Button Mash didn't ask for much for Hearth's Warming Eve. He didn't ask to have his life upended, his home left in tatters, and to spend his evening packing to leave Ponyville forever.

On the other hoof, he also didn't ask to sit next to a stranger on the train, to be given her charity far more than he deserved, and to find in her a kinship he didn't expect.

But sometimes, you can find warmth in the most unlikely of places.

Older!Button Mash x Tempest Shadow.

Pre-read by RTStephens.

Written for CrimsonEquine for Jinglemas 2022