I stood outside the door, wearing a cheesy red outfit to make me look like Santa Hooves.  My right wing held a moderate sized white bag filled with a wide selection of toys for a certain elf on the other side of the door.  I raised my free wing and readjusted the hat on top of my head to make sure that it covered up most of my rainbow colored hair.  I then smiled, moving the fake white beard on my face, and gripped the white bag tightly before I raised my right hoof up to the door.

“Ho ho ho!” I proudly declared in the deepest and loudest tone I could muster as I opened the door abruptly.  The yellow mare in a green elf outfit lay on the bed and looked at me with a mischievous look on her mystifying face.

“Oh, well if it isn’t Santa Hooves!” My favorite elf declared happily as she winked at me and looked at me with her cyan eyes just begging for her presents….oh those eyes…lusting after me…I’m adding that to the naughty column…

“Yes and I’m here to check up on my favorite elf and see if you’ve been good…” I cheekily replied as I slowly walked up to the bed and placed the bag down right in front of it.  “Or naughty…” I then added in a low tone as I tossed aside the fake beard and slowly got onto the bed, crawling up to the best elf in the world as she started to move her tail around on the bed and slowly shake her barely covered flank.  Tantalizing me with great effect… …the tail and flank working in tandem…that’s very naughty…that’s at least a two…no…three in the naughty column…

“Oh I think I’ve been pretty naughty this year Rain-…Santa…” My elf responded, almost breaking character as she rolled onto her back.  Adding that to the naughty column…

“Hmm well let me check…” I began as I finally crawled over and got on top of the soft and welcoming yellow mare.  “And then check twice to be sure.”   I finished in a whisper as wrapped my hooves around the delicate and alluring mare beneath me. I moved my hooves around feeling around her backs and rubbing against her wings hiding underneath, feeling them pressing against the fabric trying to poke out and stand on end.   Those poor things…being smothered underneath her clothes…adding that to the naughty column.  I moved my hooves down the fabric barely covering her luscious flank…hiding the best part of her body…that’s a definite five on the naughty scale…

“Oh my yes you’ve been very naughty this year…” I concluded in a husky tone as I moved my muzzle town to the bottom of her neck and gave it a small lick.

“Oh yes…does that mean you won’t give me any gifts?” Flutter…I mean…my elf asked in a faux innocent tone as she let out a small moan from her lips.

“Yes…but you’re going to have to ask nicely for it…” I instructed in almost a sinister tone as I suddenly grabbed that magnificent plump piece of perfection disguised as her flank with one of my hooves.

“Mmmm please Santa…please give me my special present!” The seduced girl pleaded with a moan as she arched her head back in pleasure, her pink mane flailing behind her head…pfff…what a pathetic plea…

“Oh you’re going to have to do much better than that!” I demanded in a louder tone before I licked the side of her face and moved my other hoof down to join the other one in heaven. “One more time!  I want you to beg for it!” I almost shouted as I firmly grabbed her flank with both my hooves and gripped it as tightly as I could.

“Oh yes!   I’ve been so naughty but please!   Please give me my gift!  I want it!  Need it!  Crave it!  Please!” She screamed out in ecstasy at the top of her lungs as her eyes squeezed shut, her breathing now very loud and heavy.  That’s more like it…

“If you insist…” I replied with a chuckle as I very reluctantly let go of that soon-to-be-tapped flank.  “Let’s see what Santa got you for Hearth’s Warming.” I then teased in a sultry tone as I turned around to go back to the bag.

“Oh yes!” The yellow mare squealed in delight, fueling my own excitement as I started to reach for the bag.  “I love you!” I heard her shout as I grabbed the-wait what?!    

“Gah!”  I stammered out loud and out of breath as I shoot up in a sitting position, completely sweating and wide eyed as I stared at the edge of the bed.  

Wa-Wait…w-what?  I…I was already at the edge of the bed and now I’m suddenly breathing heavily and under a blanket?  W-Was…Was I dreaming?  I was dressed up as Santa and about to get down with Fluttershy dressed as an elf…yeahhhh that sounds like one of my twisted dreams…ok I was dreaming…or was that a nightmare?  Fluttershy saying that last line to me certainly shocked me awake…makes sense it certainly shocked me yesterday.

She said that though out of gratitude.  Meaning that platonically out, being thankful, and what not.  There’s no way she could ever mean it…l-like that…or even feel like that.  Thank Celestia for that…I don’t think I could take her thinking that way about or feeling that way…I don’t want her to feel that way about me…it would just cause a huge mess of problems.  I took a deep breath and began to calm down finally as I closed my eyes and laid back down on the bed.  My outstretched wings uncomfortably moved as I leaned my head back against the fluffy pillow.

But still…when she did say that last night…it sent of surge of…I…I don’t know through every single fiber of my body.  It was like when I thought Twilight was crushing on me….this was…this was….I don’t even know.  It felt…different…different as in bad…very bad.  I’m already working myself up again.  I need to forget this…Fluttershy and I are friends and nothing more…now and forever.  I took another deep breath and opened my eyes finally getting back into the real world and not the crazy messed up delusions my mind is giving me.

First off…its cold…oh Celestia is it cold!  Even under this blanket I can feel myself shiver and quake.  I know it’s Hearth’s Warming and everything and it needs to be a white one with lots of snow and chills, but this is a little much if I’m freezing my freaking tail off inside a cottage…I can’t imagine what it feels like outside and the problems it’s mostly likely causing some Pegasi.  I can definitely tell it’s a no flight Hearth’s Warming that’s for sure…especially for the little ones with weak source feathers….wait a second…

It’s Hearth’s Warming!  Holy crap, do I feel like an idiot or what?  Actually, I feel old now that I think about it…If I was a filly, or hell still a teen, I’d be out of this bed and down the stairs faster than you can say ‘Present time!’ Instead I’ve just spent the first couple of minutes thinking about stuff that’s just impossible and about how cold it is!  Geez, I’m starting to act like Grams. Gah…I’m barely old enough to be considered a full grown mare and I’m already starting to act old…how depressing.

Celestia damn it!  There I go again not focusing on what’s important and stupid stuff!  Hearth’s Warming, Hearth’s Warming, Hearth’s Warming!  Presents, sweets, and special onetime only Hearth’s Warming Cider straight from Applejack’s sealed off stash!  Yeah I’m pumped now!  Let’s do this!  I shot up back on the bed with a grin on my face and looked around Fluttershy’s bedroom which was dimly lit thanks to the overcast blocking out most of the sun’s rays…I wonder how Celestia feels about her sun being blocked out for a majority of winter?  Bah…I’m sure she doesn’t mind or care…

I yawned and stretched my forelegs out to help wake me up.  As I yawned the sound of a pony snoring finally reached my ears….wait snoring?  Oh right…me and Fluttershy shared the bed last night and…wait Fluttershy snores?  Fluttershy…snores…she never snores!  When the hell did she start snoring this loudly?  Scratch that when did she start to snore period?  In the years I’ve known her I’ve never heard her snore while she’s asleep!  Did she just suddenly catch the snoring bug or something?  Is that even possible?  A snoring disease?  I’d believe it to be honest…

I looked over and to my surprise…and horror...I found the snoring yellow mare directly right next to me with her back facing me.  Her pink mane and tail spread across the bed in the pinkest, hairiest, and cutest mess imaginable. The blanket I was under and shared with her was barely covering her up…and unfortunately the parts of her body the fabric was covering was not the ones that need to be covered up.

My eyes traced along those alluring and tempting curves all the way down to her barely covered up flank.  The positioning was just perfect, the edge of the blanket was right along one of her butterflies and revealed the whole package, tail and all.  If my wings weren’t already at unfurled against my will they weren’t definitely at full mast now.  Just the sight of it was making me bit my lip and grip my blanket in apprehension.

I just can’t resist…something that perfectly shaped directly right next to me within my reach…it’s just begging for a quick touch…a small poke if nothing more…that’s all I need…a small brief of that slice of heaven like I had before last month in Rio…that should be enough to satisfy any cravings I have from now until Winter Wrap Up!  I licked my lips and slowly leaned over towards that plump looking thing of beauty with my hoof out stretched getting ready to achieve all my darkest desires…even if it was just for a second.  A smile quickly formed on my face as I inched ever closer to it…just a little more…a few more centimeters.

“D-Dash…” I heard Fluttershy mumble softly, which made me immediately stop what I was doing.  Holy crap is she awake?

Her body began to shift and move which made me pull away as fast as I could in fear as I saw the yellow Pegasus beside me turn over and face my direction with her eyes still closed.  A small smile was on her innocent looking face as she continued to snore.  She looked so peaceful…completely in bliss as she was huddled next to me…her best friend…

What the hell was I doing?  I’m Rainbow Dash!  The most loyal and awesome pony around!  Not a creepy grade-triple-S pervert and molester trying to cop a feel on her best friend while she’s asleep!  Especially on Hearth’s Warming!  After finally coming to my senses in full…and being completely disgusted with myself…I wasted no time in shaking my head to get any remnant of those awful thoughts out of my head and got out of bed to remove myself from the thing that was tempting me.

I quickly and quietly got out of the room and shut the door behind me hoping I didn’t wake her up…I don’t want to disturb her…especially after the crap I almost pulled.  I sighed to myself as I walked downstairs, descending into what felt like a freaking freezer!  Each step down the stairs sent a cold chill up my spine and I could clearly see my breath with every breath I took.  Yeah those dumbflanks definitely went overboard with how low the temperature should’ve been…any lower and I think there would be a few cases of hyperter…hyperthe…very cold sickness or whatever…and I’m probably going to be blamed for even if I had nothing to do for it of course.

I sighed to myself as I reached the bottom of the ice locker that is now Fluttershy’s cottage, my breath looking almost identical to Spike’s fire breath save for the color.  Ok first thing’s first this place needs to warm up before I turn into a Pegacicle!   I could go over to a heater and turn it or something…but that doesn’t feel right for today.  Something more awesome is required to heat this place up.  I quickly trotted over the fireplace and started to chuck some wood into the center.

I would be smiling, but my mouth is chattering uncontrollably and I’m more concerned about controlling my shaking forelegs so I can put the firewood in it.  As soon as the pile started to overflow out of the fireplace I figured it was full enough…if this doesn’t turn into like an awesome fire I’m going to complain to Twilight and blame her for…not…doing…something…I don’t know, but I’m still going to blame her.

I grabbed the tool used to start small fires from atop of the fireplace and pressed it against the pile of firewood.  I rubbed it to try and get a small sizzle going to start a fire but I wasn’t getting anything.  I rubbed harder and harder to no avail; I probably looked like a freaking idiot trying to start a fire using this tool in hoof and mouth.  Alright time to do this the more reliable way.  I reached up and grabbed some match sticks.  I lit one and tried to light up one of the smaller sticks to catch fire.  Apparently Pinkie Pie must be around or something because the laws of reality aren’t applying at the moment…the damn thing just refuses to catch fire.  The freaking match stick went out before the small piece of wood even started to get hot.   I tried another one…and another one…and another one…all with the same results.

“You-You’ve~ g-got to b-be frea-freaking ki-kidding me…” I struggled to say out loud thanks to my chattering teeth as I tossed aside the burnt up matchstick.  This is unbelievable!  I can’t even get a small fire going?  I went camping tons of times and I always…made…Applejack…do it…oh…ummm…damn.  Well I’m not going to say I CAN’T do it…I’m just going to say that I don’t need to prove that I can do it right now…so for now I’ll just say me and the firewood are going to call it even.

I sighed as I got up and walked over to nearby heater and turned it on.  The thing sputtered to life and after a while started to exude heat.  Well I can’t start a fire but I can sure as hell turn a heater on!  That’s awesome in some regard I guess...maybe…I don’t know…oh whatever I’m too cold to care at the moment.  I sighed to myself again as I raised my forehooves up close to heater to try and absorb its warmth.  I occasionally rubbed them together and then against my face and my now normal relaxed wings to try and warm up.  You know this would much cooler and appropriate with a gentle fire in a fireplace than a lifeless heater…but whatever…I managed to turn on a heater and I’ll conquer the fireplace later.

After I felt myself acceptable warm…or at least not shaking and having my teeth chatter endlessly…I got up away from the heater and started to do some stretches to get my blood going and at least try to maintain my current physic…It’s been hard lately thanks to me being sick and I’m not going to get much time to practice or workout today thanks to the holiday of course but then again I always make an exception for occasions such as this…this is just to wake me up though as I still like I was ready to pass back out in bed.

What annoyed me the most however was that no matter how much I stretched or how intensely I stretched I still felt extremely tired, stiff, and worst of all weak…like I’m still asleep bed or something…damn am I that out of shape already?  Note to self, work your flank off triple time tomorrow…this kind of physical condition in the morning is not acceptable especially for an awesome athlete like you!  But that’s for tomorrow…for right now I should probably focus on something much more important.

It’s time for me to place Fluttershy’s gift under the tree.  I smiled as I turned away from the heater and faced the couch.  I managed to secretly bring it in last night with the rest of the stuff and also manage to hide it from her until this moment.  I opened my wings up and quickly flew over to it; I reached under the couch on the right side and pulled out a small box wrapped in very overly flashy wrapping paper with hearts, diamonds, and stupidly fancily tied bow.  I didn’t do that crap…if it were up to me I would’ve just put some cheap tin foil around it and be done but ohhhh no…Miss ‘Everything has to be Perfect for Fluttershy’ or whatever just couldn’t have that…and had to fancy it up for no real damn reason…

I sort of regret going to her place last night for some last minute help now…ah whatever…stupidly expensively looking wrapping paper isn’t going to hurt anything and it’s going in the trash alter so who cares.  I huffed and rolled my eyes before turning around and flying towards the tree that Fluttershy and I decorated last night…and we did a pretty damn awesome job if I do say so myself…it doesn’t look horrifyingly over-decorated as Rarity’s tree or simply and boring looking like Applejack’s…it’s a tree so awesome it can only be made yours truly…and…the other yours truly of course.  I chuckled a few times as I flew lower under the tree and looked under to place the present there.

I gasped when I saw a wrapped up gift below it that definitely wasn’t there when I last saw it.    It was a crudely wrapped present in snowflake themed wrapping paper.  It didn’t have a name addressed to it but I instantly knew who it was for and who it was from…I mean how could I not?  I smile quickly formed on my face and a tear fought its way to my right eye as I continued looking at it.  Now I know why she stayed downstairs when I went up to bed…she put that there to surprise me when I woke up…only…she most likely wanted to be there when I saw it so she could witness my surprise…and I ruined it…

Damn…now I feel like a real grade-triple-S flankhole…almost molesting my friend and spoiling her surprise…you’re on a roll now Rainbow Dash…quick, knock over some of her prized belongings to fully secure your place as biggest flankhole in Equestria!  …well…third perhaps…there’s two in Cloudsdale that I know easily beat me that’s for sure….but I’m still pretty bad.  I sighed to myself as the only thing I could do was place my gift next to hers…I know that it would surprise her and make us both happy…but it just would’ve been better had I not got out of bed and just woke her up…in…you know…not rapist way…so that way we could both be equally surprised and what not…way to ruin a moment Dash..

Ok so how am I going to make it up to her?  I could try faking it…but according to Rarity I’m not the best of actors when it comes to that so that wouldn’t work very well.  I could try ramming my head against a wall until I caused enough brain damage to lose part of my memory so I can make it a surprise again…but I don’t really want to hurt myself or risk losing you know…all of my memory…that and I don’t think Fluttershy would appreciate a head sized hole in her walls…or find me bleeding on the floor like an idiot…so yeah, horrible idea all around.

Ok so instead of trying to make things worse what can I do which is nice to make things better?  I could punch a hole in the clouds to warm things up around here…though…that would probably be bad considering it would mess up the weather probably and cause major problems down the line…not mention my flank would get chewed out so hard my cutie mark would be replaced by teeth marks.  Ok so what can I do for Fluttershy that’s nice, not make things work, and that I can do right now…come on think…uhhhh…what would Fluttershy appreciate when she wakes up?  Wait…duhh…breakfast!  That’s what I would take right now to be honest!  

With a plan quickly formulated on the spot I nodded to myself with a smirk and quickly flew over the couch and into the kitchen.  When I entered I noticed all the dirty dishes we left on the table from last night and the pots and pans Fluttershy used to cook as well.  It wasn’t a mess it was just…not…clean…yeah that doesn’t make any sense does it?  Whatever!  Not the point at the moment!  Ok, think…what sounds good for a Hearth’s Warming breakfast?  

Well what makes a Hearth’s Warming breakfast?  Is there something traditional you make?  I don’t particularly eat breakfast on Hearth’s Warming as I’m too…well…excited for everything else.  I’m pretty sure Grams had some sort of traditional breakfast that she’d like to make for us on Hearth’s Warming like she does for almost every holiday but when I think back on my fond and not too proud Hearth’s Warming moments of the past breakfast doesn’t really spring to mind…ok screw it…just make a normal breakfast.  It’s not like Fluttershy would care anyways…food is food after all!

I’ll make…uhhh…something…first let’s find stuff to cook in that’s not dirty.  I flew over the cabinets and started opening them to look inside for clean things to use.  Surprisingly the cabinets were mostly full of supplies and utensils.  Geez…she’s got enough stuff here to feed the entire Wonderbolts team!  What kind of army does she have to feed all the time?  ….wait…duh…animal caretaker…good one Dash…next thing you’re going to do is be shocked that Rarity has a lot of sewing tools and wonder why she would need them all.

No time to facehoof though, need to focus!  I quickly reached inside and pulled out a large pan.  Ok I’m going to use this to make something…hopefully edible.  I looked at the stove and wondered if this pan would be enough to make…whatever it is I will make.  I looked back at the cabinet and reached inside for a big pot.  …then I reached in for another pot, then another pan, then a wide weird looking pan which doesn’t look like normal pans…is this thing a skullet or something?  I don’t know!  I just know I’m fumbling it in my hooves along with all the other crap trying not to drop anything as I kept my altitude in the kitchen.

I think I have enough…but…just to be sure I better get a few more things.  I struggled to reach in with one of my forehooves but seeing as how they’re currently now occupied by a whole bunch of other stuff that’s turning out to be impossible…even for me.  So I decided to slowly and awkwardly move and reach my foreleg in to slowly grab one of the other large pots and then slowly start to-

“Ahhh~!”  I then suddenly shouted out loud as I felt my wing snag against one of the open doors of the cabinet, causing me to lose my balance just for a moment and send me tumbling down to the floor beneath me…getting pulverized by all the kitchen crap I was holding with two of the large pots landing directly on my face.

“Damn that hurt…” I mumbled in pain as I leaned up, most of kitchen tools sliding off of me and onto the floor.  I rubbed my head in agony as that pot really hurt…feeling a pot upside down and on top of my head, most likely covering up most of my rainbow colored mane.

“Ouch!” I heard voice shout in pain from upstairs.  My eyes widened  in realization that Fluttershy was now awake…or has been for a while and hurt herself somehow upstairs…how did that happen?    

It didn’t sound too painful…so I’m sure she’s fine but…crap…she’s awake!  And here I am on the floor surrounded by kitchen pots and pans.   I looked around frantically looking at them all as I heard a door upstairs open and close.  Crap she’s coming down already!  There’s no way in hell I can clean all of this up and make a breakfast in the amount of time it takes her to come downstairs!  Unfortunately cooking can’t be done in ten seconds flat!

I heard the soft hoofsteps come down the stairs and I did nothing and look up at the kitchen doorway to see Fluttershy enter it.  Her pink mane was ruffled and had that ‘bed hair’ look, her face was unpleasant looking as she liked like she was cringing in pain as she rubbed the side of her head with one of her hooves.  Did she hit her head on something or does she just have a headache?  

However…what was worst of all…what made my jaw drop and wings automatically stick out…was that she was wearing her light purple robe that fit her body TOO WELL…I think I should start petition to not have super sexy mares wear super sexy clothing…it’s literally dangerous…what if I was flying around or holding something heavy!  My wings would instantly lock up and send me spiraling to my death!  I mean Celestia’s sake…that robe sticking to all those curves and even revealing small parts of her body…mmmm it’s just…GAHHH!  

Damn it!  Stop it!  Not now!  Especially not now you uncontrollable pervert!  You already want to pounce on her and you just saw her!  Imagine how this would play out later with the rest of girls!  ‘Oh hey Fluttershy how was the start of your Hearth’s Warming?  Oh I got jumped by my best friend in my own kitchen and got horribly violated!  How was yours?’  Gahh!  Ok!  So seriously!  Save it for your twisted dreams and not on Hearth’s Warming!

The…totally not that attractive and normal looking mare dawning a totally not sexy as hell robe rubbed her head a for a few more seconds before looking around and spotting me on the floor sitting looking like a total idiot.  “Oh….I see you’re already up…”  The buttery mare commented with a smile as she titled her head and put her hoof down.

“Yeah…uhhh…good morning…” I nervously greeted as I raised my right foreleg and rubbed the back of my head as I looked away…trying desperately not to look at her and her robe…thank Celestia she didn’t shower first because if she was wet and in that…ohhhh…I mean ohhhh…I’d be in prison by the end of the day…undoubtedly…but let’s not think about that…think about ugly and unattractive things…like uhh…Discord…yeah…that combination of freaky things…ughhhh…good I’m set…whew…

“And a good morning to you…” Fluttershy kindly replied in her normal sweet tone as I continued to look away from her, trying to regain control of my wings.  “Oh…and Happy Hearth’s Warming as well Dashie…” She then said happily as…wait what?  I quickly looked back at her in slight shock as I saw her smiling face again…Dashie?  When did…oh yeah!  Last night we started to call each other nicknames…duhh…

“Oh yeah…Happy Hearth’s Warming Fl…Flutters…” I responded with a forced smile and a stutter as it felt awkward to say her name like that…that simple one syllable word felt weird as it left my muzzle but…I liked it…it felt right.

“I see you were going to try and make breakfast for me…” The mare in front of me remarked upon noticing all the pots and crap around me along with the pot on top of my head.  Yeah it doesn’t take Twilight to figure that out…

“Try being the word of the sentence there…” I pointed with a nervous chuckle as I looked back at the mare getting closer to me…I held my breath and focused on nothing…just nothing…that’s the only thing I can do to not think of the hot mare closing the distance towards me and the thought to horribly ravage-AHHH STOP IT!

“It’s still sweet of you…and it’s the thought that counts…” Fluttershy retorted with a sweet smile on her face as she took the pot off my head...typical Fluttershy…being nice and sincere even when I’m being a complete and total idiot…which thankfully nullified all those impure thoughts and got me back to focus on what’s really important…which isn’t…you know…those things.

“Too bad we can’t eat that though…” I joked with a smirk as Fluttershy reached down and helped me back to my hooves.

“No…so let’s fix that…” Flutters replied with a light giggle as she took the pot off my head with her right wing.  “I’ll make us some breakfast…” She then said as she walked past me and over to the stove.   Which is nice of her to do considering I failed but…It’s kind of not fair to her since she made food yesterday…I mean, I know she makes stuff for herself all the time but since I’m going to be staying here for winter she’s going to be working more to cook for me…and that really doesn’t sit well with me especially on a day like this.

“N-No…I…I want to do it…” I spoke up, trying to sound confident and determined and instead sounding a bit unsure and nervous…after all I’m just going to be back in my original position of not knowing what the hell to do.  Fluttershy stopped where she was and turned to look at me a bit surprised.

“Rainbow?”  She called back as if asking me to repeat myself just in case she heard me wrong or something.

I closed my eyes for a brief second and took a deep breath in order to better compose myself for what I was about to say.  “I…I want to make you something…I…I don’t want to stay with you and have you always cook for me…you know being roomies means I have to do some stuff too you know…”  I explained a bit unsure of myself as I opened my eyes and looked at the mare in front of me with a smile on my face…I mean…my cooking isn’t exactly…well…awesome as I want to be…and all the nice thoughts and best intentions in the world won’t mean jack if you’re vomiting up your breakfast later.  

Flutters looked at me a bit surprised and unsure of how to respond until a smiled slowly appeared across her lips. “Alright…” She gently replied with a nod, then cocking her head at me in the cutest way possible, letting ruffled pink mane slide cover her face slightly making her look twenty percent cuter. “So what are you going to make?” She then asked curiously as she raised a hoof up to brush the pink hair out of her face.  Ahh the million bit question of the day…what am I going to make indeed…

“Uhhh…Food?” I teasingly answered as my confident smile quickly turned into a nervous smirk.  “Stuff that’s edible hopefully…” I then added as I raised a hoof and started to rub the back of my head, feeling a bit of sweat start to form on my forehead.

“Pancakes sound good…” Fluttershy suggested in a sweet tone which made me raise an eyebrow and look at her weirdly.

“Pancakes…for Hearth’s Warming?” I confusingly asked as I titled my head back, thinking I heard her wrong.  The animal caretaker before me quickly nodded with a slight giggle to answer my question and…well…who am I to deny her?   “Fine ok…I think I can make that…somehow.” I replied as I reached up and grabbed a pot, looking at it not exactly knowing what to do with the damn thing.

“A good place to start would be to get a pan instead of big boiling pot.” The more knowledgeable Pegasus advised as she walked up and picked up a rather large pan up off the floor and held it out for me to take.

“Oh…ok…I guess that would work better…” I said still sounding like a confused foal as I put the pot down and took the pan from her wing with my own, looking over it not exactly sure what to do with that either.

“Ok now get out a mixing bowl…or just any old large bowl.” She began to instruct keeping her kind tone as she pointed to the pantry behind me…whoa whoa whoa…what does she think she’s doing?  “Then some flour, milk, a bit of sugar-”

“What the…are you telling me what to do?” I questioned in a loud tone, cutting her off as I raised one of my forehooves up, making her blink a few times in surprise before starting to look guilty.

“Oh…I’m sorry…I just thought that you…well…didn’t exactly know how to cook pancakes and needed some help…” She apologized in a whisper as she slowly took a few steps back and lowered her head, hiding behind her pink mane…great now she thinks I’m mad at her or something…

“Well…I don’t…but that’s not the point…if you’re just going to help me then that kind of defeats the whole point of me cooking for you if you’re going to be instructing me the entire time…” I pointed out and explained in a calm tone as to not further upset her…anything less than completely happy on Hearth’s Warming is just unacceptable!  The yellow mare looked up back at me with her mouth slightly open before it quickly formed into a kind and reassuring smile.

“It’s fine Rainbow…I understand…and if I can’t eat it without getting sick then what’s the point…” She countered in almost a teasing tone as she reminded me that what would be the point of me cooking if we can’t eat it after it’s done…that would be a waste of time, food, and most importantly be a crappy thing to have on Hearth’s Warming.

“Well yeah…but…I…umm…” I tried to respond, thinking of a way to retort to that but not coming up with anything…I’m just not a cook…and unless I have like ‘A Simple Cookbook for Simple Mares’ kind of thing I’m basically going to be making big lumps of burnt batter…geez what I wouldn’t give for Pinkie’s crazy hyper antics right now…I’m sure she’d make a freaking house of pancakes by now…all of them delicious…

“Ok…think of it like this…as payment for staying at my house I’ll help you and teach you how to cook until you can do it yourself…then you can do it on your own…” Fluttershy began to offer, starting to make what sounds like a deal to me. “And…ummm…if you don’t like it…I’ll…umm…kick you out for being a...not too great roommate or something!” She then said a nervous laugh and chuckle…trying to make a threat or something and completely failing at it…but it is worth a laugh…Fluttershy threating me with something?  Geez now I have seen everything!

“Heh…damn…you’re such a mean land lord Flutters…those terms are just completely outrageous!” I jokingly replied trying to sound as hurt and terrified as possible but instead chuckling to ruin that effect.  “But I guess I don’t have a choice do I?” I then said as I made the fakest sigh I could ever possibly make.

“Nope…it’s either that or you’ll be out in the snow tonight!” The now giggling mare replied as she pointed to the back door that led outside with her wings.

“Oh then I would have to go back to my cloud home!  Say it isn’t so!” I responded trying to sound scared as I backed up and put a foreleg to my head to be extra dramatic.  I looked back at the creamy Pegasus in front of me who was now laughing and laughed with her for a good solid minute or two.   “Alright…alright!  So…So…I need a…a mixing bowl and…and what again?” I then struggled to say after I did my best to calm myself down and get serious again.

“Flour, sugar, butter, some milk…uhhh a few other things if you want to make different kinds of pancakes.” Fluttershy started to list before stopping and thinking of other…most likely unnecessary things needed to make special…undoubtedly much harder to make pancakes.

“Well let’s just make normal pancakes…I don’t want to make things harder for myself by making some uber-fancy and stupid crap that Rarity would like to eat and take like three hours to make!” I pointed out as I put the pan on the stove and turned it on to heat it up.   I then opened my wings up and flew to the pantry to start collecting the things that she listed.  

Upon gathering the required supplies and stuff that I was told to place them all in the bowl in specific amounts and then stir it up.  Huh…that’s actually simple and easy for me to do!  I smiled confidently as I started to stir up all the ingredients in the bowl and as Fluttershy watched from beside me.  I briefly glanced over to her and into her cyan eyes…then to her body which was still criminally too beautiful for her own good.  Thankfully before my thoughts go wonder anywhere else I felt a splash against my face.  Fluttershy giggled as I reached up and found out I was stirring hard enough to splash some batter in my face…well…I know the reason why that happened…and thankfully it did happen before crap started to get dark again…and hey it’s all stirred now thanks to my…passionate stirring.

“Alright…I’m done…what do I do next?” I asked Flutters in a very serious tone as I looked at her in determination…I’m going to make these freaking fluffy treats if it kills me!  Fluttershy giggled a bit as she trotted up to where I was hovering in place and led me to the stove where the pan was.

“Poor some of the mix into a nice little blob into the pan.” She instructed in a calm and gentle tone as she pointed at the pan on of the stove.  

I nodded and landed on my hind legs, moving the bowl full of batter from my forelegs into one of my wings before fully getting down on the ground.  I then took a deep breath and slowly moved my wing holding the bowl over the stove and slowly poured some of the batter out of it onto the hot pan.  The yellow looking goo immediately started to sizzle upon touching the heated surface and the smell of cooking batter immediately entered my nose.

“Ok now you’re going to need a spatula.”  Flutters then advised as she pointed off to the side of the stove which had a lot of smaller cooking utensils.  I nodded again and reached over and took the spatula in my mouth.

“Ok so when it starts to look yellow and then bubble a lot on the edged…that’s when you’re supposed to flip it over.” She continued to lecture as she pointed at the small cooking blob in the pan.  

I bit down on the spatula as I watched the small blob continue to cook in the pan.  The waiting was killing me and the anxiety of not wanting to screw up grew.  I noticed that some small bubbles started to form around the edge…but she said it had to be a lot…so it’s too early I guess. Eventually after a few minutes bubbles were really starting to form and pop around the edge.  I slowly and gently slipped the spatula under the surprisingly solid goop and then quickly flipped it over.  To my shock the side I was now looking at was solid yellow with a few brown spots on it…I…I did it?  I did it!

“Ha ha!  I did it!  I flipped that bitch!”  I shouted in glee, the spatula falling down from my mouth and onto the stove…thankfully not in the pan though. “Now what?” I excitedly asked as I turned to face Flutters with a huge grin on my face.  The yellow mare in the robe smiled warmly in amusement upon seeing my reactions.  That’s not surprising, I mean I’m acting like a little filly learning to do basic crap and being super happy over it…

“Now you have to wait a good minute for the other side to cook…” She calmly instructed as she pointed back at the pan.  “And then you take it off the pan, put it on this plate, and then that's it!   You’re done!” She then finished as she pointed to a decently sized plate on the stove that was off to the side.  As I reached down to pick the spatula back up with my mouth I looked at the pancakes and noticed how they…well…didn’t look like typical pancakes.

“But it doesn’t really look right…” I pointed out in concern before my mouth grabbed the kitchen utensil and picked it up

“If you want you can continue to flip it like every thirty seconds until it looks golden enough to fit your tastes…just don’t keep it on too long for…you know…”  She instructed giving me additional details and an obvious caution…ok so I can keep cooking it to make it look like a traditional pancake but if I cook it too long that’s when it starts to burn…that sounds easy…

“Gotcha…” I simply responded with my voice muffled by the spatula before I lowered the kitchen utensil down to the pan and to the pancake.  

I flipped it back over and the fresh side looked pretty much the same as the side that was now facing the black bottom…yellowish with a few brown spots.  I waited thirty seconds like Fluttershy suggested and flipped it again…now the side from earlier looked much darker with bigger brown spots…and I flipped it again to yield the same results.  I kept flipping it every thirty seconds, each side getting more golden and brown…not to mention delicious smelling and looking.  After it looked freaking perfect I picked it up off of the hot pan and gently placed the fluffy looking flapjack onto the plate.  Upon realizing I did I smiled and spat out the spatula back onto the stove.

“How’s that look?” I confidently asked with a smirk across my lips, tilting my head and looking at the shy Pegasus next to me almost daring her to say it looked anything less than ‘absolutely incredible!’

“Congratulations you just made your first pancake!” The cyan eyed Pegasus congratulated with a smile as she started to stomp her fore hooves onto the ground softly to give me some applause.

“And it’s the most awesome pancake you’ve ever seen!” I added cockily as I raised my left wing and rubbed it against my chest in pride.  Seriously!  I think Celestia herself would consider that pancake to be worthy of royalty if I do say so myself!

“Yes great job Rainbow!  Now you need to make more…I mean we can’t both eat just one little pancake can we?” My great teacher reminded me as she pointed at the batter in my right wing with her right forehoof…damn she’s got a point…ok I guess I can praise my awesome cooking skills more after I make it all…

“Right…and since this pan is big enough I’m guessing I can make more than one at a time right?” I replied as I looked back at the pan and noticed how big it was and how much space was left unoccupied when I was making that one pancake…I guess that’s what it’s for no isn’t it?

“Now you’re getting it!” The canary mare next to me happily said with a nod of her head…hell yeah I’m getting it!  There’s nothing I couldn’t get!  …well…except Twilight’s egghead stuff…and Rarity’s fashion…and Pinkie Pie’s craziness…and Applejack’s…ok nevermind there’s a lot of things I don’t get but this certainly isn’t one of them!

“Heh…look out Pinkie Pie!  Here comes the next best awesome baker around, Rainbow Dash!” I cheered in joyful glee as I moved my right wing over the pan and started pour another glob of batter onto it, making another sizzling sound.  I then moved over next to it and poured another glob.  Yeah this is easy…there really is nothing I can’t do now is there?

“You want to do something fun now?” Fluttershy then suddenly asked in a low teasing tone as she leaned in closer to me which actually made me jump a bit and almost spill the batter.

“Wh-What?” I stuttered out loud as I started to get really nervous.  Th-This isn’t another one of my twisted dreams is it?  Because that sounds like something my twisted dream version of Fluttershy would say!

“Here…let me show you…” She then said with a giggle as she got right next to me and moved her right wing up next to mine and lightly grabbed it.  She then moved it over the pan and started to pour some batter delicately in a line direction…ok she’s talking about cooking…well of course…whew.  I took a sigh of relief as I watched her make a small line and then start to move it in a curve. “You don’t always have to make a round pancake…you can make all sorts of shapes and things like this!” She suggested as she finished pouring and moved my wing so it wouldn’t pour anymore batter onto the pan.

“It looks like a letter J…” I commented as I looked at the small shape she made out of batter…Fluttershy quickly leaned in her head to the pan hilt and turned it so it was upside down and looked like something else.  “Oh it’s a candy cane…” I said in realization upon noticing what it was she was trying to make…which…now that I think about it…fits perfectly with…WELL DUH!

“For Hearth’s Warming!” I yelled in excitement as I could almost literally feeling myself glow in joy…I mean come on wouldn’t you when you figured out you could great some awesomely shaped crap for you to eat?  I get why Pinkie Pie gets really crazy when she makes this stuff!   “Oh this is so awesome!  I’m going to make all sorts of awesome crap just you watch!” I then gleefully declared as I started to move the bowl over the pan to create all kinds of creative and awesome shapes…should I go simple and make something like a snowpony?  Or go pro and create something complicated like a Hearth’s Warming tree!  Oh the possibilities are endless!

“You can make whatever you want Dashie…” I heard Fluttershy say in a soft encouraging tone before I felt her head lean against mine…reminding that she was directly next to me.  The touch made me gasp and almost made me drop the bowl upon feeling a soft and warm head lay against me…and the heat of her body pressed up against me was already starting to drive me insane…this isn’t good…If it keeps up I’ll drop the bowl on the floor from lack of wing control…or worse!

“Uhhh F-Flutters…” I called softly and with a stutter before I took a deep breath to calmly explain myself and get her away from me.  “I-I think I got this so I can do it on my own now…and…you’re kind of in my way being this close…” I lied in a soft tone as I turned my head away, hoping that would be enough to at least give me some personal space.

“O-Oh Y-Yes…s-sorry Dash…” Fluttershy agreed and apologized as she thankfully got off of me and moved away…but unfortunately now sounded upset and hurt for thinking she did something wrong…when it was me who was about to do something horribly wrong…geez I can’t win for anything can I?

“It-It’s ok…” I responded, trying to sound comforting but instead still sounding nervous and stupid.  “W-Well…you think you can…you know…take a quick shower or something…I mean the ‘just got out of bed’ look is starting to get old…” I then suggested as I knew she was still wearing a robe along with her hair still being a mess…common sense would dictate she would take this ample time to make herself look good…or better than she does now because her and not looking good are two things that will never EVER go together…

“Oh…good idea Rainbow…”  The unknowing mare thankfully agreed as I looked back to see her turn around and head towards the doorway.  “Thank you…” She then softly thanked in a whisper which didn’t really sound like gratitude and instead sadness…

“No…problem…” I replied as she left the room…feeling like crap because I bet she still thinks she’s responsible for doing nothing…damn it…this is turning out to be a crappy Hearth’s Warming isn’t it…damn…ok let’s try not to screw up anymore…come on Dash!  You can do it!  You can do anything!

I focused back on cooking, after all making sure the pancakes weren’t burnt to hell is a nice way to start isn’t it?  I leaned my head back down to pick the spatula back off the stove and focused on the sizzling and tasty looking yellow blobs in the pan.  Despite the candy cane pancake being shaped differently from the first pancake I made it was still easy to flip along with the normal pancake.  After I successfully flipped them I took the free moment to poor some more batter onto the pan.  I quickly made a Hearth’s Warming Wreath and then a sleigh…once that was done I started to flip the other two every thirty seconds.

When I thought they looked done I placed them on the plate with the first pancake.  I flipped the remaining pancakes and then started to pour another set of two pancakes.  A bell and a lightning bolt…what?  An awesome lightning bolt is so Hearth’s Warming related!  As I continued making the batch of pancakes I heard the sound of a shower starting to spray water from the upstairs bathroom…ohhhh the thought of Fluttershy taking a shower…mmmm-wait!  No!  Focus on cooking you perverted mess with awesome wings!

I shook my head and paid as much attention as I could to flipping the yellow gooey shapes and making them into amazing and hopefully awesome tasting pancakes.  How many should I make?  If it’s all we’re going to eat…and I eat a lot...I better make at least ten or fifteen.  Yeah that sounds about right.  With a quota now established in my mind I nodded to myself and went back to cooking.

Surprisingly it doesn’t take that long to make the fluffy little treats and it wasn’t too long before I had a plate full of pancakes.  When I reached my quota I put down the spatula, the now empty bowl, and turned off the stove.  I looked at my delicious looking plate of pancakes and felt excited to see how Fluttershy likes them.  She’s still in the shower though…so I’ll have to wait…ohhh all that hot water hitting her body…her long angelic pink mane and rushing down her flank…ohhhh-crap no!  I felt my wings start to twitch beyond my control and looked around desperately…I need to occupy myself to get these thoughts away from me!

I spotted the still dirty table and thankfully realized we can’t eat at a table that’s filled with plates from late night!  I quickly flew over to the table and started collected all the dirty dishes, which were actually not a lot.  One I had them all in my hooves I turned around and flew over to the sink and gently put the collection of plates in to be washed later.  As soon as I did I heard the shower upstairs turn off.  Oh thank Celestia she’s done…now I can stop worrying about thinking sick thoughts…and now I can worry about setting up the table before she comes downstairs…after all what are we going to use to eat these pancakes?  Our bare hooves?  …that’s fine by me actually but I don’t think Fluttershy would like that…it would be what Rarity would call ‘Uncivilized’ or whatever…

I flew to the cabinets, opening and closing a lot of doors before I finally stumbled across some clean plates.  I only grabbed two as…well it’s just the two of us…and then flew back to the table to quickly place them there.  I then flew around opening all the drawers until I came across some forks and butter knives.  I grabbed two of each once again flew back to the table, placing one fork and one knife next to each plate.  Only one thing was missing and that was the pancakes themselves.  I started to hear Fluttershy’s hoofsteps come down the stairs…signaling that she was on her way…I guess this is one of the good things about a Pegasus who walks more than she flies and that is you can always know where she’s at thanks to her hoofsteps.

I quickly flew to the stove and picked up the plate filled with pancakes…the tasty smell immediately invading my noise and making my mouth water a bit.  I shook my head and quickly flew them over to the center of the table as I heard the hoofsteps arrive at the doorway behind me.  I smiled as I landed on the floor and turned around, ready to proudly declare how breakfast was served and all that jazz.  Instead my jaw dropped at the literal dripping wet Fluttershy…

Her soaking wet mane that glistened even in with the small amount of light in the room, her drenched yellow coat that still puts the most beautiful of well-groomed models to shame, and that innocent face with sweet eyes that completes the entire package to make her the irresistible mare that she is.  It’s good thing I just landed because I’d had fallen on my flank at how literal drop dead gorgeous she is.  Oh crap…here it goes again…I…I want to pounce on that hot wet body of her sand give her another reason to need another shower lat-AHHH!  Stop it you obsessed perverted freak!

“Mmm…this smells really good!” The more graceful than Celestia herself mare squeaked out in anticipation as she took a whiff the air and smelled the pancakes.  I blinked a few times and somehow managed to turn my head away from the perfect entity before me and at the pancakes on the table.

“Y-Yeah…l-let’s eat…” I weakly managed to reply as I nodded almost instinctively for whatever reason.   I took a few deep breaths and tried to regain my composure…thank Celestia she said that and changed the topic or else things would’ve gone horrible…again…damn I need to fix this and soon!

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I heard Fluttershy ask almost in a teasing tone as she started to walk towards the table.  Can’t be…I got the plates…the forks…knives…the pancakes…what more do we need?  …Aside from…syrup…crap…right…can’t believe I forgot about that…wait a second…”

“Don’t tell me I need to make the maple syrup…” I dryly responded as I looked back at Fluttershy an unenthusiastic look on my face, thinking about how much of a pain it would be to make that sticky crap…I’d dare say screw it and eat it without the syrup…

“No, of course you don’t…” The yellow Pegasus replied with a slight giggle as she pulled out the chair at the edge of the table which is where one of the plates was placed. “The syrup is in the cabinet behind you…” She then instructed as she sat down and pointed to a cabinet behind me.

“Got it…” I simply said in acknowledgement and with a nod before I turned around and trotted over to the cabinet.  

I opened it and looked inside, quickly finding the small bottle of maple syrup.  I grabbed it with my mouth and turned around to see Fluttershy grabbing a few pancakes with her fork and placing them on her plate.  I walked back over to her and quickly poured some maple syrup on her stack of pancakes.

“Thank you…” She gratefully thanked with a smile before I walked over to my seat over to my seat.

“No problem…” I smugly said with a smirk after I placed the bottle down next to my plate.  I then quickly sat in my seat and grabbed the fork with my right forehoof.  I leaned in towards the center and grabbed a huge stack of shaped pancakes with one stab.  I licked my lips as I leaned back and put them on my plate, then quickly grabbing the syrup bottle and practically drenching my pancakes in syrup.

“This is pretty good Rainbow…not bad for your first try…” I heard Fluttershy compliment generously as I looked up to see her already beginning to delicately eat her small stack of a few pancakes compared to my huge stack.

“Heh…who do you think you’re talking to?  Of course I would master making pancakes on my first go!” I confidently replied with a smirk, reminding her of how awesome I was as I grabbed the knife and fork and sliced a small piece of the flapjack.   I quickly plopped it into my mouth and true to Fluttershy’s words it was pretty good…though I should probably be thanking her for this since she taught me how to do this in the first place.

“I’m sure Grams would be proud of you…” I heard Fluttershy remark as I looked back up to see her sweetly smiling at me…Grams…what?  How did she all of a sudden get involved?  “After all…she’d always make holiday themed pancakes for us every Hearth’s Warming…” The confusing yellow mare then explained before she looked back down and placed another small bite of pancake into her mouth.

“She did?” I asked in surprise as I titled my head at her before thinking it over…I know there was kind of a tradition with her on Hearth’s Warming…but was it Pancakes?  

…wait…yeah…the shapes…of course!  That explains why Fluttershy was so adamant about showing me how to make these holiday themed pancakes. “Yeah…I guess she did huh?” I then said with a smile on my face upon remembering how we’d always wake up to eat pancakes before opening the presents…and how it would usually take me three seconds because I’d force it down my throat to get the real important thing in every filly’s mind on Hearth’s Warming…opening presents…

“I’m not surprised you barely remember…you were more concerned about other things than breakfast….she’d usually have to force you to eat and even then you would try to swallow it all whole…” Flutter teasingly commented giggle as I cut off a huge chunk of multiple layers of pancakes and stuck it in my mouth.

“Hell yeah!” I shouted in glee, my voice muffled with my face being stuff and some chunks of food falling out of my mouth.  I realized how rude that was and waited a minute to swallow before going on.  “Opening gifts and having fun was more important to me than breakfast…I mean you don’t go back to flight camp after the holiday break and talk about how amazing your breakfast was on Hearth’s Warming!” I then explained in an excited tone as Fluttershy looked back up at me with that smile still on her face.

“I guess…but it was always a holiday tradition for us…until…you know…” She began to respond before trailing off and stopping, looking back down with her smile disappearing like it never existed on her face to begin with…and for good reason because she doesn’t need to go on about what happened next.

“Yeah…” I simply said as I looked down as well…damn…what a way to bring the mood down…but I can’t blame her…this does bring back happy memories of a time before it all went sour…I feel even awful that we didn’t start this back up as soon as we met up again in Ponyville.  I don’t know what to say.  I looked up at her and opened my mouth to try and say something…anything…but to my surprise I actually saw her laughing…did I do something funny?

“Remember the time you were such in a rush to open your presents that you almost choked on sleigh shaped pancake…” She reminded me as she looked up with that beaming smile back on her face…yeah…I did do something funny…around ten damn years ago actually…

“Yeah I do actually…” I replied now starting to giggle as well as I looked down and took another huge bite of the flapjacks on my plate…actually if I recall I think Fluttershy was the one who saved me and smacked me in the back to clear my throat…I don’t think she remembers that though because if she did she would be apologizing for hitting me rather than saving me…

“Then there was the time you accidently flew into the tree and almost got squashed by it…” Flutters then recalled out loud as she looked up with a wistful look on her face, as if seeing it unfold in front of her.  Oh yeah I remember that…and again Fluttershy pushed me out of the way…followed by more apologies for pushing me even though she saved me from like forty pounds of tree.

“Yeah…Grams wasn’t too thrilled about that if I remember correctly…” I responded with a nod and a laugh.  That’s actually the reason half the ornaments on the tree in the living room look like crap…because I was so excited on Hearth’s Warming and flew into it…but I was like nine!  So give me a break!

“Then there was that one moment you accidently flew into the front door and got your head caught in the wreath…” She went on; reminding me of more embarrassing crap I did as she took another small bite of her food.

“Yeah yeah I was really a klutz wasn’t I?”  I replied a bit loudly as I shook my head at all those times I flew into stuff or acted like an idiot…sad thing is that hasn’t gotten much better and I still accidently fly into crap and act like idiot!   “I wasn’t called Rainbow Crash for nothing after all!” I reminded her with a smirk as I held up my fork with a whole candy cane shaped pancake and pointed it at her before shoving the whole tasty thing in my mouth.

“Still…they were always fun and I looked forward to them every year…mostly because it was the holiday break and I was always allowed to stay over at your place for the entire holiday vacation…” The gentle yellow mare across from me happily mused as she looked at me with the sweetest smile she could possibly give…melting any heart that saw it and mine was definitely no exception.  “And your Grandma always got me something too and…” She continued as her voiced started to get lower…remembering how Grams would always get her something no matter what…hell most of the time the crap she got her was better than mine!

“I really miss those times…I wish they never…” She tried to finish before her voice cut out followed by tears quickly appearing in her cyan eyes that was the opposite of her smile a few seconds ago…instead of melting any heart who laid eyes on it…it broke any heart that laid eyes on it…and once again mine is no exception…especially mine!

“Hey hey…no gloomy faces on Hearth’s Warming…” I comfortingly said I smiled reassuringly; Fluttershy slowly looked up at me with tears on the brink of sliding down her beautiful face.  “What would Grams say if she saw this…she wouldn’t want you to feel this way…and neither do I.” I then said in a gentle tone as I cocked my head a bit at her, hoping that it uplift her spirits.  The upset mare across from me stared at me for a few seconds before once again a smile slowly downed across her muzzle…which is where it needs to be…always.

“You’re right...that time of my life might have been great, but that doesn’t mean every Hearth’s Warming since then was terrible…” She agreed starting to sound happy again as she raised her left forehoof and wiped away the tears from her face. “In fact…I…I think this one might be the best one I had in years…” She then pointed out starting to sound a bit nervous…and excited as she started to quickly finish off the rest of her food.  I think I have a feeling of where this is going…which honestly isn’t a good thing sadly…

“Oh…really?  Why’s that?” I asked trying to sound as curious and oblivious as I could as I focused on eating my food to finish what I had on my plate.  I was trying not to look TOO suspicious…if that’s even possible.

“Maybe you should come to the living room and find out…” She teasingly and vaguely replied as she got up from the chair and started to move to the door.  I wanted to immediately go after her…but I didn’t want her to think that I knew what was going…so I better make some kind of excuse of why I need to stay.

“Alright…I will…but let me clean up first…ok?’  I replied pointing at the now dirty dishes on the table.  Fluttershy looked at me a bit curiously as she titled her head a bit…crap was that not the right thing to do?

“O-Ok…I’ll be waiting for you then…” She then hesitantly replied with a stutter before turning back around and entering the living room.

I sighed in relief as I looked at my now mostly empty plate before me.  I quickly took my fork and stabbed what was left of my pancakes and shoved it in my mouth.  As I chewed the last remains of the sticky and tasty food I made I got up from the table and collected the few dishes that were on the table.  I took them to the sink like the last batch of dishes and put them in with them.  The sink was now pretty fully of dirty dishes…I’ll just help Fluttershy clean them alter…I’m not stranger to doing dishes…and dull and boring as it is…but that’s later…now…what the hell am I going to do?

Oh Fluttershy you shouldn’t have!  Oh awesome, you got me a present!  Oh my…is that what I think it is?  …Geez…I have a feeling if I said those all out loud it would come off forced and fake…maybe I should hit my head against a wall and go with that short term memory loss idea I had earlier.  No, no, come on Rainbow!  Don’t focus on the gift itself and just be excited and happy about it…and then the surprise will come later when you open it later and see what it is…that’s what Flutters really wants after all…I hope…yeah it is has to be…I hope…I mean what more could she want…aside from me being one hundred percent surprised…ughh…ok let’s try and get this over with without it being a complete disaster.

I turned around and slowly made my way into the living room.  It was much warmer than before which makes sense since I turned the heater on when I woke up.  Though it’s actually a lot warmer than I expected it to be…that’s a really good heater Fluttershy has!  As I made my way to the couch I noticed Fluttershy in front of the fireplace with a fire going…a really good fire actually…

“Wait what?”  I muttered out loud in disbelief and slightly annoyed which made Fluttershy gasp and turn around to face me.  She managed to get a fire going in the short amount of time of me still being in the kitchen when I couldn’t do it at all for like ten minutes?  Bullshit!  I am calling bullshit on that!  This is ridiculous!  Is life having a laugh at me or something or did Pinkie Pie walk by when I wasn’t looking and cause the laws of reality to take a quick Hearth’s Warming Vacation?

“R-Rainbow?”  Fluttershy called softly which made me blink and look at her to see her looking at me concerned.  “I…Is something wrong?”  She then asked in a worried, worried that something went wrong…yeah the rules of physics actually…but whatever…it’s not a big deal I guess…

“No…it’s nothing…” I shrugged off as I smiled and waved my forehoof at her.  The yellow mare looked at me for a few seconds before smiling and nodding back to me.  The now completely dry mare stood up from the fireplace and started to walk over to the tree.

Damn I take it back…when she’s dry she still looks freaking stunning…I think I could dump a whole dumpster of garbage on her and she’d still put Celestia herself to shame in the looks department.  And that walk…oh that walk…I think she was born with a rare ability called the ‘Sexy walk’ because the way she’s moving and how her flank with those three butterflies on it are like lightly jiggling with each graceful step…mmm!  Oh damn it!  Come on Dash!  She’s just walking for Celestia’s sake and you’re almost about to drool all over her floor!  Get ahold yourself!  Especially now or else we’re checking ourselves into the mental institution for having serious messed up issues!

“So…uhhh...what did you want me here for?”  I asked nervously with a stutter like a freaking idiot in desperation to break that chain of thoughts and in doing so make myself look super-uber-flipping suspicious…geez out of the frying pan and into the volcano!

Fluttershy walked…normally and definitely not at all lust-worthy up to the tree and turned around to face me with a bright smile on her face.  “Why don’t you look under the tree and find out?” She teasingly urged as she gestured her head towards the bottom of the where the gift awaited me.  Ok…I guess I’ll just have to do my best to act surprised…let’s see if I still have some skills left over from that Hearth’s Warming play I was in two years ago!

I bent over and looked under the tree to see the present that I stumbled across earlier…ok here goes nothing!  I gasped as loud as I could and put a hoof to my muzzle before I slowly looked up at the canary mare next to me. “Flutters…you…you got me a gift Flutters?” I whispered trying to look surprised as possible…and failing miserable…I mean I said Flutters twice for Celestia’s sake!  Crap…I’m certainly not winning awards for that performance!

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Rainbow Dash!” The pink mane colored mare gleefully exclaimed with a bright smile on her face as I was mentally kicking myself on…my awesome performance that somehow managed to trick her…that or she didn’t care about me finding a present and is more excited about me finding out what it actually is.  That’s most likely it…which makes me feel stupid for fearing about ruining her day earlier…oh well.

“Well go on open it!”  She excitedly told me as she clapped her forehooves, breaking me from my mental funk.  I smirked and nodded before picking up the relatively soft and squishy package with my right wing.  I gave a slight groan as I fully stood up, I had a bad feeling that this might be something I don’t want or like…like a sweater or something.

“Oh…and…uhh…sorry if you don’t want it or hate it…I ummm…just thought you might like it…”  Fluttershy then nervously apologized upon hearing my groan…crap…what a grade-A jerk thing to do!  Without a doubt Fluttershy made this thing just for me and here I am being ungrateful.  Just open the damn thing and appreciate the effort she put into it at least!

I kicked myself mentally before moving the present to my mouth and grabbing the wrapping paper with my teeth.  I ripped off the simple wrapping paper to reveal the object it was covering.  I gasped legitimately in shock as I saw it to be a scarf…and not a boring dull scarf but a radical looking rainbow colored one…and when I looked closer at the bottom I saw what looked like my cutie mark on the last red stripe that had my name eloquently written inside the white cloud…the amount of effort and care put into this blew my mind.

“F-Fluttershy…” I called in a stuttered whisper as I continued to look over the amazing hoof made scarf she made just for me.  “I…It…” I then tried to comment, trying to find the words to describe how awesome this thing is or how much cooler it’s going to make me look especially in the winter…it goes well above twenty percent I can safely say…but I’m not great with words and so there’s nothing I can say to convey how awesome this scarf is.

“I…I love it…” I then said softly as I looked at Fluttershy with a grateful smile on my face.  I may not describe how awesome this thing is…but I can easily describe how I feel about it.

“Y-You…You do?” The baffled mare struggled to ask in disbelief as she blinked repeatedly and looked at me in shock.

“Oh hell yeah!  I’m not much of a scarf kind of mare but if anypony could make a scarf awesome enough and worthy enough for me to wear...it’s you…” I answered loudly with a smirk as I quickly wrapped the scarf around my neck, which felt extremely comfortable and gentle against my coat…not to mention a little warm…which will be great when I go out into the freezing snow later.

“R-Really?” She then simply asked as a smile slowly formed on her face along with a faint tint of red on her cheeks.

“Yeah I don’t think I’m ever taking this thing off…I think I might even wear it in the summer time it’s so awesome!” I replied honestly with a quick wink...I mean if it wasn’t for the intense heat in Summer I think I would wear this thing twenty-four seven to show off how awesome it is and how amazing my friend is!

“T-Thank you Dashie…” She thanked in a whisper as she looked away with her blush getting worse by the second…which made me laugh slightly considering that should be my line…I mean the one who receive the gift does the thanking, not the giver…

“No, no…thank you Flutters…” I thanked as I shook my head at her, which made her slowly nod in response. “Though…if you want to thank me for something…maybe you should look under the tree yourself…” I then suggested with a teasing smirk as I gestured my head towards the bottom of the tree like Fluttershy did earlier.

The now confused looking mare looked at me with a raised eyebrow before bending over and looking under the tree.  Gasping and putting a hoof to her mouth much like I did earlier after seeing what I had left under the tree…though she did it much more naturally and better…which makes sense since that’s a genuine reaction and of course it warms my heart to see her like this…maybe I did make the right call by putting that under there earlier instead of suddenly giving it to her like now or later.

“R-R…Rainbow…I….y…you…” She struggled to mutter as she slowly reached out and grabbed it with her right forehoof.

“Happy Hearth’s Warming Fluttershy…” I warmly said as I watch her stand back up holding the small overwrapped gift, again mimicking what Fluttershy did earlier this time in speech form.

She looked at me briefly with her cyan eyes slightly quivering as she looked at me before slowly turning her gaze back to the small gift in her hoof.  She slowly reached down and bit down on the fancy looking wrapping paper.  She delicately ripped off the wrapping paper as her hoof shook slightly in anticipation and excitement most likely.  Thankfully, since it’s delicately wrapped it’s also kind of fragile and even with Fluttershy’s weak tug the fancy wrapping came undone and revealed the small gift.

Fluttershy’s eyes went wide as she saw the small heart shaped locket.  The small thing had a cerise colored gem on the front side and then a cyan colored gem on the other and both of them were surrounded by an over decorated design like wings and feathers.  I didn’t do that crap…hell I didn’t even want to do the locket…Rarity made me do it on what sounded like pain of death…I never saw her so passionate about wanting me to give her something in my life!

“It…It’s…beautiful…” She finally managed to comment in almost an inaudible voice as she put her hoof through the thin chain and held it up so it dangled in front of her face…yeah but that’s not what I want her to see though…

“But the real gift’s on the inside…” I commented in a soft voice as I reached my hoof over to the small locket and too the small button on the top of it.  “See?”  I then simply said in a whisper as I pressed the small button, opening the locket up to reveal the picture of us as fillies that I found in my attic with the other stuff and the picture of us together in Rio.

That is what I wanted to give her…something to remind her of our fillyhoods and even our current friendship…though I was thinking a small picture frame or something…not a locket but hey…I think Rarity made the right call on this one…even if the design is overall…uhh…a little much in the sappy department…hell this whole situation is sappier than a damn oak tree but hey…that’s typical Hearth’s Warming so I’ll let it slide just this once.

“R…Rain…Rain…” The now completely speechless mare tried to say, as she looked at me with her cyan eyes shaking uncontrollably and her breathing sporadic.  It was actually a little bit concerning…I hope I didn’t break her.

“Uhh…A-Are you-AHH!” I began to ask to see if she was alright before being cut off her by her tackling me to the ground with her hooves and wings wrapping around me in a hug before we both landed on the ground with her right on top of me.

“Heh…I’m guessing you like it then huh?” I commented with a chuckle after realizing what happened and why this happened in the first place…she must’ve really liked that gift if she tackled me to the ground and brought us this close together…wait…oh crap…please let this be a brief hug that doesn’t last long!  Please!  Please!  Please!

“Oh I’m sorry! Well…actually I’m not…I’m sorry….or not…I don’t know…I…I’m just!” She sporadically apologized as she pressed her face into my scarf covered neck, sounding like she was on the brink of bursting into tears.  “It’s the best gift I could ever want in my entire life…” She then whispered softly as I felt her tighten her grip around me further pressing our bodies together.

Oh crap!  Her soft yellow fur against mine, her gentle pink mane touching my chin, and ohhhh the aroma she’s giving off is beyond tantalizing.  I can’t…I can’t help it!  I raised both my wings and slowly returned the hug, pressing as close as we can possibly get.  I heard Fluttershy make a small ‘eep’ sound in response to this…which was beyond adorable and only further urged me on.  I moved my wings around her slim and smooth back before I slowly started to move them down towards my next Hearth’s Warming presents.   Oh yeah…I licked my lips and grinned at the thought of having this Special Treat for lunch.

“R-Rainbow Dash…” I heard the mare on top of me gently call, her voice muffled by my scarf.  Crap I got caught…should I just go for it though and grab her flank for all it’s worth since I’m so close anyways?  I hesitated in thought as I felt Fluttershy move her face out from my neck and look at me with a gentle and innocent smile on her face.   “Thank you…”  She then thanked sincerely and sweetly as our faces were mere inches apart.

As I looked into her cyan eyes I could see my own reflected in them and what I saw in them…made me want to punch myself in the face.  What the hell was I about to do?  Grope my best friend just because I’m touching her or near her?  Hell no!  That’s not me…I’d never do that to my friend no matter what!  That breaks my moral code…my freaking loyalty!  I’m bitterly loyal to the end especially to this mare…if there’s anypony I’m most loyal to…it’s her.

“Heh…Anytime…” I began softly as I moved my wings up back to the safe area of her back. “Fluttershy…” I then finished with a smile forming on my face.  The creepy look I saw in my eyes through hers vanished and in its place was the same old awesome Rainbow Dash…loyalty beats lust every day.

Hey…That’s it!  That’s how I can overcome my creepy as hell libido!  Hell it’s how I’ve been beating it in the first place!  My sheer strength and conviction through loyalty is enough conquer any dark thoughts in my mind!  I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner!  If I ever feel myself drifting to the dark side of my mind I just have to remember my loyalty to her…my best friend and only true family member!

I sighed in relief as I continued looking at Fluttershy…whose pupils shrunk to small pinpricks and eyes widened as much as they could.  “Oh my goodness!” She frantically shouted as she quickly got off of me and stumbled back onto her haunches. “I-I…I’m sorry!” The now terrified looking mare then apologized as she looked away, her face going completely read in realization at how close we were…and how it might upset me…which of course…it never would for obvious reasons.

“Relax its ok Flutters…” I shrugged off in a dismissive tone as I slowly sat up on my haunches…yeah if anything I should be apologizing for almost molesting her…again!  However…thankfully that problem is now solved…I hope.

“I…I just…” The pink haired mare fumbled to say trying to think of how to fix the situation which was never a problem to begin with.  Man I really hope my weird perversion is cured…but there’s only one way to find out…

“Fluttershy…” I called softly as I scooted over towards her.  “Really…it’s fine…don’t worry about it.” I soothingly tried to reassure as I opened my left wing and rapped it around her to calm her down…and…and…nope!  No real burning desire to go beyond that!  Yes!  I think I’m going to be good now!  

Flutters looked up at me shocked that I did that and quickly moved away from me, standing up and walking away.  Geez…she can’t be that embarrassed can she?  “I…you…you got gifts for the others right?” The canary colored Pegasus sheepishly asked as she faced away from me…wait that’s a bizarre thing to ask.

“Uhh…yeah?” I quickly replied awkwardly…finding that a weird question…I mean of course I got the others something!  I mean…duhh we’re friends so of course I would get them a Hearth’s Warming gift…well…I got one for everypony except Twilight…she stopped accepting them after becoming a Princess because…I don’t know she gave weird legal reasons I guess…I wasn’t really paying attention I just know that nopony gives her gifts anymore.

“And…where are they…” She then asked in a softer tone as she looked down at the heart shaped locket.

“At my…oh crap!” I began to respond for realizing where this was going!  The gifts are at my house!  I forgot to bring them over last night with everything else!  I kind of nee them since we’re all supposed to go to Twilight’s later for the Hearth’s Warming party!

“Yeah…you…you should probably go get them…” Fluttershy pointed out in a dull soft tone as she still faced away from me.  I got it now…I know what this is all about…she’s so embarrassed she wants me to go for a bit so she can…I don't know...unembarrass herself?  Whatever...it's fine though…I can do that…

“Yeah…you’re right…thanks for reminding me Fluttershy…” I graciously replied with a smirk before I turned around and started to trot to the door.

“It’s no problem…we’ll…we’ll meet up later at the party…” Fluttershy responded in a whisper as I reached the door.  Well…yeah…of course we will…and we’ll see each other later here when we both come back tonight…

“Yeah…I’ll see you there…” I replied as I turned around and looked at the mare standing next to the tree.  I began to turn back around when I remembered something that we talked about yesterday.  “Oh wait…I almost forgot…” I began as I turned back to face her, actually catching her attention this time as I saw Fluttershy look up and give me a curious expression.

“Make something…” I then simply said with a smirk and a nod.

“W-What?” The yellow mare replied with a stutter as she leaned back in surprise and confusion…which is understandable since that really wasn’t the best freaking explanation.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes briefly before opening them and looking at the shy Pegasus seriously.  “Your cooking is amazing…and I know Applejack and Pinkie Pie always do things…but…you need to make at least something for others to eat…you said you would anyways…” I more thoroughly elaborated in a stern tone, wanting more than anything for her to cook something and get the proper recognition she deserves for being a great cook.

“Y-Yeah…your right…I will…” Fluttershy agreed with a soft smile, a nod, and a light blush on her face as she remembered our deal yesterday…which is great that means I get to have more of her cooking later.

“Thanks…” I gratefully said as I turned back around and opened the door, being bombarded with cold chills and snow as soon as I opened the door…but I wasn’t going to let it affect me or even show it.  “See ya…” I cheerfully said as I briefly looked back and waved goodbye to Flutters.  She smiled and waved back.  I grinned back before turning around and leaving the nice warm cottage and into the freezing abyss known as the outside.

Celestia damn it its cold!  But I already knew that…but still…geez!  I’m already starting to shake and I just stepped out into the snow.  However it’s not as bad as I would’ve expected…that’s mostly because of the scarf that was now wrapped around my neck…its already starting to pay off…heh…thanks again Fluttershy.  I opened my wings up and took off into the freezing air, heading towards my home.

This was already starting to turn into one of the…I don’t even know how to describe Hearth’s Warming!  Interesting?  Unusual?  Unique?   One of those words...but I know it’s also starting to be awesome.  I got a cool scarf, made Fluttershy happy, and best of all finally found a way to combat my odd fascination with Fluttershy in a physical sense.  So now I can be around her without my fearing that I was going to jump her and do horrible things to her.   That actually fixes a whole mess of problems and future problems…though…I don’t know…

Why do I feel like I haven’t tackled the source of the problem yet? Next Chapter: Chapter 20 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 33 Minutes