The Favor that Changed it All

It was a rather chilly winter's day in the town of ponyville, snow had begun to fall from the sky thanks to the Pegasus weather team, and an eerie wind blew across the land of Equestria. Many citizens and families of Ponyville made their way to the train station to head to Canterlot for the holidays, or to greet family members arriving from distant lands on the one train had travelled in the other direction. As the train came to a halt, crowds of second and third class passengers made their way off but only three earth ponies stepped out of the first class carriage; a full-grown stallion and mare and a young colt that hid behind his mother’s legs.

The stallion stretched his hooves out from the long trip to Ponyville while his wife smiled gently. “Here we are everypony,” the stallion said, “welcome to Ponyville, our new home.” The family trotted over to the loading dock to retrieve their luggage, the young colt still hiding behind his mother all the while.

“It’s quite all right Esbin,” the mare reassured the colt, “you’ll learn to enjoy this quiet town, I’m sure of it.”

The young colt looked up to his mother and asked, “Did we have to leave during the winter Mommy? What if we can’t celebrate Heart's Warming Eve this year?”

“Nonsense,” the father said with a hearty laugh, “everything from our old home was sent to our new house when we left! We’ll have plenty of time to prepare before the holiday begins, I can assure you of that my son.” Esbin’s eyes scanned the ground with concern before finally looking up with a smile.

Charles Hoofwin, his father, was a tall stallion with a khaki-colored coat, a greyish-black mane, and hazel eyes. His cutie mark was a scale with several coins on one end, which complemented his former job as a banker back in Canterlot. Margret Hoofwin, his wife, was nearly as tall as her husband, with a light blue coat, a yellow mane and tail, rose-colored eyes and a bouquet of flowers as her cutie mark. Back in Canterlot she sold flowers to many clients throughout the city. Esbin had brown-colored fur with a jet black mane and tail, blue eyes, was about as tall as any ordinary colt his age, and no had cutie mark. He wasn’t normally scared of everything, but he wasn’t used to travelling to new places and it had made him quite fearful.

Margret put her son’s green saddlebag on his back and they soon began to trot peacefully into town to make their way to their new home. Many of the ponies around them were out shopping, socializing with others or singing carols. Esbin was no longer hiding as he walked beside his parents, when he noticed a group of colts and fillies having a snowball fight. “Mom, Dad,” Esbin chirped, “can I go play with the others please?”

“I’m sorry kiddo,” Esbins father apologized, “but we really must get to our new home before it starts getting late.”

Esbin looked down with disappointment until his mother said, “Don’t worry honey, you can play with the others after your first day at school tomorrow.” Esbin would have been excited about making some new friends if it weren’t for the fact that his mother reminded him that he had school first thing in the morning.

When they finally reached their new two-storey house, Esbin smiled and said, “It looks bigger than our old house for some reason.” Charles squinted at the building and nodded,

“Yes, it does seem larger than our house back in Canterlot did. Come along now, let's unpack and get settled into our new home, shall we?” Esbin followed his mother and father inside and closed the door behind him; they walked down the hallway before stepping into the living room. It was quite large and had a fireplace full of wood. A mixture of old and new furniture filled the room, with fresh curtains hanging at each window. Charles kneeled near the fireplace and lit a match to light the fire while Margret pulled a bouquet of flowers out from her saddle-bag, arranged them in a nearby vase of water and placed them on the kitchen table.

Esbin wandered around the house trying to get used to where everything was; eventually boring of this, he called, “I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

His father, seated on the couch, replied, “Take it easy kiddo.”

Esbin went up to his room and closed the door behind him. The lay-out of his room was just about the same as his old room; single-pony bed, work table with lamp, nightstand, toy chest, various posters hung on the wall, and a ceiling light. He pulled off his saddlebag, hung it on his bedpost and sat on his bed. The only sound in the room that could be heard was the alarm clock that was on the night stand; it read 5:42 p.m. Esbin laid his head on the pillow, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

-2 hours later-

“Hey Esbin,” Charles said as he entered his son's room, “dinner's ready. You better get up or there won’t be any left.” Esbin woke up very slowly from his slumber; he pulled himself out of bed and began to make his way down stairs towards the kitchen, being welcomed on arrival by the delicious smells of his mother’s cooking. She promptly served up three full plates of dandelion sandwich with orange slices, and a bowl of vegetable soup for every pony.

The family sat down to theire meal and, as they ate, Charles explained to Esbin about school the next day. “… and after I walk you to school,” Charles concluded, “I’ll head over to the First National Ponyville Bank, where I’ll be working up until five p.m. So Margret, you’ll have to pick up Esbin after school at two p.m.” Margret nodded after sipping her tea and replied, “Of course dear. In the meantime, I’ll head over to that flower shop that we passed by today. I believe there are three mares that work there, what were their names again? Rose, Lily, and Daisy?”

After dinner was finished, Esbin helped his parents put the dishes away; he went back upstairs and brushed his teeth before getting ready for bed. As he rinsed his mouth out and clambered into bed, Esbin couldn’t help but wonder about his first day at school in Ponyville. 'I'm just not sure,' Esbin thought as he tossed and turned trying to make himself comfortable, 'What if they don't like me? What if I'm the only colt in school?' These and many other questions ran through his mind, until his mother walked in and, noticing his discomfort, said, “Don’t worry about a thing sweetheart, everything will be just fine. I’m sure you’ll have a pretty easy day and make lots of friends at school. Well, goodnight Esbin, we’ll see you in the morning.” Before she left, she leaned down and gave her son a goodnight kiss on the forehead.

When she closed the door, Esbin stayed calm for a few moments and slowly closed his eyes as he began to drift to sleep. Then his eyes snapped back open as he suddenly thought of something that he was too afraid to ask his mother. What if I don’t make any friends like back in Canterlot?!