Chapter 20

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy wake up!"

"Lemme sleep," Fluttershy squeaked. "I wanna sleep."

"C'mon Fluttershy! It's Hearth's Warming!"

Fluttershy's eyelids shot open.

"It is?"

"Yeah!" Applejack exclaimed. "C'mon!"

     Applejack and Fluttershy raced down the stairs to the common room Hearth's Warming tree. It was a large evergreen with shiny red ornaments. Underneath the tree was an assortment of boxes wrapped in colorful paper. There were only eight or nine Gryffindors who had stayed at school for Hearth's Warming, so the common room was entirely empty except for a fourth year pegasus who sat by the fire reading quietly.

"Here," Applejack said, holding up a present. "This one's yours."

"I have presents?" Fluttershy asked.

"What were you expectin'? Turnips?"

The two fillies made short work of the presents. Applejack got a box of chocolate frogs from Fluttershy. Fluttershy got an encyclopedia on Quidditch from Applejack. Both Fluttershy and Applejack were disappointed with the history books Twilight had given them, but they didn't really expect much else.

"This one's from your mum!" Fluttershy exclaimed. She tore into the present and pulled out a green sweater.

     "She makes those for us every year," Applejack said. She opened her next present and pulled out a red sweater for herself.

     Fluttershy unfolded the sweater and took a look at it. Weaved in gold on each side was the letter "F."

"F stands for Fluttershy," Applejack explained as she put on her own red sweater with a golden "A" on each side.

Fluttershy got to the last present. It had a small note attached.

"Your father gave this to me before he died," Fluttershy read out loud. "Use it well."

Fluttershy ripped open the wrapping and pried open the box.

"What is this?" Fluttershy asked, pulling a thin black cloak out of the box.

Applejack shrugged. "Put it on!"

     Fluttershy pulled the cloak over her body leaving only her head exposed.

She looked down to see that her body was completely gone. It was as if her head was just floating in mid air.

"Aiee!" Fluttershy screamed softly. "Where'd my body go?"

"I know what that is," Applejack said with a huge grin. "It's an invisibility cloak."

"An invisibility cloak?" Fluttershy echoed.

"Yeah," Applejack said. "They're really rare! Just imagine all the stuff we can do with it!"

"It ought to make sneaking into the restricted section easier," Fluttershy pointed out, putting the cloak back in it's box.

Dashie and Pinkie walked in, each wearing their own sweaters. 

"Happy Hearth's Warming you two!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I got a brand new pair of flying goggles!" Dashie bragged.

"And I got a new cupcake cookbook!" Pinkie shouted. "I'll be sure to bake some for everypony later."

"Let's go," Dashie said. "We don't want to be late for the Hearth's Warming feast!"

     The four of them walked down the stairs to the Great Hall where Big Macintosh was already seated. 

"Always have to be first, don't you Big Mac?" Dashie asked.

"Eyuup!" Big Mac replied. 

The tables were set for much fewer people. Instead of sitting at separate tables, they all sat at one table, including the teachers.

     There were about three Hufflepuffs, five Ravenclaws, and not a single Slytherin left to attend the feast, making it all the more enjoyable. Several of the teachers were gone, but Professor Celestia, Professor Luna, Professor Trixie, Professor Jet Set, and Rarity all remained. Hayseed was still out patrolling the corridors with his cat and searching for troublemakers.

     "I would like to welcome all of you here today to out Hearth's Warming luncheon!" Professor Celestia announced. "As you all have noticed, there are only 20 of us rather than the usual 300 students. If you do the math, each one of you needs to eat 15 times what you usually do. Otherwise, we'll be eating leftovers tomorrow, and I despise leftovers."

     Most of the ponies in the room laughed, but Trixie kept her resilient scowl.

The food was the best that Hogwarts had served yet. There were potatoes and puddings, there were cakes and cookies, there were soups and salads. Every food Fluttershy could want for a Hearth's Warming feast was right in front of her.

     "Eat up!" Celestia said. "And remember to eat fifteen times what you normally would!"

Fluttershy must have eaten five-hundred times what she normally ate. 

Applejack burped. "I'm stuffed!" She announced.

"Me too," Fluttershy moaned. "I had too much pie."

Applejack leaned towards Fluttershy. "I reckon we have time to go back to the dormitory and take a nap before..." 

Applejack paused. She had forgotten that the teachers were sitting only a few feet away.

Applejack winked at Fluttershy. "Before we build a snowpony outside!" 

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh wow! I can't wait. I didn't know we were going to build a snowpony!"

*********************

    "So we aren't going to build a snowpony?" Fluttershy asked, disappointed as they sat in the Gryffindor common room.

Applejack sighed. "No. You're gonna take your invisibility cloak and sneak into the restricted section."

"W-what if I get caught?"

"Ya won't get caught Sugarcube. You'll be invisible! Just find somethin' that mentions Combover Liverspot!"

*********************

     Fluttershy could not find something that mentioned Combover Liverspot. The library was pitch black, so Fluttershy had to hold an oil lamp in her teeth as she searched the shelves.

She pushed past the rusty metal gate separating the restricted section from the rest of the library and wandered in. It was organized alphabetically, just like the rest of the library. Fluttershy walked past the A and B sections.

"Combover Liverspot..." Fluttershy said. "Combover Liverspot..." 

     Her eyes scanned the shelves for that name, and she realized very quickly that these books were restricted for a reason.

Civil Pony War: A Gruesome Description

Curses That Kill

Chimera Genocide

Cupcakes

     Fluttershy did a double take. She was fairly certain that a book entitled Cupcakes didn't contain anything about Combover Liverspot, but she was curious why such a book was in the restricted section.

Fluttershy opened the book and skimmed the first page. Her face was contorted with disgust, and she silently made a vow to never eat another cupcake for as long as she lived. She wondered why somepony would write such a gruesome tale.

Fluttershy set the book back on the shelf. A few moments later, a sliver of light shattered the inky darkness.

"Is anypony there?" Hayseed asked, stepping through the door.

     Fluttershy gasped. As she did so, she accidentally let go of the lantern with her teeth. It shattered into hundreds of shards of glass as it hit the ground. If Hayseed wasn't sure somepony was in the library, he was now.

"Show yourself!" Hayseed called. "You can't hide!"

     Fluttershy panicked. She trembled with fear as she slid on her invisibility cloak and snuck towards the library exit.