Chapter 14

Happy Hearth's Warming

Twilight and her friends have spent the past couple of weeks searching for information on the mysterious pony, Star Swirl. They had no luck so far. There was not a single book that even mentioned Star Swirl. They were just about ready to give up when Hearth's Warming Eve came.

Most of the students were already packing up their personal belongings to go back home for the holidays. As soon as Rarity finished packing her own things, she made her way to the Great Hall. In celebration of Hearth's Warming, the hall was decorated with banners and ribbons. The night sky illusion was also changed to a winter-themed illusion with snowflakes. At the end of the hall stood a giant tree complete with shiny ornaments, bells, and a star on top.

Rarity walked down the hall and found Twilight and Applejack sitting at a table, playing chess. "Knight to E5." Applejack said. One of the chess pieces suddenly walked forward on it's own and used it's sword to slice another piece in half. "That's completely barbaric!" Rarity complained.

"It's called wizard's chess, Rarity!" Applejack explained. "Would you like to join us?" Twilight asked. "No thank you!" Rarity replied. "I have to board the train soon anyway. By the way, shouldn't you be getting ready too, Applejack? You haven't packed a single bag."

"My family and I decided to cancel our trip to Saddle Arabia because we couldn't afford the trip." Applejack notified. "Good!" Rarity exclaimed. "Then you wouldn't mind helping Twilight search for books on Star Swirl!" The farm pony groaned in response. "Come on, Rarity! This school doesn't have any information on this pony we're searching for! We looked everywhere!"

"We haven't looked in the restricted section." Rarity pointed out. Twilight and Applejack were shocked that their friend would even suggest such a risky plan. "Well anyway, Happy Hearth's Warming!" Rarity said leaving the two ponies back to their game.

After a couple of hours, everypony went back to their common rooms to get some sleep. The Gryffindor Tower was more quiet than usual because Twilight and Applejack were the only Gryffindors who decided to stay at Canterlot. Twilight slept peacefully until the middle of the night when she heard Applejack's exited voice from downstairs. "Twilight, wake up! It's officially Hearth's Warming!" Upon hearing those words, Twilight jumped out of bed and raced down the stairs.

The unicorn gasped when she saw dozens of presents scattered on the floor. Each one was covered in shiny wrapping paper and tied with bright ribbons. "Happy Heath's Warming, Twilight!" Applejack greeted. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Applejack!" Twilight responded. "What are you wearing?" Instead of her usual brown cowgirl's hat, Applejack wore a green Hearth's Warming themed hat with her name stitched in red writing on the front. "It's a gift from Granny Smith." Applejack grinned sheepishly.

The two friends decided to open their presents. Applejack got a pie tin from Granny Smith, a set of barbells from Rainbow Dash, and an I.O.U from Flim and Flam. Meanwhile, Twilight mostly received new winter robes and books on potion making. After a couple of minutes, the common room's floors were covered in torn wrapping paper and ribbons. Both ponies were almost certain that they opened all of their presents until Applejack noticed one more present lying in the corner. "Look, Twilight! There's one more present and it's addressed to you!"

The unicorn picked up the gift and examined the tag. Instead of having the name of who sent it, the tag read, 'This item was in your father's possession before he died. Use it wisely.' This made Twilight even more curious. She unwrapped her gift and was surprised at what she found. "It's a book of spells!" Twilight exclaimed. "So, who is it from, Twilight?" Applejack asked. "I'm not sure. The tag only said, 'use it wisely'."

The unicorn then opened her book and was surprised by it's contents. There were dozens of spells on every page. "Gosh! You can use all sorts of fancy spells with that book!" Applejack commented. "I think I will try this spell." Twilight said pointing to an invisibility spell. She spoke magical incantations while waving her wand to match the symbols in the book. Once she was done, she looked up to see a bewildered expression from Applejack. "What is it?" Twilight asked confused. "Twilight! The spell worked! Come see for yourself!"

Twilight immediately trotted in front of the closest mirror, but didn't see her reflection. After getting over her shock, Twilight withdrew the spell making her visible again. "That was incredible!" she exclaimed. "I never tried a spell like that before!" "Whoever sent you that book was really generous." Applejack said. Suddenly the farm pony gave a yawn. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get some shut eye."

She started to climb the stairs to the bedroom before turning to the unicorn. "Are you coming, Twilight?" "I'll be up in a minute." Twilight answered. Twilight was about to close her book, but one look at her invisibility spell gave her an idea. She thought back to Rarity's suggestion of looking for Star Swirl's book in the restricted section. As much as she didn't like sneaking out, Twilight knew that with her new spell she had one chance to find out about Star Swirl. Twilight casted the spell on herself and left the common room.

Carrying a lantern, Twilight navigated her way through the dark corridors of the castle. After what felt like hours of stumbling in the dark, Twilight managed to reach the library. The invisible unicorn then sneaked to the back of the room where she came across a black gate with a lock. "This must be the restricted section." Twilight muttered to herself. She aimed her wand at the lock and whispered, "Alohomora." This caused the lock to break, allowing Twilight to continue.

The restricted section had rows of books containing dark magic, which Twilight chose to ignore. She proceeded through the section until she found a book with Star Swirl's name on it. The unicorn immediately retracted her invisibility spell so she could grab the book. As soon as she opened the book to read it, the face of a shrieking pony popped out of the pages. Twilight gave a scream and shut the book closed.

"Who was that?" called Cranky's voice from outside the library. As soon as she heard the donkey's voice, Twilight started to panic. She quickly turned herself invisible and left the library, not even bothering to pick up the lantern. About halfway through the hall, Twilight looked back to see if anypony was following her. There was nothing but pitch-black darkness behind her. The lavender unicorn finally calmed down and proceeded to head back to the common room. However, her hoofsteps came to a stop when she saw Discord in the corridor.

He only took a few steps before he got pinned to the wall by Flintheart. "Oh, P-Professor Flintheart! W-what brings you up this evening?" Discord asked. The scowl on Flintheart's face showed that he wasn't in the mood for small talk. "You don't want me to be your enemy, Discord!" he threatened. "I-I don't know what you m-mean." the draconequus stuttered in response. "I think you know exactly what I-" Flintheart paused. He turned away from Discord facing Twilight. He must have heard her hoofsteps.

The potion master slowly reached out his hoof in an attempt to grab the invisible unicorn, but Twilight backed away at the last second. After a few moments of silence, Flintheart faced Discord again. Before Flintheart could say a word, a certain donkey approached the professors. "Good evening, Professors!" Cranky greeted. "I just found this lantern in the restricted section of the library. The lantern is still hot, so somepony is out of bed."

"Cranky, I assure you that whoever is sneaking around will receive the worst punishment this school has to offer!" Flintheart swore. Without another word, Flintheart left the corridor. Twilight saw this as her chance to sneak away. It only took a few minutes before Twilight got herself lost. She came across a wooden door that was slightly opened. Curiosity overtook the unicorn as she entered the mysterious room.

Upon entering the room, Twilight was met with the sight of tall pillars on both sides. The room appeared empty, apart from a giant horseshoe-shaped mirror in the back. The mirror had a purple outline with tiny pink gems surrounding it. Twilight stepped closer to the mysterious object. The moment she stood in front of it, Twilight let out a gasp.

Standing right next to Twilight in the mirror's reflection were her parents. The stallion was a blue unicorn with a dark-blue mane and tail. He had a cutie mark of two crescent moons. The mare was a light-gray unicorn who had a purple and white striped mane. She had three purple stars for a cutie mark.

Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't know if this was an illusion on if she was dreaming. "Mom?" Twilight asked unsure of herself. The gray mare nodded in response. "Dad?" Twilight called turning to the stallion who nodded as well. Twilight turned to see if her parents really were beside her, but she was the only pony in the room. It was as if the ponies in the reflection were actually ghosts. Twilight knew that she had to figure out the purpose of the mirror, but she couldn't do it alone.

Twilight managed to find her way back to the Gryffindor tower. She ran up the steps and approached Applejack's bed. "Applejack! Wake up!" Twilight said. "I just saw my parents in a magic mirror! You have to see it!" The farm pony slowly got up with a groggy expression. "Can it wait until tomorrow, Twilight? I'm tuckered out from opening presents." "Please, Applejack! This is really important!" Twilight begged. With a groan, Applejack reluctantly got out of bed and followed Twilight to the room with the mirror.

"I saw my parents in the reflection of this mirror. You have to look very closely." Twilight explained. Applejack stepped up to the mirror, watching it carefully. After a few moments of silence, Applejack's eyes widened and gasped at what she saw. "Do you see them?" Twilight asked feeling hopeful. "No. I see myself with my family." Applejack answered. "We are at Sweet Apple Acres, selling apple cider and zap apple jam!"

"Do you think this mirror shows the future, Twilight?" "I doubt it. Both of my parents are dead." Twilight replied gloomily. Applejack gave Twilight a look of pity and wrapped a comforting hoof around her. "It's getting late. Do you want me to take you back to the common room?" Twilight shook her head. "I actually want to be alone for awhile." Twilight told her friend, who gave an understanding nod. "Just don't stay up too late, Twilight. You need your rest." Applejack then walked back to the common room in hopes of going back to sleep.

For what felt like hours, Twilight silently stared at the mirror's illusion. "Are you having a sleepless night, Twilight?" spoke a calm soothing voice. The pony who spoke was the school's headmistress. "Professor Celestia!" Twilight gasped. Instead of scolding the unicorn for sneaking out, Celestia gave a kind smile. "I see that you have found the crystal mirror that was kept secret from most students. Do you know the purpose of this mirror, Twilight?"

The unicorn shook her head in response."No, Professor. When I stare in it's reflection, I can see my parents. What does it mean?" "Allow me to explain." Celestia replied. "The happiest pony in Equestria would take a look in the reflection and would only see herself." Twilight took a moment to ponder what it meant. "Are you saying that this mirror shows what we desire?" "Yes, but the crystal mirror is not as wonderful as it seems." Celestia explained.

"Some ponies have gone mad from what they saw because they couldn't tell whether their desires were real or mere illusions." Upon hearing this, Twilight took a couple of steps away from the mirror. "The mirror will be moved to a different location after tonight, so I want you to promise me that you won't look for it again." Celestia urged.

"I promise, Professor!" Twilight assured. "Thank you, Twilight." the headmistress smiled. She felt proud to have a student like Twilight enrolled in her school. "I suppose now would be a good time for both of us to get some sleep." Celestia said as she noticed how late it was. The alicorn then turned to leave the room. Before she did, Twilight decided to ask her something that has been on her mind for a while.

"Professor Celestia. What do you see when you look in the crystal mirror?" "Well, I see myself wearing two pairs of horseshoes." Celestia answered. Twilight felt confused as to why the alicorn would desire something so simple. "You could never have enough horseshoes." Celestia chuckled before leaving. It was at that moment when Twilight decided to go to bed as well. She returned to the Gryffindor Tower ready to get some well-earned rest.