The Great Forest, Celagia

Rainbow traced an idle hoof across the map. From the far eastern edge, she trailed it from the fringes of the Great Forest, over the grasslands and the desert beyond, through Kabull and Islamabay, and finally to the port city of Mareakesh in the west. There she paused, lifting away from the page, and allowing her eyes to wander left across the sea to where she knew Equestria was. Sighing, she rolled over on her cloudy perch and clutched the chart to her chest to stop it blowing away - not that it was of any use to her now.

"Ugh," she grunted, twisting back round to lie on her stomach instead. Unable to get comfortable, she wriggled around, sitting up and rolling over again, until eventually she had to give up. With a resigned groan, she rolled once more - to tumble off the edge of the cloud towards the treetops below. The well-hooved parchment of Princess Luna's map slipped from her grasp, only for her to catch the edge of it in her mouth and pull it back down to earth with her. She gave a yell of delayed shock as she snapped her wings open to slow her fall, and nearly lost the chart once more, but years of top-level fight had left her with lighting reactions, and another bite-mark was quickly added to the map as she recovered it for a second time. With a thud of frost-hardened soil, Rainbow Dash's hooves touched the ground of the Great Forest once more, shortly followed by the rest of her body as she collapsed again. Much to her dismay, the frozen earth was even less comfortable than her cloud.

Stupid Gaia, she mentally grumbled, stupid Tempest. Why you gotta make this so difficult for me? There was no reply, however, her only answer Tempest's wild winds gusting through the endless foliage around. Ugh!

Rainbow did not deal well with boredom. Very little could entrance her to the stage where she would stop hovering and sit in rapt attention. Even when talking to her friends, or reading one of her favourite adventure novels she was known to hover, or else amble about the room - although, that wasn't an option for her right now. She hadn't been inside anything more than a tent for over two months now, and with the wild Forest Winter drawing on, she was grateful for the inherent magic that kept all pegasi warm. It wasn't perfect, but the inexplicable heat was enough to keep her and her companions comfortable in the average Winter winds and snows. When the blizzards picked up they would bundle into the tent and ride the storm out.

When the weather was good, Soarin would go out foraging, often with Rainbow or Spitfire but never with both - one always stayed behind to watch their belongings. He would dig for hardy tubers and roots that could survive the Winter, seek out the more resilient grasses, or search for the Great Forest's native wonder, the needlefruit. Growing on some of the more exotic pines of the mixed woodland, the prickly-skinned tree-pods bloomed in the Winter. When they were ready to seed, their heavy bottom ends dragged them through the air, the lower spike hopefully penetrating the ground on impact and planting itself, the seeds being spat out into the earth by the force of the collision. They didn't spread very far, so the needletrees were often found in groves of tens, if not hundreds, but Soarin insisted on seeking out a new one every so often so as to ensure each tree had a chance to seed. Rainbow grumbled a little about the extra time they spent searching, but it was always worth it, for, if skinned and de-seeded correctly, the flesh inside the tough outer shell was delicious and filling - and pretty much all they had to eat. Any other wild foods were few and far between, and the two Wonderbolts insisted on saving their imperishable travelloaves for emergencies - so then, not only was her day to day life boring, but so was Rainbow's food. And as for the company...

Rainbow grimaced, rolling around again as she struggled against an itch, an itch that tickled at every aspect of her being, telling her to move, to talk, to fly - anything but sit here alone doing nothing.

"Ugh!" she groaned to herself. "Stupid Gate... If I hadn't... It's my fault we're here waiting, I said we should check this out!"

She stood up, folding the map behind a wing and starting to trot agitatedly around the clearing she had landed in. "And why do I gotta wait for Twilight and Rarity? What're they gonna do that I can't?" Muttering under her breath, she circled the glade twice, thrice, four times altogether, before slumping with another moan at the base of a tree.

Six months, the Princess had said. Six months of waiting around with nothing to do but forage and sleep. Maybe when Spring rolled around she'd be able to stretch her wings and fly, but for now the untamed winds above the Great Forest were too dangerous for her to throw herself out there. Climbing up to the cloud before had been a chance Soarin would be annoyed to hear she had taken, and it hadn't been worth it, for instead of being a work of art born in a pegasus weatherworks like that in Cloudsdale, it was a crudity, nature's poor replica. While a scholar like Twilight or a dreamer like Rarity might think it a wonder, Rainbow knew only one thing - it wasn't nearly good for lying on. Neither were any of the tree boughs, their rough bark branches untempered by earth pony guardians, and with the ground frozen solid more often than not, the only place she could really, truly relax was the tent. And that presented its own host of problems...

With a resigned sigh, she stopped, finally, staring at the map once more. In the lower-right corner of the map was a strange compass symbol, the western half a sun, the east a moon, perfectly bisected by the north-south marker. Gazing up at the true sun above the treetops, her thoughts drifted like the cloud she had tried to nap on as it slowly blew away from her.

It's gotta be getting close the Hearth's Warming, she noted. The nights have stopped getting longer, I think... Is it selfish to hope that they miss me? The girls? she thought. Her eyes misted as she began to reminisce. They always spent the holidays together, normally on the Apple family farm, and on one occasion with Twilight and her brother's family at their Cambridle estate. Soon it would be four Hearth's Warmings since she had seen them, since she had properly celebrated Equestria's founding. Travelling life was hardly conducive to great occasion. A little childish, nagging thought picked at her mind, telling her that this wasn't fair, that she should be at AJ's, sitting by the fire with a mug of spiced cider and her friends. Her beloved friends... Did they still care about her now that she was gone? Did they blame her for leaving?

I dunno, she decided, but I sure know that I miss them.

Sweet Apple Acres, Equestria

Twilight was content. The kitchen was warm but dim, lit by the glow of the fire - always the fire - that she had started a short while ago in the hearth. Comfortably nestled on the much-used sofa, she pondered over two pieces of parchment - one she had received, and one she was still preparing to send.

To my dear friends, the draft read, I hope that your holidays have been as enjoyable as mine, and that your families and loved ones are safe and happy. I write to thank you all for your kind and generous gifts, but also to make an apology - I will not be returning to Canterlot in the new year, and neither will Rarity, although I know she has written to you all herself.

I know this comes as a surprise, but it is as much a shock to me as it is to you. Princess Celestia approached me as I was preparing to leave for Ponyville with a request - to take note of celestial happenings taking place beyond her or her sister's control. I can't say much more on the matter than that - these are really the Princesses' affairs, not mine - but the research I am going to be undertaking will consume several months of my time. I hope to be back home before Hearth's Warming next year, but I can make no promises. Rarity has graciously offered to travel with me, to assist me in my work while my usual assistant, Spike, is himself away - I know she has written to you each herself.

We will be travelling to a series of observation sites across the country, listed by the Princesses, to watch the sky for unusual occurrences. While the journey is projected to take ten months to visit every locality and return, the list of sites is not final, so I can make no promises. While I will endeavour to write to you, again, I cannot assure you that I will, for the sites we are heading for are mostly off the beaten track.

Once more, I'm sorry for springing this on you all without a chance to meet and say goodbye. When we return, I promise we'll catch up properly - with a drink and a view, true Canterlot style!

Happy Hearth's Warming to you and yours, and a happy New Year too!

Your loving friend,

Twilight Sparkle

She smiled as she layed the missive to one side. It didn't take a great stretch of her imagination for her to accept her own falsehoods as true, and so she took them, thinking happy thoughts of days to come rather than worrying about the possibility that they could never truly be. Rarity was right - the journey may end up turning her life around, but her worrying could just as easily destroy it anyway.

She yawned, for it was still only the small hours, the sun only just beginning to poke up above the horizon as Princess Celestia nudged the great well of all life through the sky. Six pieces of parchment floated up to her from one side, along with ribboned seals, and, with her magic, she instantly copied her letter onto each piece, before folding them and securing their bands, a waxen, purple, six-pointed star embellishing each of the bindings. There was one for each of her closest in Canterlot - while her friends in Ponyville would always be her nearest and dearest, since returning to the capital she had met with new friends, making full use of the life lessons she had learned since leaving.

There were copies of her letter for Bright Eyes and Glimmerhoof, two of her fellow researchers at Canterlot University, as well as one for Aurora, a PhD student who she had grown close to. A fourth was penned to Silver Service, the jovial modern butler who Princess Celestia had hired after the retirement of her old servant Faithful Heart, and a fifth to Lanerya, Rarity's fellow designer, an antelope originally from the South-Celagian city of Asmarea who had crossed the Eastern Sea to try and make it big in Canterlot. The sixth letter, bound and wrapped, was for Twilight's very own tutor at the University - Professor Sharp Mind, one of the ponies she respected most aside from her friends, family, and the Princesses themselves.

Contented, she smiled again, before reaching out take the letter addressed to her in her grasp. Breaking the red sun-stamped wax, the unfurled it and started to glance down the page at speeds only a true academic could muster. If she had been hoping for Celestia's total agreement with her previous correspondence, she would be disappointed.

Dearest Twilight,

I received your letter late last night and fully understand your concerns. I agree that Miss Applejack could be a threat to the integrity of our plans if they are revealed to her - I find it very unlikely that she would agree to swear to secrecy, and revealing our intents, either to your other friends or a third party, would almost certainly result in unwanted outcomes. Competition or emotive appeals would seriously reduce the likelihood of you and Rarity reaching the Gate before any other, if at all.

I think, in a way, that makes it sound like I do not care about what you feel in your heart. Trust me, Twilight, when I say in many ways this is not the way I wanted things to be either. I realise that what I am asking you to do is hard, but I will say no more on the matter. Just know, my faithful student, that your happiness is precious to me and I would not wish to see you disheartened for anything - I want you to know that while I am asking a lot of you, it is also asking a lot of me to let you go, but this is beyond either of us now. Some things may be hard, but I know we both truly want what is right. I am glad you wrote that you had realised that now - I can sleep a little easier for it.

But to the matter at hoof - Miss Applejack's argument is perfectly acceptable based on the story we have established for ourselves. There are excuses available to us, but as I was detailing them I couldn't help but start to note the advantages that having her along would provide. For a start, she is an earth pony, and so has earth magic. Her profession and her pastimes have rendered her, I believe, with a greater knowledge of outdoor pursuits than possessed by you or Rarity - and she can also handle herself in a fight, which, I am loath to admit, may also be useful. Nevertheless, these qualities do not overcome the issues her understanding may cause, as I detailed above. I believe we should discuss this matter further, and resolve it between you, myself, and Rarity as soon as possible.

Yours always,

Celestia

Twilight's frown deepened. 'Discuss it further'? She hadn't been expecting to see the Princesses again before they returned to Canterlot in two days, and even then not for very long. It would be too late then to ask Applejack along - she could think of only one other way Celestia could speak with her sooner, and that would mean...

The creak of the hallway door interrupted her thoughts, her head whipping round to see a little white filly nosing her way into the kitchen. Little Angel blushed abashedly as she smiled, face tilting downwards but eyes coming up to meet Twilight's gaze.

"Why, good morning, Angel!" Twilight exclaimed as quietly as she could. Angel giggled and raised a hoof to her lips.

"Ssh!" she insisted. "Mamma and Daddy are still asleep."

"I bet they are," Twilight replied with a grin. "I know both of them will like a nice long lie-in on Hearth's Warming."

"Aw," the filly whined, "but I wanna open my presents!"

"Could you not get back to sleep?" Twilight asked, hopefully, but Angel shook her head.

"Nuh-uh!" she insisted. "Why would anypony wanna sleep in today?"

Twilight couldn't help but laugh. She patted the sofa beside her, motioning to Angel, who trotted around to jump up onto the couch. It was an old furnishing, made of fabric and stuffed with wool, with a worn blanket striped with blues, greens, and whites lying across the seat and back. It sagged a little as the young pegasus sat down, Twilight gently nudging her papers out of the way to make room.

"Doctor Twilight, are you writing a story?" Angel asked, staring around at the papers littering the floor and couch.

"No, Angel," Twilight laughed, "just a letter." The filly looked a little disappointed at that, so she added, "but I suppose I could write a story one day, if I ever have the time."

Angel grinned. "Really?" she gasped.

"Well, why not? I've read plenty of novels, and had enough adventures to give me ideas."

"One day, I want to go on an adventure," Angel decided, raising her hooves to warm them from the fire. "Like you and mamma and Auntie AJ did, and like Rainbow."

"You still remember Rainbow, huh?" Angel gave her as disparaging a look as Twilight had ever seen on the face of a child.

"Well, duh!" Angel righteously proclaimed. "She's only, like, the most awesomest pegasus I've ever met!"

"He he," Twilight giggled, "I think she'd be happy if she heard you call her that. And I'm sorry for thinking you'd forget, it's just... Well, you were only four when she left."

"Where did she go?"

Twilight grinned conspiratorially. "On an adventure," she whispered.

Silence fell between them for a while. The dark sky outside slowly brightened as the sun rose, peeping over the horizon to bathe the orchards outside in a deep reddy-orange, while the snow that its radiance graced blushed a warm pink, the fresh blanket that had fallen overnight pure and undisturbed. As the outside world began to see day, so did the kitchen, light streaming through the windows, slowly eclipsing the fire's light-giving role. Twilight was pleasantly surprised by the youngster's mature quietness. She was remarkably still and calm, despite it being Hearth's Warming.

She remembered her own fillyhood back in Canterlot, when she and Shining Armor would wake some hours before dawn, and dither excitedly outside their parents bedroom. The debate about whether or not to rouse the adults passed between them in whispers growing ever-louder, until their frantic voices would wake them anyway, the grumbling adults calling them in with only half-hearted reprimands.

"Psst," hissed a voice from the doorway, Twilight and Angel both looking round to identify the newcomer. "Twilight," Pinkie Pie whispered, her mane flattened in places from where she had lain on her curls in the night. "I couldn't sleep," she admitted with a little smile. "Either," she added, when she noticed Angel was already up.

"Oh, Pinkie," Twilight replied, also smiling. "I'm hardly surprised. You've always been a foal at heart, and I mean that in a good way." Pinkie giggled. "Do you want coffee?" Twilight asked.

"Well, sure!" the earth mare replied chirpily. "Why not?" As Twilight stood and moved around into the kitchen, they came together for a friendly embrace.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Pinkie," Twilight said quietly.

"And you," came the reply, "happy Hearth's Warming."

"Happy Hearth's Warming everypony!" Angel shouted, leaping down and cantering round to join in the hug. From upstairs, there came a murmur and a thud as a body slowly heaved itself out of bed. "Oops," the filly said, wide-eyed.

"Oops indeed," Twilight grinned. "I think we're gonna need more than two coffees."

It wasn't long before the rest of the farmhouse's inhabitants began to pile into the kitchen, all looking somewhat tired but happy. Holiday greetings passed between them over steaming mugs of coffee and tea, Angel drinking her own cocoa while her father heated spiced cider for himself in a saucepan on the range. Twilight sat next to Applebloom at the table, chatting animatedly to the red-haired mare about the little things. Rarity and Fluttershy, sat on the sofa, shared a laugh at one of Pinkie's jokes as the earth pony stoked the fire.

The only pony missing was Applejack, who could just be heard in the parlor next door, bumping around quietly. Angel finished her hot chocolate and began to fidget, shuffling anxiously in her seat, the adults noticing and sharing little grins. She didn't have to wait much longer though, and it was just as Big Mac began to pour his drink into a wooden flagon that AJ pushed in wearing a secretive smile.

"...And then then your parents, Rarity, of all ponies, suggested that they move it into your old shop, an' Ah said, uh, 'Miss Mayor', I said, y'can't rightly turn somepony's house into a library w'out askin' 'em, whether they still live there or not! Ah mean - oh!" Applebloom gasped, "mornin' sis! Happy Hearth's Warmin'."

"And you, AB, and you," Applejack replied with a smile. "Yer tellin' Twi' about how they chose where to move the Library to?" Applebloom nodded. "Ya get to the bit about the barn yet?"

Twilight giggled. "Not yet," Applebloom admitted. "But, long story short, Twi', they asked if they could move it into the old barn. Mackie wouldn't let 'em, would ya, Mac?"

"Nope." The big rust-red stallion shook his head as he dipped once more into his drink. Little Angel clattered across the wooden floor to look up at her aunt with wide, pleading eyes.

"Can we go in the parlor now, Auntie AJ?" she begged. "I wanna open - I mean, I want to give you all my presents I got for you!"

"Aw, shucks," Applejack said. "I was gonna say go on through anyhow, but when ya make that face ya know I can't say no." Squealing with anticipation, Angel galloped from the room and into the parlor, with the adults following on behind. Pinkie was first out of the kitchen, walking as quickly as she could whilst still containing her youthful excitement, closely followed by AJ who called to her niece not to touch the gifts until they had lit the fire. Rarity brought up the rear, bags under her eyes and coffee held firmly in her magical grasp, although she still smiled through her exhaustion.

The parlor was, in comparison to the rustic kitchen, a more comfortable affair, with furniture the likes of which one might expect to find in any Ponyville cottage. The sofas and armchairs were not nearly as worn-in as the sofa in the kitchen, and the room had a full carpet covering it, instead of merely a rug over floorboards. In one corner there was a coffee table, in another a bookcase. The hearth was empty and unlit, and by it stood two piles. One, on the carpet, of brightly wrapped gifts, and another on the slate in front of the fireplace of small, heaped logs. Applejack took one of these in her hooves and held it out to her niece.

"You wanna start, Angel?" she asked. "Come on, we'll do it together." Twilight and the others watched on with growing joy as Aunt and Niece initiated the millennia-old ritual that was being celebrated in hundreds and thousands of homes across Equestria right now. With AJ's support, the filly guided the log into the hearth and placed it neatly at the back of the fireplace. Fluttershy and Big Mac followed, placing their log together just ahead of the first. As they backed away from the hearth, the little pegasus kissed the stallion on the cheek, smiling and blushing, before letting the others take their turn. Pinkie put a third log in, with Rarity and Twilight going fourth and fifth, placing their branches on top of the pile by hoof, not magic. Applebloom went forth last, a calm smile on her face as she completed the stack and walked back to join her family and friends in the semi-circle around the hearth.

"Who wants to say the Heartpoem?" Applejack asked. When nopony volunteered, she chuckled. "Aw, come on, y'all. Can't light the Hearthfire without a Heartpoem. Twi', why don't you say it? Yer good with words."

Twilight blushed, grinning. "I guess... I did do it last year, though."

"Well, never mind that!" AJ insisted. "You do it anyway! Ah know I cain't make 'em sound half as pretty as you."

"Twilight," Fluttershy said, half-whispering from her husband's embrace. "Can you remember the one we read when we went to Cambridle? When Cadence lit the fire with Songbird?"

"That was a beautiful Heartpoem," Rarity agreed. "Oh, go on, Twilight, I would so love to hear it again."

"Alright then," Twilight relented. "Let me see... I think... Yes, I remember it. Here goes." With a pause for breath, she launched into the Heartpoem, the ancient words spoken from memory, as joyfully as a song and as reverently as a hymn:

Come Winter's grip and biting frost,

Come ancient moonlight cold,

Come joyless days and icy sleeps,

Come all ye young and old,

Come ye and share my Hearth this day,

We'll fear the darkness not.

For I am thine here where I lay

I share all I have got.

Our love is deeper than Winter dark,

Your friendship warms my heart.

And whether from near or far you hark,

The cold will not keep us apart,

Forever yours my shelter is,

Forever thine my soul.

So when you go, as go you must,

You'll still be of my whole, my heart,

Forever of my whole.

As Twilight finished, AJ leant forwards clutching a match between her teeth. With that strange earth pony dexterity she struck it against the striking-strip on the side of the fire and tossed it onto the logs, where it caught, the fire beginning to crackle and burn. The farmer slid the grate in front of the hearth, and turned to face her loved ones, a wide smile on her face and a tear in her eye.

"That was beautiful, Twi'," she whispered, "beautiful. Ah just wish Granny could'a bin here to hear that..." As she trailed off, Applebloom leant in to give her sister a hug.

"I know, sis," she whispered. "I know." Around the room, everypony nodded silently. Even Little Angel was silent for a moment, sniffling as she remembered the great sadness the family had had forced upon them last Hearth's Warming, but before she could start to cry, her mother's hoof stroked against one of her wings. Looking up into Fluttershy's blue eyes, she started to smile again. The butter-yellow pegasus pointed with a hoof to the pile of gifts, specifically at a rectangular package that lay to one side.

"Go on then, Angel," she said. "You should start off. Why don't you give Rarity your gift?"

"OK," the filly whispered, and walked quietly to the pile. Nipping at a fold of the wrapping paper, she carried it over to the snow-white mare and laid it down in front of her, backing off slightly as she did so. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Rarity," she said, quietly.

"Oh, sweetheart, you shouldn't have," Rarity replied, kindlily, although there was still a certain regretfulness to her smile. The little package hovered in her light-blue magical aura and the paper slowly folded itself neatly off, collecting itself into a pile by the still-wrapped gifts, and leaving the unicorn with a thick book, bound in faux-leather, hovering ahead of her.

"From the Amphitheatre to Velvet Street - A History of Equestrian Theatre..." Rarity read aloud. "Oh, my, Angel, thank you so much! Such a grown-up thing to give, too," she exclaimed, pulling the little pegasus into a hug before she could back too far away. "I - my, this can't have been cheap, though..."

"Mamma helped me pay for it," Angel admitted. Rarity glanced over at Fluttershy, who was blushing but smiling still.

"All the same - oh, nevermind. I have a present for you too, Angel, now let's see..." Angel's face lit up like the Hearthfire as Rarity hovered an immaculately wrapped object covered in shiny blue paper in front of her, and the whole room broke out into laughter as the youngster began to tear frenziedly at the packaging. And all the while, the Hearthfire burned, its merry crackling symbolic of the loving warmth of friendship first shared in Equestria this very night, so many thousands of years ago...

Several hours later, Twilight was sat back in the kitchen with most of her friends, AJ and Pinkie bustling around at the range while they cooked their Hearth's Warming lunch. Rarity and Applebloom were at the table, Rarity fawning over the earrings the earth mare had carved into diamond shapes from apple wood as her gift to the former fashionista. As Fluttershy walked in from the parlor, the inexpert strumming of a banjo could just about be heard, and as for Twilight herself, she was back on the sofa. She had a new book this time - The Night Alone - an interesting read about the night sky during Princess Luna's absence, although Twilight had already noted a couple of assumptions the author had made about the power of the Princesses that were false. She shut the book and pushed it to one side as Fluttershy came to sit next to her, settling quietly onto the sofa with her legs folded underneath her.

"Thank you for helping Angel choose her gifts, Fluttershy," Twilight said with a twinkle in her eye. "This account really is something. I think Luna would be amused to read it for herself."

"Oh, it was really nothing, Twilight," her soft-spoken friend replied, "really. Oh, and thank you for getting her that little telescope," she went on, "I only hope it wasn't too expensive. I know you used to have to spend a lot of bits on those..."

Twilight waved the thought away. "It's a gift for one of the only two little fillies important in my life. It could never be too much. But Fluttershy, all these books you - um, Angel got everypony... And then your gifts, and AJ's, and Applebloom's? And then Angel's present..." There was a moment's quiet as the two pricked their ears up, hoping to hear the strains of the banjo from the next room, but the noise of AJ and Pinkie's cooking drowned them out. Twilight lowered her voice so that the ponies in question didn't hear her concerns. The Apple family had a certain reputation when it came to talking about money. "That can't have been... Well, cheap."

"Oh, no, Twilight, it's not a problem, really," Fluttershy insisted. "The farm's been doing much better recently, especially now I'm helping to balance the books, and since we picked up that contract with the New Bridleburg Hoofbrauhaus... Oh, and we have a new land deal, come next year we'll be adding another... I think a hundred and twenty acres to the west orchards."

"Oh, wow, Fluttershy," Twilight said, gasping. "That's a lot of land! Why did nopony tell me before?"

"Well, um, I guess we never really got the chance. I mean, I didn't want to talk about the farm in our letters..."

Twilight's brows furrowed together as cogs began to turn in her brain. Now she had an excuse. "You're gonna need all the help you can get if you're going to plant all those new acres and manage the ones you've already got," she noted.

"I suppose, but, um, the Hoofbrauhaus sent us on a, um, generous introductory payment," Fluttershy admitted, as if she had wanted to avoid telling Twilight this all along. "We're going to take on some hired hooves, and there are a couple of young ponies in the village who we already know would be interested in helping out. For payment, I mean. Some of the younger ones looking to travel..."

Twilight smiled. "It's good to hear the farm's doing so well."

"That it is," Applebloom cut in from the table, Twilight only then realising that her and Rarity had fallen silent some minutes ago.

They must have been listening, she deduced, not that that's a problem...

"I'm so glad to hear that the Apples are finally branching out of the Heartlands," Twilight continued, now speaking to the whole room. "I mean, you guys have orchards from Hockfall to Hornfort. It's great to start pushing new frontiers," she said with a grin.

"Darn straight it is," Applebloom said, grinning back, "we even got invites to their Hocktoberfest celebration next Autumn! Ah've never been nearly as far east as New Bridleburg," she added with a slight hint of longing.

"Sorry, darlin', but I already told ya that might be a no-can-do," AJ apologised as she stirred a pan of boiling carrots on the range. "It's more'n a week by train to New Bridleburg, an' the festival's in the middle a Harvest season. It's gonna be all hooves on deck if we're to make enough cider to keep the contract fer next year."

Twilight felt slightly uneasy at her friend's mild hypocrisy. The mare had told her younger sister that she couldn't take a three-week holiday when she herself was trying to ask her way onto a year-long expedition off the edge of the map - well, as far as AJ knew, it was a research trip and nothing more, but the point remained the same. Although I guess she hasn't told Applebloom that she wants to go yet, Twilight reasoned. She may just be keeping the facade up, in which case she's doing a really good job, considering that she's AJ. She smirked. Applejack's capability to lie was extraordinarily limited. A persistent Rarity could get anything out of her in fifteen minutes, Rainbow Dash in seven. Get Pinkie Pie on the case and it could only be a matter of seconds until the earth mare spilled the beans.

"Huh," muttered the mare in question, "looks like somepony's been up here this mornin'." Opening the window, she took a glance around, before sticking her head back in, trying not to let the cold follow. "Yeah, look. Hoofprints in the snow, comin' up to the mailbox."

"Was it the mailcolt?" Rarity asked, but Applejack shook her head.

"New mailcolt's another pegasus. He wouldn't'a walked all the way from the fence, if at all."

"Do you want me to go out and get the mail for you Applejack?" Twilight offered.

"Well, sure, but here's the thing, see - I already got all the letters and cards in this mornin', when we were makin' breakfast," the farmer explained. "This has gotta be from someone local who weren't doin' nothin' else today - but I can't think of nopony that'd walk all the way from town to deliver a letter on Hearth's Warmin' and not stop by to say howdy."

"Ah'll go look see if ya want, sis," Applebloom offered, but Twilight was already half way to the door, her horn lighting up as she called upon the Inner Glow spell to help her brave the Winter cold.

"Don't worry about it, Applebloom," said the unicorn, smiling at her younger friend. "If I go you don't have to go looking for a scarf or anything."

"Mah coat's right there on the rack!" Applebloom exclaimed, having not realised the purpose of Twilight's spell. "Boy, that filly sure has a crazy streak sometimes."

Outside, Twilight gave a little giggle as she easily repressed the cold. Pyrelight's spell was simple to cast, and yet inherently complex. Earlier warmth spells had simply reduced the body's ability to feel the cold, but had not protected it from the effects of the chill, causing mages to lets themselves freeze to illness or even death without realising what was going on. Pyrelight's version, however, worked by copying pegasus magic, warming the body internally when faced with all but the deepest cold snaps, leaving its caster comfortably warm even in the dead of Winter.

Trotting to the mailbox, relishing the sound of the crunching snow beneath her, she noticed that the prints leading away from it were of hooves much smaller than a pony's, and the imprints were cloven at the tip. She frowned as she realised that she knew of only one creature in town who could have delivered this. Opening the box, she found inside a folded note, made out not to Applejack or any of her family, but to Twilight herself. It was from Longhorn, she assumed. Using her magic to nullify the wind's attempts to pluck it away from her, her eyes rolled over the missive, a growing sense of disappointment began to pull at her as she read.

Dear Dr. Sparkle, it read,

It is with great regret that I admit I have been unable to pull out of any other arrangements to make time for you and your friends today. I did dearly wish to speak with you, and I know you felt the same, but unfortunately this was not the way things were to be. Hopefully we will meet again one day soon under less constrained circumstances.

May the fire burn always in your Hearth,

As it does for you in my Heart

Longhorn

Twilight sighed dejectedly, reading through the short note once more, before folding it gently.

Oh well, she thought. Hopefully there will be another time... Sighing again, she glanced around to the east, towards town, trying to see where the bard had come from. Expecting not to see anything but the familiar view of fields, her jaw dropped open when instead she saw a familiar pair of ponies walking down the snowbound road towards the farmhouse.

"Yoohoo, Twilight!" called the smaller of the two, rearing and waving, while her taller sister settled for a quiet wave and smile. Twitching nervously, Twilight stood stock still for a moment, panicking internally and looking back at the farmhouse for a moment before throwing caution to the wind and running to greet the newcomers with a joyful shout.

Applejack was about to get the most unexpected Hearth's Warming guests gracing her family's kitchen in all of Sweet Apple Acres' history.

"So we're gonna be raisin' a new barn out in the western fields," Applebloom was saying as Twilight slipped back into the kitchen, holding the door ajar with her magic for the moment. "All the cider-makin's gonna happen in there for the Hoofbrauhaus an' - uh, hey, Twi', you gonna shut the door, or...?"

"Um, one moment," Twilight replied nervously, turning to whisper in Pinkie's ear by the range. Nopony else heard what was said, so they could only guess that at what they were being let in for as a Pinkie's head snapped around to face the door, a massive grin slowly spreading across her muzzle. Said door was shortly after nudged open once more by a tentative indigo-blue hoof.

"Um, Twilight?" Princess Luna asked from the doorway. "Can we come in now?" Four more mouths fell open in much the same expression of shock that Twilight had worn mere moments ago as the night alicorn pushed walked cautiously into the Apple family home, her sister following her with somewhat greater confidence and a bemused smile.

"Well, shucks, uh-" Applejack started to mumble, but she was cut off by a high pitched squeal from the hallway, where Angel stood agape, her father's head sticking out comically above her as he looked to see what all the fuss was about.

"Princess!" the filly shrieked delightedly, galloping across the kitchen floor to Luna's silver-shod hooves where she stopped, blushing, and remembering her manners, curtsied. "Um, I mean, happy Hearth's Warming, your highness."

"You don't have to do that for me, kid," Luna replied, ruffling the filly's mane with a hoof. "We're friends, remember?" Angel only giggled at that. Turning her head to face Mac, the Princess greeted the landowner with a heartfelt, if archaic, scrap of verse. "My body feels the warmth of your fire upon my hide," she began, "but far greater is the heat of friendship now burning in my Heart." Macintosh merely stood and stared.

"Um, uh, happy Hearth's Warmin' to you too, Princess," AJ said, stepping in. "Princesses," she corrected herself as she remembered Celestia, who had not yet said anything, but had moved to sit by the sofa where Twilight had once again stationed herself. Although the Princess sat on the floor, the alicorn's massive form meant that only now were her and Twilight at roughly the same height thanks to the unicorn's raised position.

"And to you, dear Applejack," Celestia said serenely, "to all of you, a happy Hearth's Warming." She smiled around at them all, joy radiating from her like heat from the sun.

"I, uh, thanks, um, yer Highness," Applejack blustered, "but, uh, to what do we owe the pleasure? Um, ah, Ah mean, it's not that - I mean, Ah'm real pleased to see you an' all, but-"

Celestia shared a little smile with Twilight before interrupting. "Can I not spend Hearth's Warming with those close to me? I only wish that when we were here last year it were under happier circumstances."

"Ah, uh, I guess," AJ admitted, looking down at the floorboards. "I, uh..."

"Thank ya both fer comin' to the funeral," Big Mac finally managed to say. "I think Granny would... Will have liked that."

"Not at all," Princess Celestia said, a little sadly. "There is a little bit of business I need to conduct, though. Twilight, Rarity, would you come and show me where you want me to place your supplies? Then we can come back and - oh, what time are you planning to eat?"

"Pretty soon!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, but then frowned. "Uh, we only cooked for eight, though. Well, a big meal for eight. There's still enough for everypony if-"

"Oh! No!" Luna cut across, shouting happily. "Ha! I told you, 'Tia, I told you that this wasn't a bad idea!" Moving to the counter, she gestured at an empty space, glancing questioningly at AJ. The farmer, having no idea what the Princess intended, nodded uncertainly, and then blinked in surprise as a flash of deep-blue light engulfed the work-surface. When she opened her eyes, a deep, red earthenware pot had made itself present to the side of a glass dish filled with what looked like an incredibly moist chocolate pudding, at the sight of which Pinkie squealed with delight.

"There!" Luna giggled, "we contributed! Now there's enough for everypony!" All Applejack could do was stare as the Princess, normally so refined and distant, loosened up - in her kitchen of all places. At the dining table, Rarity gave her wineglass a thoughtful look before getting up to follow Princess Celestia and Twilight into the Winterscape outside.

"I did wonder when you thought we would have time to talk, Princess," Twilight was saying as they crossed the snowy farmyard to the barn. It was a big old structure, much the same as when it had been first built in Granny Smith's youth. Sturdy beams painted red and white created a cavernous shed in which the Apple family stored much of their crops, hay, and tools, although with the Acres' expansion they had put up additional storage so as not to have to trek all the way back to the farmhouse with every cartload of goods.

Celestia, walking slightly ahead of the other two, looked back to smile at her old student. "I'm hope you don't mind us imposing on you and your friends, Twilight," she said. "But please, though, this isn't an all-business visit - I've always said we needed to meet up at Hearth's Warming at some point, so why not take the chance now?"

"Why not indeed," Twilight agreed with a slight smile.

Raising a golden-shod hoof to push the barn door open, the Princess paused, as if expecting Twilight to say something further, but her former student merely pushed ahead, walking into the surprisingly warm interior and over to the space she and Applejack had made the night before. Rarity followed, skirting around the largest piles of loose hay that were scattered over the ground, and blushing self-consciously when she realised that the Princess herself felt free to walk straight through them.

"Now then," Princess Celestia said, "we should get this over with. I do not want to cast a pall over your holiday celebrations." Her horn glowed briefly, and the door swung gently shut. "Firstly, Applejack." Twilight nodded.

"What about Applejack?" Rarity asked, confused.

"She told me last night that she wanted to come along," Twilight explained, slightly uncomfortably. "She made her case quite well, but of course she doesn't know the true reason we're going. I think if she found out she'd change her mind, and try and stop us from going too."

"Those were my worries exactly," the Princess agreed, glancing back over at the door. "But you must admit that she may well be an asset if... Well, if the Knights catch wind of you."

"We shouldn't have any trouble with them, Princess," Twilight replied, uncertain as to why Celestia had brought the mysterious organisation up. "It was only because Rainbow was carrying the Element of Loyalty that they followed her at all."

"Yes," Celestia acknowledged, "but that is exactly the problem. I plan to send each of you with your respective Elements." Twilight began to gasp a protest, but the Princess cut her off. "You understand the nature of the Elements, Twilight, you sure know they would be of great assistance to you on your travels. Anyway, I trust that an experienced magic user such as yourself would be able to mask their trace more or less adequately."

"I... I guess," Twilight grumbled.

"Would somepony please explain to me just who these 'knights' are?" Rarity asked, now thoroughly lost. "I keep hearing you mention them but the details still elude me."

"Twilight will explain when you are on the train out of Canterlot," the Princess assured her. "I've arranged a special carriage for you on the Heartland Express. It's the one I send my advisors in when they travel east, and has been enchanted to protect its passengers' privacy. It should carry you all the way to Hockfall in the Fetlochs before you change trains there." She frowned momentarily. "I expect you both to go through our plans on the train, but I really must stress that you do not tarry in Hockfall. The Knights are rapidly gaining presence in the Fetlochs, but have not reached such prominence as to justify me taking action against them."

Rarity nodded, still confused, but allowing the Princess to continue. "From Hockfall, your next train will be to Oslokai in the north, where you'll be heading to maintain your guise as researchers. After that, Canterlot University has lent a research vessel to carry you all the way to Port Bridle."

"We're going by boat from Oslokai to Port Bridle?" Rarity asked, brow furrowing, "I heard it takes three months just to navigate the fjords to Clopenhagen."

"Oh," Ceslestia realised, smiling with amusement. "It's not a boat, it's an airship." Rarity gasped. "They use it to monitor the aurora and other atmospheric spectacles in the north. Again, it supports your cover story."

"Once we get to Port Bridle it's fairly simple," Twilight took over. "We're crossing to Mareakesh, and then going on hoof to Islamabay and Kabull, the same way that Rainbow travelled. Then it's out over the grasslands and into the Great Forest, and we're pretty much home dry."

"I've arranged for a guide to meet you in Mareakesh," Celestia informed them. "He will help you cross the deserts and fit in with the locals - just don't open the envelope with his details in until you get to the city. If something were to go wrong and you never crossed the Eastern Sea, the Knights could use you information to track him down. Their presence in Celagia has increased dramatically since Rainbow and her escorts eluded them." Rarity and Twilight both nodded, Twilight hming with approval.

"That's pretty much everything I wanted to talk about covered," Twilight said, looking up at the Princess, "is there anything else you wanted to discuss with us, Princess?"

"There is nothing more to plan," Celestia said, her smile growing wider and yet so much sadder, "but I feel like there is infinitely more to say. Twilight, I - both of you," she corrected herself, "I am so, so very proud of you. While I know you do not go unquestioningly, you have agreed to so much." Her voice fell to a near whisper. "So very much. It warms my heart to know that there are ponies who would do such a selfless thing that I have asked of each of you."

"And it feels like goodbye," she went on, tears starting to pool in her eyes before their timeless, knowing blues. Twilight gasped involuntarily and put a hoof to her mouth. "I don't truly think it is, but... But goodbye, both of you. Each of you has made me proud in the time I've known you. You... I think you are two of the ponies who best understand me. Not as a ruler, but as a person... Both of you, be strong for me," she begged. "Loss has become a great part of my existence, but I don't think I could bear it any longer if I knew it was my own fault."

"Oh, Princess!" Twilight cried, running over to her mentor's side, rearing up to hug her great neck as the alicorn started to sob gently. "Don't worry about us, when have we ever failed you before?" Rarity cautiously made her way over to stand by Celestia as well, sympathy plain on her face.

"We'll see you again, your Highness, one way or another," the indigo-maned mare added. "I promise this isn't goodbye."

Celestia sniffed, and, slowly, began to compose herself once more. "It always takes so long before a pony looks on me as a friend, and they must always go in the end," she said, regretfully. "The least I can do is make sure that when they go, they go prepared."

Turning to the space on the floor, the Princess readied her magic once more, her horn burning a bright, majestic gold. The barn had not been dark before, but the hornlight blasted the few shadows that lay in the corners from existence, if only for a moment. With a crack, two pairs of saddlebags materialised on the floor, alongside a small chest, and they collapsed into a small, tidy heap. Next to them, a larger wooden crate also landed, slightly battered, with 'fragile' written ironically on one side.

"In the crate there are notebooks, telescopes, arcanometers and the like. You won't have to worry about that one so much, I shall have them taken care of once you reach Canterlot," Celestia explained. Her voice still shook slightly, but she ploughed on regardless. "The chest contains your two Elements - they are relatively safe whilst in there, but I would hide them, Twilight. Mask their trace."

"Alright." Twilight pondered briefly. "Will Lady Mask's Netherspace work?"

"Yes," the Princess replied, her smile returning at her student's astute response. "That will adequately safeguard them. Knowing you, Twilight, you could probably make good use of that spell for many things, including - ah-"

Celestia flipped open one of the saddlebags. They were solid affairs, each made of a thick, brown pseudo-hide, but still with the cutie marks of the two unicorns on either side so as to identify them easily. With the three-diamond bag lying open, Celestia drew out two short, sharp objects, one polished and flat, the other curved, sparkling in the light. Rarity gasped.

"P-princess," she stammered, "is t-that...?"

Celestia rotated the conical latter object in her magic. "This is a hornblade, Rarity. It's made of crystal. It amplifies certain types of magic and has a sharper tip than your own horn. And this, of course, it just a normal dagger," she added, indicating the other tool. Rarity gulped, and Celestia picked up on it. "I'm only giving you these as a precaution, Rarity," she reassured her. "I should hope that you never have to-"

There was a thud, and the Princess started, dropping the two weapons into the hay. "Ah should hope she don't have to use them none neither," came a voice from the open door. Three heads snapped around, and there was Applejack, fury clear on her face. "Why in all Tartarus do ya think ya need to be armin' mah friends, huh, Princess?" she nearly spat.

Twilight glanced desperately at the Princess as Applejack walked resolutely over to them. Any hope of guidance was quashed as she realised that the Princess looked just as uneasy as she was sure she did, if not more - the slight tired redness around her eyes was clear from when she had wept slightly, and her smile had a nervous twitch to it.

"Merely... A precaution, little one, as I said," Celestia replied, unconvincingly. AJ wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, sure. Ah'm sure I'd want ta take a knife with me if I was goin' stargazin'," the orange earth pony snarled, glaring daggers at the solar alicorn. Twilight noticed a change in the Princess' expression after the accusation. Finally dropping her false smile, the alicorn tried to take control once more.

"Maybe not," she intoned in a low, threatening, but yet unsteady voice, "but these ponies are going north and east for me, Miss Applejack. They are leaving the Heartland, do you understand that? It will hardly be comfortable for them before too long. They are dear to me and I would not see them go unprotected."

"Is Rainbow Dash dead?"

A sudden, shocked silence pervaded in the barn as everypony turned to stare at AJ. Rarity gasped at the unexpected question, and even the Princess was lost for words for a moment.

"No, AJ," Twilight started, desperately, "she isn't, she's fine, in fact, we-"

"We're going to find her!" Rarity blurted out, before snapping her forehooves over her mouth and sitting down heavily when she realised what she had done.

"Oh. Right," Applejack said slowly. "Research trip."

"I believe you wanted to go," Celestia said, equally slowly, the anger in her voice diminished but still clearly present. "Does this change that?"

"Wha- well, no, o'course not! If yer goin' ta find Rainbow, then ya can count on me comin'!"

Celestia frowned. "Even if I think it dangerous enough to merit arming those I have chosen to send."

Applejack paused for a moment, unsure. "Well... Maybe Rarity should stay-"

"It's too late," the Princess snapped, "she knows too much. And so do you, now."

"But ya barely told me anythin' yet!"

"No, I didn't," said Celestia, shaking her head. The rippling waves of light that made up her mane swirled in their curious flow with the motion. "But already you know enough to put you and your friends in danger should anypony connect you to this. You will go, and you will swear to me that you will not tell your family that you are going to find Rainbow Dash. If you do break my trust, you can stay in the Heartland instead, in a safe-house in Canterlot in case anypony decides to track you down. Do you understand?"

Applejack gulped as she realised that the situation was more serious than she had first thought. "Um - it does seem mighty unfair to leave P-pinkie and Fluttershy out of the loop..." she said, cautiously.

"I don't really think they'd be up for the journey we've got planned," Twilight said, calmly. "I don't like lying to them either, AJ, I didn't want to lie to you, but this is something that's got to be done. I'll tell you everything on the train - that is, if you decide to-"

"There will be no deciding, I thought I made that clear," the Princess insisted. "She will go with you, and she shall not interfere with your plans. It is a choice between that, moving to Canterlot for the year, or me wiping her memory with magic which is something I swore never to do again." The room fell uncomfortably quiet.

Celestia sighed with disappointment, softening. "I'm sorry, Twilight," she said, quietly. "I said I wouldn't ruin your Hearth's Warming..."

"It's fine," Twilight mumbled, voice devoid of emotion. My last Hearth's Warming in Ponyville and AJ's arguing with the Princess, of all ponies...

"I'm mighty sorry, y'all," AJ said, breaking the new silence. "Ah... I guess I didn't know what Ah was gettin' mahself into. I'll keep quiet to the others. I promise."

"Alright," Celestia said quietly. "Thank you." She frowned a moment later. "I will admit though, I am surprised that you were listening. What was the first thing you heard?"

"First thing?" AJ asked, confused. She thought for a moment, tapping a hoof against her chin, and then answered, "you were sayin' about the research gear. I guess it's the stuff in that big ol' box, right?"

"Right. Yes, alright," Celestia confirmed, relieved that the farmer hadn't heard her breaking down. "It's just that I asked Luna to make sure nopony intruded on us. I expected our privacy to be respected... Why did you choose to listen, Applejack? I have always known you to be a... A understanding and integral young lady. I - not that this changes my opinion of you, only..." She tailed off, unable to finish the lie. She couldn't rightfully say that she still trusted Applejack fully. Now she would merely have to hope that the earth mare would begin to act respectfully once more. Although to be fair, she reminded herself, I did just burst in on their family holiday. Perhaps a little suspicion is warranted...

"Ah'm sorry, Princess," AJ mumbled, genuinely, "Ah just... Twi' knows what this means to me, the chance a goin' away fer once... I got a lil' desperate, Ah think. An' when yer sister - uh, I mean, Princess Luna, she had her eye on the door after ya stepped out, real suspect-like. I was worried ya might have bin' talkin' about me," she mumbled, apologetically, gazing down at her hooves. "Ah'm real sorry, but Ah just had to know what you were sayin'. This means a lot to me, Princess."

"I see," the Princess said, nodding gently, understandingly. "Yes, Twilight conveyed your concerns to me in her letter. I thought it very brave of you to show her your honest feelings. If it were any other thing I would have come straight to talk to you, I truly would, but this is... Different. I hope you will see why in due course," she half-pleaded, half-asserted, her need to control the situation warring with her desire not to make things any tenser than they already were. "Now, if you don't mind my asking... You said Luna got distracted?"

"Well, uh... I think you'd understand best if Ah just showed ya," Applejack said with a wink and a grin. "Should put a smile back on all yer faces. If yer done in here, that is?" She asked. The Princess nodded with bemusement, and the farmer turned, walking out of the barn with Rarity following curiously along.

"Shall we?" Celestia asked Twilight, gesturing towards the open portal. Twilight stood still for a moment, concern still etched on her face. "Twilight?"

"Oh," the unicorn said, shaking her head a little as she focused once more. "Um, sure. I mean... I was just thinking that - that if-" Celestia motioned her on with a hoof. "If she offers to take up the Gate as well, I'm going to leave her in Oslokai," she grumbled. "I'm not arguing that out between the three of us." Celestia couldn't help but laugh gently.

"Um, Princess," Twilight continued as they crossed the farmyard once more, the snow covering the path from the barn to the house now despoiled with multiple hoofprints, "did you give me any, um... Weapons," she managed, fumbling over the word, "or just Rarity?"

"Ah," Celestia said with a conspiratorial wink, "that would be telling." And she pushed the door to the kitchen open, the sounds of music spilling out into the farmyard as two instruments wove a playfully fast duet. Angel's gleeful laughter could just be heard over the top.

Stepping in, Twilight grinned as she realised what had distracted Luna. Big Mac was sat in front of the fireplace, his father's banjo slung around his neck as he plucked away at speeds the boggled even Twilight's scientific mind. On the sofa, with Angel grinning at her side, was the night princess herself, sat with a guitar and grinning desperately as she tried to match the farmer for rhythm and style. Eventually, the her frenzied strumming stopped as she gasped, panting, but Mac had no intention of giving up now. He may have proven himself the better player, but like any true musician, he was set on finishing his piece.

"Wow," Princess Luna huffed, "that's quite something." Celestia's face was beaming widely, any annoyance at her sister's negligence wiped away by Luna and Mac's performance. Pinkie was dancing an excitable, slightly out-of-time jig in the open area behind the sofa, having dragged Fluttershy along with her. The pegasus, normally incredibly self-conscious whilst dancing, had seemed completely comfortable, until the others came back inside and she realised she was being watched once more. She slipped away from Pinkie, blushing, but the giddy earth pony didn't stop. She continued to leap and spin, rearing onto her back hooves before losing her balance and tumbling into a giggling heap in the hall. Applebloom sat all the while, grinning from the dining table where she sat with a flagon of cider and a bowl of dried fruit.

Mac finished with a flourish, staring down at his instrument for a moment before grinning unabashedly at the Princess on his sofa. "That was some mighty fine playin' there, your Highness," he said, slightly out of breath.

"Not nearly as good as yours," Luna noted jovially.

"Heh," the draftpony laughed, before glancing back down at his beloved banjo. "Mah Daddy taught me to play on this when I was just a little colt. Now I'm gonna pass that learnin' on to my beautiful girl." He smiled, and Angel blushed, looking up at the Princess beside her with mild embarrassment.

"That was wonderful, sister," Celestia said quietly, coming to stand behind her sibling. "I'm so glad you chose to pick your music up again after you came back to us. And Mac, that was very impressive," she went on, grinning. "In a way I envy the earth ponies who are so skilled with their crafts, they put the rest of us to shame when they match or better us with not nearly the same magic."

Mac's grin widened at that. "Well, Ah appreciate that an' all, yer Highness, but there's still a little magic in it," he said, "in the hooves. Couldn't play none of them chords without it."

"I suppose there so," Celestia agreed.

"Dinner'll be ready in twenty, y'all," AJ called from the range, having just checked on the marrow. "Uh - Princess - I don't suppose ya would - um -"

"Oh," Celestia interjected, quickly realising what the farmer would be getting at. "Yes, everypony, I think I should tell you this myself, because from what I gathered, Miss Applejack didn't... Ah, that is to say, I have asked Miss Applejack if she would accompany Twilight and Rarity on their journey to Ce - to survey the night skies. She said yes."

Luna frowned slightly at this, and the faces of the other ponies noticeably fell. "AJ... Why?" Mac said slowly, uncertainly, hurt beginning to show in his eyes.

"Well, ya know," Applejack said off-hoofedly. "Somepony's gotta make sure these two don't git themselves into no trouble. Ah bin worried sick jus' thinkin' about it. When, uh, when her Highness here asked me to go along, I couldn't say no."

"Aw, AJ!" Pinkie squealed, "that's so awesome of you! I mean, you're totally right, I should go as well-" Twilight Sparkle, unnoticed by anypony, gasped at this, "-but they really need me back at the hospice. A couple of carers left last year so they're kinda understaffed."

"Oh, yes," Fluttershy agreed, nodding. "And I suppose the farm will need the help this year... We should be able to get by if we take on another farmhoof, but I'm afraid I'll have to stay behind to... Make sure everything's running smoothly. Um," she added, blushing at her husband, "not that you wouldn't be able to do that yourself, dear, of course, it's just that-"

"Aw, shush, Flutters'," Mac said softly. "We all know you got the better head for numbers around here." Fluttershy's blush intensified, but it was accompanied by a delighted smile. Out of the corner of her eye, Rarity glimpsed Twilight's relieved slump.

"I also... We also have a little something for each of you," Celestia said, smiling, mainly with relief after the potentially volatile situation had been easily defused. "It felt only right, given that... Well, it's Hearth's Warming. Do I really need an excuse to give you a gift, even if I am a Princess?" She chuckled.

"Aw, but I didn't get either of you anything!" Pinkie said with a strange kind of excited sadness, an odd manner of speaking that she adopted when she was disappointed, but not truly upset.

"Don't worry about it, Pinkie," Princess Luna told her, the royal grinning cheekily in a way that would almost never be seen in court. "We don't want for much back up at the Palace, do we, sis?"

"A present doesn't have to be a thing, though," Pinkie insisted. "It can be a different kind of thing, like, uh, a card! I could've got you a card, to remember today by!"

"Oh, somehow I don't think I'll be forgetting this Hearth's Warming anytime soon," Celestia said, flashing Twilight a knowing smile.

"As I was saying to Twilight and Rarity outside before, you are some of the few ponies who I feel truly know me and my sister," the Sun Princess explained. "I could think of no-one else I would rather spend Hearth's Warming with, right now - I don't think we've ever had the pleasure of spending the holidays with you before, even though each of you mean so much to both of us."

There was a pause as the smaller ponies in the room took this in. At varying paces, their faces lifted - Twilight quickly burst into a proud grin as she was reminded again by the Princess that she was important to her. Fluttershy smiled quickly, but then blushed and looked down at the floorboards. Big Mac frowned, before comprehension spread slowly across his features and his gaze, fixated on the solar alicorn before him, went from confused to awestruck.

The moment was interrupted by a flash of deep-blue light, and Celestia gave an uncharacteristic yelp as an assortment of objects scattered themselves around their hooves. The Princess turned a half-hearted frown on her sister, who responded with a grin, motioning with a hoof as if to say get on with it!

"Oh, ah, so," Celestia mumbled, trying to maintain her regal assertiveness but failing noticeably, "I- With Twilight's help, I picked out something for each of you, to thank you for all you have done for me and my sister over the years, for... Um-" She stared down at the objects scattered around her with mild annoyance. "You didn't wrap them, Luna," she complained.

"Half of them are already in boxes," Luna griped back. "And the only wrapping paper I could find was that roll with the pink hearts Cadence left behind. You didn't want to have to-"

"There are plenty of shops in Canterlot that sell - oh, nevermind," Celestia grumbled. "I suppose it doesn't matter in the end - let's see... Ah," she decided, floating up a white, hooded garment in her magic. "Rarity, this is for you," she said, hovering it in front of the unicorn, who took it in her own magic, looking over it with a grateful smile. "While I provided travelling cloaks for you and Twilight from our research budget, I know that form is something you consider very important. This is from me personally, and I hope it will be of service to you in your travels."

Rarity gazed down at the hem of the cloak, where her three-diamond insignia was emblazoned on either side. "Why," she gasped, "thank you ever so much, Princess, this is... This is truly something beautiful. The stitching is perfect, I can barely tell that it's not just one piece of cloth. And so warm... Thank you," she said again, containing her inner seamstress, "I shall certainly be thinking of each of you when I wear this, I - thank you."

The two sisters shared a glance then, Celestia smiling happily at the acknowledgement, Luna grinning at Rarity's blustered acceptance.

"Macintosh," Celestia continued, "I will admit that maybe I do not know you as well as your friends, but I have enjoyed those few times that we have shared. I am sorry that the last time we met was in grief, though grief itself is well-known to me. It warms my heart that you and yours welcomed me in your sorrow." Big Mac mumbled something about his sister and looked away, but Celestia continued regardless.

"I was not sure what I could give you that would seem meaningful, but I think my faithful student here was quite happy with her solution." Twilight blushed at that. "I - we - well, mainly my sister and Twilight, they went down into the royal cellars and... After significant tasting, I believe, they found a vintage they think you would appreciate. A fine wine, gifted to me in 980 by an Itailian noble." The Princess turned her eye to her ever-grinning sister, whilst Twilight's blush deepened at Rarity's amused glance her way. "It is not here right now, I doubt the barrel would fit comfortably into the kitchen. I will deliver it later."

"B-barrel...?" Big Mac quietly asked, astonished. "Princess, Ah... I'd happily accept a bottle-"

"Nonsense," Princess Luna insisted, "I refuse to see it wasted on Canterlot's politicians. You can keep the firkin when you're done with it," she added. "As far as casks go, it's quite the work of art. And believe me, I know my wine casks." She grinned again, and Mac blinked and looked away, thoroughly disconcerted by the Princess' openness. Celestia busied herself with rubbing at the gemstone in her peytral.

Luna took her sister's silence as a nod for her to continue. "Miss Applejack," the Princess of the Night said, standing and striding over to Celestia's side, Little Angel leaping down at following at her hooves, "this is for you." She levitated a polished wooden box from the floor, bound shut with a brass clasp and with three apples carved onto it's lid. Luna opened it to reveal a padded case holding a beautifully crafted hatchet, its handle made of the same wood as the box and equally as well-shined, its head made of gleaming steel and with AJ's name carved onto the top of the shaft. Two leather straps towards the base of the handle allowed for it to be bound onto a pony's foreleg, and a thick rubber pad between them accommodated space for it to be taken in the mouth without damaging the wood. Everypony who could see it gasped, while Angel jumped up, trying to catch a glimpse. Taking the box in her hooves, Applejack placed the hatchet on the counter, and then allowed her niece to clamber onto her back for a better look.

"Well, Ah'll be," she said, quietly. "That's sure somethin' right there."

"We didn't know you would be travelling with Twilight and Rarity when we had it commissioned," Luna admitted, "but if you were to choose to take it, I am sure you would find use for it." AJ nodded slowly. "The handle is made from mahogany wood, from across the Eastern Sea."

"Woah," Applejack breathed. "I... I appreciate this, yer Highnesses. That's somethin' special right there, that is. Thanks," she added, and made as if to bow, but Luna's hoof pushed her back upright.

"You don't need to do that," the Princess admonished. Applejack met her gaze, expecting anger or at least annoyance, but only found an amused grin on Luna's face. "We're not in court today, are we?"

"No, Princess," AJ admitted.

"Then call me Luna, OK?" the dusk-blue alicorn insisted, smiling still. "I'm not here as your Princess today, nor is 'Tia. Well, mostly. Oh, that goes for all of you, OK?" she added to the rest of the room, pointing down at Angel and staring until the filly giggled and looked away. Looking back up, Luna's grin was wider than ever.

"I got something for you too, kid," the Princess continued. The third item rose up from the floor, a thick book, bound in faux-leather. "Dr. Twilight told me you liked to read."

"Uh, yeah," Angel admitted, shuffling nervously. "But, that looks like... Uh..."

"It's certainly a big book," the Princess told her, "but it's not quite what it looks like. Come on, let me show you." She walked over to the table, sitting herself down opposite Applebloom. The tome landed heavily on the table, and Angel squeaked, causing Luna to smile once more. With her magic, she gently opened the book, flipping through the first few blank pages until she came to a title. "Here," she said, putting her hoof to the words. "What does that say?"

"Eq..." Angel tried, straining her eyes at the page. "Equestria Tales from... From Times Gone By?"

"Equestrian tales," Twilight corrected impulsively from the kitchen.

"Wow," Angel said quietly, looking at the book's thick sides. "Mr. Times sure did write a lot..."

Luna stifled a giggle. "Times gone by isn't the name of the author," she told the filly, gently. "That's when the stories are from. This is a collection of folk tales from before I left Equestria," she explained. "Over a thousand years ago." Angel gaped at her.

"Wow," repeated the filly, voice awed. "Would you read some of them to me?"

"I - sure," the Princess agreed with a delighted smile. "Maybe after dinner."

"Speakin' of which, Pri- uh, Luna," Applejack cut in, "what's in that there pot of yours? I can heat it up if ya want."

"That would probably be for the best," Princess Celestia told her. "I think you said it was a... Carrot and potato stew, sister?"

"Mainly," Luna confirmed, "but there's a bit of everything in there. Well, vegetable-wise."

"That sounds delicious, your Highness," said Rarity, "Do you, ah, I'm not sure how to put this... Do you cook much?"

"I used to, back in the day," the Night Princess answered, nodding, "but now the kitchens are a... Far more industrial affair. It's almost always far too busy for me to go in there." She cracked a smile as her story continued. "After the staff left last night I went inside and just took what I could from the stores. 'Tia told me that... She thought you'd have already eaten by the time we got here, I didn't think we were expecting to be sharing your Hearth's Warming dinner with you - for which I am very grateful," she continued, suddenly feeling slightly awkward. "After all, we are, ah, imposing on you, I suppose. This wasn't a... Well, it was a last-minute idea, I'll admit."

"Not a problem, yer Highness - Ah, uh, Ah mean, Luna, um, Princess, I, uh," Applebloom stuttered, her attempt at nonchalance falling apart rapidly. "Shucks, I don't think Ah can jus'... I can't stop tryin' to call you yer Highness, uh-"

The laughter of the two alicorns mingled with Twilight's, cutting the younger earth mare off. "Hey, what did Ah say wrong?" Applebloom asked, confused.

"Oh, it's... It's, ah hah hah hah!" Celestia chortled. "It's not, ah hah, not you, I-" But before she could finish, she broke off into pure, unbridled laughter.

Those unaffected by the unknown joke stood in quiet, helpless confusion, sharing mystified asides as tears of mirth began to run down Twilight Sparkle's face. Princess Luna, recovering first, finally managed to explain the source of their hilarity.

"Young one, you remind, I think, all three of us of Twilight when she was younger," gasped the younger Princess. "Not long after she came back to Canterlot my sister told her she was welcome to call her by her name... She was in the Castle a lot then, you see, and she just couldn't do it." She smirked. "At all. It was rather amusing to see her flounder about even when only trying to greet us."

"Breaking the habit of a lifetime does tend to take some getting used to," Rarity added from the kitchen. She had slipped into the white travelling cloak, her forelegs wrapped in its sleeves and the hood hanging behind her neck. "This is remarkably comfortable," she said, appreciatively. "I wonder if there would be a market for such garments?" She cast a questioning look at the white Princess, who was just starting to pull herself together.

"Perhaps when you return I can help you on that front," Celestia offered, when she finally recovered. "I still have a few things to... Hm, this one is fairly self-explanatory," she mused to nopony in particular, pulling up another box. It seemed to be carved from the same wood as that of Applejack's new hatchet's handle, with a pair of similar brass clasps holding it shut. A swinging handle on the top had another protective rubber bite-grip, and another mark was carved onto its front - a saw layered not-quite-horizontally over an apple. Applebloom gasped as it she noticed the emblem.

"This is for you, young one," Celestia said, placing the toolbox gently on the table in front of Angel's new book. "A true artisan seeks beauty in every aspect of their craft. We thought this would be a good addition to your collection," she explained, with a twinkle in her eye. "Or at least, somewhere to put it."

"Oh, gosh, Princess," Applebloom breathed. "T-that's... Y'didn't have ta... Ah mean, I know mah sis' an' Twilight an' everypony have done a lot for ya, uh, with ya, um... But ya really shouldn't a..." Her voice trailed off, the tell-tale glint of a teardrop forming in one eye. "It's beautiful..."

"I remembered the letter your sister sent me of the day you received your mark," the white alicorn went on quietly as the red-maned mare tried to hold herself in, but Applebloom was clearly deeply touched by Celestia's gift. "She said you were scared that your family might not appreciate you for who you were. We may not have met much before, but your story resonated deeply with me."

"And I," Luna added, "I think we can both relate to it, after a fashion."

"Be who you are, little one," Celestia said, smiling, "that was what I wanted to say when I first read that letter. But I think we see now that there was never anything to fear, was there?"

"No," Applebloom replied, lifting her head to face the Princess. She was now crying unashamedly but a smile as wide as the Princess' graced her features. "I guess there wasn't."

"Speaking of letters, I thought a simple gift for a great heart would be appropriate." Celestia brought forth a second book. This one was slightly thinner, but more intricately covered, a familiar circular emblem gracing its front, five gemstones making up five points around the edges with a sixth emblazoned in the centre. "Miss Fluttershy, Twilight told me that you are contented with life. That there is very little you wish for beyond the continuing love of your friends and family. This, then, should hopefully help you remember that which you shared in the past."

Fluttershy took the book in her forehooves, sitting down for balance. "The Magic of Friendship and all it Brings," she whispered, reverently. "Volume One. This is... I think this is..."

"Open it," was the Princess' only reply, with a small smile and a twinkle in her eye. Nodding, the slight pegasus turned through to the first entry, skipping the foreword, and took in a surprised breath.

'Dear Princess Celestia,' it read. Flipping the page to the next letter, she found it started in much the same fashion, as did the next, and the next, and the one after that... Each and every one of her and her friends' letters to the Princess had been reproduced, printed in perfect copies of Spike's well-trained clawwriting. Every one of their thoughts on kindness and friendship were now there in her hooves, a collection of memories. She gently closed the book, and pulled it close to her chest.

"It's perfect, your Highness... Um... Celestia," she said, hesitantly but thankfully. "I couldn't have asked for anything better."

"Volume One?" Mac asked inquisitively from over his wife's shoulder.

"More in hope that I will ever be able to compile a second selection," Celestia said, her voice full of her natural calm amusement. "Not because we are ready to do so."

"Uh, not to ruin the moment gals, uh, yer Highnesses, but, uh, would ya mind just givin' me a little bit a space?" Celestia turned to see Applejack standing at the counter beside her, loaded a tray with crockery and cutlery. "Grub's nearly - I mean, food's nearly ready."

"Of course - actually, let me get that for you," Celestia offered, floating the tray over to rest on the cluttered table. Applejack watched, eyes nervously widening as her grandmother's beloved china sailed through the air, but Celestia's control was perfect and the tray's contents set themselves down without a hitch. "Do you need any help with anything more?"

"Uh, Ah think Ah've got it from here. Thanks Prin- uh, Celestia," Applejack said, nodding her slightly shaken thanks as she bustled past. "AB, would ya gimme a hoof with this mess?" she said, starting to take objects in hoof or jaw and clearing room for the plates. Applebloom, who had been inspecting the inside of the wooden toolbox, nodded, shutting the Princesses' gift without taking her eyes off it, and putting it to one side.

Meanwhile, Celestia had readied what appeared to be the final gift, the smallest one of all. It was a single framed photo, a group shot taken after a wedding. She passed it to Pinkie, who took it gently and looked upon the image held behind the glass. There stood ten ponies, herself and her friends alongside the three Princesses, with Cadence and Shining Armor on their wedding day. All of them looked a little worse for the wear, except for Princess Luna, who stood smiling benevolently on the left side of the frame. The moon hung more or less directly above her in the night sky, as the group stood on the marble terrace in the palace gardens, the towers of the city of Canterlot just peeking into view in the distance behind them.

"You were right, Pinkie," Celestia said, "sometimes memories are more important than mere tokens, and Twilight tells me you often care more for the happiness of other ponies than your own. But we thought we should go further than granting you a simple token, and decided on something that we should have chosen to do a long time ago. My sister and I have made a donation from our own funds to the Helping Hooves Hospice, which we shall be making annually." Pinkie gasped, smiling. "I hear your organisation has been struggling a little over the past few years."

"Oh my goodness, yes, Celestia, it has!" Pinkie replied giddily, having no qualms with calling the Princess by her name, unlike her friends. "Thank you so much!" Her chatter slowed down as she continued. "Everything went downhill after Mr. Freely's manor burnt down at Pitsburgh..."

"Ah," Celestia said quietly, nodding, "yes. Sir Freely was a noble and generous soul. I miss him greatly..." With a little shake of her great head, she brought herself back into the present. "And, while I can make no promises, I will try and arrange for me and my sister to make a visit at some point in the near future, but keep a wary eye out," she cautioned, "I don't like the press knowing when I make these trips. They come running in their packs and make the whole affair much more impersonal. We may just arrive on your doorstep again." She grinned.

"That looks like it!" Luna exclaimed, clapping her hooves together, her glinting slippers colliding with a moderate ting! "I think we are nearly ready to eat, as well!" she added, joyfully, as AJ opened the oven and the sweet smell of the stuffed marrow filtered out into the kitchen.

"Not quite, sister, and you know it," Celestia responded lovingly. "I have one last gift, for my most faithful student." She turned her smile onto Twilight who stood beside her, grinning bashfully.

"Two years ago, as you all know, Dr. Sparkle here-" Twilight blushed at that "-was honoured with the title of Mage by the Royal Arcanists' Committee. She resisted my attempts to arrange a formal ceremony, and insisted that it be a quieter affair. She dearly wished for you all to be in attendance. So then," she said, a long, white, wooden box appearing before them all in a flash of golden light. "Twilight?"

Still meekly grinning, Twilight came to stand before her mentor and the box. With her magic, Celestia opened it out to reveal a long, wooden Mage's staff, its length smooth and unblemished, until reaching the crooked top where a jagged curve looped round in a sickle-like shape with jagged edges. A multi-faceted, imperfectly shaped amethyst was housed within the crook, though at no point did the gemstone touch the sides. Instead it floated, spinning lazily on an invisible axis. Wondered noises filled the kitchen as Celestia levitated it out to float it in front of Twilight's eyes.

"Twilight Sparkle, it is my honour as Princess of Equestria, to bestow on you, for your contributions to peace and knowledge, the title of Magus and all the rights that come with it. Take up your staff and wield it only for the sake of the realm and the strength of your cause."

Tentatively, a hint of purple intruded on the golden light encircling the staff. Slowly at first, but then more steadily, Twilight took it from Celestia's magical grasp and held it in her own, rotating it every which way and looking adoringly over every angle. Suddenly, her eyes snapped forward to Celestia, and she dropped her head to the floor in a bow before the Princess could stop her. Luna giggled.

"Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia said gently, "you know you do not have to honour me as such." Twilight rose quickly and instead threw herself against her old teacher, nuzzling against her side lovingly as the Princess returned her embrace.

"That was perfect, Princess," she whispered. "Just the way I hoped it would be." She pulled away, and gazed up into the white alicorn's eyes and at the streams of light that rippled out behind them. "Thank you." Twilight's eyes misted over a little as just how much this meant to her hit home. Recognition for her years of diligent study and practice, honoured not with a formal affair at Harmony Hall, in the great Arcane Chamber, surrounded by hundreds of academics and dignitaries, but in a place she could almost call home, with only those closest to her standing by. Blushing, Twilight turned her gaze to the floor as a happy teardrop escaped, leaving a dark streak down her muzzle as it fell to the floor.

"And that," Celestia said, happily, "is that." She watched Twilight with interest and the now formally-recognised mage couldn't not meet her gaze as she looked up once more. The diarch's bemused smile forced Twilight to crack one of her own, and the alicorn walked forwards, stretching out a wing to embrace her student once more. "I know you didn't want to be the centre of attention, Twilight, but I just have to remind you how proud I am of you. Whatever you choose to do, I want you to know that you will always have my support, and my thanks for carrying on despite all I have put you through."

"I... It's fine Princess," Twilight said, picking up on the veiled apology, "you did what you had to do."

By the counter, Rarity frowned. What did Celestia put Twilight through that we weren't privy to? she wondered. Maybe something after she returned to Canterlot, or perhaps as a student. Of course, it could be something old, they've clearly reconciled... Her musings, however, were abruptly interrupted by the crash of cutlery that accompanied AJ's placing of Luna's heavy pot on the dining table. She lifted the lid, and the room was filled with the fragrance of thick onion gravy.

"Now that is what I call a stew," the farmer appreciatively told the room. "Come on, y'all, take a pew. Might be a bit of a squeeze," she said, looking round with mild embarrassment at the two Princesses. "Uh, sorry, yer Highnesses," she apologised, "we're not really used ta feedin' so many at once."

"Oh, I'm sure we can all fit round," Celestia said, smiling and unworried. "If me and my sister sit around by the window, and Macintosh opposite me..." Twilight giggled a little as she watched her mentor shepherd her friends into a workable arrangement. She ended up sat herself at the head of the table, with Angel between her and Princess Luna on her left, and Rarity on her right. AJ sat at the opposite end of the table next to Mac, both of them ready to play host and fetch drinks or anything else that might be called for. There was an awkward silence for a moment once everypony had taken their place, in which no-one was quite sure what they were supposed to do.

"Uh," AJ ventured, but left it at that, not quite knowing what she had planned to say.

"Well," Celestia attempted in her stead, "I'm afraid I don't really know how things are done these days. It's been a long time since I shared a traditional Hearth's Warming dinner," she admitted with an unimposing smile. "Should somepony carve the roast, or...?"

"Uh, normally we'd say grace," AJ told her cautiously, "but, uh, Twilight says you wouldn't think much a that, an' especially since yer here an' all..."

"You mean to say you thank 'Tia for your Hearth's Warming?" Luna asked, incredulously.

"Well, both of ya, as a matter a fact," Applejack went on, growing steadily more and more uncomfortable, "but I guess under t' circumstances it don't... Quite seem appropriate."

Luna giggled. "I thought you weaned ponies off that kind of thing, 'Tia," she teased her sister.

"I did, Luna, we did together," a bashful Celestia reminded her, "but in your absence it was so much harder to keep quite everything together, and the tradition crept back into the Heartlands."

"You shouldn't thank either of us for your meals," Luna said with mild, amused reproach. "Thank yourselves who cooked them and the farmers who grew you the food."

"Well, then, I guess Ah oughta thank you, at least, Luna, 'cause you did cook," AJ joked. Luna smiled, pleased with the complement.

"I remember an old grace that we taught the Heartlanders back in my day," the dusky Princess told her. "I can say that one for you, if it pleases you," she offered.

"Ah think that'd work nicely," Applejack accepted. Eyes turned to Luna as she recited the ancient lines of gratitude.

For the crops we eat that earth has grown,

For the ones before whose seed was sown,

To the harvesters with names unknown,

We thank thee,

For the fire hot and flames ablaze,

For the food cooked in that boiling haze,

To the friends with whom we share our days,

We thank thee.

"I will always be proud of your ability to recall verse, Luna," Celestia praised her sister. "I am always ashamed to be called a figure from the past when I can barely remember that which made it different." She looked around at the expectant faces at the dining table. "Now then," she said, gesturing to the steaming roast marrow, "shall we eat?"

Rarity fell back on the sofa, and could have almost sworn it sagged more with her individual weight than it did with that of two ponies, even when one of them was Big Mac. In Canterlot, it would have been seen as quite unseemly for one to have eaten quite so much in a single sitting, but the alabaster unicorn cared little for such opinions any more. And a good thing too, she noted to herself, otherwise I would have been mortified by my own display of gluttony. Although there was a little of everything left over, so I can hardly say I wasn't being generous...

She turned her gaze to the table, where Pinkie, Twilight, and Luna still sat, the earth mare spooning through her third bowl of Luna's chocolate pudding whilst the Princess herself lay asleep with her mane dipped into her second. Twilight, sat beside her, giggled in mildly intoxicated amusement as a globule of chocolate sauce soaked into the royal's mane, and seemingly fell away into its mysterious cosmos, lost amongst the stars.

I wonder what my mane would look like as an alicorn, Twilight mused, before mentally berating herself. Going down that path of thought was not appropriate today. She turned her gaze to Celestia, who stood talking with Fluttershy and Mac by the range. Over the course of dinner, her friends had finally got used to the idea of having the Princesses in their home and had opened up to them, chatting amiably about their lives, the farm and Ponyville, with Pinkie adding in tales from Manehatten and the hospice. In return, they were regaled with stories of Palace life and the various gaffes that Celestia had witnessed during the Modernist Party's leadership race.

Twilight gazed on in interest as Celestia pulled a pocket watch from thin air, excusing herself as she flipped it open and frowned at the display, then glanced out of the window at the lengthening shadows. "Oh dear," she muttered, "look at the time."

"What is it, Celestia?" Fluttershy asked, worried, "do you need to leave soon?"

"Oh, no," Celestia replied, smiling benevolently, "I'm fine for as long as you are." She gestured to where Luna lay with her head against the table. "I'm just concerned that my sister will need rousing in the next few minutes to perform her... Her duties."

"You mean raising the moon, don't you?" a voice from around Celestia's knees asked.

"Yes, little pony," the Princess replied with a quiet laugh, "yes, I do. Twilight, would you...?"

"Sure thing, your Highness," the mage responded, before summoning her new staff from the corner and tapping its butt against Luna's side.

"Whuh...?" the Moon Princess muttered, confused, as she looked up from the table to see Twilight burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles.

"It's dusk, dear sister." Luna's head snapped around the other way to see Celestia standing by the door, about to open it. "Time for you to weave your magic."

"Uhn," Luna groaned, laying her head back down, "give me two minutes..."

"It's Hearth's Warming, Luna," Celestia reminded her playfully, "I'm sure that there are many ponies waiting on this particular moonrise."

"Fine," the alicorn grumbled, heaving herself to her feet. "Anypony who wants to watch is welcome."

"You should all see this," Twilight stage-whispered as Luna exited through the doorway and into the frigid outside air. Celestia's multihued tail ahead of her, Twilight followed the alicorns into the farmyard with Angel prancing along behind her, Fluttershy chasing her daughter with a hat and scarf. Pinkie wolfed down the remainder of her desert and walked out alongside a bemused Big Mac and excited Applebloom. Rarity debated the situation for a moment, before heaving herself up and summoning her brand new travelling cloak from a hook by the door. Applejack, finding herself alone, tried to convince herself that she would rather stay in the toasty kitchen than deal with the worst of the biting draught that blew in through the open portal, but sighed, realising that it simply wasn't true, and trotted reluctantly to join her family and friends in front of the farmhouse.

The cold cut deep and AJ shivered as snow swept around her fetlocks, and she desperately wished she had grabbed a coat as the wind pressed against her sides. Her hat threatened to blow away, but the well-worn piece of old leather was well strapped to the farmer's head. Stopping beside her sister, she pulled Applebloom into a rough her on the pretence of sisterly love, but neither pulled away, favouring the warmth the embrace provided over the cold of separateness.

"Ah've never seen a raisin' before," the younger pony said quietly.

"I saw one once," Applejack whispered back. "When we were in Canterlot fer Twilight's graduation. Same week as the Summer Sun Celebration. There ain't nothin' compares to it," she whispered, her voice hinting awe at the memory even years later.

"The Sun Raising is certainly majestic," Rarity said from beside them. "But there's a certain mystère that only the Moon's ascent has. Plus," she added in an off-hoof manner, "it's not just the Moon for which our beloved Princess takes responsibility for..."

Frowning in mild confusion, AJ gazed at Rarity for a moment longer, before turning to watch Luna, as if for an explanation Everypony save Twilight and Celestia gasped as, after standing with her head bowed for several long seconds, Luna's neck snapped upwards and her wings shot out, sparkling blue light gathering itself around her cruelly-pointed horn. The stars in her mane and tail sparkled with increasing intensity as the Princess reared, drawing in a deep breath. Fluttershy, who had been standing close behind, squeaked in surprise and stumbled backwards, tripping and falling onto her hindquarters. Her eyes watered a little as she slowly looked up, but once they met the sky the traces of hurt vanished as the thick, deep-purple clouds cleared to reveal the infinite night sky.

Big Mac reached down with a hoof to help his little wife up, which she accepted, but even she only had eyes for the night. The constellations blazed in the dome of the heavens, and, as Luna wheeled to the east, a sliver of silver peaked up over the horizon. The crescent moon ascended, slowly, righteously, illuminating the farmyard in a pure light that bathed the trampled snow in a gentler white. There was silence for a time, the observers standing by quietly as Princess Luna's hooves trod snow once more, breathing slightly heavily, little wisps of white vapour trailing from her mouth as she panted. Twilight murmured something under her breath that only the Princesses heard. Little Angel crept towards her parents without looking away from the sky, and clasped herself to her mother's leg, hugging her tightly as Fluttershy gave her affectionate nuzzle. An awed teardrop trailed it's way down Pinkie's muzzle, unnoticed by its owner.

"Never leave me again, Luna," Celestia murmured, she too unable to tear her gaze from the starscape above.

"Never," Luna whispered back, "I promise."

They stood there, for how much longer nopony knew. But the time had to come, and it did, when the little ponies below had to rend themselves from the night and, loath to leave it and all its passions, stepped back inside to follow their own. Little Angel was one of the last to leave, waiting at the hooves of the Moon Princess until Luna moved into the light and warmth of the kitchen herself. In the end, only Twilight and Celestia were left.

"I think," Celestia said, slowly and quietly, "that soon little Luna will have many adorers of her own. Not just in the way that many of them are, respecting her but always remembering me first. No, the new generation will see her as an equal, I think, and she will finally share her night as she always wanted to." Twilight said nothing, content to listen to her mentor's reasonings.

"The night is so much kinder to creatures now," the Sun Princess went on. "Back in the day there was little more than sleep to be done then. The only real nightlife was in our own castles, and Luna hated that. She wanted everypony to share in her night, not just the selfish nobility." She looked down at Twilight with surprising indifference, stating history as if she had not been there herself. "Back then, ponies were starving, Twilight, but there was little either of us could do about it. We were trapped by the nobles. Outside the Heartlands, many turned to others for help. It wasn't until the Nightmare was banished that I could begin to regain their trust." Twilight nodded, distantly, and the Princess sighed. "Luna never had her night quite the way she felt it should be. It pains me to think that it was only in her absence that the night truly came alive."

"Come, Twilight," she said at length. "I would spend a few hours more with you before we both must go."

"Yes," Twilight whispered, soulfully.

"But first... I think we have one more gift to give," the Princess added, drawing a small package from nowhere. Twilight finally smiled, and gazed at the little object as it span, enveloped in a golden cloud, and vanished, off into nothingness and beyond, and they were left alone in the moonlight.

Elsewhere

A figure fell slowly through the flowing veil of whiteness. Twisting, rolling, it pulled up just below the ground and landed with the slightest of noises, sitting and staring at the light peeking between the canvas flaps of the tent.

For a second she sat, but then the second was a minute, ten, thirty. She could hear them - laughing inside - but she did not move from her spot. The snow reached up to her hooves, then her ankles. Her feathers rustled as she shifted uncomfortably, but nopony heard it over the wind and snow.

Rainbow Dash sniffled.

Suddenly, there was a shriek and the light from the tent flashed bright for an instant. Rainbow glanced away, involuntarily, for a second, and listened silently. The mumbling from within was indistinct at first, but not for long.

"Oh Goddesses, Soarin, it's from the Princesses," came Spitfire's muffled voice. "Look - open it, open it." Rainbow's leg twitched, but she held herself in place, as stoic as before. "Oh gosh."

"Ow, hey - what?"

"It's for you! And there's one for me, and this is to - Rainbow! Hey, Rainbow!" Spitfire's head thrust itself out into the snow, her brilliant mane dulled by the night's gloom. "Rainbow?" she half-called, half-asked. "What are you doing out here?" She sounded worried. "Why didn't you come inside? I - Gods, it's horrible out here!"

"I-" Rainbow started, but whatever was about to follow caught in her throat and she couldn't go on. She looked down at her hooves, miserably.

"Rainbow," the former stunt flyer groaned sympathetically. "What's wrong?" The dejected pegasus gave no indication that she had heard, but her chest rose and fell heavily as Dash worked herself up.

"Come inside," Spitfire said, quietly. "The Princesses sent you a Hearth's Warming gift."

"I-it's Hearth's Warming?" Dash stuttered.

"Yeah," Spitfire confirmed, face downcast. "We wanted to... I don't know, we wanted to do something to mark the occasion, but you weren't there when I woke up. Ah, not that we had anything to celebrate with, I guess. Heh." She gave an empty laugh. Rainbow remained where she sat.

"Aw, come on, Rainbow," the yellow mare pleaded. "I - I know this can't be like last year - we had a good time last year, remember? With Captain Wayfinder? But - ah, Dash, I know something's been eating at you for months," she sighed. "We can talk about it if you want, OK? I won't push you, but's it's killing me seeing you so apart. I - you're good, kid. I can't stand seeing you like this. Let's work it out, OK?"

There was a silence for a long moment, but Rainbow finally managed to raise her head and whisper, "OK."

Spitfire smiled at her. "Come inside," she said, gently, lifting the tent flap a little. "See what Celestia sent you." Rainbow didn't quite manage a smile of her own, but there was a tug at the corners of her mouth as she ducked inside to find the mess of sleeping bags and blankets and the dishevelled Soarin much the same as she had left them.

Soarin gave a weak "hey" as she lay down on her front, and she gave a tiny grin back. The light blue stunt colt held a letter in his forehooves.

"Celestia wrote it," he explained, attempting joviality but nervousness clear in his voice. "She, uh... She says Twilight and your friends are setting off in two days, and, uh..." he trailed off limply. "I, um, you should probably read yours first."

Dash reached for the envelope and package still lying in the centre of the shelter. "Princess Celestia sent me a gift?" she asked, slightly surprised. "What did she send you?"

"She didn't," Soarin answered. "It's OK, she kind of wrote about it, saying she didn't really think there was anything she could send that wouldn't seem hollow. She, uh... I don't think she wanted to talk business."

"No," Spitfire added, quietly. "She didn't."

"Read the letter, Rainbow," Soarin urged her, gently. "See what she has to say."

Nodding slowly, Rainbow dug her hoof under the envelope's flap and opened it with a quiet ripping sound. Taking out the folded parchment inside, she read it slowly and calmly before turning to the package. Soarin raised an eyebrow but neither of the two Wonderbolts commented.

It was a small, flat rectangle, tied up with brown paper and string. Nipping at the knot with her teeth, Rainbow Dash pulled away the bindings and gently opened the parcel up. Inside lay a book with a faux-leather cover, and three pencils. Flipping it open on the floor, Rainbow turned page after page after page, and smiled.

"It's blank," Soarin murmured in mild surprise. Rainbow ignored it and turned back to the letter. The colt had been right about one thing - that the book was blank. But the letter was not from Celestia.

Dear Rainbow Dash, she read again,

I miss you so, so much. We all do. You're so much braver than me, going willingly, but I think knowing you're at the end of my journey makes it a little easier for me.

I feel like I should say more, but I kinda wrote everything in my last letter, with our plans. It's actually only a few minutes later that I'm writing this one - I feel a little bad about it, I don't know when I'll next be able to write, but that's the way things are, I guess.

We'll see you again soon, as soon as possible - We'll be setting off two days, I think, after you get this. The Princess thinks we can make it in four months if we're quick and the weather's good. I don't know if we can do it, but we'll try, Rainbow, we really will.

I know you don't like sitting in one place for too long, so I wanted to send you a gift that you could relax with, like a book. I thought about getting you an adventure story, but there was a problem with that - books end. Quickly, if you've got nothing else to do. So I thought - why not write your own?

You must have had such an adventure, Rainbow. Put it down in words, tell your tale. Who knows what could become of it! A lot of travellers turned their experiences into novels or biographies... And I know it'd give you plenty to do and think about. Talk to Spitfire, talk to Soarin, and get it all down. I know for sure I'd love to read it.

I'll see you in the summer, OK? Don't go stir-crazy, and don't go near the Gate.

We all miss you,

Twilight Sparkle

Finally smiling happily, Rainbow clutched the book and letter to her chest, much as she had the map that morning, and fell back against the bedding. Spitfire said something that she didn't hear. She was lost in her emotions once more, but this time, finally, she was happy.