[DISCONTINUED AND REWRITTEN] A Hearth's Warming Tale (Twipie)

Chapter 1 - The Race

It was an early morning for me today. I usually wake up around noon due to late night study sessions, but I couldn't exactly do that with a bright pink mare jumping up and down on my bed.

"TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT!!" She squealed as she shook me awake, "TWI you have to get up. Look, it's the first snow of the season!"

Sure enough, there was a thick sheet of soft, white snow covering all of ponyville. I really hate the snow. It's cold, it's wet, it's everywhere. And it's my job to clean up once Winter Wrap-Up comes along.

"Pinkie, please, just a few more minutes", I grumbled, pulling the sheets back over my head.

"Nope!" Pinkie replied "We are so not starting the first day of our Twilight and Pinkie Pie Super Duper Winter Extravaganza with you sleeping in all day"

She pulled the covers right back off and practically threw me out of bed. To my surprise, an outfit was already laid out for me to wear during our little outing. Pinkie must've fetched it for me while I was sleeping. Seems like she planned this in advance, too. Matching outfits. She planned... matching outfits. Of course. For me, a light blue beanie, a big yellow sweater, and a scruffy pink scarf. For her, a yellow beanie, big pink sweater, and a blue scarf. Ridiculous.

"Pinkie, do you really want me to wear all this? I mean, I can pick out my own clothes." I grumbled, picking up the tattered, old scarf.

"Well duuuuh, I know you can do it yourself. But this just makes it faster and way more fun!" She giggled and trotted out of the room, leaving me to deal with her little outfit.

Once I'd finished getting ready, I dragged myself down the strairs and over to Pinkie who was chatting with Spike about her plans for me today.

"Oh! Hey, Twilight", Spike stammered, "Pinkie Pie was just telling me about uhhh... yknow, snow stuff!"

"Sure", I grunted, "Pinkie, let's just get going."

Despite my not so cheery disposition, she seemed pretty excited to get me out the door.

"Wasn't it just so nice of Dashie to send out all this snow, Twilight? I mean, I did ask her to do it for me, but still!"

"Wait, you asked for this? Pinkie, you know I hate the snow", I huffed.

"Well yeah, but what's a Hearth's Warming Eve without snow?"

"An enjoyable day where I can go outside unbothered", I answered.

Before Pinkie could argue any further, we arrived at what I can only assume is our destination. A quaint little cabin just off the main road. A few other ponies were gathered outside, all dressed in big, warm outfits. A few meters adjacent sat a large hill. At the top were a few families, all pushing their colts and fillies down on their little sleds.

"Yoohoo, over here", a bright white mare sang towards us.

Glancing back over to the cabin, we spotted three of our friends — Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbowdash. Next to them were the infamous cutie mark crusaders, all adorned with their own sleds, each seemingly customized just to their liking.

Rarity waved us down, though I wasn't too sure about walking over. I mean, I was kind of under the impression that it'd just be Pinke and I. Though, I tried to suck it up once she began to trot over to the rest of them. After all, we've got the whole week ahead of us.

"Hey girls! How's it hangin?" Pinkie cheered.

"Oh you know how it is, darling! Sweetie and I have been running around town all morning looking for these four", Rarity complained, "Applejack and her sister plum forgot about our little outing today and Rainbowdash was a bit busy putting together your snowstorm."