The Spirit of Hearth's Warming Long Past
The Spirit of Hearth's Warming Long Past
A vast gout of flame engulfed one wall of the cave, hot enough that the rock itself glowed white and almost turned molten. Dragon Lord Spike stared dully at his handiwork, before sighing again, spewing even more fire over the wall.
He was bored, it wasn’t like being a Dragon Lord was exactly a full-time job but most days there was something to do, some disagreement to adjudicate or some ritual to sit through but today, nothing. Not only that, but something was niggling at the back of his mind, something about the day.
Although snow was rare enough in the dragon lands that even in his lifespan he could count the number of times he’d seen it on the claws of one hand, he knew it was winter in Equestria. Some internal clock, set when he had been just a hatching, told him that today was an important date. Then it struck him, today was Hearth’s Warming!
Back when he’d lived with Ponies he’d loved to celebrate the holiday. Over the years he’d tried to introduce something similar amongst his people. Although the current generation was less antisocial than the ones from his youth, most would still balk at such a festival, and a celebration forced was no celebration at all.
He bit back another sigh, he must be getting nostalgic in his old age; it had been decades since he’d spared more than a passing thought to the holiday. Maybe the recent visit of ponies to the dragon lands had brought on his melancholy. The thought made his eyes widen, there was no way Ponies could still celebrate the holiday, could there? Their civilization had been divided by tribe for centuries now, they wouldn’t have a festival which celebrated unity, would they? But the new Alicorn, Sunny wasn’t it? She’d seemed so enthusiastic about the old ways, could she have bought the holiday back? And if she hadn’t, would she? And if she would, maybe she’d need the help of somedrake who had lived through so many?
A smile creased Spike’s face, revealing his fangs. Well that settled it, it was practically his duty to share his wisdom, right? “I’m just heading out for a bit,” he bellowed to his consort deeper in their lair. “I’ll be back soon, dear.” Taking a deep breath, he released a stream of green fire which consumed himself from tail to head.
After a moment an orange head and neck snaked their way into the chamber and looked around for a moment before rolling her eyes in annoyance.
Sunny carefully wrapped a knitted scarf around her neck as she prepared to leave. Although the interior of the bright house was warm and cozy, outside it was freezing. “Ok,” she called back to her housemates. “I’m just heading out to the Smoothie Shack.”
“Do you think you’ll get much trade in this weather?” asked Hitch looking up from where his adopted dragon son Sparky was playing with Izzy.
“It is all white and snowified out there,” agreed the blue maned unicorn.
“I’m trying something new, hot smoothies! I’m sure the whole town will love them.”
“Sounds great,” agreed Izzy as she flicked her tail away from the grasping claws of the baby dragon as he chased her around the room.
Smiling to herself, Sunny opened the door to find the whole outside apparently filled by a vast wall of green fire from which suddenly emerged a vast green and purple lizard. Her wide eyes followed its body up and up and up until they locked on the creature's snarling maw and blazing eyes. “Sunny Starscout!” it growled, “What do you know of Hearth’s Warming!”
“Yaahhh!” screamed Sunny, leaping into the air in fright.
In an instant her friends had rushed out to protect her from whatever had terrified her. Even Sparky waddled over to see what was happening.
“What, the...” gasped Hitch
“Cool!” mumbled Izzy, her eyes gleaming.
“Oh, right, right, sorry,” said Spike at a somewhat reduced volume. He guessed he looked quite a bit more intimidating than when he’d last used to hang around with ponies. “It’s me Spike.” He held up a hand in a sign of peace. “I just wanted to talk.”
“Oh,” said Sunny, still breathing heavily. “Of course, you just surprised me. How can I help you, your, um, Dragon Lordship?”
“Just Spike is alright. I was wondering,” he took a deep breath. Now that he was actually here, his plan seemed rather poorly thought out. Why would the current generation of ponies know about a holiday their distant ancestors celebrated based on events that happened to their even more distant ancestors? Still it was too late to back out now.
“Have you heard of Hearth’s Warming?” he eventually continued.
Sunny tilted her head for a moment, racking her still somewhat frazzled brain, the name seemed familiar, maybe something her father had mentioned once? “It sort of rings a bell, wasn’t it some sort of Winter Festival back in old Equestria?”
“You mean like Winter Wishday? But that was just last week,” said Hutch.
Izzy gasped. “Do we get to have two holidays, one just after the other?”
“Oh,” said Spike, visibly deflating. “I guess it’s not a surprise that you guys don’t celebrate it anymore. It wasn’t just a winter festival, well it was, but it was all about the three tribes working together and there were Windigo’s and things as well. Also families, and dolls, and presents and food and...” Spike stared down at the ponies before him who now looked a bit shell shocked by his outburst. “There were a lot of things,” he concluded a little lamely.
“It sounds like you miss it.” said Sunny, sensing the melancholy covering the old dragon.
“And I’m always ready to have a chance to give presents,” added Izzy, “and you said something about dolls? I’m sure I could uni-cycle something to make them.”
Spike couldn’t help but smile at that. The mare reminded him of his old friend Pinkie. Perhaps they were distantly related? It would be good to think that some part of his friends had survived all these years. “Yeah, back in the day families used to have little dolls made and they hung them over the fire.”
He noticed the small dragon peering out at him from behind the stallion's legs. He carefully leaned forwards and reached out a talon as it shyly approached. “All the foals used to love the holiday,” he said, “I certainly did.”
Sunny nodded. She knew that the dragon lord used to live amongst the famous Elements of Harmony, but it hadn’t occurred to her how much historic knowledge he must have acquired. It was hard to think of such a huge creature as once being a child who looked forward to the holidays. “Tell us more!”
Before Spike could reply, he noticed that his audience seemed a bit cold. He looked around at the snow which blanketed everything around him. His own fire kept him warm even in this environment, but it was probably uncomfortable for ponies. “Maybe you guys should get back inside before I start?”
“Good idea,” said Sunny, looking back and forth between the door and the much larger dragon. “But, um... can you shrink or something?”
“Sorry, it’s been a while since I was small enough to fit into a pony house, I could teleport in, but I’d probably smush most of your stuff.” He considered for a moment. “I think my head can fit in, though. I was a much smaller drake when I first remember celebrating Hearth’s Warming...”
“Present?” asked Spike peering over at the colourful parcels sitting around the foot of the tree. It was so big and green! Tall enough to reach the ceiling. It was even taller than Momma Celestia!
“In a minute, dear,” said the Princess, lowering herself to the ground between the young dragon and the tree. “But now that you’re such a big drake, it’s time for you to learn what Hearth’s Warming is all about.”
Spike considered for a moment. “Presents?” Momma Celestia was always trying to teach him things, but she never got angry if he got it wrong. It was why she was one of his favorite Mommas.
“No!” said the Purple filly who trotted up to him, levitating a grey ragdoll behind her. “It’s about the founding of Equestria, how the three tribes came to work together.”
Spike gawked for a moment before giving his sister a hug. Twilie was so smart! And she gave the best hugs. He liked Celestia’s hugs as well, but the larger mare always seemed to hold back a little. He brightened when he realized what his sister’s appearance meant. “Mama Velvet!” he waddled towards the pale coated mare and hugged her leg.
“Merry Hearth’s Warming,” replied Twilight Velvet, returning the hug. “Look how big you’ve grown!”
“Merry Hearth’s Warming!” cried a blue stallion as he levitated a stream of presents into the room.
“Hey little dude!” exclaimed a young white stallion holding out a hoof for Spike to bump. Spike liked his big brother, but he was a little scary sometimes. He could be too loud.
“Look what we brought you,” said Velvet, holding up a green and purple knitted doll.
Spike took it carefully in his claws and examined it for a moment, it seemed familiar to him somehow. “Smarty?”
“No, it's not Smarty Pants, it’s you! Well, it’s a doll of you. If the princess agrees, we can place it over the fireplace,” she glanced over towards Celestia who nodded.
“We all brought ours as well,” said Night Light holding up his own doppelgänger.
Spike looked around to see all those present holding up their own dolls. Even Smartie Pants the doll had her own smaller doll held in Twilight’s aura.
Smiling, Celestia levitated Spike to the fireplace, where her own rather tattered doll sat next to a dark copy of itself. Spike frowned for a moment. “Who that?” he asked. A look of sorrow flashed over Momma’s face for a moment before it disappeared.
“Just another member of the family,” she explained. “You have so much family, you have me and Twilight, and Night Light and Velvet and Shining Armour and Nanny Trueheart and so many others. We’ll put your doll there,” she pointed to a space in the middle, and he carefully placed it down. The rest of the family followed, placing their own likenesses in a line.
“Now where was I?” asked Celestia, returning Spike gently to the floor.
“Present?” he asked again, hopefully, the colourfully wrapped boxes calling to him.
“Very well,” said Celestia finally caving in, “but just one for the moment, then I really need to tell you...”
But before she could finish her sentence, Spike was already off towards the tree.
“So Hearth’s Warming is for foals?” asked Sunny, glancing up from the notes she was making. She and the other ponies had made their way into the Bright house and had settled down into the seating, while Spike’s neck blocked most of the doorway.
“And dolls,” noted Izzy showing a knitted figure she had started working on during the story. After comparing it to Sunny, she returned to her work.
“Not just foals, everyone, but there’s something special about seeing kids enjoying the holiday,” mused Spike looking down at Sparky in his position next to Hitch. The baby dragon seemed enthralled by his elders' tale. “I was wondering if you’d consider restarting the festival?”
Hitch blinked in surprise. “I don’t know. It’s a lot of work to just start a new holiday.”
“I think it would be a great idea!” exclaimed Sunny. “All ponies should get a chance to learn about how our ancestors used to work together.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Bridlewood would love to join in,” agreed Izzy.
“When was it normally celebrated? How long do we have to prepare?”
“Um, well, err, today,” admitted Spike. Maybe he hadn’t considered things all that much.
“Oh, well! What about next year?”
“That seems a bit more practical,” said Hitch. “We should talk to Zipp and Pipp and maybe their mother as well? If the Heights are going to get involved.”
“I’ll go get them,” volunteered Izzy, already on her hooves and heading towards the door. It took a few awkward moments for Spike to move his neck enough to let the unicorn slip past before she was off.
“So,” began Sunny after a few minutes of silence. “It’s great to spend some time with you, someone who actually spent time with the great Paragons of Harmony, who lived through the Golden Age of Friendship. There’s so much which has been lost, like this holiday, there’s so much we can learn.”
“Yeh,” Spike’s eyes glazed over for a moment as they looked back through the centuries. “It was a great time back then, Twilly, Rarity, Dash, Starlight, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie and the rest. Still, when you got down to it, they were just ponies, just like you and your friends. Things didn’t always work out how they should, even at this time of year.”
“Hu-hurry up,Spike,” demanded Twilight. The mare was stretched out with the young dragon standing on her head, trying to affix a holly wreath above the door inside the library. “I-I don’t know how much longer I can hold you.”
“Almost done,” Spike muttered, putting all of his strength into his task. “I said we should have started this last night!”
“That’s what you said, then you fell asleep!” complained Twilight.
“We could have started earlier, but you wanted to finish your book first!”
“How could I prepare for Hearth’s Warming without reading all the possible guides first, huh? Tell me that, Spike!?” Twilight demanded.
Spike sighed as he hopped off of his sister, she was highly strung at the best of times but there was something about the holiday’s which made her go extra ‘Twi-nannas’. “Well, whatever, we’re done now.”
Twilight opened her mouth to continue complaining, but stopped. After taking a careful breath, she continued. “Thank you, Spike. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea for me to offer to host a party for all the girl’s today, but it’s my first Hearth’s Warming in Ponyville and I want to thank them for all they’ve done for us.”
“Yeah, I get it,” said Spike, placing a claw on his sister's hoof. The move had been a big change for both of them. Ponyville wasn’t as cosmopolitan as Canterlot, but most of the population had been very welcoming to them, although there were some who seemed wary about having a local dragon, even a young one.
“So that’s the decorations finished, the presents wrapped, games prepared,” he ticked them all off of the list Twilight had asked him to produce. “Only the food is left. How’s the pie doing?” Normally cooking was his responsibility, but Twilight had insisted she could manage while he played with his presents earlier in the morning.
“Should be fine. I was a bit late putting it in, so I turned up the heat.” There came a knock from the door. “That’ll be the girls now,” she added.
A shiver ran down Spike’s back. Although a genius in many ways, Twi just didn’t get cooking. “Exactly how much did you turn it up?” he asked as he made his way to the kitchen.
“Well, I needed it ready in about half as long as the recipe said, so by simple maths I doubled the temperature.” She opened the door to reveal the other elements of harmony, “Hi girls,” she exclaimed.
“Hi Twilight,” they all chorused just as Spike opened the door to the kitchen, releasing a vast billow of smoke.
With a cry, Rainbow Dash rushed into action, pushing past Twilight and swooping into the kitchen. She grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed down the oven with foam. Staggered, Twilight bumped into the wall which knocked down the newly placed wreath. The holly landed on Fluttershy’s head, temporarily blinding her and panicking the timid mare. With a shriek, she ran screaming into the room knocking furniture and presents aside and entangling herself with the tree. Within moments, the whole room was reduced to wreckage.
“Got it!” exclaimed Dash, hovering proudly over the remains of the cooker, before looking back at the shambles of the rest of the room and wincing.
“Woah there, Sugarcube,” Applejack rushed to Fluttershy’s rescue. She fought against the tinsel entwining her friend.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” mumbled the yellow pegasus.
“Wow Twilight,” said Pinkie looking over the room and giving a whistle, “you really know how to party!”
“I, what, I’m,” mumbled Twilight looking shocked. In only a few seconds, her whole carefully planned party had been brought tumbling down. “I’m sorry, I really wanted to put on a great Hearth’s Warming, but it’s all ruined,” she wailed.
“Ruined?” said Rarity, tossing back her mane, “this isn’t anything a little work can’t fix.” She straightened the tree with her aura. “See?”
“It’s not that bad,” agreed Fluttershy, picking herself up while still covered in decorations. “I did say I always wanted to be a tree,” she joked weakly.
“Yeah, Twi, no problem,” said Spike, running over to comfort his sister.
“Yeah, I’m sure this Pie won’t have a problem fixing that pie,” said Pinkie hopping over towards the kitchen. “Well maybe a few teeny tiny problems,” she amended after returning with a block of charcoal glazed in foam which had once been a meal.
“Shucks, we got more food that we know what to do with back at the acres,” said Applejack, “Won’t take me more than an hour or so to get a whole feast back here.”
“And it’ll take me even less,” boasted Dash.
“Thanks, girls,” said Twilight hugging Spike, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Aww, that’s really sweet,” said Pipp. Izzy had found her, her sister and Misty at her hair salon and had invited them along to hear the rest of Spike’s tale. The entire living room of the Brighthouse was now full of ponies huddled together on the chairs.
“The legendary Princess Twilight Sparkle really needed a book to plan a party?” asked Sunny.
“Twilight never met a book she didn’t like,” said Spike with a grin. “She had so many libraries founded when she became Princess.”
“But so few books have survived from that era,” said Zipp.
Spike looked down, his brow furrowed. “Well there were some hard times when the tribes split, so much was destroyed,” he growled. “I should have done more to help!” He couldn’t imagine how much the book genocide that had happened after her reign would hurt Twilight.
Reading the older dragon's mood, Sparky toddled over to Hitch who hugged him. “We can’t do anything about what happened, but we can see about fixing things now,” the stallion said cautiously.
“Yeah,” said Sunny, “I’m sure we can try to arrange Hearth’s Warming for next year.”
“I can put the word out,” suggested Pipp, “I could stream all about how to prepare, boxing presents and the like.”
“I’m sure Mom can arrange something up in Zephyr Heights,” added Zipp.
“I still can’t believe they named a city after Fluttershy’s brother,” said Spike, shaking his head. “Sure, he straightened out later, but he used to be such an arse.”
“It makes you wonder how everything fell apart,” said Misty wistfully.
“It was complicated. One thing led to another. Twilight and the girls did what they could, but they couldn’t hold things together by themselves, and they were getting on in years by then. Maybe if I hadn’t been so busy in the dragonlands, if I hadn’t needed to sleep for so long, I could have helped more!”
“It wasn’t your fault,” said Sunny, reaching out a hoof to Spike's face.
“Thanks,” he sighed, “It wasn’t all bad, even in those dark days the girls still tried to celebrate the season as best they could.”
Swooping down towards his destination, Spike was surprised how desolate Ponyville looked. Many of the buildings were boarded up and looked abandoned. The few inhabitants left scurried from place to place, seeming to hide from their neighbors. Still, some buildings were decorated, their lights shone out in the growing gloom which surrounded them. He couldn’t help but smile as the castle came into view, decked out with even more ornaments than normal.
In a way Spike was glad that Twilight had decided to throw the party here rather than up in Canterlot, there would be much less political posturing here, no nobles trying to court the Princess's favor. Also, it was nice returning to where things had started. He had good memories of the years he’d spent here.
The guards placed by the door didn’t seem all that welcoming but didn’t stop him as he opened the door. He needed to bend almost double to get though, it had seemed only yesterday that the place had felt so big. Inside, the main hall was a riot of colour and lights, gaudy decorations covered almost every surface. The place was full of ponies, although not quite as packed as some of the times he remembered. Still, it explained where most of Ponyville’s population was.
“Spike!” came a familiar voice as he looked around to see Twilight galloping towards him. She embraced him in a deep hug. “I’m so glad you could make it!”
“Me too,” said Spike, returning the affection. “Sorry, Smolder couldn’t be here, but she can’t leave the eggs right now.”
“I’m so proud, you’ll be an amazing father.”
“Well it’ll be a few years before they hatch, so I’ve got a while to prepare.” Truthfully, becoming a parent scared him to death. Luckily he had Smolder, nothing scared her, and Twilight and the rest would be cool aunts.
“A few years!” exclaimed a pink mare, her mane streaked with grey. “I sure am glad my kids didn’t take that long to cook!”
“Pinkie!” exclaimed Spike. “How are you doing?”
“Busy, I had to help make all this,” she waved a hoof towards the buffet table packed with treats. “And even with everything that’s going on, ponies still need to eat. There’s nothing like a good meal to bring everyone together.” She handed him a plate full of gem encrusted treats and a tankard of cider.
“Well, if it ain’t Spike,” came an accented voice. “You've grown even more since I last saw you, ain’t it about time to stop?”
“Thanks, AJ, but I still got a bit of a way to go,” he replied, looking over towards the elderly mare hobbling over towards him helped by a cane surrounded by a whole gaggle of children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins. If Spike wanted parenting advice, he knew where he could get it.
“Look at those wings!” added Rainbow Dash with a little jealousy as she trotted up. Spike knew that the locking away of pony magic reducing her flying ability was hard on the ex-wonderbolt, but she did her best to hide it.
“Seems like everyone is here,” he said, glancing around the room. There were Trixie, Starlight and Sunburst apparently telling some highly embarrassing story about their daughter Luster, who had buried her head in her wife, Palma Violet’s, mane in shame. He couldn’t help grin at her apparent discomfort.
There was a pop and a misshapen creature appeared floating above their heads. “When Twilight proposed this little shindig, I agreed to provide transport.” Discord wore a chauffeur's uniform for a moment before returning to his normal nudity. He clicked his claws again and Fluttershy appeared next to him, looking like she had been in the middle of a conversation; she scowled for a moment before taking Rainbow’s hoof and kissing her wife’s cheek.
“Not something that all of us approved of, Darling,” added Rarity as she stepped out of the crowd. “I was in the middle of some very important negotiations.” While grey from the years, she still held herself with poise and grace. “Still, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
“Even Discord couldn’t find everyone, I’m afraid,” said Twilight. “No one’s seen the other princesses for over a year now,” she glanced over at the space next to Minister Harshwhinney’s chair.
Spike looked around the room at all the ponies and other creatures who had made it. There were a few spaces, friends lost over the years, but there were more than he would have expected. A herd of Apples’ were playing cards against a flock of griffins. On the outskirts, a few changelings were literally drinking in the aura with smiling faces and talking to their friends and family.
Although outside might be cold and scary, in here surrounded by family and friends he couldn’t be happier and that was everything that Hearth’s Warming was about to him. He raised his drink in a toast. “To friendship!”
“To friendship!”
“Changelings? Griffins? I don’t think I’ve even heard of them!” exclaimed Sunny.
“Yeah, no one seems to have seen them since I woke up. I’m sure they’re still out there somewhere,” said Spike, “you just need to find them. Invite them to the party, maybe literally.”
“Well I’m sure we can get every pony to celebrate next year,” said Hitch, next to him on the settee Zipp nodded. “Although we do have a lot of other celebrations to go around.”
“Ponies have never been short of holidays,” agreed Spike.
“Well we’ve got to make it something that stands out, to get the views,” said Pipp tapping at her phone for a moment. “It’s all wintery, but we already have Wish Day for that. We’ve got a few other celebrations about unity now as well, although I guess we can always use more.”
“Well, Hearth's Warming has always sort of been every holiday to every pony. Some see it as a chance to give presents, others celebrate surviving winter, some the unity of the tribes, some even consider it to be a romantic holiday,” he added nodding to Hitch and Zipp who blushed and suddenly decided that they didn’t need to be sitting so close together any more. “My first date with my mate was on Hearth’s Warming.” He smiled at the memory, apparently her roommate had tricked her into asking him out.
“Wait a minute,” exclaimed Pipp, “today is your anniversary, and you’re here with us rather than being with your wife?”
“Yeah, er, that might get me in trouble with Smolder, right?” said Spike awkwardly. Thinking about it, that might explain why she’d arranged for him to not have anything else to do today. Harmony, he could really be dumb sometimes.
“Ya, think,” said Pipp, raising an eyebrow.
“I better get going,” admitted Spike, it would probably be better to face the music now. Maybe he could find some sort of present on the way back. He started to pull his head back towards the door. “Thanks for listening to me reminisce.”
“I really enjoyed hearing about the old days,” said Sunny, hopping off her seat and following him outside. A small group of rubbernecking ponies had gathered around the dragon’s form and were taking pictures.
“I was feeling a bit down, but it was good to talk about the good old days. You and your friends,” he nodded as the other ponies started to stream out of the Brighthouse’s door. “You’re so much like the girls were, how you all work together, how you’re such good friends. I’m just glad I got to meet you all.”
“It’s not like it’s going to be the last time, we’re always going to be here if you want to talk again. Like I said, we’re going to see what we can do to restart Hearth’s Warming, I’m sure the whole town will be celebrating next year.”
“Yeah, I’ll look forward to it, I just, well I’d give anything to see the girls again just once. To be able to wish them a Merry Hearth’s Warming.” He lowered his great head, boiling tears glittering in his eyes.
Seeing Spike’s sadness, Sunny felt a familiar warmth as the magic of friendship sparked within her and her alicorn wings and horn manifested. This time felt different though, it felt like something was reaching out to her, trying to push through as if from a great distance. Almost without realising she leapt into the air, her cutie mark glowing with power. “When my cutie mark comes to life,” she proclaimed, “Hope shines bright as the sun!” A beam of power burst forth from her horn, driving up into the sky where it manifested the blurry outline of many ponyoid shapes. In the fore, a purple head looked down with a smile.
Spike looked up at the sky, his jaw dropping at the manifestation of harmony. He heard a familiar voice in his head. “Merry Hearth's Warming, Spike, I’m so proud of my little brother!”
On the ground, Izzy’s mark also burst into light. “When my cutie mark comes to life,” she giggled, “Watch my brilliant creativity!”
A white face came into focus in the skies, a purple mane framing it. “Happy Holiday’s, Darling,” it proclaimed.
“When my cutie mark comes to life, I blast bravely across the sky!” announced Zipp.
“When my cutie mark comes to life, Confidence is my song!” added her sister.
More forms swam into focus. “Have a good one, Sugarcube.”
“Have the Best one!” yelled another figure, gone almost as quickly as it formed.
“When my cutie mark comes to life, my kindness overflows!” yelled Hitch as a yellow and pink form manifested, looking down at all the ponies below.
“Harmony bless us, everyone,” gently whispered a winged yellow shape.
Finally, Misty added her own magic to the mix. “When my cutie mark comes to life, my heart lets me feel!”
There was a chuckle as a curly pink shape manifested. “Everyone Party!” it yelled with a giggle.
Around it figure after figure formed of every colour of the rainbow, all adding their good wishes.
Tears flowed freely from Spike now, but of joy rather than sadness, this was the best present possible! “Merry Hearth’s Warming everypony!” he roared to the skies.
Author's Note
So this story was based on the Prompt of 'So this year I'd like to see someone write a G5 story about Dragon Lord Spike wanting to celebrate with Sunny and the gang, trying to rekindle memories of a time far gone.'
While leaving the details of the story rather open this left me fairly constrained as to general theme and topic, I'd need to come up with a few stories for Spike to tell the G5 cast while trying to fit in some characterization for the new characters.
It didn't help that I don't know all that much about gen 5. I've seem most of the Tell your Tale shorts but probably not in the correct order and they don't exactly give the deepest portrayals of the characters anyway. I've also been collecting the comics so that probably helped more but as I've not seen any of the Netflix series I don't really know what the actual plot of gen 5 was. Also fitting in 5 (or 6 or 7 or 8) core characters into a few thousand words was never going to go all that well so I decided to keep the characterization surface only.
In the end I decided to go with 3 flash back stories for the 5Kish words and then with the idea of Spikes first (or at least the first he remembers), middle and last Hearth's Warming. I specifically decided to keep what happened to the Gen 4 cast vague as if their fate was covered in Gen 5 I never saw it.
I also decided to consider the story to fit into the same continuity as my other Jinglemass stories and to link them all together as best I could which has probably left a few rather strange (and stretched) references here and there.
Well anyway happy Christmas everyone!