For her second Hearth's Warming since becoming an Element Bearer, Rainbow Dash finds herself stuck in Ponyville... where the old standard carols just seem to be playing on an endless loop. And Rainbow Dash hates Hearth's Warming Eve carols.
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Tropes found in this story include:
- Bittersweet Ending: Ultimately, Rainbow hates all of the caroling because it reminds her that her duties as Bearer of Loyalty mean she can't go back to Cloudsdale and be with her family. But Lyra points out that she's close enough to the other Bearers that, for Hearth's Warming Eve, she can at least be with them, and still feel like she's "with family".
- I Have No Son!: Inverted.
Word of God establishes that Lyra's backstory involves Abusive Parents, who emotionally and mentally bullied her to try and force her to take up the family business, and then got even worse when her Cutie Mark manifested as a talent for being a musician rather than a banker. It was so awful that Celestia provided the support to legally divorce her parents, and Lyra now considers Bon-Bon to be her only family. - Yank the Dog's Chain: Sweetie Belle almost gets her mark when performing for Rainbow Dash — but then Scootaloo angrily butts in, claiming that Sweetie is "out of harmony" with the other Crusaders, when in reality she's the only one singing on-key and in-tune. This disruption arguably prevents Sweetie's manifest.
