Chapter 1- A Huge Hearth’s Warming Eve part 1
A gentle snowfall was gracing the Crystal Empire as the holidays was in full swing. Carols was being sung in the streets, hot chocolate was being served by venders, cakes and pastries were sold at stands, and overall, the mood could not be even better. Crystal ponies were greeting their neighbors and sending them good wishes for the holiday before they all turned in for the night. Tomorrow was the big day: Hearth’s Warming!
The sun set behind the mountains leaving behind a beautiful orange sunset, as the moon climbed higher and higher into the sky, the stars twinkling elegantly as a soothing peace settled in the empire. In the households all around, ponies were wishing their families good night as they went to bed for the night, eager for the next day.
That is, all except for two ponies.
High above the town in the Crystal Castle, the lights to the royal suite was still on. Inside, Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor were both hurrying around in a bit of an urgent panic, while trying to be as quiet as possible.
“Shiny!” Cadance whispered as loudly as possible “Have you seen my hat? I can’t go out without it!”
“Here Cady!” Shining Armored whispered back as he made is way into their bedroom. He was wearing a warm, festive red hat with a small cotton ball hanging off the side and carrying two large bags, practically bulging from their contents. Shining set the bags down and levitated over a similar hat to his wife, who took it gleefully and pulled it’s warm, fuzzy interior over her ears.
“Thank you,” Cadance said with a grin as she made her way over to him, pausing to give Shining a nuzzle and kiss “Is everything all set for tonight?”
Shining nodded as he carefully opened one of the sacks. Inside were dozens of wrapped presents of various shapes and sizes “I finished packing up everything just now. Did you put Flurry and Thorax to sleep like we planned?”
Cadance nodded “Yup, I put them to bed over an hour ago. Hopefully they’re sleeping soundly now so we can do this without waking them up.”
“I don’t think we’ll get too much trouble; you know how much of a heavy sleeper those two are,” Shining said with a chuckle as he rummaged around the bag, pulling out a few presents, all of which were labeled either “Flurry Heart” or “Thorax”
It was at this moment the door to the royal suite opened slightly and an orange pony stuck their muzzle inside
“Oh, good you’re ready!” Sunburst said happily, fully opening the door as he stepped inside “Are you two ready for that ‘secret Santa’ activity? You’ve been planning it for the past two months.”
Shining nodded “You bet, after we sneak into Thorax and Flurry’s room to give them their presents we’ll head out and leave gifts for everypony in the Crystal Empire while they’re asleep, so they’ll be surprised the next morning for Hearth’s Warming,” he said as he looked lovingly at Cadance “And of course we have this wonderful mare to thank for the idea,”
Cadance giggled and booped Shining on the nose “Well I can’t take all the credit dear, you’re the one who made it a reality by calling in those favors from your old Canterlot friends to help you make all these toys for the fillies and colts,”
Shining laughed at the boop and gave his wife one last nuzzle for good measure “Thanks honey, shall we get started now?” he asked
Cadance nodded with a big, silly grin on her face, grabbing her sack of presents and tipped hooved into their child and adopted child’s rooms.
Light snoring permeated the air as Thorax slept soundly in his bed, a pleasant and content smile on his face. His blankets were skewed all around his black chitin body in a heap, with the young changeling himself sleeping on his back, his hind legs in the air as they occasionally twitched, with their owner having pleasant dreams.
Thorax hadn’t been living with Cadance and Shining for very long, after Spike had found him all alone in the snowy wasteland outside of the Empire, the royal couple had decided to take him in as their own, after past grievances had been dealt with. Fast forward a few months later and Thorax was happily learning about pony culture and traditions as well as going to school now. Making new friends and still keeping in contact with Spike. Shining and Cadance were happy to say that Thorax was practically the son they never had and will always defend that claim whenever it was necessary.
The door to Thorax’s room creaked open slightly and two figures poked their heads inside. After confirming that Thorax was still asleep, Cadance and Shining armor quietly stepped inside. They slowly made their way over to Thorax’s bed as silently as they could, trying their best not to make too much noise. Shining lit up his horn and his present bad noiselessly opened, the magic cloud rummaged around inside the bag for a second before a few parcels floated out, guided by Shining’s magic, and was gently sent down by Thorax’s bed.
“Great job honey,” Cadance whispered as she arranged them in a neat pile.
Shining nodded, resealing the bag with another quick burst of magic. And as he did, Cadance finished arranging the presents by the bed. Standing back up, she quietly walked over to Thorax’s bed and give him a kiss on the forehead, just below his horn.
She stifled a giggle behind a hoof as she heard Thorax squeak in happiness in his sleep at the sudden, but not unwelcomed, burst of love he received in sleep. Cadance turned back to Shining and saw that he was looking on with a gentle smile at the scene.
“He may have been suspicious of Thorax at first,” Cadance thought “But’s it’s undeniable just how much Shiny has grown to care for him,”
A smile graced her features as Shining motioned his head back towards the door. Cadance nodded and the two tipped hooved back outside Thorax’s bedroom, shutting the door behind them with a soft click!
Once they were outside in the hall, the couple made their way over to the nursery, there their daughter Flurry Heart was peacefully sleeping in her crib. Once again, the two parents silently nosed open the door and carefully stepped in, taking care not to make a sound. This time, Cadance had her magic at the ready as she soundlessly opened up her present sack and floated over a few presents to Flurry’s crib, arranging them in a neat pile.
Flurry sleepily cooed at the faint noise the presents were making as they set themselves down on the ground next to her, but aside from that she didn’t do anything else.
“Excellent work dear,” Shining whispered to a slightly blushing Cadace as he quietly made his way over to his daughter’s crib and nuzzled her cheek “Happy Hearth’s Warming sweetheart,” he murmured gently to her.
Stepping back, Shining made his way over to Cadance, who had magicked a book in front of her, and was currently held aloft by her magic. Inside the book was a list of all the houses in the Crystal Empire they the two were going to pay a visit to during the night. They would leave a present by the doorstep along with a special hearth’s warming card specially made by the both of them. It was a secret project that the two had been working on for a little while now. Since they were now the emperor and empress of the Crystal Empire, they wanted to show their thanks to their citizens by doing something nice for them.
“Ready to get started?” Shining whispered to Cadance, who was skimming through the book’s contents. They both had a copy so they could keep track of where they went once they split up to cover more ground.
Cadance nodded “I think so,” she whispered back, closing the book and vanishing it with another flash of magic “Let’s go,”
But as the two turned to leave, Flurry made another cooing sound from her crib, along with the very familiar hum of magic coming from her horn. Flurry was having another once of her magic bursts. The unknown spell built up rapidly in her horn before shooting off at the nearest target.
Shining Armor and Cadance.
The spell collided with them and sent them careening back, but thanks to Cadance’s quick thinking, she casted a quick teleport spell and transported them outside and into the hallway without making too much noise to wake up Flurry Heart.
The pair got up, groaning at the unknown spell’s impact. “Well, that’s one way to say thanks,” Shining said with a halfhearted chuckle, wincing from the pain. Next to him, Cadance was shakily getting to her hooves, shaking her head to clear the slight blurriness from her vision.
But as her eyesight cleared, she noticed that her field of vision was beginning to rise. With alarm, Cadance quickly turned back to Shining Armor, who had a similar expression of panic on his face as he realized what was going on.
“C-Cady?!” he shouted in alarm. From his perspective, only Cadance was remaining the same size in his view, as their surrounding were quickly beginning to get smaller and smaller. With a grunt, the two crouched down as their mass continued to expand, filling up the entire hallway and completely blocking the door. Their back eventually began to press against the ceiling as they duked down their heads to prevent it from hitting the top. Their size continuing to grow as cracks began appearing on the wall as the two royals continued to outgrow the hallway.
Cadance lifted her head from its position on the floor and casted another spell, teleporting both her and Shining Armor outside of the castle and in the courtyard.
The two fell with a yelp onto the frozen ground outside, sliding a little on the snow as they struggled to regain their balance. Once the two had regained their footing, they raised their heads, now well above the tree line and still growing. Cadance watched with growing apprehension as the ground continued to fall away as their height continued to climb higher and higher. Their forms now beginning to rival the size of their castle.
But it didn’t stop there
Bigger and bigger they got, neither one daring to take a step, in fear of damaging a house and hurting an innocent pony inside. Their shadows covering their entire Empire as the two royals towered over everything. Their growth finally coming to an end, with the two giant parents now standing roughly 2 miles in height. Easily towering over their miniature kingdom and the surrounding mountains.
Cadance gulped uneasily and met Shining’s gaze who had a bit more of a thoughtful look on his face as he examined the now tiny world around him.
“Oh, this isn’t good! Not good at all!” Cadance whispers to her husband, trying in vain to not let her powerful voice awaken the little ones scattered around her hooves in the empire and surrounding towns. Cadance looks back down, squinting her eyes as she tried to find where the Crystal Empire had gone.
Spotting it’s diminutive form on the ground, the colossal princess of love lowered her massive head down to the little spot on the ground that her empire occupied, kneeling down on the ground, a little rice sized protrusion sprouting up from the ground indicating where the castle was.
If a pony was to go outside of their home in that very moment, they would see two towering figures occupying the sky as a very large, and very pink nose larger than a comet lower itself to the ground, Cadance’s gargantuan muzzle coming to a halt just above the empire.
“Sunburst!” Cadance whispered urgently, the force of her voice causing the ground to rumble slightly “Sunburst? Where are you? We need you right away!” somehow miraculously, even amidst the shaking, all the good little fillies and colts of the empire didn’t stir from their sleep at the immense whispers of their enormous empress. Even when Cadance had to flick her head to the side a bit to prevent the mountain sized fluff ball on the tail end of her hat from squishing the ground below.
Far below, Cadance watched as a small speck of orange and blue emerge from the balcony in the royal suite. She watched as the tiny Sunburst stumble back in shock at the sight of his gigantic rulers towering over literally everything in the vicinity and even squeaked out in fear at the sight of Cadance’s magenta eye replacing the night sky above as the titanic princess of love looked down at him.
Sunburst seemed to overcome his fear once he reaffirmed to himself that he was really looking at his mega sized Emperor and Empress and not some terrifying monster from legend. Cadance watched as little Sunburst raised his hooves in the air and began waving it frantically as he tried calling up to his gigantic empress. At least, that was what Cadance hoped he was doing and not having a nervous breakdown because at her great height, all she heard was frantic squeaks.
“Sunburst sweetie? I can’t hear you down there, you’re too tiny. But if you can, I need you to return me and Shiny back to normal, alright dear?” Cadance whispered gently to the frightened little mage, her motherly instincts kicking in as she tried to calm the poor thing down the best she could.
But as she told Sunbust this, she felt her husband’s gargantuan blue hoof on her shoulder. Cadance turned around to meet his gaze, and Shining Armor still had that thoughtful expression on his face, but at the same time he seemed to be holding back a grin. And Cadance recognized that look anywhere. It was the same look he had on his face when he was planning something when playing Ogres and Oubliettes.
“Hold on a second Cady,” Shining said “I think you might be rushing to conclusions here just a little bit, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing,”
Cadance raised an eyebrow at the statement “How is this not Shiny? Huge doesn’t even begin to describe how big we are now!” Cadance said as she gestured around them “These mountains are smaller than ant hills for goodness sake, I can barely see our Empire, and our little ponies are no bigger than mites! What if we take a step and accidently squash them? We wouldn’t even notice it because they’re too tiny!”
Somewhere down below, Sunburst whimpered in fear
“Well, this wouldn’t be a problem is we cast a spell on ourselves to negate any damage we could potentially cause,” Shining Armor said with a smile as his horn flashed “And don’t worry honey, I just did. We don’t have to worry about accidently crushing anypony,”
Sunburst sighed in relief, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbing his forehead
“Thanks, Shining,” Cadance said, getting back to her hooves “But why are you so adamant on staying like this?”
“Because I think we can make use of our newfound size,” Shining Armor said, a goofy grin plastered on his face as he lit his horn again. This time their gift sacks appeared in front of them, but this time they were resized to be around the same size as themselves. And inside were millions of tiny, regular sized presents
“Why not make Hearth’s Warming Eve for fillies and colts everywhere? Not just in the Crystal Empire. We can do secret Santa all over Equestria and deliver presents to all the good foals everywhere! We’re definitely big enough to do it. Heck with a few steps we’d be passing by Manehatten. So, what do you think? Because I personally want to go for it!”
Cadance thought for a second: on one hoof, Sunburst could go grab a counter spell and shrink them back to normal in a few minutes and they could go on and do secret Santa as they planned. But on the other hoof, she and Shining Armor could stay as giants and use their size to their advantage and deliver gifts to all the foals all over the kingdom. As much as Cadance wanted to return back to normal, the Princess of Love and maternal side of her felt more obligated to take care of the Children of the kingdom and spread the joy and love in her and Shining’s hearts.
“Alright Shiny,” Cadance said as she nuzzled his cheek “Let’s go deliver gifts tonight all over the kingdom and surprise all the foals,”
Cadance unfurled her wing and dipped it into her gift sack, she scooped out hundreds of tiny presents in her wing and sprinkled them all over the Crystal Empire. Her love magic guiding the presents to their targets.
Cadance looked up with a grin, seeing the tiny world laid out in front of her as she towered over it, taller than a mountain “Well Shiny, shall we go?”
Shining Armor smiled “Of course dear,” he said. Shining Armor levitated his bag over his broad shoulders and tipped his Santa hat further down on his head. Once he had everything secure the gargantuan emperor of the Crystal Empire leaded down to the little castle, where the tiny speck of orange and blue Sunburst was still staring gob smacked at the two royal titans.
“Hey Sunburst? Buddy? Cady and I are gonna head out for a bit, ok? Can you find the counterspell to shrink us back to normal when we get back? Thanks,”
Sunburst nodded at the giant weakly and shakily went back into the castle, a cloud of magic surrounding the presents that had dropped next to him, delivered by the titaness of love personally a little while ago.
Shining smiled a little sadly, noticing that poor Sunburst was pretty intimidated by him and Cadance, but there was no need to worry. The two of them would be back to normal soon. As soon as they finish delivering gifts.
Shining walked back over to Cadance, his hoofsteps shaking the tiny world as he went over to his wife “Ready to go?” he asked.
Cadance nodded “I think we should split up, that way we can cover more towns and cities before Auntie Celestia raises the sun,” she said.
“Ok Cady,” Shining said straightening up “Let’s meet back her in an hour,”
“Alright dear, see you then,” The princess of love giggled, giving her husband one last peck on the cheek.
And with that, the two holiday titans waved each other goodbye and departed, eager to bring some hearth’s warming cheer to all the fillies and colts of the world.
Author's Note
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
Looks like the two best parents will be taking care of an extremely tiny Equestria tonight, Shining and Cadance are on their way to deliver as many presents as possible. And maybe they'll also be making a few surprise stops along the way to spread some holiday cheer!
Chapter 2- A Huge Hearth’s Warming Eve part 2
In the kingdom of Equestria, everypony was sleeping. Not a single creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Well, aside from the nearly 7000-meter-tall princess of love causally stepping over a mountain as she walked over the landscape. Cadence giggled musically as she leaned down and nuzzled a nearby village with her snoot, providing all the little sleeping ponies a sense of comfort and safety as the slept.
Cadence’s horn lit up as she did, and from her gift sack, floated out hundreds of tiny little gifts that made their way over to all of the little houses that were scattered about by her hoof. The brightly wrapped presents settled down by the front of doorsteps, magically passing through windows like they were ghosts and neatly placed under each ponies respective decorated tree.
With a satisfied smile, the colossal princess of love stood back up, her immense shadow spanning for miles across the landscape under the shining moonlight as she continued her country wide trek. With another mighty step her huge hoof landed with a BOOM! Next to another remote village. This one looked like one of the most backwater villages she’s ever seen. With very few houses and only a single general store. But being as attuned to emotions as she was, the pink titaness was able to pick out all of the love sprinkled in the air from the tightly knitted community.
It warmed her heart to see all of her little ponies continuing to surprise her with all of the ways they spread their love and joy to each other’s hearts. Cadence summoned her magic again, its dark blue aura swirling around the gigantic arcane spiral on her forehead as she levitated more presents from her bag and gently set them down next to, and inside each one of the houses.
“This is such a wonderful community,” Cadence thought fondly as she stood tall over it, her hooves big enough to squash the entire village and surrounding mountains around it “For as poor as they are, these ponies still manage to maintain a positive attitude and a smile on their faces as they uplift others,”
A sad smile settled upon her lips as she looked down at the speckle that was the backwater town, it laid bare and slightly unkept below her as the extremely little ponies slept, blissfully unaware of the fact that the titanic crystal empress towered above them. As Cadence eyed up the mountains in the surrounding area, an idea suddenly popped into her mind. Lighting up a metaphorical lightbulb above her head as she took in the state of the town and the lack of a weather factory.
“That’s what’s missing!” She thought gleefully “The poor little dears did everything they could to make a memorable Hearth’s warming eve, from the trees to the food they cooked, and even the gifts they made themselves. But if I really want to set the mood for tomorrow then they’ll need a little snow!”
Cadence thundered over to where the ant hill sized mountains were and unfurled a wing from her side, its shadow covering the landscape like a blanket as the pink titaness lowered it towards the ground and, as gently as somepony her size could, scooped up a wingfull of snow off the mountain.
Giggling, Cadence made her way back over to the remote village and began to sprinkle some of the snow down onto the town below. She smiled softly as the village began to resemble something out of a hearth’s warming greeting card as the snow continued to fall. Cadence was certain that this would be a welcome and pleasant surprise to the ponies down below who wanted a white Hearth’s warming day, namely the fillies and colts living in the town. Her quick emotion probe of the town had confirmed that. With no weather factory present in the town, it was really rare that the residents got to see that much of a weather change, and Cadence wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity to give the little ones something they wanted so badly.
“A bland Hearth’s Warming Day? Ha! Not on my watch! This gigantic mom is gonna make sure that tomorrow is going to be something special little ones, this I promise you,” Cadence thought with a determined look on her face as she leaned down once more to give the residence and town one last loving nuzzle. Her gargantuan pink muzzle lowered itself from the sky again, blotting out all light as it smothered the entire miniature town in it’s warmth and rubbed back and forth against it.
Smiling, Cadence stood up tall, her head above the clouds as she heaved the gift bag over her back, now considerable lighter due to how many presents she had given out. With a satisfied nod she pulled her Santa hat over her ears to keep them warm as she set out again, causing more tremors to rock the world as she went, determined to deliver more presents to the fillies and colts of the world.
A gigantic, muscular, blue and white hoof landed next to Manehatten with a soft THOOM! Rattling the ground. Blinking, Shining Armor looked down as he noticed the pebble sized city by his leg. “Well,” he thought “Good thing I had the hindsight to cast that spell on Cady and I so we don’t hurt anypony. I might have accidently stepped on that city and would not have even noticed!”
Warm air blew through Shining’s nose as he exhaled in relief that no one was harmed. The wind blowing from his nostrils parting a few clouds by his head as the Emperor of the Crystal Empire activated his magic once more.
With a soft Pop! Shining’s now mountainous book materialized into view. It’s gigantic shadow covering a good portion of the country as it floated ominously in the sky in Shining’s magic. Shining Armor opened up the book and started flipping through the places he had visited thus far. He had been to a few remote villages, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, and Appleloosa. All of which time he had stopped his globetrotting and delivered his presents.
Before he and Cadence had split up, Cadence had casted a spell on their lists of families in the Crystal Empire. Their books had expanded in content and now reflected all of the ponies in Equestria as well as the cities they were in. For each one of the towns that Shining Armor and Cadence visited and delivered presents to, their names would be crossed out in red ink, signaling to the two of them that said family’s gifts had been delivered. And the best part was, Cadence had taken a page out of her dear sister in law’s book and organized all the pages to show every town and city in the nation and all the families that lived in each one. This way they could keep track of where they went as they went about on their global present delivering.
Shining’s horn flashed pink, and he watched with a gentle smile as millions of little gifts floated out of his sack of presents and fly off towards the inhabitants of the city. Shining turned his attention back to his book and gave a content nod as he saw all the names in Manehatten get crossed off in red ink.
“Excellent, just a few more stops to go,” Shining though happily as the last of the presents floated over to the final building. As that was going on, he skimmed through the book once more, taking note of all the places that he had gone to, and that Cadence had gone. He had taken all the areas on the East and Cadence had taken all the locations on the West, with the two of them moving towards each other. Shining’s ears perked up as he realized that his next stop was Ponyville. A small, well-intentioned smirk crossed the colossal captain of the guard’s face as he quietly closed his book and stuffed it into the gift bag.
“Ready or not Twily, your REALLY big bro is coming to town,” Shining thought with a chuckle and smile on his face “What kind of gift should I leave Twilight and Spike?” Shining mused out loud as he stepped over Manehatten, the mere sound of his powerful voice shaking the air around him. Shining’s titanic form displacing the air as he went, sending powerful drafts of wind shooting in every direction, buffering the snow on the ground. His hoof landed on the ground outside the city with another THOOM! As he set off towards the tiny town where his little sister and even littler brother resided.
As Shining walked over the tiny kingdom, shaking it to the core with each step, and dispersing more presents to the various locations that he passed, Emperor Shining Armor thought back to his little sister, brother, as well as his children. For as long as he could remember, he has been looking out for others and taking care of them. First it was Twilight when she was a filly, she had been so young and innocent back then. Shining remembered when she had gone to her entrance exam at the castle as a filly, she had been so nervous at first, and then he remembered seeing the joy on her face when she came back with Spike. Shining at first had been apprehensive about this as the caring older brother. Twilight had been so adamant about raising Spike by herself but Shining knew about the risks of having dragons near ponies. Tales of ponies being burnt to a crisp and being eaten by fierce dragons. But Twiliy was adamant about it, and before he knew it, Shining had another younger sibling. But even after Spike had proven that he was harmless, Shining Armor had found himself enjoying looking after the little dragon, and was proud to call him a little brother.
The moment where he found himself looking after another soon came to pass again after his marriage. After his dear daughter Flurry Heart was born. And being the good father that he was, Shining did everything in his power to love and protect her. This even applied to Thorax as well. He will admit that when Thorax first showed up at his doorstep, his initial feeling towards him were not the best because of the traumatic events that had been done to him by Chrysalis. And he unfairly projected that onto Thorax when he and Spike confronted everypony in the throne room. But after taking Thorax under his and Cadence’s wing, Shining felt nothing but a blossoming paternal love to him as well, especially when the young changeling recalled the horrible conditions at the hive and how poorly his mother, Queen Chrysalis treated him for being different. It was there Shining made up his mind to be a better parent the that evil queen ever was (which admittedly wasn’t hard for anypony to pull off) and do his absolute best to help raise Thorax and guide him on the path so he could become the best changeling he could be.
It was then, Shining realized as he strolled past a cluster of mountains with his footsteps shaking the snow off them, that he enjoyed looking after others. More specifically the small, tiny, and helpless. Which is why, at least he suspected, that he got an ant farm in his later years before marriage to take care of. He enjoyed taking care of the little ones and watch them grow in their habitat. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside knowing that he played a large (pun intended) part in helping them survive and grow. Cadence would also use to tease him and say it’s because he enjoyed taking care of tiny things. Which wasn’t untrue. Shining blushed a little as he walked, realizing that may have had something to do with why he decided to remain as a giant for the night. This way he was fulfilling some unconscious desire to help and take care of the little guy. And that still seemed to translate into his normal life now, when he wasn’t over several miles tall. He still enjoyed taking care and loving others, which he was doing in the form of fathership, looking after and raising Thorax and Flurry. And even now as he traversed the miniature land, Shining Armor still felt like he was accomplishing that. Now that he was standing at a mighty 7000 meters tall he felt like he was fulfilling his role and duty as a parent by looking after all the fillies and colts in the kingdom for Hearth’s Warming Eve and delivering them as well as their families gifts for the holidays. And that fact made him feel good about himself and had seemingly lit a protective fire of care in his heart.
A smile graced Shining Armors lips at the revelation as he made his way over to Ponyville, covering thousands of feet with each step. Perhaps this was why he was trying so hard to look after everypony, from helping to raise Twilight to Flurry and Thorax and now even helping to guide the Crystal ponies to a better tomorrow as their new emperor after so many years under Sombra’s rule. After spending nearly all of his life caring for others it seemed only natural, he’d want to do it in his adult life as well.
As the titanic ruler reached his destination, Shining shook his head to clear the thoughts so he could focus on the task in front of him. He ignited his horn again and floated all the presents to their recipients down below by his gigantic hooves. Nodding with a satisfied smile at the act, Shining turned his head towards the outskirts of the town was. Where a certain tiny crystal tree was. Chucking to himself, Shining stomped up to the small crystal speck on the ground. The little castle coming up just a little higher than ground level next to his gargantuan blue hooves. Shining didn’t even bother with magic for this, he simply reached down with his hoof and tore the gnat sized castle out of the ground like it was sand. Shining held the little tree up to his blue eye and looked down, smirking at just how tiny it was now. He sent along a few very special gifts he had reserved specifically for Twilight and Spike down into their castle: A huge stack of rare and new comic books for Spike along with extensions to his ogres and oubliettes game, and a signed by the author collector’s edition of advanced spellcasting for Twilight as well as a five-foot-tall fluffy smarty pants plushy.
But as the gigantic stallion was about to set the little castle down, the door to the balcony opened and out stepped an extremely sleepy Twilight.
Twilight yawned and blinked sleepily a few times before looking up at the sky, taking in the aqua blue eye looking down at her.
“S-Shiny?” Twilight yawned, smacking her mouth a little as she tiredly looked skyward “I heard a noise outside and came to look…”
Twilight trailed off as she let out a small snore, she stumbled a little on her hooves before falling onto her rump. She let out a cute little snort and jolted awake again.
“It’s ok Twily, it’s all just a dream,” Shining Armor spoke as softly and gently as he could, his inner big brother taking over momentarily “You should head back to bed sleepyhead, there’s going to be a big surprise for you and Spike tomorrow,”
“O…Ok Shiny,” Twilight yawned again, her sleepiness not allowing her tired brain to register the situation. The vibrations in the air from Shining’s voice seemed to sooth her because before she knew it, the tiny purple filly was asleep again.
Shining’s eyes danced with mirth at the familiar scene as a soft pink hue surrounded his sleeping little sister and gently carried her back into her room and tucked her in. Very reminiscent of when the two of them would try to stay up all night for Santa but Twilight would fall asleep after some time, so Shining would tuck her back into bed before retiring himself, because after all, Santa surely wouldn’t visit their house if two foals were waiting for him right?
Smiling, Shining Armor carefully set the tiny castle back down into the ground by his hooves and repaired any damage with a quick flash of magic. As he towered over Ponyville Shining quietly materialized the book in front of him and check it over. With a grin he saw that Ponyville was the last stop for the night, it was time to meet up with Cadence at the Crystal Empire.
Shining turned to go, but as he took a few steps he stopped and turned back around, the giant looking back down at the miniscule town on the ground behind him. “Happy Hearth’s Warming LSBFF,” Shining said quietly before taking his leave, his hoofsteps sending quakes through the ground as he went, pleasantly rocking the little ones behind him to back to sleep.
The Crystal Empire remained quiet through the night as the residents slept, the excitement of their rulers growing into unimaginable sizes from before had gone completely unnoticed by the individuals. And it would remain this way as the two titans returned from their kingdom wide walk of gift giving. Aside from poor Sunburst, who was waiting outside the royal suite with a spellbook in tow, having finally found the counter spell.
Shining and Cadence met up back at the Crystal Empire, the both of them sharing a loving nuzzle as they loomed over the mountains
“How was it sweetie?” Cadence asked, nestling her head against her husband’s broad chest. Shining kissed her forehead as he replied “Very enjoyable Cady, it felt great to give a little to all the families in the Kingdom. Just as a little thank you to them for all they have done for us over the years, after all, what is royalty without loyal subjects who love and trust them? They matter just as much as we do after all,”
Cadance giggled and booped Shining’s nose playfully “Now that’s the right answer dear, I raised you well in the wonderful world of royalty,”
Shining simply smiled as the two of them looked down at their little empire, a warm feeling grew in their hearts as they took it in. It was such a different perspective from up there, knowing that down below there were thousands of tiny little ponies who put their faith and trust into them and that they would lead them to a better future. They put all their trust into them, and now the two royals were happily repaying their gratitude for the holidays.
With a quick flash of pink magic, Shining opened his and Cadence’s gift bags again and sent all the remaining presents down to the houses below, each one of the gifts, like all the others that were sent to every family before, were magically inclined to become something that the recipient would want for the holidays.
After that was done, Cadence had one more surprise in store, the Empress of the Crystal empire reached down and plucked the little thing out of the ground, holding their empire snugly in her wing, her eyes filled with love and care as she beheld the tiny kingdom. Cadence leaned down and smothered the little empire with one last loving kiss, her lipstick leaving its mark down as a mountain sized kiss was printed onto the empire below. Giggling musically she held the Crystal Empire up higher so she and Shining could lean in, and together, the two royal titans said softly to their tiny subjects “Happy Hearth’s Warming our little ponies,”
Cadence gently set their Empire back down on the ground and spied little Sunburst in the castle, completely covered in her lipstick from the kiss and clinging to the rail of the balcony as his entire world was set down by his Empress. Cadence smiled softly as she spied the tiny mage down below “Sorry sweetie, I didn’t mean to be too rough handling the empire. You weren’t hurt, were you?”
Sunburst shook his head, despite the scary experience, he still had a huge smile on his face, knowing deep down just how kind and caring his two rulers had to be to do something as incredible as what they did just now, delivering presents to literally every family in Equestria as well as one final, special message for their home.
Cadence brightened at Sunburst’s answer “Thank goodness, if it’s all right with you Sunburst, can you return Shining and I back to normal now?”
“Ok Princess Cadence!” Sunburst hollered up to the pink titaness and begain to charge the counterspell. And with a quick flash of orange magic, the rulers of the Crystal Empire found themselves standing on their balcony with a grinning Sunburst behind them.
“Welcome back your majesties,” he said “Did you enjoy your walk?”
The two laughed and Shining patted Sunburst on the back “We sure did buddy, we sure did.”
After everything was cleared up, everypony thought it was well past time for all of them to turn in for the night. Sunburst headed back to his quarters while Shining Armor and Cadence discreetly headed back to their suite, trying not to wake up their children. Cadence and Shining removed their Santa hats from their heads and set them down on the dresser. The two of them settling down inside their bed, eagerly awaiting the next day as well as the anticipated joy on everyponies faces when they see their special gifts from the royal parents. And as the two settled in for the night, one last gift from the present sack had been put under their tree, courtesy of Shining Armor.
And it said: Happy Hearth’s Warming! From yours truly, Shining Armor, Cadence, Flurry Heart and Thorax
Author's Note
Happy Holidays and Happy New Years from yours truly, bottleH2O! I hope everyone enjoyed this fun little fic I planned on writing for the holidays and before the year ended. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and a happy and fulfilling 2022!
To new beginnings!
