Chapter 1: Hearth's Warming is Coming
One day, Ponyville was covered in snow as there were decorations on the houses and at the train station, the Friendship Express pulled up.
"'Twas a single day left before Hearth's Warming Eve, Everypony was busy, so much to achieve; They hustled and bustled, their heads were a-spin, And it's here that our holiday story begins..." A female's voice was heard as the Young 9 climbed aboard to head home for the break.
Close by and passing the station was Trixie talking to Starlight. Over at the town, ponies were doing some last minute decorating and shopping.
[Crowd]
Hearth's Warming Eve is almost here
There's so much left to do
[Rainbow Dash - Flying by, the cerulean pegasus was doing some last minute shopping for her friends.]
Still need to shop for all my friends
But what to get? No clue!
[Fluttershy - Close by, she was doing the same thing.]
This one is nice, and that's so cute
Although that's pretty, too
[Rarity - Meanwhile, Rarity was at her place working on some dresses. She then grabs her winter gear, and a bag of bits. She rushes outside to do some shopping.]
Why do I make all these gifts each year?
I doubt I'll make it through
[Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow]
One more day before the cheer
[Crowd]
Shop! Pay! Box! Wrap! Bow! Repeat!
[Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy]
One last chance before the holiday's here
[Crowd]
Box! Wrap! Bow! Again!
[Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy]
One more day to make the holiday great
One more day before we celebrate
[Rarity]
One day, and then it's here
[Crowd]
One more chance to bring that holiday cheer
[Pinkie Pie - In a few seconds, Pinkie appears and happily hops. She meets with her family, along with Applejack and her's as well.]
Hearth's Warming Eve is almost here
A day for us to share
[Applejack]
Friends and family all together
[Pinkie Pie - Big Mac loads the Pie's bags in a chart, but then one of them he found is filled with rocks.]
Pies and Apples and a Pear
[Applejack]
Together families, lots of work
There's so much to prepare
[Applejack and Pinkie Pie - the two girls both tipped their hats, and they headed over to Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom, Grand Pear and Cloudy Quartz were decorating a tree, and then Limestone appeared with a wrapped rock and pushed to the tree.]
With all the planning we still have to do
We've got no time to spare
[Ponies]
One more day before the cheer
[Pinkie Pie]
Stuff! Box! Wrap! Card! Bow! Repeat!
[Ponies]
One last chance before the holiday's here
[Pinkie Pie]
Stir! Pour! Bake! Again!
[Ponies - Sugar Belle soon appeared as Big Mac kissed his marefriend and they shared a nose nuzzle as Marble backs away.]
[An Earth Pony named Wensley - He was serving some cider to some ponies with a blunt expression.]
One more day, and I can sleep at night
[Applejack]
The family's almost here
[Crowd - Scootaloo pulls Sweetie Belle on a sled. A young tan colt and a bluish filly hang a single red ornament of a small tree, but then the tree bents. Bon Bon rolls a barrel towards Lyra, and then suddenly a pony dressed like an Elf ran through the tree being chased by a Raccoon.]
One more chance to bring that holiday cheer
Before the fun, there's preparation
(Just around the corner)
Shopping, cooking, decorations
[Spike - Meanwhile, in Twilight and Chase's castle, Spike was rushing around with a box of decorations.]
Hearth's Warming Eve is getting close
We're not prepared, I fear
Twilight, you should take a break
[Twilight - In his response, however, it appears Twilight was caught and stuck in a panic mode stage again. She hands Spike a very very long to-do list, and then they rush outside to get some things with their winter gear on.]
No time to rest, that much to clear
I made a list and checked it twice
There's lots to do on here
Oh, if I can't get everything done without my husband and daughter
I'll have to wait and celebrate next year
[Crowd - As Fluttershy strolls around, she sees Twilight rushing by. Suddenly, Spike ran by and then she got caught on the list.]
One more day before the cheer
Shop! Pay! Box! Wrap! Bow! Repeat!
One last chance before the holiday's here
Box! Wrap! Bow! Again!
One more day to make the holiday great
One more until we celebrate
[Cutie Mark Crusaders - As Rarity was at a shopping booth, she was suddenly caught in Twilight's list. Then as they pass a bend, Rainbow suddenly appeared at a bad time and got caught in the list as well.]
Please, oh, please make it really, really great!
[Parcel Post]
One more gift, try to hurry, don't be here!
[Daisy, Rose, and Lily]
Box! Wrap! Bow! Repeat! Gotta concentrate!
[Crowd]
Just one more day until we all celebrate!
Just then, Twilight and Spike hurried down the street, and then Spike suddenly fell back from a strong jolt. He looked up in shock and noticed that Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were wrapped in the list. Rainbow struggles to break free and eventually she does while grunting.
"Do we wanna know why you're wrapping up everypony in town?" Rainbow asked Twilight in annoyance.
"Not wrapping paper, a to-do list," Spike replied while showing the list before he points at Twilight as she frantically teleports from one booth to another.
"Two of these!" Twilight said as she grabbed a red and purple ornament. She teleports to the next booth. "Three of those!" She grabs some lights and teleports to the next booth. "I'm gonna need 10 of those! Just in case!"
She grabs ten scrolls and teleports to another stand as the others looked concerned.
"Twilight, darling, are you all right?" Rarity asked with concern. "And where's your husband? Isn't he supposed to be with you?"
"Sure! And-no-! Chase-and-the-others-are-on-a-shopping-trip-to-Manehattan! Just-grabbing-a-few-things-do-I-need-this-no-that's-silly-I-need-seventeen!" Twilight replied with a frantic smile before she teleported once more.
Just then Applejack and Pinkie Pie came along to check out the scenery.
"Hey, y'all!" Applejack greeted the gang. "What's everpony-?" They then saw Twilight as she continued her panic rush through the booths as Applejack realized this with a deadpan look. "Ohhh. Traditional holiday meltdown?"
"Uh-huh." The others replied back as they each nodded.
Then Rarity noticed that Applejack and Fluttershy's husbands weren't with them either.
"Pardon me, Applejack and Fluttershy. But wherever are Sokka and Clay? Are they with Chase as well?" Rarity asked as Applejack and Fluttershy turned to each other before looking back at the marshmallow pony.
"Yeah, they along with Chase's family joined him on a shopping trip to Manehattan. Right now, maybe we should deal with this." Applejack said as she walked over to Twilight, who as it turns out is actually in a traditional holiday core meltdown, as the alicorn mare hyperventilates like crazy.
In fact, she had many items hovering over her while she was using her magic
"Hey, Twilight." Applejack said calming and quietly, gently putting the stuff down. "How's your day?"
"I got way behind grading midterms, and Cadance and Shining Armor are coming here with Flurry Heart for Hearth's Warming Eve! Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, Antonio, and Nyx are away in Manehattan with Clay and Sokka to do their own holiday shopping, and I haven't started decorating, and I don't know what to get any of you, and—!" Twilight replied, panicking.
"Stop!" Applejack said, halting Twilight by placing a hoof over her mouth. "Take a breath." Twilight took a deep breath and held it in, with the farm mare finally saying, "Now let it out, sloooooooooooow…"
Twilight exhaled slowly, allowing her to calm down. Then she felt a slight pain in her stomach as she gasped and grunted in surprise, causing Applejack to lean back a bit in slight surprise.
"Whoa, what's wrong?" Applejack asked with concern.
"Sorry, but I had to go over to the hospital a few weeks ago and…" Twilight tried to explain, but then froze as she noticed her friends looking at her with great concern. "... And I must've tweaked something a bit in my body."
She then gave her friends a reassuring smile as they felt a little worried about her.
"Oooookay…" Applejack said, feeling a little worried for Twilight before she cleared her throat. "Now, I think I have an idea that might help. What if we change up how we give gifts this year and do a Hearthswarmin' Helper?"
"What's a Hearthswarming Helper?" Fluttershy asked as she stood next to Twilight.
"Whenever the whole Apple family got together, there were just so many of us, it didn't make sense to buy everypony gifts," Applejack replied, "So we'd put our names in a hat..."
"Ooh, a game of chance! Tell me more," Pinkie interrupted as she leaned in, rubbing her hooves together with a sneaky look.
"...then we'd pull a name, but keep it a secret," Applejack resumed.
"A dash of mystery. Good. Good," Pinkie said as she tapped her forehooves together.
Applejack gave her a half smirk.
"Instead of buyin' everypony a present, you just get one for the pony you picked from the hat," Applejack finished.
"Wait. So instead of lots of presents, I only buy one of you a present? What kind of game is this?!" Pinkie asked.
"Well, it would save time," Rarity said.
"Yeah, and that way, you won't have to worry about getting your pony something really nice." Spike added in agreement. "So, we all agree?"
"Yeah, the less shopping the better. In!" Rainbow said with a smile.
"Will that help, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked the alicorn mare with a smile.
"I was stressed about shopping," Twilight replied. "And not having my husband and daughter with me. But that should be fine."
The girls looked at Pinkie awaiting her answer as she reluctantly agreed with a sigh.
"Fine. I will only buy one present for my secret Hearthswarming Helper buddy," Pinkie said as she pouted, crossing her forelegs.
"I won't be able to help you guys out, I've already got something done for Ember." Spike said with a smile.
Hearing this made everypony smirk at him teasingly and knowingly. Seeing that he was being stared at by his friends, Spike felt a little embarrassed.
"Not that she and I don't have a thing going on." Spike said with a meek smile before he recomposed himself. "But she can come over to have fun with us this evening. Right, Twilight?"
Twilight nodded in reply, telling Spike that it was okay.
Applejack took her hat off and presented it to the others.
"We just need to put everypony's name in this here hat," Applejack said.
Twilight tore up her to-do-list and wrote down her friends' cutie marks on the back. She cut each of them until they were a picture of their cutie marks and placed them inside Applejack's hat. The farm mare shook her hat and shuffled up the papers.
"Y'all ready? No peekin'," Applejack said.
The six girls of the Mane Sixteen and Spike closed their eyes as they went over to AJ's hat, allowing them to pick the cutie marks from the hat. Once they received them, they all opened their eyes to see who they had picked.
"So excited! Aah! Too excited! I don't wanna give anything away!" Pinkie said with an excited smile. She zipped along and took her paper with her as she exclaimed, "Wheee!"
"When will the gift exchange occur?" Rarity asked.
"How about Twilight's castle tomorrow night, Hearth's Warming Eve?" Rainbow suggested.
"That's perfect! Pinkie and I can spend the evenin' with y'all and the next mornin' with our families!" Applejack replied.
"And thanks to all of you, Chase, Nyx, and I should be ready to celebrate by then!" Twilight said, on behalf of herself.
"Oh, this is so exciting!" Fluttershy said before they all parted ways.
As Twilight and Spike walked back to their castle, Twilight looked back at her stomach with concern before she looked forward to her home.
Oh, I just hope that it's not too soon before Chase finds out about the big news. Twilight mentally thought in her mind.
"You okay, Twilight?" Spike asked Twilight as she turned to him.
"Yeah, just a few things on my mind. But I'm okay now." Twilight said with a smile as Spike continued on his to Castle of Friendship with Twilight following close behind.
Hey guys,
I'm back and I've started on writing this next story of Best Gift Ever. I know this chapter doesn't have Chase or his family members in it, but they will in the next chapter. I'll be back to writing soon enough.
Peace out!
