Give Thanks

by PewDashiePie

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character, Random
Length: 1124

A short one shot about how one pony celebrates his Hearth's Warming Eve.

A pony visits a cemetery on Hearth's Warming Eve to celebrate the holiday in his own special way, visiting the resting place of his father and countless others every other year.

"Not everypony takes the time to relish in the fact that they're still here, let alone give thanks to those who put them here. You don't have to give thanks to just ponies you know, the smallest act of kindness goes a long way."

This was a short one shot I wrote for Thanksgiving, in a three hour timeframe.

Published 2018-11-22 23:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-11-22 23:20:01 UTC

For nopony deserves to be alone.

It was quiet aside from the wind blowing and the crunching of snow beneath hooves.
The cemetery was covered in a thick blanket of white ice, roughly 9 inches tall. Everypony was at home telling stories by a warm fire with their families, or were out attending one of the many plays which tell the story of Hearth's Warming Eve, everypony but one. His name is Cross, and every other winter he visits the hometown of somepony he never got to meet personally.

Every exhale of my breath showed in the cold air. I sat on the cold snow wearing a dark hooded cloak, not caring about the freezing snow that touched my legs, chest, and stomach.

"I'm here, dad. I've been here for about a week now, but the whole town has been so bustling busy that I had to wait for a good time to come and say hello." My muzzle formed a small smile as I looked down at the gravestone before me.

The cloak I wore cast a shadow over my face, giving me just enough room to see what was in front of me.

"We never met, and I say this every time I visit, but I know my opinion of you was wrong. I know that. I saw you as a stallion who just up and left his wife, and his son. I blamed you for mom's disappearance. But I didn't know you.. Heck, I still don't know you. What matters is that I was wrong. You were a good stallion, and I'm sorry you had to leave behind a bad assumption for something that wasn't your fault. You just wanted to help stop that fight, never expecting to get killed in the process, only to be blamed postmortem for starting it. It wasn't that you up and disappeared, it was that you never said where you were going, or for how long. You just did. You did because you didn't want to tell mom that you were going to spend some time with an old friend, whom she never liked, and I'm sorry for that."

I looked up at my surroundings for a minute, taking it in. Snow in every direction, and through the fog and falling snow I could see buildings in the distance- the buildings that make up Fillydelphia. The only tracks in the snow that covered the cemetery were my own. Hooves led from the entrance to where I now sat and then to each gravestone on my left and my right; along with all of the rows in front of me.

Not everypony takes the time to relish in the fact that they're still here, let alone give thanks to those who put them here. You don't have to give thanks to just ponies you know, the smallest act of kindness goes a long way.

"Thanks, dad. Thank you for helping bring me into this world, for if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here to return the favor you gave your life doing. Helping ponies you never met before, simply because you felt it was the right thing to do. I love you, tell mom I said hello."
I got up off of the ground and onto my hooves, glancing down at the gravestone.

"I'll be back in a few days, to see you again before I leave town. But I have to take care of something before I leave."

My gaze lifted from the gravestone before me, to the gravestones that surrounded me.

While everypony was spending time with their families and enjoying plays, Cross was going back to a home that he never had, but rather that his father had. All to give thanks to a pony who though he never met, he loved dearly. Not once was he alone in the cemetery, for though nopony but him would ever be present when he was, Cross had the thought that every gravestone around him was a pony. He wasn't wrong, and he wasn't alone, nor were they. Cross made sure that somepony visited them all on Hearth's Warming Eve, for no pony deserves to be alone.

One by one, I moved to each gravestone and cleared out the snow in front of them. It was a long process that took hours to complete fully, since I made sure that each and every gravestone was cleared of snow. Everypony deserves to be somewhat warm on Hearth's Warming Eve, and although the sight of a completely frozen cemetery was beautiful, it was a sad revelation on a day like today. Every gravestone had to have absolutely no snow in front of them, with the exception of snow that fell while I was clearing it. I put a hoof on every gravestone once it was cleared, thanked them, and muttered "Merry Hearth's Warming Eve."
I was sure that all of them had done at least one thing in their life that was worth being thanked for, regardless of who they were, or how they were seen in life.

It was night by the time I had finished, and I couldn't see more than two meters in front of me. I was used to it.
Pretty much every time I did this, I wouldn't leave until it was well past dark, anyways. Besides, it always made the walk back to the hotel that much more interesting.

Cross completely believed that he was the only pony who visited them on Hearth's Warming Eve, and he was right. Nopony would visit until about a week afterwards, and he would never know it because he would be gone before then. So for what he did, it was all out of the kindness of his heart, out of what he truly believed was a necessity.

One Week Later

"Ya know, everytime I come back here it's been cleared. But we don't have anypony who does landscaping or takes off time to do work this time of year." A blue-coated stallion muttered to his marefriend as they entered the cemetery. Various ponies from all over the city were paying respects to their dead.

"It's amazing, isn't it? Every other year," One unicorn muttered.

"Who has the time?" An older mare questioned.

"Maybe they don't celebrate Hearth's Warming," Another mare muttered.

"I just know that I'm thankful that somepony does it." A voice near the back spoke out, and everypony agreed.

All but one gravestone had somepony attending them, right in the middle of the front row of the cemetery.
On the ground at the base of the gravestone, lay two roses in the shape of a cross, lightly painted with snow.

Author's Note

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! :rainbowkiss:
-PewDashiePie