Hearth’s Warming was often an… interesting time for Fluttershy. The already busy marketplace and movement of Ponyville in general would become a bustling hub of activity, with ponies rushing about trying to find last minute gifts for loved ones, or getting ready for holiday celebrations. The extra momentum and excitement typically made Fluttershy uneasy, worried that she’d get in the way.
Most years she would typically gather supplies well in advance to avoid the rush, mail off any gifts to her family, and then hide away in her cottage with her animal friends, effectively joining them in hibernation for a few days until the bustle was over.
Of course, more recently she’d been coming out of her shell thanks to her friends. Fluttershy had spent last year’s Hearth’s Warming with them, and despite the fright of acting on stage in front of dozens of ponies, she actually quite enjoyed herself.
As such, this year she was feeling far less apprehensive toward the holiday, and she was even looking forward to the Hearth’s Warming Eve get-together Twilight was organising at her new castle for this year’s celebration. It was amazing how much change a few friends and happy memories had changed her outlook.
Right now, most of her animal friends had been preparing for hibernation, but some were finding it easy to “forget” in the warmth and comfort of her cottage. Fluttershy had her hooves full gently yet firmly helping some of the more stubborn animals. She couldn’t complain however, it was pleasant to know how comforting her home was to her little friends. Even Harry the bear found the side room more comfortable to hibernate in compared to a cave outside in the wilderness.
She was just helping the family of mice getting themselves settled when the calm moment was interrupted when the door slammed open with a crash and her home was invaded by the familiar draconequus wearing an unfamiliar red and white fluffy jacket and hat. “Hello Fluttershy! And season’s greetings!” Discord announced loudly, ignorant, or perhaps indifferent, to the chaos he had caused as many of the smaller animals were now terribly startled by the invasion of their quiet.
Fluttershy quickly shushed the animals nearest her and assured them everything was alright before turning to her unexpected guest. “Oh, um, hello Discord. Not that I’m not happy to see you, but could you please not slam the door quite so loudly?”
“Nonsense!” Discord announced with the same volume as his entrance. “Tis the season to be jolly and all that. I know even you are excited for the holiday. Not to mention gifting, and I have presents aplenty!” He snapped his fingers with flourish and a flash of magic.
At first, Fluttershy wasn’t quite sure what happened, until she saw Angel Bunny rolling past her into the kitchen.
Wait, rolling?
He had tiny roller-skates on his back paws and was flailing about trying to keep himself stable. In fact, almost all the animals now had miniature roller-skates, skateboards or various other wheels under them and things were quickly getting out of hand as they began to panic and roll around the room uncontrollably.
“Discord please!” Fluttershy cried, trying to get her animals to calm down at the same time.
“Oh, how silly of me! I forgot safety equipment.” Discord snapped his fingers, and all the animals suddenly had miniature helmets, and cushions or pillows strapped to various body parts.
There was a loud roar from the other room that couldn’t have come from anyone else but Harry.
“Ah there’s Harry!” Discord said joyfully. “I do hope he enjoys the scooter.” A moment later, there was a loud impact on the wall, followed by a low moan.
“Discord stop!” Fluttershy cried out in horror as she tried to catch some of the runaway animals before they hurt themselves.
“What? But Fluttershy,” he started, but there was a crashing noise in the kitchen that interrupted his train of thought.
“Please!?” Fluttershy cried.
“Oh, all right” he muttered, snapping his fingers once more. In another flash, all the various wheels disappeared, and the animals that still had the ability to walk darted away to various hiding places.
Angel Bunny hobbled out of the kitchen with a colander still hanging off his head that clattered to the ground as he collapsed.
“I was just trying to spread some holiday cheer,” Discord grumbled.
Fluttershy looked around at the aftermath and helped a few of the dizzy animals to their feet. She took a deep breath and sighed, turning to Discord. “Um, Discord, I know you’re trying, and thank you for that. But I think you may have the wrong idea how to celebrate the holiday.”
“What?” Discord asked, looking honestly confused. With a flash of magic, a book appeared in his paw, and a pair of reading glasses over his eyes. “I was sure I had this right. Presents, laughter and fun times for a Hearth’s Warming Eve celebration.”
Fluttershy frowned curiously. “I didn’t realize there was a book on Hearth’s Warming?”
“There wasn’t, so I wrote one myself,” Discord said, thrusting the book into Fluttershy’s face. “See?” The title had “Hearth’s Warming for Dummies” written on the front, with an angular Discord on the cover. Upon noticing Fluttershy, the miniature Discord smiled and waved at her.
“Um,” Fluttershy started, looking up from the book cautiously. “Just what do you know about Hearth’s Warming?”
“Fluttershy my dear, I believe I’m more than knowledgeable on the subject,” he said with a flourish, making the book disappear. “Don’t forget I wrote a book on it,” he winked.
Fluttershy just looked at Discord with a troubled look on her face.
He sighed and crossed his arms. “Oh fine. Ponies put together parties, decorate trees with tinsel, sing songs, exchanging presents, and drink a lot of cider, because a bunch of ponies over a thousand years ago realized it was better to socialize than argue in the snow. Happy?”
Fluttershy frowned inwardly, but tried not to let it show. This could take some time. “It’s a celebration about togetherness, Discord. All the presents and parties are nice, but it’s about spending time with your friends and family.”
“Don’t you do that almost every day anyway?” Discord asked, eyebrow raised.
“Oh! Well…” Fluttershy didn’t actually have an answer for that one immediately. “Not everypony can get together with their family all the time. Some families can only get together in the holidays thanks to where they live.”
“Still not seeing what makes this part of the year so special,” Discord replied.
“Well, it’s like you said. Over a thousand years ago, the three tribes came together for the first time in harmony, and it was their friendship that banished the windigoes. To remind ourselves never to let them get so filled with hatred towards one another, we now celebrate the anniversary of that night. It’s to show how much we love each other.”
“By running around like a mad chicken trying to impress each other with shiny baubles or spending hours making something that will be forgotten in a week?” Discord asked, unconvinced. “The parties I can understand the appeal, but all the stress before hand is just silly.”
“That’s not true Discord” Fluttershy frowned. “Haven’t you ever sat down and made something for somepony else you really cared for?”
“Fluttershy my dear, I make things all the time with the snap of my fingers. Perhaps you’ve noticed?”
“But, isn’t that really easy for you thanks to your magic?”
“Absolutely effortless,” Discord replied proudly, fanning his fingers and producing a bouquet of flowers he presented to Fluttershy.
As pretty as they were, Fluttershy didn’t accept them. “Then it’s not really that special is it?”
Discord frowned and the flowers disappeared. “Are you implying that if I don’t struggle to make a gift, it’s meaningless? What about all those ponies that just go out and buy their gifts?”
“No, that’s not quite what I meant. It’s more…” Fluttershy thought for a moment, trying to figure out how best to explain it to Discord. This was years of tradition and meaning that she, and likely every grown pony alive had grown up with. Trying to explain it to Discord, who was clearly new to the entire thing was a challenging prospect.
A wide smile appearing on her face as she was struck by inspiration. “I know!” she exclaimed. She went to the tree in the corner and picked up a box covered in multicoloured wrapping paper. Returning to Discord, she offered it to him.
“It’s a little early, but maybe if you open your gift now it could help you understand.”
“Oooh, for me? Fluttershy, you really shouldn’t have,” Discord said, wiggling his fingers in excitement. “By which I mean of course you should have and I’m delighted you did,” he added quickly, snatching the present and shredding paper and ribbon to get to the box inside.
He opened the box and his face of glee transformed into one of blank surprise, as he slowly extracted a green and blue knitted scarf.
“It was difficult to think of something that you’d like. After all, you’re always changing and I’m not sure if you even feel the cold, so I thought a scarf could still be nice. They’re very flexible for whatever shape you take, and I think the colours go well with your fur.”
As he pulled the scarf out the rest of the way, his eyebrow raised curiously when he found that the end of it seemed flatter and a little stretched.
“I’m sorry about that one end” Fluttershy said. “I was taking care of Lily Cove’s cat for a couple of days, and he fell asleep on that side while I was knitting it.” She fiddled with her hair with a little embarrassment. “I didn’t notice at first, and then I didn’t have the heart to wake him, so it might be a bit frayed at the edge.”
“You… made this yourself?” Discord asked, still sounding perplexed at the entire gesture.
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “I haven’t done a lot of knitting before, but I wanted to do something nice for you.”
She flapped her wings and raised herself closer to Discord’s height so she could place a hoof on his shoulder. “This is what I was trying to say. A Hearth’s Warming gift isn’t just about the things you receive, that’s only half of it. It’s also putting the time into really thinking about the one you’re giving to. It can be something you make yourself, or finding just the right gift. Sometimes that moment of watching your friend open their gift and seeing their face light up because of something you put so much heart and effort in is even better than receiving your own gifts. Knowing that all the effort and care you put into it made a difference.”
Although, her smile shrank as she noticed that Discord wasn’t lighting up with glee at her gift. He was still staring at the knitted scarf in his grasp, but he instead looked pensive, as if his thoughts were elsewhere.
“Discord?”
He remained quiet, and for a moment Fluttershy wondered if she had done something wrong.
“I don’t… get it,” He eventually replied.
“Oh no, I’m sorry, do you not like it?” Fluttershy gasped.
“No!” he quickly caught himself. “I mean, no, that’s not what I meant. I just don’t understand.”
“Don’t understand what?”
“Any of this!” He snapped, sounding upset. “I watched what everypony else was doing and I thought it was simple enough, throw some presents around, sing some songs and drink a lot of holiday cider, but now there’s apparently so much more to all this Hearth’s Warming thing than I realized, and I don’t know what I’m feeling and I…” he stopped suddenly, eyes trailing back to the scarf and went silent.
Fluttershy wasn’t quite sure what to make of the outburst. She’d seen Discord struggle before with understanding friendship and spending time with other ponies, but she hadn’t seen him go so quickly from quiet to loud and back to pensive again. “Discord, if you want to tell me what’s troubling you, I can try to answer your questions. I want to help,” she added, reaching out towards him again.
“I think I need to go Fluttershy,” he said flatly, not even bothering to look at her.
“What?”
“I just realized there’s something I need to do. Have fun with the other girls at Twilight’s party.”
“Discord wait!”
But he didn’t wait, he snapped his fingers and was gone in a flash of magic.
“Discord?” she asked to the air, worry tinting her voice. “Please come back.” Sometimes, even just that was enough to call the draconequus to her side, but this time the cottage was silent, other than her animals slowly coming out of hiding now that things had returned to normal.
She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. Discord really seemed like he wanted to try and get into the festive spirit. He just seemed to focus on the wrong aspects. She wanted to help, but he seemed to have such difficulty understanding what the holiday was really about.
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy said out loud, turning to Angel Bunny.
Angel bunny got up and dusted himself down, looking rather annoyed at the whole ordeal.
“Do you think I said something that upset him?”
Despite her worry for Discord, Fluttershy still managed to have a good time with the rest of her friends. Applejack had brought a cask of her family’s apple cider for the celebration, and Pinkie had naturally made the party one of her best. Rarity had worked her creative touch and made the whole castle shine for the occasion with some beautiful decorations. Decorations that were almost knocked over when Rainbow Dash tried to re-enact a move she’d read about in one of Daring Do’s books. Even after being complained at, Rainbow had assured everypony that it should be fine, there were such high ceilings in the castle it gave more than enough room to do flying stunts in.
Fluttershy still thought of what had happened with Discord, and in a quiet moment she even stepped away from the gathering to try calling for him again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure if he couldn’t hear her, or was ignoring her calls. Either way, the halls of the castle remained silent.
When she mentioned her worries to the others, they seemed just as perplexed as she was. Twilight tried to assure her that it was probably Discord being Discord, and the other girls seemed to have similar feelings. It would all turn out fine in the end. It sounded as though Discord was trying to get involved in the holiday, but just got a little confused and needed some time to figure things out.
Fluttershy suggested that maybe they should invite Discord next year, and while Twilight agreed, albeit hesitantly, Fluttershy could tell that the other girls weren’t hugely excited by the idea. Which made sense. Discord wasn’t exactly everypony’s cup of tea and took some getting used to.
Eventually it was getting late, and Applejack had to return home so she could share Hearth’s Warming Day with her family. Fluttershy surprised the others when she said she also should be getting home to her cottage.
Twilight had offered to let her stay the night at the castle, as there was certainly more than enough room, but Fluttershy wanted to wake up on Hearth’s Warming morning along with her animal friends and make sure they weren’t lonely. That, and she had also hoped that she might find Discord again.
In the end, she said goodbye to the other girls and promised to be back tomorrow for the rest of the Hearth’s Warming celebrations.
There had been a snowstorm scheduled for that night so that the residents of Ponyville could have a white Hearth’s Warming in the morning, and so despite getting back very late at night, she was pleased she had managed to avoid the bulk of the snowstorm. There had only been a little snowfall, on her walk, but it was only moments away from turning harsh.
She planned to kick off her boots and sodden scarf and beanie at the door, then huddle into bed where it was cosy and warm, but when she opened the door to her cottage, the tall silhouette in the darkness of her living room made her forget her plans entirely.
“Discord, there you are! I was so worried when you disappeared like that.”
“Oh, Fluttershy!” Discord spun around. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light in the room, only lit by the dwindling fire in the fireplace. “What are you doing here?” Discord tried to ask casually.
“I… live here,” Fluttershy replied carefully. Something felt wrong. There was something about the way Discord was moving that lacked his usual energy and carelessness.
“I mean I thought you were at Twilight’s castle tonight.”
“The party is over. I’ll be heading back tomorrow morning, but I wanted to spend the night at home. Is everything all right Discord?” she asked cautiously.
“Yes, yes, absolutely fine. I just… didn’t think you’d be back so soon.” Discord began fiddling absently with his scarf. She was suddenly quite happy he was wearing the scarf she made for him, but even in the dim light, Fluttershy noticed something was off.
She quickly grabbed his paw in her hooves, surprising him. The fingers were covered in band-aids. “Discord, what happened to your paw?”
He pulled his paw away instinctively and hid it behind his back. “Oh, nothing. It’s fine, really.”
“Discord, please,” she asked, her face full of worry. “What happened?”
Discord groaned uncomfortably. “Please don’t look at me like that Fluttershy.” He sighed when she didn’t relent. “Well I suppose you’ll be worrying all night if I don’t show you.” He turned around to pick something up from the table, and then came back to her. “I… didn’t get time to wrap it,” he said, presenting her a small bundle of fabric. “Or finish it really,” he mumbled under his breath. “Turns out actually making something from scratch is a bit more difficult than I realized.”
“You made this… by yourself?”
“It was what you said earlier about not using magic. So… I…” Discord rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably as he stalled. “I thought I’d give it a try. And to make sure I didn’t cheat, I may have… blocked off my own magic until tomorrow morning.”
“You did what?” Fluttershy gasped.
“I use magic as easily as breathing or thinking,” he barked. “I didn’t know if I’d do something without thinking about it, and you made it sound so important.” Discord sighed and looked at the fabric. “I didn’t realize just how difficult this was. And as it turns out, all those jokes about sewing needles being sharp are quite true,” he said, wiggling his paw and showing off the various band-aids.
Fluttershy took the fabric and found that it was in fact a beanie, to use the name broadly. It was a patchwork creation with some very uneven stitching. It looked like it had been put together with a variety of cast of pieces of fabric, and there were a pair of mismatched attachments on the head that Fluttershy realized Discord must have tried to make similar to his own horns. It honestly looked like it was going to fall apart at any moment.
Discord groaned apologetically. “It’s pathetic, I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t…”
But he was interrupted when Fluttershy threw her hooves around him in a deep hug. “I love it,” she said with a loud sniff.
“You… you do?” Discord asked, absolutely perplexed by her response. “But it’s…”
“It’s a gift from the heart,” Fluttershy finished, interrupting him once more. “You honestly tried to learn and make something yourself without magic. Even though you admitted you didn’t understand why it was important, it was still important enough that you tried. Because you wanted to make me happy. That’s the best gift you could ever give, because it’s more than just the beanie. It’s all the feelings and emotion that went into it.”
She pulled back and pulled her current beanie off, and slipped the fragile thing over her head and beamed up at him, the corners of her eyes wet with tears of happiness. “And look, you even got the right size.”
“Oh,” Discord muttered, unsure of what else to say.
“Do you think you understand now Discord?” Fluttershy asked. She pressed a hoof against her chest. “That feeling of joy and togetherness. That’s what the holiday is all about, all the way back to the first Hearth’s Warming, when the three tribes came together in harmony to cast away the cold.”
He did feel… something. A warmth in his chest he couldn’t quite explain.
A warmth that was quickly snuffed by the winter breeze that blew in through the still open door.
“Guh,” he shivered and wrapped his arms around him. He wanted to stretch them out further and coil himself up, but without his magic he was stuck with his current proportions. “Say what you will, but there’s still a lot of cold. Just how do you ponies survive in this weather without magic to keep you warm?”
“Oh dear, I’m sorry, I forgot about the door!” Fluttershy said. Thankfully, Angel Bunny had already bounded up to the door and heaved it shut. She turned back to Discord. “Come here to the fire.”
She guided the shivering Discord to the couch in front of the fireplace and sat him down.
“Your scarf does wonders by the way Fluttershy,” Discord chuckled while still shivering. “Turns out I don’t really know how to get a fire working properly without magic either.
“Oh, thank you” she smiled in return, feeling her heart warm from the thanks. "Still no magic then?" she asked, slightly concerned.
Discord sniffed and rubbed his arms. "Not till tomorrow morning. I guess I overshot a little," he chuckled, and then sneezed loudly.
"Well, we'll have to do something about that."
Fluttershy kicked her boots off by the door and heaped a couple more logs onto the dwindling flames and with a bit of fiddling, it was beginning to glow brighter and warmer.
When she was confident the flames had caught, she fluttered over to the couch and snuggled up at Discord’s side, sharing her own warmth. “Is this better?”
Discord shifted slightly and rolled his shoulders. “Somewhat, but I can still feel a chill,” he admitted.
She giggled. “Just wait a moment.”
Some squirrels brought over a blanket and draped it over them before snuggling up to share the warmth. A few other mammals of the smaller persuasion also joined them, until they were a bundle of tiny breathing bodies all forming a barrier to the cold. Even Angel Bunny had sidled up and found a place to rest on Fluttershy’s back.
“Better?”
Discord was still a bit surprised the animals still trusted him, after his shenanigans from earlier, but realized it was really Fluttershy they trusted, and through her trust of him, he was also deemed safe to be around.
“Um…” he looked around at the various animals drifting off to sleep around them. He almost felt worried about moving in case he’d hurt one of them, but it was surprisingly soothing having all of them pressed up against him. “Yes, actually. Much better.”
Fluttershy grinned. “Goodnight Discord.”
Discord wasn’t a fan of stillness. It felt like a little death, a restrictive, tight anticipation. He’d been stock still for over a thousand years when he had been trapped in stone. He was such a non-fan of stillness he always preferred to be moving about, always changing or creating activity around him.
But this was a different kind of stillness. The crackling of the fire, the chirps and squeaks of the animals around them as they fell to sleep, the soft scarf around his neck, and the gentle breathing of Fluttershy under the blanket by his side. The snow had begun to fall outside in earnest and the wind whistled through the night. Somehow, it made the warmth of the cottage even more comforting. It all felt peaceful.
Peace was another thing Discord normally couldn’t abide by. But now? Now it he found it strangely to his liking.
Discord felt himself relaxing in the calm of the moment and closed his eyes with a smile on his face. “I still don’t quite get it,” he admitted.
Fluttershy stirred and looked up at him. “Hmm?”
“Any of this. Spending time on silly little gifts, bundling up together under a blanket and falling asleep in front of a fire? None of it makes any sense. But… I don’t think I need to understand it to enjoy it.”
Fluttershy smiled and sunk back into Discord’s fur. “That’s nice Discord. Happy Hearth’s Warming.”
“Happy Hearth’s Warming Fluttershy.”
Author's Note
As mentioned in the description, this was written for Jinglemas 2020, and I've never done anything like this before, so it was a fun experience.
Happy Hearth's Warming everyone, and Happy Holidays 
