Once Upon a Hearth's Warming Eve
“You’ve never celebrated Hearth’s Warming before?” Luna asked, dumbfounded.
“Holidays made me sick, remember?” the former King Sombra grumbled from behind the newspaper. “Besides, I’ve never been one for all this merrymaking, such nonsense.”
“But, it’s Hearth's Warming!” Luna leapt from her seat. She shook her head and trotted over to the roaring fire, decorated with greenery and brightly coloured baubles. Hoof-made dolls of Celestia and Luna sat on the mantelpiece. “My sister and I have always loved this holiday, ever since we were foals.” She turned to her coltfriend. “Sombra, please, ponies have always celebrated it every year since the founding of Equestria!”
“Bah!” said Sombra. “Lies!”
Luna’s eyes widened, glowing bright with shock and the light of the fire. “Hearth's Warming is a lie? Sombra! You don’t mean it, I’m sure.”
“I do,” Sombra choked, folding his newspaper and turning to glare at his marefriend. “Hearth's Warming is a lie. It's idle madness, that's what it is. I put an end to such things—” He paused, then winced. “Anyway, how do you know it isn’t a lie? It’s not like you were there.”
“No, I was not,” Luna stated, stomping her hoof against the tiled floor. “But Starswirl was, and surely he wouldn’t have told us a lie about the founding of our nation!”
“He’s lied to you before, hasn’t he?”
“Well… Yes, but that’s beside the point. This is Hearth's Warming. It has always been a tradition.”
“Not my tradition.” With that Sombra took one last swig of his tea and trotted towards the door.
Luna rushed towards him. “Sombra, please. I know all this has been hard for you—”
“Hard? I thought I was doing quite well myself,” he said. “It’s not like I tried enslaving anyone since you brought me back.”
“There’s more to friendship than not enslaving others.”
“Well, what do you want me to do, Luna?” he snapped at her. A flash of green flickered across his eyes and twisted into dark smoke.
Luna reeled back, her eyes wide.
Sombra backed away. “I… I’m sorry,” he said with a shake of his head and yanked open the door. “I’m just going for a walk.”
He quickly exited, closing the door softly behind him.
Luna sat on warmed tiled floor, staring at the door for several moments. A determined frown crossed her face as she humphed. If Sombra won’t have a merry Hearth’s Warming, then I will just have to show him one.
Sombra trudged through the snow-covered gardens of Canterlot palace and breathed in deep. He liked the cold. It suited him. Ponies in the Empire spent years making fools of themselves around the Crystal Heart, trying to keep the coldness out, the coldness that only brought him comfort.
He sighed. That was the old him. He was supposed to be reforming now, wasn’t he? Luna was helping with that. She always had been, ever since they met in a dream after that dragon and his friends banished him.
No, he had changed. He was good. Well, at least no longer bad from the point of view of those he had enslaved. He used to be a false-king. He used to be evil. But now he’s just a pony, head over hooves in love with the only one who could understand his plight.
But what was it about Heart’s Warming that made everypony so loony? He paused by the castle gate as the sound of a choir echoed through the air:
Come rest ye merry, gentlecolts,
Let nothing you dismay!
For Ponykind was united
Upon Hearth’s Warming Day.
To save us all from Wendigos’ power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.
“Lies!” he said to himself. That’s all it was. A farce. An act. Some pointless reason to go mad. Why he’d ought to put them all in the crystal mines—
He grumbled and facehoofed, not caring for the snow and the grit that splattered over his muzzle. I am not evil. I am not a monster. I shall not enslave anyone else.
“Merry Hearth’s Warming, sir!” a painfully sweet voice called.
Sombra looked down at a young filly smiling widely up at him. Her eyes glinted in the candlelight as the falling snow vanished into her silver-blue mane. A small bucket decorated in garish colours sat under her hooves in the trodden snow.
There was something familiar about here, had he seen her before? No, he couldn’t have. He would remember such a foal.
“Merry Heart’s Warming? How do you know it’s a merry Hearth’s Warming?”
“Well, it’s got to be. Hasn’t it? That’s the point.”
He gritted his teeth. “Oh, that’s the point? I know that is the point.”
“Then what’s wrong? Hearth’s warming is supposed to be merry.”
“Well, it’s not merry to me!” he snapped.
The carollers stopped singing as the filly fearfully coward behind the bucket. Sombra became painfully aware that all eyes were now on him. He took a step back, took a deep breath and with a, “Good day!” turned and marched out of the castle as fast as his dignity would let him.
Luna found Sombra sitting alone on a bench in the far corner of Centerlot Cemetery. Here, the ancient tombs and gravestones had all but vanished under the ghostly white hills of snow.
All apart from one. One familiar one that Luna could only sigh at.
“Why do you still come to this place, Sombra?” she asked.
“Leave me alone,” Sombra grumbled. “Go and be merry for all I care. Just leave me alone.”
Luna rolled her eyes and sat herself on the bench. The stallion didn’t move, nor made any sound of objection. The two sat there for several moments, staring at the gravestone across the frozen ground.
“What are you thinking?” Luna asked.
After several more moments, Sombra grunted. “Nothing.”
“You’re brooding, Sombra. You’re brooding in a cemetery. I know exactly what, or rather who is on your mind.”
Sombra fidgeted for a moment, but refused to speak.
“You know,” Luna continued. “There was a time where I hated Heart’s Warming.”
To this, Sombra raised an eyebrow, but made no other notion of interest.
“It was the last Hearth's Warming before I turned into Nightmare Moon. As I said, Celestia and I always loved the holiday. We would always have a great time giving each other gifts and having fun. But… Celestia just got busier and busier with princess work and we didn’t spend as much time together as we did. That year, I promised I would make things different.
“So, I went all out decorating the place ready for Hearth’s Warming. I put up all the bells and the evergreens and all our favourite treats. I also got her one extra special present—a golden locket that I made for her myself. But when the morning came, she never acknowledged it. She barely even said ‘hello’ let alone wish anyone a ‘Merry Hearth’s Warming!”
Luna closed her eyes and sighed. “I was just so mad. She didn’t even look at the gift I gave her. So, I ran away and that night… Everyone’s dreams were full of happiness and joy. I just couldn't stand it so I—”
She paused and gulped.
Sombra reached his hoof over and tenderly wrapped it around his own. Luna sighed and smiled at the touch. The two sat there for a moment, snuggled up against each other, keeping the cold at bay with their combined warmth.
“There’s a Hearth’s Warming tradition I’ve had recently. I want to show you it,” she said.
“What is it?” asked Sombra.
Luna gave him a smile. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Sombra frowned. He didn’t like the sound of this, but that smile… He just couldn’t say no to it.
“No. No, Luna, please. Anything but this,” Sombra said as he stared up at Canterlot Orphanage. It looked much like the rest of Canterlot with its tall, white-brick facade that was now decorated with twinkling lights. A large reef hung on the hefty wooden door.
“Come on, Sombra,” Luna giggled. “It will be fun. I promise. Just… try not to scare anyone.”
“I can’t promise that,” he grumbled as Luna pulled him by the fetlock towards the door. “Why this place? Why come here?”
A kindly old mare greeted them at the door and welcomed them inside. The warmth along with the smell of spice and fresh baked goods slammed into Sombra like a hefty pillow. Holly and ivy hung from the candles that bathed the room in a warm glow. Children giggled merrily as they ran on by.
The sight was almost sickening.
“Oh, thank you so much for coming,” the mare said. “The children have been asking all day for you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Heart,” Luna said. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought company this time.”
“Oh, not at all. Not at all,” she laughed, leading the two into a great dining hall. The table was lavishly decorated with a cornucopia of festive treats and greenery. “The more the merrier! Don’t touch the pies. Not until the feast starts.”
Sombra regarded the pastries with suspicion.
“They’re good,” Luna whispered to him. “Just wait and see. You should try one.”
“I’m not hungry,” he grumbled. Although, he couldn't deny that the smell was enticing.
“I bet you’re wondering why I brought you here?”
“Something to do with making up for your mistake?” Sombra guessed.
“Yes.” Luna stared at her hooves for a moment. “That Hearth’s Warming night, a thousand years ago, I hurt a lot of ponies. Every foal in the land woke up screaming from the nightmares I gave them... Just like you, I too must atone for my sins.”
“But you have, Luna,” Sombra stressed, staring deeply into her eyes. “I don’t get it. You are loved and adored. You are… You are just perfect now.”
Luna cracked a smile. “I am not. But thank you all the same.” She glanced over to the door where, for the briefest of seconds, a pair of foals where peeking through before quickly vanishing around the corner. “I do it because I enjoy it. Because it reminds me of what Hearth's Warming is really about.”
“About friendship and magic, right?”
“Well, yes. But it’s also for helping those less fortunate than yourself. That’s why we give gifts.”
Sombra looked around the room again. The room was old, but it was hard to tell from the fresh coats of paint and lovingly crafted decorations. “This place is in much better shape than my orphanage,” he said quietly. “We never had food like this too. These foals don’t look like they need our help.”
“Sombra, I thought you of all ponies would know what it is like growing up in such a place,” Luna hissed.
Sombra’s expression turned darker as he walked away from the table and stared into the gentle embers of the open fire. “I do, Luna. I so do.” He closed his eyes and shook his head.
He could still see them. It was the same every Hearth’s Warming. As he lay in anguish in is bed, all the colts and fillies would laugh. They all smiled with their bags of candy and gifts. But Sombra had nothing but the pain! He had no one!
No one except for her.
Luna’s hoof wrapped around his shoulder, pulling him out of his malicious thoughts like a safety line. “What is it, Sombra? You can tell me.”
“I know I can,” he sighed and leaned into her. “I just… This place brings back bad memories. Why did you have to bring me here?”
“I’m sorry,” Luna whispered, wrapping him in a comforting hug. “But this is special to me. Could you at least stay until I’ve finished meeting all the children? That’s all I ask.”
“And not a moment longer?”
“We’ll stay as long as you want.”
Sombra sighed and nodded. “Fine. Let’s get this over with. Whatever it is.”
Luna smiled kindly and once again led him through a set of doors into a library. Colts and fillies sat around under a Hearth’s Warming tree, gaily eying the presents that sat piled up under it in bright wrapping paper.
One foal looked up and smiled brightly. “Princess Luna!” Soon all the other foals had run over and gathered under her hooves, cheering and yelping like a swarm of puppies. He was pushed back by the storm of foals. He looked to Luna for help, but she only smiled and cheerfully waded through them towards a soft reading chair. She sat gracefully, giving off a aura of power and magic, yet she still had the same warm and kind-hearted smile. Even he was unable to say no to such a smile.
And to think he once would have turned her to crystal. No crystal could compare to her. She had proved him wrong before, so what if he was wrong about Hearth’s Warming—
A scream broke through his thoughts. An accusing hoof was pointed at him by a young filly. The same one from the castle gate. “It’s him! It’s the Hearth’s Warming Hater!”
“You again?” he gasped.
“Sombra?” Luna looked over with concern, but it was already too late. The foals set on him like a pack of rabid timberwolves.
“Why do you hate Hearth’s Warming?”
“Why did you shout at our friends?”
“Why are you here?”
Sombra backed into a wall, corned by the horde of children that now surrounded him with menacing eyes. He could use his magic and turn them all to crystal. Or break their minds and make them his silent slaves. Or even just yell at them. But no, he couldn’t do that anymore. He had promised Luna he wouldn’t, and he would not break a promise.
“Please, I am sorry,” he said. “I did not mean to shout. I just cannot stand this holiday!”
“But why?” the silver-maned filly asked. “You’re Princess Luna’s coltfriend, aren't you? And Princess Luna loves Hearth’s Warming!”
“Yeah! She makes it great for us!” a colt added.
“She makes it great for you?” he asked.
Sombra barely noticed Luna’s amused grin.
“Princess Luna is the best!” one filly said. “Before her all our Hearth Warmings were so boring.”
“Yeah. We barely had presents and stuff,” another, slightly large colt added. “And no feast!”
“I thought that stuff wasn’t supposed to be important,” he scoffed. “It’s supposed to be about friendship and family, not all these lies. All it’s done is make you all go mad.”
Luna giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“For someone who hates Hearth’s Warming, you sure do know a lot about its ‘true meaning’.”
“Well, I never said that,” Sombra defended.
“Children,” Luna said, stifling her heavenly chuckles, “Let’s go and have a story, shall we?”
The children cheered and hurried over to the reading seat where Luna had made herself comfy. “Sombra, you too.”
Sombra grunted to himself but sat on a soft pillow at the back of the group. He didn’t notice that he had taken the spot next to the silver-maned filly until she gently prodded his side.
“What?”
“You’re King Sombra, right?”
“I’m no king. Not anymore,” he said. He turned away and glanced towards the window where fresh snowflakes landed on the frosty glass. “And I don’t want to be one ever again.”
“My name is Glittering Wish,” she said. “I’ve never met a king before, even a former king.”
“Well, Glittering Wish, now you have.”
They sat in silence as Luna read to them. She had chosen a story of some pony called Snowfall Frost who resented Hearth’s Warming but through the help of three spirits came to enjoy the holiday.
Sombra crossed his forelegs and frowned. She was playing him. Was this how he was supposed to be won over to liking this holiday? While Luna was a great storyteller and he could listen to her soothing, yet powerful voice all day, he wasn’t buying this one bit.
A small sneeze knocked him from the story. Glittering Wish sniffled and wiped her muzzle. “S-Sorry,” she whispered.
“All that carolling has given you a cold,” Sombra said. “Not that I’m surprised.”
“Oh, I’m no good at singing,” she said. “I just collect bits.”
“Collecting bits? Whatever for?”
“For those who need it, of course.”
“Like you, I suppose.”
Glittering Wish just smiled and shook her head. “We have a nice place here. And Princess Luna helps us. But there are other ponies who need help.”
Sombra considered this for a moment. “I’m sure there are.” He frowned, turning deep into thought, so much so he barely could hear the ending of Luna’s tale.
“Are you okay, Sombra?” she asked.
“I suppose so. I’m sorry, I’ve just had a lot of think about today.”
“Is it sad stuff?” she asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
“You could say that.”
“That’s not right. You’re not supposed to be sad today!” she said. “It’s Hearth’s Warming Eve! It’s time for the party, come on! You’ll like it, I promise!”
Sombra let the filly lead him back towards the dining room where all the colts and fillies had gathered around for the Hearth’s Warming Eve feast. Sombra took a seat next to Luna and Glittering Wish sat herself down next to him.
Soon the table was alight with laughter as the children ate. Sombra didn’t take much food and kept mainly to the bread. Luna, meanwhile, enjoyed cakes, fruits and all kinds of treats as she merrily talked with the foals.
“You still look sad,” Glittering Wish said.
“What if I am? Why do you care?” he asked.
“I like helping sad people cheer up. ‘Specially on Hearth’s Warming,” the filly added.
Of course she did! That mane, that kindness. She looks just like her… No. It must all be an act! Luna put her up to this!
Sombra pressed his hooves hard against the table and clenched his eyes shut. No. Luna didn’t do this…
“She’s got a point, Sombra,” Luna said. “Are you okay?”
He gritted his teeth. “I am not sad.” He pushed himself back and stood. “Excuse me.”
Sombra fled the room before anyone could object.
The snow was falling heavily now. Sombra’s charcoal coat had all but turned white under the unrelenting storm. He gritted his teeth as his hooves dug at the freshly fallen flakes that had piled around the old, cracked gravestone.
He kept going. Not stopping even when he reached the frozen dirt. His hooves threatened to crack as he tore at the ice and mud.
“Why? Why must you mock me like this!” He panted and spat. “Why!” With a kick of his hoof he shattered a corner of the gravestone, sending it crashing into the snow with a few crimson specks. His eyes widened for a moment as he looked at what he had done.
“Have I not suffered enough?” he asked. “I’m trying to be a better pony. The pony you always thought I was. Is that not good enough?”
He sat on the frozen ground and held his bleeding hoof against his coat. “Now you have to haunt me through a child? Did you put Luna up to this? Are you not happy about us or something?”
He closed his eyes and waited, as if for an answer he knew would never come.
The snow continued to fall, quickly covering up his digging and threatening to entomb him among the graves.
The sound of hoofsteps roused him from his thoughts.
“You want to know why I hate Hearth’s Warming? It’s only fair that I tell you… No secrets between us, after all.”
Luna gently wrapped a hoof around him. “You’re a mess, Sombra. It can wait.”
He shook his head. “No. I have to tell it here.”
He glanced up at the gravestone and sighed. “She always wanted me to have a great Hearth’s Warming. Every year she would get me a gift with what few bits she had. It meant so much to me. On Hearth’s Warming Eve, she would sit by my bed and read me stories. No matter how bad the pain was, she would always make it better.
“But then she betrayed me. Just like everypony and everything else. When I needed her the most she ran away to get you and your sister to come and banish me.” Sombra hung his head. “That year, there was no Hearth’s Warming in the Empire. And while I felt better than I ever did… I missed it. I missed her.”
Luna gently brushed the snow from his coat. “It’s cold out here. How about we go back to the castle and get you cleaned up before having a nice drink of hot chocolate?”
Sombra stared at the grave for a moment longer and then nodded. “All the partying, decorations, dolls, madness… I’ve never had it before, Luna. All I had was her and she made it so special for me. But you… you’ve managed to do it all over again.”
Luna nuzzled into his side, warming his coldness. “The night has only just begun. There’s still more to do. Like making your Hearth’s Warming doll.”
“I still think these traditions are foolish. Just like the holiday.” He smiled gently. “But the true meaning. That I do enjoy. Thank you for reminding me of that.”
Sombra stood and cleared the snow away from the grave one more time. “Merry Hearth's Warming, Radiant Hope. Thank you. I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but I’ve got to get going. I made a mess of myself, and there is a filly I have to apologise to… again.”
Sombra smiled as he and Luna made the finishing touches to his Hearth’s Warming doll by bandaging its right hoof to match his own. Sombra chuckled and nuzzled into her side, her soft wing wrapped over him, sheltering him from the cold.
The snow had slowed to only a few flakes that past gently over the city that glittered like a field of diamonds below. Their mugs of hot chocolate steamed as they sat on the balcony under the star filled sky.
“Thank you, Luna,” Sombra said. Tightly holding her hoof in his. He met her eyes. They were more beautiful than any sapphire or lapis lazuli. “Once again you’ve helped me.”
Luna smiled and tenderly pressed her warm lips against his. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Sombra.”
“I love you, Luna.”