Honey's Hearth's Warming Tale

by Jmaster49

Getting To Know Each Other

Eventually, Honey Lodestar would lead Tungsten Wolfe to her home. A simple, single-story abode that had some light decorations here and there. Her tree was bare due to being unfinished, but you best believe she had plenty of freshly jarred cases of honey to sell for the season. Once she put away her new set of flash bees, and turned a certain family photograph facedown, she invited him inside…

“...a bit rushed on the decoratin’, huh?” Tungsten noted her unfinished tree in a teasing manner. “Don’t worry, I’m the same way. I ain’t got nothin’ put up in my home yet.”

“Y-yeah…I guess that’s why everyone’s so rushed and pressed for time right around now. We’re all trying to get our stuff up as early as possible…hehehee…” Honey found herself laughing like a complete fool in his presence.

To which Tungsten glossed over, not wanting to embarrass her. “Makes sense’ta me. Seems like you’ve been gettin’ along just fine ever since we first met, huh?”

“Oh…for sure…anyway…” Honey reached for a green wrapped box with red ribbon she had under her tree, and grabbed ahold of it. “I want you to have this. A guardspony like you has been through a lot to keep us safe, and well…not enough of the population takes you guys seriously. So I thought I’d extend my gratitude…” She reached out her hoof and offered him the box while furiously blushing and averting her gaze. “...so p-please take this.”

“For me? Aw, thanks…and yeah, I guess you right. We don’t really get much recognition since Twilight and the other princesses usually do all the world-savin’ stuff…”

As much as he often denied it, it was genuinely nice to feel appreciated by someone else. After all, being a member of the Royal Guard was a thankless job that was often met with apathy at best and ridicule at worst. Tungsten found himself staring at the present box for a moment, then he quickly glanced at Honey with a smile before opening it.

“...Thanks, Ms. L,” he thanked her as he tore the ribbon off with his mouth…and inside, he found the sweater that Honey had picked out for him from the store along with a rather large, hoof-made tree ornament. It was red with a hollowed out, transparent circle and message that read:

‘There is no better gift to receive
Than the comforting smile of someone you like
On Hearth’s Warming Eve.’

Tungsten sighed with a smile as he read the message and set the box aside.

“S-so…do you like--eep!”

Tungsten had wrapped his hooves around her and given her a hug. “Like it? I love it, Honey. I ain’t never received somethin’ so lovely before.” He let her go and took a step back so that he could look her in the eye. “Thanks a ton.”

It took every inch of Honey’s willpower to fight back against the desire to become a pile of nervous mush as she felt her heart beat with enough intensity to be heard inside of her head. “Y-you’re welcome…just felt you deserved this, ya know?”

“You know my folks ain’t never celebrated this?”

That was a rather concerning statement--enough to cause Honey to pause and focus on it instead of her anxiety. “...wait, what? Your parents never let you celebrate Hearth’s Warming?”

“Or Nightmare Night, or Hearts And Hooves Day,” he explained with a tone that conveyed a sense of sadness. “They kept me sheltered off from everything and never let me do anything or speak to anyone outside the house. Found myself lonely…annoyed…bitter…”

“...You poor guy,” Honey muttered as she offered her sympathies, “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like.”

Tungsten scoffed. “Tch. Just imagine bein’ told ‘no’ every time you asked to do somethin’.”

Now Honey was curious--specifically in reference to how he managed to acquire his cutie mark. “So…how did you figure out what you wanted to do with your life, Tungsten?”

“...It goes like this…”

---

Many years ago…

As per usual, the young Tungsten was forced to sit in front of a piano and practice notes all day. It got to a point where his hooves were numb from playing so much.

“...Mom, can I please do something else now?”

His mother, an orange unicorn, replied, “No. You’re gonna sit right there and play that piece until you get it right. No boy of mine is gonna grow up and disobey me.”

“Can I at least go play outside? Just for a bit?!”

Yet again, his mother refused, “Now you listen here. You ain’t gon’ get into fights with nobody and you ain’t gon’ start makin’ friends. Makin’ friends leads’ta fallin’ in love, and fallin’ in love leads ya to a life of hell and damnation tied down to someone that’ll screw you dry.”

The colt slammed his face against the piano keys, causing a discordant set of notes to play all at once. Then, when his father came home through the front door…

“Dad! Can I help you with work?! Anything?!”

“No, son. Do as your momma says,” the tired, overworked white pegasus stallion replied.

His father simply flopped upon the couch and drank from a glass of beer as he usually did while his mother continued to pester him into doing his boring, uneventful piano lessons. This was how his daily life went, and the colt got fed up with it, but was ultimately powerless…

That was, until…

Tungsten’s nose twitched. He started to sniff the air, catching a whiff of something that did not smell right.

‘...carbon dioxide and monoxide. Smoke.’

Indeed. The thick smell of smoke was coming from the nearby open window. And where there was smoke, there was…

“Fire?!”

When he took a look outside, he saw a local restaurant on Restaurant Row ablaze with red-orange flames. In a flash, the earth pony colt climbed out of the window and raced to the scene…

Only for his mother to shriek when she realized her son wasn’t there anymore.

“...Tungsten? Tungsten?! Get yo ass back here boy!”

She hurried outside and chased after him…only to be met with an extremely grateful mare.

“...he saved my baby! Oh thank you…!”

Tungsten’s little body was singed to a crisp, but he made sure the unicorn baby he had saved was unharmed.

“No problem, miss!”

One of the Royal Guardsponies, a blue pegasus mare clad in Royal Guard armor, approached his mother. “...That your boy? He’s got guts, don’t he?”

Tungsten’s mother grit her teeth, holding her tongue and biting back her anger. “...yep. He does.”

“If he’s that tough when he’s little, he’ll be a damn good Guard one day,” the guardsmare complimented her as she left to rejoin her group, “If he ever wants to join in, tell him Ms. Nero recommended him.”

And in a flash of magic…

“Look, ma!” Tungsten showed his mother his flank. A gold shield with blue flames behind it. “I got my cutie mark!”

And yet…his mother continued to glare at him with silent contempt.

“...Aren’tcha proud of me?”

“...get back in that house and go up to your room.”

Tungsten recoiled in fear. “M-mom…?”

The mare forcefully shoved her son inside of their home with a hard push from her hoof. “Go.”

Tungsten hurried inside with his mother close behind. The mare shut the windows and locked the doors.

“Mom…you aren’t mad at me…are you?”

Just then, she glared at him with bloodshot eyes while grabbing a paddle from the kitchen, clenched tightly between her teeth. “You disobeyed me, boy.”

“Mom…no! Mom please! I’m a good boy! I promise--!” Tungsten started to sob, weeping as he hurried upstairs.

His mother hurried up after him, and cornered him in his bedroom, locking the door behind herself, all while his father did nothing.

“Bend over.”

“...MOM PLEASE NO! I WON’T DO IT AGAIN, I’M SORRY! DAD! HELP!!”

“Show me that blasphemous cutie mark, boy. I won’t ask again. Bend. Over.”

“MOM STOP!!”

---

In the present, Tungsten shuddered as he recalled his past.

“...S-sorry…I must sound like a cowardly little bitch talkin’ about this…” he lamented as he rubbed the side of his head.

Honey refuted his statement. “...No. Absolutely not. It sounds like your mother was abusing you and your father was negligent. I can’t believe she’d do such a thing like that…”

“And that’s pretty much why I left and enlisted as soon as I could,” he explained with a sigh, “Guess I never considered just how bad it was until I spoke it out to somepony.”

“That sounds terrible,” Honey went and gave him a hug this time. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. My parents were nothing but supportive and loved me dearly, so I feel terrible knowing that yours weren’t there for you like mine were.”

Tungsten put a smile on his face and returned the hug. “...don’t be. I’m in a much better place now. My guard buddies and commanders are my real family. Ms. Nero was more of a mother to me than my actual mom was. Imagine that…”

The realization of just how harsh his background was came as a crippling shock to the beekeeper mare. This went beyond simply having feelings for him. She wanted him to be happy above all else.

“...I don’t know what to say. I mean…forgive me. I know they aren’t much, but my words are all I have.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Tungsten assured her as he let go of her, “It’s not your fault.” After all of that, he felt that now was a great time to change the subject. “Anyway, enough about me. I wanna hear about you, Miss Lodestar. Tell me about yourself.”

Just then, Honey came up with an idea.

“I’ll whip up some tea with honey and we can talk more near the fireplace. Deal?”

“Heck, I’m down,” Tungsten agreed with a smile.

About ten minutes later…

With a hot poker clenched between her teeth, Honey poked and prodded the logs that were lit ablaze and crackling in her fireplace.

“There. Nice and toasty. How’s the tea?” she asked as she sat down next to Tungsten on the couch.

“Mmm…hella good,” he rose up out of the cup that he had been slurping from akin to a dog.

A style of drinking that Honey found amusing, as noted by her giggle. “...you’re adorable.”

“Am I?”

“Er…uh…” she blushed and quickly changed the subject. “Anyway…you wanted to learn about me, right? Well, there isn’t really much to my story. I’m just a regular ol’ beekeeper really. Though…the fire that ravaged our home really set us back for a while.”

Tungsten frowned and asked, “...how so?”

“Well, we had to start over from scratch to afford a new home. Thankfully the Royal Guard pitched in and helped us rebuild. In exchange, I gave them as much honey as they wanted.”

“Hm…don’t think I remember that,” the stallion pondered aloud. “Then again, all I can remember after saving ya’ll was passing out from smoke inhalation.”

“...Well…see, after you helped us, the rest of the Royal Guard helped us rebuild and even let me and my mom stay in their barracks until our house was fixed,” she recalled the events with a sigh. “...that’s why I’m eternally grateful to you guys. No matter what anyone says or thinks, the Guardsponies are the true heroes of Equestria and deserve so much more credit than they actually get.”

That put a smile on Tungsten’s face--knowing that his squad were responsible for not only saving this mare’s life, but changing it for the better as well. “...that’s good to hear, Honey. I’ll be honest, that’s why I fight so hard and devote myself to the safety of this city. So that someday, we’ll finally be taken seriously.”

“Well…you’ve done more than that for my family and I, that’s for sure,” she replied with a meek, bashful smile, “That’s why I brought you here. I wanted to thank you and…show how much I…” she bit back her tongue and changed course at the last second, “...appreciate you.”

Tungsten put a hoof around her and held her in a close hug. “Well I can see how much you care. Thank you. This gives me a lot to think about. We should honestly spend more time like this and get to know each other.”

“Y-you think so?”

“Sure, why not?” Tungsten encouraged her, “Hearing how much the civilians value us gives me newfound perspective.”

“T-that’s…g-great!” Honey was about to explode from anxiety, and could hardly take it anymore. “...Oh! Uh…look at the time! I got more gifts to wrap!”

“Huh?”

Honey started pushing Tungsten towards, and out of her front door. “This was great but I’m really busy and need to get stuff ready and I need to focus, so I’ll speak with you later!”

SLAM!

“EEEGH!” Honey squealed from behind the door while pattering her hooves in place.

Meanwhile, a confused Tungsten was left alone outside. All he could do was step away from the door.

“Huh…okay. See you later then.”

As he walked away, he was caught up and met with by a familiar changeling.

“...Mr. Wolfe? How are you today?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” his face lit up upon seeing Kemuri, “Just got through talkin’ with a civilian. How about you?”

Kemuri sighed and ‘rolled’ her solid-colored eyes, “Agh…just got a letter from my brother Kagami. He’s still going on about how ponies are not to be trusted and how I should just return home…blech.”

“Hm…” Tungsten pondered their names for a moment and realized what they translated into. “Oh! Smoke and mirrors. Sorry, just got caught up for a sec. Sounds like your brother needs to step off though.”

Kemuri giggled, “Yes. That’s what our names mean.” The smile went away as she thought about her brother, “But yes…I wish he would just leave me alone. I’m a grown mare. I can make my own decisions.”

The stallion could relate all too well, what with having an overbearing family of his own. “No kidding. I know just what that’s like.”

“...you do?”

“Yeah…”

Tungsten would go on to tell her essentially the same thing he had told Honey not too long ago…

“That’s horrible!” the changeling mare gasped, “I can’t believe your own mother would do something like that to you…”

“Yea, it was awful,” he shook his head, “But like I said, I know what that’s like, Miss Kai Tan. You just need’ta carve your own path away from them and do what you feel is right. Ya feel?”

Kemuri nodded. “I most certainly ‘feel’ you, Mr. Wolfe. To be quite honest, it’s one of the main reasons why I dislike dealing with my own family. I’m currently working on establishing myself as a diplomat between the changelings and ponies. Do you think I have what it takes?”

“...Hot damn, you really goin’ all out on this one huh, Ms. Tan?” Tungsten spoke in a breathless tone to indicate his surprise. Such a position required a lot of hard work and patience. “You sure you up for it?”

“Of course,” she replied with a confident smile, “It’s my dream to unite us both so we can continue moving forward. It’s what King Thorax would want--what I would want.”

“Well you got my support, Ms. Tan,” he approved her word, “I’ll make sure I let Princess Twi know about whatcha plannin’ for both species.”

Kemuri stopped in her tracks, heart pounding. “...You’d do that for me?”

“Well of course,” he replied in plain, matter-of-fact tone, “Why wouldn’t I? I’m a member of the Royal Guard and if you seek to help improve interspecies as well as international security, then I’m obligated to inform the head of state; Twilight in this case.” Then, he dropped the formal manner of speaking, “Plus, it helps that you’re a kind young lady who I don’t mind goin’ outta my way for. You dig?”

“O-oh…well I…” Kemuri blushed profusely and drew her hoof against the snow in an idle fashion. “...T-thank you, so much…I won’t forget this display of kindness. I knew ponies were worth trusting after all.”

Given his past, as well as various threats to Equestria that came from the inside, Tungsten couldn’t allow her to get the wrong idea.

“I wouldn’t quite say that,” Tungsten corrected her, “Some ponies are mean, and we ain’t all trustworthy. But you can kinda say that about any species. Best you can do is surround yourself with folks you can trust. Got it?”

“R-right. O-of course,” Kemuri replied with a nervous inflection in her voice. “Anyhow…I need to get going. I have a lot of sweets to bake…so I’ll be seeing you!” She quickly turned and started prancing away as quickly as possible. All the while, she kept thinking to herself…

‘Stop…stop thinking about it. Honey is already interested in him. It’s not happening.’

This left Tungsten confused yet again. “...Huh. Twice in one day. That’s strange.”

But just then, he had a thought…

‘...Well I think I finally have an idea for my plus-one. But how do I go about this?’