Disclaimer: All MLP:FiM characters belong to Hasbro and DHX Media. I do not own any of them except my OC.

I was flying around Ponyville and everyone was singing because you know, this is Equestria, so that's what they do. It was all the same mood. Everyone was panicking and I was rolling my eyes. I have everything I need because I did it a long time ago. But unfortunately, just like back on Earth, everyone and his mom is waiting until the last minute to get something and have everything ready. I found it to be quite stupid, because you are just overstressing yourself, but whatever. Twilight was probably the worst though. Don't tell her that. Twilight ran into town and Spike was following after her but didn't know that Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy got caught in the crossfire. Rainbow asked "Do we want to know why you're wrapping up everypony in town?" I have no idea. Spike said "Not wrapping paper. A to-do list." Right. Twilight went around buying things and I shook my head. This drove me nuts. One of the few things I hate about her. Rarity asked "Twilight, darling, are you all right?" Does it look like it? Twilight said "Sure! Just grabbing a few things." I said "Yeah, a few things. Uh huh. Okay whatever." Twilight glared at me and I rolled my eyes.

Rainbow asked me "How come you aren't shopping around for things?" I said "I already took care of my Christmas shopping a long time ago UNLIKE THE REST OF PONYKIND! Seriously, you remind me of how my own kind acted back home. It's ridiculous." Lots of ponies gave me glares, but I didn't care because I was technically right. They are acting foolish by doing this. Twilight said "Do I need this? No. That's silly. I need eight!" This pony refuses to change sometimes. Applejack said "Hey y'all! What's everypony…? Oh. Traditional holiday meltdown?" Everyone nodded and I said "You could say that even though that's considered an understatement. It's also driving me nuts." Applejack rolled her eyes and went over to Twilight. She said "Hey, Twilight. How's your day?" Probably not that great. Twilight said "I got way behind grading midterms." Yeah, I'm sure that was fun. I'll still adjusting to going back to the school on a regular basis. I just got reinstated and I already had to catch up on what I missed. Thankfully, it wasn't too much. "And Cadence and Shining Armor are coming here with Flurry Heart for Hearth's Warming Eve. And I haven't started decorating and I don't know what to get any of you, and-" before Applejack said "Stop. Take a breath. *Twilight breathes in* Now let it out slow. *Twilight breathes out slowly* Now, I think I have an idea that might help." I said "I was about to suggest that to you since you ponies really need to do better time management." They all glared at me and I growled in annoyance. "Ugh! You ponies treat me just like Discord sometimes. It sickens me. I don't know why I even bother." I went into my shadow form and took off.

Applejack said "Anyways, what if we change up how we give gifts this year and do a Hearth's Warmin' Helper?" What the hay is that? Fluttershy asked "What's a Hearth's Warming Helper?" I have no idea. Applejack said "Whenever the whole Apple Family got together, there were just so many of us, it didn't make sense to buy everypony gifts." Yeah, I bet. That would be a lot of money down the toilet. "So we'd put our names in a hat…" before Pinkie said "Oooo! A game of chance! Tell me more." Just be patient, will you? Applejack said "Then we pull a name, but keep it a secret." How interesting. Pinkie said "A dash of mystery. Good. Good." Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't need to hear it twice. Applejack said "Instead of buyin' everypony a present, you just get one for the pony you picked from the hat!" Seems simple enough. It's also used sometimes to break a tie in political elections. Yeah, some elections have come down to the draw of a hat which is quite mind blowing if you ask me. Pinkie asked "Wait. So instead of lots of presents, I only buy one of you a present? What kind of game is this?" I returned to my lion form and said "That's actually quite smart and the plus is you save both time and money so you don't look like chicken with it's head cut off running around in Walmart on Christmas Eve trying to figure out what the heck to buy for others and look like a fool while doing it."

They all glared at me again and I rolled my eyes again. Twilight said "When are you going to stop being so annoying? Not everypony is going to be like you and do the same things as you do." UGH! I hated that counterargument. Always using business or something as an excuse for being lazy. It drives me nuts. How foolish. I said "Fine. If you don't want my help, then that's fine by me. But don't come crying to me when things go horribly wrong." I went into my shadow form and took off. Rarity said 'Well, he does have a point. It would save time." Oh. You all give me a glare for telling the truth and NOW you want to say I was right?! What is this heresy? Get out the guns because this is bullcrap. Spike said "And you could get the pony you pick something really nice." Oh dear. Here we go again. Rainbow said "The less shopping, the better! In!" I already did mine, but I could pitch in as well. Fluttershy asked "Will that help, Twilight?" It better or else I'm going to be super annoyed for the next couple of days. Twilight said "I was stressed about shopping." Yeah, I think I could tell. They all looked at Pinkie and she said "Fine. I will only buy one present for my secret Hearth's Warming Helper buddy." I know it sucks Pinkie, but it will be worth it in the long run. You don't want to overstress yourself with time and spending all that money.

Applejack said "We just need to put everypony's name in this here hat." Ok done. Twilight put them in and I had them shuffled around using magic that no one could see. "Y'all ready? No peekin!" Right okay. They all picked theirs out and I picked mine without even knowing. Of course. How ironic. I get Twilight's. Figures. I don't mind, but it seems obvious that fate had ideas about this game. Pinkie said "So. Excited. Ah! Too excited!" I feel like I've heard that saying before. "I don't want to give anything away!" Right. Pinkie took off and Rarity asked "When will the gift exchange occur?" Usually on Christmas probably. Rainbow said "How about Twilight's castle tomorrow night?" Sounds good to me. "Hearth's Warming Eve!" Bingo. Applejack said "That's perfect! Pinkie and I can spend the evening with y'all and the next morning with our families!" Seems fair enough even though I won't change locations since Twilight is my only family right now. Eh, maybe Spike and Starlight too. Twilight said "And thanks to all of you, I should be ready to celebrate by then!" We'll see about that. Fluttershy said "Oh, this is so exciting." Maybe for you. Everyone else left and Spike asked "Um. Applejack? Is it against the rules to trade names?" I should have figured that's what Spike was going to do. He wanted to get something for Rarity and no one else. How pathetic.

"Like if I had a better idea for somepony special?" No. Go away. Just deal with it and don't ask questions. "I mean, specific?" Stop asking ridiculous questions and go along with it, you dimwit. Applejack said "If you can figure out who has the pony you want, and they're OK with tradin', I guess it's fine." I would call it against the rules because some people are just stubborn here and don't want to accept what they got. It's not good enough for them. I consider that stupid and foolish to me, but whatever. Spike said "Great! So uh… who do you-" before Applejack said "I don't have Rarity." Spike jumped in shock and said "What? That's not who I-" before Applejack said "Uh huh." I came out of my shadow form and said "It's so dang obvious that you want to get her something, so don't even bother trying to fool us." I walked away, but Spike asked me "Do you-" before I said "NO! Now leave me alone please." I spread out my eagle wings and took off. Stupid dragon. I went back to the castle after I was done shopping and hid it away and saw Twilight decorating the castle. Suddenly, the door opened and Spike said "Hey, Twilight!" If you're going to ask if she has Rarity, then you're wasting your time here. "Whatcha plannin' to get your secret pony?" It would be hilarious if I was Twilight's secret "pony." Twilight said "Not sure. I'm getting the castle ready for my family first. Then I'll shop." I already did mine.

I decided to do part of the castle as well because why not? Spike said "Maybe something sparkly? Fashionable?" I hope not. Also, what he just did was cringe. Twilight said "No. Those aren't really the kind of things my pony likes." Good. Even if it was me, I would despise those kinds of things. Spike said "Oh. Well, gotta go! Wish me luck!" I don't think so. I'll leave ya with a curse instead. LOL. Twilight asked "With shopping?" Apparently so. Spike said "Well, yeah! If everypony's only getting one gift, we have a ton of responsibility to make sure it's extra special good!" He does have a point. I made sure I got something nice for Twilight. She'll say that I spoil her or something like that, but I don't care. All that matters to me is making her happy. Spike ran out the door and Twilight looked at her card. Hmm. Let me investigate. I know you aren't supposed to know, but I am curious, and I'll easily be able to get away with this. I went inside the walls and looked very closely. I didn't see a cutie mark which definitely ruled out any of my friends, but I saw a scepter there instead. It's in pencil drawing, so it could be any kind of scepter. Let me take a deeper look. I noticed how the body lines and the shape of the scepter looked. I looked at my scepter and they had the exact same body lines and shape as it does in the picture.

That confirms it then. Twilight got me as her "special pony." I'm not even a pony lol. Twilight said "I didn't think of it that way." Really? That's just disappointing. "The present I get for Zach should make or break his holiday!" Well then, nothing more needs to be said. She just confirmed out loud that I was on the card and she doesn't even know I'm here! How wonderful this is! I know the original episode I watched had Pinkie on the card, but it seems like fate had other ideas this time around. "I can't just go shopping and hope to find something nice." Eh, I'll take anything from you. "This needs forethought, planning, research!" Oh brother. Please. I already had to deal with that once today. I don't need it twice. "I'll decorate later." I could always just fix this up for ya while you're gone. "Knowing Zach, he probably already has a perfect idea what to get his pony." You would be correct, but it wasn't exactly the easiest thing ever. I went over to where Spike was and he said "Pinkie!" who said in response "I don't have Rarity!" Nice try buddy, but you fall short once again. Spike was annoyed and put his hat back on. Rarity came over and asked "Oh! How's your shopping going, Spike?" Terrible probably. He hasn't even started yet because he's so DANG STUBBORN that he only wants you on the card and no one else. It's ridiculous because it demonstrates and encourages foolishness and arrogance to which I hate very much because of how stupid it is.

Spike said "Uh. Fine." I see that shade of pink on your face. Don't play dumb with me. Rarity looked around and whispered "Which pony did you get?" HEY! No breaking the rules. Oh wait, to be fair, I spied on Twilight and peeked over her shoulder to see who she had. But at least she was family. So, I… *sighs* There's no excuse for that. Moving on. Spike said "I… can't remember?" Of course. You look like a fool. Rarity said "I've got Applejack, darling." Of course. Ponies breaking the rules left and right. I don't even care at this point. "She's going to adore her present." Right. Whatever you say. "There's a brilliant designer in Manehattan, Fedora Felt, who makes the most marvelous hats." Right, okay. I hate to say this, but that hat looks ridiculous on her. Hold on. I'm NOT saying that she is stupid or anything, I'm just saying the hat looks ridiculous on her head. So chill Rarity fanboys. "I asked for a new take on western chic that would be the envy of every farmpony in Equestria." Right. Okay. Whatever. Spike said "That's a great gift Rarity." Yeah, maybe. That would suit Applejack pretty well, but eh. "I hope I can find something for my pony as special as you are." UGH! GAG! The shipping is killing me. "She is. Uh, bye!" How cowardly.

I saw Rainbow get frustrated and take off and I chuckled. I watched this episode before, so it was kinda hilarious. Spike came over and said "Hey Fluttershy." What do you want this time? "Thinking of getting that for your Hearth's Warming helper?" Perhaps. Fluttershy said "Mm-hm. She loves shiny things." Of course. That's Rarity. Spike said "I wish I knew what my secret pony wanted." Oh dear. Here comes the deception. "She's so hard to shop for." Oh, I'm sure she is. Nah. I doubt it. Fluttershy said "Oh, no. Maybe I could help." Please don't. I already witnessed enough ponies break the rules today. I don't need you doing it too. "Unless you don't want to-" before Spike interrupted and said "Rainbow Dash." Figures. He broke the rules as well. Screw it. I don't care anymore if you break the rules. Fluttershy said "Oh! I was just talking to Rainbow Dash about things we-" before Spike interrupted again and said "Great idea! We should trade ponies!" This is so annoying. He won't stop trying until he gets what he wants. He'll learn that you can't do that for every circumstance some day. Fluttershy asked "Wait. Trade?" Yeah, you heard him.

Spike said "Well, Applejack said it's not against the rules. And you know what Rainbow Dash likes, so it's perfect!" I said "That's only because you won't stop until you get what you want which is foolish and arrogant. If you think you can do that in every circumstance, you are quite wrong. Your arrogance will be your downfall. Goodbye!" I teleported him out of my sight and I looked in the other direction. "Oh, right. Well, if you excuse me, I need to be heading off. Good luck finding something Fluttershy!" I spread out my eagle wings and took off to the sky. Fluttershy looked confused and Applejack came over and said "There you are. I need your help!" With what? Fluttershy asked "Do you want to trade names too?" Oh dear. Applejack said "What? No. I just need help figurin' out what to get Spike." Hmm. How ironic. Fluttershy said "Phew!" and I left. I followed Rainbow and she went out of the store and said "Candle. Great. Whatever. Fluttershy shopping done." Eh, not quite. The candle started talking and it said "You can't honestly be serious?" Really Discord? What are you doing out here? Rainbow freaked out and said "Ghost Candle!" while yeeting that thing across town and it landed in the snow. Discord dusted himself off and said "A candle is what you buy when you have no idea what to get somepony." That is a fair point.

Rainbow groaned and said "What do you want, Discord?" Probably another annoying thing. Discord turned back into his normal self and said "Fluttershy told me about this hearth-whatever-it's-called." Hearth's Warming Helper is what it is. "I may not be invited, but I wanted to make sure she gets a quality gift." He picked up the candle and threw it into a trash can he summoned. Rainbow took it out and said "I tried asking her what she likes, but she likes everything." Of course she would say that. Hasbro only did that to be annoying. Discord said "Well, she says that. But her real friends know what she actually likes." Rainbow got defensive and said "I've known her a lot longer than you have." That may be true, but Discord has been around a lot longer than you have. Also, just because you've known someone longer than you have doesn't mean you know they like best over another person. Sorry. I have to play Devil's advocate here. Discord changed into a circus costume and said "Then you must surely know that lit candles around adorably flammable animals make her nervous." He does have a point. "Don't you?" Yeah, pretty much.

Rainbow growled and said "Fine. I'll get her something else." Rainbow flew into the sky, but Discord tagged along in a pilot suit which I thought was hilarious. It reminded me of when Snoopy would wear that kind of outfit, but this is draconequus edition which is even better. Speaking of which, he said "Perhaps I'll tag along." Be careful with that. "To steer you in the right direction." Sure whatever. I went back inside the castle and saw Spike go to his room. He had a grin on his face. Gloater. "I can't wait to give Rarity her gift." Yeah, you happy now? You got what you wanted, so you better not get angry or anything. "It'll be just as special and beautiful and amazing as she is!" Right. We'll see about that. "Just imagine when she opens it and sees… Uh… sees… I have no idea what to get her!" BRUH! You were so determined to get Rarity on your card, and you don't even know WHAT TO FLIPPING GET HER?! Bruh. This is stupid. You're on your own for that. Sorry. I went back to the library and saw Twilight planning. She said "The ideal gift for Zach needs to be a) unique, b) specific to his personality, and c) food based." I know you might be raising an eyebrow at food based, but I'm a lion. I love food. Lions do a lot of hunting. They spend half of their time doing that. The other half would be sleeping. So, that's why.

"What is a unique food?" I can think of several things. "Cupcakes? Nah. Cookies? Nope." I do like those things, but they aren't unique enough. "Pies? Pastries? Pudding? Wait! Pudding!" Now there's an idea. I love me some good pudding. My favorite one is banana pudding, but I'll eat any one as long as it's not a science experiment and gone bad. Twilight picked up a book and read aloud "After defeating the windgos, the Earth Pony, Pegasi, and Unicorn nations prepared the first Hearth's Warming meal together." Makes sense. "Chancellor Puddinghead made a pudding so delicious, legends were written about it!" Oh gosh. Not him. That's the same pony who tried to pass a law saying that Earth ponies had to drink carrot juice at every meal. I thought it was stupid and it seemed like other ponies agreed. "This is it! Unique! Totally Zach! The most incredible dessert ever!" The only reason why she knows this fits me is because I told her that I absolutely love pudding and how much I crave it all the time. That's why in case you were confused. She tried looking for the recipe in the book, but couldn't find squat. "Where's the recipe?" I have no idea.

Eventually, Twilight had found the recipe and walked down the hall. "The recipe for Chancellor Puddinghead's magical pudding was filed under magical spells, not recipes." Hmm. How odd. "Only took four hours to figure that out." Oh dear. I forgot how long it took her. I was enjoying myself and fell asleep. Guess time flies when you're having fun. "Let's see. Nutmeg, sugarplums, gingerbread, candy canes." UGH! I hate candy canes. But maybe, I won't be able to taste it. That happens sometimes with certain foods. "Warning: to avoid untold culinary devastation, each ingredient must be measured with exact care. Ha ha! Book. Have you met me?" Be careful what you wish for. The door started making a banging noise and Twilight opened the door. It revealed Shining and Cadence holding Flurry and saying "Happy Hearth's Warming!" Twilight twitched her eye a bit and said "But.. you're early!" Eh, not really. "Your scroll said you were coming tomorrow!" Yeah, that was sent yesterday. Weren't you paying attention? Good grief. Cadence asked "The scroll we sent yesterday?" Yep, that one. "Yesterday! Right. Welcome!" I appeared in my lion form and said "Oh look who decided to join the party. It's nice to see you guys again Cadence and Shining."

Cadence said "As it is to you Zachary." Shining said "Same here." Great. That was awfully short. Twilight said "Eh, what are you doing?" Oh right. Her appearance. Shining said "Decorations not up, frazzled mane, determined look. I've seen this before." So have I. I know what's going on, but I can't say anything or else I'll look foolish. "What are you obsessing about this time, Twily?" Something odd and surprisingly reasonable. Twilight said "Nothing!" and I rolled my eyes. You can't hide from them forever. Shining asked "So decorations aren't up because?" Too busy doing other crap. Twilight said "I thought it would be more fun if we all decorated it together!" Hmm. Nice save there Twilight. Cadence said "That sounds wonderful. We can start decorating right-" before Twilight said "After I finish one quick errand. Just a few ingredients. Nothing to obsess about here!" Right. As if I'm going to believe that. "Make yourselves at home. Be right back! Promise." Whatever. Twilight disappeared and I said "Yeah, she's definitely stressing over nothing. That's Twilight for ya. I have to live through that unfortunately." Both of them nodded and Cadence asked me "So how have you been doing Zachary?"

I said "Good I would say. Life can be quite difficult at times as royalty, but eh. I'm used to it." Cadence laughed and said "I know. It can be quite difficult. No matter what though, you always keep going." I said "Very true. So how's life in the Crystal Empire?" Shining said "Not really much has changed since you were there last." Yeah, a long time ago. "I do my guard work, Cadence has princess duties, and Sunburst still watches Flurry most of the time." I said "Ah. How interesting. You know, it's kinda funny how I can be royalty and military at the same time." Cadence asked me "What do you mean?" I said "Well, my royal title is Prince of Defense. Since defending Equestria has to do with the military, and I have the power and title of an alicorn, it would make sense." Shining asked "Really?" I said "Oh yeah. Definitely. In fact, I have plenty of stories of me going off on crazy adventures. Some of them you might have heard of already, but you might want to hear it from the source. Care to listen?" Both of them nodded their heads in excitement and I began to tell my tale. I told them about everything from defeating 10 Timberwolves all by myself without any magic to just recently saving the student six from being sucked into another dimension with all Equestrian magic and their counselor. That was quite hectic.

Both of them were so intrigued and Flurry was excited as well as I told this story. Finally when it was over, Shining said "Wow. It's honestly quite satisfying to hear Sombra be defeated with his own magic." I said "I know right? It put him in his place and that's what led to my crown, scepter, and wings." Cadence asked "How come you have eagle wings on your back? Wouldn't that make you a griffon?" I said "In theory, yes. But this is just what Starswirl granted to me." Both of their jaws dropped. Cadence asked "Starswirl granted those to you?!" I said laughing a bit "Yep. Don't know why, but I never questioned it. With those kinds of things, you be quiet and don't ask questions. Except for maybe how you got there. Then you would be fine." After that, we talked for a bit about things going on in our lives and things that annoyed us. Surprisingly, a number of things that I hated about royalty were the exact same things Cadence hated as well. I guess future family can relate to things about royalty. Eh, whatever. We went into the kitchen and Cadence said for some reason "Flurry loved sledding!" I said "Well then, maybe you would enjoy Colorado Springs."

Both of them looked confused for a second and I continued explaining. "It's just a place that existed back home. It's a really great place to go skiing and sledding and it attracts tons of tourists each year. It's also home to the Air Force academy in the United States. Which is basically the name of the country I came from. You won't find it here on any Equestrian map. You have to travel several hundred light years in order to get Earth. Anyways, the Air Force is one of the branches of the U.S. military and I used to have family who served in that branch. So all in all, Colorado Springs is a really cool place to visit." Cadence said "That sounds like a really cool place and nice as well. Where exactly is this place?" I brought up a digital map of the United States and showed them where Colorado Springs was. I said "Okay, so if you look right here, *points to Colorado* this is the state of Colorado. If you come right down the middle, all the way down to the bottom of the state, there is Colorado Springs right there." I also showed them a map of what it looked like and they were amazed. Shining said "Wow. That really is a cool place. Too bad her aunt wasn't there." I have visited there before, but she exactly wouldn't know me back then. Twilight shushed us and put an ingredient in the pudding and Flurry was intrigued.

She said "There! Ingredients measured exactly! Now what were you saying?" Nothing. Shining said "Hi! Remember us? We came all the way from the Crystal Empire for some quality family time?" Yeah it seems like I have gotten all the family time here while you ditched me Twilight. Not that I mind, but still. But, to be fair, she was making MY present, so I'll give her a pass for now. I raised a brow in suspicion and Twilight said "OK. I did get a little stressed about Hearth's Warming this year." Even though it was extremely foolish on your part to wait this long. It's called procrastinating. I know I've done it in the past, but that's a part of myself that I hate about. That's why I get so annoyed about procrastination. Simply because I'm not proud of it and I want to change so I can't do that again. Flurry teleported away and put stuff in the pudding. You better not put anything poisonous in there, Flurry. Or else your aunt is going to kill you for it. Shining said "What? You? Never!" It's true. Twilight said "So my friends decided we should do a Hearth's Warming helper and give one pony to save time." I said "To be fair, we wouldn't have this issue if you had not procrastinated and waited til the last minute to do something."

Twilight glared at me and Shining and Cadence had confused looks on their faces. "I'm not proud of procrastination since I used to have a bad habit of it in the past, so that's why I'm so angry about it. That's all." Both of them nodded and Shining said "Let me guess. You got super worried about making sure the present was perfect and went all Twily-nanas, didn't you?" Pretty much. Twilight said "I wasn't Twily-nanas!" I said "Eh, I beg to differ on that one. Living with you for the past four or five years, I know how you are." Shining nodded in agreement and gave a suspicious look at Twilight. He got her to crack and she said "Ok, fine. A little Twily-nanas." I said "That's an understatement." Twilight glared at me and I rolled my eyes. Cadence said "Twilight, we know you get overwhelmed." Heh, tell me about it. "You should have just told us! We could've helped!" Well, I don't think Twilight would want me knowing that my present is right there, so eh. Twilight said "The good news is, the present is almost done!" I know she was about to say my name, but since I was in the room, she didn't want to give it away. "Then it's just friends and family and a calm quiet Hearth's Warming Eve!" Are you sure about that? Suddenly, I felt part of the pudding grab onto my back leg and I snarled at it catching Twilight, Shining, Cadence, and Flurry's attention.

I said "Uh, is this supposed to happen with Chancellor Puddinghead's pudding?" Twilight shook her head no and she said "Run!" The rest of them took off and I began fighting the pudding to get it off me. Thankfully, my magic was powerful enough to get the stuff off quickly and I went into my shadow form following them and hightailing it out of there making sure I didn't get caught in it again. We came around the corner and saw the rest of our friends. Twilight said "Run! The pudding is coming!" That came like a tsunami and I continued to fight it off. Suddenly, Rainbow said "Run! The Winterzilla is coming!" Oh no. I know about those things. They look like a cute little mouse during the daytime, but turn into a terrifying monster at night. Creepy if you ask me. Both Rainbow and Discord got inside, but the Winterzilla came in and broke off the doors. Twilight put up her shield, but I knew that wasn't going to last. He simply blew it away with a roar and I snarled at the creature. You wanna play this game? So be it. Rainbow said "What is that?!" Pudding? Duh. Twilight said "Magic pudding! What is that?!" A Winterzilla. Rainbow said "A Winterchilla!" Eh. Twilight said "They turn into winterzillas after dark!" Pretty much.

Rainbow yelled "Does everypony know this except me?!" Pretty much. I roared at the creature and immediately began attacking him with my shadows and body slamming him to the ground. I blasted him with magic that it blew him back several football fields and he roared even more. But I came prepared. I continued to body slam him to the ground and he only got angrier by the second. Then, he somehow picked me up and launched me into the back of the wall which definitely left a crack. I had JUST ABOUT ENOUGH! I said "SO YOU WANNA PLAY THIS GAME EH?! WELL THEN, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THE KING OF ALL BEASTS!" I immediately charged at him with dark magic and slammed my paws on the ground to create dark crystals and that started to scare him. However, I wasn't done yet. I went into my shadow form to look like Sombra and cast the fear spell on him. That got him to back down at least for a little bit. He then started trying to hit me again. "Dang it! I thought that would at least work. It usually does on every kind of animal!" Rainbow looked at Discord and said "Can't you do something?" Please. I would very much appreciate your help instead of you sitting on a recliner eating popcorn watching this go down as if this was a movie or something.

Discord said "I did. This is Fluttershy's gift!" You have got to be kidding me. Rainbow said "What?" and Rarity got caught in the pudding. She said "A little help, please!" Shining said "I've got this!" I said "No. Watch this." I charged up my scepter and blasted the pudding as hard as I could which freed Rarity of the pudding and I teleported her upstairs. "If you don't want to get caught in this, I suggest you move upstairs." Shining and Cadence quickly obliged and moved their way upstairs. Applejack asked "How are we gonna get rid of this thing?" I have no idea. Unless… Discord said in annoyance "Oh, for Scorpan's sake." There's a new one. "Hello! If only one of you had a way with animals?" Discord turned into a bunch of arrows pointed at Fluttershy and she said "Oh, my." Good luck. "Um, excuse me." The creature roared at her and it set her back. However, she would not back down at all. She looked mad now. "This is supposed to be the happiest time of year!" That doesn't stop people from being mean, unfortunately. "So if this is how you plan on behaving, you can march yourself right back to where you came from." The creature whimpered and went down to cry. Hmm. How odd. I didn't think this creature had feelings.

"Oh. Your family is gone for the holidays and you're all alone?" I don't know. The creature nodded and my eyes went wide. Ouch. That must hurt. I didn't think those creatures had family. It didn't look sad earlier when it was tiny. "I'm so sorry. If you calm down, I'm sure you could join us." As long as he apologizes to me first for yeeting me straight into the back of the wall. The pudding poked Pinkie and she screamed. I said "Get upstairs before this thing engulfs you in pudding." Pinkie, Discord, Rainbow, Applejack and Spike, all went upstairs only leaving me and Twilight to fight this pudding. It was difficult. Even for me with all these overpowered alicorn magic. I said "You might want to have Pinkie bake this next time. I'm just saying." I took a taste of it and it didn't taste bad. "Hmm. This actually tastes pretty good. Good that I can't taste the candy canes because I hate those things." Part of the pudding came up and Twilight blasted it away. She said "Chancellor Puddinghead's recipe." I said "Let me guess. After all three pony tribes defeated the windgos, Chancellor Puddinghead made a pudding for the first Hearth's Warming and it tasted so good that it became a legend in books?"

Twilight's jaw dropped. She asked "How did you know about that?!" I said "Trust me. You aren't the only one who knows about history. I'd say for this dessert, though, it is pretty impressive." Twilight said "It's your Hearth's Warming present!" I said "I should have figured that. Considering the fact that you know I absolutely crave pudding and would tear it up any day. No pony knows me like you do Twilight." Twilight said "It took a lot of research, but I-" before I blasted another attack from the pudding away from Twilight. Shining said "Maybe focus on the task at hoof, Twily?" That would be a good idea. The Winterzilla backed away in fear and Twilight said "Right. The recipe needed to be exact." Of course. "I think Flurry Heart added something while I wasn't looking, but I have no idea what to add to adjust it. A teaspoon of nutmeg? Three sugarplums? Extra-" I cut off Twilight and said "Gingerbread? Four more candy canes?" Twilight's jaw dropped again. She asked "How do you know the recipe?!" I said "Once again, I've read through the books. Wait. That's it! Pinkie! Toss me my gift!" Pinkie said "Roger that!" and threw it over to me.

I said "Merry Christmas, Twilight! I'm your Hearth's Warming Helper!" I jumped up in the air and went inside the pudding leaving everyone stunned. I left all the ingredients out in the open and it glowed gold before turning the pudding back to normal. Twilight looked around before I jumped out of that pudding and was flying. I looked and saw some pudding got stuck. Whoops. I charged up my scepter and got rid of the pudding that still remained on me. Once I was done, Twilight gave me a hug and everyone cheered. Discord had a clipboard out and said "A bit reindeer-ex-machina, but… Two thumbs way up. Whoooo!" Thanks Discord. There were fireworks that went off and after that, we all sat in the living room next to the fireplace. Twilight came up to me and said "Sorry for failing as a Hearth's Warming helper, Zach." I said "It's okay Twilight. It doesn't bother me. You couldn't have predicted that Flurry would do that. All that matters now is that everything has been taken care of. Besides, if not for that accident, my gift would be worthless. It wouldn't mean anything, so don't belittle yourself so much." Twilight smirked and said "Who does that sound like? I can say the same about you." I said "Touche." and ate some pudding.

Rarity sighed and said "At least Twilight has something to show for her effort." What do you mean by that? "I ordered you a fabulous farm hat, Applejack." Oh right. It accidentally got shipped to the wrong pony, but she let him keep it anyways. "Alas, it decided it belonged to somepony else." That's how it is. Applejack said "Pop said sometimes the hat chooses the pony when he gave me this." True. "Hopefully my gift inspired whoever's wearin' it to be the best farmer ever." It was something like that. Rarity said "Ah. Something like that." Pretty much. Fluttershy said "We're really sorry about your gifts." Heh, tell me about it. Applejack said "We got a bit distracted with Flim and Flam's shenanigans." I said "Really?! Them again? Ugh! Didn't they learn their lesson with the friendship school incident? I guess not. How foolish." Speaking of which, the toy came off and it said "Commercialism is the greatest gift of all." I said "HA! I disagree with that statement." Discord blasted it away and Rainbow said "They're better than my gift. Sorry about the Winterzilla." Well, you had no idea. Fluttershy said "Oh, he's a big sweetheart." Sure he is. Whenever he's calm. "And he ended up being really helpful!" How so? The Winterzilla came walking in and sat down with some pudding.

"It was actually kind of nice to be the pony who saved the day for once." I said "We've all done that one way or another." Discord said "Oh really? You mean a giant beast that only Fluttershy could tame, making her the hero of Hearth's Warming Eve was a great gift?" Perhaps. "Imagine that." I rolled my eyes and continued eating my pudding. Rainbow got defensive and said "You mean you tricked me into putting my friend in danger on purpose so you…" before Discord silenced her and simply pointed to the Winterzilla who was having a good time with Fluttershy. "Let's just say it was from both of us." That's a fair point. Applejack said "I guess Hearth's Warmin' Helper was kind of a disaster." I said "I think otherwise." Cadence said "I agree. Ponyville always seems to have way more exciting holidays than the Crystal Empire." I said "Eh. It's just the culture there. Most of those holidays over there were established from Princess Mi Amore if I am correct." Everypony's jaws dropped. Cadence asked me "Ho-how did you know about that?!" I said "Well, to be fair, I have read all the books in the Crystal library and even read Sombra's journal. Really interesting to say the least. Man, was that filled with emotions."

Suddenly, both Cadence and Twilight were intrigued about it. "I'm guessing neither of you have read his journal?" They both nodded and I sighed. "Fair enough. I'll tell you the story later. It's really interesting." Spike said "There's one gift left. But I messed up too." How so? The Winterzilla gave him his electric guitar of some sort and continued explaining. "Your present's only kinda finished, Rarity. But I guess it's better than nothing." I said "What the gift looks like is not what's important, it's about the person or pony or even dragon that you receive it from." Everyone nodded and Spike sang a song to Rarity which I thought was cool. Halfway through, he said he couldn't figure out what that great gift was. "Hmm. That reminds me of what the gift givers told me. What was it? Oh yes. It was a riddle. The best gift is more precious than gold but it cannot be sold. When it breaks, it's not ended for quickly it's mended. It can never be bought yet is easily sought. I can't exactly remember what the answer was." Twilight giggled and I raised a brow. "What's so funny?"

Twilight said "You are right. It is a riddle. And the answer to it is friendship!" Oh, right. Twilight pitched in singing and she was close to me since she seemed to care about me still. Then they all pitched in and I saw what everyone else was doing. I even got to see what Celestia and Luna were doing. Suddenly, I noticed the reindeer outside and I gave them a wink for helping me with this. The true gift is friendship. Once they were done singing, I said "You know. That reminds me of an old saying that my kind used to say back home. It is better to give than to receive." Everyone nodded and Twilight said "Very well said. I couldn't have said it any better myself." I said "Thanks Twilight. Since it is Hearth's warming Eve, I shall tell you about the holiday I celebrate on this day." Applejack asked me "Ya don't celebrate the same holiday as us?" I said "Nope. It's similar, but it has a different name. I'll explain it." Fluttershy asked "By telling a story?" I said "No. I'll give you a song since it would fit better. Just watch." They will see what holiday I really celebrate on this day.

[Insert Christmas Day from Chris Tomlin]

I pulled out the electric guitar and had the music playing in the background while singing to them. Since I have magic, I morphed my voice to sound like Chris Tomlin himself while singing. I would have turned into my human form, but I'm not ready to reveal that yet. I strummed along on the guitar while the rest of them followed along with the song and I could tell they were enjoying it, so I continued putting more passion into it. Once I was done singing, I set the guitar down and all of them started clapping. I smiled and I put it away. "Let me show you something outside." I walked out the door and went to the balcony and the rest of them followed curious as if this was Charlie Brown Christmas. "You see that bright star up there?" They all nodded and I continued explaining. "That is the star that appeared in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Even, all the way out here hundreds if not thousands of light years away, you can still see the bright star in Israel. It's official name is the Star of Bethlehem and it can be found in the country of Israel at night in that specific place." As I looked at the Star of Bethlehem, I noticed that the light shined down upon me and I could feel God's presence right then and there. Now hold on. Before you call me psychic or something, I know it was actually him.

I know some people might think that's blasphemous or I'm talking nonsense, but I am really being serious. I promise that I'm not talking heresy or anything. It's still pretty cool that I can see the Star of Bethlehem from all the way from Equestria. Twilight came up to me and asked "How many light years away would that star be?" I said "I'm not really sure. I've done research in the past, but I couldn't find anything. I believe it's at least hundreds of thousands of light years away. Basically, it is very far. Anyways, it is pretty to look at." Everyone agreed and they all sat by me to watch the star. Merry Christmas, everyone.

AN: I know the original episode had Pinkie as Twilight's "Hearth's Warming Helper," but I thought it would be a good idea to have Zachary be that instead. This is not a coincidence and it is not on purpose. This just happened by chance. It's kinda like when you have a raffle and the host picks a random name and whoever that is the winner. That's how it is in this chapter. Also, I have no idea how far Equestria is from Earth exactly, but I'm guessing hundreds of thousands or even millions of light years away. You can debate that in the reviews section all you wish, but that's what I'm going with. I'm no astronomist, so I have to make my guesses. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: Rainbow Roadtrip! Rainbow Dash gets called to a village that has lost it's color and they need her help. So she brings her friends to try and figure out the issue. They learn about what had happened, and it was depressing to hear. Rainbow's friends try everything they can to fix the issue, but nothing will work. Will Rainbow be able to figure out this issue, or will ponies remain emotionless and colorless for the rest of their lives?

Until then, my fellow readers