A Hearth's Warming Tale

by kudzuhaiku

The poor side of town

Once again, Lime Tart found herself peering into the bathroom mirror. Still wet from her bath, she examined herself as she brushed her teeth. She was not the filly that she was the day before. The filly in the mirror had no flaws to be found, no dreadful shortcomings. Her hindquarters weren’t that big—and she would surely grow into them. Nor was she too fluffy, and The Frizz wasn’t so bad, really. It wasn’t even that difficult to be green, and she rather liked her yellow spots. But perhaps the most important thing about the filly in the mirror was that this filly had saved Hearth’s Warming.

Oh, Hearth’s Warming would have happened, even without her intervention, but because of her, it would be a special day. Well, two days, actually. Hearth’s Warming Even and Hearth’s Warming Day. Why they called it even instead of eve she didn’t know, but it probably had something to do with the old days. While her toothbrush moved up and down, and side to side, she heard a thump from downstairs. Her mother was doing some last-minute work, even though the bakery would be closed today.

The day before Hearth’s Warming was an important day for sales, but that didn’t matter. They had plans for today. In just a few hours, they would show up unannounced, invite themselves inside, and they would deliver some much-needed holiday cheer. The night would be spent over at Stargazer’s house, and then Hearth’s Warming Day would be spent together, for surely he would need some help to get through the day.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” she said to the filly in the mirror, and she sprayed her reflection with toothpaste.

Today, she would save Hearth’s Warming. Maybe in the future, she might save Equestria. It was possible. Her confidence was such that she felt as though anything might be possible, even the extra-impossible stuff. Somehow, she’d gone from doing bad, to doing good, and it felt great to do good. Things had worked out. Her parents had a new business opportunity, and while she didn’t understand it, she knew it was important. It would probably change their lives in ways she couldn’t comprehend.

When the holidays were over, and things had settled down, she was going to work on saving Upside-Down Cake. How might she start this task? That was unknown, but she would find a way. Stargazer would surely help. She knew that if she asked, he would help, because he was just that sort of friend. Upside-Down Cake would be just one more star in Lime Tart’s constellation. And maybe, just maybe, when Upside-Down Cake was sorted out, perhaps together they could save Treacle from herself.

Little Lime Tart was a filly with high hopes.

---

“Do you have the sleeping bags for camping?” Blonde Roux asked her husband.

They’d never actually gone camping, even after buying all the stuff to do it. The very idea of camping scared Lime Tart; like her parents, she was a city-pony, who rather liked civilisation and all that came with it. Why ponies went out camping in mosquito infested fens was beyond her, and left her baffled. But tonight, they would camp in another pony’s house. For funsies. They would leave behind all of the comforts of home, and do it for a good cause.

“Already loaded in the cart, honey.”

“Mom, when can I wear makeup?” she asked.

“Never, Bubelah. Oy vey, makeup? Really?”

“I want to be pretty.”

“You’re already pretty, Bubelah.”

“But I could be prettier,” she said, and she delighted in her mother’s visible distress.

“Well, time to chain our daughter up in the cellar,” her father said as he trotted into the kitchen.

“That won’t work,” she said to her father, “I have a zapper and I know how to use it.”

“Bubelah, start putting those containers into the cookie.”

“Mom?”

“Do as I say! There’s so much to do!”

“Honey, I think you meant to say, ‘put those cookies into the container.’ Tarty, do as your mother asks.”

“What’d I say?” Blonde Roux froze in place, blinked a few times, and then said, “I didn’t get enough sleep. Oy vey. I was up late getting stuff done, and I got up extra early to get everything sorted out. I need coffee.”

First, Lime Tart had to climb up into the big tall chair, and then she had to stand up on said chair to have a better look at the preparation table. Her mother began to brew coffee along with everything else she was doing. She saw the cookies on the cooling rack, and right away, her mouth watered at the sight of the shredded coconut and carrot curry cookies. A little spicy, a little sweet, with chewy bits of dried coconut and carrot.

“The macarons are a little less than perfect,” her mother said, almost shouting. “I’m so embarrassed. There’s cracks in them. Why, these aren’t fit for sale and—”

“Honey, it’ll be fine.”

“No, it won’t be. I am a baker. My life is defined by what I bake. We just took on work to make fine things, and these… these are not fine and I’m—mmph!”

Her mother was silenced by a passionate, rather noisy smooch, and Lime Tart did her best to pay it no attention. There were three loud thumps as her mother’s right hind hoof banged against the kitchen floor, everything flying through the air wavered somewhat alarmingly as her concentration faltered. This was the worst sort of kissing, with tongues, and it was super-gross.

She packed the cookies into the container, and ate one to reward herself. The first big bite was bliss, and she did her best to ignore the slurping, sucking sounds that her parents made. Of course, the cookie was perfect, and something about the spiciness was perfect for the holiday. It spread warmth through her body and left heat on her tongue.

“Oy vey, Pigie… I think you left my oven on.”

“Oh, that’s just yucko. Don’t destroy my innocence.”

“So says the filly who just asked to wear makeup.”

Much to her dismay, Lime Tart found that she had no response. No snappy comeback. There was no zinger to save her. She sighed, shook her head, and continued to put the cookies into the festive painted tin that had pictures of Canterlot on the lid. A few cookies, a layer of wadded, wrinkled wax paper, and then another layer of cookies. It was a task that she’d done many times, and it was now second nature to her.

---

Outside was a winter wasteland. The sky was all fluffy clouds, what little of the sky that could be seen with the terrible visibility. Overnight, a bunch of snow had fallen, and now ponies had to dig themselves out. It wasn’t a Windigo Squall, the worst it seemed, was over, but the snow fell steady and without ceasing. In some places, the snow drifts were so high that they reached the roof.

“Mom, why do you pull the wagon?”

“Because I’m stronger than your father, Bubelah, and there is no shame in that.”

“Do you worry how others might see it?”

“So full of questions…”

“I’m trying to sort stuff out, Mom.” She watched and waited as the garage doors were closed and locked. When she saw the tree tied to the top of the cart, she felt giddy, and wanted to pronk about, but she feared getting swallowed by a snow drift and never seen again—at least not until spring.

“Your father plays with dolls and I pull the cart. Everything is fine and normal—”

“Not when you say it that way, honey.” Pigeon Pie scowled at the snow with fierce annoyance and then made a futile effort to fan it away from him with his wings. “So, Tarty, what is it exactly that you’re trying to sort out, and why do you want to wear makeup all of a sudden?”

“I feel it’s time to grow up a little.” She shrugged her withers and didn’t know what else to say to her father.

“Well, don’t grow up too soon, Tarty. That’s not allowed.”

“Do we have everything?” Blonde Roux asked.

“I’m pretty sure we do,” Pigeon Pie replied. “Wait, what about the baby? Do we have Tarty? I haven’t seen the baby for a while. I think we left her behind somewhere.”

“I’m not a baby!” She stomped in the snow and glared daggers at her father, who now crowed with laughter. For a moment, she thought about tossing a snowball at her father, but then she saw how frustrated he was with the falling snow. Even though she was steamed by what he’d said, she couldn’t make things worse for him.

If only she could pew-pew every falling snowflake before they reached the ground.

“Let’s go,” Blonde Roux said. “I doubt the roads will be clear in that part of town. We might have to clear our own way.”

“I have news for you, honey. Tarty can make snow explode—”

“She what?”

“Oh, you’ll see soon enough. Just put her out front and watch.” He waved a wing at his daughter. “Tarty, do what you did in the cemetery. Show Mom what you did.”

“Can do,” she replied, and just like that, all of a sudden, she was in love with her father again.

“First you shoot icicles at Treacle and now you can make snow explode?” Several deep wrinkles of worry appeared upon Blonde Roux’s face. “Sometimes, I wonder if you need magic instruction. I have concerns, sometimes. That’s going on the list. Bubelah, you walk with me and you show me what you can do, alright?”

“Sure thing, Mom.” Unable to stop herself, she grinned. “Let’s go!”

---

A mass of snow was utterly obliterated by Lime Tart’s blast. The snowflakes scattered and blew about on the wind. They were almost there now, and under normal circumstances, she would have been able to see Stargazer’s house from here. But the day was grey and the houses out here, almost all of them were buried beneath impressive snowdrifts. Tongue out, Lime Tart took careful aim…

And blasted more snow out of the way.

It felt good to do, but it was also tiring. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, not exactly, but somehow, her blasts sent the loose, fluffy powder flying. Nopony had cleared the roads out this way, and the way forward was quite treacherous. Her mother was able to push and shove snow out of the way with her magic, but it lacked the impressive explosiveness of Lime Tart’s concussive snow-bombs.

Still, watching her mother, Lime Tart learned a few things. Her mother could push and shove huge amounts of snow and just move them out of the way. It was organised, neat, and tidy. While Lime Tart’s kabooms sent snow flying everywhere and every which way, her mother actually directed where the snow went. There was something to be said for careful application over explosive force.

“The poor side of town looks a bit neglected—”

“Pigie!”

“Well, it’s true. It does. It’s almost like the mayor doesn’t like these ponies—”

“Pigie!”

“Carefully balanced budget my a—”

“Pigeon Pie, you’ll be a cooked goose if you finish that sentence in front of Limey!”

“Well, our street got plowed.”

“We’re a business. What we do contributes to the town’s well being and—”

“And that’s my point, honey. We get looked after, but what do these ponies get?”

There was a gasp as Blonde Roux started to say something, but then her words failed her. Though only a filly, Lime Tart could feel the tension between her parents. They weren’t fighting, far from it, but they clearly disagreed about this, whatever it was. Her father had strong feelings about it, obviously. Looking about, it bothered her that nothing had been done to help these ponies.

She ceased firing off random pew-pews and instead began shoving mounds of snow out of the way to help her mother clear the road. Where but a few days before she struggled to push snow off of a headstone, she found it quite easy to do the magic needed to help others. She pushed, she shoved, she grunted, and while she couldn’t move as much snow as her mom did, her own efforts were impressive enough that she was proud of them.

“We’re almost there,” she said to her parents.

When Blonde Roux replied, she sounded a bit sad. “Lead the way, Bubelah.”

Author's Note:

Finally. Lime Tart looked in the mirror, and she liked what she saw.

That can be a tough thing to do.

Comments

[TheBruteKiller]

I'm theoretically an adult and I don't like what I see in the mirror, so it's great that she can do it and like it, great christmas gift

[Ytak]

shredded coconut and carrot curry cookies

That sounds strangely appealing. I have a friend that would be all over those.

“Oy vey, Pigie… I think you left my oven on.”

That's some steamy talk there.

[Quinch]

It wasn’t a Windigo Squall, the worst it seemed, was over,

I think I understand this sentence, but it seems a bit... tangled?