A Newfoal Nöel

by Dafaddah

Timmy and Fred

Clean Slate had been a teacher for most of his life. He was never stern or demanding. He never lost patience, he never got mad, and the foals loved him for it, even the troublemakers, the hard cases, the little ponies with big issues. One day in class with Clean Slate, and they would actually try to behave. They may not have always succeeded, but that was okay with Clean Slate. He could wait for “the flower inside” to bloom, which is why they usually sent him the foals that other teachers had given up on. And he was okay with that too.

Today was an exciting day for the earth pony: a brand new class was starting in Ponyville. The town, like most across Equestria, had volunteered to help the tide of newfoals who needed time and assistance adjusting to life in a new land. This time he had twenty or so foals entrusted to his care. A new hidden bouquet, ready to finally see the light of day. He took a chalk in his mouth and began to write his name on the blackboard.

“Hey, what kind of pigeon scratch is that?” asked one of the foals, a surly looking orange colored earth pony with a dark brown mane. Timmy Burgess (refuses to answer to pony name), recalled Clean Slate. He nudged a tiny unicorn colt sitting next to him, who didn't answer back. In fact the little blue unicorn just seemed to shrink in on himself even further. Fred Smith (refuses to answer to pony name) said the file on this colt. I'll have to keep an eye on these two, thought the teacher.

Clean Slate put down the chalk. He gave the class a big grin. “I am your teacher, Clean Slate. In Equestria students usually call their teachers Mr. something or other. I know you newfoals already have a Mr. Clean you're familiar with, so I won’t try to steal his name.” A few of the foals laughed at this. “I would rather you just call me Slate.” He pointed to the board. “That’s my name written in Equestrian script. Don’t worry if you can’t read it yet. You’ll learn it soon enough, 'cause that’s what I’m here for. I’m gonna make all of you bloom!”

He took out a little flower pot from a drawer and put it on the desk. He closed his eyes a moment and put both forehooves onto the pot. Several of the youngsters straightened up as they saw something green shoot from between his hooves and grow amazingly fast into a bright blue flower. Now many of the foals were whispering to each other excitedly. “See,” he said. “Now it’s your turn!” He went back to blackboard and with his chalk began to draw the Equestrian alphabet, one letter at a time.

It was lunch break. The little newfoals were playing games with the emphatic dedication of those who knew that all too soon the bell would ring and call them back to class. Their heads were surrounded by little vapour clouds in the crisp December air.

Slate looked at the youngsters with interest. He always did so in order to map out the various friendships and potential conflicts in a class, but this time it was also to see how different these newfoals would be from their Equestria-born peers. They played many of the same games: tag, hoof-ball, and skip-rope, but it was obvious they were much clumsier than foals of their ages would normally be, and there was very little usage of magic or frantic flutters of half-flight compared to a native class of the same age group.

He also noticed something else. Many of the foals stuck together very closely, and many played alone. When one foal was approached by another more often looks of suspicion were exchanged rather than those of friendship. So much fear, he thought. He had been provided the brief, and in many cases horrific, histories of these little ones. These were tales of broken families, abandonment, orphanages that were more like prisons, and even forced ponification. He had been warned about this, still the sight broke his heart.

Several of the foals played hoof-ball together at least. He saw Timmy kick the ball to Fred who tried to kick it forward, but he only managed to get tangled in his own hooves and crashed to the snowy ground. Timmy trotted over to him and began to loudly berate the little unicorn as he tried ineffectually to get up. Better ring the bell before things get out-of-hoof, thought Slate.  He stood and called in the class.

Slate locked the school's door and turned to go home. He noticed a commotion near the back of the school-house and decided to investigate. As he turned the corner he saw Fred on the snowy ground again, crying. A short distance away, Timmy and another foal, Aspen Leaf, faced off, each one rather ineffectually trying to maintain a three legged stance while threatening the other with a raised hoof. He trotted up to the trio.  

"Take it back, you dickhead!" said Timmy.

"No way!" shouted Aspen Leaf. "We left all that stuff behind on Earth. This is Equestria, and there ain't no Santa or Christmas here!"

Slate quickly examined the crying blue unicorn and saw no obvious injuries. Yet the colt cried even louder after Aspen Leaf's shout. He arose and stared at the two combatants with a patient look on his face.

Timmy looked at him warily. "Well," said the colt, "aren't you gonna break us apart and punish us? Aren't you gonna tell us that Hearth's Warming Eve bullcrap like Ass-piss-leaf over here?" When the teacher still said nothing he put his hoof down in disgust. "What's detention here in lovey-dovey land anyways, half an hour of petting bunnies while sitting in a tree?" He looked away.

The teacher looked at the three youngster and smiled. He had figured out the likely course of events. "Aspen Leaf, did you get into an argument with Fred?"

The yellow pegasus smiled at his teacher. "Yeah! These 'Equestria deniers' are saying that they think Santa Claus is gonna come visit them at Christmas here in Equestria. They just don't have a clue about where they are and what they are." He managed to stand on his hind legs and cross his forelegs for a moment before losing his balance and flopping back down clumsily on all fours.

"Aspen Leaf, how about you go home now. I'll come by to see you later, but first I'd like to talk with Timmy and Fred," He sat down on his haunches. The young pegasus left looking smug.

"How about I walk you colts home?" Clean Slate asked pleasantly. Surprised, Timmy nodded, then turned and helped Fred get back up onto his legs. He had been right about these two. "So Fred, why were you crying?" he asked as they started walking back to town.

"'Cause that idiot told him Santa don't come to Equestria," blurted Timmy angrily. Slate ignored the interruption and just looked at Fred expectantly. Finally, the little blue colt spoke up in a shaky voice.

"Yeah, he did. And he told me I wasn't a real Equestrian cause I still believed in Santa." He looked at his young companion. "And then Timmy told him off, and then... and then..." He looked away, eyes brimming with tears again.

"Timmy, is that why he called you two 'Equestria deniers'?" he asked of the other foal.

"Yeah. Ass-piss-leaf wants to forget everything about Earth and who we were... I mean who we are." He corrected himself emphatically. "We weren't born like this. All our lives we've been told what to do, and we had to do it. Even becoming ponies." He head dropped lower. "Look, we know we woulda died if we had stayed human. We don't hate being ponies, but we don't wanna forget who we are is all."

Slate was quiet a moment. "Is that why you only answer to your human names?" asked Slate.

Timmy looked up at him, eyes wide. "Yeah. We got shit for it, be we refused to take the names they gave us. Our names are all we have left of our families! We ain't gonna lose 'em. No way, no how!"

They had arrived at the house where they were staying and stopped at its doorstep. Timmy looked downcast and a bit grim. A green mare opened the door just as they arrived.

"Hello Slate" said Lyra. "I was just going to see what was keeping the boys from returning home."

"Hello Lyra. I just wanted to take a moment to get to know Timmy and Fred, so I asked them to walk home with me. I didn't mean to cause you any alarm."

Lyra looked abashed. "Well, maybe I'm just being a tad over anxious. After all, Bon Bon and I have never taken care of foals full-time before."

Slate laughed. "Well your concern shows you have your hearts and your heads in the right place!" He turned to the colts. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Don't forget to do your homework!" He waved and began the walk to the house where Aspen Leaf was staying. The colts waved back, and Timmy even flashed him a tentative smile.

Timmy and Fred shared a bedroom in the loft of Lyra and Bon Bon's house. In the three weeks they had been living with the mares they had become more at ease with them, Ponyville, and life in Equestria. Ponies in town seemed to have taken their strange human names in stride, and almost universally made them feel welcome.

Fred was a lot happier, except when he thought about Christmas. He sighed. Timmy had used to tease him about his attachment to the holiday, until he had told his friend how his parents had died when the family was returning home from Christmas vacation. Out of fifty people on the bus, Fred and an old lady were the only survivors. Christmas more than any other time reminded Fred of the happy times with his parents. When Aspen Leaf had told him there was no Christmas in Equestria it had been like a blow to his very heart.

The very next day Aspen Leaf had apologized. But now, as Ponyville prepared for Hearth’s Warming Eve, he began to feel a tug on his own heart and he couldn’t prevent his mood from showing. Well, not to Timmy, Lyra and Bon Bon, at least. He sighed as he finished his supper, which as usual ended with an amazing desert from Sugarcube Corners, where Bon Bon worked.

He helped Timmy and Lyra do the dishes, and then he and Timmy did their homework. It turned out the Equestrian alphabet was pretty easy to learn, and, with their guardians’ diligent help, they could read Equestrian almost as well as they been able to read before becoming ponies.

When they were done, Lyra sighed and stretched. “How about we hit the hay early tonight? I’ve had a long day and so has Bon Bon." She winked at her room-mate.

“Good idea, Lyra!” replied Bon Bon, sighing in turn. “C’mon boys! Let’s go brush our teeth and get ready for bed.”

Fred looked at Timmy who shrugged and put away his school bag. Lyra went to the window to close the shutters. As they started to climb the stairs Fred heard Lyra exclaim: “Hey, what do you suppose those ponies are up to?”

Timmy, Bon Bon and Fred rushed to the window to see. Outside, several families were making their way to town hall, candles in hoof. Fred thought he recognized many members of the newfoal class amongst them. “Hm. Maybe we should investigate?” said Bon Bon. “What do you say we put off going to bed for a minutes longer, boys?” she suggested with a smile while Lyra went to fetch a large candle and lit it with her magic.

Fred and Timmy looked at each other. “Sure, why not!” said Timmy with a crooked smile.  

They all lined up behind Lyra, and followed her out of the house to join the other families’ processions in the dark.

They arrived at the town hall, and entered the large main hall. Inside was a huge Christmas tree, decorated just as it would be on Earth, except that is wasn’t a Christmas tree, it was a Hearth’s Warming Eve tree. But just for tonight, Fred could pretend it was a Christmas tree, and he smiled because seeing it made him feel happy.

On the stage was a choir. Ponies liked to sing as much as humans did, so he wasn’t surprised when the choir’s leader, a yellow colored mare with pink hair and a white bunny sitting on her withers came out and tapped her hoof three times. The choir began to sing. The words weren’t immediately familiar, but the music was.

Fred, Timmy and all the newfoals ran up to the base of the stage, and stared up at the singers in awe.

A few smiled and began singing. Soon almost all of them were singing along. Fred noticed Bon Bon and Lyra, singing along with them. Fred opened wide, and belted out the familiar refrain with all the others:

The song ended. The little newfoals and their guardians applauded enthusiastically. The singers paused a moment quickly paging in their song books. Then they started singing another song:

The choir sang Christmas song after Christmas song. All the families noticed food and refreshments along the sides of the hall. They mingled and the foals played as the choir sang. Fred sat wrapt, drinking-in every note, even the songs in other languages. It didn’t matter, ‘cause it was Christmas!

After the choir finished singing “Oh tan-a-bomb” which was the same song as “Oh Christmas Tree”, Mayor Mare came out and asked everypony to sit down. She was dressed in red and green, like some strange pony version of an elf. Everypony had a good laugh, including Mayor Mare. He and Timmy sat down on their haunches, like they had been taught at school.

“Is everypony having a good time?” she asked. Enthusiastic applause answered her back. “Excellent! Ponyville would like to wish a big Merry Christmas to all our newfoal friends here tonight, especially the littlest ones. Now, Equestria is far away from Earth, but that has not prevented a special guest from joining us here in Ponyville. I want you to give him a warm welcome, because this is his very first time ever in Ponyville. Now, everypony, we mustn’t make any noise and scare him away!” She put a hoof in front of her mouth and went “Shhhh!” The hall became so quiet you could a pin drop.

Then, as if from a distance, there was the sound of sleigh bells. The sound circled the town hall once or twice. And then there was a clatter on the roof. “Oh, my!” said Mayor Mare. “The town hall doesn’t have a fireplace. Maybe we should open a door.” Some ponies went to open the big front doors, and a blast of cold wind blew in. And then, the roof clattered again, and with a sound of bells, in through the door came nine tiny reindeer pulling a big red sleigh. Inside, and Fred could not believe his eyes, sat a small man with a white beard, wearing a red coat and laughing. It was Santa! He had come to Equestria! He stood up, and all his friends from the newfoal school did the same and they rushed to Santa.

“Ho, ho, ho!” went the little Santa. “Is this Ponyville?” he asked.

“Yes, Mr. Claus. You’ve got the right place!” replied Mayor Mare.

“Ho, ho, ho! Good, then I’ve got some gifts here for all the good little foals of Ponyville. He reached into the back of the sleigh and pulled out a red bag almost as big as he was. He pushed an arm into the bag, and began to take out gifts wrapped in beautiful paper and bows. “Is there an Aspen Leaf here?” he asked.

“Here! Here I am!” The little pegasus fairly flew into Santa, making everypony laugh.

“Ho, ho ho! I think we have a future Wonderbolt here!” said Santa with a wink. He gave the foal his package. He plunged an arm into the bag and pulled out another gift...

Fred and Timmy waited excitedly as Santa called out name after name. “Timmy Burgess,” said Santa, and his friend went up to get his gift. He came back down off the sleigh, holding the package by its bow with his mouth. He put it down at their hooves.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” asked Fred, his eyes bugging out.

“Nah! I’ll wait till you get yours and we’ll open them together, deal?”

“Deal!” said Fred. He didn’t have to wait long. “Fred Smith,” called Santa. Fred felt as uncoordinated as he did on the first day he became a pony, but somehow he made it up to Santa and returned with the package levitating in the air besides him. He lowered it onto the ground next to Timmy’s. He looked Timmy in the face a moment. His friend grinned and they both launched themselves into unwrapping their gifts. Lyra and Bon Bon laughed as the paper and ribbons flew!

A moment later, each saw that they had a stack of books, although Fred’s was thicker. They each opened the books and saw that they were photo albums, as well as written records. Birth certificates and so on. Fred opened one of his books that was mostly photos of him and his parents. There were even some photos of the last Christmas they spent together, on vacation. Fred shut the book and held it to his heart, tears began to drop onto the floor in front of him. Lyra and Bon Bon snuggled up close.

“What’s the matter Fred? Don’t you like the Christmas presents?” Lyra looked at Bon Bon in confusion.

“No, Lyra and Bon Bon, this is the best Christmas present I ever got. Now I won’t forget them. They’ll always be with me.” He hugged the books close and smiled up at his guardians. He saw Timmy staring at a rather official looking scroll. “Whatcha got there, Timmy?”

His friend looked up at him, eyes wide as saucers. “It’s a clan registry certificate, whatever that is. It says that my official pony name is Timmy Burgess, and its even signed by Princess Celestia.” He smiled from ear to ear. “Hey, that means we can stay who we are, Fred. We don’t have to lose our names!” He stared down at the document in wonder.

Around them, all the newfoals had received similar gifts. Some were excitedly paging through the albums, relating who this person was, and where that picture was taken. Some just held the books and cried. All of them looked happy.

On his sleigh, Santa arose. Rudolph’s nose blinked bright red and some of the ponies cleared the way in front of him and opened the doors. “On Rudolph, on Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen!” The sleigh rose slightly off the floor and slowly moved out, bells ringing. They heard as it made a circle or two of the town hall. Then, they heard a final shout from Santa: “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

In the hall, the little groups gathered together, and lit their candles again. One by one, the families left to return home. Clean Slate came out of the shadows in the upper balcony, and was joined by Mayor Mare. “I can’t thank you enough Mayor. You have no idea how much this meant to them.”

“After tonight, maybe I do,” she replied. They both took the stairway down to the main floor.

A few minutes later the front doors were opened again and ‘Santa’ on his sleigh re-entered. For a moment the illusion held, and then a pale white unicorn with a flowing purple mane stood in place of Santa Claus. Clean Slate and the Mayor approached.

“Thank you, Rarity,” said Slate. “The bearer of the element of generosity made a fine Santa Claus!”

She tilted her head and looked at him with a grin. “Darling, we all know who the real ‘Santa’ was here tonight.” She looked at the assembled ponies. “Everypony played a part. I may have made the costume, but without Twilight’s magic I doubt I could have managed the part of a fat, old, bearded human male!”

The idea did make Slate crack a grin. “And we also have Twilight to thank for doing all the research as well.” The mare in question blushed at the praise. “Let’s not forget to mention the feast Applejack and her family prepared, and Fluttershy’s wonderful carolers and music.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash removing a red glow light from her nose. “I’m kinda sorry we only heard it from outside.” She looked at the pegasi next to her who were also removing their reindeer costumes. “And it’s going to take a lot of work to get that black paint off the wings of us Wonderbolts.”

Slate looked around. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?”

A lone pink hoof rose up from in back of the huge decorated tree. “Pinkie, please come here.” The pink mare slowly made her way to the gathering, head low.

“Pinkie, is there a problem?” asked Slate. “I think the family history-albums were a huge success.”

Pinkie looked up rather crestfallen. “Yeah? But a lot of the little foals cried!”

“Oh, Pinkie! Them was tears of joy, sugarcube,” said Applejack. She gave the pink mare a great big earth pony hug, but the mare didn’t seem entirely convinced.

Slate placed a hoof on her withers. “Pinkie Pie, nopony else could have done what you did. You gave them back their families after they’d lost them. Thank you Pinkie, you’ve made them happier than they’ve been for weeks, and for some of them maybe even for years.” He looked around at the gathered ponies. “That goes for all of you. Thank you.”

He paused a moment. “There’s one pony I didn’t thank. Who got the letters of clan registry signed by Princess Celestia?”

“It was Spike!” said Twilight. “By the way, I haven’t seen him in a while. Where is he?”

There was sudden brilliant light up in the balcony, and then Princesses Celestia and Luna stood there. The ponies bowed. Spike waved to them from Luna’s back.

“Er, hi everypony,” said the little dragon. He jumped off and ran down to join the others.

“Citizens of Ponyville,” said Celestia. “We have watched your efforts for these little newfoals...”

“... and We are very pleased,” said Luna. “Well done!”

The princesses bowed to astounded ponies below.

“Ooh, ooh, then there’s only one thing left to do!” said Pinkie Pie.

“And what’s that, my pink little pony?” asked Celestia, raising an eyebrow.

“PARTY ON!” said Ponyville’s Prime Party-mare. “Fluttershy! Do the Equestrian version of Jingle Bells.”

Music filled the hall, and everypony got ready to party into the wee hours. On stage, Pinkie Pie sang with the carolers.