Merry Christmas Bronies and Pegasisters!

To be honest, I'm a little disappointed by the lack of reviews and no one has messaged me about the FIM DVDs. There was only one person who did and he had the FIM S4 DVD, no one had the others, which is disappointing.

The poll's doing well and I'm gonna leave it up, there needs to more votes on it, a lot more! The only time I'll take it down is when I have a new poll, then when that's finished, I put the current poll back up.

Anyway, on with the chapter. As you know, this is another episode based chapter. While playing through the Hearth's Warming Acts, this chapter will only focus on the Unicorn's side of the story. Why? You'll find out.

In order to make scene, I've changed some of the lyrics in the song I've chosen for this chapter. Also, keep in mind that the last part of it gets a little tricky because 3 characters sing different things at the same time, it'll make scene if you listen to the song itself.

I don't own this episode or the story behind it.

Chapter 60: Hearths Warming Eve

It's been almost 2 weeks and Christmas was just one day away, or as the Ponies called it, Hearths Warming. I don't really know why they called it that, but I'm not complaining, it works the same way.

When we received the letter from Princess Celestia saying we were gonna star in the re-enactment of the Founding of Equestria, Twilight told me the story and it was quite interesting, I was excited to doing it.

We all knew who we were gonna play, we all knew our lines, we were all set for it.

The mountain up to Canterlot

After waiting what felt like forever, Hearths Warming Eve was finally here and we were all on the Friendship Express train heading up to Canterlot. Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 were really excited about this, so excited that they couldn't keep still.

Spike and I were sitting on the seats that had a table between them, we were playing cards while we waited to arrive. "Got any fours?" I asked while looking at my cards.

"Nope." Spike answered while keeping his eyes on his own.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were sticking their heads out the windows as the train got closer to our destination. "We're getting closer!" Twilight said with excitement.

"I can hardly wait!" Rainbow Dash said, sounding more excited.

At that moment, Fluttershy poked her head out of the window in front of Rainbow Dash's. "I'm so excited, I…I feel like shouting." She said before she let out a silent. "Whoo-hoo."

"Hoo-wee! Canterlot, here we come!" Applejack said as she took off her hat and put it back on while also sticking her head out of another window.

"Oh I do hope I look festive enough!" Rarity said as she poked her head out of another window with a Christmas tree hat one.

I then expected Pinkie to pop out of the window in front of Rarity, but instead she suddenly came out of her tree hat. "There it is! Canterlot!" she said.

As the city of Canterlot came into view from behind one of the mountains, everyone went "Ooohh." With awe.

"I don't see what the big deal is, we've been to Canterlot loads of time, why is it suddenly so marvellous?" I asked as I looked over to them, unaware of Spike looking over to see my cards in my hooves.

Twilight and Rarity brought their heads back in from out of the windows and came over to me. "Matthew, Canterlot is the crown jewel of Equestria, when is it never marvellous?" Rarity asked.

"How about the time where I nearly died there? Is was Hell on Earth then." I said as I placed my cards down, giving Spike an even better view of them.

Twilight groaned. "Matt, for starters, can you use the term 'Underworld' rather than that H-word? All the other ponies don't know what that means. And second, I know we've seen Canterlot before and, no doubt, it eventually gets old, but just look how beautiful it is with the snow." She said as she looked out of the window to her hometown.

I looked at Canterlot and saw that it was indeed a pretty sight with all that snow covering it. "Yeah, I dose look beautiful." I said before I looked over to Twi. "Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous about this whole re-enactment thing. What if I screw up on stage and spoil it." I said as I began to worry about it.

Twilight and Rarity gave me warm smiles. "You won't, Matt, you perform on stage in front of loads of ponies all the time." Twilight stated.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie popped out of Rarity's hat again. "Yeah, except he hasn't put on a show in, like, forever!" she said as she slip out of the hat and onto the floor of the train.

Rarity looked down at her with her eyelids half-closed. "That's not really helping, dear." she said calmly.

Twilight walked up beside me and placed her hoof on my shoulder. "It'll be fine, you'll be fine. I know you're gonna be great up there, and I'll be right there with you if you get stuck." She said with a loving smile, which I returned.

Suddenly, we heard a loud groan above us and looked up at the luggage shelve above the seats to see Jeff looking down at us from it. "Can you all keep it down? This little bird needs some more sleep before we arrive." He said before he lied back down on the shelf and pulled a small cover over his body.

With that, we all looked at each other. "Don't worry, he's always like that when he's trying to sleep. We better get our stuff ready, we'll be arriving soon." I said.

With that, Twilight, Rarity and Pinkie went away while I returned to my game with Spike. "Your turn, Spike." I said, letting him know.

Knowing which cards I had, Spike grinned. "Oh…I dunno, got any…Aces?" he asked as he snickered a little.

I looked at my cards and saw I had two aces. "Blummin' He-…Underworld!" I said loudly as I gave Spike all my aces.

A few minutes later: Canterlot train station

After the short trip and a horrible card game, we arrived at the train station of Canterlot and departed from the train.

As I pulled a luggage-cart full of our stuff with Spike walking beside me and Jeff on my back, the Mane 6 walked ahead of us. "Oh, isn't Canterlot wonderful this time of year?" Twilight asked with her friends.

"Yeah, I wish it was Hearth's Warming Eve every day." Rainbow Dash commented.

Overhearing that, I chuckled. "If that wish came true, you'd be tired of it within three days. Trust me, I've seen it before." I said as I tried to catch up with them.

Rainbow Dash looked back at me. "Where? Where have you seen it before?" she asked curiously.

"I think it was a Christmas story, can't remember what it was exactly, but it sounds like a Christmas story." I said as I finally caught up with them.

Applejack looked back at me with a confused look. "What's this 'Christmas' ya keep saying? Is that another one of your adult words that no-one here's heard before?" she asked.

I looked at her and shook my head. "No, Christmas is basically my home version of Hearth's Warming. It's not so different, to be honest." I said before I left a disturbing feeling. "Oh…I suppose I'm gonna be missing out on Christmas this year…didn't think about that." I said as my ears lowered slightly.

Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 looked at each other with troubled looks, knowing that it must be upsetting to feel like that. As we kept moving, Twilight began to develop a plan that she'd try to execute later.

Canterlot streets

After a short walk, I managed to cheer up and observe the sights of the city, everything was decorated with lights and trees and other Christmas stuff. It all reminded me of when I'd go with my parents to buy new Christmas ornaments for the tree, truly a Winter Wonderland.

I wasn't the only one doing this, the girls were also looking around admiring all the decorations. "There's so much to look at, I feel like a durn-eyes are gonna pop right outta my head." Applejack said.

"I have an idea, lets I Spy with my little Eye as we walk. I'll go first." Twilight said before she started. "I spy…and eight-foot candy cane." She said while looking over at a giant candy cane with Scootaloo and another filly's toughs stuck to it.

"I spy a Snowpony." Rainbow Dash said while looking over to a pony putting a top-hat on top of her Snowpony.

I wanted a turn and looked around for something to spy, but then I thought of the perfect thing. "I spy a beautiful and super hot pony." I said while looking directly at Twilight, making her smile and blush.

Pinkie Pie then hopped up into the air. "I spy somepony eating a gingerbread house." She said before she shot off into a store and came back out with a gingerbread house, which she then ate with one bite. "And it's me!" she said with her cheeks full.

As Pinkie chewed, we all stared at her in silence for a moment before we burst out laughing. "Haha, Pinkie, you're always good for a laugh." I said before we continued to walk with Pinkie hopping behind.

A few minutes later: Hearth's Warming store

We still had some time life before we'd have to go to the theatre, so we decided to drop in to the nearest Hearth's Warming store, where they sell loads of Hearth's Warming stuff like tree & house decorations, food, Holiday-themed statues and toys.

I was over by the decorations with Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike looking at all the tree ornaments, I always liked doing this back home and I was glad I could do it here as-well.

I looked through them as I walked down the aisle. Some looked good, other's looked a bit corny, I usually look for animal-themed ornaments like owls, Polo bears or penguins, something winter related.

I soon found a nice small one of a Barn owl and I grabbed it with my hoof to look at it better. "This looks nice." I through before I remembered how many bits I had in my saddle. "I might have just enough to get it, but I'd better ask Twilight first, I won't want to get it if she doesn't want it on our tree." I said to myself under my breath.

With the ornament in my hoof, I went to go find Twilight and see what she'd think of it. Eventually, I found her standing in front of a decorated tree and walked up beside her. "There you are, Twi, I found an ornament you might like. I think it would look good on our-…" I stopped talking once I noticed the look on her face.

Twilight was staring at something, like she was in some sort of day-dream. "Twilight? Are you alright?" I asked in concern before I looked over to what she was staring at. "…oh." I said.

There was an ornament on the tree, it was square and made of wood. There was a picture window in the centre where you'd put a picture of something in it, and underneath that said the words 'Baby's first Hearth's Warming'.

I then looked at Twilight and nuzzled my head against the side of her neck, finally snapping her out of her trance. I looked her in the eyes and spoke. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

Twilight placed her hoof on her stomach. "I'm fine. That medicine Mr Cake gave me works wonders on it, I feel much better because of it." she said with a gentle smile.

I wanted to return it, but I was still concerned about her. "Twi, if you feel ill in any way, let me know right away, ok? If you don't feel well enough to do the re-enactment, don't be afraid to say so, I'll sort something out." I said, trying to help her feel more at ease.

"I'm fine, really. I don't feel ill at all." Twilight stated before she looked at the ornament. "In fact, until I saw this ornament, I almost forgot about it." she said.

I didn't know what to think of that, so I just decided to feel glad that she was feeling better. "Well…at least you're not feeling sick anymore. But if that changes, just let me know…I need to know." I said.

Twilight nodded. "Don't worry, I will." She said before she gave me a small kiss on the cheek. "Now I know how you feel when I'm taking care of you." she said, trying to spark some humor out of it.

It worked because we shared a small chuckle. Once that conversation was done, I lifted the owl ornament up for her to see it and she smiled. "Oh, that looks nice, are you gonna get that?" she asked.

I smiled back. "I am now, I was just checking if you liked it." I admitted. "I'd best go pay for this quick, we probably don't have long until we have to be at the theatre." I said before I turned and made my way to the counter to pay for the ornament.

After I left, Fluttershy walked up beside Twilight and looked at her. "Hey Twilight, look what I found." She said before she raised one of her wings to reveal an ornament of a white bunny hanging from her top wing-feather. "Do you think Angel will like it?" she asked, with Twilight giving her a kind smile.

Later that day: Canterlot Theatre

When it was time for us to prepare for the re-enactment, we went over to the theatre and went through a short rehearsal with the pony in charge. We said our lines, sang our songs, acted our movements, everything.

But that didn't last long as the theatre started to fill with ponies ready to watch the re-enactment, with that happening, we started to get dressed into our costumes.

Rarity played the Unicorn Princess, Princess Platinum.

Rainbow Dash played the Pegasus leader, Commander Hurricane.

Pinkie Pie played the leader of the Earth Ponies, Chancellor Pudding-head.

Twilight played Princess Platinum's mage, Clover the Clever.

Applejack played Pudding-head's assistant, Smart Cookie.

Fluttershy played Hurricane's private, Private Pansy.

And I played Jester, Princess Platinum's…umm…Jester. I know, right?

The theatre was now full of ponies, and while Derpy was poking her head out of the curtains to wave to the awaiting audience, we were putting on our finishing touches before the opening act.

"I can't believe the Princess Celestia chose us to put on the most important play of the season. Do you guys know what an honour this is? For all of us?" Twilight said as Rarity used her magic to raise a powder-puff up to her face and pattered her cheeks with it.

"Oh, I wish she hadn't honoured me so much. I can't go on stage! I don't want everypony looking at me!" Fluttershy said with panic before she went and hid her head in a box full of decorations.

I watched this as I put my costume on. "Hey Jeff, look, she's doing her ostrich thing again." I said as I leaned over to Jeff, who was playing my pet parrot, Punch.

Jeff chuckled. "Yeah, she's been hangin' around her pet ostrich for too long." He said.

I then looked at him with a raised eye-brow. "She doesn't have a pet ostrich." I stated.

Jeff nodded. "Yeah, she doses." He said in disagreement.

"Mate, I've been to her cottage loads of times and I've never once seen an ostrich." I said, turning my body to face him more.

Jeff looked up at me. "Dude, the chick practically has a zoo, how can she not have an ostrich. She could very well have an orang-utan." He said.

"An Orang-utan? Now you're just being silly." I said before we started to have a tiff over the matter.

While we argued, Rarity walked over to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, darling, there's nothing to feel nervous about." she said, trying to reassure her.

It worked a little because Fluttershy brought her head up from the box. "No?" she asked.

Rarity then used this moment to get her out of the box and push her towards a mirror. "Of course not." Rarity said before she used her magic to lift up a hairbrush and comb Fluttershy's mane with it. "All across Equestria, ponies are preparing their own pageant for Hearth's Warming Eve in their own towns, its tradition." She explained.

Fluttershy then gave her a small smile. "So you're saying they'll be too busy to come to our play?" she asked, hoping she was right.

Rarity shook her head. "Well, no…we're in the Canterlot pageant, the biggest, most important production in all of Equestria." she answered as she used her magic to lift up the powder-puff again and pat Fluttershy's face with it. "A lot of ponies will come to watch us." she said.

Once Rarity stopped, Fluttershy looked in the mirror with slight worry. "A lot?" she asked.

"Hundreds." Rarity answered.

"Hundreds?!" Fluttershy said, looking more worried than she did before.

Rarity then gasped in excitement. "*Gasp* Maybe even thousands." She added.

That was Fluttershy's breaking point before she leaped in the air and rushed back over to the box, she then hid inside it again once she reached it, quivering with fright.

Rarity gave her a disapproving look. But suddenly, a strong breeze blew against her, making her shield her face with her arm from the cold wind. "Oh! My hair!" she said quite loudly before she looked over to Applejack. "Applejack, be a dear and shut those windows, will you?" she said as she point her hoof at the open windows.

Without saying anything, Applejack went over to the windows to shut them, but was distracted by Rainbow Dash, who was whispering cheers for herself in front of another mirror. "Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash! Haaaaaah." She whispered before saying. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Applejack then spoke up to her. "It's a re-enactment of the founding of Equestria, it's not the Rainbow Dash show." She said as Rainbow Dash lowered herself down to look Applejack in the face.

"Well it should be the Rainbow Dash show, I'm the star." Rainbow Dash said before they both started to argue about it.

While they did, Twilight was using her magic to try and pull Fluttershy out of the box she was hiding in, but she wouldn't budge. She was strong for such a timid Pegasus. "Fluttershy, you've got to come out there!" Twilight said as she pulled harder.

Just then, Spike, who was dressed like a medieval minstrel, opened to curtains and looked over to us. "Curtain in two minutes." He said with a bright smile on his face.

Pinkie Pie hopped over towards Twilight and Fluttershy. "Twilight, let me handle this." She said as she hopped past Rarity, who was still trying to protect her hair from the strong wind.

"My hair!" Rarity blurted out again, hoping someone would shut the window and stop the wind.

At that moment, Pinkie grabbed Twilight by her head with her hooves and pulled back hard, trying to help pull Fluttershy out of the box. "PINKIIIIIIE!" Twilight yelled as the pink pony pull on her head.

The cold wind then stuck Pinkie and she released Twilight to hug herself for warmth, but doing that caused Twilight to be flung into the box with Fluttershy.

Meanwhile, Jeff and I were still arguing over Fluttershy's animals. "Ok, this is getting silly, how can Fluttershy possibly have a crocodile? She'd run to the next town if she saw one of those." I stated.

"She has a bear in her house, for Celestia's sake! If she can put up with a bear, she can have a croc." Jeff argued loudly.

"I know Fluttershy can love all sorts of animals, but she does have limits, I don't see her taking care of…I don't know…a hydra." I said to him.

"Give her a baby hydra and it'll be callin' her 'momma' within four days." Jeff said as he crossed his wings.

While we continued our little spat, Applejack and Rainbow Dash kept on arguing about the pageant. "The Heart's Warming Eve pageant is about harmony and friendship." Applejack stated as she looked Rainbow in the eyes firmly.

The rest of us then couldn't take the strong, cold wind anymore and we all snapped. "SHUT THE WINDOW!" We all yelled at the two ponies.

After watching us all argue and yell, Spike went back behind the curtain, moaning in a worried way.

With that, Applejack walked over to the window and closed them, finally stopping the wind. "There, everypony happy now?" she asked.

I was the first to speak. "Yes! Damn, it's freezing." I said as I hugged myself to keep warm.

Rarity then stepped forward. "Yes, but at least that last part stopped us all from arguing, maybe now we can all calm down and get our attitudes straight for the pageant." She said before she noticed us all staring at her, she then looked up to see her mane was stuck up and messy. "MY HAIR!" she screamed before she rushed over to the mirror to fix it.

While she did, Fluttershy managed to climb out of the box. "I…I'm not sure I can do this, I think I'll drop out." She said with more fright.

Twilight turned her head to face her. "But Fluttershy, you can't drop out, otherwise who'll play Private Pansy?" she said.

"I don't know, but I'm sure you'll find someone, there's probably lots of ponies who'd be more than happy to fill in for me." Fluttershy said.

At that moment, I walked over to them. "I'll talk to her." I said to Twi before I turned my attention to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, please, we really want you to do it. I know you're scared, but if we're all part of this, we want you to be part of it as-well. If we get someone else to play your character, it won't feel the same, it'll won't feel like we're doing it together. You know what I mean?" I asked.

Fluttershy simply whimpered as she looked away.

"We'll be with you the whole time, I promise, we'll help you if you feel scared." I said with a warm, reassuring smile.

Fluttershy looked up at me before she managed to say something. "Alright Matt, I'll do it, for you and everyone else." She said before she flew over to the costumes to find hers.

Twilight then came up to me. "At least you know how to all this." She said.

I turned my head to face her. "I just want us all to do a good job tonight. Now let's finish up, we're on any second, we should try to get through this with at least some dignity." I said before I put on my jester hat, with its bells jingling as I did.

With that, the rest of us returned to our places to get our costumes ready, working fast so we wouldn't be late for the play.

A minute later

The theatre was dark and packed with a large audience watching the stage, waiting for the play to start. They didn't have to wait long as the spotlight shined down on the large red curtains and opened to reveal the stage, decorated as a fireplace with Spike standing beside it.

Spike then started the story, putting on a posh accent as he did. "Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of Celestia and before ponies discovered our beautiful land of Equestria, ponies did not know harmony." He began as he walked up to the front of the stage. "It was a strange and dark time, a time when ponies were torn apart…by hatred." He said, putting a lot of dark in the last line.

The entire audience, including CMC who had front-row seats, gasped loudly at this.

Spike then leaned down to them. "I know, can you believe it?" he said quietly before he continued the story with ponies on stage acted out what he said. "During this frightful age, each of the three tribes…the Pegasi, the Unicorns and the Earth ponies, cared not for what befell the other tribes, but only for their own well fair." He said as the curtains closed.

"In those troubled times, as now, the Pegasi were the stewards of the weather." Spike said as the curtains opened to show a Pegasus shaking a cloud to make snow come out of it. "But, they demanded something in return. Food that could only be grown by the Earth ponies." he said as the scene changed to a field with Earth ponies giving the pegasi food.

Spike then continued as a pair of Unicorns came up on stage. "The Unicorns demanded the same, in return for magically being forth the day and night." he said as one of the unicorns pretended to use her magic to make the fake sun go up and the fake moon come down.

Spike walked up to the front of the stage again. "And so, mistrust between the tribes festered, until one faithful day, it came to a boil. And what prompted the ponies to clash? Twas a mysterious blizzard, that over took the land and toppled the tribes' precarious peace." He said as it started to snow heavily on stage.

Act 1

"The normally industrious Earth ponies were unable to farm their land, the Earth ponies were freezing. The home of the Pegasi fared no better, the Pegasi were hungry. And the Unicorns were freezing and hungry, even the Unicorn's magic was powerless against the storm. Each tribe blamed the other for their suffering, and the angrier everypony grew, the worse the blizzard became. And so it was decided that a grand summit would be held to figure out a way to cope with the blizzard.

Each tribe sent their leaders. Daughter of the Unicorn king, Princess Platinum. Ruler of the Pegasi, Commander Hurricane. And lastly, leader of the Earth ponies, Chancellor Pudding-Head. Perhaps the three tribes could finally settle their differences and agree on a way to get through this disaster.

Unicorn castle: (Jester's POV)

While Princess Platinum was at the summit, I was in my room working on my latest act to amuse her. For year, I had been the jester for the Princess, my attempts to make her laugh always ended the same way, failure, shame and disgraced, I could barely get a chuckle out of her, the closest I got was a smirk when I told a joke about the other tribes, it wasn't even funny, it was kind of crude.

I know very well that I was a Pegasus and I should've been with my own kind, but there's a story behind that. When I was a foal, I was lost from the other Pegasi after a dragon attack, the Unicorn king found me and took me in. I was raised by the Chef, a good stallion if there ever was on, I worked with him in the kitchen until I accidently slipped over some water in front of the Princess, making her laugh more than she ever had done before. After that, the king decided to make me into her personal jester, to entertain her whenever she wanted me to.

As years went by, Princess Platinum's taste in my humor withered until she didn't find me funny anymore, but she still keeps me around, whether it's because she saw me as a friend or she just wanted to watch a Pegasus humiliate himself. Whichever one it was, it didn't matter, I was just glad I could be here.

I sat in my room struggling to juggle three balls, I kept shifting left and right to make sure I wouldn't miss any of them. "Ok, I got this…yeah…I've got this. Now for the hard part." I said before I stood up on my hide-legs, still juggling, and moved across the room, I was doing well before I dropped one of the balls and stood on it.

I struggled more to juggle the two remaining balls as I tried to keep my balance on the ball. "Ok, this isn't right." I said before I started to move backwards. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" I repeated I fell backwards against the wall while throwing the two balls in the air.

As I leaned up, the both balls fell down and hit my head. "Ow." I said as I rubbed my head with my hoof.

"Hahahaha!" I heard a loud laugh and looked up to see my pet parrot, Punch, standing on one of the support beams for the ceiling. "Let me guess, that wasn't part of the act." He asked with an amused smile on his face.

I stood back up while continuing to look at him. "I'll manage it one day and when I do, Princess Platinum will love it…like she did-"

"All those years ago." Punch said, know what I was gonna said. "You keep saying that, but you fail to realise she isn't a little filly anymore, she doesn't find you funny." He said firmly.

"Maybe, but that doesn't stop me from trying. I'm gonna keep at it and try harder, I'm not dried up yet, you'll see." I said just as firmly before walked over to my unicycle and started to ride it, keeping my balance on it all the while.

Punch rolled his eyes before he flew down to me and landed on my head. "Dude, you were meant for more than this, I'm sure of it. You could be one of the knights, bodyguards, you'd even be doing good if you were still workin' in the kitchen. Think about it, if you were one of those, you'd be completely settled, you'd even catch the eyes of Clover." He said.

With that last sentence, I fell of my unicycle and thought about what he said. Clover, also known as Clover the Clever, she was the Princess's personal mage, and the most beautiful pony in the all the land. She's a good friend and one of the only few Unicorn who cared about me. Every time I see her, I'd feel both light and ill, she made me feel like I mattered. If I ever hurt myself while trying to entertain the Princess, she'd use her potions to heal me. To be honest, Clover was indeed the love of my life.

I leaned up off the floor and looked at Punch. "Do you really think it would make an impression on her?" I asked curiously.

Punch nodded. "Sure thing." he said before he lifted one of his wings up and jingled one of the bells on my hat. "This though, not so much. Take it from someone who knows, chicks don't dig clowns." He said, putting a lot of force on the word 'don't'.

I sighed heavily before I fell back against the floor. "It'll never work, Punch. This is who I am, I'm a jester, to try and become something else would be disobeying the king, I can't do that, not after all this." I said before I thought of something that made my heart grow heavy. "Besides, Clover's a Unicorn and I'm a Pegasus, that kind of thing is basically forbidden." I said.

Punch sighed in defeat. "Fine, I tried." He said before he picked up a ball with his talons and threw it to me. "Good look with your jugglin' thing." he said before he flew back up to his nest.

I leaned up and rubbed my face with my hoof, trying to make myself feel more at ease about things. I sighed one last time before I stood up and walked over to my broken mirror. I looked into it and talked to myself. "A jester doesn't frown, if he frowns, everyone else dose, so cheer up and make your best effort." I said before I brought myself up to form a smile.

Doing that would sometimes help, it helped me forget about what was upsetting me and find a way to cheer me up. "Ok, now when the Princess returns from the summit, make her smile, that's all you need." I said to myself before I went back to practise my acts while waiting for the Princess to return.

Later that day

"So the summit of the tribes did not go as well as hoped, and the three leaders returned home to lick their wounds…and basically complain."

Princess Platinum walked through the door of the castle, shivering due to the extreme coldness of the storm, and dramatically fell against the door with her hoof against her head. "Clover the Clever, I need you!" she called before she fell to the floor.

Clover the Clever, the mage who wore a cloak and hood made out of burlap, walked up to her and used her magic to cover the Princess with a blanket. "Yes, your majesty. Did the other pony tribes see reason as I predicted?" she asked before closing the doors with her magic.

"Those other tribes are impossible! I, for one, can no long bear to be anywhere near those lowly creatures." Princess Platinum said as she lied down on a stool with a pillow on it while Clover brought her a wooden tub of water to soak her hooves in. "The Unicorns and noble and majestic, we will no longer consort with the likes of them." she said before she dropped her hooves into the tub, making the water splash against Clover's face.

Clover wiped the water off her face with her hoof. "If that's what you command, your highness." She said, not so fond of the idea.

The Princess groaned. "All this conflict with the other tribe leaders has put me in a distraught mood. Summon Jester, I could use some foolery for my amusement." She commanded.

With that, one of the servants went off to find me. While they did that, Clover looked at the Princess. "Excuse me for bringing this up again, your majesty, but why do you like seeing Jester humiliate himself so?" she asked.

Princess Platinum sighed in frustration. "Clover, we have been over this many times before. Jester is a Pegasus, and if there is one this I find amusing about him anymore is the fact that one of those ruffians is making themselves look like a fool." She said strongly.

Clover gave her a disapproving look. "But Jester isn't like the other Pegasi, he's not a ruffian, he's a good friend, a very loyal one at that. He tries again and again to please you and fails every time, yet he doesn't give up." she stated.

"Yes…I must admit, there is no other Jester like him, but that changes nothing…and when it comes to our view on the Pegasus tribe, don't let your feelings for him stand in the way." Princess Platinum said, looking at Clover with a raised eye-brow,

Clover went wide-eyed when she said that. "My what?...Umm, I don't have any…I mean, I don't like Jester like that, he's a friend, nothing else." She said in her defence.

Platinum rolled her eyes. "Sure he is." She said sarcastically.

At that moment, I came into the doing flips as I came across the room to the two Unicorns. I did one final flip before I reached them, but instead of landing on my hind-legs like I intended, I landed on my head. "Ow!" I said as I laid flat on the floor.

Platinum stayed unamused while Clover covered her mouth with her hoof, trying not to laugh.

I then sat up properly and brushed the dust off. "Sorry about that. Look at me, messy and covered in dust, I might as well be down with the ancient relics." I said before I smiled largely at the Princess.

"I really hope that wasn't an attempt of an opening act." Princess Platinum said, not looking amused at all.

I shifted my eyes back and forth before I answered. "No…of course not." I said before I decided to open up with a few jokes. "So did you hear about the goldfish that went bankrupted?...well now he's a bronze-fish."

*Ba-da-tss*

Princess Platinum yawned with boredom while Clover struggled to keep from laughing.

My smile went away once I realised it didn't work. "Ok, how about this. A pony walks into a hospital and says 'Doctor, can you help me out?', the doctor then say 'Sure sir, which way did you come in?'."

*Ba-da-tss*

Once again, Princess Platinum remained unamused but Clover giggled a little, but straightened her face when Platinum turned to look at her.

I saw that these jokes were going nowhere, so I decided to skip to the big one. "Ok, I was gonna save this for last, but you're a great audience so I'm gonna skip right to it." I said before I turned to face the door. " Bring my unicycle, the ramp and the right of fire." I said.

"The right of what?" Clover said in shock and worry.

A few ponies then brought the items I requested and set them up for the act. The ramp was set up near the end of the hall with the ring of fire standing up in front of it, a Unicorn used his magic to set the ring ablaze, and another past me my unicycle.

Princess Platinum watched with slight interest and Clever with a worried look as I got up on my unicycle and started peddling, moving fast towards the ramp and the right of fire.

As I got closer, I paddled harder, hoping that I wouldn't screw this up. I paddled harder and harder until the moment came, I went up the ramp and it jumped right through the ring of fire. Princess Platinum looked slightly impressed while Clover was glad I didn't get hurt.

I rode my unicycle back towards them before I noticed them looking at my head, I looked up to see my hat was smoking, it was close to catching fire. Panicking, I started to lose my balance on the unicycle before I started to move forward towards the two Unicorns.

Seeing I was out of control, Clover used her magic to pull Platinum away just as I feel forward and my head landed in the tub of water, but out whatever bit of fire was in my hat. I leaned back up, soaking wet with the tub on my head. "Urr…ta-da." I said sheepishly, really glad I couldn't see the look on Platinum's face.

"Nice try, Jester. I appreciate the effort, but I don't think it's working." Princess Platinum said before she walked past me.

I sat there on the floor, once again feeling like a failure as a Jester, I grabbed the tub with my hooves and took it off my head and watched as the Princess walked away. I then felt my hat lift off my head before I looked to see Clover holding it up with her magic, she then held it over the tub in my hooves and ringed the water out of it. "I thought you were great, Jester." She said before she placed my hat back on my head.

I smiled warmly as her as we looked in each other's eyes, there was defiantly something there, but neither of us could bring ourselves to tell the other what they wanted to. I then snapped back to reality before I cleared my throat. "*Clears throat* Ok…I better go check on Punch, I can never leave that bird in my room for too long before he breaks something." I said before I turned and walked towards the exit.

Clover wanted to call me back, but couldn't do it.

But before I could leave, I stopped when I heard Princess Platinum gasped loudly, attracting the attention of me and Clover. "*Gasp* I have it! This storm isn't going to stop and the Earth ponies are keeping all the food for themselves, so we are going to go on a quest, a quest for start fresh and make our own food, with no horrible storm to stop us." she said before she turned to face us. "My friends, we must find a new land!" she said.

Clover and I looked at each other before we looked back at Platinum. "Are you serious?" I asked curiously.

Platinum looked at me with her eye-lids half closed. "Yes, I am serious, when am I ever not?" she stated.

I gave her a small smile. "Alright, I that case, I better pack." I said before I pulled out sack and started putting stuff like candles and glowing gems before I looked over to Platinum. "I'm packing light."

*Ba-do-tss*

Clover let out a small laugh as she got my joke, while Platinum remained unamused. "…No, not working." She said before she turned to look out of the window.

"Oh come on, that one was pure gold, I just this minute made it up." I moaned as I unpacked all the random stuff and went into a huff.

Act 2

After packing up all the supplies we would need, myself, Princess Platinum, Clover and Punch set out to find a new land to escape the constant storm. Of course, the Princess wouldn't carry any of her luggage, so guess who had to carry it for her.

Forest in the Unicorn lands

Now we were off, starting a quest to find a new land restart the rule of the Unicorns and get away from the storm. But no one said it was gonna be easy, we had only been traveling for a few minutes and Platinum was already complaining, can say it wasn't getting annoying.

Platinum and Clover were walking ahead while I was bringing up the rear, carrying all of Platinum's cases with Punch on top of them. To pass time and tune out Platinum's complaining, Punch decided to play I-Spy, even though I didn't want to play. "Ok, I spy something beginning with…T." Punch said.

"Tree." I answered with a board look on my face.

Punch looked down at me with a surprised look. "How'd you know so fast?" he asked.

"Because this is the fourth fecking time you've said it!" I said loudly.

"Well there are not many things to spy, Jester, so forgive me if there's nothing else to play the game with." Punch said as he crosses his wings.

We then passed through a big bush and entered a clear part of the forest, a moment later, Princess Platinum started complaining again. "Oh this is taking simply forever, my hooves are killing me, how long have we been walking for?" she asked as she turned her head around to face Clover.

"About five minutes, your highness." Clover said as used her hoof to push down a bush and show Platinum that we weren't far away from her castle.

"I could've sworn we've been out here longer…or it might've just felt that way because Punch's games have been driving me mad." I said as I looked up at Punch with a firm look.

Punch looked down at me with the same look. "Why don't I just shut up, huh? Will you be happy then?" He asked, sounding offended.

"Now Punch, what have I said about making promises you can't keep?" I said before I snickered at my own joke, but the funny moment didn't last long as a big chuck of snow fell down onto my head.

Platinum then started walking ahead while we followed behind. "*Hard sigh* I never imagined finding a new land would be so hard!" she complained before she started to talk about the bright side of it. "But it'll all be worth it, don't you agree?" she asked as she looked back at us.

"I actually think the three tribes could've tried harder." Clover said, giving her most honest answer.

I caught up with them and walked beside Clover. "Yeah, what happened at the summit anyway, did you actually talk or did you all just argue some more?" I asked.

We were expecting Platinum to answer us, but instead she stopped and yelled. "STOOOP!"

We both then galloped up to her to see what was happening. "What's wrong?" Clover asked in concern.

"Is it bandits? Wild beasts? Bandits?!...Wait, I just said bandits, didn't I?" I said before I threw the luggage off my back and got out a rubber chicken. "Don't worry, you majesty, I'll protect you with my chicken of fury!" I said as I span it around my body like a nun-chuck.

Platinum looked at me. "Well can you protect me from that?!" she asked before she pointed her hoof at something.

We all then looked at what she was pointing at and as only a little stream, so small we could easily just step over it. "She's kidding, right?" Punch asked.

"Your highness, it's just a stream." Clover said before she walked up to it and crossed it by stepping on the small rocks above the water. "We can cross it easily." She stated.

As expected, Platinum turned away with disapproval. "I refuse to get my gown wet. I have no intention of arriving in my new land looking like a bedraggled Earth pony, or worse yet, a rough-and-tumbled Pegasus. I, for one, have no intention of stooping down their level…" she said strongly as she turned her back, but then, she looked back at Clover. "On the other hand, I have no trouble watching you and Jester stoop down." she said with a wicked grin.

Clover groaned as she rolled her eyes. The next thing we knew, I was lying down over the stream to form a bridge and Platinum was riding Clover across me. "And do watch the gown, darling, it's worth more than all the books in your library." Platinum said as Clover walking over my back.

I grunted as I felt their weight press down against my back. "Thanks for making me a part of this." I said as I struggled to hold on until they finally crossed and I pulled myself back up. Now a little wet, I joined them on the other side of the stream. "That went well." I said before I tried to walk ahead.

But I was stopped by Platinum. "Not so fast, Jester, you still need to get my all my luggage you left behind over there." She said as she pointed her hoof over to the pile of luggage on the other side of the stream.

I sighed heavily. "Yes your majesty." I said before I turned and walked back across the stream, letting my hooves walk through the water, it wasn't like I was gonna get any wetter.

That night

After walking for a few hours, encountering many obstacles, we finally decided to call it a night and set up camp in a field.

Princess Platinum was so tired from all the traveling that she fell to sleep right away once we got her tent up, her tent was really big and looked like a castle, guess she didn't want to be away from feeling like royalty.

All the while, Clover and I only had small tents. I was trying to keep the fire going while Clover was sitting in her tent, reading one of the books she brought. At some points, I would look over to her, hoping she wouldn't notice. Our travel had been hard, but she seemed to always make me feel at ease with it.

As I returned my attention to the fire, Punch flew over to me and landed beside me. "Princess is asleep, calm night, the fire is providing mood lighting. If you asked me, I'd say this would be a good time to finally make your move." He said.

I looked down at him. "What are you talking about now?" I asked with a raised eye-brow.

"You know, you and Clover, you should just go over there and talk to her." Punch said as he tried to tempt me into doing it.

It was working and all, I really did want to go over to Clover and talk to her, maybe we'll get somewhere…but I couldn't. "I can't, Punch. Believe me, I want to, but I can't." I said with my ears dropped down in sadness.

"But why not? Are you scared or something?" Punch asked, not understanding the reason.

"I just can't, ok?!" I snapped before I stood up and stormed away from the camp site, Punch watched me leave before he flew after me.

This act caught the attention of Clover and she saw me walking down the field away from the camp, she wondered where I was going and felt a little concerned for me.

After walking for a few minutes, I found a peaceful spot near a cliff where I could sit and clear my head. But the quiet moment didn't last long as Punch landed beside me. "Dude, want's going on? How come you act like this when I keep brinin' it up?" he asked.

I turned my head and looked down at it. "Because you're talking nonsense! You keep talking as if this thing with me and Clover is easy, but it's not as easy as it looks. It'll never work, and even she knows that!" I said with a strong tone.

"What are you talkin' about?" Punch asked with a confused look.

"*Sighs heavily* Punch, think about it, Unicorns and Pegasi are enemies. Now if a Pegasus was to start a relationship with a Unicorn, then everyone will start losing their minds. Clover would get in trouble and I'd be banished, or worse, we'd both get banished. Clover's life with the royal family would be ruined, I can't do that to he, it means too much to her." I said as I looked down at the grass.

While we were talking, Clover was watching from a bush not far away from us, she was listening in and hoped we wouldn't notice her.

Punch then placed his wing on my side. "I get it, ok…there're rules…you break them, it's your head in the slammer." He said before he scoffed. "To think, this would be a problem if you were anything other than a Pegasus." He said as he crossed his wings.

"Well, I am a Pegasus, nothing's gonna change that." I said before I tried to end the subject. "Not like I'd want to, I Pegasus is who I am, to think of myself as anything else would be unrealistic…I may be a jester, but I'm not fool, we can only be who we are." I said strongly as I stood and took a few steps away from Punch.

Punch was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "Well you know what I'd like to be? If I had a choice, I'd be a large great bird, soaring majestically through the skies and everypony down below wondering 'What kind of bird is that? Is it a new kind of Phoenix? Where can I get one of its shiny feathers?'." He said before he looked at me. "That's not being unrealistic, Jest, that's just having a fantasy, nothing odd about that." He stated.

I turned my head around to face him. "I know, Punch…sorry, I just don't feel very cheerful right now. If I was in a different mood, then maybe I'd actually believe such things like I want could be real." I said, sounding troubled.

Hearing that, Punch wondered if I ever really did want to be anything else other than a Jester for Unicorns. "So…there's really no-one else you'd rather be?" he asked.

I stood there, wondering the same thing myself, I turned to face him before I thought of some things, I began to sing my heart out.

Me: "I guess I'd be a hero…with sword and armour clashing. Looking semi-dashing, a shield within my grip

Or else I'd be a Viking, and live a life of daring, while smelling like a herring, upon a Viking ship

I'd sail away, I'd see the world, I'd reach the farthest reaches.

I'd feel the wind, I'd taste the salt and sea, and maybe storm some beaches!

That's who I'd be…that's who I'd be!

Or I could be a poet…and write a different story, one that tells of glory, and wipes away the lies

Into the skies, I'd throw it…the stars would do the telling, the moon would help with spelling and night would dot the 'I's

I'd write a verse, recite a joke, with wit and perfect timing!

I'd share my heart, confess the things I yearn and doooo it all while rhyming!

But we all learn…but we all learn!

A jester always hides, a jester's fate is known, a jester always stays in the dark and all aloooone!...

So yes I'd be a hero, and if my wish were granted, life would be enchanted, or so the stories say.

Of course I'd be a hero! And I would scale a tower…to save a hot-house flower, and carry her away.

But standing guard would be a beast, I'd somehow overwhelm it!

I'd get the girl, I'd take a breath, and I'd remove my helmet…

We'd stand and stare, we speak of love, we'd feel the stars ascending!

We'd share a kiss, I'd find my destiny, I'd have a hero's endiiiing! A perfect happy endiiiing!

That's how it would beeee!

A big, bright, beautiful world!...But not for meeee."

While I was upset by the last verse, Clover overheard the whole thing and chose to sing her heart out as well, being careful not to heard by us.

Clover: "A jester always hides, a Jester's fate is known, a jester always stays in the dark-"

Punch: "You're all aloooone."

Me and Clover: "All aloooone!"

-At the same time-

Me: "So yes I'd be a hero, and if my wish were granted, life would be enchanted, or so the stories say."

Clover: "And I knoooow he'll appear! 'Cause there are rules and there are strictures. I believe the story books I read, by candle light!"

Punch: "All aloooone! You need a pal, my colander's opeeeen. You need meeee!"

Me: "Of course I'd be a hero! And I would scale a tower…to save a hot-house flower, and carry her awaaaay!"

Me, Punch and Clover: "A perfect happy ending, that's hoooow it should beeee!"

Reality: Canterlot theatre

As our song ends, the curtains close and the crowd cheers loudly at our performance.

Once they calmed down, Spike walked back onto the stage and continued the story. "And so, each leader encountered obstacles along the way. But eventually, they all arrived in a new and wondrous land. No pony had ever seen paradise before." He spoke.

The curtains then opened to reveal a set that looked identical to Equestria, but without the towns or Canterlot on the side of the mountain.

Continuing act 2

The next day after that night, we all set off to continue our search for a new land. The path wasn't easy, there was a lot of climbing and getting across things, and it was even harder with Platinum making one of us carry her through them.

But eventually and finally, we found a land unlike any other, it was more beautiful than any other land I've seen before. Long green fields, clean sparkling lakes and I tall pointy mountain in the centre of it all. Who knows what could be in this land, I could live here for a year and only know half its wonders.

Princess Platinum was more than satisfied with this land, especially when she found a cliff with a whole nest of gems stuck in the rocks, each shining in the sunlight like stars on a clear night. She has spent over fifteen minutes lying down in front of a pile of gems, just staring at them with absolute awe. "I've never seen such jewels." She said before she used her magic to pick up the big gem on top of the pile. "This ruby is dazzling, this whole land is dazzling! I'm double dazzled!" she said before she squealed in glee.

"Yeah, this is a very pretty place. Play our cards right with these gems and we could make a whole kingdom with them." Punch said as he landed in front of one of the gems and looked at himself in it. "Think about it, a castle made with gems in it. Can you imagine all the envy." He said.

Platinum turned her head to face me. "Indeed, Punch, I can even now see all the envious looks on the faces of the Pegasi, this is truly a marvellous discovery." She said before she lied down next to the pile of gems. "In the name of the Unicorns, I hereby dub this land…Unicornia." She said as I stuck the Unicorn flag into the ground next to her.

"We found our new home!" Platinum said proudly. But then, we noticed something, a few other voices said the same thing the same time she did.

We all then looked to where they came from to see we weren't alone here, the Earth Ponies and the Pegasi were here as well. The Earth Ponies we just down the small cliff we were on and the Pegasi were on a cloud just above us. They each had their own flag stuck up beside them, meaning they too branded this land as their own.

We all looked at each other for a moment before the Pegasus leader, who I recognised as the famous Commander Hurricane, broke the silence. "I planted my flag first!" she claimed.

"Did not!" Princess Platinum argued with a strong tone.

"Did too!" Hurricane argued back with a stronger tone.

"I planted mine earlier than first." The Earth pony leader, who I also recognised as the powerful yet odd Chancellor Pudding-head, said with a calm voice before her flag fell over.

I rolled my eyes before looking at Clover. "Ah dang, here we go again." I moaned before we listened to their argument.

"All you riffraff are trespassing in Unicornia!" Platinum said, still using a strong and dominating tone, trying to show them she wasn't going to stand for this.

"The name is Pegasopolis!" Hurricane stated with the same type of tone.

"Earth!" Pudding-head blurted out.

"Pegasopolis!" Hurricane argued loudly.

"Unicornia!" Platinum yelled, trying to be louder.

With that, Hurricane lifted up from her cloud and flew over towards Platinum. "I say we fight for the land! May the best pony win." She said as she got closer.

Platinum glared at her. "That's barbaric." She said before she used her magic to move Clover in front of her. "Clover the Clever! Throw that brute into the dungeon." She commanded.

"What dungeon?" Clover asked.

I then walked over to them. "I'll do it, your highness." I said before I pulled out my rubber-chicken. "Get ready to face my chicken of fury!" I said as Punch flew up to my head and struck the Kung-Fu Crane pose.

Hurricane wasn't intimidated, in fact, she looked more annoyed than anything. "Look kid, my business isn't with you, so how about you move aside before I…wait a minute." She said before she flew closer to me and eyes my wings. "You're a Pegasus!" she said in surprise.

"Really? I didn't know. What gave it away?" I said sarcastically.

"What are you doing in that ridiculous outfit? And why are you working with the enemy?" Hurricane asked with a firm tone.

"Firstly, I didn't pick the outfit, I got what they gave me." I answered before I continued. "And secondly…I don't work for you." I said, saying the last part with an amused smirk.

After hearing that, Hurricane growled in anger before she looked at Platinum. "So not only have you stolen all of our food, but you kidnapped one of our own Pegasi and brainwashed him." she claimed.

Platinum glared at her again. "We did no such thing! We found him as a foal and took him in after the Pegasi abandoned him in the woods. So much for taking care of your own!" she said loudly.

"So instead of returning him to us, you turned him into your own personal clown? So you could laugh at a Pegasus making a fool of himself? Not only is that insulting to us, that's down-right despicable!" Hurricane said firmly as she glared right into Platinum's eyes.

"Hey, ladies, the clown's still here, ok." I said, waving my hoof trying to remind them that I was still here listening to them talk about me.

Clover then stepped forward. "Look, perhaps if we all calm down…" She started, trying to stop the fighting.

"I agree." The second Earth pony said. "Let's all calm down."

"I vote for calm." The second Pegasus added in a quiet voice.

Hearing this, Hurricane turned to face her and gave her a firm look. "I'll have you curt-marshalled for insubordination, private!" she said before she puffed out her chest, trying to look strong. "We settle this on the battlefield." She said, but she was suddenly hit in the face by a snowball.

Seeing this made Platinum laugh loudly, this led me to think I could've finally made her laugh if I had thought of doing that first. But her laugh was cut short before she too was hit in the face by a snowball.

While Hurricane laughed at this, Platinum shook off the snow and became really angry. "Who dares throw a snowball at royalty?!" she yelled.

I then looked down below the cliff and saw Pudding-head with a bunch of snowballs. "It was her, your highness, Frosting-head!" I said as I pointed my hoof down at her.

"Pudding-head!" Pudding-head corrected me before she noticed something the rest of us didn't. "Wait a minute, where'd all this snow come from anyway?" she asked.

We all then looked around to see something that we all feared would happen, the storm that covered our old land with snow and wind had arrived here, like it had followed us. The once blue clear sky had become clouded, the green grass was buried in a growing blanket of snow, and the air became as cold as the arctic.

"Oh no, not again!" Hurricane said as the wind picked up and it became harder to see anything through the fog it brought with it.

Reality: Canterlot theatre

As the third and final act was about to begin, Spike continued to narrate to the audience. "And so the paradise the ponies had found was soon lost, buried beneath a thick blanket of snow and hard feelings. Instead of beautiful, it was blizzardy. Instead of wonderful, it was wintery! Instead of spectacular, it was snow-tacular! Instead of-"

"We get it! Move on!" A mare in the audience said loudly, trying to get Spike to stop overdoing it and get on with the performance.

Spike laughed nervously before he cleared his throat and continued. "Everypony was forced to seek shelter, they searched high and low, but the only shelter for miles was a cold and desolate cave." He said as the curtains opened to reveal a set that looked like a rocky hill with a cave in it. "And, of course, the three tribes had to share it…and no-pony was too happy about that."

Act 3: Cold cave

After searching for nearly an hour, we finally found shelter from the storm, it was a deep and dark cave. True, it was no inn, but it was the only thing we could find that was nearby.

Inside the cave, I talked with the other Earth pony and Pegasus and learnt their names, not that it really mattered, but having conversations like that were better than arguing.

We stood in silence, waiting for the storm to pass so we could go find better shelter. All the while, Clover and I were wondering which one of the leaders would start a new argument first. Would it be Pudding-head, Hurricane?, or our own Princess fuss-pot? We were about to find out.

I tried to break the silence by lightening up the mood. "So…if anyone can guess what I have in my hoof, I'll do a magic trick." I said as I held out my hoof.

The second Earth pony looked at my hoof to see I was holding nothing, it was just my plain hoof. "You're not holdin' anythin'." She answered with confusion.

I then looked at my hoof to see she was right. "…Maybe I should've picked something up before I said any of that." I said before I placed my hoof back down on the floor.

Meanwhile, Platinum and Hurricane glared at each other before Platinum looked down at the ground, I didn't know why, but it had something to do with Hurricane. "Please General hot-head…" she started.

"It's Commander Hurricane." Hurricane corrected with an annoyed look.

Platinum then pretended to clear her throat to speak again. "Please Commander, could you just stand back and give me my royal space." She said as she motioned her hoof in the way that said 'move back a little'.

Hurricane glared. "You mean like this, your highness?" she said as she stomped her hoof forward, trying to rattle Platinum up.

"Indeed not!" Platinum said as she pushed Hurricane's hoof away before pointed her own hoof down at the dirt. "You see this invisible line?" she said while point right in front of Hurricane's front hooves.

Punch waved his wing. "Don't talk to me about invisible lines, I always kept tripping over those, that's why I like being in high places like this." He said while standing on my back. Clover and I looked at him with awkward confusion, wondering how that could even be possible.

With no-one else listening, Hurricane turned her head to face Private Pansy. "Private, outline our territory for every pony to see." She ordered, with Pansy carrying it out.

Pansy flew over to one end of the cave and started to draw a line in the dirt, but was taking too long so Hurricane grabbed hold of her and dragged her across the cave, making her draw the line quicker. "See this real non-invisible line? No Unicorns, Earth ponies…or traitors." She said looking at me before continuing. "Are allowed to cross it. This is the sovereign territory of Pegasopolis." She declared.

After that, the rest of us could see was gonna come next. "Clover the Cleaver! Jester!" she said, calling us for duty.

"Ahh - Smart Cookie!" Pudding-head called, wanting her do the same.

"I know, I know." Smart Cookie said as she began to carry out Pudding's order.

With that, we all began to make draw lines in the dirt with our hooves to mark off our territory. "Another thing to add to my 'most silly orders' list." I said under my breath, making sure Platinum couldn't hear me.

While continuing to make lines, Clover and Smart Cookie's lines eventually ran into each other, their hooves basically touching awkwardly, they both looked at each other with shock before backing away. All the while, Pansy's line ran into a rock, which she then tried to draw around.

But Hurricane saw this and was quick to step in. "What are you doing?!" she said before she flew over to her. "Don't go around the rock, go over it! I'm not giving up an inch of the territory to the enemy." She said firmly.

I looked over to watch this new argument. "Are they really starting to fight over a rock?" I asked,

"Looks like it, but did that Hurricane chick actually tell Pansy to draw over the rock? Is that even possible?" he asked.

"No, it isn't." I answered instantly, letting him know how silly such a thing sounded.

Platinum rushed over to them to actually claim the rock. "That rock is clearly on the Unicornia side of the cave and it belongs to us." she stated before she leaned over to Clover. "Who knows, there could be jewels inside." she whispered.

I then walked over to join them. "Or it could just full of rock like any other. I'm sorry, but is a rock really worth fighting over? I mean, in the end, there's trillions more in the world." I said.

"Finally, someone who's actually thinkin'." Smart Cookie said as she continued to draw the Earth Pony line.

Platinum turned to face me. "Did you not here me, Jester? I said there could be jewels inside. Besides, that rock is on our side of the line, and I will not part with a single part of Unicornia." She said strongly.

Just then, we heard a noise and looked to see Hurricane moving the rock more to her side of the line. "I claim this rock for Pegasopolis!" she said.

"Unhand that rock this instant, you scoundrel!" Platinum ordered, but went unheard.

But before Hurricane could reply, Pudding-head actually rushed across the Pegasi line. "Oh look, you found my rock, I've been looking for it everywhere." She said with a cheerful smile before she picked up the rock with her mouth and rushed off back to her side of the line.

"Hey, you invaded our territory!" Hurricane said, sounding as if she couldn't believe she did that.

"Finders keepers, loser's weepers." Pudding-head sang.

I then stepped behind Clover for cover. "Oh this is gonna get ugly. Let me know when it's over, ok?" I said as I took my hat off with my hoof and used it to hide my face, with Clover looking at me with a raised eye-braw.

With that, Hurricane reached her limit and her patients was gone…not like she had any to start with. "That's the last straw." She said before she stepped over the line to the Earth Pony territory and started walking over to Pudding-head.

Pudding-head picked the rock back up with her mouth, preparing to run when she'd get too close. It was only when Platinum said. "Give me my rock." Did Pudding start running away with the rock in her passion.

The three leaders then ran all over the cave, chasing Pudding-head for the rock. Part of me couldn't believe they were actually doing this, it was so stupid, a rock couldn't be worth all this trouble. Clover felt the same, she placed her hoof on her face to say how silly this was.

Each leader kept arguing with, the wind picking up as their argument and fighting got worse, they were yelling, stomping their hooves, growling at each other and getting more angry by the second.

I placed my hooves over my ears, trying to block them out, but it was impossible. Their constant arguing was getting to me, I could feel myself getting ready to explode and tell them to stop. But when I was about to, I noticed something, as did Clover and the other ponies who weren't arguing.

There were clouds inside the cave, they were swirling around the ceiling in a circle and the walls were beginning to freeze over, ice spread down the walls and nearly touched the floor. "Look everypony, the entrance!" Clover said while pointing her hoof at the exit to the cave.

We all looked over to it and saw it was being sealed by a thick wall of ice, blocking our exit out of the cave, even the leaders noticed this and actually stopped arguing. "Great, now there's no way out! We're trapped!"" Hurricane said with frustration as she began to walk away from the other leaders.

"You two deserve this horrible fate, you've done nothing but argue and fight with each other!" Platinum stated as she too walked away.

"You've been fighting too, your highness." Hurricane said.

"Yeah, worse, I haven't been nearly as much as youuuu!" Pudding-head said, putting a lot of tone in the last word. But as she said this, we noticed that the ice was starting to grow over her, freezing her in place and she didn't even notice.

Neither did Platinum or Hurricane. "How ridicules! A Unicorn never stoops to fighting." Platinum claimed as she too began to freeze.

"That's just because you wimpy Unicorns know you never win!" Hurricane said loudly as the ice took her as-well.

We all watched in horror as they continued to argue while the ice came close to covering their entire bodies, we would've tried to help them, but none of us know what was going on or why this was happening.

"Earth Ponies are numbskulls!" Hurricane yelled as the ice swallowed her entirely.

"Pegasi are brutes!" Platinum yelled as the growing ice took her as-well.

"Unicorns are snobs!" Pudding-head yelled before the ice devoured her as-well.

This left only the five of us, me, Clover, Punch, Pansy and Smart Cookie. The ice was starting to come towards us, we knew that if it would touch us, it was freeze us like the others. The exit was sealed off and the floor was covered in living ice, we were trapped.

Clover and I backed up until we felt our flanks bump into something, we spun around quickly, frightened that we had made contact with whatever was doing this, but it was just Pansy and Smart cookie, we all sighed it relief once we saw it was just them.

Suddenly, we heard a roaring moan in the wind and we all quickly hugged each other in fright. "What in the name of winter was that?" I asked, never hearing anything like that before.

"I don't know, but it didn't sound like a friendly." Punch said before he hid under my hat.

We then heard Clover yelp, we looked at her to see she was looking up at something, we all then looked up and was shocked to see three ghost-like horses galloping in the clouds on the cave ceiling, making them swirl and make more snow and ice. They were completely see-through and they glowed brightly, their eyes were colourless and without emotion.

"W-What is that th-thing?" Pansy asked, stuttering in her sentence.

Clover thought for a moment before she figured it out. "They must be…Windagos." She said with fright as her ears dropped.

"Windagos?" The rest of us asked at the same time before we broke the hug and backed away from each other.

I walked up to Clover. "You know these things? W-What are they? What's a Windago?" I asked, starting to panic, if something like this frightened Clover than it should frighten all of us.

"My mentor, Star-Swirl the Bearded, taught me about them. They're winter spirits that feed off fighting and hatred. The more hate the spirit feels, the colder things become." Clover explained before we all looked up at the Windagos.

After hearing Clover explanation, I finally figured it out, why the storm back home got so out of control, why we were forced to come here and the storm suddenly arriving with us. "Oh my sweet jingly-bells." I said, feeling a strong wave of guilt wash over my body.

"Then…this is our fault…we three tribes." Smart Cookie said before she turned her attention to us. "We brought this blizzard to our home by fightin' and not trustin' each other. Now it's destroyin' this land too." She said as she looked back at the frozen Pudding-head and the growing ice.

Clover looked down at the ice and was forced the take a few steps forward as the ice got closer. "Now our bodies will become as cold as our hearts, all because we were foolish enough to hate." She said as we were forced to huddle up to each other to get away from the growing ice.

Seeing the frightened look Clover's face made me feel bad, I didn't like seeing her like that, so I decided to try and do something about it. "Not if I can help it." I said before I once again pulled out my rubber-chicken. "Chicken of fury!" I yelled before I threw it up at the Windagos.

But it did very little because the chicken went right through it, all it did was making it roar again as it kept galloping with its fellow Windago.

I stared up at them with wide awkward eyes before I sat down on the floor. "Well I tried." I said as I gave us and got back in place with the others.

We all stood in silence, waiting for the ice to reach us and give us what we deserved. But the silence was broken by Pansy as she looked at us. "Well…I don't hate you." she said, remembering what Clover said a minute ago. "I actually hate Commander Hurricane a lot more than I hate you guys." She said.

We looked at her with silence for a moment before what she said got a small laugh out of all of us. "How can you even put up with her? Did she force you to be her private or what?" I asked curiously.

"No, she kind of asked me to be her private…very loudly, if I recall." Pansy answered with a small smile, this got another laugh out of us.

We didn't notice, but the Windagos were listening to what we were doing and looked at down use with a glow in its eyes.

Pansy then continued to talk about her partnership is Hurricane. "Actually, I don't really hate her, I just really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really dislike her." She said before we all laughed louder at this.

In all the fun we were having, we didn't even notice that we were starting to freeze up, we were just focusing on what was going on right in front of us and we didn't care. The Windagos kept moving, making the ice grow quicker.

"Well I don't hate you guys either." Smart Cookie said with a kind smile.

"Noor do I." Clover added with the same smile

"Same here for us two." I added with Punch nodding in agreement.

What we were doing and saying had a large effect on the Windagos, they roared loudly and looked in pain, like they were being shocked from the inside. They started to move faster, trying to freeze us up to keep us from saying anything else.

Seeing as how we were gonna become ice sculptures in a few seconds, I decided to use this time to really talk to Clover. "Clover…there's something I need to tell you." I said, gaining her attention. "I know I should've said it earlier, but I couldn't because of that law, but I don't care about that anymore, I just care about you. What I'm trying to tell you…Clover, I…I love you." I said, feeling the weight of that finally being lifted off my shoulders.

Clover looked at me with shock before she smiled. "You…You do?" she asked.

I nodded. "I have for a long time, you've always been so kind and caring towards me, no Unicorn or any pony has ever treated me the way you did." I said before I looked down at the ice covering our bodies. "We're getting what we deserve, but if we could be spared, I'd want to spend the rest of my life with you." I said, letting my heart out to her.

Clover stared at me with a smile and tears in her eyes. "Oh Jester, that's the sweetest thing any pony has ever said to me…and…I love you too." She said before she rested her head against my neck.

Punch looked down at me and patted my head with his foot. "That's my boy." He said out-loud with Pansy and Smart Cooking looking at us with large smiles.

The Windagos didn't like this one bit, they were galloping like crazy, trying desperately to freeze us before we could say one more single word.

"No matter what our differences, we're all ponies." Smart Cookie said before the ice finally devoured us and froze our entire bodies.

However, as the ice closed up around Clover's horn, it started to glow and within a second the ice broke off us and freed us. We all looked at Clover, whose eyes were glowing white, shoot purple fire from her horn and it struck the Windagos.

The Windagos screeched in fear as they were sucked into the flames and disappeared within them. As Clover's spell calmed down, the last bit of flame came out of her horn and formed the shape of a heart above us, there it stayed.

Clover looked out of breath, I rushed over to her and helped her stand. "Clove, are you alright?" I asked in concern.

Once she could stand by herself, Clover turned to look me in the eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine…thanks." She said as we both smiled warmly at each other.

Smart Cookie and Pansy then walked up to us. "What was that?" Pansy asked.

"I didn't know Unicorns could do that." Smart Cookie added.

"I didn't either." Clover replied. "Nothing like this has ever happened before." She said, wondering what happened herself.

Clover then looked at us with a smile. "But I know it couldn't have been just me, it came from all of us, joined together…in friendship." She said as she stuck her hoof out to us and we all placed one of our front-hooves on top of her's, Punch walked down my arm and placed his wing lot of whoever's hoof was on top.

"All through the night, the ponies kept the fire of friendship alive by telling stories to one another and by singing songs, which of course became the winter corals we all still sing today.

Eventually, the warmth of the fire and singing and laughing reached the leaders, and their bodies began the thaw, it even began to melt their hearts."

Soon after the leaders thawed from the ice, the ice blocking the entrance melted and we could finally leave the cave. We went outside to see the beautiful land was back, the snow was melting and birds sung.

We all stared at this lands beauty and decided that it was simply too much like paradise to be home for only one tribe.

"The three leaders agreed to share the beautiful land and live in harmony forever afterwards…and together, they named their new land…"

Reality: Canterlot theatre: (My POV)

"Equestria!" We all said loudly at the same time.

The curtains then closed to end the play and everypony in the audience cheered loudly at our performance. The curtains reopened to show us standing in front of the stage before we all, including Spike, bowed to them.

Everypony continued to cheer as confetti shot out from the top of the stage and the holiday bells rung. We then had one last thing to do, sing the one of the best Hearths Warming carols with the audience singing with us.

All of us: "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, will see us through

We are a circle of pony friends

A circle of friends we'll be to the very eeeend!"

Once the song finished, everypony in the crowd once again cheered loudly at both our singing and their own, loving our performance and the whole thing all together.

We all took one last bow to the audience before the curtains closed again. After they had closed, we commented each other on our performances before we all made our way back to the dressing room to remove our costumes and get ready to head home to Ponyville.

A few minutes later: Dressing room

It was getting later into the night, the play had ended, everypony in the once large audience was leaving to go home and we were back in the dressing room preparing to leave ourselves.

After we took off our costumes and placed them back in the boxes they belonged in, we all gathered around each other and talked about the great performance we did tonight. "We should be so honoured that Princess Celestia chose us! She must really we exemplify what good friends are." Twilight said, feeling proud of herself and the rest of us on this.

I walked over to her. "Yeah, this has really been something to remember." I said before I turned to face Twilight. "But there's still something I want to know…what happened to Jester and Clover? Dose it ever say?" I asked curiously.

Twilight gave me a warm smile before she placed her hoof on my chest. "The law that separated them was lifted, Clover and Jester got married and officially declared peace between the Unicorns and the Pegasi. They lived a long and happy life, had a foal or two, and were loved by all their friends." She told me before she moved closer. "It says that in the story, but the play is never long enough to tell that part." She said.

I was glad to hear they had a happy ending, I smiled at her and rubbed my hoof against her front leg. "But everyone who's read the story will always know…plus, it's history, so they'd probably have to know, but that's not the point." I said.

Twilight giggled a little before she nuzzled her head against my chest with my arm wrapped around her body.

Pinkie wrapped her arm around Rarity's neck and pull her in to hug her, but suddenly, another strong breeze rushed through them and knocked Pinkie away. Rarity looked over to where it was coming from and saw that the window was open again, she then looked at Applejack who closer to it that anyone. "Applejack, I thought you closed all the windows." She said.

Applejack turned to face Rarity and went up to her face. "Don't blame me, Rainbow Dash should've flown up there and shut it. After all, she's got wings." she stated.

Rainbow Dash, hovering in the air above her, placed her hooves on her hips before speaking. "Why do I always have to do all the high-up chores? Why can't Twilight use her magic for a change?" she asked as she flew over to us.

I then stepped in front of Twilight to confront Rainbow Dash. "Hey, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you better back off, missy. Twilight doesn't have to do anything if she doesn't want to." I said firmly.

With that, we all started arguing again, louder this time and above one-another,

But suddenly, there was a loud windy roar, similar to that of the Windagos. We all stopped arguing once we heard it, frightened that it was in fact the Winter Sprits waiting to feed off our fighting.

Rainbow Dash then looked down at us nervously. "You know what? I've got it." she said calmly with a small smile before she flew over to the window and finally closed it.

We all then looked at each other and laughed together at this awkward yet amusing moment. Even when things like this happen, we can always find a way to make it right again.

-Meanwhile-

Just outside the theatre, the purple fire-heart of friendship burned in the sky above us. Though none of us knew it was there, a part of us inside could feel it, its flames burning for all of us.

I felt it and knew this was the best way to spend my first Hearths Warming Eve, and there was still Hearths Warming Day to come yet. I didn't know what it would bring, but I knew it would be even better than today and I could hardly wait for it.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

I had hoped to have a Hearths Warming Day chapter finished by now, but there was no time. I hope you all have a great Christmas and get lots of cool presents.

The song used in this chapter is 'Who I'd be' from 'Shrek the Musical'. Go on YouTube and listen to it, it's a great song.

The poll will stay the same, whoever hasn't voted yet go up to my profile and vote, if you want to that is, but I'd appreciate it if you did.

Anyway, don't forget to review.

The next chapter will be up as soon as possible. Merry Christmas, love ya!