The end of the year was approaching, and the city of Canterlot was already entering the festive spirit. Ponies walked around chatting animatedly, vendors filled their stores with supplies and seasonally themed decor, foals ran excitedly through the snow making snow angels and having snowball fights.
In the royal castle, preparations for the celebrations were being made, maids went from one place to another making sure everything was shining, planners went up and down arranging the decorations, guards made stoic faces and stood guard at most events, and petitioners tried one last time to have an audience with the princesses before they were suspended until next year
"...and that is why I believe it is everpone's concern that these changes are made" an old grass-colored pony ended his speech by giving a small bow to the princess on the throne
"Mr. Green Mint, I appreciate your concern for the population of large pine trees," Princess Celestia gave an appreciative smile, "but I believe that replacing all the commemorative trees with straw equivalents is not the correct solution."
"I don't see a problem with using straw, my community has been doing it for generations" Mr. Mint said, trying to sound confident in his words
"But that doesn't mean the rest of Equestria will adhere to those customs," Princess Celestia pointed out.
"B-but princess! The pine trees are defenseless!" came the old pony's last desperate attempt
"I will send an investigation into illegal loggers you claim are cutting in the Tall Pine Forest" the Princess said, and before Mr. Mint could say anything, she continued, "and as for your proposal, how about you bring one of the straw sculptures that your city is so proud of to the festival? This way we can see how the public receives it before considering any major changes."
" Oh, thank you princess, that's all I ask" Mr. Mint said as he bowed deeply, before turning and heading for the exit with a smile that would be more associated with a shrunken-hearted gift thief than a defender of trees.
As the green pony began to head for the exit, the seneschal stepped forward and announced, "and with that the audiences are concluded, they will be suspended until the end of the festivities, a happy Heartwarming to everpony!"
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"How are the preparations going, Raven?" Princess Celestia asked her seneschal as they walked through the palace halls.
"Everything is in order princess, the decorators have already started preparing the decorations, the cooks have already received the ingredients for the banquet and the maids are doing one last round before they take leave" the unicorn said as she looked at her clipboard
"Good ,tell the team not to overload themselves, we are still far from the Heart Warming and we have time to finish preparing everything," the princess said as she remembered how certain ponies tend to react to the approach of important events,"speaking of overloading, how is my sister? Only the moon knows how difficult it must be for her to see a holiday she participated in so much in the past being so different now."
"She doesn't seem disturbed, the captain said she warned that she will be taking charge of this year's 'expedition of the six', does your majesty know what that means?"
"'Expedition of the si'—Celestia repeated confusedly before her eyes widened—oh no, and she said she was taking over? Where is she?"
"I believe she reserved a room in the west wing for a meeting with some of the lunar guards," Raven replied before seeing the growing concern on the princess's face, "is something wrong princess?"
"I hope not"
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"Of those who aspire to join my guard, you are the ones who stand out the most, whether for your achievements or for the constant reports that I received," Princess Luna spoke to the four ponies in front of her, "you demonstrate all the characteristics of a good guard, but there is still one missing: teamwork" she stopped to look at the sudden stiffness in theirs posture and the nervous looks
"In every test you've ever taken, you've gone out of your way to try to hinder each other's progress, even at the expense of your own, and yet you've still managed to come out above average." Princess Luna said giving one of the ponies in front of her a look before she started marching in front of them, "I don't care what happened between you, just know that in my guard there is no room for pettiness"
"If you wish to enter my guard, you will have to learn to work together, for that I have a special mission for you" she said before stopping again in front of them "You will go north, to—" She was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and a voice calling
"Sister? Are you occupied?" Celestia called, poking her head into the room.
Luna turned to the door "Dear sister! No, I was just finishing" She turned her attention to the aspiring guards "You will wait here, I will send my lieutenant to go over the details of your mission." Luna said before going to her sister
"Yes older sister? I thought you would be busy this week? Something happened?" Luna asks as the two start walking down the hallway.
"I'm never too busy to pay my little sister a visit," Celestia said before giving her sister a warm smile, which was returned, "But I heard you were organizing the expedition of the six?"
Luna's eyes sparkled, "Yes! It came to my attention that this year there wouldn't be any, so I decided to organize it myself." she said proudly
"Oh Luna, there's no need, we don't do that anymore" Celestia said, feeling saddened at having to put out Luna's fire.
"I know?" the Moon Princess said tilting her head in confusion. "that's why I—
"No Luna, I stopped that hundreds of years ago, I barely remembered that until now" the Sun Princess shook her head as she remembered why
"But what exactly is this, your majesties?" Raven asked from behind the princesses, curious to know what Princess Celestia was worried about and why Princess Luna would want to do it.
Luna opened her mouth, but Celestia was quicker with her answer, "It was a Heartwarming event in which six 'champions' would be chosen to go to the frozen north and return, records show that this has been done since the time of unification, although the reasons vary depending on where you look, most say it was to check for the presence of windigoes and see if the area would be safe to be repopulated, some dare to say that it was their duty to expel the windigoes and reclaim that land" Celestia said with a roll of her eyes, before narrowing them and continuing with a hint of disgust, "and there are still those who stupidly say that they would be sacrifices to appease the spirits"
"Anyway," Luna continued when she saw the opportunity, "as the spirits retreated and the kingdom grew, the champions they had to go further and further north to even find traces of the windigoes, until at some point it was decided that they would not pass the crystal mountain, and so it was for hundreds of years the chosen ones would go to the mountain and return telling the stories of their journey"
"And although the windigoe sightings have stopped, "Celestia resumed "the dangers have not: bandits, timber wolves, hostile yak tribes" Celestia shook her head "After a while, the only thing that kept these expeditions going was pride and tradition, after an incident seven hundred years ago where only half of the expedition returned, I decided it was time to put a stop to that"
"And Princess Luna wants to revive such a tradition?" Raven asked turning to her.
"I'm sure the ponies I've chosen are up to the task," Luna said confidant "and sister, I know you're apprehensive, but I want to teach these ponies the same lessons the founders learned, lessons of friendship and unity, You can even choose the sixth member, if that makes you feel comfortable"
"It's okay sister, I know you wouldn't make a decision like that without a lot of consideration, But are you sure there's time? I wouldn't want these ponies to spend Heartwarming away from theirs families"
"Of course dear sister, with the advent of the train they should be at the border of Equestria in no time, and then it will be just a few days of climbing to the crystal mountain"
"This part that worries me"
Author's Note
Written over the course of three days after three weeks of procrastination
I'm sorry for this