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// 13- Happy Holidays 
// Story: Newfound Neighbors 
// by FrostTheWolf 
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It had been only a few months since Gizmo and Brisk moved in next door and since then, life around the neighborhood started to get rather interesting. Every day now had a fifty-fifty chance of either being somewhat normal or going off the rails and sometimes, the latter was not necessarily a bad thing. As long as no property damage was caused and we didn't end up breaking any laws, it served as a nice change of pace from what we do on a daily basis. The only exception being that any ‘experiments’ that Gizmo wanted to do would be done indoors so that way if something went wrong, no one that would be passing by would end up getting hurt.

Though, the thing was, Gizmo’s talents and the work that she put into her inventions didn’t really go unnoticed. One time, I had my friend Ryan come over with me when I was dropping something off for Brisk. At the time, Gizmo was working on some improvements to some of the inventions that she showed my parents when they invited themselves over for dinner. Whether it be slight adjustments or having to put something back together, she was rather focused on her craft and seeing the end results after hours of tweaking and tinkering.

Yet, what was the first thing that Ryan did when seeing this? Get out his phone and start recording her when she was celebrating like Victor Frankenstein shouting ‘It’s alive!’. Not to mention that at the time, Gizmo had her claw-bands still on her hooves. Before I could even try to talk some sense into him, he uploaded the video of the magi-neer onto social media.

The day afterwards, I had to explain to both Brisk and Gizmo what ‘going viral’ meant. Because when I first told them, they thought that they were sick with some unknown disease.

Back to what I was saying before, one of the other reasons why life started to get interesting around the neighborhood was because more people around the neighborhood were starting to warm up to the idea of having Equestrians move in. After the original fiasco when Gizmo first moved in, many of the people around the block were rather nervous at first. However, with time, they started to accept her and Brisk as part of the community. Since then, we’ve even seen other equestrians of different species come by to look at any homes that happened to be for sale in the neighborhood.

Now though, Winter was now here and with it was a subject that I hadn’t really had the chance to touch on much with my Equestrian neighbors. That subject was holidays, and not just learning about Equestrian holidays, customs and such. It also meant teaching Gizmo and Brisk about different earth holidays and traditions. Not just ones that sound somewhat similar to what they know already, but some holidays that they probably might not have heard of before.

Don’t even get me started when Brisk and I had to restrain Gizmo because she assumed that a charity marathon that was being done to raise money for Cancer was the ‘Running of the Leaves’.

Now though, it was the beginning of December, and with it came all the festivities that you would expect aside from Mariah Carey being blasted all over the radio. Though, there was one thing that was absent where we live that Gizmo thought was going to happen. “What do you mean that your neighborhood doesn’t get snow? It’s winter!”

At the time, Gizmo and Brisk were with Dad and I at a Christmas tree lot trying to find the right tree for our living room this year. “Well, where we’re at right now, the temperature’s too warm for snow,” my dad answered her question, “If there was snow, then it would melt too quickly and all we would get would just be rain. The only places that get snow in California are up in the mountains where Julian is, and even then it’s not a lot.”

“Julian? Who’s Julian?” Brisk asked as he walked around another douglas fir that was in the ground.

“No no, Julian isn’t a who, but a where,” I clarified, “Julian’s a town north of here in the mountains. A few hours drive depending on traffic.”

“S-still, that sounds… kind of sad,” Gizmo said, “Like, you would see it all the time, but you never actually get to play in it or have it happen here?”

“Not necessarily,” I shrugged my shoulders, “When I was younger, we used to go to this ‘Winter Wonderland’ that was held at the Wild Animal Park. They would bring in a lot of snow and allow for us to sled down a hillside and create things out of the snow. Yet, that was pretty much it. No actual snowball fights or anything… Then again, I was only eight years old at the time and didn’t really think that much about it.”

“I’m surprised that you actually remember that,” Dad spoke up, “How long was that ago? Ten years?”

“Probably more. Though, we’re getting a bit sidetracked,” As I said that, I looked back over to Brisk, “So, was there any particular type of tree that you were looking for? Any particular size?”

“Something that could at least fit in our living room,” Brisk replied back, “Last thing I think we would want is for a rather big tree to be crammed in our living room like that one movie you showed us last week.”

Oh right, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. My family’s holiday tradition for who knows how long… and my dad’s best idea to introduce Gizmo and Brisk to what Christmas is. Let’s pray that Gizmo doesn't try to recreate the house light scene.

Back to right now though, it seemed like Brisk and dad found something that would work. Though, as I watched them cut it down and bring the tree over to some of the employee’s at the lot, I couldn’t help but notice that something seemed… off with Gizmo. Not like her being upset, but more like she was stuck in thought. Just one glance at her and it would look like she was staring off into space.

“Gizmo?” I said, waving a hand in front of her to see if I could get her attention.

“Huh?” She blinked, before looking back at me with a confused glance, “Sorry, did you say something? I was a bit lost in thought.”

“You were kind of staring off into space. Brisk and dad already got the tree, so all we need to do is bring it back to your place.”

“Oh, okay then.” She said, before trotting back in order to catch up to Brisk. Yet, something clearly seemed off. Though, I’m not sure if she would be open to talk about it right now. I mean, if it’s personal, I shouldn’t try to pry, right? At the very least, I should let Brisk know.

“Hey Brisk, do you have a minute?”

Immediately, he looked back towards me and trotted over while my dad was strapping the tree onto the roof of the car. “Yes, Sam? Is everything alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” I assured him, before looking over to Gizmo, “Though, something doesn’t seem right with Gizmo. She’s been awfully quiet and I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. I don’t know if it’s something I said or anything, but this isn’t normal.”

For a moment, Brisk paused as he looked back towards his marefriend for a moment, before turning his attention back towards me, “Thanks for telling me. I’ll try to talk to her later today and see what’s going on. This… usually happens when she’s really deep in thought. Though, what she is thinking about is something that I wouldn’t know until she tells me.”

Well, that’s a relief, I guess. Though, it does make me wonder what exactly she was thinking about. Maybe it was something for whatever gadget she was working on back at her house? Who knows, really?




PoV- Gizmo and Brisk




“Gizmo, are you doing alright?”
When she heard her name, the unicorn couldn’t help but stop her train of thought as she lifted her head and looked towards Brisk. She and her coltfriend were trying to decorate the hearth’s warming tree that they picked for this year. However, her mind seemed to be elsewhere, as evident by the fact that Brisk was doing most of the work. Which, in itself, was difficult to do since this was a task that they agreed to do together.

“Huh?” the unicorn asked as she tried to just shrug it off, “I-i’m fine, Brisky. Why did you ask?”

“Because I had been trying to get your attention for the last couple of minutes and you didn’t hear me until just now,” the earth pony deadpanned as he set the bundle of tree lights down and looked back to his marefriend, “Gizmo, you know that you can tell me anything right? How am I suppose to help you if I don’t know what you’re thinking about?”

“I know, it’s just…” For a moment, the unicorn stopped to let out a small breath and clear her head a bit. Once she had the chance to do that, Gizmo looked back at the earth pony as she cleared her throat, “Do you remember what Sam said at the tree lot? About how their neighborhood doesn’t get snow.”

“Yeah, I-” At this point, Brisk paused briefly. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but the earth pony had a bad feeling that he was going to somehow get dragged into this. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, I… had been thinking of something… something big,” Gizmo told him, “It’s a bit of a long shot, but I wanted to give a gift to not just Sam and her family, but the whole neighborhood. For welcoming not just you and I, but everypony else that calls our neighborhood home. Something that only we can do.”

That caught the earth pony off guard. They had not even finished with decorating the tree and she was already thinking about gifts? If it were anypony other than Gizmo, Brisk would’ve thought that she was going a bit too fast in planning for the holidays. Though, right now, the stallion decided to humor her, “Okay, what exactly were you thinking? Were you wanting to build a gadget for everybody around the neighborhood or-”

“No no, Brisk. Nothing like that at all,” the unicorn interjected, “Bigger than that.”

“You’re… going to need to be more specific.”

Gizmo then let out a sigh, taking a glance over at a picture frame that was on the shelf above the fireplace. The picture inside was of the two of them standing alongside a cerulean dragon with a mechanical tail and a tan brown pegasus. “Do you remember what Azure told me the first time I was doing maintenance on his tail?”

“All I remember was you being a nervous wreck trying to make sure all the adjustments were right. That and when Azure accidentally bumped someone with it, it threw them through a wall.”

“Har Har, very funny mister,” the magi-neer rolled her eyes at Brisk before looking back over to the frame, “Anyways, I was… stressed. I didn’t think he would end up breaking it so quickly and I was too focused on trying to make it so that it wouldn’t break again. But, that’s when he told me something he was taught from the dragon lands. Material items only last for so long, but the memories we make with others last forever.” 

After she said that, the unicorn looked back at her coltfriend and nodded, “What I want to do for a gift is the chance for everyone to make some memories of our own. Not just for Sam and her family, but everyone. And I think I know just what I want to do.”

“Well, enlighten me,” Brisk told her, “Just what did you have in mind?”

At that, the unicorn smiled, “I want to have the one thing that doesn’t happen here happen… even if it’s just for one night.”

At that, the earth pony’s eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about. Yet, only one question materialized in his mind, “… And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”

“Remember a long time ago when Misty said that she owed us a favor after we helped her capture Swift’s dad? You know, when we foiled his planned attempt to steal from Canterlot Castle?”

“Didn’t Swift already use that?”

“Swift used his favor,” Gizmo smiled, “Misty said that she owed each of us a favor. I’d say it’s time we cash in ours if we’re going to make this work.”




Back to Sam




On the day that Christmas Eve finally came around, I was relieved to have everything that I needed to take care of done. All the holiday shopping, decorations for the tree and the house, and last minute family parties were now behind me… for the most part. There were still a few things that lingered in the back of my mind and that were making it harder for me to focus as I was getting ready to go to sleep. Most of them were minor things, but one such thing that was irritating me no matter how many times I’ve tried to ignore it.

That thing in particular was Gizmo. Ever since my dad and I helped her and Brisk get their christmas tree, she had been rather… secretive to say the least. On the surface, she was her usual everyday self. Though, anytime I tried to ask her about what she had been doing recently, the unicorn would act as if a friend was trying to not act suspicious when planning an unexpected surprise party. Not only that, but when I tried asking Brisk, he could only say that Gizmo was working on a ‘big project’. Which, at the time, could’ve meant many things… but since I was half awake, I just decided to crash in bed and try to fall asleep.

Unfortunately, my attempt at slumber did not last long. For only a few hours after crashing on my mattress did my phone start to ring. Oh god, who the hell is trying to call me this late?

“Sam, are you there?”

Well, that immediately answered my question, “Ryan, what the hell? I’m trying to get some sleep-.”

“Look, I’m sorry for waking you up, but I think I’m seeing things. There’s freaking snow falling outside.”

As he said that, I was rubbing my eyes in order to make myself stay awake as my vision began to adjust. “Are you sure that you didn’t decide to have a bit too much eggnog tonight? Because what you’re saying sounds straight up ridiculous. You know it as much as I do that only the towns in the mountains get-”

“Sam… before you finish that sentence, take a look outside. Because this isn’t ridiculous, it’s happening right fucking now.”

In my head, part of me wanted to just hang up and go back to sleep. Though, I knew for a fact that if I did, I was not going to hear the end of it. Besides, all I needed to do was just look outside my window and see if Ryan’s claims were true or not. “Okay fine, I’ll take a look. Just… don’t call me this late ever again unless it's an emergency.”

Before Ryan could even get the chance to continue, I hung up the call as I let out a deep sigh. Personally, I had a lot of doubts that Ryan’s claims were true. However, there didn’t seem to be any indication that he was lying to me. If anything, the only way that I can really know for sure was when I opened up my curtains and took a look for myself.

“Okay, moment of truth. Here we go.”

The moment I opened up my curtains to look outside, I was greeted by a small sheet of white on the section of the roof that was outside my window. The sight of snow gently falling onto my roof as well as cars, mailboxes and everything else all around the neighborhood. Even the pool in the front yard of one of my neighbors was beginning to freeze up.

Holy shit, he was actually right. But… was all of this actually real?

In a heartbeat, I began to change out of my pajamas and robe into some clothes that were more ideal for winter weather before grabbing my phone and rushing downstairs. As I entered the garage to grab my jacket and shoes, the air around me began to feel much colder than normal. Even with the furnace going right now and providing heat throughout the whole house, my skin felt like it was going to freeze. Even as I zipped up my jacket and hastily put on my shoes, I couldn’t help but shiver at the cold air on my skin.

God, I really hope there’s an explanation to all this.

By the time that I was outside, several other people around the neighborhood were beginning to take notice of this strange phenomena. A few people were starting to take pictures while others were huddled up inside their garages, just as confused as I was of what was going on. Out of everyone there, I noticed that Ryan was outside his home across the street and went over to him.

“See? What did I tell you-”

“Okay okay, I’m sorry for doubting you,” I groaned, before a different question came up in my mind, “Just when exactly did this start happening?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “Mom asked me to help empty the trash from the kitchen and when I was heading back in, that’s when the snow started falling. For a moment, I thought it was going to rain. Yet, as I went inside, that’s when everything began to get colder and… well, here we are now.”

As he said that, I began to take one more look around the neighborhood before looking up at the clouds in the sky as snow continued to fall. Though, as I looked at the clouds, I couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right. Something like this does not happen naturally where we live. So, what the hell was causing it-?

Hold on, something just moved… in the clouds. Wait a second.

“Ryan, does your dad still have those binoculars he got when your family went to Yosemite?”

Ryan blinked for a moment, puzzled by my question as he looked back at me, “Uh, yeah, it’s in the garage. Though, why do you need it?”

“There’s something I want to take a look at, but I don’t think my phone’s camera can zoom in all the way on the clouds up there,” I explained to him,“I thought I saw something up there, but I want to make sure first before I assume anything.”

At first, Ryan seemed confused a bit. Yet, he just went along with what I said and got what I asked for. Once he brought the binoculars out and handed them to me, I looked through them towards the clouds that were hanging above the neighborhood. Though, it was as I was trying to concentrate that he decided to ask me a question. “So, what exactly are you trying to find up there, Sam? You said ‘something’, but is there anything in particular?”

“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what I’m looking for,” I admitted, letting out a sigh as I saw my breath take form and disappear in an instant, “Yet, since these clouds are the only thing that’s different from everything else around the neighborhood, it’s the only thing that I can go off of right now.”

“That makes sense I guess,” Ryan replied back, “I mean, the only other possibility I could think of is if some of the Equestrians from around the neighborhood were trying to give some holiday cheer.”

That had me blink for a moment, before moving the binoculars away from my face as I looked back towards him. “What exactly made you think that?”

For a moment, Ryan blinked as he tilted his head and looked back at me, “Did Gizmo or Brisk ever tell you about pegasus at all?”

“Only that they had a friend that was one, but not really much aside from that. Why?”

At that, he just let out a small breath, “Okay, let me rephrase that question. Did Gizmo or Brisk ever tell you about the different traits that Equestrian species have?”

“No, but I kind of assumed that it was already a bit obvious. Unicorns have magic, Earth Ponies are strong and do well with… well, the earth and pegasus have wings so they fly,” I said, folding my arms, “Why? Am I missing something?

Much to my own surprise though, Ryan didn’t really take that well, “Yeah, you are. I don’t know if anyone forgot to tell you or because you never met a pegasus before, but they can do more than just fly. One of my friends that works at the game shop I visit from time to time, Stuart, told me that his roommate is a pegasus and that they can pretty much control the weather.”

At that, whatever train of thought I had was derailed immediately, “Wait, you’re serious? What, like Storm from X-men or something?”

“Well yes, but actually no,” he shook his head, “To be fair, I haven’t seen it happen myself. However that same pegasi I mentioned, the one that was my friend's roommate, did end up accidentally short circuiting Stuart’s cell phone because of static electricity that was built up in their fur. As for right now, that’s my only guess as to what exactly could be doing this.”

“So you’re trying to say that one pegasus… is the cause of this?” I asked.

“Something like this? I doubt it,” he replied as he shrugged his shoulders, “Look, it’s the only possibility that really makes sense in my mind and-” Yet, as Ryan looked back at the clouds, he stopped speaking as I watched his eyes widen.

“Uh, Ryan? Are you okay?”

He said nothing, but instead pointed in the direction of the clouds again. As I moved the binoculars back up to my face and looked in the distance, I could now see what he was seeing. A pegasus with his back turned towards us was talking with what looked to be somebody else on the ground while they sat on top of a snow cloud that was in the air. There were a few others too, but this one for some reason felt familiar. I couldn’t tell if they were male or female, but I could see their cutie mark; a pair of folded wings with an ace playing card-.

Wait a minute…

“Well, that confirms one thing at least. Did you want to wait a bit or-”

Before he could finish, I tossed the binoculars back to him and started to run. If this pegasus was who I thought it was, then perhaps they could explain what’s going on… or for that matter, who’s bright idea was this? At least, that was what I was hoping for.

“Excuse me,” At that, the pegasus’ ears twitched as he turned around. He looked a little bit surprised to see me at first, almost like he had never met a human before.

“I’m sorry, is there… something I can help you with-”

Before he could finish his question, that was when I asked mine, “Are you Swift Ace by chance?”

Immediately, they were taken aback by my question as their eyes twitched, “How do you-” Then, a look of realization dawned on the pegasus’ face as he looked back down at me, “Oh, I get it now. You’re the one that is Gizmo’s neighbor, Sam right?”

“That would be me,” I nodded back at him, just as the thought of Gizmo entered my head as I looked around for a moment. When I was sure that I didn’t see the unicorn anywhere, I looked back at Swift, “Speaking of Gizmo, do you have any idea where she is? I… haven’t seen her in the last couple of days and-”

Before I could even finish, the pegasus moved one of his wings and motioned one of his feathers to silence me as he let out a sigh, “Has Brisk told you anything about what she’s been up to?”

“Only that she was working on a big project. Why?”

At that, Swift extended his wings and began to idly fly in place, before motioning his feathers as if a human were snapping their fingers. When he did, the clouds moved a bit… but as they did, that was when I saw that Swift wasn’t the only pegasus here. There were others all around us in the sky, each one on different clouds that were snowing around the neighborhood as I heard the stallion trot up next to me.

“Well, to put it simply… you’re looking at it.”

I’m sorry, WHAT?!

“Gizmo… has a habit of trying to go above and beyond when she sets her mind to things,” Swift said, before looking in the distance as he gave off a smile, “Though, I think it would be better if you heard it from her yourself.”

“Oh come on, Swift! You’re going to ruin the surprise!!”

At that, I immediately turned around to find the unicorn herself hastily trotting towards where I was standing as her scarf was blowing in the wind. When she finally reached me, that was when the pegasus sighed, “Haven’t you already surprised the entire neighborhood by this point? Besides, I didn’t say anything so that you could at least bring your friend here up to speed on… well, everything.”

That could at least help. Though, as the unicorn looked back at me, she seemed rather nervous despite trying the best she could to stay composed. “So um… I believe you might have some questions.”

“That I do,” I told her, before I got down to her level, “Though, after everything that’s happened over the last few minutes, I think there’s only one thing for me to ask. Why… well, this?”

Immediately, I realized that she didn’t really take what I said well as her ears dropped down. “Y-you… don’t like it-?”

“No, NO! Nothing like that at all,” I quickly retorted to dispel any doubt that she might’ve had, “It was just all… unexpected, that’s all. I think the whole neighborhood was a bit caught off guard since they never really expected for snow to start randomly falling from the sky. So, I just wanted to know the reasoning behind your project.”

“W-well,” she nervously replied, “A-after you told Brisk and I about how snow never falls here, I… wanted to do something special as a gift for you. B-but the more I thought about it, t-the more that it seemed selfish to do something j-just for you. S-so, Brisk and I called in some help as well as our friends so that e-everyone can experience it, even if it may be brief. I-i… thought it would be a great way to celebrate our first … uh… what was your holiday called again?”

“You mean Christmas?”

“Yeah, that!!” Gizmo quickly answered, “I t-thought it would be a great way to celebrate our first Christmas. T-together, with everyone!”

At that, I couldn’t help but gently place my hand around the back of her head and be careful not to touch her horn. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. Though, if she was doing this as a gift for everybody, then she must’ve put a lot of effort into this. “Gizmo, this is… beyond words. I’m amazed that you and your friends were even able to do this for us. T-thank you very much.”

“R-really?” she asked, “S-some of the neighbors weren’t really… Well, they looked worried. I-it made me wonder if I did something wrong.”

“No no, you didn’t do anything wrong,” I quickly tried to dispel any doubt she might’ve had, “I just think that they were shocked and had no idea as to what was going on since this hasn’t really happened before. I’m pretty sure if we just told everyone, then they might have a better understanding.”

At that, the unicorn seemed a little more relieved as her ears perked up and she gave me one of her… well, I wouldn’t say ‘signature smiles’ like Sidon in Breath of the Wild, but something similar. I was just glad that she didn’t have to stress out or worry. I mean, her heart is definitely in the right place. Not only that, but she was able to get other Equestrians to take part and help with this as well. It just makes me wonder how much time did she put into coming up with something like this-

“Hey, you two. Brisk just finished making Cocoa and-”

Who the hell-?

“Azure, really? You were kind of interrupting a moment here buddy.”

As I heard Swift say that, I looked in the direction where the newfound voice came from. Much to my surprise though, instead of a pony, I found myself looking directly at a dragon that was around as tall as I was. Their scales were… well, Azure and their eyes were light yellow in color with scales along the back of the head that were flat in appearance. If anything, his appearance looked like that of a young dragonborn in Dungeons and Dragons. The only difference was that he had a zipped up jacket over the upper half of his body, had a mechanical tail… and they were carrying a tray that had some mugs of what looked to be hot cocoa.

“Oh, uh… if now’s not a good time, I can just-”

“No point in heading back now, man,” Swift chuckled, “Besides, it's rude to just show up and not introduce yourself.”

Now, the dragon’s gaze drifted towards me as he flinched for a moment and stuttered. “O-oh, uh… I’m sorry about that. I’m-”

“Azure, right?” I spoke up as I rose back up onto my feet, “Brisk told my family and I about both you and Swift.”

As I said that, the pegasus that was originally airborne now dropped down to the ground to join us. “Really now? Now I’m curious. What exactly did he happen to say about us?”

At that, I chuckled a bit before looking back to Gizmo briefly, “How about we go inform everyone else in the neighborhood about Gizmo’s special gift first? Then we can share stories afterwards? It would probably do better than sitting around in the snow.”

All three of the Equestrians looked towards each other for a moment, before they nodded their heads and began to follow me back to my house. It might take a while to sort all of this out, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

For this was one of the best gifts I was ever given.