Hearth's Warming Eve 1004
As morning came one winter in Fillydelphia, a yellow Pegasus Pony awoke from her sleep. Her mane and tail were fluffy and orange, and two double-quavers tied together by a purple ribbon adorned her flank. As she arose from her bed onto her black carpet floor, she stretched her legs and looked about her room. On her walls were various Band posters, such as The Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as Slipknot and other heavy metal groups. She trotted to her closet door, which was plain save an Iron Mare poster. She opened the door to reveal various articles of clothing and boxes, one of which was labeled, “Hearth’s Warming season.” she opened the box and produced a large pile of red material. As she separated the material, it was clear that she had a large red sack filled with something, a red dress with fluffy white accents, and a triangular hat in a similar fashion, with a white ball of fluffy material at the top. She donned the dress and hat, then dragged the sack out her bedroom door.
The rest of the apartment was plain, only accented by a few more band posters and her drum kit, as well as her roommate’s instruments: Humm Bucker’s bass guitar, Mosh Pit’s Microphone and stand, and small amplifiers behind this ensemble. “Hey, Floyd.” whispered Bass toward a closed door. “Psst, hey, Floyd. You awake?”
She tapped her hoof lightly on the door, and as she did this the door began to open, revealing a Pegasus Pony with a rich green coat, a messy, reddish-violet mane, which had an orange stripe, and a tail to match her mane. She was holding a Stratocaster electric guitar which had a cyan body. “What’s that, Bass?” the green pegasus groggily asked.
“I just wanted to tell you to tell Mosh and Hummy that I’m going out,” answered she. She then hugged Floyd and said, “I’ll be back in a few hours, okay?”
“Yeah, whatever,” replied Floyd. She then tapped her hoof on the guitar’s body, saying with a bit of sarcasm in her voice, “can we go back to sleep now? You woke Typhoon up, and he’s really upset.” Bass Beat giggled at this remark and nodded. As Floyd closed the door to her bedroom, Bass set out the front door.
Outside of the apartment, the cold Winter air flowed freely as the snow fell gently upon Fillydelphia. A few blocks away to the East, Bass Beat heard a small bell ringing repeatedly. She squinted and looked in the direction from which the sound emanated to see a small Earth Pony on a street corner, ringing a bell in his mouth. Beside him was a red bucket. “First save of the day,” thought Bass Beat to herself. She then spread her wings and took flight, carrying the sack she had taken from her closet.
As she flew closer to the foal with the bell, she noticed that the pony was a brown colt with a shaggy black mane and tail. He was shivering as he rang his bell. Bass landed in front of him, and smiled at him. He set his bell on the sidewalk and mustered a smile to return to the yellow pegasus. “G-g-good day, Miss. C-c-can you spare a b-b-b-bit or two for a good c-c-cause?” shivered the colt.
“Hold on; I’ve got something for you,” said Bass. She reached her head into her bag and produced a folded up red blanket in her teeth. She tenderly unfolded the blanket and spread it over the colt’s back and nodded to him. “It’s called ‘Hearth’s Warming,’ so you should stay warm during it, eh?” said she to the small colt.
The colt snuggled his head against the blanket cheerfully. “Thank you, thank you ever so much, Miss,” said he gratefully. As he looked up to thank Bass for her kindness, he saw that she had already taken flight and was heading away. “Have a nice Hearth’s Warming, Miss,” shouted he to her, “and Celestia bless you!”
As Bass Beat flew over the city, she saw various ponies about the streets buying gifts for the season, talking with each other, and caroling. Eventually, though, she noticed another residential block. Bass knew that this particular neighborhood was very poor, and almost nopony who lived there knew where their next meal was coming from.
The yellow pegasus looked around and eventually found another small foal in the snow, selling matches to passers by. This one was a lavender pegasus filly. Her deep blue mane was knotted and dreadlocked with a tail to match. Her snout was red, and she was sniffling from sickness. Bass flew down and landed in front of her, just like she did with the colt, but she looked very concerned. “Are you alright, Lass?” she asked.
The filly was shivering badly, but managed to reply, “I’m f-f-fine. I’ve b-b-been here for a few h-h-hours now; I’m u-u-u-used to it.” She then held a large box of matches in her hooves toward Bass. “Would you l-like to b-b-buy some m-m-matches?”
“I’m so sorry,” apologised bass to the young filly. She then produced another folded blanket from her sack, and spread it over the sick filly. She then trotted to the coffee shop across the street, telling her, “just sit tight for a second, Sweetie” as she entered.
After a minute, Bass Beat reemerged from the shop, holding a large thermos in her teeth. She then set the thermos down in front of the filly, motioning for her to take it. Upon opening the thermos, the scent of potato soup filled the nostrils of both pegasi. Instead of verbally thanking Bass Beat, the filly gave the yellow pegasus a hug and, beginning to cry, said to her, “you are the nicest pony I ever met, Miss!” Bass smiled at the filly and began to walk off, but was stopped by her. The filly took the blanket off of her back and offered it back to Bass, asking her, “don’t you want this back?”
“Oh, not at all,” declined the yellow pegasus, “it’s yours, Kid.” She said this, and took off once again. She looked back to see the filly crying tears of joy for the gifts she had been given.
Bass Beat encountered five more foals as she flew: a Pegasus colt selling trinkets in the park, an Earth filly and her younger brother scavenging food from the back alleys of restaurants, a Unicorn colt playing guitar on a street corner, and another Earth colt shoveling snow for elderly ponies. She gave a blanket to each of the foals, sang along with the Unicorn colt, earning him more money, bought the Earth filly and her brother a meal from a nearby diner, gave the Pegasus colt some of her Turquoise beaded bracelets to sell, and helped the Earth colt shovel snow, along with getting him a better snow shovel than the old, rusted one he had.
The next place Bass Beat went was the Fillydelphia Orphanage. The building was a very plain grey, with only a wooden door and a sign to decorate the front of the building. The inside of the building was even more bland, with only a reception desk in front of two pairs of double doors in the front room. Behind the reception desk sat an aged Earth mare. Her coat looked to have been purple at one point, but had long since faded onto grey. Her mane was the same; it was silver and tied in a bun on the back of her head. She wore thick-rimmed reading glasses and had a look of disdain on her face. She looked up to Bass Beat, who was a complete contrast to the mare, with her rich red dress, bright pastel coat and mane, and overall cheery disposition. “Yes, can I help you?” said she to the yellow pegasus in a condescending tone.
“Yes, Ma’am,” replied Bass, unfazed by the old mare’s disposition. She trotted up to the desk and produced from her red sack the rest of the blankets she carried, informing, “these are blankets: five or six of them.”
“Yes, so they are,” nonchalantly stated the old mare, “what about them?”
“I’d like to donate them to the orphanage,” said Bass. ‘I know it’s not much, but I’d like the kids to have them; I made them myself.”
This response seemed to hit the mare in the right place, because her eyes brightened and she smiled tenderly. “Why, thank you, Miss,” thanked she, “I’m sure the kids will love them. So expertly crafted, and you made these yourself?” she looked at Bass, who nodded. “Wow,” continued she, “I’m blown away; nopony’s donated to this orphanage in years.” Bass Beat smiled and trotted out the front door. The old mare said to her as she left, “thank you, and may Celestia Bless you, Ma’am.”
As Bass exited the orphanage, she sighed deeply, her breath visibly trailing from her. She then got airborne once again, and cast her view to the Northwest. “Now, one more thing I have to do,” thought she to herself. She took a deep breath and sped in that direction.
After about half an hour of continuous flight, she arrived at her destination: Canterlot. At the gates to the city, she was stopped by two Royal Unicorn guards. each one stood at attention, despite the chilling air around them. “What’s your business here?” asked one in a deep, demanding voice.
“I need to go to Canterlot Heights,” replied the yellow pegasus, who was significantly smaller than either of the two guards. the two guards looked at each other, and one nodded to the other. At this signal, they both focused upon the massive gates. Their horns began to glow a dark gold colour, and as they did so, the gate slowly opened, revealing the lush, gorgeous city of Canterlot.
Bass Beat trotted leisurely through the city, observing the shops, restaurants, and other brilliant buildings in the city. The streets weren’t as active as usual, due to the snow and cold weather. Bass ascended a hill which came to a black, gloomy-looking steel fence and gate which contrasted greatly with the Pearl-white city below. In steel lettering above the gate were the words, “Canterlot Heights,” and inside the fence stood tombstones of various shapes and sizes. The pegasus followed the paved path for a few metres, and then strayed off the path to her left. She looked to a gravestone covered in snow, and respectfully walked to it. “Hey there, Sweetie,” said she, “I thought I’d come to see you before Hearth’s Warming to wish you a Happy one. It’s been snowing for a few days now, and I know how much you love snow.” She then laughed half-heartedly, and she removed her red hat. She then placed it on the lot in front of the gravestone. After that, she cleared some of the snow off of the stone and kissed it, saying, “I love you, and always will.”
The flight home was as silent as ever, and Bass Beat could barely hold back tears as she thought about the pony that lay in that plot in Canterlot Heights, and the words engraved in the stone: “Tech Specs: 979 Year of Celestia-1003 Year of Celestia(02 Year of the Sisters): Hero who gave her life in the aid of one of her closest friends. Once a traitor in the eyes of the Princess, but hailed as a hero in the last moments of her life.”
