It was Christmas Eve. Princess Celestia was just starting to lower the sun to make way for Luna’s moon. In the process, the sky was graced with a splash of colors like the leaves of fall. With the sun slowly sinking below the hills of Ponyville, the chill of winter began to nip.
Whip was one of the few ponies who was still making his way home. He was never really that great on time, so he didn’t realize how late it was. He was about halfway home when he heard somepony calling his name.
“Whip! Whippy!”
He turned with a smile to see Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle, all smiling as they made their way towards Whip.
“Hey Whippy! Merry Christmas Eve!”
“Thanks Pinkie. Merry Christmas Eve to you too.”
“Whatcha doin still out her in da cold Whip?”
“I was just--” Before Whip could finish his reply to Applejack, he was interrupted by Rainbow Dash, who flew right in front of Whip and smirked.
“I bet he’s still training to be a Wonderbolt! But try all you want Whip, you won’t be a Wonderbolt before me!” As Rainbow finished her comment, her tail was enveloped with a purple sparkling aura, and she was yanked to the ground in front of Twilight.
“Rainbow Dash!”
Whip chuckled to himself as Twilight scolded Rainbow for being rude to him. Whip knew Rainbow was just playing around, and he was sure everypony else knew too, except for Twilight. It seemed like Twilight was very protective of him. He wasn’t sure as of why, but he learned to just let things happen.
After Twilight was done yelling at Rainbow, she made Rainbow apologize to Whip, which triggered the rest of the group to giggle. After the other girls stopped giggling, Rarity spoke up with despair in her voice.
“Darling. What in Celestias name is that around your neck?”
Whip looked down at his scarf. Or, what was left of it anyways. He had that scarf for a few years now. It was the only one he had, and times were hard on Whip as of late, so he didn’t have a lot of bits left.
“I know it’s old and doesn’t look the nicest, but it’s all I have right now. I know I need to get a new one, I just haven’t gotten to it yet.”
Rarity watched him for a moment, then just nodded and smiled, seeming to be satisfied with that answer. Fluttershy looked at Whip with a smile before she spoke.“Not that I don’t like seeing you Whip, but ummm...it’s getting late, and I need to make sure Angel gets to bed soon.” The girls all agreed and decided to head home, all except Twilight.
“Uhh, you girls go on ahead, I still want to talk to Whip for a bit.”
All the girls said their goodbyes and left for home. Whip and Twilight started making their way to the Golden Oaks Library. It was a bit out of Whips way, but wasn’t about to tell Twilight to walk home by herself.
“So Whip. Do you have any plans for Christmas?”
“Plans? No, not really. I’m actually pretty sure I’m going to be spending Christmas alone this year.”
“Alone? What about your mother? Won’t she be with you?”
“I don’t think so. She’s been out of town for a few months, and her letters stopped coming a few weeks ago, so I’m not too hopeful.”
“Oh…..well if you’d like, you can come to the Library and spend Christmas with me, Spike, and my parents. I’m sure they would love to meet you.”
“Well….thank you for the offer, but Christmas is a time to spend time with family, so I don’t want to intrude or anything.”
The two of them had reached the Library and Whip walked Twilight up to her door.Whip started to head out when he felt Twilight's magic gently grab the end of his wing.
“Are you sure you don’t want to spend Christmas with us? We’d be happy to have you over.”
“It’s alright Twilight really, I’ll just stay home. I’ll see you after Christmas. Goodnight.”
Twilight smiled slightly and wished Whip a good night, but her smile seemed…..fake. Whip hurried home, got inside and went straight up to bed. He was already exhausted, and he still had to get through Christmas tomorrow.
When whip finally got out of bed, he made himself coffee, grabbed the few bits he had left, and trotted out his door to the market. As he walked, he counted the bits he had. Twenty-eight bits. It’s wasn’t much, but he could make it work. When he got the market, he purchased a two apples, a head of lettuce, and a small candy bar for dessert
As he was on his way home, he saw a pony ringing a bell with a small bucket next to her for collecting donations. Whip stopped at the bucket and pulled out the last of his money. Twelve bits. He tossed it all into the the bucket and gave the mare a smile as he continued his way home.
When he got home, he cut up an apple and half of the lettuce to make a salad. He grabbed his small candy bar and his salad and sat in the living room in front of his fireplace. He lit a fire and enjoyed the heat.
“Merry Christmas me.”
Whip was about to start eating when he heard a knock at his door. He wasn’t sure who it could be. He wasn’t expecting anypony. When he opened the door, he was immediately tackled by Pinkie Pie.
“Merry Christmas Whippy!”
As he looked around Pinkie, he saw that not only was Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight were there, but all their families were there too.
“Hey, what’s all this about?”
Rarity smiled and helped Whip up as she spoke. “Well you see darling, when you told Twilight that you were spending Christmas alone, she was so upset that she told all of us, and we decided to all join you for Christmas.”
Whip looked over at Twilight to see her blushing. “Merry Christmas Whip.”
Compared to the usual silence of the house, it seemed like almost all of Ponyville was here. There was Twilight and her parents, Applejack brought Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Granny Smith, Rarity brought her sister Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash had Scootaloo with her, and Fluttershy just had Angel. Pinkie didn’t have her family, but she said she spent Christmas with the Cakes.
The kitchen was filled with all sorts of foods and snacks. Most of the spread was from the Apples, who insisted on making the kitchen look like a walk in buffet, but Whip had no complaints with that.
Applejack even had Big Mac drag in a tree for the living room, decorated and everything. Once Mac and Applejack finished setting up the tree, everypony started placing present after present under the tree. Whip looked in confusion at the presents being placed under the tree. Twilight walked up with a smile.
“Hey Twilight. What’s with all the gifts?”
“Oh! Well I was able to convince everypony to not open their presents until we came over here, and they even got you a few gifts as well.”
Whip examined some of the gifts under the tree, and sure enough, some of them were for him. This was amazing, one minute he was sitting in front of a fire alone with almost nothing, and the next, he was surrounded by all his friends.
“I….I don’t know what to say. This is amazing.”
Twilight smiled and hugged Whip. “You don’t have to say anything, just enjoy the Holiday.”
Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo, all ran up to Twilight and Whip, giggling and bouncing around, all of them speaking in unison. “Is it time to open presents yet?” Twilight started to go on one of her speeches.
“Now girls, this party is for Whip, I think it’d be rude to--” Whip stopped her mid-sentence with a hoof. “C;mon Twilight, don’t you think they waited long enough? I say it’s alright.” Twilight chewed her bottom lip for a moment before sighing with a smile. “Alright. We can start opening presents now.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders all yelled “Yay!” and proceeded to give Whip a hug before running to the Christmas Tree. Twilight and Whip joined the everypony by the tree. One by one each pony unwrapped their presents and gave their thanks. The only pony left to open gifts was Whip. Just as he was about to reach for a gift, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ran up with a box.
Apple Bloom was the first to speak. “We made this one fer you Whip!”
“Well, Sweetie Belle did most of the work, but she said we should say it was from all of us.”
“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle gave Scootaloo a angered look, if looks could kill, Scoots would have been in trouble.
Whip smiled and took the box from the girls. He opened the box to find that the gift was a cape, a larger version of the Cutie Mark Crusader cape the girls always seemed to wear.
Sweetie Belle smiled and explained. “Well, we know you haven't been able to find your Cutie Mark, and since you are like us, we wanted to make you an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader!” All the ponies in the room Awed and laughed. Whip thanked the girls and embraced each of them.
He didn’t receive a lot of gifts, but what he did get was wonderful. Rainbow Dash got him an autographed photo of Spitfire from the Wonderbolts, though insisting it wasn’t a big deal, Whip knew this meant a lot to her, meaning it meant a lot to him. Fluttershy gifted him a small bird, the same bird that always rested on his head when he visited her cottage. Rarity made him a scarf over night. She said she stayed up all night making it after she saw the scarf he had been wearing the day before. Applejack gift was a bit different. She said Whip could come over anytime and work for a few extra bits, since she knew he wasn’t doing the best, and she also said he could get apples for free all next year. Twilight gifted him the usual. A book. But it wasn't like Whip didn’t enjoy books, in fact he loved to read all the time, so he was very thankful to have a new book for his collection.
After all the gifts were opened, everypony took turns getting their food. There were so many great looking goodies, that it took Whip quite a while just to pick out the things he wanted to eat. Once everypony got their food it was social time. Everypony found a place to sit and just enjoyed being with friends and family. At one point, Pinkie Pie had a piece of Mistletoe tied to the end of her bouncy hair, and was running around giving kisses to everypony. The only pony who seemed to get kissed more by Pinkie than Whip was Rainbow Dash.
Everyone seemed to have their usual spot to chat, and occasionally several ponies would move around to talk with others, but the only pony who seemed to be sitting in silence was Fluttershy. Whip was a little worried so he moved through the crowd to go see her. As he got closer, Fluttershy seemed to notice him and smile a little brighter.
“Oh hello Whip. How are you liking the party?” The way Fluttershy asked her question, it wasn’t just party talk, she truly cared to hear Whip’s answer.
“I’m really enjoying myself. I never would have guessed that, instead of being alone this Christmas, I would be surrounded by my friends. I’m really happy that you all came.”
Fluttershy smiled and met Whip for an embrace. “I’m glad your happy Whip. Do you know what you’re going to name your bird? I’m sure he would love to have a real name.” Whip thought for a moment before picking out a name that would suit him. “How about……Flaps?” The bird then landed on his head and chirped in delight. “Looks like we got a winner then.” That had managed to get a small giggle out of Fluttershy, which made him smile.
“So Fluttershy, why are you sitting over here all alone?”
“Well…...I guess I’m just…...avoiding somepony.”
“Who are you avoiding?”
“Well….” As she scanned the room, Whip watched her face. As she made eye contact with Big Mac, she blushed and turned away. “Nopony. I’m not avoiding anypony.” Whip smirked and had an idea. “Well then lets go say hello to everypony and mingle a bit.” Whip grabbed her by the hoof and dragged her over to Big Mac. “Hey there Mac, you remember Fluttershy right?” Fluttershy blushed deep red and tried to escape, but Whip was prepared, and had already placed a hoof on the end of her tail. “I’ll just leave you two alone so you can talk. See you later Shy.” Whip pushed Fluttershy in front of Big Mac and ran off. The two watched each other in awkward silence for a moment, until Mac looked up with a small smile. Fluttershy looked up as well to see Flaps holding a piece of Mistletoe over their heads. Fluttershy gave a small “meep” and looked back at Mac. “Well…...I guess it…...is tradition.” The last thing Whip saw, was the two of them leaning in for a kiss. His job was done.
The party continued for a while with everyone all having a good time. Before everyone started to head out, the whole group sang a few holiday songs to end the night. Everypony started leaving and wishing Whip a Merry Christmas. As Whip watched ponies leave, he saw that Pinkie was actually a little drowsy from all the eggnog she drank, but Rainbow Dash promised to get her home safe. He also saw Fluttershy leaving with Big Mac. She was giggling too much to be able to say goodbye, but was able to give Whip a small wave.
After everypony left, Whip shut and locked his door, cleaned up a little bit in the kitchen, and walked out to relax, but instead, he was met by Twilight, standing in the light of dancing fire.
“So…...did you enjoy your Christmas this year?”
Whip smiled and sat on the floor in front of his fireplace. The fire still burned bright, the light of the fire lapping over his body and making shadows on the wall behind him.
“This Christmas was…...amazing. I mean, it was so wonderful, there just aren’t that many words to describe it. Thank you so much for setting this all up for me.”
Twilight sat next to Whip in front of the fire. “It’s nothing. I just couldn’t bare to think that you were going to be alone this Christmas.” A moment of silence passed by before Twilight spoke again. “So...did you like your gift from me? I know it may not seem like much…..but it’s actually very important to me. You see…..it was the first book Princess Celestia ever assigned me to read, so it’s been my favorite book ever since. And I figured that since you like to read, you might enjoy this book too.” Twilight had developed a light blush as she spoke and when she finished speaking, she turned to Whip with a smile.
Whip had no idea that the book meant so much to her, and the fact that she was willing to give this book to him as a gift, made him feel like the most important pony in the world.
“Wow…..I had no idea….I wish that I could have gotten you something for Christmas…”
“Well…...there is one thing that I wanted for Christmas for a while now…...but I wasn't sure how I could ask for this gift. You see…..it’s not a normal request.”
Whip watched as Twilight’s face grew a darker shade of red the longer she spoke. Finally, when she finished talking, she looked at Whip with a shy smile. “So…...what is it that you want for Christmas Twilight?”
“I…...I want you Whip.” Twilight leaned into Whip, gently nuzzling his chest and under his chin. Whip was surprised, he didn't expect her to be so open like this. He knew she might have liked him for a while now, but he thought she would take longer to admit it. Whip returned her affections, nuzzling her cheek and moving closer to her.
In the silence of the night, with the fire burning bright and keeping the couple warm, there was a quiet little flapping noise above their heads. Both Whip and Twilight looked up to see Flaps holding a piece of Mistletoe. Whip smiled at Twilight and she smiled as well as her face flustered.
The two shared their first kiss in the light of the fire, warmed by the fire of love. The fresh new lovers shared their kiss for a few moments before finally breaking it, and continueing to nuzzle one another.
“Merry Christmas Whip.”
“Merry Christmas Twilight.”