Coal for Hearth's Warming?
Hearth's Warming Day is a day foals and fillies get excited for as it's when Santa Hooves comes to deliver gifts. At one particular house, a young, red pegasus colt with short, green manes hurried downstairs to see so many presents under his family's Hearth's Warming tree. The colt smiled in anticipation as Santa Hooves might have left him a gift. The rest of colt's family also arrived to the tree and they began to organize which presents go to who.
"I believe this one is to you, Pop Fly!" The colt's mom said as she put down a present that was nicely wrapped in red and green paper. "I believe Santa Hooves has left you something special!" Pop Fly squealed in excitement and began tearing open his present. He removed the box's top and was shocked to see what was inside. When Santa Hooves deliver gifts to foals and fillies, they would usually receive toys or other stuff that they really wanted for Hearth's Warming. But for Pop Fly's case, his gift was just a lump of coal.
"W-What?" Pop Fly said in confusion. He was paralyzed as he didn't get the Wonderbolts action figures he mentioned on his letter to Santa Hooves.
"Oh boy," Pop Fly's father said as he looked at Pop Fly's gift. "Looks like you made it to Santa Hooves' naughty list this year." Pop Fly eyes began to tear up and he immediately bawled.
Pop Fly just laid on his bed while looking through the window. The rest of Pop Fly's gifts were on the side of his bed as he didn't have the heart to open them since he was so sad. He couldn't believe that he got coal from Santa Hooves again. Pop Fly's door slowly opened and his mom's head peaked out.
"Pop Fly?" Pop Fly's mom whispered. "Is everything alright?"
"No," Pop Fly replied while still looking out of his window. Pop Fly's mom trotted over to sit on her son's bed and patted his manes.
"There, there, it's okay." Pop Fly's mom assured. "You're not the only one who got coal from Santa Hooves." Pop Fly turned to his mom.
"But those ponies who do get coal are naughty. Am I naughty, Mom?" Pop Fly asked.
"Never," Pop Fly's mom claimed. "You're the sweetest colt to me, Pop Fly."
"Then how come Santa Hooves thinks I'm naughty?" Pop Fly asked.
"Well," Pop Fly's mom said as she tried to recollect what her son has done throughout the year. She remembered one time when Pop Fly snuck a frog into his teacher's desk and gotten a whole week of detention. "You didn't do anything very bad, you just made some wrong decisions that made Santa Hooves think you're naughty." Pop Fly responded by looking down in shame. His mom lifted his chin with her hoof. "But that doesn't mean you're naughty forever. You got a whole year to prove Santa Hooves that you're nice enough to be given a gift. Show Santa Hooves that you're my super sweet colt."
Pop Fly sniffed. "Thanks, Mom." His mom gave him a warm hug.
"Anytime, sweetheart." Pop Fly's mom said as she made her way out of Pop Fly's room. Pop Fly felt a new sense of determination as he wanted to be on Santa Hoove's nice list and finally get a present from him.
When Hearth's Warming break was over and Pop Fly returned returned to school, he started doing more homework than usual. Last year, Pop Fly didn't do his homework for a whole month and he ended up getting some not-so-good grades. But now things were different as Pop Fly completed all of his homework and studied for every tests he had to do. Pop Fly's teacher was really surprised to see Pop Fly putting more effort into his schoolwork instead of slacking off. Pop Fly's parents were pleased to see Pop Fly's report cards had all As on them.
Whenever Pop Fly had some free time, he would go over to his grandmare's house and helped his grandmare rake up her lawn as it was often filled with leaves and sticks.
'Why....does....Granny....have....so much....leaves!?' Pop Fly thought as he was getting exhausted. When Pop Fly was done, his grandmare offered him some bits for his efforts. Pop Fly declined it as he thought doing things for no bits will help him get on the nice list.
On every night, Pop Fly would do his best to pull a bag full of trash into the trash can as he always offered to take the trash out. Pop Fly did his best to hold his breath to prevent himself from smelling the trash.
'The trash smells so bad!' Pop Fly thought as he could already smell the trash's stench. He would normally make some kind of excuse to avoid trash duty. But Pop Fly tried to bear it as he needed to show that he was nice to Santa Hooves.
Pop Fly's mom was in the middle of doing the laundry when Pop Fly appeared in front of her.
"Can I help, Mom?" Pop Fly asked.
"Well sure, sweetie." Pop Fly's mom said as she let Pop Fly fold the newly dried laundry. Pop Fly carefully folded each piece of clothes so he didn't make them look messy. After Pop Fly was done with the laundry, he went to clean his room as he saw how messy it looked. Next thing Pop Fly knew, he went to look for more chores that needed to be done. He dusted most of the hanging photos, swept the floors, and even washed the dishes. When Pop Fly was completely done with all of the chores, he collapsed on his bed in exhaustion. Pop Fly may feel tired and most of his body ached, his confidence grew as he will be getting a present from Santa Hooves for sure.
Pop Fly's family was getting ready to do a photo shoot for a family portrait. Pop Fly's dad was making the adjustments to the camera.
"Alright everypony, the timer is ticking!" Pop Fly's dad said as he hurried to his family so he could be part of the picture as well. Pop Fly began to remember the previous times his family took pictures for their family portraits. Pop Fly would make a goofy face on each of them and it drove his parents crazy. But Pop Fly thought it would be best not to get his parents angry this time as Santa Hooves will know. "Say 'Cheese"!" Pop Fly's dad said as the camera flashed. The picture's outcome was a surprise for Pop Fly's parents as it showed Pop Fly smiling sweetly like an angel. It wasn't long until Pop Fly kept smiling like that for the rest of his family's photos.
It was dinnertime at Pop Fly's house and Pop Fly waited nervously for his mom to bring out the meals. He remembered last year when he would try to eat desert right before dinner as he really wanted to eat something sweet. This time was different as he needed to prove to Santa Hooves that he wasn't naughty.
"Alright everypony," Pop Fly's mom said as she appeared. "I hope you enjoy my spinach casserole!" Pop Fly almost gagged just from hearing the word 'spinach'. He carefully picked up his fork and scooped up the spinach from his plate. As Pop Fly took a bite from his spinach, he slowly chewed on it and then swallowed. Pop Fly continued to eat his meal and all of his other vegetables. He actually started to enjoy some of the vegetables since he was so used to them by now.
Pop Fly made his way to his bed as it was nighttime and he needed to sleep. Before he pulled up his blanket, he stopped as he almost forgot to brush his teeth. He would normally just go to bed as he thought brushing his teeth took a lot of work. Pop Fly was not going to take his chances as he thought not brushing his teeth will make him stay on the naughty list. So Pop Fly trotted over to the bathroom and immediately brushed his teeth. He made sure that he scrubbed every part of his mouth so it won't be so smelly in the morning. Pop Fly even began to bring his toothbrush where ever he went so he could brush it to keep his breath smelling fresh.
Hearth's Warming came back once again and Pop Fly flew down to his living room to see the presents under his family's tree. Pop Fly's family gathered and unwrapped their presents. Pop Fly searched through the many presents until he spotted one that was wrapped in red and green paper. Pop Fly remembered that Santa Hooves used the same wrapping paper for the colt's gift from last year. Without hesitation, Pop Fly tear off the wrapping paper and opened the box. Pop Fly was shocked as inside the box was the Spitfire Skateboard he wanted for this Hearth's Warming.
"Yes!" Pop Fly said as he cheered in victory. Santa Hooves finally knows that Pop Fly was nice enough to be on the nice list and receive a present.
"Looks like Santa Hooves now knows that you're a good colt, Pop Fly." Pop Fly's dad said as he rubbed his son's manes. "I'm so proud of you." After Hearth's Warming was over, Pop Fly continued to do nice things as he thought it's not so bad. Santa Hooves acknowledged this by continuing to give Pop Fly gifts for Hearth's Warming.
The End
Author's Note
I hope you guys like this little story in celebration of the season of giving! Happy Holidays, everybody!
