Tiny little snowflakes delicately swirled around and fluttered down upon Ponyville, settling on the rooftops and the ground and coating everywhere in enormous blankets of pure white snow. All the ponies around town, all wearing suitable winter clothing such as mittens and scarves, frolicked in the beautiful wonderland, tidal waves of joy rushing through their bodies. Even the members of the Mane Six were out and having tons of fun.
Applejack, donning a dark orange snow hat and a harness held tightly in her teeth, pulled a whooping Apple Bloom on a red sled around the town's fountain.
Rainbow Dash, clearly having the time of her life in this type of weather, was hovering in the air above Scootaloo, wearing a dark blue and red scarf with matching mittens. The blue pegasus had a whole armful of snowball clutched in her hooves, tossing each one with a joyful laugh down at the orange filly, who gleefully attempted to dive and dodge each playful hit.
Rarity, while obviously agitated about her mane getting wet from the snow, had agreed to come outside to play with Sweetie Belle and was busy building a snowpony with her, wrapping her own neatly-crafted scarf around its neck reluctantly but with a smile. Her sibling bounced around the snow-constructed figure with unruly excitement as she looked at all their hard work.
Fluttershy, who was trying to stay clear of Rainbow Dash's snowball fight with Scootaloo, was resisting the urge to feed the carrot nose she was holding for Rarity to a certain impatient white rabbit beside her.
And Pinkie Pie, being the silly pony she was, was trying to get unstuck from a long icicle dangling from a tree branch, since she had somehow managed to wrap her whole tongue around it like a snake. But of course, she had a smile on her face all the while.
Even Spike was out in the snow, trying desperately to steer clear of Rainbow Dash's snowball throws.
The only pony in the entire town who wasn't outside and joining in the fun, however, was inside the warm and quiet library, lying on her bed peacefully and reading a book on constellations.
It wasn't until a snowball hit the window and made her jump that she stopped reading. Slightly irritated, Twilight got off her bed and pushed open the window, shaking the remaining contents of the frosty weapon off the glass.
"Whoops, sorry about that, Twilight!" called Rainbow Dash from the sky, a sheepish smile crossing her lips, "Guess my, uh, aim got miscalculated." A snowball suddenly hit her on her hind leg, making her yelp then glare playfully down at Scootaloo, who was trying to look innocent and contain her sniggers. She instantly pointed at a confused Spike who's eyes darted from left to right.
"Ohhh, you're gonna get it, Spike!" the blue pegasus called in a playful threatening tone, grabbing a clump of snow from Twilight's roof and rolling it up into another snowball before whizzing down towards the already retreating dragon. Smiling while rolling her eyes, Twilight went to close the window again until she heard Sweetie Belle's excited voice from out in the town square.
"Oh, my gosh, our snowpony looks so good!" she squeaked, still bouncing on the spot, "Don't you think, Rarity?" Smiling down at her little sister, the unicorn pretended to examine the snowy stature closely like a highly sophisticated inspector.
"Hmm, I suppose, Sweetie Belle. But I do believe there's still a little something missing." she replied at last, her smile not leaving her face, "Something you're wearing on your head." Looking up at her mane in realisation, Sweetie Belle giggled and yanked her red and white Santa hat off her head before Rarity carefully lifted her up to place it on the snowpony's head.
"It's perfect, Rarity! Now it looks exactly like Santa Hooves!" the little unicorn said, still smiling with glee as Rarity set her down.
Santa Hooves.
The moment the little filly mentioned that name, Twilight instantly pulled the window shut and slumped back down on her bed, returning to the page of her book.
Ever since that fateful Hearth's Warming Day from her youth, she had vowed never to believe in that name or celebrate Hearth's Warming for that name again. And she had stuck to that vow since.
Suddenly a knock sounded from the front door on the lower level.
"Who is it?" called Twilight, looking up from her book. Instantly the door flew open, revealing her friend Charlie, a blue Earth pony with a brown mane now covered in the contents of a snowball, courtesy of Rainbow Dash.
"Hey, Twilight." He called in his Trottingham accent, brushing the snowball pieces off with his hoof, "Why aren't you outside with the others? We're having a blast out there!" His smile faded from his lips when he saw the corners of Twilight's mouth curl downwards.
"I just… I guess I don't really feel like it, that's all." She replied softly, turning back to her book as if there was nothing to worry about. Clearly not satisfied with her response, Charlie wiped his hooves on the mat before trotting up the steps to her bedside.
"Twilight, that's exactly what you said last year and I'm still not fooled by it, you know." He said gently but still firmly, "What's the real reason?" Trying to ignore him, the purple unicorn forcefully kept her eyes glued to the pages of the book.
"Twilight, I'm your friend, you can tell me the real reason." Charlie spoke again, kindness coating his voice, "I promise to keep it secret if you want me to." Realising he wasn't going to leave, the unicorn let out a small sigh and put down her book before turning to face him.
"Okay." She said after taking a deep breath, "It's… it's because of…" She hesitated but Charlie remained patient for her answer, until it finally came.
"It's because of Santa Hooves."
Her response only gained silence from a quite perplexed Charlie, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Santa Hooves?" he asked just to check if he'd heard wrong, "I'm sorry but I don't understand. Isn't he supposed to be, like, a festive icon of the holidays?"
"Well… to most kids, yes." Came the reply, "But to me, he's a symbol of the reason I don't celebrate Hearth's Warming as much as I used to as a filly. Believe me, I still like the snow and talking with my other friends but it's the whole Santa Hooves hoax that bugs me."
"How do you mean?" Charlie asked again. Inhaling deeply, Twilight sat on the edge of her bed and began to tell her story.
"When I was a filly, I loved Hearth's Warming. And I mean, loved it. Whenever December came, I was always excited for it. I celebrated it all the time with my parents and Shining Armor. For me, it was the best time of the whole year. And the reason why was because of Santa Hooves. I loved the whole idea of a jolly Alicorn in a red suit coming down the chimney on that one night and leaving gifts for all the good fillies of Equestria all in one night. It just seemed so magical. My mom even told me she actually spoke to him one year. But one night, I decided to stay up very late and wait for Santa to come and leave his presents under the tree. I waited and waited until I started to fall asleep until I heard a creak downstairs. Really excited at that moment, I snuck out of my room and down the stairs to see him. But when I got to the bottom and looked at the tree…" Twilight's eyes were starting to tear up now before she finally ended her sentence.
"I saw my mom, putting mine and Shining Armor's presents under the tree instead."
Letting a lone tear trickle down her cheek, the unicorn wiped the corners of her wetting eyes as Charlie sat next to her, gently holding her shoulder.
"It was that moment I found out my parents and my own brother had been lying to me about him all that time. And since then, Hearth's Warming just lost all its magic for me. I saw no reason to celebrate it anymore because of him not existing."
Now fully understanding, Charlie pulled the unicorn into a tender hug, gently rubbing her back for comfort before they finally pulled away.
"I just don't understand why." Twilight said, looking down at the wooden floor, her eyes desperately trying to win the battle against the rest of her tears fighting to fall down her cheeks.
"Why what?"
"Why parents lie to their children about Santa Hooves when they know they're going to have to find out he's not real." Charlie thought about her statement for a moment before an idea flew into his mind. While she had a valid point, there were also some very valid reasons for it.
"Twilight, I can see what you're getting at." He said at last, "The idea of an Alicorn with a red suit delivering presents to fillies worldwide is pretty charming. There is a time where children have to find out the truth about his existence sooner or later. In some cases, they take it okay, but like you were, there are lots of kids out there who feel quite destroyed by the fact."
"So why do they do it then?" Twilight asked, starting to look up at his face, "Why do parents lie to their faces when at some point, they have to acknowledge that they're doing so?"
"Well there are a couple of different ways of looking at it." The blue pony responded, placing his hoof around her shoulders kindly, "Like Rainbow Dash did when she was young, when some fillies discover the truth for themselves, they try to save face and not let it bother them too much because they don't want to feel like they've been taken advantage of. When I found out the truth on my own, it didn't destroy Hearth's Warming for me or anything like that. If anything, it actually made it more… fun." This time, it was Twilight's turn to look confused.
"Fun?"
"Well for the fillies who don't figure it out on their own, when they're finally told, they can partake in a new kind of magic." Charlie replied, thinking about his words carefully to describe it, "And what I mean by that is the kind of magic that involves keeping the belief alive for other children. Suddenly you can be the one creating the fantasy and putting on the show for them. You can be the one making up and sharing the stories, and if not with your siblings, then with any other kids you come across. You now have the ability to no longer be the audience member and instead become the weaver of the dream itself."
"I understand what you mean, Charlie," Twilight spoke her thoughts aloud, starting to look at her hooves in contemplation, "But that still doesn't answer the question why. Why do we keep lying about Santa?" Biting his lower lip gently, Charlie looked down at the floorboards below him, warily choosing his next answer in his mind. Finally he got it and smiled.
"Well recently it hit me about why the illusion of Santa is not only a good thing, but actually an important thing." Her eyebrows rising with interest, Twilight snapped her head up and stared at the blue pony, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"How do you mean?" came her inquisitive reply.
"Well… think about all the surprises that life's thrown at you. Just when you think you have it all figured out, you get all the answers and a bit of truth you never expected falls onto your shoulders changing everything. And as we all know, change is hard, and there have been far too many times where we've come across a situation that's fooled us. Somepony who did something they thought they could never do, or a mind-set you've held for years now has to be completely different in light of something that's occurred in your environment. Everypony has to go through these rough times at some point in their lives, where someone's perception of reality is destroyed and everything else becomes uncertain. "What else was I wrong about?", "what other surprises could there be that could make me look foolish?" and "what should I now question and be afraid of?". And the Santa Hooves lie, if you think about it, is a way of dealing with it."
Her violet eyes wide with wonder, Twilight listened intently to her foreign friend's explanation, even leaning in a little closer excitedly.
"It's a way of telling you "Yes, this wasn't what you thought it was, but it's alright". It's not the end of the world, you still have many things to be thankful for, and Hearth's Warming is still somehow just as wonderful as it was before." Charlie carried on speaking, beginning to smile at the unicorn's intent expression, "In fact the discovery of the illusion and your chance to now be a part of it, like for me, might make Hearth's Warming a little better for you. The Santa lie is a way of adapting and accepting, a way to see that if something you thought was true turned out to be false, you find out that you can not only choose to be not upset by it but actually grow stronger from it. You can use your knowledge of the truth to spread more happiness and do so knowing that the ones you're charming with this illusion will one day grow up to do the same thing."
"I know one of the important rules of friendship is to not lie, but this is a perfect example of not only a lie that works but works because at some point, it has to be broken." The Earth pony continued, "At one point, children have to know the truth about Santa. The majority of grown ponies in Equestria know the truth and there was no outrage or war when they found out, and it shows at our core that we at least have the seeds of wanting to adapt and understand to make ourselves stronger. To take the harsh truth, find the positive side to it and turn it into something wonderful all by simply looking at it from a different point of view. It's an acknowledgement that we can handle the truth if we're just smart enough to find the right way of looking at it. And what can start off as terrible and hurtful can actually turn out to be something greater than you ever imagined it could be and for completely different reasons. So go ahead, lie to other fillies, make up stories, tell them you saw Santa downstairs or something. It's not building them up for a huge let-down, it's allowing them to realise how good it can feel to believe in something and that the discovery of the truth doesn't necessarily destroy it. It can actually make it stronger, because there are so many details you can play with, so many stories you can add and so many things you can change. All these create your own unique fantasy and give a kid their own unique fantasy, one that will result in a memory that's clearly theirs and nopony else's. It's one of those rare lies where the discovery of the truth only seems to make it last longer and make us love it even more."
The very instant his explanation had finished, Charlie found himself being tackled by an enormous hug from Twilight. His surprised expression melted into a warm smile as he gently embraced her in return. After what seemed like ages of being hugged tightly, the purple unicorn pulled away revealing happy tears soaking her eyes, now big as baubles.
"I… this is just… I don't know what to say, Charlie." She said finally, the grateful smile never leaving her face, "Except for one thing: thank you. Thank you so much."
"Hey, it was no problem at all." The blue pony replied, smiling back as he got off the bed, "After all, that's what friends do, right?" Chuckling slightly, Twilight gave a small nod in acknowledgement.
"Yeah, and it just goes to show how much of a great friend you really are." She responded, getting off her bed and letting her hooves softly hit the wooden floor below her. Giving a smile and a nod as an answer, Charlie looked out the window behind his friend to see it was still snowing and the other ponies outside were still enjoying themselves in the beautiful weather.
"So you up for a little snow fun outside, Twilight? Maybe a small snowball fight between you, me and Rainbow Dash?" he asked, gesturing to the door downstairs. Pondering about this gesture for a couple of seconds, the purple unicorn instantly whizzed down the stairs and placed on her striped scarf and earmuffs in under five seconds. Once done, she looked up at her slightly shocked friend with a good-natured smirk.
"You're on." She challenged playfully. His surprised expression fading away and replacing itself with a returned smile, Charlie ran back down the steps and straight out the door with Twilight, her perception Hearth's Warming now completely changed and all for great reasons.
And all because of the assistance of a true friend.
