times she guessed. “Now how may I help you, dearie?”
“I need to find somepony.” She needed to get to the point on this, she couldn’t waste time on chatter. “A former slave who was here by the name of Silver Heart, she has a Heart shaped silver Cuite Mark and looks a lot like me.”
Fine Print fumbled with his glasses as he tried to get a look at the mare. “I assume this Silver Heart is a sibling but miss you know what you're asking right?” Fine Print stared at her in the eyes to emphasize his words. “Before Red Eye’s fall over 15,000 slaves passed through this city. Either to his cathedral or his armies. Add on the fact a lot was lost in the battle of Fillydelphia and it could take time to find your relative.”
He hoped that wouldn't destroy her hope but the sun bright mare had come too far to give up now. “I can wait. A few days, a week, the rest of the year. As long as I find her.” She was determined to find her no matter what.
Fine Print wanted to tell her not to get her hopes up but realized that nothing he said could deter her. Only the cold hard evidence could stop her, so he sighed and adjusted his glasses. “Very well miss. I will look through terminals and files to see if her name comes up, I shall make it a top priority for your sake. Think of it as a Heart’s Warming gift.” He grinned kindly at her
Golden Heart lit up so much she almost wanted to jump out of her seat and hug him. Instead she just kindly bowed to him. “Thank you, this means the world to me.”
Fine Print knew it would be a while so he asked the mare to wait in the lodge of the building for an update. As the Bright mare walked out Fine whispered to any goddess that would listen. “Please, don’t make the truth she finds a painful one.”
The lodge was probably the nicest place Golden Heart had been in a while. Newly design couches and tables dotted the room with fresh snacks being served from a new vending machine. It still shocked her that companies that sprouted out of this city so fast were already rebuilding the world like nothing ever killed it.
She was sitting alone on a couch in the corner of the room, eating a salad bar while watching ponies come in for their lunch break. She wasn’t an ease dropper but one discussion did catch her ears. “Yeah, I’m thinking of buying my sister a gift.” A lavender stallion was talking to an orange mare while chowing down on some nice fresh oats. “Been the first time we’ve been together since I moved here. Wanted to get her something nice and new, nothing pre-war or rusting. She needs to know how much I miss her.”
That triggered a light bulb in Golden’s head like a ghoul to radiation. If her sister was here she needed to get her something for Heart’s Warming, so many years apart needed the proper remedy for it. The question was what? What could she give her sister to remind her of the old days? Then a thought crept into her head. “A music box, With our song..” she whispered to herself. Their song, a reminder of their lives back home, before the Raiders came. She put her mind off it, now was not the time to be thinking of the past, only how to move forward.
As she finished up on her lunch as if on queue the classy well matter form of Fine print walked into the room, carrying a bag around him the stallion met Golden’s happy gaze but he didn’t return it. The buck approached with an air of sorrowfulness to him.
Golden Heart could read creatures, being a traveler makes you pick up on body language a lot, and Fine Print’s was a dead giveaway. “Miss Heart I’m sorry.” Before she could ask for what, he placed his bag on the couch, took out a file, and displayed a bunch of papers before her. She glanced through them until her eyes fell on the face of a mare who was her spitting image, her sister, Silver Heart. At first, she wondered what the bad news was until she saw the writing under it. “Lieutenant Silver Heart of Filly’s first division defense force. Assault team bravo.”
“She was part of the city’s defense during the Enclave attack, first division meant she was on the frontlines when the attack came.” Golden Heart felt the world fall out from under her as Fine Print kept explaining, she thought she had braced herself for this but it still hurt all the same. “All ponies in her unit are missing in action.”
The world seemed to crawl to a stop before Golden Heart, everything she hoped for, everything she believed, the only thing that kept her going was gone just like that. What was the point, she had nothing left…No, she couldn’t accept that. “No, I know she’s alive, I know she’s out there!” Golden raised her voice a bit threateningly. “And I’m gonna find her even if I have to search this whole hellish Wasteland.”
“Miss Heart.” Fine tried to protest but the mare wasn’t listening. She gathered the papers and placed them into her saddlebags ignoring Fine Print’s pleads as she walked out. She was determined to find her sister, alive or otherwise.
“Ready or not, here I come!” Golden heart shouted from the top of her lugs hoping it echoed throughout the town. Her eyes darted all over the place searching for the perfect spot her target would hide. Guntersville wasn’t a big town, in fact, compared to the ruins that surrounded it was basically a village. Golden didn’t have to guess where her sister was hiding, anywhere in town would be a dead giveaway, and the ruins were off-limits with the radroaches, that left one place. “The schoolhouse!”
Golden dashed off through the snow towards the old school that sat on a hill overlooking the town like a watchful guardian. Saying hello to ponies as she galloped, the sun bright filly almost ran into old lady Sugar Flower but dodged her at the last second. “Watch where you're going dearie.”
“Sorry!” Golden shouted back as she climbed up the hill, almost slipping on snow and rolling down. When she got to the schoolhouse she was hit with the smell of old wood and rust. The schoolhouse had only been opened up 10 years ago, some pony cleared out the mantises, but repairs had been slowed because gathering learning material had been hard. So the school became a hideout for the kids and teens of town, a hideout Silver Heart liked too much.
Golden Heart searched through the halls of the building, peeking into every room until she saw a little flank with a silver heart Cutie Mark sticking out from behind a desk. Slowly trotting into the class as she approached her target like a hungry predator, she yelled the loudest roar she could as she pounced. “Gotcha!”
Silver Heart was tackled from her hiding spot, the fillies rolling around the classroom as they went before breaking apart. “You cheated!” Silver Heart accused as she struggled to get off the floor while laughing.
“Nope, you just suck at hiding.” Golden snarkily fired back before dusting herself off. “Pick somewhere other than the school to hide next time, okay?”
Silver Heart puffed her cheeks out in frustration then crossed her forehooves. “Oh yeah, well why don’t you hide and I seek then?”
Golden Heart smugly shrugged as if it was beneath her. “Silver, if I was hiding you would never find me. It would be so unfair.” She pushed it off as she trotted to the door of the room. “Besides I can’t, mom says she’s about to start Hearth's Warming dinner.
Not wanting to accept this defeat Silver Heart stomped her hooves like a filly a few years younger than her. “No fair, no fair! Let me find you for once!”
“No.”
“Come on.”
“No.”
Just as Golden was out the door Silver Heart had an idea. “I will let you have my Heart’s Warming gifts.” That stopped Golden in her tracks.
The sun bright filly weighed her options for a minute. Miss dinner a bit and get yelled at by mom or win and get all of Silver’s gifts. That’s when she got the most devilish idea. “I will do it.” Her sister could almost leap for joy. “But I win when mom calls us for dinner, deal?”
Silver Heart didn’t even have to think about it. “Deal!” She hopped around in joy before stopping at the desk she hid under. “I will give you a five minute head start!” She buried her face in her hooves.
Before she even heard Silver say 1 Golden was dashing out of the school, up the hill towards her ‘special hiding spot’. There was one building that rose even above the school and that was the old Skycart station, still abandoned since the ‘bad days’ as her mother told her. However, her hiding spot wasn’t the station itself but what was behind it.
Galloping past the mini runway that led to a cart lot, Golden approached the building with a giant rusted billboard of pegasi welcoming flyers to the rest stop. Running around the building, Golden Heart found her ‘special’ hiding spot, a metal door that was covered by snow and weeds. Pushing them aside, Golden opened the metal door to a path that led underground. “Ready or not, here I come!” She barely heard Silver’s voice echoing over the hills but took that as her time to hide. Closing the metal doors behind her as she descended into the Underground.
The place bore the same reek that all these places that were closed up since the ‘Bad days’ had. But that didn’t matter, she had found this place, it was hers’. Inside was like a big house, an open space with lots of beds, a kitchen, a big bathroom with a lot of showers and toilets. Golden often wondered what this place was? A big house for a lot of ponies? An Inn? Whatever it belonged to her now.
“Silver’s never finding me down here.” There was food down here that was still fresh like the store in town, tons of books and comics to read. Golden Heart could spend the whole night down here and Silver would be none the wiser. “Free presents here I come!” The filly hopped around the room at her easy victory, truly this was the best Heart’s Warming ever.
Time seemed to crawl to a stop as she waited, the filly trying to ignore it as she read the books littered throughout her hideout. But even that started getting old as time kept going. “Mama should be calling us to dinner right now so I guess I won!” As the filly closed the book she was reading, she happily skipped off the bed she lay on and towards the entrance.
“I won! I won! I won! I!” the filly’s chants ceased the moment she started hearing faint popping coming from outside. At first, it was just a few pops here and there but it slowly grew louder and more numerous until Golden’s mind registered what it was. “Gunshots!”
She knew gunshots when she heard them, every foal in town did. In the Wasteland, every pony learned real fast what guns did to ponies, hell you were taught how to use them before you got your Cutie Mark. But this didn’t sound like practice.
Rushing out of her hideout the filly almost made a mad dash home until she saw the chaos down the hill. Raiders, the spawn of the Wasteland, murderous scum in the dozens were swarming through the town like the plague, killing ponies who fought back and capturing those who fled. The town burned as the raiders tossed Molotov cocktails into houses making residents flee into the waiting chaos outside, where they were shot with strange weapons that caused them to freeze then fall over.
Golden Heart was completely frozen, her heart racing as her mind panicked at what was happening. She saw ponies she knew, other foals she was friends with either get killed or captured. She saw the broken body of Sugar Flower laying in the snow as a raider stomped on her. Something clicked in the filly, the first time in her life her body moved without her thinking. She galloped back into her hiding spot, locked the door behind her, turned off the lights, and hid under one of the beds in the corner of the room.
She didn’t know how long she waited there, hours? Days? It didn’t matter, Golden Heart just hid in her special hideout, all the while the same thought kept circling in her mind. “What happened to mama? What happened to Silver Heart? What if they..”
The thought weighed on her like an anchor, all the filly could do was cry, and when she couldn’t cry anymore she just closed her eyes and laid there.
When the filly finally opened her eyes she marched to the hideout’s entrance with knots in her stomach, she was not ready for this but she couldn’t stay here any longer. With eyes strained with tears, the foal pushed the doors open into a cold Hearth's Warming night.
A tear landed on the recorder, Golden Heart had barely noticed she had started crying until another one fell. The memory came back to her like a wound reopening and the pain with it. She thought she had prepared herself for this day, there was always that thought in the back of her mind that Silver didn’t make it, but she tried her damndest to bury that idea. She must have looked like a filly, sitting alone crying on a bench while holding a recorder.
Only a high-pitched voice snapped Golden Heart out of her thoughts that burned in her mind. “Are you okay?” Golden Heart looked up to see a young red filly dress in a tight coat with a scarf wrapped around her. The foal just stood in front of Golden with a puzzled expression, she probably wasn’t used to seeing an older pony in the despair Golden was. “Why are you crying?”
Golden Heart didn’t know how to explain this to a child, or if she wanted to. But her venting a little wouldn’t hurt. “Well you see kid, a long time ago I lost a very special pony. They were taken by bad ponies and I’ve been searching for them.”
The filly gasped at that. “Are they okay?”
Golden couldn’t tell her no, this kid didn’t need to learn how cruel the world was yet. “I don’t know, kid. I spent years and years looking but I haven’t found them yet.” Golden’s hold on the recorder tightened as she spoke. “And I don’t think I ever will.” She said softly.
The filly wasn’t dumb she could tell this was a sore subject for the older mare. So she took a seat right next to the sun bright mare and gave her a warm smile. “You can’t give up! You will find her one day!” The filly’s determination put Golden Heart a little at ease, sometimes a little comfort is all you need. “When I get very sad I think about the Lightbringer and how brave she was even when she was sad.” An idea popped into the filly’s head like a light switch turning on. “You should go pray to the Lightbringer for help.”
“Huh?” Golden doubted that would help but she didn't say that to the filly.
“Yeah!” The filly hopped off the bench in excitement before trotting around in a circle of joy. “My mom says that the Lightbringer lives up in the sky with Goddess Celestia and if you go to one of the big towers to pray the Lightbringer will make your wish come true!” The filly proudly explained in a hyper matter. “You gotta go pray miss.”
All Golden could do was smile and nod, the kid was trying to be helpful so why not humor her. “I will kid, thank you.”
The filly was about to say something else when a mare’s voice called for her. “Honey! Come on dearie we’re leaving.”
The filly stopped her joyful prancing and gave Golden a wave goodbye before galloping off. “Goodbye Miss, I hope the Lightbringer makes your wish come true.”
Golden Heart watched the filly disappear into the crowds before sighing and turning her gaze back to the recorder. The filly’s words hung in her head, pray to the Lightbringer and she will help you. Golden knew of the Lightbringer, the hero who brought down Red Eye and his slavers, killed a Goddess, and saved the Wasteland from the Enclave. She heard in passing the Lightbringer had become some god of the Wasteland, that she looked down from above with Celestia. But would she notice Golden? Would she care?
Golden Heart put the recorder into her bags and got off the bench. She walked with a new purpose towards a tower that loomed over the city in the distance. She had no options left but this, praying. If praying was her only hope then she would let fate guide her, she just hoped the Goddesses above would listen.
It loomed over everything as if it was a spike that split forth from the ground. It reached into the clouds poking the heavens above. Dozens of these towers dotted around Equestria and could be seen from almost anywhere. Before the Lightbringer came, very few Wastelanders paid them little mind, just simply arcane technology from before the world ended. Now they were like signs that Goddess Celestia above was watching them as all seeing protectors.
Golden Heart felt tiny in the presence of such a structure, like forces beyond her understanding looked down at her. But this was her only hope now so the mare kept moving. The base of the tower had a few ponies and griffins standing guard over it or was supposed to. They were more occupied playing card games or smoking than anything.
Only one took notice of her as she approached the entrance. “Come to pray, have ya?” A dirty brown mare with a scar across her eye asked from her seat in front of the doors.
Golden Heart assumed by the question that this wasn’t an unusual event. “Yes, do I need permission?” if she needed a card or something to enter that could be a headache to get.
The merc mare shook her head. “Nope. The Lightbringer hears all who pray.” She gestured up at the tower making Golden’s eyes follow. “She’s busy this time of year but she’s always listening, just simply speak.”
That made Golden Heart a little assured along with unnerved. Did the Lightbringer already know of her plight, had she already decided what to do? Those thoughts danced in her mind as Golden entered the tower.
The inside of the tower looked like something out of an old pulp comic. Terminals line every wall with a screen above all of them, all of them seemed to be turned off except for one. The room itself was dirty silver like an abandoned Stable, even had a few wires hanging from the ceiling.
Golden Heart stood in the center of the room wondering what to do. “Do I just pray or do I press one of the buttons?” Golden’s only recourse was to do what her mother taught her when praying to Celestia. She bowed as one would to a princess, closed her eyes, and began praying.
“Dear Goddess Celestia, I pray to you today so that you can find my sister. I searched for her for years and years, kept hoping that I could find her, that I could put all this behind me, now I found where she was and I’m being told she was killed. Please, please I need to find her, give me a sign if she’s alive or if she’s dead, I can’t live with not knowing anymore. If she is alive could you guide her here? I just want my sister, I just want Silver Heart back.”
“If you are listening Goddess Celestia and Lightbringer, if you can find her, can you play our song? Maybe that will bring her here.” Golden took the Recorder from her bag and held it as high as she could. Pressing the play button made the device spring to life, the voices of a mare singing a soothing melody followed by two more ponies joining in filling the room. “This is the song of my tribe, every mare learns it from their mother since the world ended. alapu upala is its name.”
Golden Heart turned off the recorder and placed it back into her bag. Before departing the tower she took one last look at the room. Would the Lightbringer hear? Would she care? All she could do was hope some goddess above listens to her pleads. “Please Find her.” Were her last words before leaving.
“So, how shall we help her?”
“Simple, we use these towers to search every feed in Equestria and run through old videos of Filly before and after the attack. Look through old Red Eye’s files, and send out Spritebots to locate her or anypony that knew her.”
“And if this Silver Heart is dead?”
“Then we tell her, but I’m not stopping until we have proof.”
“Well, then little one let us begin our search oh great Watcher.”
And so the Princess and The Hero searched far and wide for the pleads of a sorrowful lost mare. Listening with ears that heard everything, searching with eyes that could see anywhere, scanned through thousands of files and films for the mare named Silver Heart. The Princess and the Hero made it their duty to bring hope to a mare who almost had none. For when some pony prays an angel will listen, for they were the guardians of this land and brought hope and dreams to all.
Hearth's Warming Eve had done little to quiet the lively city. Fillydelphia became busier than usual this time of year, since the city had been ‘repurposed’ its factory had been put to more commercial use than say a military one. Various factories pumped out products for the Heart’s Warming season, and the city was swelled with buyers of all kinds. It was truly a wonder of the post wasteland world. For many it was the greatest time of the year, for Golden Heart it was a time for mourning.
She stared at the city below from one of the many windows that lined the VIP room, watching as ponies and creatures were making last stops for the day ahead. She didn’t partake in the ceremony, instead, she usually prayed in the morning, ate some treats, and rested the day away. It was only at the begging of her coworkers that she came to the holiday party, however, as soon as she arrived she found a quiet corner in the room and stayed in it. Outside of conversing with a few coworkers, she kept to herself, watching them party the night up from afar.
“Cap for your thoughts?” Golden's gaze broke away from the chaos of the party to see a familiar Griffin. Verlion was the griffin who helped her find her way around town when she arrived and became a good friend over her stay here. “You looked dressed for a funeral and got the mood of one.”
She was, on this day Golden had always chosen to wear black clothes, she mourned in silence as to not ruin other ponies day of celebration but she guessed Verlion was good at reading her. “That on the nose huh?”
“We had to beg you just to get out of bed this morning, so you're not hiding it well.” The griffin handed out a mug full of scotch which Golden happily took. “How are you holding up?”
Golden didn’t want to unload her problems onto the griffin but needed to get something off her chest. “It’s just, you know, my sister.” She fought to say what had been on her mind for weeks now. “I think I wasted my life having hope she was alive, that someday I could see her again and I wasn’t in denial. But I guess I’d fooled myself.”
Verlion wasn’t good with these types of talks, usually he’d try to exit them as quickly as possible. But Golden had become a friend and leaving her in a sad state wasn’t his way of doing things. “You ain’t a fool for having hope, you let it drive you all over the Wasteland to find someone you love. Sometimes in life holding on to big ideas is all we have.” Verlion pointed to the party of ponies and griffin guards around them. “Without that pulling you along you would never be here with friends like these.”
She took a bit of comfort in his words, sure her path didn’t lead to what she desired but she found a life free from the wondering of the Wasteland, she could take joy in that. “Thank you Verlion.”
The griffin raised a glass to her which she returned. “Happy Heart’s Warming.” They both took a drink to that.
The party continued into the night but the partiers showed no signs of stopping as the amount of drunk ponies and griffins increased. Golden Heart had to thank the Goddesses that they banned carrying weapons to the party. She sat with Verlion at a table with an open window that blew the calm night air in. Both of them shared stories of their lives and enjoyed the company away from the hard party.
The sun bright mare’s gaze only turned away from her friend when she spotted the out of place classy form of Fine Print trotting around the room. “I wonder why Fine’s here?” The party was mostly thrown for the guards and hired mercs working around town, not something she would think a high class pony like him would show up to. “Mr. Fine.” Golden waved until the stallion saw her.
“The big wing down here for something?” Verlion tried to hide his displeasure at the fancy ponys' arrival as the buck trotted up.
He seemed in good spirits, Golden took that as regular holiday cheer until she saw he looked like he had the greatest surprise for her. “Ms. Heart I’m so glad I found you, I have wonderful news!”
The buck seemed almost ready to hug her with the valor he showed, Golden wondered what could be so great that he was in this mood. “What is it, Mr. Print?”
“Ms. Heart allow me to give you the best Heart’s Warming gift.” Before Golden asked what that was, the stallion pointed to a pony in the crowd.
At first Golden Heart couldn’t understand what was special about the pony until she saw the mare's face. She was Golden’s twin in every way except for the fact her coat was silver and her mane was greyish, but Golden couldn’t forget her Cutie Mark, a silver heart. “No.” Golden almost fell out of her chair, it was like seeing a ghost. “No.”
As the mare approached Golden Heart just froze in place, tears starting to well up in her eyes. It couldn’t be her, it had to be a trick, but as the silver mare trotted up to her Golden Heart couldn’t deny it any longer. “Hello, Golden.” She said in a voice Golden Heart had dreamed to hear in ages. “It’s me Silver, your sister.”
Golden Heart could barely utter a word. There she was, after years of searching and having hope there she was. Nothing she could say would get across how she felt so the sun bright mare answered the only way she could. She galloped out of her chair and embraced her sister in a hug so tight they nearly fell over.
“I missed you, I missed you.” Golden repeated over and over with pain and joy in her voice.
“I missed you too sis.” Silver Heart returned the emotional outburst.
Silver and Golden heart held on to each other for what seemed like forever before finally breaking their embrace. Golden Heart looked her sister over, noticing that Silver was more taller yet slimmer than her. “You, you’ve grown so much Silver.” she said, wiping away tears.
“Well, when the slavers make you run training laps it builds the legs up.” She half-heartedly joked. “But you looked like a pony who takes Buck endlessly. What’s with all these muscles!” Silver poked at the muscular chest of her sister that would make a Minotaur jealous.
“Oh well, traveling builds character in more ways than one.” They had both been changed by the world around them but that didn’t matter, what mattered was that they were together again and nothing in the world could change that.
“So this is your sister huh?” Verlion looked with curiosity between them, finding all the subtle ways they were the same. “She really is your twin Golden.”
“Oh Silver, this is my friend Verlion!” Golden ensured her sister over to shake talons with the griffin. “He’s helped me a lot since I came here. A real sweetheart.”
Silver Heart bowed to him but the griffin waved it off. “Don’t give me that crap, we griffins don’t do formalities.”
Silver Heart blushed as she rose. “Thank you anyway.” She turned to the elder classy stallion who was watching all this joy play out in front of him. “And thank you mister Print for taking me to my sister.”
He nayed in a gentlemanly way. “Say no more Ms. Heart. When I heard there was a young lady in town looking for Golden I knew right away who it was.” Like the high brow stallion he was, he took his hat off and bowed to her. “It’s my pleasure to reconnect those lost souls with their love ones, especially after the war, and on Heart’s Warming no less, we are truly blessed by Celestia.
That last phrase triggered a question in Golden that she needed an answer to. “Silver, how did you know I was here?” Fine Print said Silver was looking for her meaning that Silver knew she was here, was it just luck she came here or something else.
“Oh!” Silver lit up like a Heart’s Warming light. “That’s the craziest story. A Sprite Bot brought me here.”
“A Sprite Bot?” Everyone said in confusion.
She nodded to the question. “Yeah, see I escaped during the battle a few years back and wandered around until I found work in a town far south of here. I would still be there if a Sprite Bot hadn’t shown up one day and told me to come here.”
“A random Sprite Bot did that?” Golden was almost in disbelief at that. Sprite Bots were flying machinal drones based on a creature of the same name and appearance. They were apparently used in the Old times to raise morale by playing music while flying all over the country. All they did now was buzz around playing music that just annoyed ponies but they never talked to you. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it convinced me to come here when it played a recording of you playing our song.” Golden Heart stopped at her sister's confirmation.
Could it be that it worked, did her prayer really reach Goddess Celestia and the Lightbringer? Her pleads didn’t fall on deaf ears, that out there two angels were watching over her. She felt a sense of comfort in that, knowing that her hope was rewarded.
Golden took a look at the tower that sat in the distance outside, giving a silent thanks before turning back to her sister. “Sis I got something for you but I left it at my apartment.”
“What Sis?”
“The recording of us singing our family song.”
Silver Heart pondered that for a moment before coming up with an idea. “Why don’t we create a new version of the song?”
Golden Heart blinked in confusion at that, that song had been their tribe for generations and she wanted a new one. “You want to create a new one?”
“Yeah.” Silver shrugged. “The old one was about death and all that, I think our new song should be about healing old wounds.” It sounded reasonable, a new song for a new life. Let go of the past and move forward.
Golden thought about it and ultimately agreed, they needed to start a new era for their family one of fixing old wounds not remembering them. “Okay, but where should we record it?”
Silver Heart pointed to a stage in the room that had recently seen a lot of drunk ponies and griffins trying their luck at singing, to painful and embarrassing results. “There! Let’s give these ponies a show!” Silver Heart galloped off to the stage much to Golden’s protests.
“Hey wait!” Golden shook her head before looking at Verlion. “Can you record us?”
The griffin shrugged. “Sure thing.”
With that Golden ran after her sister, yelling her name all the way. “Silver Wait! Celestia damn it! You never change.”
Pip looked up from her work, a sense of pride in what she had brought. “Feels good to help ponies.”
“Being a gift giver is the best isn’t it?” Celestia watched the scene of the two mares singing with a heavy heart, it was moments like these that always made being Equestria’s protector/mom worth it. “Let us hope their new life together has less tragedy.”
“Maybe we should pray for a happy life for those two.”
Celestia nodded at that. “From my experience, I’ve learned that prayers are hopes that one clings to. But sometimes that’s all we have in life.”
“Well, that’s why we’re here to make sure their hopes come true.” Pip interjected. Sure Pip and Tia weren’t real angels but they could be ones if that gave the world below them something to hang on to. “Hey, want to write our names in the snow using lightning?”
“Hell yeah! Let’s do it on the side of Rainbow mountain so ponies in the valley can see.” Celestia shouted with the energy of a filly.
With that Pip and Tia set off to enjoy their Hearth's Warming Eve, with the knowledge they restored a pony’s dream. For when ponies come with wishes on Heart’s warming, two guardians will hear their pleads.
FIN------------
