//------------------------------//
// 23: A Merry Flutter Christmas, part 1 - A Night Before Fortmas 
// Story: Fortresshy: The Nine Fathers 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	Fluttershy stared out at the blazing sun, far too hot for anyone to go outside, and sighed sadly.  It was the middle of summer, and out here in the middle of the Outback, the days got boiling hot, and the nights freezing cold.  It wouldn't be so bad if she were nearer to some vegetation, but there weren't any trees near the Fortress: those that had been had been cut down for the construction.  And the Fortress itself wasn't very insulated, so no one was up to moving very much.  She flopped down on the floor next to Chompy, who despite being five times her size still obeyed her every command.  He, too, was unmoving, mouth open and tongue hanging out as air like a furnace exhaled from his mouth like a bellows.

It wasn't as bad for her Daddies, as most of them were either fully adjusted to the heat like Bang Daddy and Boom Daddy, had trained themselves to the heat like Poof Daddy and Daddy Sir, had outfits that allowed for better ventilation like Dadenji and Big Daddy, or in the case of Daddiem stayed in the cooled medical wing.  Mama barely noticed the heat at all, and Big Brother somehow reveled in it, laying on the roof with a metal sheet 'tanning'.  Fluttershy, however, had a coat of fur that kept the heat in which matted to her body with sweat, which made any sort of movement in this heat unbearable.

As she lay there, mouth open as she breathed deeply to get whatever cooling she could manage, Daddy Sir came up.  "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" he asked in concern.

"Too hot," she gasped out.  "Can't move..."

"Arf..." Chompy agreed, creaking as his jaw moved.

Daddy Sir nodded to her.  "Yeah...summer's hot out here..."  He glanced around, and his eyes fell on the calendar.  "Pity we aren't back in 'Murica, Christmas really calls for snow."

Fluttershy had seen snow, and played in it, six months back in midwinter, when Daddy Sir had tried to set off fireworks for the Fourth of July.  That had been curtailed when Fluttershy started getting ashes in her coat, and had flashbacks to when Chompy had dissolved.  "Christmas?" she asked in confusion.

"Yeah, Christmas!" Daddy Sir said happily.  "It's a really great holiday!  Hang on!"  Turning, he raced over to the bookshelf and started searching.  "Here it is!" he said, coming back with a book titled 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  "This'll cheer you up!"

As he sat down beside her, she perked up.  "Okay."

Smiling, he opened the book.  "Twas the night before Christmas," he read, "and all through the house-"

"What's a house?" Fluttershy asked in confusion.

Daddy Sir paused, struggling to think.  "Hmm..."  He glanced down at the story, up at Fluttershy, then around at the fortress.  "...I think I can make this work, gimme a moment."  Turning to a nearby table, he started writing furiously, flipping through the book as he wrote.

Fluttershy watched in interest as her Daddy Sir worked, wondering what he would prepare for her.  Finally, after several hours, he raised the piece of paper.  "Finished!" he proclaimed proudly, smiling widely.  He then came over to her and held up his paper as he prepared to read.  Fluttershy noticed several misspellings and other mistakes, but chose not to say anything as he started to read.

"Twas the night before Christmas
And all through the Fortress
Not a creature was stirring,
Not even tiny horses."

Fluttershy giggled as Soldier tickled her behind her ear on that last line.  Chompy wiggled over closer to listen as well, the slowly setting sun cooling things down enough to make moving easier.

"All the stockings were hung
from the chimney with care-"

"What's a chimney?" Fluttershy asked curiously.

"It's a stone column that lets smoke from a fireplace out so people can breathe," Daddy Sir replied.

"What's a fireplace?" Fluttershy asked, confused.

"A place specifically designed to have a safe fire inside."

Fluttershy nodded.  That made sense.  Daddy Sir continued to read.

"In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there."

While Fluttershy wondered who St. Nicholas was, she decided not to interrupt again.

"The younguns were tucked right into their beds
And dreams of fun carnage danced in their heads."

Fluttershy giggled as she imagined her last big fight.  BLU team had attacked again, and Fluttershy had enjoyed herself.  Her favorite tactic she developed was to fly high above one of the BLU mercs with limited ranged combat ability - the Engineer, Sniper, or Pyro for preference - swoop down without warning, swipe their melee weapon while shouting 'Yoink!', then quickly zip over to a heavy melee ally - Big Daddy or Mama for preference - and put them into her mini-overdrive while they blasted the pursuing BLU to bits.  Chompy, she knew, was visualizing how she had decided to end the battle, by throwing open the main doors and shouting, "Chompy, sic!" at which point he had charged out, bullets bouncing off his armored shell, and swallowed the BLU Scout whole in mid leap.  That had sent the rest running in terror.  A good end to the fight.

"With Pyro in gas mask and I in my helm
Stood guard as we patrolled the halls of our realm"

Fluttershy smiled as she pictured Daddy Sir and Mama as they patrolled the Fortress, watching over her and Chompy as they slept.

"When out in the yard there arose a great noise,
So I set off the klaxon to summon my boys"

Fluttershy remembered the klaxon.  It was very loud and blaring.  Daddiem had been shocked she had slept through it until Chompy had nudged her awake, the one time it had gone off.  It wasn't that she couldn't hear it or wasn't disturbed by it.  After looking at psychology, Daddiem had been able to determine that she slept so peacefully because she felt completely safe with all of them.  That had spurred a family hug.  She always loved those.

"Quick to the windows we flew in a blaze
Armed to the teeth, our enemies to raze"

She couldn't help but giggle at that mental image.  After all, only Mama could raze enemies, he was the only one with fire.

"As moonlight was insufficient to see
The spotlights we aimed to find what it could be

And what before our shocked eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer"

Fluttershy gasped happily.  She'd heard about reindeer, and always wanted to see one.  But eight?  That was almost too much.

"The little old driver was so lively and quick
I heard Heavy cry, "My god, it's St. Nick!"

Fluttershy smiled.  So that's who the St. Nicholas mentioned earlier was.

"As for waking the young ones, we worried who to blame,
When that little old fool started yelling out names!

"Now! Dasher, now!  Dancer, now!  Prancer and Vixen,
On!  Comet, on!  Cupid, on!  Donder and Blitzen;
To the top of the tower before gunfire can fall!
Now Dash away!  Dash away!  Dash away all!"

Fluttershy fell over as she stifled her giggles.  Seems St. Nick knew her Daddies!

"How well he knew us and our itchy trigger fingers
And so before too long in our sights could he linger
So to the top of the fortress those reindeer flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too."

Fluttershy gasped.  "Reindeer can fly?" she asked, shocked.

"Only St. Nick's," Daddy Sir told her.  "They're special that way."

Her eyes widened in awe.

"And in just a moment I heard on the roof
Sounds I knew well from each little hoof"

Fluttershy smiled as she gently brought her hooves down on the floor, getting a smile from Daddy Sir.

"As we raced to the Control Point our position to keep
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a leap!"

Fluttershy gasped.  She knew leaping into a defending control point when her Daddies were ready to fight could be fatal for St. Nick.

"He was dressed all in Red from his head to his foot,
So we knew he was ally and didn't give him the boot."

She let out a sigh of relief.  She had been worried about St. Nick.

"The bundle of toys held on his back with tension
Quickly drew every eye, and all our attention"

Fluttershy giggled again at that, remembering the times she had visited the toy store.  The only ones who had ever controlled themselves in there had been Bang Daddy and Poof Daddy...and even Bang Daddy had fallen prey to the siren call of the magical ball pit.  She stilled her giggles as Daddy Sir continued to read.

"He looked oh so happy as he began his task
Accepting Demo's offer of a draught from his flask"

Fluttershy gasped.  "Boom Daddy offered someone else some of his booze?" she asked in shock.

Daddy Sir grinned.  "That's just how special and important St. Nick is.  He's the only one outside the team Demoman will share his scrumpy with."

Fluttershy giggled.  "Even if Boom Daddy's the only one of us who can drink it."

Daddy Sir let out a laugh before continuing to read.

"He filled up the stockings with wonderful toys
For our good little girl, and us good big boys

And laying his finger beside his nose
He gave a nod and up the chimney he rose"

Fluttershy gasped again.  "St. Nick can fly, too?"

Daddy Sir laughed.  "He's Santa Claus!  He can do anything!"

"Santa Claus?"

"Another name he goes by," he pointed out.

She let out a gasp.  "Oh!  That big man the size of Big Daddy who had kids sitting on his knee at the toy store last week?"

"Exactly!" Daddy Sir confirmed, before returning to the story.

"We bid him farewell, and Scout called "Come back soon!"
Though we doubt he heard us, silhouetted 'gainst the moon.

But we heard him exclaim as he flew out of sight
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Fluttershy clapped her hooves together as the story ended...and she wasn't the only one applauding.  The entire family had gathered as Daddy Sir had read, much to their surprise, and they were all applauding.

"Quite good," Poof Daddy said as he clapped slowly but appreciatively, causing Daddy Sir to rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

Fluttershy smiled widely, but then frowned.  "But...that still didn't tell me what Christmas is..."

"Oh that's easy," Big Brother piped up.  "Christmas is when you gather around the Christmas Tree with your family and exchange heartfelt gifts and are overall happy and content with each other.  It's a special time of togetherness."  Seeing the others stare at him, he huffed.  "What?  I'm allowed my sappy side, same as all of you!"

Fluttershy's smile was huge.  "Oh, I can't wait to celebrate Christmas this year!" she cried, bouncing happily.





With that declaration of Fluttershy's, the mercs all looked at each other and nodded.  They weren't going to disappoint their special little lady.  They were going to make her first Christmas one to never forget.

Operation: Fluffy Christmas was a go.