My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Hearth's Warming that Almost Wasn't

A/N: (Dede42 enters the writers studio and she stares in amazement and delight at the Christmas decorations. Twilight Sparkle runs in.)

Twilight Sparkle: Dede42, I'm so sorry that they decorated your studio in Christmas stuff.

Dede42: There's no need to apologize, Twilight, I think it's wonderful, and perfect given the chapter I'm posting today.

Twilight Sparkle: Oh, but why are you posting it in May anyway? Christmas and Hearth's Warming isn't until December.

Dede42: It wasn't exactly planned, but since I've started posting more then once in a single week, it just happened.

Twilight Sparkle: Oh.

Dede42: Yup, and this is an original story that I came up with during the holidays.

Twilight Sparkle: Fascinating.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.


CHAPTER ONE: UNEXPECTED BLIZZARD

It was wintertime in Equestria and ponies everywhere were getting ready to celebrate for it was Hearth's Warming Eve and tomorrow would be Hearth's Warming, which was when they would celebrate the union between the pegasis, the unicorns, and the Earth ponies that lead to the creation of Equestria itself.


In the library, Twilight Sparkle, Sunrise Blossom, Spike, and their friends were putting up some last-minute decorations on the Christmas tree, and they were looking forward to doing a present exchange before heading back to their respective homes for the night.

"Looking forward to spending your first Hearth's Warning Eve in Ponyville?" Sunrise Blossom asked her twin as they magically wrapped gold garland around the tree.

"I'm sure am," Twilight Sparkle replied with a grin. "How about you, Spike?"

"Absolutely," the baby dragon confirmed while doing a balancing act on the tip of his tail to place a dragon-shaped decoration on a branch of the tree. "There! Perfect!"

The twins giggled and then helped finished decorating the tree. Once the star was on top and the lights were lighted, the Mane Seven and Spike sat in a circle in front of the fireplace with mugs of hot apple cider, chatting idly about the many adventures they had that year, and sampling the raspberry chocolate fudge cupcakes provided by Pinkie Pie.

"Whoowee, I can't decide what was the craziest adventure we had this year," said Applejack, sipping her drink. "I say it's a tossup between stopping Nightmare Moon or dealin' with 'em Parasprites when they tried to eat everything in town."

"Well, I vote the Parasprites was the worst thing we dealt with," said Rarity, shivering at the memory of the puffballs that's seen so adorable until they started reproducing at an alarming rate, and had nearly wiped out Ponyville as a result.

"I'm with Rarity, it's definitely the Parasprites hoof-down," Rainbow Dash agreed, and the other ponies agreed as well. "'course, it was the Nightmare Moon adventure that enable us to find the Elements of Harmony and unite us all as friends… well, stronger friends."

The other ponies agreed with that and giggled when a popping noise from the fireplace made both Fluttershy and Spike jump a bit.

"So, um, can we open some presents now?" the baby dragon asked hopefully after smoothing down his scales a little and adjusted the red bowtie that Rarity had given to him to wear.

"We each can open one present, Spike, and save the rest for tomorrow," said Sunrise Blossom, and chuckled at his disappointed expression. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty to look forward to in the morning," she promised while they all went to grab one present each from under the tree to give to each other. "Here you go, Spike, and here you go, Twilight."


Once they all had a present each, they sat down and unwrapped them, exclaiming over what was inside the boxes: Spike had gotten a new winter hat from Rarity; Rainbow Dash had gotten a new pair of flight goggles from Applejack; Fluttershy had gotten a new book on animal care from Twilight Sparkle; Pinkie Pie had gotten a new book of recipes from Sunrise Blossom; Applejack had gotten a new set of tools from Rainbow Dash; Rarity had gotten a new sewing machine from Fluttershy; Sunrise Blossom had gotten a new book about herbs from Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight Sparkle was thrilled to get the latest book from of one of her favorite book series from Sunrise Blossom.

"Oh thank you, Sunny!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed, hugging her twin. "It's just the copy that I wanted from the Daring Do series."

"I knew that you hadn't had time to preorder the latest book, so that's why I got for you, Twi," her twin replied with a grin. "And if you note on the inside of the cover, it's a signed edition."

"Ooh, even better!" Twilight Sparkle squealed. "I haven't been this excited since our birthday."

Sunrise Blossom chuckled, recalling the birthday party that Pinkie Pie had thrown for them when their parents had gone away on a trip and Shiny Armor had been too busy with his duties to come visit. "Yeah, it was a fun birthday party."

"I'm glad that we're able to spend Hearth's Warming together this time around," Spike remarked and the twins cringed. "Sorry, guess that's still a sore memory."

"Only just a little, Spike," said Sunrise Blossom. "And everything did work out in the end."

"I've been meaning to ask, Sunny," said Twilight Sparkle after putting away her new book to read latter. "What did you do when you were unable to come back to Canterlot to spend Hearth's Warming Eve with the family?"

Sunrise Blossom sighed, recalling the memory like it was yesterday. "That's a rather long story, Twi," she pointed out. "And it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Oh, come on, Sunny," said Applejack encouraging. "It's a story worth listening to, especially since it's happen on a night like this," she added, nodding to the falling snow outside the window, and it was falling thick.

'So much for avoiding that particular memory,' Sunrise Blossom thought, sighing again. "All right, all right, I'll share the story." And they all settled down around the fireplace once again, having refreshed their drinks and gotten more cupcakes. "Four years ago today, we all were getting ready for Hearth's Warming Eve…"


It was a hectic day in Ponyville as the ponies hurried around with last minute decorations, cooking food, and shopping for presents. In the Apothecary, Sunrise Blossom was busy finishing up some last minute orders for various ponies and packing up an overnight bag with supplies for Rosemary, who would be coming with her to Canterlot for the holidays.

'Good thing I shipped the presents ahead time,' she thought while mixing up a cleaning solution and pouring it into a bottle that she then capped and presented to Mayor Mare. "Here you go, Madam Mayor, I'm sure that your father will love it."

"Thank you for making this, Ms. Blossom," Mayor Mare said gratefully, paying for her purchase before heading out the door, almost running into Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. "Sorry, girls! Happy Hearth's Warming Eve!"

"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Mayor," the female ponies replied before shutting the door to keep the falling snow out, and they turned to the orange unicorn, who was magically retrieving her luggage from the top floor, along with her coat, boots, hat, and scarf.

"Hey, Sunrise, about ready to head out to the train station?" Applejack asked while Fluttershy helped convince Rosemary to go into the cat carrier.

"Just about," Sunrise Blossom responded, double-checking the bag for her cat. "Yup, I'm all ready to go."

Working together, the six ponies gathered up the luggage, which consisted of a trunk, two smaller bags, and the cat carrier, and headed out, waiting long enough for Sunrise Blossom to lock the door, to go to the train station.

"Oh, I do wish you both could stay for Hearth's Warming Eve," Rarity told Pinkie Pie and Sunrise Blossom wistfully.

"I wish I could stay, too," said Pinkie Pie, bouncing along the snow-covered path to the train station, "but I pinkie promised my parents that I would visit them for Hearth's Warming Eve."

"And with my dad laid up with a broken leg, this is the only way I can be with my family," Sunrise Blossom added. "I'm sure that next year my family can come to Ponyville and you'll finally meet Twilight."

Rarity nodded sadly. "Of course family is important this time of year," she agreed. "Well, be sure to let me know what the latest fashions are in Canterlot when you get back, Sunrise."

"I'll be sure to," Sunrise Blossom promised, and rolled her eyes when Pinkie Pie encouraged her to make it into a Pinkie Promise. "Fine, fine. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye." And she pretended to stick her hoof in her eye without actually poking it. "Come on, the train will be leaving soon."


It wasn't long before they reached the train station, where the train was waiting to take the passengers to their various destinations along its' route, and, after confirming their tickets with the train master, Pinkie Pie and Sunrise Blossom were exchanging goodbyes with their friends when the orange unicorn detected a very faint rumbling sound.

"What was that?" Sunrise Blossom asked, looking around for the source.

"You hear something, Sunrise?" Applejack inquired, having gotten used to her friend's sensitive hearing.

Sunrise Blossom nodded, looking around as the rumbling noise gradually got louder. "Yeah, I'm just not sure of where – there!" She pointed her hoof toward a floating city made entirely out of clouds, the section that held the weather factory was shaking.

"What's going on with Cloudsdale?" Rainbow Dash wondered, staring up at the place she'd been born and raised before moving to Ponyville.

"I don't know, but I can hear that rumbling noise now," said Fluttershy uneasily, "and it's getting louder." No sooner were the words out of her mouth, then both the rumbling and the shaking got worst. "Oh dear."

The six ponies stared up at Cloudsdale, their concern growing as the shaking grew more violent, and then realization dawned on them. "Get to cover! It's gonna blow." And the ponies all fled to find shelter as, sure enough, the smoke stacks on the weather factory sudden exploded and large amounts of snow shot high, high, into the sky before falling down on the land below.

Having found shelter in the train station, the six ponies watched with mounting horror as the snow buried the train tracks going both directions, and even piled up around the train, making it impossible for to move. The snow kept falling and it was clear that there wasn't any way for the train to go anywhere, which mean, the ponies were stuck in Ponyville!

"How are we going to get to our families now?" Pinkie Pie wondered, upset since she was going to break a Pinkie Promise for the first time in her life.

"I have no idea," Sunrise Blossom admitted, staring at the unexpected blizzard. "Why would Cloudsdale create a blizzard today of all days?" And she agreed when her friends shrugged. 'This doesn't make sense. Why create a blizzard and prevent travel?'


A/N: Unable to go home for Christ- er, I mean Hearth's Warming Eve? How horrible! R&R everyone!