A very very long time ago, even before the Moon rebelled against the Sun, it was almost Hearth’s Warming in the Crystal Empire. All of the Crystal ponies, both young and old, were eagerly excited to celebrate the upcoming holiday. It was a time of light, hope, and friendship, and every pony couldn’t wait to celebrate with their families and friends.
However, nopony was more excited about celebrating Hearth’s Warming than the fillies and colts who called Crystal Heart Foal Center home. And none of these fillies and colts was more excited than a certain crystal unicorn named Radiant Hope.
Apart from the Crystal Faire, Hearth’s Warming was Radiant Hope’s favorite time of the year. Hope remembered all the wonderful memories she had celebrating the holiday with her parents, before she even came to live in the orphanage. She loved getting to bake yummy holiday cookies, sing holiday songs, and decorate Hearth’s Warming trees with her mother and father. How great those times were!
Sadly, Hope didn’t have her parents anymore. And this would be the first Hearth’s Warming she’d be spending without them. This made her feel a little sad inside whenever she looked at all the splendid decorations displayed in the orphanage, or whenever she saw other little fillies and colts spending the holiday with their parents. But, Radiant Hope tried to remain as cheerful as she could. Her parents always taught her to look on the bright side of things, and she knew they wouldn’t want her to feel sad for them around one of her favorite times of year. And most of all, Hope knew she had to stay happy and cheerful for someone she cared deeply about — her best friend, and fellow orphaned foal, Sombra.
Sombra had moved into the orphanage only a few months ago, but he and Hope were already the best of friends and did everything together. Sombra was a unicorn, like Hope, but instead of having a sparkly violet coat and a shiny teal mane like Hope did, he had a dull ash-colored coat and a mane that was as black as the night. He was a little younger than Hope, but that didn’t matter to either of them since they had so much in common. They both liked to play imaginative games together, and they were both teased by the other ponies at the orphanage for being a little different. Hope couldn’t help but feel bad for her friend, as unlike Hope, Sombra had never had any parents, and he couldn’t even remember his life before he was found abandoned in the bitter cold of the Arctic North. Sombra had never celebrated Hearth’s Warming before, so Hope was determined to show him the magic of the holiday. And she decided that the best way to do this would be to get her friend the best Hearth’s Warming gift she could.
But, there was only one problem for the young unicorn. What gift should she get for Sombra?
It was early in the morning. Hope was so excited about the upcoming holiday that she couldn’t sleep, so she decided to knock on Sombra’s door and talk to him.
“Sombra? Are you awake?” Hope asked cheerfully.
“Sombra is awake now” said a voice from inside. The little unicorn colt still had an odd habit of referring to himself in the third-pony, which Ms. Chestnut Falls was attempting to help him break.
“Yay! Well, as you know Hearth’s Warming is tomorrow and I’m just so so excited! Come out here Sombra, it’s time to get ready!”
The door cracked open, and Sombra looked at his friend timidly with his bright green eyes.
“Um, okay. But, what are we going to do to get ready, Hope?”
“How about getting each other a Hearth’s Warming present?” Hope said enthusiastically.
Sombra’s eyes widened. For the most part he had no idea what Hearth’s Warming even was, let alone what traditions it entailed. And now, Hope was telling him that he needed to get his best friend in the whole world a gift?
“Oh! Don’t worry, Hope! Sombra— I mean I— have already gotten a gift for you.” the colt stammered. He didn’t like having to lie to her, but his young mind needed to think of something to hide the fact that he didn’t get her anything yet.
“You have? Wow, you’re ahead of me, Sombra! I haven’t even thought about what I’m gonna get you yet. What did you get me? Wait, don’t tell me — it needs to be a surprise!” Hope kept chattering away, unable to contain herself.
“Uh, yeah, Hope” Sombra replied shyly. “Could you please give me some time to, um, wrap your present? It’s in my room so I should probably go in there.” He pawed at the floor with his left hoof as he said this, showing his awkwardness.
“Oh, don’t worry Sombra! I’ll give you some time to do what you need to. And I’ll go now and get a present for you!” Hope smiled and began to trot off, but then she doubled back and told Sombra one last thing before leaving.
“Sombra, you’re a good friend! I wish my mom and dad could have met you!” she called before racing off down the hallway.
Sombra turned a little red at her words. Recently he had started feeling a little warm and fuzzy inside whenever he was around Hope, which was odd, because Hope was his best friend, and he shouldn’t get nervous around his best friend, should he?
For the time being, though, Sombra had to shrug his unusual feeling away, because the little unicorn had something more important to take care of. He had only one day to get Hope the perfect present. But what would it be? Sombra was at a loss for what he could get for his friend, but then he remembered what Hope had just said to him. She said she wished her mom and dad could have met him. That was it! He could find Hope’s mom and dad and bring them back to her for Hearth’s Warming. Hope had told him once that her parents were “lost”, but everything lost could surely be found if one looked hard enough, right?
His little heart beating with excitement, Sombra cantered down the hallway as fast as his hooves could carry him. Now he knew exactly what he could get for Hope, and he wasn’t going to stop until he found what he was looking for!
Sombra decided the best thing to do first would be to ask a grown-up pony for help in his search. Ms. Chestnut Falls, the pony in charge of the orphanage, knew about pretty much everything, so surely she would know where to find Radiant Hope’s parents. Although Sombra had only called the orphanage home for a few months, he had still gotten very familiar with the place, and he knew exactly where Ms. Chestnut Falls’ office would be.
When he found the door to the office, the gray unicorn attempted to turn the knob, but he discovered to his surprise that it was locked. Ms. Chestnut Falls wasn’t in her office. She was gone! Sombra continued to stare at the locked door, dumbfounded at how such a thing could be, until somepony passed by him in the hallway.
“Wot is it, sunny? Need help with somethin?” the wrinkly old mare asked. This was the orphanage’s janitor. She was probably as old as the Crystal Empire itself, for all Sombra knew, and she only had one eye, which glowed a sickly pale blue. Needless to say, Sombra was absolutely terrified of her, and he showed no hesitation before he fled for his life down the hall, screaming all the way.
The elderly janitor simply shrugged. “Foals these days oughta learn some manners!” she exclaimed, before continuing on with her cleaning work.
The absence of Chestnut Falls and the frightening encounter with the janitor were setbacks for sure, but Sombra would not give up in his search. He still needed to find Hope’s parents in time. But without Chestnut Falls to help him, how? Sombra recalled a story he had read a little while ago about a clever detective pony who would solve mysteries and catch crooks. In the story, the detective would find out where something was or who was responsible for a crime by searching the area for clues. Sombra could just look for clues, too, and they could lead him to Hope’s missing parents!
The young colt looked around the area. There didn’t seem to be anything helpful in the hallway, so he decided to head to other parts of the orphanage. Maybe he could ask some other fillies and colts if they had seen anything useful. They might not be all that eager to help him, but it was worth a shot.
Author's Note
Just a sweet story I've decided to start for Christmas. Happy holidays!!
