“In the beginning,” Applejacks recites in a deep, soothing voice as she rolls to ponyloaf, snuggling next to Doug, “there was hatred among the three pony tribes.”

“The beginning?” Doug interrupts as Pinkie Pie rolls over in his lap, her poofy mane billowing against his chest. She hugs him around the chest, hooves reaching inside his jacket. He takes the final bite of his cupcake, pondering for a moment. “This is one of your origin stories?”

“Doug,” Applejack says with a touch of annoyance, “are ya gonna ask every question, or are ya gonna sit nice’n quiet’n enjoy the story?”

“...Yes?” Doug says, earning an eye roll. He chuckles when Rainbow Dash butts her head against his chest. “Okay, I’ll be good.”

“Glad’ta hear it.” Applejack takes a deep breath. “But, since ya asked…”

A few playful groans echo from Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

“Just add it to the narration,” Rarity suggests. “Such as, ‘Before Princess Celestia and her Sister ruled Equestria, there was a deep rift between the unicorns, earth ponies, and pegasi.’”

“‘Cause that ain’t how the story goes!” Applejack retorts loudly. “An’ besides, it don’t answer his question.” She glances at Doug. “Nopony really knows how long ago it happened, but Princess Celestia has been ruling Equestria for over eleven hundred years. It happened before she took over raisin’ the sun, an’ it’s one o’ the earliest stories we have.”

“He would have learned that from the narration,” Rarity mutters, her horn lighting and removing her winter garments.

“Yeah, well-” Applejack begins heatedly as Doug also opens his mouth.

“New rule!” Pinkie Pie interrupts. She pulls a tray of mouth-watering chocolate chip cookies out of her mane. The delicious scent gets everypony to clam up. “If you want to say something, you have to finish a cookie first!”

Doug takes a cookie as Fluttershy whispers to herself, “Oh, dear.”

“Problem?” Doug asks, glancing at the yellow pegasus.

“Oh, it’s just, um…” Fluttershy gulps as she stares at the cookies. “What if I wanted a cookie, but I didn’t want to interrupt?”

“I’ve got you covered!” Pinkie Pie exclaims, pulling a second tray of cookies out of her mane. Fluttershy grins as she drops down, grabs a cookie and happily wedges herself between Pinkie Pie and Applejack, her head resting on Doug’s knee.

“Better do this now,” Doug says as Rarity joins on the other side of Pinkie Pie, a veritable pile of ponies pressing against him. He strips off his jacket and grabs another cookie.

“In the beginning,” Applejack starts again, lovingly sliding her head along Doug’s side, “there was hatred among the three pony tribes. It was a dark time; they didn’t know Friendship like we do today, and rivalry among the three tribes ran somethin’ fierce. Things took a downhill turn when the pegasi demanded more food for workin’ the weather, and unicorns for raisin’ the sun’n moon.”

“Hey!” Rarity and Rainbow Dash exclaim simultaneously. “That’s not how I remember it!”

Pinkie Pie growls menacingly, prompting Rarity and Rainbow Dash to bump into each other as they both grab a cookie.

“Y’all can tell the story how you want when it’s your turn,” Applejack says with a stern glare, “an’ we’ll all be goin’ to the play tomorrow.” She clears her throat as Rarity and Rainbow Dash return recalcitrant looks but settle down nonetheless.

“Mistrust spread among the tribes,” Applejack continues, regaining her deep narrating voice, “until one day a blizzard spread across the land. Us earth ponies couldn’t grow in the freezin’ cold, and nothin’ the pegasi or unicorns did could stop it. Everypony blamed each other for their sufferin’, and the angrier everypony got, the worse’n worse the blizzard became.”

“Don’t forget the pegasi were starving,” Rainbow Dash adds with a grunt.

“And the unicorns were cold and starving,” Rarity chips in.

“Yeah, yeah,” Applejack says dismissively, “things were bad all around. Everypony was blamin’ us poor earth ponies, claimin’ we was hoardin’ food.”

“You were hoarding food!” Rainbow Dash exclaims, grabbing another cookie from Pinkie Pie and accusingly jabbing a hoof at Applejack.

“You pegasi weren’t keepin’ the weather clear! An’ the unicorns couldn’t do any better!” Applejack sighs as she plants her face on her hoof. “Look, that ain’t the point. Point is, things were bad, an’ only lookin’ t’get worse. So each tribe sent their leader to resolve their differences. There was all sorts’a arguin’, with everypony bringin’ up silly little things.”

“Like how the earth ponies were hoarding food?” Rainbow Dash says, crossing a foreleg across her chest and pointedly staring away.

“Yeah,” Applejack mutters darkly, “stuff like that. And how the high’n mighty pegasi were impotent at clearin’ a simple blizzard.”

“Impotent!” Rainbow Dash exclaims hotly. “The only impotent ponies were the earth ponies who couldn’t grow any food!” She glares at Rarity. “Or the unicorns who kept blaming us!”

“But it was your fault!” Rarity contests, their voices raising as the argument turns fierce.

Everypony stops as Fluttershy grabs a talking cookie. “Oh, um,” she stammers at the attention, “I-I was hoping we could skip past this part?”

“To cut a long story short,” Applejack says with a wry smile, “things did go from bad to worse. It got so bad, and so cold, that everypony up and left for greener pastures. The earth pony tribe, led by Chancellor Puddin’head-”

“Puddinghead?” Doug interrupts, astonished at the name. He grabs a talking cookie to cover himself.

“The smartest, wisest leader the earth ponies have ever had,” Pinkie Pie confirms ruefully, her mane mimicking the namesake pudding as she sinks against Doug’s chest.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash snicker to each other, nodding despite Applejack’s glare.

“Plus she makes really good pudding!” Pinkie Pie sighs wistfully. “I only wish I knew the recipe. It’s supposed to be legendary!”

“-found a fertile land, green and blooming,” Applejack continues as if she wasn’t interrupted, “and their new capital in the land of Earth!”

“...Earth?” Doug deadpans.

“I thought it was called Dirtville,” Pinkie Pie says, confused. “You know, cause of the dirt?”

“Earth,” Applejack corrects forcefully.

“I don’t know,” Pinkie Pie says, drawing out her words. “It was some pretty dirty dirt.”

Applejack closes her eyes briefly. “The earth ponies started growin’ their crops in this new land of theirs, but it wasn’t long before the pegasus tribe tried to bully their way in by sayin’ they were first.”

“That’s because Pegasopolis was first,” Rainbow Dash claims snidely.

“No they weren’t,” rebuts Rarity. “Unicornia was founded long before-” she waggles her hoof disdainfully “-Earth.”

“And before you know it,” Applejack stoically continues, “the blizzard they’d been runnin’ away from hit them somethin’ fierce. Everypony stopped gearin’ up to fight each other to search for shelter, but the only thing they could find was a single cave. It was cold inside, with no food or water, but worst of all was that they had to share it. They tried dividin’ the cave up, but sortin’ through every little problem took its toll. Their arguments got worse’n worse, and before they knew it the blizzard was inside the cave.”

“It was horrible!” Pinkie Pie cries out, throwing her hooves in the air. “No rest, no heat, no food! They didn’t even have cotton candy!”

“It was,” Applejack agrees, “and the leaders arguin’ back’n forth didn’t help matters at all. So it came down to Smart Cookie, Clover the Clever, and Private Pansy - those were the three leader’s assistants - to work matters out. They figured out that the blizzard was because of the coldness they felt for each other. And they could see it manifestin’ in front of ‘em as their leaders turned into blocks of ice! It was only through kindling the Fire of Friendship that they managed to make it through the night and thaw everypony!”

“Yey!” cheers Fluttershy, happily clopping her hooves against the floor. Doug claps two fingers against his hand, the ponies curiously watching with ears flicking at the sound.

“Afterwards, everypony decided that they should live together in Harmony and peace, and the three tribes have been united as Equestrians ever since!” Applejack grins as she pulls out a decorated wooden box. “And, in celebration of their joining together, they raised this flag!”

With a grand flourish Applejack opens the box and proudly displays…

“It’s empty?” Doug says, confused.

Applejack spins the box around, gaping. “Wha…?” Her jaw hangs open as she peers around the room, everypony awkwardly glancing at each other.

Except for Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, silly!” Pinkie Pie exclaims. “You have to find the flag first!”

“Uhh,” Applejack groans out with a shake of her head, “Ah thought the youngest pony raised the flag?”

“Nope!” Pinkie Pie says cheerfully, grinning as she nods fervently. “Whoever finds it!”

Applejack stares into the box, asking herself, “How did ya even get the flag out in the first place?”

“Welp,” Doug says, lightly pushing ponies away so he can get up, “I’m going to see if it’s hidden among the leftover bean dip.” He pauses as something tickles his back. He reaches back, pulling away a cloth flag depicting a stylized white alicorn circling a sun and moon.

“You found the flag!” Pinkie Pie cheers, throwing her hooves in the air. She sighs to herself as she comes down and makes an ‘aww shucks’ motion with her foreleg. “And I thought it was the perfect spot, too!”

“Yeah,” Doug says, frowning a little. He taps the picture, specifically the white alicorn not centered above the sun as he might have thought would look best, but off to the right with an obvious open space on the left. “Who is this?”

“Why, Princess Celestia, of course,” Applejack says immediately. She reverently takes the cloth, spreading it out to show a blue background with white stars.

“But,” Doug says as his face scrunches up, his hand scratching his head, “I thought this took place before Princess Celestia raised the sun. After all, why were the unicorns being paid if Princess Celestia does their work?”

“Well, uh,” Applejack says, hoof awkwardly rubbing her leg.

“The Equestrian flag has gone through a few iterations,” Rarity supplies, motioning to the outer border on the flag. “For instance, each star represents a city, town, or village.”

“And the timing?” Doug frowns as he settles back down. “You mentioned that the land was blooming, which suggests spring or summer.”

Rarity takes a half step backward. “Th… that’s a complicated subject, darling. Perhaps this isn’t the night to hear it.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash blurts out. “Plus, you never opened your present!”

“No, he opens his presents on Hearth’s Warming,” Applejack retorts. “Today’s Hearth’s Warming Eve, after all.”

“Aww,” Rainbow Dash says, flopping down against Doug. She gently pushes her present towards him. “We always got to open one present early.”

“We had to find our presents!” Pinkie Pie’s gaze sweeps around the room, briefly resting on various nooks and crannies.

“I guess I can open one,” Doug concedes with a half smile at Applejack, rubbing Rainbow Dash’s mane. He asks Rarity as he rips open the paper, “The Summer Sun Celebration is on the summer solstice, correct?”

“Yes,” Rarity says, gulping. “Doug…”

Doug pulls out a plain cardboard box from the wrapping paper. “So, tonight is the winter solstice.” He shrugs to himself as he opens the box. “Seems like an odd day to hold the celebration of Equestria’s founding if that happened in the spring. I mean, something similar happened back home. Christmas, which has a lot of parallels with Hearth’s Warming with giving presents and love for everypony and sharing joy, wasn’t celebrated on the day that Jesus was born. It was something like three or four hundred years later that the holiday was instated, and they coopted a pagan holiday that celebrated the winter solstice.”

“There, um,” Rarity stammers. She sighs heavily as she thinks through his words. “There might be more parallels than most ponies are comfortable admitting.”

“Such as?” Doug asks, not yet revealing what is inside the box. Rainbow Dash mostly seems interested in his reaction to the gift, huffing at the delay. Fluttershy stays quiet, slinking back next to him and her longest friend. Pinkie Pie’s mane quivers before deflating slightly, yet she returns to between his legs. Applejack drapes the flag over Doug’s arm as she settles at his side, nuzzling him forlornly.

“You are sure?” Rarity says, dropping down in front of Doug, her muzzle on the floor and her ears splayed back. “It doesn’t paint the nicest picture.”

“I doubt you can hold a candle to what humans have done to each other,” Doug says, though grimaces immediately afterwards. “Not that it’s a competition.”

Rarity offers a grim smile. “Very well.” She takes a deep breath, steeling herself. “A little less than a thousand years ago, Princess Celestia’s Sister led an uprising against her, attempting to plunge the world into eternal night. She was defeated, though not without cost. The Nightmare was banished to Luna’s Moon, and the Winter Solstice - which used to be a celebration in the Sister's name - is now little more than a memorial for those fallen.”

“Heavy,” Doug says solemnly.

“Indeed,” Rarity says. “Like many things-”

“-Some might say all things,” Applejack adds.

“-Ponies turn what could have been something terrible into something… well, maybe not wonderful, but into something else. Sometimes it’s a friend. Sometimes it’s…” Rarity shrugs helplessly, glancing towards the moon in the window.

Doug nods again, slumping back. It takes a minute for him to collect himself before he pops open the box. He smiles at Rainbow Dash, sliding out one of two dozen teal pencils with golden lightning bolts coursing along the sides.

“That way you’ll think of me every time you’re working,” Rainbow Dash smiles softly, nuzzling his side.

“Thanks,” Doug says with a ruffle of the chromatic mane. “I’d say that’s a much better way to end the night.”

“End?” Rainbow Dash smirks, wedging her head between Pinkie Pie and Doug.

Sometime later that night Doug extracts himself from a pile of snoozing ponies. He dons his jacket, boots, and hat slowly, trying to keep quiet. He slips outside, laying on the porch and staring up at the sky.

After some time a dark blur approaches. Applejack nuzzles him before laying down, following his gaze to the heavens above. And, though she’s trying not to think about it, the moon. And the darkened form inside.

For a long time they merely cuddle against the cold, content. Then the stars begin shifting, an intricate dance among the celestial expanse.

Next Chapter: Ch. 111 - Terminus Est Estimated time remaining: 47 Minutes