A Changeling's Christmas Catastrophe

by AizakkuHorooee

Chapter III - Our Tradition

I have to say, with everything having settled down with Carve and the hive, Carina and Aita are complete joys to spend time with. I think the only pony that is particularly surprised Carina and Aita never heard of Blockbuster Video was my niece. I really don’t find that surprising though. And it makes sense because, well, I was in Wisconsin myself and kept my appearance a secret, aside from Jon and Roman. And there’s how I then told Carve and Pane about the whole thing.

After the six of us hear about Carina and Aita’s lack of familiarity with Blockbuster Video, Carina decides to walk over to Carve’s room and see what it has to offer. I promptly follow her in the hall as she studies the room.

“Hmm... I thought she’d have a lot more in here. I guess she doesn’t need much,” Carina comments.

“Well, she’d only be in her room to sleep really.”

Carina turns around in response to my voice.

“Oh, Rusty. I didn’t notice you were behind me. So, uh, what’re we going to be doing for Hearth’s Warming?”

“Well, Pane, Carve and I will be celebrating Hearth’s Warming like we always do. Only thing though is that we’re celebrating it early, which is actually alright with all of us, as long as we all get to see you and Aita.”

“Aw, thanks, Rusty. That means a lot.”

“So, what specifically do you want to know about how we celebrate?”

“Is there any urbex involved with the celebration? I’ve been wanting to find a place to explore since I heard about you and Pane.”

“Heh, then I guess you’re in luck. After we go to see a nearby pageant for Hearth’s Warming, we go and see our target place the very next day. Of course with celebrating early with you and Aita, it’ll just mean you two can come along with us to see a live pageant if you decide to visit next year.”

Suddenly, Carina freezes.

“Wait. Don’t you guys open presents on any of the two days?”

“Well, yeah, we open presents. But that’s usually saved for the instance we get home. Sometimes we go cross country with finding places to explore, so in those cases, we bring the presents with us.”

“Oh okay. That routine had me a little worried there. Aita gets extremely ecstatic with presents.”

“Well, no holiday is simply based around presents.”

“Hmm. Point taken.”

;=;

Watching the recording we have of the Hearth’s Warming pageant proves to be a little hard to see when six ponies, three of them who’re changelings, are looking at the screen at the same time. But we do manage to see who plays who in the pageant, during a recording fittingly titled “Hearth’s Warming Eve”.

The hive has a bit of an interesting history with the windigos. Brief but interesting nevertheless. The only time the windigos ever came by our hive was during Nightmare Moon’s debut, and it took their love for feeding on panic to drive them away, because changelings feed on love. And because the windigos’ magic was contained in a stone carved into the throne that would’ve become Chrysalis’, the hive was safe from another white winter, and that magic filter extended to nearly all of ponykind right afterwards.

In any case, according to Queen Areola, when I was a nymph, Hearth’s Warming as an option for her to celebrate. But I suppose not having any portable items does put the holiday into a confusing light, which was why celebrating Hearth’s Warming was simply optional at the hive, to remember our evolutionary triumph over the windigos.

So, after the six of us see the recorded pageant, we have the decision to take one last look at... oh take a freakin’ guess! Rusty adores that place to chunks, and has frequent nostalgia trips by even thinking about it! BUT... as every one of us agrees on seeing the place, it couldn’t hurt to see that place one more time, this time without uncertainty. And this is also coming from someone who passively regrets a lot of what they did in the past.

Now because Carina, Aita and Trace Light are all visiting, what’s different about this year is that now the six of us have an entire day available for presents, since we only have to travel to our place of choice to explore. Trace Light is sure going to like that.

Once the visit to Bundle Rollers is nearly finished, Carina and I decide to sit on the front benches and talk.

“Wow. I can’t believe how much I was missing out on. I think I may’ve told you about how I never really get to go on adventures like this.”

“Trust me. Urban exploration offers almost nothing like any other field of interest. There’s a large element of strategy that goes into urbex that can make it so rewarding. I just don’t think anybody had ever told you about it.”

“And you guys do it at least weekly?”

“Well, Rusty and Pane, yeah. I don’t join in as often as I used to, obviously because of Chrysalis, and...”

“Rolling Acres Mall?”

“Yeah, that. But now that I’ve moved on from that, I’ve gained a huge appreciation for Rusty and Pane’s past.”

“You have?”

“Yeah, Carina. Bundle Rollers is where they used to go as foals, just like how every month before you-know-what happened, I used to visit Rolling Acres. I guess everybody has something they can reflect on positively.”

“Well, there’s always standing next to someone enjoying music.”

“Exactly.”

“I guess that’s something I can think about when I get home. I’d love to explore some more in the future. So, ready to head out? I see the rest coming our way.”

I nod at Carina as she looks across the hall. I turn around and see exactly what she said.

“Yeah, I think I’m ready.”

Carina and I get off the bench and join Rusty, Pane, Trace Light and Aita, all of us leaving Bundle Rollers at once.