Star Wars: The Great War

by Iroa19

The Clone War was a time that many remember. Many battles were fought, and many lives and people we knew were lost. All across the galaxy, the battle between the force's light and the dark side is at constant ends. War has engulfed everybody as the bitter conflict between the Galactic Republic and Separatist rages on.

113. Chapter 112: Hearth's Warming

Chapter 112: Hearth's Warming

Storm sighed softly, resting his head on his hands as he stared out the window.

The gently falling snow drifted through the air with the grace of a professional dancer, captivating all who held it within their sight. Carefully crafted flakes, fell harmlessly to the ground, adding a small, insignificant amount of snow to the already buried ground beneath it.

Sugarcube Corner had been closed today as a result of the twins catching a cold, likely a result of the recent increase in scheduled snow this time of year, which had the side effect of dropping the temperature.

Though, not everything was so joyful.

He was alone, after all. Not even Sonar was there to keep him company.

Now it was Hearth's Warming, well on its way, spreading a massive increase in cheer the town over, cheer that affected even him, if to a lessened degree.

More than once he'd entertained the, very few, carolers who arrived at his door for much longer than he would've before sending them off with a polite goodbye, and a few bits for their trouble.

Yes, if he'd had any doubts before, that had erased quite a few of them.

He was becoming soft.

And... he didn't mind. Or he didn't think so, at least.

Although, the holiday's rapid approach had revealed another problem he hadn't expected, and one he honestly wasn't sure how to deal with.

Gifts.

But the problem of gifts had not been one that had ever come up before. A combination of a lack of time, a lack of knowledge, and a lack of care had ensured that Storm never actively participated in Hearth's Warming.

So, what was he to get for his new... friends?

Twilight. A book, most likely. Preferably something rare enough to be hard to get, but well known enough that she'd understand how special it was. But then again, she had plenty of that, not to mention, a princess. What do you get a girl who literally has everything?

Fluttershy? Some plants? She did have a rather impressive garden... but that was mostly for the animals.

Applejack. Money. No better thing to give when you had no idea what to do. Besides, more money for the farm, right?

Rarity? No clue. He doubted she'd take money.

In hindsight, Applejack probably wouldn't either.

Rainbow? Well…

Pinkie? Oh god!

Dammit! He wasn't meant for this kind of thing! He was a fighter for fuck's sake! Not some gift-giving aficionado! He barely knew what Hearth's Warming even was, let alone how to fucking participate!

He forced himself to let out a breath, calming himself down.

He couldn't work himself up like this. Ignoring how strange it was that something this... insignificant was affecting him.

Thankfully, most of the stores around town were still open, despite the bad weather. Likely trying to take advantage of the recent influx of tourists.

Storm scoffed slightly at the thought. All those people, cameras waving around, taking pictures damn near everything. Why come to some little town like this?

Aside from the Element Bearers and the Everfree Forest, there really wasn't much.

It was still stupid, in his opinion.

A sudden knocking on the front door drew him from his thoughts, and caused him to frown, sparing another glance outside.

Who was visiting him in this weather?

He glared at the door for a moment, ears twitching, before striding over and wrenching it open.

"What are you doing here, Sparky?" he asked, almost before the door was even open.

Indeed, the familiar lavender princess stood outside the door, the same strange winter clothes adorning her body, with the addition of a pair of saddlebags this time around.

She perked up now that the door was open,

"Good afternoon, Storm!" she chirped, smiling, though she pulled her scarf closer, "I just came by with some great news! My parents invited us to Canterlot to act in The First Hearth's Warming during the annual Canterlot Pageant!" she gushed, smiling from ear to ear.

The First Hearth's Warming?

"Have they?" he asked, before stepping aside, "You might as well come in, first," he offered. Twilight blinked, and seemed to jump in place.

"O-oh!" she stammered, taking a hesitant step forward.

Rather than question her strange behavior, Storm stepped away and headed into the kitchen, where he set up a kettle of water on the stove, before returning to see Twilight looking around the living room, having set aside her clothing by the door.

"I'm surprised you decorated," said the girl as she saw how bare the inside Storm's home was.

The boy started to look around. It looked... new, despite having one separate individual and his pet bat living in it at one point.

His room was much the same, actually.

And so was the bathroom, and the kitchen, and... well, the only room in the entire house with any sort of decoration was Wisp's room, which had several posters hanging on the walls, as well as a few drawings she'd made.

He'd... never really looked at the house before now. Never had it in mind.

Until now, he wasn't sure its appearance had even registered to him. Not since the first time he looked at it.

Compared to the Apple Family House, the rooms above Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy's cottage, even the everyday shops around town, his house looked...

Dead.

Like no one even lived here.

"I... suppose you're right," he said, burying the unease he felt, the realization stirring up... something within him.

"I-I'm sorry if that was... rude, I just... couldn't help but notice..." Twilight apologized, leading Storm to shake his head,

"Its fine, Sparky," he waved it off, "You mentioned an invitation back up to Canterlot?"

"Yeah!" she chirped, latching on to the new topic, "My folks just sent me a letter asking the seven of us if we wanted to take part in The First Hearth's Warming! They say the six main actors all came down with something, and that they think we're perfect for the parts!"

"Really?" Storm asked, raising an eyebrow, "Do you even know how to act? Do any of you know how to act?"

"Well, no, but it can't be that hard!" Twilight defended, then wilted, "Er... can it?" Storm shook his head.

"Acting is basically pretending to be something you're not, Sparky. I doubt your parents would actually have you and the others perform without having you go through an audition, or, at the very least, without some last minute tutoring." The princess nodded.

"Yeah, that makes sense. But I think I'll be fine!" she exclaimed, "I've been watching The First Hearth's Warming with my family since I was old enough to walk and talk!" she giggled, "Annnnnd, I get to play as Clover the Clever!" she squealed, "Also it seems fitting given that he was one of my early ancestors. Did you know he was Starswirl the Bearded's apprentice before the Unification?!" she squealed.

"Uh... no," he admitted, frowning, "But what's this play about anyhow? Obviously the first Hearth's Warming, but..." he trailed off as his eyes met Twilight's wide ones.

"You don't know?!" she exclaimed, "How can you possibly not know about the story of the first Hearth's Warming?! It's how people came together and united as one nation!"

"Uhh... Jedi?" he said, "My whole life I've been with Luna and the Jedi Order!" he said, then shook his head, "Whatever. Is that what Hearth's Warming is about? The Unification?" he asked, "I would've thought it'd be something more... interesting."

"What?!" Twilight nearly shouted, making Storm flinch at the unexpected volume, "What could possibly be more interesting, while still being in season, than the story of how the three tribes came together peacefully for the first time in history?!"

"I don't know," Storm snapped without heat, "The defeat of Discord, maybe? Wasn't that around Hearth's Warming as well during one point in time?" he asked.

"Well, yes," Twilight conceded, "but the story of how people came together as a species is more important than how Discord was defeated several times!"

"I feel like a lot of people would disagree with that," Storm snarked, "I mean, the tribes didn't even know about the Windigos. There was no confrontation with those things, no battle, no-no anything!" he said, then scoffed, "Why are they even called Windigos anyways? We already have Wendigos, why make that confusing?"

"Wendigos?" Twilight asked, sounding genuinely confused, "I think I've heard of those..." Storm sighed, and shook his head, only for the sound of a pitched whistle to echo through the house, prompting Storm to rise from his seat,

"You really need to read a book about supernatural creatures," he said, returning with a pair of steaming cups of tea, "Spells are all well and good, but if you don't know anything about the monsters outside of the Everfree, then what's the point?" he asked. Twilight choked on her breath, an indignant expression on her face, even as she took the cup,

"'Whats the point?'! Magic is an art! It's one of the most misunderstood things in the whole galaxy! We've had magic for almost as long as we've been a species and there's still so much about it we don't know! Learning spells and discovering new methods of developing and controlling magic is a field of study that almost no one goes into, even though it's extremely important! Not only that, but spell-weaving is an incredibly delicate system of interwoven rules that we discovered, and it has the possibility to advance our entire society decades ahead of what it is now!" she gushed passionately, leaving Storm honestly speechless.

"... Wow... you're very... passionate about magic, aren't you?" Twilight nodded resolutely.

"Of course I am!" she stated, taking a sip.

"... Right." Twilight shook her head, fidgeting slightly.

"I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to rant," she apologized with a sheepish smile.

"Anyways, you said your parents asked for the seven of us, but you mentioned that only six of the actors were sick," he pointed out, changing the topic again, with little issue.

"Oh, well, usually there's a narrator for the play, and usually my dad fills the part, but apparently there's been some big influx of crimes around Equis, and he needs to sort through the paperwork."

That really caught his attention.

Crimes?

Well, he supposed it made sense, in a way. It was a paranoid assumption to make, and all together not the best one. After all, he didn't know the nature of the crimes in question. If it was just a series of robberies and the like, then it made sense as to why the Ming and Queen would have to be involved.

Putting that aside, they wanted him to narrate this play? From the sounds of it, it seemed like it was a big deal, if it had an entire time slot dedicated to it during one of the biggest holiday events, especially one so large.

Did they have that much faith in him?

Or was he the last minute option?

Whatever, not like it mattered. It would be a little odd, returning to Canterlot so soon after the wedding incident, but it would be a novel experience, since he'd never been a part of something like it before.

Then again, there were plenty of things he'd done since coming to this town that he'd never done before. It seemed to be a trait unique to this town, or, more accurately, the people who called this town home.

"It certainly sounds interesting," he admitted, putting a hand to his chin, "Narrating a play about the Equis Unification. I've never personally been to a play before," he muttered.

"So... you want to come?" Twilight asked, causing Storm to shrug,

"Yeah, why not?" he responded, smiling a bit as Twilight let out a little whoop,

"That's great! I've already talked to the girls about it, but I was worried that you wouldn't want to join!" she admitted, "Anyways, the Pageant is taking place the day before Hearth's Warming Eve, so we need to start practicing!" she announced, before she began to root through her satchel, "Thankfully, my mother sent along the scripts for us to look over together!" she said, pulling out a fairly large stack of papers, before handing it over to him, "Since you're the narrator, you've got more lines than the rest of us," she remarked, frowning, "I hope it's not too much..."

Storm shook his head.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. It's like a history lesson, in the end. I'd be more worried about your lines, since you're the ones playing actual characters, and not me. After all, reciting history is one thing, but pretending to be someone else is another altogether."

Twilight rolled her eyes at him.

"A little dramatic, don't you think?" she asked, and smiled, "Still, I can't believe that I'm going to be Clover the Clever, one of the foremost pioneers of magic and my ancestor!" she gushed.

Storm gave her a noncommittal grunt as he flipped through the pages of the script he was given, downing the rest of his tea. It was... smaller than he'd expected.

When she said he'd be narrating the whole thing, he had expected it to be rather involved. But if this thing was to be believed, then he mostly provided context and some background information on the events as the others acted them out.

That didn't mean it was a small script. It was still fairly long, but most of it was stage action, and what his cues were, oddly enough, which he expected to be the harder portion of memorizing this thing.

"We all agreed to meet up in the barn to start practicing!" Twilight added after a moment of silence, having chosen to nurse her tea for a minute, only to wilt slightly, "Then again... you don't really need to practice with us, since you're by yourself," she muttered, before she shook her head, "You can still watch though! And, maybe, give us some tips?" she asked. Storm scoffed.

"I'm not an actual actor, Sparky," Storm said, "I don't think I'd be of much help."

"You did a pretty good job pretending to be a henchman when we freed Aj from that fortress" she pointed out, brow raised,

"Acting and lying are two different skills, Sparky."

"Oh," she said, her ears folding against her head, "well, the offer is still up to come watch us!" she chirped. Storm nodded.

"I'll definitely keep that in mind," he said, "But... I have some things I need to do today, besides."

"Really?" she asked, tilting her head, "Like what?"

"Nothing too important. Just some errands I have to run."

"Oh, alright. Do you... need any help?" she asked, peering at him curiously. Storm regarded her for a moment, debating, before eventually shaking his head.

"No, I'll be fine. Thanks for offering, I suppose."

"Of course! That's what friends are for, right?" she asked, her cheeks flushing slightly, the sight bringing a small warmth to his chest as well.

"Right," he agreed, and glanced out the window, "Hmm, we might both want to head out. No point in getting snowed in here," he said, picking up his own satchel from beside the door, sliding his new script inside in the process.

"Right!" Twilight agreed, putting her things back on as well, "Don't wanna keep the girls waiting either!"

Storm nodded, slipped his coat on, as Twilight approached the door to grab her winter clothing. The boy took the coat into his own hands and prompted her to straighten out her arms.

"Here… Allow me…"

She complied and allowed him to step behind her before putting one arm through the coat followed quickly by the other as his strong arms wrapped the opulent coat around her front. As his hands came around, however, one ever so gently brushed up against the bottom of her breasts. A tingling sensation arched throughout her entire body, and a sharp gasp escaped involuntarily from her lips. Twilight spun around to face him only to realize just how close he was standing to her.

Storm swallowed hard, his hot breath hitting her cheek. "I... I'm sorry... My hand slipped. I hope you understand..."

They were both frozen in place, both of his hands still clutching onto the coat that now covered her back and shoulders. Twilight's eyes drifted over his body. Her mind screamed for her to accept his apology and leave, but her feet glued her to the floor. With her constantly struggling to tell the boy how she felt, she had been starved of physical intimacy, and it wasn't until just now that she realized how lonely she really was. She stood motionless in what could almost be considered an embrace, silently wondering why he wasn't moving either.

The heat between them was intense, now, and her heart thundered in her chest with what she thought to be excitement or anticipation. Twilight didn't know what she was anticipating, just that she was feeling something she had long been without as Storm's grip on her coat loosened and fell to her waist. Then, she felt something hard press against her inner thigh, and her chest twisted into a knot. She knew immediately what it was, and the thought only excited her further.

Her breathing began to escalate, and her mouth hung wide open as waves of pure, sensational pleasure washed over her. Twilight's legs turned to jelly, and she leaned back against the door, allowing him to move into her. She almost gasped with every breath now as she resisted the urge to moan aloud.

"S-sorry… I lost…"

"Shhh," said Twilight as she silenced the boy by putting a finger to his lips. "Don't apologize, it's fine."

"Princess…"

He spoke softly as his hot breath fell on her. The boy almost debated not leaving and just staying inside with Twilight, all alone, just the two of them. Nobody would know. Just them… together…

Before either of them could do anything to take this intimate moment any further, Storm's hand opened the door, the cold wind woke both Jedi Knights as they snapped out of their lull. They put on the rest of their winter clothing as Storm allowed Twilight to pass by first, before he slipped out as well, locked the door, and placed the key in his bag.

He and the princess started off towards town together, but stopped when they reached the outside of Sugarcube Corner.

"Are you sure you don't want to come watch us practice?" she asked once more, leading Storm to nod.

"Yes, Sparky, I'm sure. Like I said, I have a lot of errands I need to run," he repeated, causing her to sigh.

"Well, alright. Hopefully this snow starts clearing up soon," she said, "Then we can get back to running that course," she flushed, "I... miss running it with you," she added, only to stiffen, "Er-I mean, you know, we run it together and stuff! Not together-together, of course, but, uh, ah-gottagobye!" she blurted out, turning on her feet and all but sprinting away, leaving a slightly red, but more than slightly amused, Storm behind.

He shook his head, a wry grin lighting his features, before he let it fall, and turned to the bakery.

He wasn't lying about the errands he needed to run. After all, he had a lot of unplanned visits ahead of him today if he wanted to figure out what to get everyone for Hearth's Warming.

...

Huh, when did his life develop into something so... mundane?

Whatever, this was the path he walked. And walk it to the end, he shall.

First of all, and possibly the hardest, Pinkie.

"Storm, what in the world are you doing here?" was the question that a very confused, and slightly irate, Mrs. Cake asked him upon opening the door, though it was only after the boy had started knocking on the upstairs window, an unexpected sight that he was sure had nearly given her a heart attack.

Not that he blamed her. The sight of a fully teenager hanging onto the side of your house, peering through one of your windows was a sight that would unnerve any individual not fucked in the head. Then again, he was a Jedi.

"Hearth's Warming in a few weeks and I have no clue what to get Pinkie," he said, getting straight to the point, since it didn't look like Mrs. Cake would appreciate anything else right now, "I was hoping you and your husband would have some tips." Mrs. Cake stared at him for a moment, before sighing, and opened the door.

"Come in. The twins finally got to sleep, so Carrot and I have some spare time right now."

He thanked her and stepped inside, allowing the door to close behind him. Mrs. Cake spun around sluggishly and made her way to the stairs, with Storm right behind.

The Cakes' room wasn't much, in all honesty, and certainly nothing like Pinkie's room. In fact, aside from the obvious differences, it looked remarkably like the twins' room. Take out the bed and dresser, add a pair of cribs, and he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the two at first glance.

"Storm?" Mr. Cake asked, rubbing the side of his face, "What are you doing here?"

"Hearth's Warming. Pinkie. No clue. Tips," he said simply, earning a nod from his male employer after a moment. Mrs. Cake climbed onto the bed with her husband, and faced away from Storm, effectively leaving Mr. Cake to deal with the Jedi by himself. He didn't seem bothered by this, though it's possible he hasn't noticed yet, given how tired he looked.

Part of Storm wanted to feel guilty for keeping them awake, but the rest didn't.

"So... tips on getting Pinkie a gift?" Mr. Cake asked for confirmation, receiving a nod from the teen, "Right... well, Pinkie's honestly more concerned with getting everyone else a gift to really care about her own. She's happy with just about anything, as long as you're smiling, really," he explained. Storm nodded along, the description sounding almost eerily accurate.

"I'd imagine she still enjoys getting them, though," he pointed out. Mr. Cake gave him a tired nod.

"Yeah... anything party related will go over well. Toys, games, anything you'd really get a foal would put a smile on her face. Food is also a really good idea, though it would be best to stick with desserts," he yawned, his jaw creaking slightly, "Anyways... that's really all I can think of," he said, "Sorry I can't help ya further, but the wife and I are really beat, so...?"

Storm nodded distractedly, his mind already running through a hundred different possibilities.

"Thanks Mr. Cake, sorry for the interruption," he said through his distraction, body on autopilot as it led him outside.

Toys? Games? Desserts?

So simple, so obvious, and so natural that Storm doubted it would have occurred to him without help.

She was a party-planner. An individual whose base identity was steeped in having fun and making everyone around her smile. And what better way to do than that by playing games and handing out something sweet for the sole purpose of teasing a smile from everyone around her?

Doing the opposite and having her on the receiving end would surely make a good gift. Now, he only needed to think of something to give her.

A dessert would be best from him, he believed. He knew less than nothing about Equis toys and games, and, unless she was an avid ice-skater, or secretly a weapons collector, Storm doubted any variants would be good gifts for her.

But what kind of dessert to make?

Cakes seemed a little obvious. Ice cream was out of season, but still an option. Assuming she came to the same conclusion as him, which was possible given how long they'd known each other, Applejack probably had every apple-based product snatched up. Pies?

Hmm... baking a pie would be a good idea. Shame he didn't know any recipes.

He cursed his lackluster cooking ability, not for the first time. He was a Jedi, dammit! Luna had drilled the importance of being good at everything he did into his head from an early age. It stung his pride to know that cooking was simply not his strong suit.

Or sewing. Or singing. Or playing any instrument. Or art.

Basically anything that didn't involve fighting or survival of some sort, really.

Aside from that, most of his skills were basic, to intermediate.

Not for a lack of trying, of course. He'd lost count of the hours he'd spent, desperately trying to improve himself in something other than fighting, but no matter what he simply did not improve.

Perhaps he could've asked for help. Perhaps he could've escaped that fact, and made progress.

But no. He refused to ask for help for things so mundane, so... unimportant, when there were greater things to worry about around him. He instead decided to spend every spare moment he had practicing. Moments that either Luna had refused to send him on a mission as a result of injury, sickness, or just flat out not having enough. It would kill his pride to just let anyone see him struggling at anything.

...

Was that him being too prideful? Was the refusal to let anyone see him struggle arrogant? Foolish?

Whatever. It didn't matter anymore. He'd done everything he could to improve his skills over the years, but he'd long since hit a block on nearly all of them. A block that always stopped him long before anything even resembling mastery was achieved. Practice was worthless now.

He shook his head, refocusing on the main issue.

He'd decided to bake Pinkie a pie for Hearth's Warming. Okay, what kind?

Well... Pinkie did have a fondness for chocolate. Honestly, he'd lost track of the number of recipes Pinkie knew that involved 'extra extra chocolate'.

Alright, a chocolate pie for Pinkie. He didn't know any recipes, but he was sure he could snatch one from Sugarcube Corner. He'd have to remember to return it after, of course.

Onto the next subject. Rainbow Dash.

Simple enough. A new part or two for her ship, and he'd be set.

Good, a third of the way already. Next up was Fluttershy.

Faust, who the fuck was he supposed to ask for this? One of her animals?

Storm sighed, and let the small frustration building within him fade. There was no point in getting worked up about it.

His eyes flickered about the snow-covered town, taking in the many colourful decorations hung up, hoping for a splash of insirpation. Various strings of lights hung from many roofs, golden ribbon tied delicately around the nearby shop signs, elegant wreaths hanging from nearly every door, their deep green colour contrasting delightfully with the bright red of the holly berries. There were a multitude of large trees that were brought into town, also decorated with silver tinsel and gold ribbon, each one sporting a bright, cheerful star on top. Large poles had been erected sporadically around town, each sporting a massive purple banner with a pair of white and blue emblems surrounding the sun and moon, the national symbol of Equis.

It was still a bit strange to see so many decorations for just one day of the year.

...

He sighed. Maybe he'd just give her two things. She'd probably like a dessert like Pinkie. Maybe a bunch of cookies?

Moving on, Applejack.

Thankfully, she had someone he could actually talk to for advice. Three someones, in fact. Only issue being that she and all the others were at the barn, where he'd have to go to talk to any of them.

Even so, it shouldn't be too hard to head over there in secret and get the information he needed.

Nodding to himself, Storm set off towards Sweet Apple Acres, shaking off the small layer of snow that had built up on him whilst he was in his thoughts.

Sweet Apple Acres during winter were both beautiful and almost... eerily quiet.

There were no animals or cows outside, the sound of hooves against wood was absent, and the rhythmic thudding of falling apples was nowhere to be heard. The orchard was completely and utterly empty.

But the sight of the falling snow, gingerly laying upon the bare branches of the many, many trees, and undisturbed layer of the white powder laying upon the ground was offsetting that empty feeling, if only slightly.

Sweet Apple Acres was beautiful to behold during the summer, with its fields of green and red, and during the fall, while bare of its red fruit, still provided a plethora of colorful leaves that were ever pleasant to look at. During the winter, however, it bore little to no color, but it still possessed a strange sort of... natural beauty. Like a calm forest clearing.

Which made it all the easier to spot the large red boy making his way towards the main house of the farm.

His target sighted, Storm quickly made his way towards the farmhouse, his footsteps crunching silently in the fallen snow. He thought about calling out to him, but tossed the idea aside after a moment. He'd be there momentarily, so there was no point.

True to his thoughts, he stood before their door hardly even a minute later, and, after sparing a glance at the barn, gave the door a firm knock.

He heard a surprised grunt not too far away, before the door was opened by Macintosh.

Storm blinked, and tilted his head up slightly, having forgotten that Mac was about a half head taller than himself.

He didn't look any different from the last time they'd met, and from the spark of recognition in his eyes, it seemed that Mac hadn't forgotten him either.

"Howdy," came the baritone greeting, a welcoming nod accompanying it, before he gestured his head towards the barn, "Aj's over in the barn, if yer here fer her." Storm nodded.

"I know. I was actually here for you, and perhaps Granny Smith," he explained, "See, I have no idea what to get Applejack for Hearth's Warming," he added immediately, "Figured you two might have an idea."

Mac stared at him for a moment, and nodded, before beckoning him inside. The Jedi followed along, shutting the door behind him as Mac gestured for him to wait, then disappeared up the stairs.

A moment passed, before he returned, Granny Smith hobbling along behind him.

"Who're you?" she asked almost upon sight, her aged eyes squinting as she stared at him, "Wait, I've seen ya befer... I think?" Storm nodded.

"It's been a while, Granny Smith," he said, nodding, "Last time we met, I had been stronghanded by your granddaughter to try your family's cider, if I recall." She stared at him for a moment, before nodding.

"Yeah, now I remember ya. Ya chasin' Aj yet?" she asked, a wrinkly smile appearing on her features. Storm twitched.

"No," he stated flatly, "I was just hoping for some advice on a gift for Hearth's Warming, regarding Applejack."

Granny Smith nodded, though she made her way over to the old rocking chair rather than look at him.

"I get it," she said, groaning a little as she sat down, "Aj's always been a tough girl ta shop fer. S'why ya gotta make somethin'!" she exclaimed, strangely energetic for someone of her age, "Ain't no good jus' buyin' something. Got no heart, see? Now, makin' somethin', somethin' from the heart, ain't nothin' better than that," she explained sagely.

Storm nodded at her advice, though it didn't really help much.

"Right... what should I make?" he asked,

"No clue!"

"Eh?"

"Well I can't jus' tell ya what ta make!" Granny Smith admonished him, wagging her finger at him, "Ya gotta make somethin' from yer heart, and iffin I jus' tell ya what ta make, then it ain't from the heart, sonny!" she explained energetically.

Storm grunted, but conceded as he turned and left, figuring he wouldn't be getting anything else from this visit. She did have a point. But that still left him with no idea what to give her.

Fact was, he didn't really know these girls. Aside from Twilight and Pinkie, he didn't know a lot about them.

He knew what they wanted to do in life. He knew where they were each born, and some common likes and dislikes. But those were simple things. Things that they'd be fairly willing to tell even strangers, since none of it was too personal.

But he didn't know the things they kept to themselves. The things that they might not have told even each other. Those hidden little secrets were the key to figuring out what they wanted for Hearth's Warming, he believed. Problem was, he didn't have the time nor the motivation to hunt for those secrets, and he wasn't about to force the information out of them either.

Storm let out an explosive sigh, his shoulders sagging minutely, causing some snow to slip off of him.

Well... he didn't have a lot of options when it came to making stuff. His skills in things like metal or wood working were paltry at best, and his art skills were even worse. He could sew something for her, like a new hat, but he lacked experience in sewing, with Rarity's dress being one of his only successes, and the only reason he'd managed to make Rarity's dress as good as it was, was due entirely to her extensively detailed drawings, and surplus of materials. Not to mention, Coco helped to guide him.

... Was it down to baking again?

Another sigh loosed itself from his throat.

While it wasn't his strong suit, he was beginning to improve his cooking ability. It wasn't much, but it seemed having to cook for someone other than himself had partially removed the block preventing him from getting better at things, at least. That and the Cakes were willing to teach him as part of him working for them.

Okay... a dessert for Applejack, along with Pinkie and Fluttershy.

So far, it seemed that Rainbow Dash was the only one he planned to give a real gift to. Funny, considering that it wasn't until recently that he'd actually begun to get along with the girl.

Which, thinking about it, was fairly odd. From the moment they'd met, Storm had been certain he'd never got along with the girl, primarily due to the, admittedly, similar aspects of their personalities. Neither of them trusted particularly easily, and they were both stubborn in their own ways. Because of that, Storm had believed that any sort of amiable relationship between them was next to impossible, and he'd been in zero rush to change that.

Yet it was though something had ended up pulling them together, and slowly, but surely, tore down that wall between them.

In hindsight, that something was probably Pinkie. She did have a way of bringing individuals together.

Storm finally made it back into the town proper, finding people still milling about despite the decreasing temperature. It wasn't bad yet, but from the way the wind was beginning to pick up, the storm was likely to happen within the next hour or two. Regardless of this fact, the townsfolk didn't seem particularly rushed to get their tasks done, moving about at casual speeds as they each wandered around between stalls and buildings.

It was just as his eyes passed by a shop that a sharp gust of wind caused the nearby flag, one of the ones sporting the Equis symbol, to start flapping around wildly, the movement instinctively drawing Storm's gaze.

Today just got a lot more stressful, it seemed.

---

Twilight smiled, eyes roaming her script with a fervency only a bookworm like her could possess.

This was going wonderfully! All six of them had gone through their lines, by themselves, receiving critique from the five standing by, and now they'd just moved on to doing the dialogue between the three leaders.

"-inside the chimney!"

Twilight blinked. Chimney? That part of the script wasn't until later! Her eyes backtracked to that particular portion of the script just to be sure, and sighed.

"Pinkie!" she called, interrupting Rainbow's confused dialogue, "You haven't gotten to that part yet! You need to read the right lines, otherwise we'll never get this right!"

"But Twilight!" Pinkie whined, "This script is soooooo super boring!" she added, holding open her script to the lavender girl, which, she noticed, bore a large number of markings that it hadn't had before, all of which were made with pink crayon.

"It's not boring!" Twilight countered hotly, "It's historically accurate!"

"Sooo... it's boring?" Rainbow asked, laying on a nearby bale of hay. Twilight rounded on the blue girl, intent on giving her a stern lecture about the importance of accuracy, when Rarity spoke up.

"Now now, girls, there's no need to start bickering," she said diplomatically, carefully extracting a strand of hay from her hair with her magic, before flicking it aside with a scarcely disguised grimace, "this is a play about the Unification, after all. Was it not arguing like this that brought the Windigos in the first place?"

"Please, if those things came back to Equis we'd be able to take 'em out no problem!" Rainbow boasted, "I mean, we finished off Nightmare Moon and Discord! What's another bedtime story monster?" she asked.

"Both monsters that turned out all too real," Twilight intoned darkly, "She wanted all of Equis plunged into eternal night. Do you have any idea how bad an outcome like that would've turned out?" she asked, casting her gaze around at each of her increasingly uncomfortable friends, "Equis would've been turned into a lifeless wasteland without the sun to keep things warm! Plants would've died, then the animals, and then us people! Abs Discord only wanted to bring about chaos and disharmony! Imagine just how... terrifying the Windigos must be, feeding on all that negativity for so long..." she trailed off.

The group of six were quiet for a moment, that rather unsettling information sinking in, before-

"Then we'll just have to keep smiling and laughing, right?" Pinkie asked, tossing aside the somber mood without issue, "If being all angry and sad brought those mean Windigos around, then we just gotta be nice and happy! Right?"

The party girl's chipper attitude worked wonders to alleviate the strangely cold air, bringing grins back to the faces of the other five.

"Yeah, that's what this play's all 'bout anyhow," Applejack reminded them, "Jus' like Rarity said. It's 'bout the Unification, the time when everyone finally came tagether an' worked ta make Equis how it is taday!"

"Applejack's right!" Twilight said, nodding firmly to herself, "People from all across Equis are coming to Canterlot to see the play, and we have to do it right!"

"... a-all across E-Equis...?"

"So let's do this girls!"

""""Right!""""

---

Things were not going well for Storm.

Upon realizing he had to get gifts for the girls, the boy knew that he had to get Luna a gift for when they returned. So he spent the past days scrambling as the play was only three days away.

He managed to find gifts. But, he still hadn't figured out what to get Rarity or Twilight.

And so there he was, rushing through the busy streets of Canterlot, where he and the Bearers had been relocated to start formally rehearsing the play. They were currently on break, however, leaving Storm with some time to go out like this.

"Dammit..." he growled under his breath, not-quite-slamming the door to his latest visit, a small bookstore known for having the occasional rare find. True to his luck, however, the store hadn't found anything for the past few months, leaving him on the hunt once more.

He'd been hoping that Canterlot would provide a great deal more to look at, and hopefully a great deal more to choose from. That didn't seem to be the case, since most of the better products were sold out, predictably. That didn't mean he'd found nothing, though. He'd managed to luck out and find some interesting little kits he could use to make Applejack something, as well as some animal cookbooks he had contemplated giving Fluttershy.

He had also spotted a small jewelry making instruction book, which had inspired him to make Rarity something of that sort. Now he needed to find some metal and gems, and see about using the castle's forge to make a set of earrings, or something. Assuming Shenran would let him.

The quarry down near the kingdom was sure to have some hard to find gems, especially so if he went down into those caves.

And while he was at it, maybe he could forge something similar for Luna?

No... Luna wasn't a fan of jewelry.

He groaned, and glanced at the nearest clock, before cursing and making a beeline for the castle.

This was really beginning to stress him out if he couldn't even keep track of time properly.

Storm forcefully straightened his back and walked onto stage as the play's director called for the next scene, which was thankfully the last one for today.

Narrating this play had turned out to be a lot harder than the boy had initially expected. Repeating the necessary lines was fairly easy, and remembering the movements he needed to make just as so, but it was highly unnerving to be the only one currently on stage, talking to both no one and everyone within the, currently non-existent, audience.

He had to fight a small case of shivers as he turned walked off to the side, saying something about the three tribes not getting along, feeling unnerved as he felt their eyes crawling across his skin.

Ugh.

He'd initially thought acting on stage was no different than acting around regular people, but he'd been extremely wrong on that front. Stage acting was nowhere near as easy.

He couldn't even relax now that the focus was off of him either! He was still on stage, where he could be seen, and any sort of reaction of his not within the script would cause this particular director, some big shot named Motion Picture, to restart the whole thing, and he was not going to be the cause of that.

It was still fairly interesting regardless, watching this play unfold. He knew the history of Equis because of Twilight constantly forcing him to read it with her the first time he visited her world, but he'd never really paid it too much attention, mostly because it didn't really matter to him. But seeing these girls whose personalities he knew fairly well by now, acting so differently than usual was rather amusing to see. Not only because it was so out of character, but because, even despite them acting differently, he could still see faint traces of their normal personalities in their characters.

Then again, from what he learned from Twilight's parents and his own reading, it would seem that these six had personalities that were generally pretty similar to the founders. Thinking about it, that was likely the reason they had asked them to perform.

He didn't know why Motion Picture was okay with them acting out of script and not him, but he didn't bother to question it. It would take too much effort he didn't need to expend.

Eventually, Motion deemed their acting satisfactory for the night, and bid them all farewell, which gave them the okay to slip off backstage.

"Woo! We're killing it out there!" Rainbow boasted, bursting into the back room, the rest of them trailing in behind her, "Man, I can't wait until the Pageant starts up, I'm gonna look so awesome in this thing!" she added, holding up the costume she was supposed to wear that day, which was a set of replica armour.

"Neither can I, darling! I'll look simply divine!" Rarity agreed, rubbing her cheek against the purple robe and crown she was too wear almost greedily.

"You do realize that Twilight's parents are going to place a glamor on us to look like the actual founders, right?"

"Glamor?"

"An illusion spell. And not just any illusion spell!" Twilight gushed, grinning like a kid, "It'a something my parents have invented themselves! Nobody else knows how to do it! It's a very complex spell, designed to mask our identities almost perfectly! Our height, weight, voices, everything changes! All we have to do is stay in character!"

Storm rolled his eyes.

"The real thing isn't gonna be as easy as this, you know?" he reminded them, "I don't about you lot, but I wasn't exactly comfortable doing this. Who knows how bad it's gonna be with an actual audience?" he admitted.

"It's not gonna be that bad!" Pinkie assured him, giving Storm a happy pat on the back, "I mean, even if you make a total fool of yourself, we're gonna be right there with you!"

"Gee, thanks Pinkie."

"No problem!"

Before the boy could make another snarky comment, there was a soft knock on the door, before it was opened, allowing Velvet to poke her head into the room.

"Hello everyone," she greeted warmly, easing the door open the rest of the way.

"Mom!" Twilight gasped, rushing forward to stand before her, "Wh-what brings you here?!" Velvet giggled.

"It may be quite busy around this time of year, but I can still make some time to come visit my daughter and her friends, can't I?" she asked, smiling further when Twilight started sputtering apologies, "Don't worry Twilight, I just came by to see how everyone was doing," she said, looking around at the lot of them, her eyes lingering once or twice, "I trust everything is going well?"

"Sure is, Your Majesty!" Applejack answered.

"Totally! Uh, Your Highness!"

"Yeah!"

"I'm glad to hear that," Velvet responded, her smile widening further, "The First Hearth's Warming is such a wonderful play. The retelling of how our great nation came together by accepting each other's differences and overcoming obstacles together is something I hold close to my heart," she revealed, holding a hand to her chest, "It's such a beautiful story, in my opinion," she added.

"Absolutely!" Twilight agreed, "It also has a lot of good messages about teamwork and the importance of accepting other people regardless of differences!" she turned red, "Er-th-that's what my master always said to me when I was younger..." she admitted.

"A wise woman, that Celestia is. No wonder you're her apprentice," Velvet said, nodding humorously, causing Twilight to flush harder, "I... must say, I do envy you all," Velvet added suddenly, causing everyone's attention to snap to her, "I've always wanted to take part in a play, ever since I was a little girl," she revealed, smiling fondly, a faint coloring of her cheeks alluding to her embarrassment,

"Y-you have?" Storm asked, his mind slowing to a crawl, before it rapidly started whirling.

"Why, yes!" Velvet confirmed enthusiastically, "Though I'm afraid I simply never had the time."

The clock on the wall suddenly chimed, starling the group.

"Oh my, that time already?" Velvet asked, peering at the clock curiously, "Shame. Well, I'm afraid my little break is over and I need to return to Day Court," she said, "It was great to see you all again, and I'll tell your father you said hi. I hope to see a spectacular performance in a few days!" she encouraged, gently closing the door behind her.

"Well, that was mighty nice'o the queen," Applejack noted with a smile, "comin' ta check up on us like that."

"Indeed," Rarity agreed, "I can hardly imagine how dreadfully busy holding court must be, and for her to use her break to come check on us little kids?"

"Yeah! She's great!" Pinkie cheered.

"Well of course she is!" Twilight announced proudly, "She's my mother and queen! She's kind, caring, and loves everone who calls Equis their home!" she added, eyes sparkling with a fierce determination, "And she's counting on us to make the Pageant play spectacular! So we'll have to give it our all!"

"""""Yeah!""""" her friends cheered, her determination infecting even Fluttershy.

"Yeah..." Emerald muttered to himself.

Things settled down quickly after that, with the seven of them vacating the room not much later.

The girls were all happily chatting to each other as they made their way outside, only to split up immediately after one of them mentioned 'gift hunting'.

That left Storm alone back at the castle, chuckling to himself as he made his way towards the castle's forge.

He had visited it only once before, when Velvet had brought him down to meet the forge-master. Despite that, Storm distinctly recalled the many different tools and machines that the forge-master, one Steeled Hoof, had access to. He also recalled the forge-master's shitty personality.

At least his boasting had turned out to be well-earned, considering that he'd been serving the royal family and making weapons for the royal army of good quality without any damage, even six years later.

Storm twisted through the castle's corridors, eventually coming to a set of stairs leading down, with the entrance to the castle's barracks not too far off. Chuckling to himself, he quickly began his descent.

Predictably, the stairway quickly grew darker, illuminated only by the light of the torches. Soon he came to a large metal door at the foot of the stairs, where the boy could hear the faint sound of metal being struck just beyond it.

Taking a moment to steel himself, he easily shoved the heavy door out of his way, ignoring the obnoxiously loud screeching the door made, and peered around the room.

Despite being located farther down than the rest of the castle, the smithy was well lit, making it extremely easy to look around. He could spot several large anvils lined against the wall, each one with a large barrel sitting right beside it, presumably filled with water or oil. Off to the side, and taking up a large portion of the room, was a massive furnace. It stood tall enough and was coated in a dull copper coloured metal. There were plenty of large vents coating its surface, each one with a handle allowing it to be opened and removed, which revealed a large open space in the center of the furnace, where Storm could easily spot the white hot coals.

And right there, standing directly in front of one of the open vents, somehow withstanding the heat, was Steeled Hoof.

He was a much older man, somewhere in his fifties if he recalled. Steeled bore a dull metal gray coat, with not a hair on his head. Despite his obvious age, his copper colored eyes still blazed with the vigor of his youth, even behind the dark face-shield he wore. While he couldn't see it behind the smock he was wearing, Storm knew the man bore a mark on his uniform of the very same furnace he was working with, only fit with a pair of hammers as well.

Hearing the loud screeching of the door, Steeled turned around, lifting his mask in the process.

"Alright, who's got the chutzpa to interrupt me while I'm workin'?! Eh?!" he called out, squinting his eyes in Storm's direction. Storm rolled his eyes.

"That would be me, Steeled," he said, stepping forward where the old timer could see him better.

"Huh?" was the response he got, "Who the-wait... Yeah, I 'member you," he said, scowling, "What, ya break that lightsaber'o yours, brat? Couldn't fix it yerself?" he asked, before cutting Storm off before he could even think of responding, "Course ya can't! Brat like you can't mold metal like I can! So where's the damn thing?" he asked. Storm's jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

"My lightsaber is just fine, thank you," he said, his body tensing as he held back a more violent response, he really didn't like this man, "I just need some help making some jewelry for someone."

"A gift?" Steeled asked, before laughing, "Ha! Ya really think you can jus' ask me, the best damned smith this side'o Equis, who has served his whole life to the royal family, ta make ya a gift fer some other brat?" he asked, before pointing past him, "Git the fuck outta mah forge!"

Storm rolled his eyes, and ignored the 'order'.

"I don't need you, you old fuck. I just need some of your tools," he explained, causing Steeled to relax, though he still held a scowl.

"Oh, fine. But ya better stay outta mah way, brat. I don't need any'a yer kind messin' up mah work," he snapped, before waving over to a shelf, which had been hidden behind the door when Storm came in, "You'll find the tools fer makin' jewelry over there. Now grab what ya need and get outta mah shop the second yer done, got it?!"

The Jedi Knight nodded, fighting the urge to snap back at the old bastard, and only succeeded by the slightest margin.

Instead, Storm spun around and did as he was told, eyes scanning the large shelves for the necessary tools. Pins, pliers, clips, and, from the looks of it, some metals as well. Shame the bastard didn't have any gems for him to use.

Glancing back at Steeled, who had turned back to his furnace, tending to something he'd just placed within it, Storm quickly swiped the needed materials and made his way out, making sure to slam the door extra hard on the way out, hearing a satisfying yelp from the other side of the door.

Feeling particularly happy with himself, Storm didn't bother wasting time and immediately made his way back to his room, where his bags had been hastily stored away before rehearsal. Once there, he quickly got to thinking.

Canterlot was a place that catered to its elite residents more than any other, which meant he'd be unlikely to find a lot of gardening supplies in the area. He could potentially find some modeling kits, but he doubted he'd find any in Canterlot. He'd have better luck in places like Manehatten or Las Pegasus. Faust, he was pretty sure Cloudsdale and Twilight's home itself would hold better chances than this place!

Well, he knew there were a few places in the kingdom he could find gardening supplies of decent quality. Plus he was sure he'd be able to find a modeling kit or two in town as well.

He was sure he'd heard Granny Smith mention some place called Barnyard Bargains, or something of that manner.

With a plan in mind, Storm quickly set about gathering his things, before heading to the train station to catch a ride back to the kingdom.

---

Storm sighed irritably, adjusting his feather tipped hat with a grimace.

No one had ever mentioned that he'd have to wear something so fucking stupid!

A puffy, striped, purple shirt with a matching hat and feather. Coupled with a neck-piece that fanned out and choked him, he honestly felt like a moron.

He growled, and pulled at his collar.

"Hey!" a voice called out to him, causing him to turn, "Go tell our leads that the show is starting in five!" the person ordered, not bothering to look away from her clipboard. Storm rolled his eyes, but complied, slinking around towards the back half of the room. He came to a pair of red curtains, and pushed his head through.

What greeted him was... not promising.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were yelling at each other by an open window, which was blowing a plethora of cold air and snow from the storm into the room, Rarity was standing around, desperately trying to keep the wind from blowing around her hair, Fluttershy was hiding in a box of tinsel, with Pinkie and Twilight trying to pull her out, unsuccessfully.

"Oh Fuck..." he muttered, before clearing his throat, "Hey," he called, only to be ignored, "HEY!" he snapped, causing the room to freeze, and the girls to whip their heads towards him, "Quit messing around, the play starts in five minutes," he said, before disappearing, a moment passed, and he stuck his head back in, "And shut that fucking window before you bury the place in snow!"

His reprimand over with, he pulled away and went over to the stage, where a fresh set of a homely fireplace was ready and waiting for him. He took his place, going over his lines, when Motion Picture called out.

"Places everybody! The show is about to begin!"

---

The lights suddenly dimmed, causing the entire theater to fall silent.

A spotlight flashed, illuminating a scarlet curtain, before it was pulled aside.

"Once upon a time," a voice spoke as a figure was revealed, standing before a grand fireplace, "before the peaceful rule of the royal family-" the figure turned to face the audience, revealing piercing brown eyes that scanned the crowd before him, "before people discovered the land that wouldst be known as Equis-" he stepped forward, until he stood just before the crowd, "-people did not know Harmony."

The curtains closed behind him, leaving him standing before them all, his voice echoing loudly against the silent air.

"'Twas a dark time, a time in which people were torn apart," he spoke, his feet producing no sound as he stalked across the stage, his eyes never once leaving the speechless crowd, even as the curtains silently opened behind him, "by a hatred pure and foul."

Spike gasped along with the audience, though the Crusaders beside him were a little louder than the rest.

"Each of these three tribes- the mercenaries-" a light flashed, illuminating a group of soldiers toiling amongst the clouds, "-the elites-" a group of wealth people standing proudly a top a treacherous cliff, "-and the commoners-" a group of tired looking people staring hatefully up at those who stood above them, "-these three cared not for what befell the others, and only for their own welfare." he spoke, moving off to the side, while curtains closed once more, hiding those three tribes from sight.

"During those troubled times the mercenaries tended to fend off any attackers or bandits, much as they do in our time," he began once more, the curtain flying open once more, revealing a clear blue sky slowly being covered by darkened clouds as down below a battle was shown with the group of mighty warriors defeating their foes, "however, in exchange for such, they demanded food from the commoners," the scene changed, becoming a grand field as the mercenaries from before smugly took food from the tired and begrudging farmers, "the elites demanded the same." Once more, a small group of elites approached the commoners, demanding food. He returned to the center of the stage.

"As such, a tentative, but lasting, trust was forged between these three tribes. However, their hate for each other continued to fester, until one fateful eve, it came to a boil." An almost dark smirk took over his features, highlighted by a fierce fire in his eyes.

"And what caused this fateful clash between them?" he asked, his eyes scanning the crowd, searching, but never expecting an answer, "'Twas a mysterious blizzard that came in through the night, taking all by surprise, and toppling that false peace."

As he spoke, the scene of the three tribes was slowly taken over by the white flakes that began to fall, momentarily ceasing their bickering. It lasted only for an instant, before the hated glares returned as they all fled the area.

"The normally industrious commoners were rendered unable to farm their land-" a scene of farmers vainly struggling to pull anything from amongst a land of snow appeared, only for their hopes to be dashed away by the never ending storm, "-and they began to freeze. The mercenaries did not fare any better, as they began to starve, with little money available" a group of mercenaries appeared on the scene, each one thin and haggard looking, with bones peering through their skin, "And the elites fared worse of all, as they froze and starved." An imperious mansion came into view, as groups of rich people dug through their stores of food, hoping, praying for even a scrap. Suddenly, a nearby door bulged inward, causing the elites to rush over, and begin pushing against it, only to fail as the door burst open, allowing a hail of snow and ice to bury them beneath its frozen wrath.

The curtains closed.

"Their magic proved powerless against this cursed storm. And of course, each of the three blamed the other for their suffering," his voice dropped out, "and the angrier they grew, the worse the blizzard became. Thus a decision was reached, and a grand summit would be held."

The curtains opened once again, revealing a large hall with two stories to be seen. Divided by sections, each of the three tribes stood along the lower and upper areas, all peering towards the lone, empty table placed directly in the center of the room.

"They sent along their representatives for this task. The daughter of the most wealthiest baron, The Honorable Platinum-" a door was slammed open as trumpets flared loudly, a beautiful white woman with a flowing purple robe and light pink hair of equal radiance, "-the leader of the mercenaries, Captain Hurricane-" another door burst open, though it lacked fanfare this time around, admitting a bulky man into the room, wearing dark gray armor over his ragged midnight blue coat, "-and lastly, the representative of the commoners, Chancellor Puddinghead." There were more trumpets this time around, though they sounded a bit off, before a pinkish purple man with a chocolate brown hair hopped into the room, wearing a large hat resembling a dollop of pudding, and a plain set of brown robes.

"..." he shook his head, "Perhaps now the tribes can reach a conclusion, and make it through these darkened times," he spoke, before moving off to the side.

Things were silent for all but an instant, as the three leaders immediately started bombarding each other with varied cries, all of which claimed the others responsible for the strange blizzard tormenting them all.

"All I want to know is why those stupid commoners are hogging all of the food!" Captain Hurricane demanded, pounding his fist against the table.

"We're not hogging all the food, you are!" Puddinghead returned, then he paused, "Oh, wait, you're right! But it's only 'cause you mean old mercenaries are making it snow like crazy!"

"We're not doing anything! It has to be those rich snobs and their freaky magic!" Captain Hurricane protested, sending a poisonous glare towards the daughter of the baron.

"How dare you!" Platinum snapped, "Unlike you ruffians, we nobles would never stoop to such under-handed methods! What would we have to gain from such a thing?!"

"It totally has to be one of you guys! You and your weirdo powers are responsible! Otherwise I'm just plum out of ideas!" Chancellor Puddinghead said, frowning petulantly.

"Surprise surprise, a commoner with no ideas," Captain Hurricane sneered.

"Captain Hurricane!" Platinum gasped, "You must cease with such baseless insults!"

"You're not the boss of me your snootiness!" the mercenary captain replied fiercely.

"How dare you!" the woman replied, "I am the daughter of a baron! I shall not lower myself by humoring the company of such barbaric beings!" she declared, turning violently and exiting the room.

"Well who needs ya?!" Captain Hurricane shouted, making way towards his own door.

"Yeah! I'm leaving too!" came the chancellor's response.

The hall was silent as the three leaders each stormed out, no closer to reaching a solution than they had been before.

The curtains closed.

"And so, through their ceaseless anger and denial of events, the three groups parted from each other, and the blizzard raged on. The summit ended in failure, and the representatives returned home to lick their festering wounds."

A village filled the stage, as an angry Captain Hurricane returned.

"Attention!" he called, startling a light cream recruit nearby, who ended up falling off the mound she was resting on, "Private Pansy, aren't you going to ask how the summit went?" he asked, staring down at the woman, who was brushing away the dirt caught in her two-tone red and cream hair.

"O-oh! Um, Captain Hurricane, sir, how did everything go?" she asked, saluting the commander timidly.

"Horrible!" he snapped, "Those other representatives are so disrespectful! Don't they realize that we are a group of mighty warriors and should not be crossed?!" he shouted, causing Private Pansy to flinch, "We must break rank with those weak fools," Captain Hurricane added firmly, staring out towards the distant castle, before everything went dark.

Another spotlight shone onto the stage, revealing the interior of a worn down castle, with gray-ish green walls, bearing obvious signs of wear and age behind their large gem-laden tapestries, and a single red carpet leading towards an empty throne, lined with benches off to the side. The door to this particular hall burst open, revealing a shivering Platinum, who unsteadily made her way inside.

"Clover the Clever, I need you!" she called, leaning against the door dramatically.

"Ah, Baroness," a male voice called as a blanket flew to cover her, before a light brown man, with a darker brown hair, though it was mostly covered by the tattered brown robe he wore, appeared beside her, "did the other tribes see reason as I predicted?" he asked kindly. The woman stood up roughly, and made her way towards her chair.

"Those other two are impossible!" she whined, instead laying down on the nearest bench, a pillow coated in the mage's magic levitating a pillow beneath her, just as a washtub filled with warm water laid itself beneath her, "I for one can no longer bear to be anywhere near those lowly creatures," she added imperiously, "We are nobles and far better than anybody else! We shall no longer consort with the likes of them!"

"I am... not sure that is wise, madam," Clover began hesitantly, "co-existence is key for our survival. We do not know how to grow food as well as the commoners, nor can we maintain our safety as the mercenaries do. Only magic fighting capability is merely self defense." he cautioned. Baroness Platinum would not have it, however, as she violently kicked aside the washtub, scattering water everywhere, before jogging off, leaving her aide to clean the mess, just as the light faded away.

Moments passed, before a third spotlight appeared, illuminating a lone cabin interior, where a woman stood, patiently waiting beside the door. She wore simple clothing, a brown vest with orange sleeves and a white collar, and bore a brown conical hat with a singular orange stripe upon it. Her reddish-brown hair hung in loose curls, complimenting her deep yellow skin.

There was a sudden rustling from the chimney, before the familiar figure of Chancellor Puddinghead flopped out and landing roughly on his rear,

"Uh, wouldn't it have been easier ta use the door, Chancellor?" the woman asked, raising a brow at the man's strange actions.

"Maybe for you Smart Cookie, but I am a Chancellor! I was elected because I can think outside the box!" he proudly announced, before taking a step backwards into the chimney, "Which means I can also think inside the chimney!" he added, "Can you think inside the chimney?!"

"W-well, uh...?" Smart Cookie tried to say, but found herself unable to come up with anything.

"I didn't think so!" the Chancellor said, smugly walking past her, before he let out a loud gasp, "Hold on to your hats, I am just about to be brilliant!" he exclaimed.

"That'd be a first," Smart Cookie muttered to herself, "Uh, what is it, Chancellor?"

"I have decided that we are gonna go it alone!" Smart Cookie seemed surprised as his declaration.

"Oh? I was hopin' that things turned out okay. I thought we'd be able ta get though to 'em if we-"

"Don't worry about them!" Chancellor Puddinghead interrupted her, "We're the ones with all the food, right?"

"Uh, not really."

"Oh," the Chancellor replied, then shrugged, "Then we'll just have to find someplace else to grow more food! And with me as our fearless leader, what could go wrong?" he asked, throwing open the door, only for a mountainous pile of snow to come crashing atop him.

"Yeah... what could go wrong?" Smart Cookie repeated sarcastically. Chancellor Puddinghead popped back out of the snow.

"Well, the point is-"

The other two spotlights shined once more, and the three representatives on stage puffed up their chests and announced-

"""We need to find a new land!"""

The curtains closed, and all but one spotlight disappeared, illuminating the lone Jedi Knight, who had returned to the center of the stage.

"And so began the search. Each of the three representatives and their aides set out on a perilous expedition to search for a land they could call home, a land far away from this cursed snow, and their troublesome neighbors. "'Twould not be easy, however, for they knew not how long such a search could take, nor if they could find any land that met their needs or desires."

He took his place off to the side once more, just as the curtains opened, the upper half of the stage was lit, revealing Captain Hurricane and Private Pansy journeying through the a field as a heavy wind pushed against them.

"Private Pansy! Hurry it up!" he yelled at the timid woman, before lightning flashed, startling the woman, "Get a hold of yourself Private!" Captain Hurricane yelled once more, "We cannot allow anything to distract us from our mission: To find, and if necessary conquer, a new land! Now move it!" he snapped furiously pushing the smaller soldier against the heavy wind.

"C-conquer, Sir?" Private Pansy asked, looking rather worried.

"Yes, conquer," he repeated, "You never know where enemies may be lurking, after all."

"B-but I don't see any enemies, Captain," she added, "Just... snow," she said, casting her gaze around.

The stage dimmed, before a forest was lit, just in time for Baroness Platinum and her aide, Clover the Clever to emerge from the foliage.

"Ugh," the baroness moaned, "this is taking foreverrrr!" she shined, "My feet are killing me! How long have we been walking?" she asked, looking haggardly towards her court mage. Clover merely raised a brow at his baroness.

"About five minutes total, Your Baroness," he replied simply. Platinum blinked, before turning back around.

"I never imagined that finding a new land would be so hard!" she whined once again, "But even so, I imagine it will be quite worth it, don't you think?" she asked as they continued their trek.

"Actually Your Baroness, if I may speak freely?"

"You may," answered the woman.

"I believe the three groups could've tried a lot harder to make peace," Clover responded, only to be halted by his baroness screaming at the top of her lungs.

"STOOOOOP!"

"What's wrong?!" he asked, bounding forward to look for whatever sign of danger his baroness had surely spotted, hands lit up with magic, ready to defend. Only to be disappointed as she pointed at the lone stream ahead of them.

"Look! That is what's wrong!"

"Your Baroness," he began kindly, already crossing the miniature body of water, ignoring the small bit of water that drenched the hem of his cloak, "it's only a stream, we can cross it easily."

"I don't want to get my gown wet," the woman retorted, acting much like a spoiled brat, "I refuse to arrive in my new land looking like a bedraggled commoner, or worse, like one of those rough and tumble savages. I have no intention of stooping down to their level!" she declared, before turning to him with a knowing grin, "On the other hand, I have no complaint about watching you stoop down."

Clover stared at the baroness for a moment, before sighing. With a sarcastic air about him, he returned to his baroness' side, and stooped down, withholding a grunt as she climbed onto his back.

"Do watch the gown, Clover. It's worth more than all the books in your library."

And so, Clover carried his charge across the stream, disappearing through the foliage ahead of him, just as the lights dimmed once more.

Another light shone on a small path along a mountain, laden with many gems, and revealed both Chancellor Puddinghead and Smart Cookie, seemingly... walking in circles?

Upon further inspection, it was revealed that the Chancellor in question was... wearing the map like a mask, having two holes cut into the paper for him to see through, and a third for him to speak through.

"Yes, yes," the Chancellor suddenly muttered, "this is definitely the right direction!"

"Are ya sure?" Smart Cookie asked, raising a brow at her superior, "it feels like we're walkin' in circles."

"Are you suggesting that I'm reading the map wrong?" he asked, turning on her.

"Absolutely not, your Chancellorship," Smart replied flatly, "it's just... there are holes in the map," she pointed out.

"Well duh! How else could I see where I was going?" he asked, walking dangerously close to the edge of the cliff, "Or talk? I mean, imagine if I couldn't talk, how would we survive if I just suddenly shut up?"

"Heaven forbid," was Smart's sarcastic reply, "but the map is also upside down."

"Lemme tell you something, Smart Cookie. The planet is round," Chancellor Puddinghead replied, as if she were a mere kid, "there is no up or down."

Smart Cookie just stared at the Chancellor for a moment, before smirking.

"Why, you're right! My, it's such a relief ta have someone like you in charge'a that map," she said, her smirk broadening as the Chancellor suddenly zipped back over to her.

"Relief? Relief?! If anybody here needs relief it's me! I'm a chancellor, a big shot! You're just my, uh... my...?"

"Secretary."

"Whatever!" he snapped, before taking the map and throwing it right into his secretary's face, "Here! You take the map, while I enjoy some relief!" he declared smugly, already walking off.

Smart Cookies visibly rolled her eyes.

"Yes, your Chancellorship," she remarked, scanning the map.

Once more, the curtains closed.

"Despite the... obstacles barring their path, each of the pairs continued their journey in search of a new land," the Jedi spoke up, "and soon, their diligence was rewarded, as they each stumbled across what they could only describe as Paradise."

"Look at this new land!" Captain Hurricane's voice cut through the momentary silence, just as a spotlight flashed onto him and Private Pansy.

"Oh my, it's beautiful here," Private Pansy said, "Oh! I can even see my future house from here..."

"This land is perfect!" Captain Hurricane stated, producing a flag from... somewhere, "I hereby claim this land!"

At the same time, however...

"My my! I've never seen so many jewels before!" Baroness Platinum announced, gazing around the gem-dotted cliff they had arrived on, "They're dazzling! This whole land is dazzling!" she nodded to herself, "In the name of the elites, I rightfully claim this land!" she shouted, planting a flag into the dirt as Clover watched on.

And not only that, but...

"The air!" Chancellor Puddinghead shouted, spinning around, "These trees! This dirt!" he yelled, pounding his feet against the ground, "This is the dirtiest dirt in the whole dirt world!"

"And fertile too!" Smart Cookie added, "Perfect fer growin' plenty'a food!"

"In the name of the commoners, I claim this land. Oh? I think I'm gonna call this place... uh... Dirtville!"

"How 'bout we save the naming for last til we get everybody here?" Smart suggested.

"Ooh, good idea!" he agreed, "Congrats to me for thinking of it!"

"""We found our new home!""" the three representatives cheered, before suddenly becoming aware of the other's presence.

"Wha- I planted my flag first!" Captain Hurricane immediately yelled.

"No, I did!" Platinum argued.

"I planted mine earlier than first!" Chancellor Puddinghead called happily, only to go mostly ignored.

"You riff-raff are trespassing on my land!" the elite monarch shouted.

"This is my land!" shouted the captain.

"Mine!" stated the chancellor.

"Mine!" yelled the captain.

"It's ours!" shouted Platinum.

"Oh yeah? I say we fight for it!" Captain Hurricane suggested, smirking as he pulled out his sword, "Last one standing wins!" Baroness Platinum scoffed.

"That's barbaric," she said, using her magic to drag her court mage in front of her, "Clover the Clever, throw that brute into the dungeon!"

"Uh, what dungeon?" he asked,

"Just blast him, already!" demanded the monarch.

Clover the Clever shook his head, "Look, perhaps we should all just calm down before things get too escalated?" he suggested.

"I agree!" Smart Cookie said, "Calmin' down sounds like a good idea."

"I vote for calm," Private Pansy added, only to flinch as her commander turned on her.

"I'll have you court martialed for insubordination!" he snapped, unaware of the snow that began to whirl around him, "We'll decide this on the battlefield!" Captain Hurricane quickly became aware of the snow rapidly piling around him, as Chancellor Puddinghead struck him with a well aimed snowball, causing the baroness to laugh as well, before she too was struck down.

"Wh-who dares strike a noble with a snowball?!" she demanded, only for the Chancellor, who had quickly done away with his weapon of choice, to take notice of the unfortunately familiar substance.

"Hold on, where'd all this snow come from?"

"What?" Captain Hurricane asked, rapidly spinning around, his fears becoming realized as he took notice of the blizzard, "Oh no, not again!"

And so, the six members quickly began to panic, but no more could be seen as the curtains closed once again.

"And so," the Jedi spoke suddenly, "that paradise was lost to all, buried beneath a blanket of familiar snow, as the blizzard they knew all too well threatened them once more," he strode across the stage, the spotlight never once leaving him as the audience followed his every move, "They were forced, for perhaps the first time, to work together to find appropriate shelter from this oncoming storm. They searched high, they searched low, but the only shelter for miles was a cold, desolate cave, and of course, they were forced to share it," he said, smirking as the curtain behind him opened once more, "They were not happy about it." he added, before disappearing off to the side once again.

All six members were now huddled inside of a small, dark cave, whose dank and dreary walls provided the illusion of comfort or safety, as the storm visibly raged on outside.

"Please, Captain Hothead-" the resident baroness began, only for said hothead to cut her off.

"It's Captain 'Hurricane'," he snapped through gritted teeth. The baroness smiled sweetly, and spoke in a tone reserved for inept kids.

"Then please, Captain, would you back up a bit and give me my personal space?"

"Oh?" the caption asked, taking a large step forward, until he was uncomfortably close to the woman, "Like this?"

"Most certainly not!" she snapped, pushing him away, "Do you see this invisible line?" she asked, pointing at the ground, "That is my space, and you are not to cross it!"

"'Your' space, eh?" Captain Hurricane asked, before turning to Private Pansy, "Private! outline our territory!" he demanded, spurring the timid soldier into action.

Slowly, she set about digging a line into the dirt with her weapon, only for her impatient commander to grab her, and drag her along with him, and she ended up digging a line that split the small cave into near perfect halves.

"Do you see this real, not invisible line?" he asked, "That is our territory, and none of you elites or common folk are allowed behind it!" he snapped, "This is our sovereign territory!"

This was not met well by the other leaders.

"Clover the Clever!"

"Smart Cookie!"

Soon all three of the annoyed aides were drawing lines in the dirt like bored kids, occasionally running into each other, and discreetly backing away to avoid having their superiors yelling at them. Or at least they did, until-

"What are you doing?!" Captain Hurricane snapped at the Private, who had ended up running into a rock, and having decided to go around it, "Don't go around it?! Go over it! I'm not giving up an inch of territory to them!" he snapped, but was much too late as Baroness Platinum took advantage.

"Ah, ah! That rock is clearly on our territory! It belongs to us!" she shouted, before turning around, and whispering to her annoyed court mage, "Who knows, there might be jewels inside!"

The sound of hand against rock, however, caused her to turn around, only to find Captain Hurricane kicking that same rock onto his side of the line.

"I hereby declare this rock property ours!"

"How dare you! Unhand that rock this instant you scoundrel!"

"Oh!" The sudden exclamation from the Chancellor caught both leaders off guard, as he appeared and snatched up the rock they were arguing over, "You found my rock! I was looking for it everywhere!" he claimed, and darted back over to his side of the line.

"Wha- you invaded our territory!" Captain Hurricane accused, pointing at the earthen leader.

"Finders keepers losers weepers!" was the response he got.

Growling, both the captain and baroness approached the lone chancellor, neither caring about the lines and 'territories' they'd had drawn.

"Give me my rock!" one of them shouted, before lunging at the chancellor, who immediately jumped out of the way.

Soon, the three leaders had devolved into a group of kids chasing after one another, screaming at each other for various reasons. That left the only remaining individuals to shake their heads at the juvenile scene playing out before them, none of them even bothering to try and stop it at this point.

However, unbeknownst to the bickering three, the wind had suddenly changed, now making its way into the cold cave and dropping the temperature even further than before. Not only that, but the entrance to the cave was rapidly freezing over, something that Clover the Clever immediately made known.

"Look everyone, the entrance!" he announced, pointing, horrified, at the scene before him, and slowly backing away. It was only now that the three stopped arguing, but it would not last.

"Great, now we're stuck in here!" Captain Hurricane snapped, stomping off towards his false territory, somehow not acknowledging the wind whipping against the, despite the lack of access point for it to enter.

"You two deserve this horrible fate!" Baroness Platinum said, "All the two of you ever do is argue and fight with each other!"

"You've been fighting too, Your Snootiness!" Captain Hurricane snapped, using her titles sarcastically.

"Yeah, and worse!" Chancellor Puddinghead added, not noticing the ice slowly creeping up his legs, nor the horrified look on Smart Cookie's face as she back away, "I haven't been fighting nearly as much as you two!"

"That's ridiculous!" Baroness Platinum argued, unaware that she was suffering the same fate as the chancellor, nor aware of Clover's reaction, "A noble never stoops to fighting!"

"That's only because you wimpy nobles know you're going to lose!" Captain Hurricane snapped, even as Pansy whimpered at the sight of the encroaching ice.

The ice continued its work, rapidly coating each of the three, but just before it could cover them entirely, each one had one final sentence to say.

"Commoners are numbskulls!"

"Mercenaries are brutes!"

"Nobles are snobs!"

And thus, all three had been rendered completely and utterly frozen, with scowls forever in place.

This unwittingly left the three survivors in the center of a large circle of non-frozen ground, though it was slowly beginning to shrink. Suddenly, there was a loud, deep roar coming from seemingly everywhere at once, prompting the three to look up from their huddled position.

There, surrounded by a nebula of twisting and toiling clouds were three ethereal creatures, reminiscent of ponies, but having long since lost what made them alive. Vast churning hair of never-ceasing winds, and hooves of eternal ice, these creatures slowly began to descend, their frozen icy bodies betrayed by the fiery hate in their eyes.

"Wh-what are those things?" Private Pansy asked, shaking against the other two.

"They... they must be Windigos!" Clover announced, his eyes widening in panic.

""Windigos?!"" the two other asked as they backed away, looking around with fear in their eyes.

"My mentor, Starswirl the Bearded, told me about them," he began, "They're Winter Spirits. They feed off of hatred and conflict! The more hate they feel, the colder everything becomes!"

"Wait!" Smart Cookie said, "Wouldn't that mean that we brought this thing?!" she asked, "The groups, all our fightin' and arguin' caused these things ta come ta us, bringin' that blizzard and freezin' everything'?!" she said, then looked up, "Now it's destroyin' this land too!"

Clover nodded, and swallowed.

"And now our bodies are going to became as cold as our hearts," Clover said, closing in on the the others to avoid the ice, "All because we were foolish enough to hate."

As the three of them began to huddle closer, in some vain bid to prevent the inevitable just a bit longer, Private Pansy spoke.

"... Well, I don't hate you," she said, startling the others for a moment, "To be honest, I hate Captain Hurricane a lot more than I hate you two," she admitted with a faint smile. Clover and Cookie were both taken aback, but laughed after a moment.

Unseen by them, the Windigos began to panic, speeding up their freezing process.

"Well, I don't really hate him, I just... really really really really dislike him," she corrected herself, not bothered by the ice that already reached her wings, causing them to laugh harder.

"Well, I don't hate ya'll either," Smart Cookie said,

"And neither do I," Clover added with a smile.

"Yeah, I mean, we're all human, ain't we?" she asked, smiling softly, even as the ice finally completed its mission, and encompassed the three remaining individuals.

All that remained was a small portion of Clover's amulet, but that too, would soon be-

The ice stopped.

In a blinding flash of light, the ice encasing them was shattered as Clover was overtaken by a surge of magic, casting great purple flames that threatened to burn away the Windigos. Their pained screams echoed throughout the world, before they disappeared, and the magic Clover had channeled suddenly stopped, only to form into a glowing, crystal-like heart.

"W-woah!" Smart Cookie gasped, "I didn't know nobles could do that!" she said, looking at Clover, amazed.

"Well, I... I didn't either!" he admitted, "Nothing like that has ever happened before!" he added, before suddenly smiling, "But there was no way that that was only me! I never could've done something like that without you two! The three of us joined together in friendship!"

The three laughed and put their hands together, as a sign of their newfound friendship.

All of a sudden, the light refocused, until it landed on the mage once more, leaving the three aides and their frozen superiors in the background.

"Throughout the night these three kept that fire of friendship alive, by telling stories to each other, and singing the songs that would become the Winter carols that are still sung to this day. Eventually, that warmth, from both the fire and the new friends, reached the leaders, thawing their frozen bodies and warming their cold hearts. They agreed to share that land with each other," he said, smiling as those six figures suddenly walked out from behind, until they all stood beside their dear narrator, and their appearances flickered, revealing six brand new people, all of whom were girls, "And they named that new land of theirs-"

All at once, everyone with the crowd spoke, erupting the once quite hall into a cacophony of sound-

"EQUIS!"

All at once the seven of them bowed to the audience, all smiling as the hall erupted into applause, confetti and streamers being launched into the air by hidden devices, before they all began to sing.

~The fire of friendship lives in our hearts!~

~As long as it burns we cannot drift apart!~

~Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few!~

~Laughter and singing will see us through! See us through!~

~We are a circle of dearest friends!~

~A Circle of Friends we'll be to the very end!~

---

Storm let out a rather uncomfortable sigh, peering dejectedly at the five boxes laying in front of him.

Each one was wrapped in green paper, with a fine silver ribbon tying them shut. The only real difference between the lot was the coloured card attached to each, bearing the name of the person it was meant for.

He'd managed to find/make nearly every gift he'd wanted to, but, unfortunately, he was one short.

He had a new hand-made necklace for Rarity.

Some new cookbooks for Fluttershy, each filled with animal treats.

A carefully wrapped extra chocolate pie in a box for Pinkie.

A large, new engine piece for Rainbow to replace the one her ship was currently using.

And a set of hand-made work boots for Applejack.

He'd been unable to figure out what to give Twilight, and had been tempted to just bake her something like he had for Pinkie, but decided not to, the thought having felt... hollow.

He felt guilty for being unable to find something for her, not just because it was an Equis tradition to hand out gifts to close friends and family, but because she'd done a lot for him ever since he'd arrived in town.

To be unable to repay that, even by the smallest margin, was a blow to his pride.

He huffed, glancing upwards at the clock, and frowned.

Time for the party.

After the play's conclusion, the seven of them had grouped together backstage, and, predictably, started planning the next day.

To no one's surprise, Pinkie was the one to suggest a party, but, to everyone's surprise, she had suggested a small party for the seven of them alone. Thus it had been decided. They would all gather at the castle library, since it would be closed to the public, and Pinkie and Twilight would set up their own little soiree.

The boy made his way to the castle library as inside, Twilight was busy putting up some last minute decorations. Storm dropped off the presents by the tree that was wrapped in decorations as he went to help the give finish up. It wasn't long before everything was set up.

"All set, Sparky?"

"Almost, just have to put this at the top of the tree," said Twilight as she got a ladder and began to climb.

"If you want, I could…"

"No, it's fine. I got it!" said the princess as she reached the top of the ladder and leaned over with her arm out.

The girl was struggling to reach the tree as she leaned over a bit in an attempt to reach the top.

"Just… a little… bit more…"

The princess was fingertips away when.

"Got it!" said Twilight as she was unaware of how much she leaned that she lost her balance as her weight tipped her over.

The girl was falling as she was about to hit the ground when something caught her out of the air. Storm saw the girl fall when he turned back around as he quickly leaped into action and tackled her in midair. The pair landed on the nearby sofa as the ladder collapsed. They looked and saw the object on the floor.

"You gotta be more careful, Sparky," said Storm, looking down at his partner.

"Sorry," said the girl, smiling sheepishly. She then looked up at her partner as she realized something.

The teens were on the sofa as Storm was haunted over her as he had Twilight pinned down below him by her shoulders. It wasn't a forceful one, but one that allowed the girl to see the boy's dominance, which admittedly started to turn her on. Storm removed his hands from the girl's shoulders and was about to get off.

"Well, we should…"

"No!" shouted Twilight as she got Storm to stop as she grabbed a hold of him with her hands.

"Twilight," said the boy.

The girl then moved her hands to interlock with both of his as she kept her gaze at him. At that moment, Storm was no longer in control as his brain shut off and went on autopilot.

The girl let the boy pin her hands above her head as their fingers were still interlocked. Their gaze into each other still remained, not wavering. The girl turned her head to expose her neck as if to reveal she was leaving herself to be vulnerable in the boy's presence.

Storm brought one of his hands to her neck as he traced it as it got a sound from the girl. The boy then grabbed Twilight's chin as he made the princess face her. His hand reached up, resting his palm across her face, with his thumb rubbing her lips. Her tongue darted around a little, flicking at his digit. He then brought his hand upward to stroke her cheek.

Twilight's hands began to move as they held onto Storm's arms and slowly began to move upward. The princess used her magic as she removed Storm's unzipped hoodie so that only his shirt remained. She then went back to his arms as the girl felt her fingers digging into his muscles.

So firm, and yet, soft.

Even through his clothing, she could feel his firm muscles. Soon she moved them to his chest and began to go down. Their gaze still in each other's eyes as soon, Twilight's hand found their destination. The girl moved her hands up his shirt and felt his abs. Upon contact, Twilight almost let out a sound.

"Twilight…" spoke the boy in the same lull as the incident to what happened in his home.

Twilight recalled that as she started to heat up, especially as she began to dig into the muscles on his abs. The boy's own hands moved as he traced the girl's figure before getting to her thighs as he felt them through her shorts. Soon they went under as they went up and up until they got a hold of something. Something round and firm. A simple grab got a yelp from the girl.

"Sorry," said Storm as he regained control of his own brain and saw where his hands where. The Jedi finally realized that he wasn't in control of his body for quite a while and started to panic.

"Sorry, Twilight. I don't know what came over me. I'll just…"

"Don't!"

The boy was removing his hands and pulling them out from under the girl's shorts when she spoke and he froze. The boy looked at his partner's eyes and awaited to see what she said.

"It's okay. I didn't say that was I was uncomfortable with it. In fact, I wouldn't mind if… you… did it again."

"Sparky…"

The boy's hands, under her shorts, moved down as Twilight felt them. The boy did what the princess asked for as he then dug his fingers in, as they got a handful. The girl let out a moan she couldn't suppress, but it wasn't one full of pain or hurt. But rather one of enjoyment, even pleasure filled. Storm gave another squeeze as Twilight let out another sound. A third as the girl let out one more, even louder.

Before things could go any further, a knock took them by surprise.

"Princess!" shouted a guard who knocked on the door, due to Twilight secretly locking it during her and Storm's session. The pair sat up, "Ms. Pie is here!"

"Just a minute!" shouted Twilight she pushed Storm off of her rather quickly.

The girl was now fixing her appearance and straightening her shorts, even her undergarment to avoid Pinkie getting any suspicions. She approached the door as the party girl popped into view.

"Happy Hearth's Warming!" she replied.

"Pinkie!" chuckled Twilight as she was trying to straighten out some strands of her hair that were a mess to avoid her thinking something was up, especially cuss Storm managed to straighten out his own shirt and put his hoodie back on just as she opened the door.

"Come in!" said the princess as the cotton candy-haired girl bounced in with a sack over her shoulder.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Storm!"

Happy Hearth's Warming, Pinkie," responded the boy in a deadpanned tone who dumped her sack to reveal five presents before she put them under the tree.

"Ooh, colors!" stated the pink girl as she looked around the room.

The library certainly had quite the overhaul. With bright, colorful tinsel lined along the hundreds of shelves, large bulbous ornaments hanging off of each one by the dozens. There was a large, lush wreath hanging on the door as well. To top it all off, the star on the tree nearby was bright enough that he doubted they'd need to light any candles as the day went on. Though Storm did notice a strange green plant hanging just above the door, with a small red ribbon tying it together, matching the few berries on it.

"This place looks nice," she complimented, "You did pretty good."

"Thanks!" the princess chirped,

"This party's gonna be amazing! I'll make cupcakes and cookies and cake and pudding and pies and-!"

"I get it," Storm snapped, but proceeded to follow after her, "How about I help you?"

"Thanks!"

Almost an hour had passed, during which he and Pinkie had managed to successfully produce every one of the goods she had mentioned, as well as plenty of extras which they had then lined on a nearby table, though where she had gotten it Storm hadn't seen, before setting it out.

Admittedly, Storm had felt a little out of depth while he watched Pinkie zip around the kitchen like she did, and more than a tad inadequate when he recalled how long it had taken him to get that damned pie done correctly.

Regardless, within that time the other girls had arrived.

"Happy Hearth's Warming everybody!" Pinkie cheered, bouncing back into the library room, with Storm behind her moments later.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Pinkie," was Rarity's response, as she levitated a few boxes off her arms, "Where shall I put these?" she asked, though she was beaten by Pinkie nabbing them and placing them where she'd put his earlier, "Ah, thank you."

While Pinkie was busy talking to the other three, Rarity made her way over to Storm.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Storm!" she greeted.

"Happy Hearth's Warming to you too, Rarity," he replied, nodding at her, "Need something?" he asked. Rarity shook her head.

"Oh not at all," she began, smiling daintily, "I'm merely a tad excited. Hearth's Warming is such a beautiful time, don't you think?" she asked. Storm blinked, but nodded.

"Yes... it does possess a lovely sort of... aesthetic," he agreed hesitantly, "Though the color white can only be seen so many times before it gets annoying." Rarity tittered.

"Oh my, I certainly hope I'm not the one getting annoying," she jested, holding a hand to her cheek as she swayed dramatically.

"Hmm... we'll see."

Their banter was cut off as one of the girls by the door yelped, Rainbow Dash specifically, and she practically dived away.

"Jeez, Pinkie! You gotta warn someone about that shit!" she snapped, glancing up at the ceiling above the door, before groaning, "Great, now I'm gonna be stuck looking up this whole time!" she grumbled.

Rarity started giggling beside him, but Storm was much more concerned with something else.

What was she talking about?

His eyes raked the ceiling, but all he could find was the one plant above the door. There was nothing else on the ceiling aside from that, but... he recognized the plant in question as being harmless. It produced no odor, no toxin, no defense mechanism, nothing. One could eat the berries on it with no troubles whatsoever. So what was it that had caused such an extreme reaction from her?

Judging by everyone else's reaction, it seemed that he was the only one who didn't know.

Great.

Things got moving after that, as the last of the girls set their gifts down by the tree. The six of them hadn't really begun the festivities yet, as they were still missing one of their number, but that didn't stop Rainbow and Pinkie from stuffing themselves, of course.

It was, perhaps, another ten minutes before Aj appeared, walking through the door with an utterly bemused expression on her face.

"Oh my gosh! Everyone's here!" Pinkie squealed, "Now we can PAARRRTAYY!" she shouted, bolting over to the record player, causing an unfamiliar, but clearly festive, song to play.

Applejack shook her head at Pinkie's antics, even as Pinkie and Fluttershy began dancing. She took the time to place her own gifts by the tree, and made her way over to the snack table, where Storm decided to meet her.

"So, anything interesting happen before you got here?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know about interesting, but it was kinda funny," she said, earning a raised brow from the Jedi.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"The Crusaders," she began, causing Storm to understand immediately, "The three of them ended up coming by and started talking about a small celebration that Cheerilee is holding for the kids at the schoolhouse," she said.

Storm regarded her with worried eyes, but a certain pink party girl prevented them from speaking further.

"Okay!" she shouted over the music, though it wasn't that loud to begin with, "Since we're all here, it's time for us to have some real fun! C'mon everybody!" she shouted, producing a small box, labeled 'Party Games' in pink marker, "Let's PARRTAY!"

And thus, Pinkie dragged the lot of them into some of her games, not that could have stopped her of course.

And so, for the next few hours, the six of them were subjected to increasingly vibrant games, ranging from simple board games, to more elaborate team based games, like Charades and Pictionary.

Strangely enough, Storm and Twilight were partnered up for every game they played that required partners. It was strange, since neither of them had attempted to cause such a thing, and, in the boy's case, had even tried avoiding it a few times, only to somehow end up as the only two who lacked a partner, despite the fact that there were seven of them.

It didn't help that Rarity was constantly staring at the two of them, her eyes darting up towards that strange plant in the ceiling and back to them nearly every other minute. Rainbow's earlier reaction and Rarity's current one were really beginning to paint that stupid plant in a terrifying light.

Just what weird tradition was that thing related to?!

Eventually, the moon finally arrived in its favored position in the sky Thankfully, it seemed Pinkie was fully aware of this, and ended the games not too long after the realization had come along.

That didn't mean the party was over, oh no, after all, they still had to open-

"Time for presents!" Pinkie announced loudly, "C'mon everyone! Gather around the tree!" she yelled. Her excited attitude was normal, but there was something about it that just seemed to shine brighter than normal, and it seemed he wasn't the only one to notice, as all six of them had quickly migrated over to the prettily decorated evergreen, and sat in a half circle before it.

"Okay!" Pinkie announced, and deflated, "How are we gonna do this?" she asked innocently, staring at the six of them.

"Tch. Figures you'd plan out everything but this, Pinkie," Storm snarked, though the smile on his face didn't drop.

"How about we just hand out someone's gifts ta everyone?" Applejack suggested.

"Or maybe have one person open every one of their gifts, before moving on to the next?" came Rarity's suggestion.

"How 'bout we just open all of 'em?" Rainbow asked impatiently. She was ignored.

"I like Applejack's idea," Twilight said, "That way we all see how everyone reacts to what we got them at once."

"O-oh! I'd like that!" Fluttershy stammered excitedly, "I-I get so worried during the wait..."

"Eh, why not?" was Storm's response.

"Okay! Let's do that!" Pinkie cheered, already standing next to the plethora of coloured boxes, "Who's gifts first?" she asked, looking at them, "Oooh! Me! Mine first!" she added immediately, producing six bright pink colored gifts, and leaving no room for argument, as she quickly distributed them to her flabbergasted friends.

Immediately, Storm could smell whatever it was that Pinkie had put in the box she all but shoved into his hands, hinting at its baked origin.

"Woah!" came Rainbow's stunned voice, producing a pair of blue goggles, "These are awesome!" she announced, fitting them on her head, "I've been looking into getting a pair for weeks! Thanks Pinks!" she said, smiling brightly.

"No problem, Dashie!"

"Guess I'm up," Applejack said, carefully ripping open the box, when her eyes widened slightly at what was inside, "Oh my goodness, Pinkie, how'd you...?" she asked, staring up at the party girl in surprise. Pinkie only smiled, and mimed locking her lips shut and tossing the key, before ushering her on to show the rest of them.

Hands shaking slightly, Applejack lifted a... picture frame? From the box.

It was gold in color, and had a series of apple and vine themed designs along the border.

Despite the simplicity, it seemed that it was enough to drive the normally tough farm girl to tears.

"Pinkie, how did ya do this?" she asked once more, hiccuping slightly as she stared at her pink friend. Unlike the previous reaction, Pinkie smiled softly.

"Well, I asked Shenran if he could fix that up for you!" she chirped.

Fix? Storm's eyes darted back over to the simple picture frame. Yes... he could see it. Some of the metal used in its making seemed a tad older than the rest of the metal, showing faint signs of aging, and even rust in one or two spots.

Couple that with its design, and the boy had a feeling that it was an old Apple Family treasure that had seen better days, and to think that Pinkie had had it fixed?

No wonder Applejack was tearing up. Family meant the world to that girl.

"Oh my, it's beautiful!" Rarity gushed, leaning a bit closer to look at it, "Such detail! My my, whoever made that must be quite the artisan!" Applejack swallowed, and nodded at Rarity's words.

"Yeah, mah Ma made it," she whispered, staring down at the frame in her hands, ignoring the gasps of the others around her, "She gave it ta me befer she an' Pa passed away. A-always been good with 'er hands, she wanted ta make sure I always had somethin' ta 'member her by in case I ever left home."

Pinkie smiled brightly, but ushered for the next one of them to open the gift.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy breathed, looking into her own carefully unwrapped box, before taking out a small stuffed bunny, "It's so cute!" she gushed, giving the small thing big hug.

Rarity was up next, giving a small, lady-like laugh as she revealed a new sewing kit from within the pink present.

"My, how thoughtful!" she said, nodding thankfully at Pinkie, "I must say, I've been meaning to stock up on new thimbles and needles for a while now."

Twilight came right after, showing them a large book, titled 'Party Planning for the Party Impaired'.

The flat look on her face as she revealed the book to them roused a loud chorus of laughter from the group, one that she joined moments later.

That left Storm with his gift, which he opened to reveal-

"A... chocolate pie?" he asked incredulously, staring at Pinkie, "But-! How did you-?" His attempts at speaking ended in nothing but inane gibberish as he tried, and failed, to understand how the fuck did she know he got her a chocolate pie?!

There was just no way it was coincidence that they got each other the same fucking thing!

Pinkie only smiled and shrugged at him.

"Alright, my turn!" Rainbow said, zipping up to Pinkie, gesturing for her to take her previous place, before passing out her gifts, all wrapped in blue paper.

Unlike Pinkie, none of her gifts sent any of them into tears, but that didn't mean she didn't get any reactions.

"What the hay is this?" Applejack asked, holding a small slip of paper, turning it over to peer at the back, "'Good for One Chore Free Day'? Dash, is this a dang coupon?" she asked, looking at the pilot incredulously. Rainbow shrugged.

"Yeah, I mean, you always complain about how I show up and just simply drink cider while napping, and how it messes up with your chores and stuff. So I figured you know…" she trailed off. Applejack stared at it for a moment longer, and chuckled.

"I'll hold ya to it," she warned with a smirk, before they were distracted by Pinkie's shout.

"Ooh! New pranking supplies?!" she cried, staring excitedly at a small box, "Whoopie cushions, markers, paint-ooh! It even has confetti! I love confetti! Thanks Dashie!" she gushed, jumping forward to wrap her arms around Rainbow's neck, nearly sending them both crashing to the ground,

"Gah! Pinkie, you're heavy!"

Tittering at the display in front of her, Rarity set about daintily opening her gift as well. Her eyes widened slightly, before narrowing in confusion.

"Rainbow Dash, is this one of your little pranks?" she asked, staring at the pinned pilot with distrustful eyes, "I'll have you know that Opal is still coughing up smoke from your last prank," she added. Rainbow looked at her, pausing in her struggle to remove Pinkie, confused.

"What?" she asked, glancing at the box, before her eyes lit up, "Oh, nah. It's some weird type of cloud the folks in Cloudsdale are trying out. It's supposed to be used as fabric or something for the weather station's uniforms, I dunno. Apparently you can use the stuff, too, but I have no idea how they managed that," she said, then paused, before continuing, "There should be this jar with this white stuff in it too, and some kind of rainbow fabric. The guy who sold it to me said that you have to coat the needles and thread you wanna use in the stuff or else they won't like work or anything. He said he put some instructions in there too, so..." she trailed off.

Still staring at her, Rarity reached into the box and pulled out a cloud-like material.

Evidently she hadn't believed the rainbow-haired girl either, judging by the way her eyes widened at the sight of the honest to Faust cloud resting in her hands. It was puffy and airy like most clouds, and was also a slightly off-white color.

"Oh my goodness..." Rarity breathed, "It's... surprisingly warm..." she muttered, as her eyes began to sparkle madly, "Oh my! The things I can do with this kind of material! Jackets, coats, scarves, mittens! Oooh! It's the perfect material for cold weather!" she squealed.

The rest of the gifts weren't as extravagant, with Fluttershy receiving a new winter hat, as her old one had apparently been shredded by some ornery cats, Twilight got a set of training weights, as well as a jab from Rainbow about needing to do it at home as well, and he'd received another set of goggles, with Rainbow explaining it simply as 'Everyone needs a back-up pair'.

He had agreed.

Fluttershy's gifts were well received as well, with every one of them receiving a small bag of treats for their respective pets, all hand-made by Fluttershy herself, with Rainbow receiving a bar of soap meant for cleaning feathers, as she lacked a pet of her own.

Storm had taken note of the grimace on Rainbow's face when her lack of a pet had been brought up, but thought little of it.

Applejack had given them all some form of apple-based product she'd made. Rainbow had received a bottle of cider, much to her delight. Fluttershy was given some fritters. Rarity had gotten a bottle of apple-based champagne, much to Storm's surprise and slight disgust. Pinkie had gotten a set of cupcakes, which she had nearly begun to scarf down if it wasn't for the spread of food off to the side. Twilight received some apple jam that Applebloom had helped make, and Storm, much to his amusement, had gotten yet another pie, only it was an apple this time around.

Rarity's gifts had been about as extravagant as to be expected from a personality like hers. Each of them had received a brand new article of clothing. Fluttershy's had been the same white and blue outfit she had originally modeled for Photo Finish, with a few alterations to better compliment her. Rainbow had received a set of shoes, since the girl evidently didn't like her feet being touched by others, while Applejack had gotten a new hat, though Rarity had stressed it was for formal occasions, so she didn't get her normal hat all messed up. Pinkie's gift had been a bright blue cape with pink lining. According to Rarity, her inspiration for it had come from seeing her play around with the twins, and she'd made this for just that.

She had been crushed by one of Pinkie's hugs after that.

Funnily enough, both he and Twilight had received new scarves, though he had been a little embarrassed when he realized that his was a deep lavender the same shade as the stripe in her hair, while hers had been the same shade of brown as his eyes.

Twilight distributed her gifts out to them next, and, to no one's surprise, they all turned out to be books of varying subjects.

Rarity's had been about old Zebrican fabric weavers and their methods of turning even tough, unyielding fabrics into soft clothing. Rainbow's had been about the history of some of the elite pilots in Equis history, while Applejack's was about various farming techniques. She'd been a tad offended at first, but after some explanation from Twilight about turning a more profitable harvest, she'd been appeased. Pinkie's was a new cookbook filled with magical desserts. The look on Pinkie's face had... unnerved Storm, causing him to vow to himself to be very far away when she tried making anything in it. Fluttershy had received a book on rare supernatural creatures. Fluttershy had opened it right away, to a page that had been suspiciously dog-eared, and yelped at the sight of the, extraordinarily well drawn, image of a Wendigo.

Her gift to him had been rather surprising.

101 Ways to Relax: The De-Stressing.

He... couldn't tell if there was a joke in there somewhere or not.

Now, it was time for the boy to distribute his own gifts. He could only hope they turned out well.

"Wowwee!" Applejack cheered, holding out her new pair of work boots, carefully eyeing their simple, earthy design, "I've been savin' up fer some'a these for months now!" she announced, smiling at him, "How'd ya know?" she asked, already slipping them on. Storm just shrugged.

"I didn't."

Chuckling at his response, Pinkie eagerly tore open her own gift, gasping happily as she revealed the chocolate confection.

"Pie!" she cried, before giving it a strong sniff, "Ooh! Chocolate!"

"Extra chocolate," Storm corrected her, amused.

"So that's why you seemed so confused earlier," Twilight noted, smiling softly, "You two ended up getting each other the same thing."

"Great minds think alike?" was Pinkie's response. None of them could tell if she was being serious.

"Oh my!" Fluttershy breathed, carefully taking out the cookbook he'd gotten her, opening it up immediately, "Goodness! There's so many recipes!" she gushed excitedly, her eyes darting around the pages as she eagerly flipped through them, "So many treats!"

Storm chuckled softly at the girl who he considered like a little sister, but stopped paying attention as she continued to list animal after animal, until it got to the point where he stopped recognizing the species she was naming.

"Aw yeah!"

It seemed that Rainbow's gift went well too.

"How'd you get this?!" she asked, staring at him with wide eyes, "These things have been sold out across the galaxy!" Storm only shrugged.

"I'm not a Jedi for nothing. I have my ways," he asked, smirking wickedly, earning a laugh from the rainbow-haired girl.

A very soft gasp caught his attention, causing him to turn in Rarity's direction, finding her staring, open-mouthed, at the simple, silver necklace, inlaid with a single diamond, he'd crafted for her.

"Oh my..." she breathed, staring at it with sparkling eyes, "It's... beautiful..." she muttered, turning to stare at him.

It was? That was... a relief, actually. It meant that the kit he'd bought had very good instructions. Better than he'd hoped, even.

He shrugged once more in response.

"Eh, it's nothing," he said, "I didn't go to much trouble to make it."

"Make it?!" Rarity shrieked, staring at him in surprise, "You made this?!" she asked. Storm blinked, and nodded, albeit a tad hesitantly.

"Yes? Just I like made Applejack's boots and Pinkie's chocolate pie," he said, pointing at the two girls in question, "Is that... bad?" he asked, a lump appearing in his throat.

Had... had he committed some sort of faux pas? Was giving jewelry considered something different?

H-he just thought it was a gift! Was it actually some sort of important tradition in Equis?!

Oh sweet Faust, what did he do?!

"No!" was Rarity's rapid response, inadvertently calming the panicking Jedi Knight, "I was just... surprised. It... it looks wonderful," she repeated, "I-I just couldn't believe you made something like this..." she muttered, before her eyes widened, "Oh goodness, it must've cost a fortune!" she gasped, "Oh nononono! This is too much!" she said, suddenly leaping at him, and tried to force the necklace into his hands, "You shouldn't spend so much just for a little gift you know!" she tried scolding him, though her voice was a bit stuffy, and he could see the faintest trace of tears in her eyes, "Even if it's a wonderful thing, it's just too much! I couldn't, in good conscience, accept something that cost you so much!"

"Wha-" he tried to argue, pushing her away, gently of course, "What are you talking about?" he asked, carefully taking a step back from the girl, "It's just a necklace!"

"It's a diamond necklace!" Rarity argued, "Diamonds are extraordinarily rare in Equis!"

"You made a dress out of diamonds! Which you sold to Sapphire, remember?!" Storm retorted.

"I had to use my entire supply of diamonds for that one dress!" Rarity said, almost desperately, "The only reason I had as many as I did was because some of my wealthier clients decided to pay with one!" she added, "Diamonds are extraordinarily expensive! Just one is enough to buy my entire stock of dresses! The amount of money on the check that Sapphire Shores gave me nearly gave me a heart attack! It was enough to completely restock everything in my store ten times over!"

Storm's anger, which had been steadily building, immediately fell at that argument.

"Oh. You literally meant the cost of the diamond," he said, and chuckled, "I went gem hunting in the mines. It took some time, but I managed to find one diamond in that mess, out of thousands of other gems," he explained, and sighed, "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it anyways. It's a gift. Do you know how rude it is to just return a gift like that?" he teased, relaxing back onto the floor, "Besides, you've given away quite a few outfits to me and the others for free. You don't get to complain about giving someone something that costs a lot of money, Rarity. Just accept it, and move on," he added, his voice turning a tad threatening towards the end.

She looked like she wanted to argue, even looking at the others for assistance, only to find the other five nodding along with his words, a few even looking a bit smug.

"Wha-but-I... fine!" she said, trying to look miffed, but the smile that refused to leave her face kept any sort of malice from slipping through, "But don't think for a second that I'm letting this go, Storm!" she warned, "I'll repay you, no matter what it takes!" she said, before an almost dark smirk overtook her features, "And I just might have an idea as to how..." she muttered, turning away from him.

"Well, that's everything!" Pinkie announced, bouncing into place before them, "So-!"

"Wait, what about Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, looking startled, "She didn't get to open Storm's gift yet..." she pointed out.

"Oh yeah," Rainbow agreed, looking around, "Where is it?" she asked, prompting the other four to begin searching as well.

"Uh... th-there isn't one..." Storm muttered, looking away from them, hoping the flushing of his face wasn't noticeable.

"What?!" Pinkie cried.

"Yeah, what the hell?" Rainbow asked, sounding offended, "What, is she not good enough for a gift or somethin'?" she asked.

"Of course she's good enough, you asshole! She deserves everything!" Storm snapped, before looking towards Twilight, then averting his gaze, "I just... didn't know what to get... I ran out of time before I could find something," he admitted.

The princess sighed, and shook her head.

"That's fine. Hearth's Warming isn't about giving everyone gifts," she said, smiling as she looked around, "It's about getting together with friends and family. Honestly, just spending time with all of you? That's the best gift I could have ever received, and I did!" she announced, using her magic to draw the lot of them into a group hug.

"""""Aww..."""""

"Be that as it may," Storm said, breaking away from the hug, "I do feel pretty guilty about it," he admitted, "so... name something, anything really. I'll make it up to you," he promised.

"Wh-what?" she asked, shaking her head rapidly, "Nonono! It's fine, really. You don't need to do anything special for me..."

"Nonsense," Storm argued, waving aside her argument without issue, "What kind of partner would I be if I left you hanging? Not to mention what kind of guard would I be if I didn't honor my princess' request? Just tell me to do something, and I'll do it. There's no way I can just let something like this pass. You're... you lot are some of my first friends. Real friends, and it just doesn't feel right not to repay that in some way... so just... name something. Anything, and I'll do it to the best of my ability."

Twilight blinked, looking at him with a slack jaw.

"R-really?" she asked, sounding unsure, "A-anything?" she asked once more, her face turning an interesting shade of red.

He could've sworn he even saw steam pour out her ears as well!

"Anything," he reaffirmed, and glanced at the clock, "Why don't you tell me tomorrow? It's getting late and I gotta head home to do some final preparations before we leave back to Coruscant," he said, slipping on his jacket and new scarf, whilst also taking everything else he'd been gifted and slipping them gently into his satchel, "Deal?"

"D-deal..." Twilight stammered, seemingly distracted.

He nodded and made his way over to the door, only for Rarity to call out to him.

"Hold on a moment, darling!" he turned around, only to come face to face with a startled looking Twilight, "Oh, goodness, I'm sorry Twilight dear, I must've slipped!~" she sang, sounding strangely pleased with herself, despite just bodily shoving her friend into someone else.

"What the..." Storm shook his head, and turned to the princess, "You alright there, Sparky?" he asked, only to raise a brow at the girl's strange new behavior.

She was locked in place, stiff as a board. Were it not for her heartbeat, she just might have been mistaken for a well-crafted statue. Not only that, but her face had lit up like a bonfire, and she was steadfastly staring straight above them.

Confused, Storm followed her gaze, finding that the two of them were standing directly beneath the strange green plant above the door, its red berries gleaming in the soft light of the library.

He directed his gaze over to the other girls, and was... further confused.

Pinkie and Rarity were staring at the two of them like kids in a candy store, Fluttershy had promptly turned red and hid behind her hair, though he could spot a single teal eye peeking out and staring at them. Applejack's jaw had gone slack, and she was alternating her incredulous gaze between them and Rarity, while Rainbow had started cackling, laying on the floor and pounding her fists against the wood like a demon possessed.

He was tempted to ask them what was happening, but figured it would be a lot smarter, and potentially safer, to ask the girl that seemed to be a victim of whatever plan Rarity had just let unfold to explain it.

"So..." he began, trailing off when Twilight's blush deepened, "... what's this supposed to mean?" he asked.

And just like that, everyone in the room, apart from himself, froze.

Aside from the howling winds outside, the inside of the library was totally silent. If he didn't know any better, he'd've thought their hearts had stopped beating as well!

"Wh-what?" croaked Twilight, her voice coming out as a strange combination of relief and... disappointment, "Y-you don't know what standing under a mistletoe means?" she asked. Storm blinked, and shook his head, further stunned the six girls.

"Not a fucking clue. Is it... important?" he asked, raising a brow.

""YES!"" Rarity and Pinkie suddenly screeched in unison, ""IT MEANS YOU TWO HAVE TO-MMPH?!""

"Hug!" Twilight squeaked, her hand glowing brightly as she held the mouths of the other two girls shut, "It means we have to hug!" she explained, sounding strangely out of breath.

"Hug?" Storm asked, his brow raising further, "Standing under a specific plant... means we have to hug?"

"Y-yes!" Twilight explained, "it's considered, uh, bad form not to, sooo..." she trailed off, her blush beginning to die down, though it hadn't quite disappeared.

A hug?

That's what that meant?

But... that didn't explain why Rainbow had been so against it earlier. Then again, she had been under it with Pinkie, and that girl could really squish someone, so...

He supposed it was possible...?

Then again, what were Pinkie and Rarity about to shout before Twilight cut them off?

A sudden shiver ran down his spine.

He didn't want to know.

"Riiiight," he said, not believing her in the slightest, but figuring it was the lesser of two evils, "If you say so."

He quickly reached forward with an arm, and brought the flustered princess into a simple hug, giving her a small squeeze, before letting go, ignoring the heat swarming into his face.

"R-right, well, I have to head out now. You lot enjoy the rest of the party," he said, immediately slipping out the door, letting loose a sigh as he headed toward the castle door and into the cool winter air caressing his skin, causing his blush to recede.

He shook his head, ridding it of some lingering thoughts, and set off into the night.

He steadfastly ignored the shouting coming from back inside the library.

Especially the part about mistletoe and kissing.

Author's Note: Well, well, things have certainly gotten a bit more steamy between Storm and Twilight. Not to mention the play of how Equis was found and the small moment at the end between the two Jedi. Happy Holidays/Christmas/Hearth's Warming to all. This will the final chapter update for this story for the rest of the year. See you in 2023 when we continue it and jump right back in. As always leave a review expressing your thoughts and comments.