Hearths Warming Traditions

by Redback Spino

Chapter 2

“Wait… I didn’t know you had an uncle, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash said, tapping the snow off her hooves on the doormat.

Fluttershy giggled as he opened the door. “Well to be honest, I’d nearly forgotten that I had! Do come in and say hello.”

The rainbow-colored pony paused a moment as her friend entered. Great, Rainbow thought. Not only will it feel weird ‘cause I’m intruding on a family thing, but it’ll be a family of Fluttershys. But she shrugged and entered.

“I’m back, Uncle.” Fluttershy called. “Rainbow Dash, this is my Uncle Butterball. We only just met up earlier this afternoon.”

But before Rainbow could even so much as said ‘hi’, her words were drowned out by one of the loudest voices she had head come out of anypony since Princess Luna.

“AH, YOU MUST BE RAINBOW DASH! HALLO THERE, COME ON IN!”

Uncle Butterball certainly lived up to his name. He was one of the biggest pegasi Rainbow Dash had ever seen! Almost as all as Big Macintosh, almost twice as wide and ten times as boisterous, he came thundering into the living room, belly swaying from side to side, in perfect time with his enormously bushy brown mane and beard. With a rosey-cheeked smile, he picked up Fluttershy in a hug, before turning to Rainbow Dash. The pegasus nervously smiled back and raised a forehoof to shake.
Butterball took her hoof in his and shook it so hard she nearly lifted off the floor.

“Marvellous to have you hear, me-dear, absolutely marvellous!” he said in a deep, sonorous voice. “Fluttershy has told me an awful lot about her friends, your good self included!”

Rainbow smiled back. “Ah, that’s cool… But, uh, she’s never mentioned you before.” And even if she had, I doubt I’d have believed her. How could anypony guess she’s related to this giant?!

“Well, you see, I only really knew about him since… well, since this afternoon,” Fluttershy replied as they all sat down on a variety of chairs, pouffes and sofas. “Apparently he had come to town specially for today, just to come and see me.”

Her uncle nodded. “Indeed. I was anticipating a rather lonely Hearths Warming this year in particular, what with the missus being out of town on business and whatnot. But just then, I get a visit from a friend of mine. He was sympathetic to the plight of a poor old soul like me, and he shared an interesting bit of information he had found just that afternoon! You see me-dear, he works in the business of family-trees and records, and he found out that a relative of mine was living less than an hour’s travel from my home. He gave me the details, and lo and behold, the relative turned out to be sweet little Fluttershy here! Why, I haven’t seen you since you were just a filly, barely tall enough to brush against my knee!”

Fluttershy smiled as she brought in a tray of simple cakes and sweets. “You see, Rainbow, my family is a bit…well, spread out. Unless they live together, it’s rare if any family members ever meet eachother, apart from the occasional reunion. And the last time I went to a reunion was back when I was about twelve.”

“And as I said,” Butterball continued, “I was sadly destined to be alone this holiday season, so I decided to pay my niece a long-overdue visit. And when I heard she was all alone this evening, I asked with the utmost respect, whether such a kind soul as my dear niece would take in a poor old stallion on this, the most wonderful night of the year!”

“That’s pretty cool of you actually,” replied Rainbow, taking a quick sip of tea before adding a few more sugarcubes.
“Going that far to be with family. Pretty cool.”

“High praise indeed, coming from you!” the hammy stallion replied with a deep chuckle. “I understand you’re rather the cool pony yourself!”

The pegasus chuckled “Heh, you might say that.”

Once their tea was finished, Butterball clapped his forehooves on the floor and stood up. “Well, no sense in flapping our lips any longer, or else it will be tomorrow by the time we begin the festivities! Who’s up for crackers!”

And so the celebrations began. With only the three of them there, it was considerably toned down compared to Pinkie’s soirée earlier that day, but Uncle Butterball more than made up for it by being as gloriously loud and charismatic as all that party’s guests put together.

However, as they began yanking open the paper crackers, Rainbow Dash was reminded of another thing she always found hard to enjoy during the holidays: the customs and traditions.

Some of the more major traditions of Hearths Warming weren’t a huge problem for her, like the pageants, the decorations and such. No, it was the little family traditions everypony seemed to have around that time of year. So many of them seemed to make so little sense to her.

Like these crackers, she said in her mind. A bucking nuisance to get open, and what do we get out of it? A tiny crack sound, a flimsy paper crown that would be in tatters by the end of the night, a lousy joke, and a little lump of moulded plastic that they claimed was supposed to be some kind of toy. What was the point?

But, for Fluttershy’s sake, she kept these thoughts to herself and pulled crackers along with them. She could at least get some laughs out of how Fluttershy’s enormous uncle would pretend to stumble backward with a whoop every time a cracker burst open, and stack as many paper crowned on his head as possible. Seriously, how could this guy be her uncle?!

Once crackers were pulled and bad jokes were groaned at, it was apparently time for singing. Rainbow Dash frowned to herself: another bane of her Hearths Warmings. She enjoyed music and singing as much as the next pony, and prided herself on a halfway-decent singing voice, but the traditional winter carols just made her cringe. Even for Equestrian music, it was ridiculously saccharine and sappy. That, and the constant theme of family and togetherness left a bitter taste in her mouth.

However, as with the crackers she just grinned and bore it, unwilling to bring her friend down. If nothing else, Butterball did have an incredible baritone singing voice, the kind that could potentially turn even the most low-brow of ditties into an epic, full-blown opera. After a few songs he did quiet down a little bit, if only so that the singing voices of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash could actually be heard above his own!

And so the night went on. Once carols were sung and a few little party games were played, it was finally time for the best part of the evening: dinner! A modest, but very well-appreciated, dinner was laid out and the three ponies sat down together. Rainbow noticed, with some confusion, that despite there only being three of them dining, five chairs were set out. She was seated on Fluttershy’s right, and Butterball was on the left, but on his left were two empty seats.

But before Rainbow Dash could ask about them, Fluttershy spoke up.

“Oh, um… sorry for stalling things a bit, I mean, I’m hungry too, but… well, would it be alright if we… well, could take a moment of… silence first?”

Butterball chuckled, “Ah, say no more, dear Fluttershy. I was honestly about to suggest the very same.”

Without another word, both pegasi bowed their heads, eyes closed. Rainbow Dash respectfully bowed her head in silence too, but inside her head, she was anything but silent.

Okay, so I don’t see much of the point of this either… but I guess I can let this one slide. I imagine it must be some personal thing. Huh, funny, she thought to herself. I never had Fluttershy pegged as the religious type. Might be something to talk about sometime…

“Okay, thank you for your patience,” Fluttershy finally said, breaking the silence. “It’s just, you know, a little tradition of mine…”

Butterball waved her down. “No need to apologise, me-dear. My wife and I do just the same thing every Hearths Warming. At least, we have ever since… well…”

Out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow saw a shadow pass Fluttershy’s face. Turning to look at her properly, she saw with considerable worry, the first warning signs that the conversation had steered into a very, very sensitive topic.

Just as the timid pegasus’ eyes began to water, Rainbow interrupted, blurting out, “Hey, c’mon, let’s not let the food get cold! No sense in flapping our lips any longer, right Butterball?”

The stallion was slightly taken aback by her sudden outburst, but as he noticed how Rainbow’s eyes darted frantically to Fluttershy, he noticed Fluttershy’s less-than-cheerful demeanour and nodded. “Quite right you are, Miss Dash,” he said, reaching over and attempting a gentle pat on the back. Of course, gentle to him was strong enough to nearly send Rainbow Dash face-first into the mashed potatoes. “Everypony dig in!”

And dig in they did. The three ponies eagerly dug in to the bowls and platters of food, complete with mashed potatoes, carrots, brussels-sprouts, mulled apple-cider, and a rather strange dish that Butterball had brought with him. It was a peculiar-looking thing, made from a mix of beans, oats, mushrooms and garlic, together with a variety of herbs and spices, all mashed together into a vague loaf-shape. Apparently it was a dish from the far north of Equestria, called a ‘haggis’. And as unappetizing as it looked and the name sounded, Rainbow could not deny that it was delicious.

As the dinner was finished and the Hearths Warming pudding was being devoured with much enthusiasm, Butterball maintained the cheerful atmosphere by telling all manner of hilarious anecdotes and stories. Rainbow’s merry laughter mingled with the scenery-chewing stallion’s raucous guffaws, and even Fluttershy had cheered up considerably by now, and was giggling along.

But as the night rolled on and the midnight hour came about, the pegasus noticed a startling change in Fluttershy’s mood. Suddenly her smile slipped a notch and she fell silent. As she turned to Butterball to ask for some explanation, she saw that he too had fallen silent and solemn suddenly.

“I… I guess it’s time to head out.” Fluttershy said.

Butterball nodded. “I suppose so. Would you like me to accompany you?”

The pegasus smiled, before extracting a small basket from by the fireplace and heading for the door. “I’d like that. Rainbow Dash, you can come too, if you’d like?”

“Well, where are we going?” asked Rainbow.

But Fluttershy gave no reply. As she flew out the door, Butterball followed behind. “She’s going to pay her parents a visit.”

---

The wind had died down somewhat at this dark hour, as the three pegasi flew through the air high over Ponyville. Rainbow followed at the back, honestly unsure about what to expect when they reached their destination. Neither Butterball nor Fluttershy were saying a word as they flew, keeping a steady course to someplace far from Ponyville. By the time they began their descent, Rainbow Dash could only just see the faint glow of the lights in Ponyville through the snowy air.
When they landed, Rainbow looked around. It was a small hillock, dotted with a few trees here and there, but otherwise clear. Clear, that is, except for a pair of standing stones that stood at the top of the hill.

The pegasus’ breath caught in her throat. Those must be the graves of Fluttershy’s parents.

Fluttershy began to make her way slowly up the hill towards the twin gravestones, basket hanging from her tail, her face virtually devoid of expression. Rainbow Dash made to follow her, but Butterball cut her off with an enormous forehoof.

“Best to just let her do this alone, Miss Dash,”he said. The mare wanted to say something back, but something in his eyes, in the way he looked up at Fluttershy, told her that this was not something that could be argued over. So, Rainbow sat down and watched Fluttershy. For a few minutes, all she seemed to do was stand and stare at the two gravestones before her. She then muttered a few words that neither she nor Butterball could hear over the wind. Then, she went to her basket, and took out, of all things, a bottle of red wine and a small plate of pudding. Rainbow watched as she slid the pudding off of the plate and onto the grass that grew on the grave, and then emptied the bottle of wine over it.

A waste of perfectly good wine, jeered a voice in Rainbow’s head. She cringed as she found herself thinking such a mean-spirited thought, countering with a thought of her own. What Fluttershy believes in is her own business. Even if it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, it gives me no right to look down on it. It’s her beliefs, and that’s that.

But as Fluttershy joined them again, and the trio began the flight back to her cottage, her mind was in battle with itself, trying to make sense of it all.

But none of them make any sense! Pouring wine and food on a grave, why?! Just seems like a waste to me!

Well obviously, it’s an offering to her parents! I guess she just believes they deserve a bit of Hearts Warming for themselves.

And here I thought that Fluttershy was the sensible one!

She is sensible! She just has beliefs!

Beliefs that make no sense!

Shut up!

SHUT UP YOURSELF!

“Um… Rainbow Dash, are you…alright?”

Finally coming back to reality, Rainbow found that they had arrived back at Fluttershy’s cottage. How long she had been standing outside, arguing with herself, however, as another matter entirely.

“Oh… Um, yeah, I’m alright, Fluttershy.”

The cream-coloured pegasus smiled. “Okay then. Let’s go inside and get warm.”

She headed up the pathway to her front door and Rainbow followed her.

“Y’know, I never really pictured you are that type, Fluttershy.” Said Rainbow.

Fluttershy turned around, a confused look on her face. “What type?”

“Well, y’know,” Rainbow stalled a moment, trying to find the right words. “All that stuff up at the hill… It was all kinda, I guess... religious is the word I’m trying to find. I didn’t know you were…”

“Oh I’m not.”

That threw her for a loop alright. “Wait, what?!”

“I mean, I guess I can see how you could get that from what I was doing, but it wasn’t anything to do with faith or religion.”

“It wasn’t?” asked an incredulous Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy shook her head. “They why’d you do it?”

An awkward silence preceded Fluttershy’s answer. No sound was heard except for the whistling wind, and Butterball singing to himself inside.

“Well… I guess I just did it… because it’s tradition for me.”

Rainbow sighed. More traditions. More nonsensical customs and rituals to cram into this holiday. “That’s exactly what I just don’t get about this holiday,” she said. “Everypony has all these little things they do for Hearths Warming, all these little traditions and customs… Some of them kinda make sense, like going off to see your family, or getting presents or the Pageant and stuff like that.

“But then there’s all those other little silly things ponies do during the holidays. Carols, storytelling, putting up stockings, those stupid Hearths Warming crackers! Seriously, what is the point of those things?! I just…”

Rainbow calmed down a bit, sinking to the ground with her had hung. “I just don’t get it.”

Fluttershy watched in amazement as her friend voiced her thoughts, slowly sounding more and more hurt and angry as she continued. It was rare that anypony saw Rainbow Dash this gloomy, not since the Mare Do Well incident (Which she, along with all her friends, agreed was best left forgotten). But she understood her plight perfectly.

“Oh Rainbow Dash, you’re really thinking too hard about all this.”

Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy. “Huh?”

Fluttershy smiled back. “I can understand that a lot of what ponies do around this time of year doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that’s the point of it. It doesn’t need to make sense!”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s quite simple. All these little customs and rituals and things that ponies do around Hearths Warming, it doesn’t matter whether they make sense or if you believe in them. I mean, I don’t really believe that mom and dad get anything out of those little offerings I make, but I do it anyway. And you know why?”

The rainbow pegasus shook her head.

“It’s because it was tradition for me. I always do that every Hearths Warming, along with everything else I do every year. I don’t do it because of the meaning behind them… to me, those don’t matter. I just do them because they remind me of what the season’s really about.”

“Yeah?” Rainbow asked. “And what’s that?”

Fluttershy lifted her back up onto her hooves. “It’s about reminding ourselves of times past, and the ponies we’ve spent them with. It’s for the sake of the memories of this time of year. And though we’ve got the presents as well, it’s the memories that stay with us that are most important. Do you understand?”

Rainbow nodded. “I think I do… Thanks Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy’s smile widened. A sudden gust of wind then made her shiver.

“C’mon, let’s go inside. I think Uncle Butterball’s making more mulled-cider.”

But Rainbow was hesitant. “You sure you want me to come in too? I mean, I know Hearths Warming is really time to be with family and all, so…”

“So why would you want to leave?” Fluttershy asked, before checking her step. “I mean… if it’s alright with you, I do… I mean, you’re like family to me.”

Rainbow Dash paused a moment as her words sunk in. Then, she smiled, draping a wing around her shoulders. “That’s all I needed to hear. C’mon, I’m freezing my tail off out here!”

And so the pair went back inside to finish the night’s festivities with one more carol (Sung with considerably more enthusiasm from Rainbow Dash this time), and one more round of hot drinks. As they passed the threshold, Fluttershy spoke up one more time.

“Besides, nopony should have to spend Hearths Warming alone.

Comments

[temerarii pulsat]

meh dash should of left after finding out flutters uncle was down instead of intruding like that.

[Redback Spino]

1868473, 1868491, guys, calm the buck down!

[temerarii pulsat]

1870521 yea sorry bout that people like that annoy me ill be good just keep writing

[ThimmieTheBrony]

1868473 What the fuck is wrong with you?

[Late_Night]

this is technically an alternate universe fic now
it's pretty good, bar that one thing
also, this chapter's best read with Days Gone By playing in the background