Hearth's Warming eve is here once again
My hooves were cold, a side effect of shopping all day, but the excitement of the season helped me ignore the discomfort. I came across a store named ‘Merry’s Knickknacks’. I closed the door behind me and looked around. It helped that it was laid out logically, and was appropriately decorated for the time of year helped. There was some music playing that reminded me of ‘The Christmas Song’, except it was an up-tempo version. It worked, but felt a little weird being played that fast. Green garland hung on the walls near the ceiling, stretched all around, pockmarked with ornaments of various colors. Everypony in the store wore a smile, and some chatting excitedly about the festivities coming up. The store staff, while not wearing a lot in terms of garb, all had Hearth’s Warming wreaths around their necks, like Big Mac and his yoke.
This only served to heighten my excitement for the season. My wings fluttered at the thought while I giddily trotted through the store, looking for gifts to get everypony. I didn’t have a whole lot to spend, but I knew it wasn’t the cost of the present, but the thought that counted. I set my purchases down absentmindedly, lost in memories of the past. A twinge of loneliness hit me as I realized it was my first Hearth’s Warming without my mom. This was her favorite time of year, even if we didn’t have much to celebrate, we did have each other.
“Would you like that gift-wrapped?”, A nice looking unicorn with a light green coat and a silver mane.
Her question snapped me back to the present, “Thank you, I’m no good at wrapping gifts.”
“Oh?”
“Let’s put it this way, the last time I tried wrapping a gift myself, I wound up wrapping up my foreleg instead.”
She giggled, “I understand. It won’t be but a moment.”
As she started to wrap them, my gaze drifted to the odds and ends on sale behind her. There were nuts, candies, some decorative mugs with the Wonderbolts logo on it--things that, back home, would fit right in near a cashier at a gas station or Walgreens. It was then I noticed that the pony wrapping my gifts had stopped and was staring at the name for one of the gifts.
She whistles, “I see one of your gifts is for Twilight. Do you know her well?”
“You…could say that.”
“To be on a gift exchange with the princess, that’s something special. Might I suggest something like this necklace? It would be perfect for a princess.”
“Oh, you make it sound more special than it is. It’s just a gift exchange.” I examined the necklace, which was similar to what Princess Celestia wears, except it was segmented, with one large violet jewel at the center, the other segments having smaller different colored gems in the other segments. “I do like the look of it, but I don’t have enough bits for it right now.”
“I understand.” She said. “I’m kinda curious, however…do you have a ‘special somepony’?” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Are you looking for a…plus one?” It’s been a while since I had anyone openly flirt with me like that. I wasn’t quite ready for that, and told her as such, much to her disappointment.
My mind drifted to the last Christmas I spent with Mom, which was still a happy time for us and warmed my heart. It was then that Merry set my wrapped purchases on the counter and told me how much it cost. I paid her and wished her a Happy Hearth’s Warming before putting them into my saddlebags and left the shop.
I paused and took a deep breath to the smell of burnt hickory and roasting nuts. I closed my eyes and drifted back to a time that Mom took me to the mall to see Santa – he was larger than life and my eyes widened at the sight of him. Mom sat me on his knee and he asked me if I was a good boy and what I wanted for Christmas, to which I replied -- “Hi Mav!!”
Startled, I take off into the air and wound up halfway through an awning. The sound of somepony giggling drew my attention down, where I saw Pinkie rolling on the ground. I managed to free myself and slowly fly down to her, apologizing to the shop owner on the way.
“Oh, you should have seen yourself, Mav. It was hilarious!” she said through the giggling.
I shook my head, her antics never got tiring, “Heya, Pinkie! How do you happen to sneak up on me like that every time?”
“I didn’t sneak up on you, silly! I’m sure you were lost thinking about past holidays or maybe that your stomach is making so much noise. I could hear you coming from Merry’s store!”
Admittedly, my stomach was starting to sound like a raging manticore. My cheeks flushed a little at that, and followed her into Sugarcube Corner. At least I didn’t drop the saddlebags with their presents, which Pinkie noticed.
“Oooohhh!! You have some presents there for somepony?” she said as she poked a hoof at the bags.
“Yeah, I just got finished shopping. I’m just happy I found something for everypony on my list.”
She snuck a couple out of the bags and tried to guess what they were and who they were for. I managed get them back from her and put them back in my bags.
“You’ll just have to wait for Hearth’s Warming to find out. You wouldn’t want to spoil it, would you?”
She tapped a hoof to her chin and admitted, “No, that wouldn’t be fun, but I bet you’d like something to eat! Please try this and tell me what you think.” She took a cupcake and shoved it into my mouth.
The taste of pumpkins mixed with what I could swear was a watermelon exploded in my mouth. Somehow, the combination of flavors worked well and I told her so.
She jumped up and down a couple of times, “Thanks, Maverick! I call it my pumpkin watermelon surprise!”
I thought a moment, then asked her, “Umm…Pinkie, what is the ‘surprise’ part of that?”
“I can’t tell you, silly! Then, it wouldn’t be a ‘surprise’!”
As with anything Pinkie, I dismissed the urge to pursue the topic and moved on to the reason for my visit, “Pinkie, could I have a dozen assorted cupcakes and donuts?”
“Absopositutely!” She said, and quickly put the cupcakes in a box. With an uncanny accuracy, she tossed the box over to me, where it landed perfectly in my open saddlebag.
I tossed some bits toward her which she caught and put them in the register.
“Thanks, Pinkie. See you on Hearth’s Warming Day.”
“Yupperooni!”
I picked up some chocolate chip muffins, which I loved, along with a dozen assorted donuts. I picked them up from the counter, placed them in my saddlebags, and said goodbye to Pinkie.
I didn’t want to risk damaging any of the presents or food I had, so I walked home instead of flying. Besides, it was easier to eat while walking, well, for me anyway. I looked at the time on the clock tower, and saw that it was going on 5:30pm, which was close to dinnertime for me. My stomach rumbled, as if it were in agreement. As I approached home, I spotted Twilight walking away and shouted out, “I see our princess is at another castle!”
With a confused look on her face, she waved to me and in doing so, she slipped a little on the ice. I caught her and prevented her from faceplanting into the ground. While she only had on a scarf, hat, and some boots, she felt quite warm, which left me to wonder if all princesses were like that or if she was just warm from going about her day.
“Thanks for the help, but what did you mean, another castle?”
“Oh, it’s a saying from where I came from. A man’s home is his castle, or something like that.”
“Oh, no, I was just dropping off your invitation to my Hearth’s Warming Eve party in the castle.”
I bounced back and forth on my hooves, “It sounds like a great time! I can’t wait to join you!”
“I thought you would.”
“What do you think about the house? I managed to get the major exterior repairs done before winter, but I’ve also made some fixes inside. Would you like to come in and see?”
“I’d love to see what you’ve done!” She looked around at the main level, making small comments on what she liked. The clock rang out 6pm, which meant it was dinnertime for me. We moved to the kitchen while I got a pot out, put some assorted veggies and pasta noodles in it, along with some sauce, and left it on the stove to simmer.
We moved back out to the living area and looked at the fireplace with a warm smile, “Your fireplace looks nice, Maverick.”
“I’m especially proud of that.” I said while stoking the fire I had. Twilight, meanwhile, had moved on into the living room. I followed and dusted some of the shelves.
“The green garland near the ceiling is nice and subtle, and your tree is also warm and inviting.”
I pointed out the stocking hung over the fireplace, “I never had a space to hang a Christmas stocking before, now I’m glad to have a fireplace.”
I moved back to the kitchen just to make sure my dinner didn’t burn. I pulled out a glass and poured myself some cider when I noticed Twilight had joined me, a confused look on her face.
“Umm…what is ‘Christmas’?”
I sat on my haunches and rubbed my hooves together, “Well, it’s the holiday we celebrated where I’m from at this time of the year. It’s very similar to Hearth’s Warming, but it is still different than it as well – the stocking, for one.”
She nods as I pull a tray out, put some rolls on it, and set it in the oven. “I think I can understand wanting to keep some traditions around. Who knows, maybe other ponies will follow suit and add stockings to the Hearth’s Warming Dolls.”
“Yeah, I’m glad that some things are still mostly the same as at home. Oddly enough, I’m looking forward to working at the weather factory in Cloudsdale tomorrow.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, “I wasn’t aware you were working in there!”
“Well, my regular job is a little overstaffed right now, so I have a bit more free time. Unfortunately, that means a little less bits coming in, so I offered to take a few shifts there for some extra work. Rainbow Dash put in a word there for me.”
She smiled at that, “Well, Maverick, you’ve come a long way from the day you arrived. I couldn’t be more proud of the improvements you’ve made, both to yourself and this house.”
A flash of guilt crossed my face, “Oh, how rude of me! Would you care to stay for dinner?”
She looked at the clock and gasped, “I didn’t realize it was already 10 after 6! Sorry, Mav, I have to get going, I promised I would help Rarity with some decorating at Carousel Boutique. Perhaps a raincheck would be in order?” Her eyes glistened as if she were to cry, however I knew that she would have stayed if she could.
I walked her to the door and bid her goodbye. Back in the kitchen, I put my food on a plate and set my dinner table. Once place for me and a smaller setup for my flying squirrel Steve, who was my constant companion. I wouldn’t be around today if it weren’t for his and Fluttershy’s intervention. The smells of food made my mouth water, and so I turned off the stove after scooping out some of the food and placed it on my plate. For Steve I put some roasted acorns on his plate, and we dug into the meal.
Our appetites sated, we moved into the living room to enjoy the warmth of the fire. I pulled out the book on Cloudsdale that Twilight gave me at my ‘Welcome to Equestria’ party, and started to read, occasionally looking at the stockings hung by the fireplace.
I had three hanging there. I didn’t remember putting three up, but It seemed fitting, as one of them would be mine, one would be for Steve, and the last would be in memory of my mother. I’m surprised that Twilight didn’t seem to notice, that would’ve been something that she would have commented on right away.
The next morning when I left for Cloudsdale, it still amazed me every time I took off in flight. Something that was so alien to me, at least when I was at home, yet here felt so natural, even if I wasn’t fully adept at it. I angled toward Cloudsdale and flew higher than I had before. A half-hour later, I checked in with the foreman, Gruff Hooves, at the weather factory. He was a rather stout pony, about ¾ the size of Big Mac, with thick wings where the ends changed from the slate gray of his coat to a dark black. His mane, on the other hand, was a bright orange, giving the impression that it was on fire. This seemed to match his personality. His voice alone was enough to scare a pony, with its deep tone and volume that seemed to put the Royal Canterlot Voice to shame. Basically, he had me moving clouds that were produced by the factory out to where the weather ponies would pick them up and deliver them to the towns that needed them.
“Maverick!!!” I hear being bellowed from across the floor. The ponies near me seem to scatter away from Gruff’s focus. I got the impression that he ‘ruled’ by fear. I didn’t have time to worry about that, I had to address him first.
“Yes, sir?” I reply, turning toward him in the process.
“What in the world are you doing!”
Confused, I respond, “Umm…moving clouds for delivery, just like you asked.”
“You’re going too fast and leaving bits of cloud all over the place!”
I looked around and noticed all the bits left in my wake. “Sorry, boss. I’ll be more careful.”
“You better, or I’ll have you scraping toilets until you can’t get the scent out of your coat!”
I shuddered at the thought, and got back to work. Everypony around started to give me a wide berth, so they could hopefully avoid Gruff’s wrath. There were two ponies, however, that I could hear clearly.
“Jeez, that’s something every pegasus knows.”
“Yeah, what a nimrod!”
I recognized the voices and turned to see Dumb-Bell and Hoops laughing at me. I just gave them a deadpan look and went back to work. “Just what I need, a couple of bullies with nothing better to do.” I muttered and shut them out.
A couple of coworkers gave me some pointers. One was that you want to move slower with clouds made for snow versus clouds made for rain, as snow clouds tend to be easier to break up. The way they explained it made me feel like this was cloud 101.
The factory looked just as I had remembered from the show, with rooms to each side that held glass jars, some filled with what appeared to be lightning, others with wind, and still others with miniature tornados in them. I never worked on a factory floor before, so I couldn’t figure out if this was normal or not. Ponies moved about to and fro, some moving clouds, others working on snowflakes (who were chatting amicably, and, oddly enough, Gruff left them alone), and yet others handing out orders to those moving the clouds from the machine to distribution areas, based on the order sheets that we got.
For the most part, ponies were nice to me, but with me seeming to be Gruff’s stomping pony, they were extremely careful around me.
Once again, Gruff’s voice boomed through the factory, “MAVERICK!!!”
“Uggh,” I groaned as I stopped what I was doing and turned toward him and said in the nicest voice I could, “Yes, boss?”
He flew up to meet me and poked a hoof into my chest, “What is THAT doing there!?” he then pointed to a set of clouds that I hadn’t touched.
“I’m not sure, sir. I didn’t touch those.” A few gasps nearby betrayed the abject fear that Gruff's presence had on the ponies that work here.
“I don’t care, get them over to the platform over there for pickup, then I want you to go clean up the bathroom.”
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I just did what I was told. I had enough confrontations with Gruff for one day.
I was moving another cloud when another pony called out to me from behind, “Hey, you may just want to watch out around Gruff. It’s like he has eyes in the back of his head.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” I replied as I turned around, only to find a pretty purple pony hovering behind me. I knew I saw her before, but I couldn’t remember where for the life of me. “I’m sorry, but I can’t remember your name. I know I’ve seen you around before, though.”
“The name’s Clear Skies. I remember you from Pinkie’s ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party a while back.”
“My memory is a little foggy from that night, so I’m sorry if I don’t remember you.”
“Well, there was a lot of drinking that night. I’m honestly surprised you outlasted Rainbow Dash.”
Me, being a stupid male, was proud of this. “Honestly, I’m glad I was able to do that.”
Clear, however, gave me a look that one would only give to a boasting male, until we were interrupted by Gruff.
“Maverick! Clear! Get off your rumps and back to work! These clouds aren’t going to move themselves!”
I bolted for the cloud machine, where it a backlog of clouds were accumulating, grabbing an order sheet from the pony managing them. Fortunately, I kept in mind the tips and such that Clear and some of the others taught me, all the while being yelled at by Gruff. If I moved too fast, he’d yell, too slow, yell. Nonetheless, it wasn’t any worse than what I had experienced before I came to Equestria, but other ponies weren’t handling it so well.
My hooves started to slip off the cloud it was on since I wasn’t totally paying attention to what I was doing. The cloud went one way and my trajectory went another that forced me to dodge through some machinery, not to mention some startled ponies before landing face-first into another cloud nearby. I kicked my rear legs, since I could not get purchase with my forelegs. Clear Skies came and pulled me from the cloud, but some seemed to stick to my face, giving me the look of a ponified Santa Claus.
Everypony was laughing at me, but when Gruff arrived, everypony silenced themselves and became self-absorbed in their work. More yelling ensued as I shook the fluff from my face and returned to push the cloud into position. It was then that the factory whistle sounded, ending the workday. When I approached Gruff to turn in my timecard, I could hear Clear Skies arguing about her shift.
“Come on! This is my third time working Hearth’s Warming, somepony else can take the shift!”
“Too bad, we need you.”
“But…my mom flew all the way in from Detrot! We were going to spend Hearth’s Warming together!”
“You’ll get to see her…when your shift ends at 3.”
I held my tongue at first, just wanting to get my timecard signed and get away from the abrasive forepony, but I couldn’t leave with the train wreck that was about to happen.
“Come on, Gruff! I already know at least two ponies who would cover for me.”
“I make the schedules here, Clear, and I’m telling you that you’re working!”
I gritted my teeth at his indifference to her situation. I knew that I would regret doing this, even not knowing her very well, but I couldn’t let this slide.
“Hey, that’s not really fair. There are other ponies that are due for a Hearth’s Warming shift, I’m sure. C’mon, everypony deserves at least one off!”
Gruff just turned toward me, glared with a look that could shatter stone, and said, “Well, that’s just great, because you’re going to join her now.”
I gave him a nonplussed look back. I’ve had bosses like this before, so he didn’t bother me.
“Don’t look at me like that, or I’ll have you working the next week without a break, not to mention make sure this slip doesn’t make it to accounting.” With that, he waved the half-signed slip at me.
I was pissed, but knowing that he had me over a barrel, I just stomped away, which sort of loses its thunder when on clouds as it just doesn’t have that same effect. I then walked up to Clear Skies.
“Well, you know what they say, misery loves company.”
She looked at me quizzically, “I’ve never heard that before…I like it, but, you didn’t have to do that.”
“I’m not going to just sit idly by when something is unfair. See you tomorrow!”
I put my stuff in my locker, including the coat I was given, got my flight suit back on, and then took off for home. Even though I was tired, I still enjoyed the flight home, zig-zagging around clouds and trees when I got low enough to the ground.
My bed was a welcome sight when I got home, and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The morning that followed, I gathered the presents to deliver them to the castle before my impromptu shift at the factory.
Twilight was a little surprised at my early appearance until I explained what happened, leaving out the ‘colorful’ language. She expressed pride at me standing up for a complete stranger and looked forward to me stopping by when my shift was over. It warmed my heart to exceed her expectations like that. My feelings (and my saddlebags) a little lighter, I flew on to the factory and clocked in. At least the foreman couldn’t get angry at me for being late.
I headed into the locker room to put my saddlebags and suit away and get a coat and hard hat on. Clear was already out on the floor getting started, and I could tell her mood was still sour from yesterday, which was ok, because I was feeling the same way about Gruff.
“Hey, I hope you got to visit a little with your mom before you had to come here.”
She huffed, “Yeah, I just wish I had more time. I don’t get to see her as much as I used to when I moved to Cloudsdale. Stupid Gruff.”
I put a hoof on her shoulder, “Hey, don’t you worry about it. It’ll work out.”
“Thanks. Let’s get back to work, there’s a lot of stuff we need to take care of from yesterday, not to mention whatever we have on the list.”
I moved towards the cloud machinery, checking the various dials, gauges and such to make sure they were in proper operating order, all the while fighting the urge to smack something out of frustration. Once the checklist was satisfied, we started making some clouds for last-minute orders. A snow cloud here, a simple cloud to use in building there, that sort of thing. Luckily for me, Clear was there to help me understand what I was being asked to do and pointing things out when I would make a mistake. Sure, I studied up in some books and what Rainbow Dash could tell me, but otherwise I was clueless. Her mood started to soften a little as we developed a bit of camaraderie.
That mood was immediately soured when Gruff made an appearance and yelled at us for a storm cloud floating loose and away from the factory. Turns out that the ponies taking delivery lost the handle on it, but since we’re Gruff’s stomping ponies, that fact was lost on him. Both of us were beyond aggravated with him, but didn’t have time to grumble as Clear was ordered to work the clouds herself while I got relegated to janitorial duty.
At least the janitorial work I was tasked with didn’t change much between home and Equestria, except for how to deal with cloud and other waste products that didn’t exist on Earth. True to his word, however, he had me working all the restrooms in the facility (who knew there were 12 of them!), all of which stank to high heaven. I was happy that I could at least hover competently by now instead of standing on my hindlegs. When I finished and met back up with Clear, she visibly cringed at my smell.
My tasks in the restrooms done, Clear and I continue with the rest of what we had to process, cloudwise. While we continued to work, music seemed to come from nowhere and a song erupted from us. By the end of it, I just stood there, befuddled, as I didn’t even remember the words, much less the song itself. Clear, on the other hand, was unfazed by the experience.
“Hey, Mav, you’re a fast learner for a newbie.”
I shook my head to clear the cobwebs, “Well, I had some great teachers.”
“Oh, and who was the other one?”
“Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.”
“Hmm, I’m not surprised. Your flight could use some work, though. For instance, she could have at least taught you how to properly move clouds.”
“Yeah, I know. Thing is, I get the feeling that I’m supposed to be doing more with my flying, but I’m not sure what.”
“Yeah, it must be hard, being your age and not having a cutie mark.”
I blushed, “Yeah, I’m trying to cover that up so I don’t get a lot of questions about it. I’m sure it doesn’t happen a lot, if at all, right?”
She rubbed the back of her head with a forehoof, “Honestly, I’ve never heard of a case – but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened before!”
I looked away, slightly depressed. For the first time in a few moons, I felt the tug of darkness at my mind. Clear noticed somehow and chose this moment to speak up.
“Hey, I know something that’ll cheer you up!” She rubbed her hooves together and got quiet, “Wanna go prank the forepony?”
If anypony deserved this, it was that spoilsport. I gave her my best evil grin and responded, “I think we should do something more. I bet that he acts completely differently when somepony higher up is around. Maybe we should give them cause to ‘inspect’ issues with mistaken orders.”
We had to wait for the right moment, but we managed to sneak the log away for a few minutes to change things so that various towns would get wrong weather. A snowstorm for Manehattan, sleet for Ponyville, and ice storms for Canterlot. The boss got quite a bit of flack for that one from the unicorns.
While he was dealing with that, we went on break. I had packed myself a nice sandwich, drink, and an apple. Clear and I chatted it up while eating.
Clear looked at me after having a bite of her meal, “So, I don’t know a lot about you, Maverick, where are you from?”
Not wanting to deal with the fallout the full truth which could wait until later, all I said was, “Oh, I’m from Ponyville.”
“Oh, what part?”
“I live on the west side. Nice little place with a second floor balcony which makes for nice entry/exit.”
“Sounds nice. How did you get this gig at the factory?”
“Well, Rainbow Dash actually put in a good word for me, since they were overstaffed and I, being the low pony on the totem pole, got short shifted. I needed some more bits, so I got the temp job here.”
“Sounds like you got a lucky break. Not many ponies get Dash to refer them. What did she do to you?”
I chuckled, “Was it that obvious?”
“It sounds like something she would do to make up for hurting somepony in some way.”
“The short version of the story is that she collided with me at speed, giving me a concussion, along with some minor injuries. I was hanging onto the favor for something like this to come around.”
“Sly pony, you. Not only did you get her to do a favor for you, you also have a great story to tell others and embarrass her with!”
I raise my forelegs, “Whoa, whoa, whoa! While I agree that that would be fun, I’m not into deliberately embarrassing somepony just to watch them squirm.”
I wasn’t feeling as lonely as I had been earlier. Clear Skies was a breath of fresh air to me, and I promised to myself that I would seek her out at some point to repay her. I was sure that my mom would love her, which made me happy.
When our shift was up, she offered to let me tag along and spend the evening with her and her mother. I politely declined, opting instead to stop by the castle and get in on what was left of the festivities. I took off from cloudsdale in my flight suit and sped off towards home and Twilight’s castle. I loved the speed that I would get over distance, and was able to pull off small tricks like loops and such. Everypony enjoyed their gifts and fun was had by all.
All of us were sitting at a table enjoying the last of the drinks that Berry Punch had made. Stories made the rounds, and I talked about my day working with Clear Skies and how I learned a lot from her. When I finished, there was an awkward silence until I noticed their expressions.
“Sounds like you had a lovely day, darling, despite that Forepony’s issues.” Rarity chimed.
“Yeah, I think that was a super-duper story!” Pinkie said, somehow appearing right next to me.
“How about that Clear Skies, eh? Ah think ya have feelings for her.” Applejack teased.
“Yeah, you look like you’re up in the clouds when you were talking about her, you lovey-dovey pony, you!” Rainbow chimed in.
I blushed and tried to shush them, which only egged them on more, so I started to ignore them, letting my memories of Clear swim in my mind. I snapped back to the present when everypony started saying their goodbyes, and I flew home from the castle. Steve was waiting for me, and I gave him another large acorn I had stashed for Hearth’s Warming.
“Happy Hearth’s Warming, Steve.”
He chittered happily, hopped up on my muzzle and patted me on my head, making me chuckle.
We stayed up late, sitting on the couch watching the snow fall. A tear ran down my cheek as I remembered my mom and how she would love this. Memories of Clear Skies then popped into my mind and I wished I had taken her up on the offer to join her and her mother. The day was made easier to bear being with her, not to mention the way she reminded me of the best parts of my mom and fiancée. I reminded myself that I would repay her for her kindness and generally being an awesome pony to work with. Steve and I fell asleep on the couch to Luna’s moon peeking from the clouds as the snow slowed and stopped and my dreams were sweet, being with Clear, working the weather, as well as getting some revenge on a certain forepony. If one were to look in on us, they would see me smiling, and Steve on my head. It would make for a great episode ending.
A good first Hearth’s Warming, indeed.
