"The fire of friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart!"

"Pinkie, you've sang that line about ten times. We all know you're excited about opening your presents, but stop singing." You sat down on a chair in the clean library, attempting to get Pinkie to shut up.

"Though quarrels arise, their numbers are few! Laughter and singing will see us through!" Pinkie hopped around, so quickly that she was teleporting in your eyes.

"Anyone have duct tape?" Dash rubbed her temples in frustration, "If so, give it to me..."

"Ah have some in my dorm, if ya wanna walk all the way up the library stairs." AJ stared at the Hearths Warming tree, which had nothing underneath it.

It was Hearths Warming, and everyone that you met that was a best friend was there in the library. Except Rarity, who was still on the plane, apparently. AJ and Dash were waiting for Twilight to arrive with all the presents, Spike was taking a nap and snoring loudly. Pinkie was singing, or shouting, the Heart Carol; the song of Hearths Warming. Fluttershy was tending to the tree, watering it and making sure the ornaments didn't, as she put it, 'hurt the tree'.

"Um... Can someone possibly help me? The tree's ornaments are tilting the tree and... EEP." Fluttershy flung herself over to you, as a decoration hit the ground and shattered.

"I'm here! I have the gifts, too!" Twi pushed in a couple of presents, then even more. She finally got them to the tree and frowned, "Who misplaced the red sphere that was right here?"

"S-sorry Twilight... I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine Fluttershy, just don't break any others..." Twilight looked at the clock, "One hour until it's officially Hearths Warming!"

"YES!" Dash went over to the gifts and counted hers, cheering at the amount.

"Not now, Rainbow. You have to wait until Hearths Warming." Twilight reminded Dash of the official date, "I'm going to go to the airport, don't open anything."

"Why are you going to the airport?" You asked, expecting her relatives to be coming or something.

"Rarity's flight was turned back around, there's a major blizzard outside and the plane can't get to Saddle Arabia. She texted me and asked to be picked up, and that she's freezing and wet in nothing but a slutty bathing suit outside the airport lobby."

"Okay then." You replied, looking over to AJ. She was staring at the present you got her, which was 'inconspicuously' wrapped in the shape of a hat.

Pinkie was still lollygagging about, and got into a poke-fight with Dash. Fluttershy sat down beside you, and you tried to small-talk, "How about that blizzard?"

"It's... Nice..."

"Really? I don't think it's nice. It's terrible."

"Y-yes..." She turned away and stood up, skittering away. She sat beside Spike and slowly woke him up, for some reason being more able to talk with him than you. Having no one to talk to except AJ, you walked over to the presents to chat. Lots of talking today.

"Watcha doin' AJ?"

"Ah'm lookin' at the gifts. They seem pretty plentiful if ya ask me." She nodded towards the hat, "And that hat will be my favourite."

"How do you know it's a hat?"

"How couldn't Ah know that it's a hat? It's shaped like one and everythin'." She rolled her eyes, "Just hope it ain't somethin' fancy."

"It isn't, believe me." You smiled as you peeked over at Dash and Pinkie, who were now wrestling. That escalated quickly.

A few minutes later, Twilight arrived back at the library door with a soaked Rarity. Rarity was shivering and had her hair flattened completely, dripping from the snow that hit the purple mess and liquefied. She pulled a present out of her luggage and threw it to the tree before waddling up the stairs to her dorm to change, and probably shower then fix her hair.

"That didn't take long, did it?" Twi was also rained on, but was only damp. She pulled off her glasses and wiped them clean, "I guess we can open the gifts early... I'll go first!"

She dived into the stash, pulling out a purple box. It was your present to her, and she ripped it apart like a werewolf. She grinned and pulled out a book, starting to read it. In the middle of the stash. Out loud. Ugh...

"Me next!" Dash kicked Pinkie out of the way, and plucked up a rainbow-decorated cylinder. She carefully tore the edges and made the paper into strips, then opened the plastic, "What the hell, Pinkie?"

"Giant bottle of silly string! Isn't it amazing?!" Pinkie giggled and rolled around on the floor, crashing into a tiny pyramid of pink stuff.

"Sure?" Dash picked up another one and opened it, this time it was from AJ. She slowly turned her head to AJ and huffed out bemused air, "Why would you get me a parachute?"

"There's more, RD." AJ stood up from her sitting position, walking to open one of her presents.

"How did you afford this?! You bought me a pass to skydive!" Dash gasped, "Did you rob a bank?"

"Oh shut up, Ah have money." AJ put her gift on her head, since she already unwrapped it, "Thanks, this'll come in handy. Ah guess."

Pinkie crashed into her presents, so already opened them all. They consisted of something to do with a party, either confetti packets or games. She put everything into that hidden pocket that was in the jacket she was wearing when you first met her, and hopped onto the balloons you got her. They didn't pop, they floated up. Everyone stared at her, confused, as she floated around the library.

"Um... Is it okay if I go next?" Fluttershy removed herself from sharing thoughts with Spike, and softly poked a yellow cage that had a light pink blanket over it. The cage rattled and Fluttershy stepped back a bit, then went to open it again. She revealed the cage and gasped in adorableness, then opened it and pulled out the cat. They snuggled each other tightly, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome Flutters." You heard a creaking from the staircase and turned your head, watching as Rarity stepped down from the stairs. Her hair was fresh and fabulous, like usual, and she was dry.

"This gift sure is a giant, did you spend over your budget?" Rarity said to you as she opened your gift to her, then gazed over it with sparkling eyes, "It is beautiful! Many thanks to you for the gown!"

After a hour of exchanging gifts and laughing, Pinkie stopped flying on her balloons you got her and went to the indoor park to set up the Hearths Warming dance. Of course Pinkie's setting it up.

The rest of you stayed in the library to continue giggling and such. Twilight was covered in ripped wrapping paper, completely covered, as a prank from Dash. Twi didn't notice is since her nose was buried so deep into the book, thinking she would since it was touching her skin. AJ was playing with Fluttershy's cat, putting her hat on the cat and running away to see if the cat could find her, along with Fluttershy. Dash was chilling out on a library table, just laying there and not caring that she's on a table. Spike was getting thanked by Rarity for the divine ruby heart necklace, then engaged in some attempted chat... Which didn't go well considering Spike was spaced out by just looking at Rarity's lady-like face, and other features.

You sauntered over to the tabby cat, watching the two girls play with her. Waiting for Fluttershy to be done her part of the game they're playing, you were going to ask her something about her cat. You waited until she was finally done, and the cat made a break for AJ.

"What did you name the cat?" You laughed as AJ stumbled away from the attacking tabby.

"Marceline. Marcie for short." Fluttershy also giggled a bit at the kitty, "Thank you again for Marcie. I just hope she gets along with Angel bunny..."

"Marcie's very sweet, I think she will." Marcie then grabbed AJ's hat in her tiny mouth and ambled over to Fluttershy, giving her the hat. You walked away from their playing and layed beside Dash.

Her two hands were underneath her head, and she was relaxing like there was no tomorrow. That would've been funny if it was the 20th, but it's not, it's the 25th. The next thing you saw was Dash standing beside the door because she said she got a text from Pinkie saying everyone could come to the indoor park and help finish the decorations. So, being bored as hell, you and everyone else had a race to the park.

"Ready..." AJ started.

"SET GO!" Dash shouted, loudly and quickly. She darted down the hall, beside AJ. You ran too, but didn't try as much as them. Fluttershy was way behind with Spike and Rarity.

Dash and AJ reached the line first, then you. Spike was next and after him was Fluttershy. Rarity paused to fix her hair, therefore losing her fourth place. The park was all glittery with fake snow and cotton balls, sparkles everywhere. The balloons were white and shiny, everything looked like a winter wonderland. Even the stage was white instead of silver like metal.

"Wow Pinkie, what do you need help with? It looks like it's already complete!" You looked around, and stopped when you saw Pinkie attempting to put her hair in a high ponytail. She did it a couple of times then bounced away to have the elastic snap because of her hair's natural poofiness.

"It is complete! I wanted to show it to you guys! Isn't sparkly-warkly?!" Pinkie's smile gleamed bright.

"Yeah, it is-" Dash's head looked up to see if there was any sparkles on the ceiling. There was none, it looked plain and normal there.

"SO FABULOUS!" Rarity took in a big gulp of air before zipping around naming types of fabric Pinkie used to decorate the stage and the tables. She was just as happy as she was when you gave her the dress for Hearths Warming, the glint in her eyes the exact same.

Pinkie giggled at Rarity's amazement, "You all go get fancied up for such a fancy-wancy occasion!"

You shrugged and walked to your dorm on level two along with Dash, getting dressed in the tuxedo you were given a while ago; the beginning of the year. Dash also got into something dressy, a cyan strapless dress that had a bronze rim along the top, making an 'x' across her chest and then ending in a belt around her waist. The front of the dress was shorter than the back, making it more than just a regular medium-length dress. She had shiny high-heels that started with red at the toe box, going through the rainbow cycle once, and ending in violet. Her sunglasses were the same, but with two rainbow cycles starting at the bridge and black lenses. Her hair was swept to her left shoulder in a loose golden elastic, making her look complete.

You hooked her arm and walked out of the dorm, smiling. The rest of the girls came out next, all looking absolutely stunning. Pinkie was clothed in a dress that was slightly darker than her hair, with a oil black belt along her waist tied in a giant bow. Above the belt had a pattern, the dark magenta with some black splotches. Everything else on the dress was poofy and... Pinkie-like. Her high-heels were the same colour of the dress, what you can't forget that she was holding a balloon that matched her hair... Which was down because it seems she couldn't get that ponytail in.

Applejack's hair was down, amazingly. She was actually wearing a little something fancy, in her point of view. It was a green knee-length, high-necked cowboy-ish thing with three red apples imprinted onto the bottom left. With a brown leather belt where everyone else's belt was so far. She was wearing her hat, with was the same shade of brown as her heavy boots. Classy.

Who's hair was wavy and straight down for once, Rarity was wearing the dress you got her, and you knew what that looked like before so didn't look at her for too long. Fluttershy, on the other hand, you stared at for a long time. Her gown was the longest of them all, and flowed wonderfully. It was a soft yellow, with a green vine along the right side of her right breast. Also on the right side, but the bottom of the dress, were three pink butterflies. Her feet were covered in pink, glossy sandals that were the same shade of her hair. Oh, her hair! It was in an updo, two strands of her bangs falling forwards to frame her pale yet beautiful face.

Twilight was way down in the hallway, and you couldn't see her dress. So you and the five girls descended down the stairs, into the park. Twi took a few minutes or so to get into the near empty globe, but when she did she smiled. Her glasses were off, letting her purple eyes free to the world. What she was wearing was plain, like her. It was a dark purple short dress that had straps that tied in the back. On the waist was a pin that had a magenta six-legged star with five white stars surrounding it. Her shoes were also plain, if plain is magenta sparkles.

Your head turned downwards to look at your watch, and then you asked Pinkie what time the dance was supposed to start, and she did a cartwheel towards the door.

"RIGHT NOW!" She swung the door open, and all that came inside to the dance was a tumbleweed. She coughed while shutting the door, then twisted the doorknob again to open the door. A mob instantly appeared and flooded the party, Vinyl vanishing then materializing behind the turntable.

"What is this sorcery?" Dash asked, looking around skeptically.

"No clue." Your eyes met with the non-alcoholic drink table, same as the first party Pinkie threw, "Shall I get you a drink?"

"Sure, Mountain Dew."

"Mkay." You casually walked to the table, picking up a bottle for Dash. Twilight was also getting a drink, but was being social. People were complementing her eyes and how they glimmered, so she decided to smile while chatting. By Celestia it's a miracle, Twilight Sparkle is socializing.

You started to turn to walk back to Dash, but saw that she was talking to Thunderlane and stopped dead in your tracks. You were close enough to hear their conversation, so listened closely. Please don't be about me, please don't be about me...

"What was with you in the hall?" Thunderlane asked Dash, twirling a piece of her hair between his fingers.

"I was mad at something you said, now stop twirling my hair or I'll punch you."

"Ooh Dashie's violent-" He opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted by a fist to his mouth, "Ow... That kinda hurt..."

Dash strode towards you, her chin higher than usual. She grabbed the bottle from you and leaned against the table, taking a chug of the Dew, "Sup?"

"Nothin' much, you?"

"I just punched a dick in the face, I'm doing fine." She took another swig out of her bottle.

"Cool." You laughed while staring at Dash, "You're beautiful..."

"Thanks- Hold that thought..." Dash dropped her bottle and ran to a pale girl with an updo, spinning her around and looking worried, "Girl, you don't wanna drink that."

"Drink what? Thish ish not a bottle of vodka in my hand and you can't prove it. I have no clue what you blabblin' on about. Now go away before I shmash you with my bottle of vodka." She slurred, tilting side to side.

"Go home, Fluttershy, you're drunk." Dash commented, looking over to you and signaling you to come over. You did so, trailing yourself straight to the two girls. You started questioning Fluttershy and Dash, wondering what the problem was. Dash's pupils dilated and she looked as if she faded into a flashback, "Shitshitshitshit!"

"What's going on?!" You asked, Dash completely ignoring you.

"Ya, what'sh goin' on?"

"Flutters, I'll get you someone to take you to your dorm. Preferably not male." Dash twisted around, and you went with her. She turned back to face Fluttershy and tell her something, but gasped, "Where did she go?"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" You screamed, making Dash answer in a simple equation.

"Fluttershy plus drunk equals trouble." That's when your eyes widened as you remembered Pinkie's first party. The great Fluttershy scandal of the police station...

You and Dash ran out the door of the globe, looking around for any signs of puke, or anything else Fluttershy might've caused. Dash decided that she'd check the classes part of the school, and told you to search around every open dorm and hallway.

The hallways were dark and gloomy since the principal shut them off, to save power and whatnot. You squinted, but to no avail. You listened closely for any signs of the drunken lady, but nothing. After a while of walking around, you found the staircase and clumsily climbed up it, finding that it was even darker on the second floor. You gulped and hoped there were no rapists or murders slipping into the shadows as you stepped into the hallway.

In Dash's area, it was pitch black like the second floor. She lost herself and started using her senses like she was attempting to heighten them. Everything was going badly, and she stumbled over air constantly. Her hands were hurt from slamming them against the floor to save her chest and face, and her feet ached from walking. She eventually found the door to the main hall and gave up, sliding down against the wall and praying that her friend wasn't in the streets being hurt, or in jail being questioned.

You, on the other hand, weren't tripping like no tomorrow. You didn't give up at that point, you were just plain confused and lost. Everywhere you looking had black, pitch... Ugly and moody black. The only light source was from a window, which showcased a blinding snowstorm with freezing weather. You surrendered, and told your brain to walk to the window. The night was beautiful if you could imagine it without the horrifying weather, like you could. You admired the light outside, the streetlights, and how they made that light pink-haired girl on the sidewalk stick out. OH GOD BRAIN I LOVE YOU FOR NOTICING THAT.

Looking around was no use, you stared at Fluttershy sitting limply outside through the window. You growled at your instinct, but it eventually came over you. The window slid up, letting the cold wind inside. Then you did something you never thought you would ever do in the name of parkour. You jumped out. Just like that, you jumped out and landed in a dumpster. Landed in a dumpster of fish and trash bags full of fish. You lazily crawled out and slipped on ice, giving yourself a major pain on your back. The first streetlight was your first destination, and you trekked to it through the snow. Next goal, across the deserted winter street to the... Drunk... Girl... You facepalmed as you saw some new footprints from where she was lead into the alley, and ran across the street. Stupid drunks.

Dash never thought she would be crying, but she was silently sobbing for Fluttershy. Her head was buried deep into her hands, when she snorted in the tears and angrily stood up, walking to the doors and bashing them open with her left heel. Well, the door bashed open her heel on her shoe so she took the shoes off and threw them away before trying again, stomping outside and through the snow. She saw some footprints, and then you. Her feet were freezing, literally, but she kept running towards you. Her hair was soaked. Her clothing was soaked. Her skin was soaked. Everything was soaked.

"Dash?! Come here!" You waved the shaking girl over to you, and hugged her tight in attempt to provide warmth to her.

"F-freezing..." She stuttered, her jaw chattering like a wind-up teeth toy.

You guided her into the alleyway and looked for Fluttershy, and there she was. Curled up beside a dumpster. You sighed and threw Dash into the giant trash can, "What the hell?!"

Then you threw in Fluttershy. You then jumped in and closed the lid, trying to ignore the fact that you were sitting in rotten fish. The drunk passed out beside the dumpster, and provided no warmth to you or Dash. So you guys cuddled together in a shivering, wet cuddle of sadness. Dash uttered something you couldn't hear because of the howling winds.

"Pardon?" You shouted to her.

"I said..." She raised her voice to overcome the wind, "I didn't expect to spend Hearths Warming night in a dumpster with a girl who blacked out from being drunk and my boyfriend."

Next Chapter: Dumpster Dump Estimated time remaining: 30 Minutes