Twilight Sparkle: Gather 'round, everybody! It's Nearly Hearth's Warming Eve -- and to get everyone in the spirit, we're going to tell my FAVORITE holiday story!
Twilight Sparkle: It's called "A Hearth's Warming Tale"... and to make it EXTRA fun, I thought we'd make it into a sort of Ponyville-wide pageant.
Twilight Sparkle: My friends and I will take turns reading the story out loud... and as we do, everypony in town will play along and act out all the good plot points!
Spike: ... And i'll provide color commentary!
Twilight Sparkle: ... And Spike will provide color commentary, I guess! Anyway, let's start at the beginning...
""Every home in Canterlot was filled with holiday spirit -- and the marketplace was, too! Everypony was busy buying special presents for their friends and family...""
"Okay, I see how that part of the story has "ponies shopping" in it... But shopping for LEMONS? Really? Who gives LEMONS as a present?!"
Twilight Sparkle: But ONE pony was not happy. Snowfall Frost was a powerful unicorn magician... She wanted to be PERFECT and thought the holiday was just a waste of time!"
"Oh NO! I mean, I KNOW Snowfall didn't ACTUALLY cast the spell, because we still have Hearth's Warming NOW... but i'm still in suspense!"
Part 2: Applejack[]
Applejack: "... But just then, a voice from the hearth caught her ear! It was the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past, come to talk Snowfall out of her wayward ways!"
""With li'l more than a 'how d'ye do,' the Spirit WHISKED HER AWAY to the days of her filly-hood! Snowfall was sure a different pony then... so excited about decoratin' her classroom for the Holiday!""
"Sorry to interrupt a good yarn, folks -- but I just can't concentrate if I don't have somepony runnin' Sweet Apple Acres! We make nearly ALL of our mulled cider 'round this time of year, y'know..."
""... Why, he just about blew his top off! The way HE saw it, all that fun stuff was just a big ol' DISTRACTION to studyin' hard and readin' magic books -- and he drilled it RIGHT into Snowfall's head that she should think the same way!""
"Aww... So THAT'S why Snowfall ended up such a stick-in-the-mud! It's kinda sad, really..."
Part 3: Pinkie Pie[]
Pinkie Pie: OKAY! So that was Snowfall's PAST, right? BUT THEN... A whole NEW Spirit showed up to show her even MORE stuff! The Spirit of Hearth's Warming Presents!
Pinkie Pie: That's "Presents" like "awesome and amazing gifts from your pal Pinkie Pie," not "Present" like "right now." That would be a REALLY boring thing to be the spirit of!
Twilight Sparkle: Pinkie... Are you actually READING the story, or just making things up?
"ANYWAY! The Spirit took Snowfall on a LONG AND MAGICAL JOURNEY to ALMOST RIGHT WHERE SHE STARTED, at a sweet party that she'd decided not to go to earlier! And it was SUCH a good party. Don't get me STARTED on how many desserts there were!"
"So, as Snowfall checked out this AMAZING PARTY (while being invisible due to SPIRIT MAGIC, by the way), she saw all the FLOWERS and BALLOONS and MOVIES PLAYING and started to think "Hey, maybe Hearth's Warming is actually kinda great!""
""The Spirit of Hearth's Warming Future showed Snowfall a grim fate indeed... What would become of her world if she wiped the holiday from existence. It was a future filled with monsters -- and unrelenting ice and snow!""
""Back in the present -- and full of regret for what she had planned to do -- Snowfall left her spell components behind, bought present for all the ponies she had wronged, and joined them for a Hearth's Warming Eve full of laughter and song.""
Twilight Sparkle: "And from then on, it was always said of all the Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations, Snowfall's was the Hearth's Warmingest."
Twilight Sparkle: That's it! Thank you so much for listening. And as a reward for being a great audience, I have a Hearth's Warming present for YOU!
Twilight Sparkle: One of our pageant actors has volunteered to re-enact stories from the time "A Hearth's Warming Tale" was written... whenever you'd like him to!
Twilight Sparkle: (He's even got his own period costume! I LOVE a good deerstalker cap...)