Author's Note
This is my first ever attempt at making an MLP fanfic, but I hope you'll all enjoy it. And since it's December, I thought it should be Christmas-themed.
Santa's Little Ponies
It was getting close to Hearth's Warming Eve, and the snow had covered most of Equestria. The six friends had all gathered at Sweet Apple Acres, and Rarity and Rainbow Dash had brought Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo respectively, so the three fillies could enjoy the holidays together. Granny Smith had had one condition, though: no crusading! She wanted the holidays to be nice and quiet, which the three fillies had agreed to. Anything for Granny’s apple-chip cookies!
Warm tea and said cookes had been passed around, and Big Mac had ensured they had a good, warm fire going.
“Mmm...those cookies are absolutely diviiiine,” Rarity said.
“Thanks Dearie. Now have ano-” Granny said, but was interrupted by a huge bang from the barn.
“What in tarnation!” Applejack said, and the ponies put down teacups and cookies to go out and investigate.
What met them was a hole in the side of the barn and a huge, red sleigh that had apparently went right through it.
“Ow...that’s gonna leave a mark,” someone said from the inside. As the ponies went inside, the voice continued, “Dancer...Prancer...Vixen...Rudolph...you guys okay?”
As the ponies came closer, they could see a large two-legged creature standing with its (his, judging from the voice) back to them, supporting himself on the overturned sleigh’s right runner. In front of him was a group of reindeer, all of them looked like they’d seen better days.
“Not good, Boss,” one of them said, getting to his hooves with a groan.
“Oh-dear, oh-dear,” the red and white clad “Boss” said with worry, but turned as someone cleared her throat.
“Can we help y’all?” Applejack said.
The Boss turned and smiled. He looked strange, with no fur but beard (larger than any stallion’s, except perhaps the famed magician Starswirl, who was (also) known for his extreme facial hair).
“Yes, my dear. Thank you. I think my friends here need a good doctor.”
* * *
The reindeer had been brought inside, and Twilight had teleported to Ponyville to get the town’s doctor.
The “Boss” had introduced himself as Santa Claus, and had brightened considerably when he heard his reindeer were going to be okay. His happiness was somehow dulled when he was told they couldn’t be let out of the hospital for the next week or so.
Santa sat in the living room of the farm, nursing a cup of tea that was slowly getting cold.
“Oh-dear, oh-dear...what am I going to do…I’ll never make it in time,” he whimpered.
“What’s so important about being...where ever you need to go so fast?” Pinkie asked.
Santa sighed, and said, “well, you see, I am supposed to deliver presents at Christmas Eve - which is much like the Hearth Warming Eve you told me about earlier - to all the children who has been nice this year. If I don’t, they’ll be sad and also think that they haven’t been nice.”
“Oooooh…” Pinkie said.
“Is there any way we can help?” Twilight asked.
Santa looked at her and scratched his big, white beard. “Hm….I think you might. How strong are you and your two winged friends?”
“You want us to pull your sleigh?” Rainbow answered for Twilight. “Easy-peasy!”
“Yes...I suppose we could do that,” Twilight added. “Flutterhsy?”
“Um...I’m not a good flyer...but...but I’ll help,” Fluttershy said meekly.
“Of course you’re a good flyer - you did help us with that tornado, right?” Rainbow said and slapped her on the shoulder with a hoof.
Fluttershy flushed and mumbled, “um yeah...I guess I did…”
“And we could help you with the presents!” Pinkie chimed in.
“That would be nice. My leg still hurts when I walk on it…”
“Consider it done, Sugarcube,” Applejack said.
“Yes, of course we would like to help,” Rarity added.
* * *
“Alright, I’ll try to get the dimensional magic right this time,” Santa said and held out a map.
Twilight lit her horn to allow him better to see, and Santa nodded his thanks.
“See, we need to go through this dimension first, and then we’ll be coming out on Earth - that’s where the humans live by the way - and start our trek,” Santa said and pointed on the map.
The ponies all nodded, and Santa got up with some help from Applejack.
“Twilight, with your horn so bright - will you guide my sleigh tonight?” Santa asked.
“I’d be honored to,” Twilight said with a slight blush.
She and the two pegasi donned the bell-covered harnesses, and when everyone else had boarded the sleigh, they were ready to take off.
Santa sat down with a sigh, happy to take the weight off his legs. Applejack took the reins, and shook them. “Hey Twilight, hey Rainbow, hey Fluttershy! Off we go, let’s take to the sky!” she said.
With a running start and some powerful wingbeats, the sleigh soon rose off the ground. Though solid looking, the three ponies were surprised at how easy it was to pull.
Soon they were flying high above the ground, all enjoying Luna’s night and the snowcovered landscape below that the almost full Moon lit in its pale, white light.
“Prepare for dimensional shift. Don’t worry, I think I got it right this time,” Santa said.
“You think?” Applejack said and turned her head just as Santa cast his spell.
With a pop the sleigh, Santa and the six ponies disappeared from the Equestrian night, and appeared in bright sunlight. A desert was below them, and sand dunes stretched for as far as they could see.
Two small creatures in cloaks stood next to some huge contraption that looked like a big building on some sort of not-quite-wheels. One of them pulled the other one’s sleeve and pointed towards the fast-moving sleigh.
“Hm...hm...no...this wasn’t right either…” Santa said and scratched his beard as the sleigh raced past the two small people, one of them exclaimed a shocked “hutiniiii!” as they sped by.
Another pop, and the sleigh disappeared from the blistering hot desert, only to appear under water. Twilight quickly cast a spell that made a force field bubble filled with air, and soon they could all breathe freely again.
“Hm...no...that’s not right either,” Santa said.
“Where in tarnation did we go?” Applejack said and looked around.
The sleigh floated just above the sandy bottom of the sea.
“Sorry...give me a moment,” Santa said.
The ponies fell silent so Santa could think.
“Would you look at that!” Rainbow said, being the first to spot some strange creatures seemingly dancing in the water. Some of them were fish, octopi or other sea creatures, but others looked very strange. Music could be heard, and some unseen person sang “...Darling it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from me…”
“Ah! I think I have it now!” Santa said.
“You sure this time?” Rarity asked.
“Um...yes...yes of course my dear,” Santa said, and the sleigh popped out of one existence and into another once more.
* * *
“Ah...this is much better,” Santa said.
“Wau - it looks like the Everfree Forest,” Pinkie said. “Where are we?” she asked.
“Near Stavanger - it’s in Norway,” Santa said somewhat unhelpfully.
“That a town?” Applejack asked.
“Yes. And it is where our work begins. Now, when we approach, I want you to be very careful, because I might have some trouble climbing down the chimney with my leg in this condition,” Santa said.
“Darling - you don’t have to climb. I can teleport down with the presents,” Rarity offered.
“Why, thank you Dearie. That would be most appreciated,” Santa said gratefully.
They arrived at the small town, and the sleigh was stopped, hanging in mid air. Twilight and the others had almost refused, Rainbow insisting that they’d have to land. But Santa had asked them to trust him, and they did. They had slowed the sleigh, and the ponies had felt how the harnesses’ magic had kicked in and held them suspended in the air, much to their surprise, and Twilight’s interest.
“Hm...I must learn how to make this. Would be nice to have those as a safety precaution in case…” she mumbled to herself.
“Oh, come on, Egghead. Can’t we wait with the science stuff till we get home?” Dash had grumbled, and Twilight had reluctantly done so after Fluttershy had chimed in with, “yes...why not enjoy this beautiful landscape?....I-if you don’t mind…”
Rarity accepted the presents Pinkie brought out of the huge sack in the back of the sleigh, and levitated them up on her back. She then teleported down to the living room of the house below.
Hm, this look almost like what we have back home - except for those small red-clad...what were they called...oh, right - gnomes, she thought as she looked around the living room which was only lit by a few embers glowing in the hearth. She then levitated the presents over to the tree and put them under it.
Rarity took one last look around, and then teleported back to the sleigh.
* * *
The ponies didn't know how many presents they delivered. But it were a lot. They got a little tired, but not exhausted. Rarity sometimes found milk and cookies near the fireplaces, and those, along with some extra cookies Granny had insisted they brought, kept them going.
And off they went, seeing many a human town or city. Oslo, Berlin, Moscow, New York (where they also learned what “rader” and “fighter jet” meant, but thankfully Santa’s magic kept them safe), Cape Town, Santiago, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney (Rarity thought the opera house was absolutely maarrrrvelous) and many others.
When they finally ended up in Melbourne, Pinkie couldn't wait any longer, but kept pestering Rarity to bring her down to see one of the houses.
“Fine!” Rarity said with a sigh as they approached the house.
Applejack shushed her and pointed with a hoof at the garden below.
The ponies looked at the humans, who sat gathered around a grill, apparently enjoying the last of a barbecue.
Rarity and Pinkie teleported down, and while Rarity levitated the presents over to the tree, Pinkie decided to test one of the cookies.
“Mmm…” she said.
“Sssshhhh!” Rarity hissed, and both ponies froze.
They stood for a while, but no sounds came other than one of the people outside saying “want another coldie?” which the recipient gladly accepted.
The two ponies let out a breath they didn’t know they’d been holding in and while Pinkie scooped up the cookies, Rarity readied herself for what she hoped would be the last teleport of the evening.
“You’re not Santa,” a voice cut through the darkened living room, and both ponies froze again.
They slowly looked over their shoulder at two human kids.
“Oh! Ponies! the other one, a girl, said with glee, and ran over to hug Pinkie.
The other, a boy and the one who’d spoken first, continued, “who are you?”
“We...urh...we’re Santa’s little helpers!” Pinkie said.
“I thought Santa’s helpers were elves,” the boy said a bit skeptically, while Pinkie returned the girl’s hug.
“Erh...no. Fresh out of those, I’m afraid. This year Santa uses us ponies,” Rarity said and tried to put on a convincing smile.
“Yep...something about the elves’ union or something,” Pinkie added, which only seemed to confuse the boy.
The girl, however, didn’t seem to care. She had already climbed on Pinkie’s back, and now hugged her neck.
* * *
“Something isn’t right,” Twilight said.
“No...they’ve been gone for quite some time,” Santa agreed.
“Should I teleport down there?” she asked.
“We’d better land first, then. Maybe on the other side of the house,” Santa said. They did so, and Twilight and Applejack teleported into the house.
“More ponies!” the girl said with delight from her position on Pinkie’s back.
“You guys okay?” Twilight asked.
“Yes, um...but these two heard us,” Rarity said and looked at Pinkie who just gave a wide it-wasn’t-my-fault smile.
Applejack walked up to the children and smiled.
“Well...aren’t y’all supposed to be in bed?” she said.
“Oh...right…” the girl said.
“I...urh...suppose so…” the boy conceded.
“Well, then, off you go! Shouldn’t have ol’ Santa change his mind about who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, should we?” she said, but with a smile so it didn’t seem like scolding.
The children nodded and smiled back, and the girl gave Pinkie one last hug and dismounted.
“Sleep tight,” Twilight said, and the children left for their beds.
* * *
Santa had a most wonderful Hearth Warming Eve in Ponyville. While it wasn’t quite Christmas, the spirit was certainly the same. And he also enjoyed the friendliness and peace of the small town. No-one seemed to be rushing, everybody (or everypony he supposed) seemed to just enjoy the holidays, being with friends and family, enjoying the winter weather or singing the local equivalent of Christmas carols.
So it was with a bit of reluctance he had to leave his new four legged friends just after New Year, when the doctor had given his reindeer a clean bill of health.
“Thank you. Thank you all, for saving Christmas. And for having me here,” he said.
“Y’all are very welcome,” Applejack said for all of them.
“Yes, you must come back so we can have a big PARTY!” Pinkie added (she had already made two - one just for him and another when the reindeer were allowed to leave the hospital).
“And if your pals need some R&R, we’ll be happy to pull your sleigh again - it was SUPER AWESOME!” Rainbow chimed in.
“Thank you so much,” Santa said with a smile. “Now, before I leave, I have one more delivery. But this one I can handle myself,” he added, and dug into the sack that Pinkie could’ve sworn had been empty.
Out of the sack came sleds for everypony, all of them (or at least the adults’) adorned with their cutiemarks.
“Thank you so much, Santa,” Twilight said.
“Yes...this was very nice of you,” Fluttershy added.
“Yeah, thanks! This is so AWESOME!” Rainbow agreed and hoof-bumped Scootaloo.
The final goodbyes were said, and then Santa got up in his sleigh. He called the reindeer one by one, and the sleigh took to the sky again. Santa waved at them with one hand, and the ponies waved back.
And then it was time to hit the hills, everypony being eager to try out their new sleds. But that is a story for another time!
Merry Christmas, merry Hearth Warming Eve, and a Happy New Year!
