Silk-Spider Anthologies: Falling Snow

by PinkamenaPictures

[E] Hearth's Warming in Ponyville

Author's Note:

Genre tags: MLP: FiM, slice of life.
Character tags: Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash.
Synopsis: Rainbow Dash prepares for her first Hearth's Warming living in Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash was not used to getting snowed on. For the past six years she had lived in Cloudsdale above the snow, and before that she lived where the snow fell lightly for a couple months of the year. She was fine with snow, really, but did it have to be so heavy? As a pegasus she could handle a little cold, even if she didn’t love it, but snow weighed her down.

Ponyville was an odd town as far as Dash could tell. It was built around a farm, which would normally imply it was an earth pony town, but it had a full pegasus weather team and a number of unicorns. But what really made it strange was how close it was to the Everfree Forest, the most dangerous place in Equestria. Dash had no clue whose brilliant idea it was to build here.

Oh, look, a wild magic forest full of horrible monsters and uncontrollable weather. I'm gonna build a town here, close enough that foals will be snatched away by hungry beasts every week. Alright, Dash did not actually know how many ponies went missing in Ponyville, but it had to be some.

What Dash did know about Ponyville was that they needed new weather ponies. The Everfree Forest's weather would occasionally infect the clouds formed by pegasi, forcing the weather team to fight storms just to maintain the schedule. The difficult and random nature of the work led to a high turnover rate of weather ponies in Ponyville. Of course, if Dash had just been looking for a job, she would not have bothered leaving Cloudsdale. No, the reason for Rainbow Dash’s move was a butterscotch pegasus.

It was that same pegasus that Dash had spent some of her few bits to buy a Hearth’s Warming present for. Dash had never been a great gift giver, but it seemed like something she should do. She flew back to the inn where she was staying at a slower pace than she normally would, both because she was still unfamiliar with the town and because she did not want to risk crashing with a present in her saddlebags.

Ponyville was an earth pony town first and foremost, and that meant that there were no cloud houses for Dash to stay in. There were a couple of places that visitors could stay, but she only had the bits to stay at the Sweet Dream’s Inn. Named after its owner, who was disturbingly cheerful despite the cold weather. Sweet Dream’s Inn was a two-storied building with a small dining area. Dash had requested a room on the upper floor, but due to the season she got one on the ground floor.

It was early afternoon when Dash opened the door to Sweet Dream’s Inn and stepped inside.

“Hello, Rainbow Dash,” Sweet Dream greeted kindly from behind the front desk. “Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“Thanks, you too,” Dash said as she rushed through the overly decorated lobby to reach her room a few doors down the hall. Once inside, she took off her saddlebags and set them on the bed. She opened the bags and took out the gift she bought for her friend: a painting of two light pink butterflies in front of a rainbow in the clouds.

Since the first day of flight school, Fluttershy had been Rainbow Dash’s best friend. Until about two years earlier when Fluttershy fell out of Dash’s world. Dash could never have guessed how literal that statement was. While Dash was racing against some other students, although ‘racing’ implies that they had a chance of winning, Fluttershy fell off of Cloudsdale. Dash did not know the whole story, but Fluttershy got her cutie mark -three pink butterflies -soon after. Since then, Fluttershy had been living on the ground.

After graduating flight school, Rainbow Dash tried to find her lost friend. She could not understand why Fluttershy would want to live on the ground, but accepted that it was not her choice. Dash wanted to share Hearth’s Warming with her friend, and was willing to remain mostly grounded for a few days if that was what it would take.

The gift was quickly wrapped in the newspaper Dash had gotten the day before. Wrapping was not her strong suit, but it looked okay. Satisfied with the present, she set it on the nightstand and grabbed some papers out of her bags. Dash had spent the week trying to get everything set up, and was a bit disappointed by how much longer it would take before it would be done. She needed bits before they would start, the few hundred she saved up during flight school were for rent and food. And wouldn’t be enough anyway.

Pegasus craftsmanship was expensive, but Rainbow Dash could do that part herself. The difficult part was material. Dash guessed that it would take her at least two years of saving before she could even start construction.

Rainbow Dash sighed and flopped onto the bed, dropping the papers on the floor. She was laying on her back with her wings splayed out to catch whatever sun made it through both the clouds and the one window in her room. The bed felt too hard and the room felt tight and cramped, but Dash felt tired and fell asleep soon enough.

In the lobby of the Sweet Dream’s Inn there was a large longcase clock, every hour it would let out a number of chimes. It was not overly loud, and Sweet Dream had never had any complaints about it because nearly everypony slept through its song. Rainbow Dash had been at the inn for five days and found the clock easy to ignore. However, when it finished a specific hourly chime, Dash’s eyes snapped open.

Dash stretched her limbs and yawned, before lazily sliding off the bed. A longer sleep would have served her well, but she had places to be. Dash was well practised at not sleeping too long for things she cared about, even if most ponies would think otherwise. Although the clock did help her wake up when she wanted to, as long as she wanted to wake up on the hour and not anytime between.

After straightening her feathers, Dash put Fluttershy’s gift in her saddlebags and then put them on. She exited the room and locked the door, not having bothered to clean up the papers she left on the floor. She reached the lobby and found Sweet Dream where she always seemed to be, behind the front desk.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Rainbow Dash,” Sweet Dream greeted as Dash approached the desk.

“You already said that today,” Dash said. Sweet Dream simply smiled in response. “Right, well I wanted to tell you that I won’t be back for a couple days, but I am still staying here.”

“You’ll have to pay for your room in advance, I can’t let a perfectly good room stay empty for nothing.” Sweet Dream pulled a ledger from a drawer in her desk and flipped to a page near the middle.

Rainbow Dash reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a bit bag; it was noticeably lighter than it had been when she arrived in Ponyville. She opened it and looked inside. “How much to reserve two nights?”

“It would be… one hundred bits for two nights,” Sweet Dream said once she found Dash’s room in the ledger. “But I’ll make you a deal. Seventy-five bits for two nights instead.”

Dash paused at that, not wanting to question such a gift, but finding it hard to believe. “Sure, yeah. That sounds good.”

Seventy-five bits worth were taken from Dash’s bag and given to Sweet Dream, who put them away and filled out two days as paid in full for Dash’s room.

“Thank you for your patronage,” Sweet Dream said as she put the ledger back in place. “And enjoy your Hearth’s Warming.”

She must really love the holiday, but if it makes the room cheaper, who am I to complain? “Thank you, happy Hearth’s Warming.” With that, Rainbow Dash left Sweet Dream’s Inn and began the flight to Fluttershy’s house.

It was a thirty minute flight to reach Fluttershy’s house, although Rainbow Dash could do it in just a few minutes if not for the weather. Her house was at the edge of Ponyville, right next to the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy had offered to let Dash stay at her house for Hearth’s Warming Eve and Night, and Dash thought that it would be a good chance to catch up with her friend.

In the falling snow, the path to Fluttershy’s house looked like something out of a little filly’s picture book. The Everfree Forest, lightly covered in snow and ice, provided a gentle backdrop. The small bridged river in front of the house had frozen, and the snow in the yard appeared untouched. Rainbow Dash knew very little about building things on the ground, but it seemed to her that the roof being totally covered in snow would be bad for the house.

Rainbow Dash flew up to the door and knocked twice. “Fluttershy! It’s Rainbow Dash!”

There was a brief cry of surprise from inside followed by some clattering, and then the door was opened slowly. Teal eyes hidden behind a long, light pink mane greeted Dash.

“He-hello, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said quietly, but with a smile. She stepped aside to let Dash into her house.

After landing, Dash walked inside and took in her surroundings. She had met Fluttershy a few weeks earlier, but had not yet been in her house. She was in a large living room with a table in the centre of the room and a sofa next to it. There were two bookshelves, one a part of the wall and the other standing, and there were quite a few birdhouses either suspended or standing around the room. The stone fireplace was lit up with a kettle resting on it. There was no Hearth’s Warming tree, but for obvious reasons that was not part of pegasus traditions.

What really caught Dash’s eye were the many animals around the room. There was an orange cat curled up on the table, there were a number of birds resting in the birdhouses, there was a fox looking at them from beside the fireplace, and there was what appeared to be a family of bunnies wrapped in a blanket in the corner.

“Dinner will be ready in an hour, if that’s alright?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sounds good,” Rainbow Dash replied, slightly discouraged by how nervous her friend seemed to be. “What are we having?”

“I’m making a stew with potatoes and carrots,” Fluttershy said. “I got the recipe from an earth pony cookbook, so I understand if you don’t want any.”

“Like I said: it sounds good,” Dash said.

The fire crackled, the bunnies chattered, the birds occasionally sang, and the two ponies stood near the entrance to the house. Fluttershy broke the silence.

“You can put your saddlebags down over there, if you want.”

Rainbow Dash thanked her and did as instructed before walking over to the couch and sitting down. “I’d offer to help you with dinner, but you remember last time.”

Fluttershy laughed at that, just a little, but it was progress. “That’s alright, the hard part is already done anyway. Although I do need to go check on it.”

While Fluttershy went to the kitchen, Dash just waited, not really knowing what to do next. What Dash did not know was that Fluttershy felt much the same. A lot had changed in two years, neither mare was quite the same as when they were in flight school.

Soon enough, dinner was done and set up at the living room table. Fluttershy prepared Dash’s meal, but refused to eat until she had fed her animals. Rainbow Dash decided to help her, not wanting to take advantage of her friend’s kindness. Although Dash may have ended up making it take longer than if she had stayed put, Fluttershy was glad for her help. With the animals fed, the pegasi sat down to their own meal.

Dash enjoyed the stew more than she thought that she would, and made certain Fluttershy knew that it was good. Along with the stew, Fluttershy bought a loaf of hearty bread. Rainbow Dash ate more than half of the loaf on her own, which had made Fluttershy smile; some things never changed it seemed.

After dinner, they worked together to wash the dishes -even though Dash would normally just wait until she needed to use it again to wash them -and the task was soon finished.

Fluttershy yawned as they walked back into the living room, she tried to hide it with a hoof, but Dash saw it all the same. If it had been any other pony, Rainbow Dash would not have thought twice about it.

“Hey, Fluttershy?” Dash asked, trying to figure out how best to say what she wanted to. “Do you mind if we call it an early night? I’m kind of beat.”

“We can do that, but only if you’re sure,” Fluttershy said, not wanting Dash to feel as though she needed to sleep as much as she clearly did.

“I’m sure. You’re still good with me staying here tonight?”

“Of course. The bedroom is just upstairs,” Fluttershy said.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said as she began moving towards the stairs, before stopping at the bottom. “Wait, the bedroom? Where are you sleeping?”

“The couch,” Fluttershy said as though it were obvious, already setting up a blanket and pillow.

Dash just looked at her for a moment. “Fluttershy, it’s your house, your bed. You should sleep on it, it’s yours.”

“I couldn’t ask you to sleep on the couch, but you shouldn’t worry, it’s quite comfortable.”

It took a few seconds for Fluttershy’s words to sink in, but Dash knew that she was not going to take Fluttershy’s bed from her. Her decision made, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and leaped over Fluttershy onto the couch, landing gently as she could.

“Rainbow-” Fluttershy started, but was cut off by Dash.

“You’re right, this is pretty comfortable,” Dash said as she settled in. “I think I’ll sleep here, you’ll just have to take the bed ‘cause I’m not moving until morning.”

Fluttershy did not immediately realise what had happened, and had to reorient herself before deciding what to do. “You really don’t have to, you can sleep on the bed.”

“Give it up Fluttershy, I know you had your heart set on it, but this is my bed now.”

“If you’re sure. Good night,” Fluttershy walked towards the stairs, but said one more thing before heading up. “Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, Dashie.”

Rainbow Dash froze at the use of her old nickname, and Fluttershy didn’t fare much better. The two had spoken a few times since Dash found Fluttershy again, but neither of them had used the nicknames they gave each other in flight school. No other pony was allowed to call her Dashie, but from Fluttershy it didn’t seem so bad. They had been like sisters in flight school, and now Rainbow Dash had real hope that they might be like that again.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, ‘Shy.”