



Everypony in Ponyville liked Hearth's Warming a lot...

But Chrysalis, the old changeling queen, did NOT!





She hated Hearth's Warming! The whole holiday season!

Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

Perhaps it'd been too long since last she had fed,

Or the holes in her legs finally spread to her head.

But I think the reason, and of this I'm sure,

Was that the queen was just rotten to the core.











Whatever the reason, she stood with resentment.

Staring at Ponyville's night of enchantment.

She snarled in contempt at the ponies down there

As a warm glow arose up from Ponyville square.

"Just look at them," she growled "all happy and sweet."

"Little do they know, I'm here for a treat!"



She tapped with her hoof from her well-concealed vantage,

"I MUST find some way that I can take advantage!"

For tomorrow, she knew that no matter the weather,

The ponys in Ponyville would all come together.











And then! Oh, the love! Oh, the love!

Love! Love! Love!

That's the one thing she craved! The LOVE!

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!



For a monster like her, it'd be just like a feast.

And she'd feast! And she'd feast! And she'd FEAST!

FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!











She could feed on their love and drain them of cheer.

The very thought made Chrysalis grin ear to ear.

And the more the queen thought of this Hearth's Warming snack,

The more the queen thought "I must plan my attack!"



Then she got an idea! An awful idea!

CHRYSALIS GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!



"I know just what to do!" The queen said, all alone,

"I'll round up their gifts to bring back to my throne!"

Still talking to no one, she cried "Don't you see?"

"If they want their Hearth's Warming, they'll all come to me!"

"I'll hold it all hostage, their holiday treasure,"

"Then drain them of all of their love at my pleasure!"











So Chrysalis set off, up to her old tricks.

(With some minions she made from a couple of sticks.)

On a ramshackle sleigh she tossed in some old sacks,

For stealing away their Hearth's Warming knick-knacks.

Then the queen said "Onward!" and the sleigh started down,

Toward the homes where the ponies lay asleep in their town.



She passed darkened windows with nary a hassle,

And made her way first to the princess' castle.

"We'll start with this one," she said with a grin.

With a magical flash, she let herself in.

She made her way down to the castle's main hall,

Where bright decorations adorned every wall.











"All of these," the queen snickered, "are the first things to pillage."

"I'll clear out the castle, then start on the village."

Then she slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,

Around the whole room, and she took every present!

All the candy and wreaths! All the Hearth's Warming dolls!

All the things that would soon deck the changeling queen's halls.



With her bags full of loot, the queen started to sneak,

When all of a sudden, she heard a door creak!

She was nearly discovered! Her mind started to race!

And with her magic she put on the princess' face.



Then into the room walked the dragon named Spike,

On a midnight snack run for some gems and the like.

The young dragon yawned, with a small smoky puff.

"Oh, hey Twilight," he said, "Wait, where's all our stuff?"











The queen had to think fast. "Oh, nothing out of the norm,"

"The students just wanted to spruce up the dorms."

"They have no decorations, the poor little dears,"

"So I offered to bring some of our things from here."











Her lie fooled the dragon. He questioned no more.

The queen gave him a pat, then a shove out the door.

And with Spike the Dragon finally out of her hair,

Chrysalis quickly got the heck out of there!

Then she did the same to the other ponies' homes.

To every last house, stealing gifts did she roam.



It was quarter past dawn... the ponies still a-bed,

As Chrysalis, laughing, sat atop her sled.

Her plan had succeeded! Hearth's Warming was hers!

For the ponies in Ponyville, nothing could be worse!











"Just think," she said, though her minions didn't listen,

"At the break of the day when the morning sun glistens,"

"All the ponies will see no Hearth's Warming is coming,"

"And when they learn that I've taken it, they'll all come running!"

"'Oh queen,' they'll all cry, 'We admit we've been beat.'"

"'We surrender to you, and concede our defeat!'"



That was a sound Chrysalis simply must hear,

So she paused, and the queen put her hoof to her ear.

And the cries surely came, but not how she thought.

Cries of "There she is!" and "Make sure she's caught!"

The queen was then hit with a slow realization.

She'd been a bit quick having her celebration.

A miscalculation she couldn't believe:

In all of her gloating she'd forgotten to leave!











Surrounded by ponies, with no way to flee,

The queen quickly saw what she wished not to see.

Coming fast through the crowd the queen spied from her wagon,

Seven familiar ponies (and one ticked-off dragon.)

"Chrysalis!" they shouted, "Only you would dare,"

"To steal our Hearth's Warming!" But the queen only glared.

"But it's a time for forgiveness. So, come down from your sled."

"Instead of just fighting, won't you join us instead?"











They offered a hoof as a symbol of friends,

But the queen still refused, though she knew what that meant.

The ponies sighed, "You can't say we didn't try."

One magic blast later, and the queen soared through the sky.

As Chrysalis blasted off, her lesson unlearned,

The ponies rejoiced for Hearth's Warming had returned.









~ The Skullivan