Red Nose and a Rainbow

By Spoonlol

Winter time had come to Ponyville. The snow fell on every rooftop, bench, trees and pretty much everywhere you could think of. The foals of the small town were making the most of it having snowball fights, making snow ponies, and somehow snails had gotten his tongue stuck on one of the lampposts just outside of the School.

It was the last day of term before the children of Ponyville broke off for hearth's warming eve. So many of them just wanted the day to end, especially three curtain fillies, who I think you all know very well.

“So, what kind of stuff should we do to get our cutie marks this winter?” said the orange Pegasus. Winter only came once a year and even then there usually wasn't this much snow, so they wanted to be ready for when the holiday started. All three fillies put their hoofs on their chins in great thought. What were they going to do?

“O, how about sledding or skiing....”

“Or knitting?” Sweetie Bell burst out, the other two cutie mark crusaders just stared at her, with faces that were a cross between confusion and a dumbfounded look. “What, I like knitting.” She protested

“I know. How about snowball fighting.” Applebloom suggested “That could be fun.”

“Great idea” Scootaloo replied picking up a hoof full of snow, with a bit of a crunching sound while she rolled it into the size of a tennis ball. “Watch this.” She threw it with all her might, although she forgot to aim the dam thing.

It was heading straight for the door, which just so happened to open at that very second by miss Cheerilee. The ball of snow hit her in the left eye, causing all of her students to stare. She had that grumpy look on her face when you know you've gone too far in pulling a prank or cheating on a test. Are well, it was going to happen sooner or later, she thought to herself, giving her students one for her loving smiles. Although inside she just wanted to pick up the filly or colt that did that to her and kick them right to the moon.

“Alright my little ponies, everyone indoors or the final couple of hours of the day.” she called to them with a sing song voice.

“I must say that winter is my o so favorite time of the year” Rarity and Applejack had gone to the school yard to pick up Applebloom and Sweetie Belle from school. The two had decided to have some idle chit chat while they waited for their younger siblings.

They weren't the only ones there our course. There was Filthy Rich, Derpy, Blossomforth, most likely there to pick up her brother Featherweight. In fact, it looked like every parent or sibling was there to pick up one or more of the children.

“Na, I always preferred the summer, that’s just after we finish applebuck season. So me and the rest of the Apples have all the time to ourselves before we have to start bucking again” Applejack said adjusting her winter scarf, that Rarity had o so kindly gave her, for a price of 4 bits.

“Well, I've always enjoy winter because of how beautiful it makes every look. It reminds me of the palace at the crystal empire.”

“Yeah. And you don’t love winter just for that fact that everypony have to buy winter clothes from you, and that this is the best time for your business.” Applejack said, giving Rarity a cheesy look.

“Well that may have something to do with it.” Rarity nervously giggled brushing her hoof along the bottom of her mane.

Just them a purple unicorn, who seemed to be in a bit of a huff was trotting past, making a heavy clopping sound on the cobblestone beneath her hooves. AJ and Rarity knew their friend Twilight and she didn't seem to be in an angry mood, but more of a frustrated mood that they usually see when she’s got somethings on her mind that she can’t seem to fix.

“Twilight, darling” Rarity called out getting the attention of her friend. “What’s the matter dear?”

“You look like you pulled your tail off and can’t remember where you put it.” AJ added, giving Twilight a concerned look, while Twilight just looked at the ground.

“O, it’s nothing. I just...” There was a small pause while twilight tried to bring up the courage to tell them what she had just done. “I just told Spike, that... You know, that thing you tell kids when they're old enough to understand.” She looked up with an expression of shame on her face, which court her two friends off guard.

“Are, don’t worry about it Twi. We all have to go through that time when we have to tell our children, or in m’a case my younger sister about what happens to them when they grow up.” Applejack explained with a welcoming smile. Twilight seemed like she was going to protest to something before Rarity came in and said.

“Indeed I do agree with Applejack but don’t you think Spike is a little young for that sort of thing?” Rarity intruded with a new look of concern on her face.

“Anytime is as good as any” Applejack fired back like a cannon of a battleship.

“Not when it’s something like this, I mean I’m not sure how dragons age but he is only a baby.” Rarity said softly trying not to turn this conversation into an argument.

“Well i think that a bunch of....” Applejack was interrupted by Twilight yelling

“It wasn’t about that.” The other two ponies looked at their purple friend. “I told him that Santa isn't real.” As soon as she finished that sentence, her two friend were looking at her with shocked wide eyes like she had just told them she was pregnant or something equally life changing.

“Now why in the hoof would you tell him that?” AJ scrawled at her like she was telling Applebloom off for taking a slices of Granny Smith’s apple pies before asking, only much more serious.

“Because I thought that it was time to tell him about that he’s just an old mare's tale.” Twilight said with a slight bit of anger in her voice. “I mean it’s kind of obvious. How in all of Equestria can a big fat minotaur with a giant white beard travel all around the world, including every small village and town, in one night delivering gifts?” Twilight voice was starting to raise now and some of the other parents that were near her were starting to take interest.

“Twilight! It doesn't matter if it’s just an old tale that you tell foals at night. He’s still a big part in most of young fillies and colts foal hood and you only get that once.” It was Rarity's turn to fire back and answer, but this seemed to have a every little effect on the now raging Unicorn.

“Well, it’s stupid. I felt stupid when my parents told me he wasn’t real because I should have seen the signs earlier.” It was at this point in time that ever mom and dad, brother or sister, were starting to stare. “We should treat foals like young mares and stallions. Not butter them up with thing they will later just find out what it isn't true.”

“What’s not true” said a small voice that should have been the stopping point for this small argument. But that wasn't how it ended.

“Santa.” She yelled at the top of lungs. “There’s no Santa, there’s no magic reindeer that pull a magic sled along. And it’s impossible for there ever to be one.” Twilight finally stop and noticed that everyone was looking at her. Including the children who had just came out of school.

“Wha...what?” came the sniffling sound of all the children. It was at this point that Twilight turned around to see who she had just said it to. And that just had her feel worse.

Dinky walked up her mother and asked “Is there a Santa mommy, there is, isn’t there.” Derpy could've said yes, and lift the children’s hopes and dream. If only Derpy was a pony who could look at the long term effects of saying something.

“No, he’s not real muffin” She said with a soft and gentle voice, trying to tell her daughter that it was OK.

“Santa comes to our doors and puts presents under our tree, right mom.” Another filly by the name of Berry Pinch said to her mother, only to be met by an unhappy face. “…Right” she said, being her one final plea to tell her there is a Santa.

“No dear, I put thoughts presents there.” She brought her now crying daughter into a huge and gave an evil, you monster face to twilight.

One by one, the fillies and colts of Ponyville started to cry over something, or someone that isn’t even real. To twilight, it was like they were crying over an imaginary friend, but....they were still crying, over a beloved icon throughout the whole world.

Know Twilight started to remember something when her parents told her he wasn't real. She did beat herself up for not noticing it before, but now she remembered that she was also incredibly sad when she couldn't find a scientific way for him to be real, which just made her whole situation worse.

The parents or guardian, of the now traumatized foals, started walking home, including Rarity who was now holding a Sweetie Belle at a pretty long distance, to make sure she wouldn't get her coat wet by Sweetie’s waterfalls of tears, although she was going to give her a big hug when she stopped.

“What did he do?” AJ asked Twilight, who was now hanging her head in shame. Twilight didn't even lift her head but AJ could tell that she didn't know what she meant by that. “What did Spike do when you told him?”

Twilight lifted her head, showing off her giant tearful eyes. “He ran to his basket and…” There was a bit of a pause before she finished the last part of her sentence.

“And started to get all upset?” AJ finished for her before she and Applebloom started to leave.

“Yep” she said hanging her head in what she had just done, she just stared at the hard white snow as she thought about how she could fix this, maybe by everypony a gift…which wasn’t from Santa, maybe dress up and us a couple of spells to…no, Santa’s a big fat minotaur, I Twilight wasn’t that good. “O, Twilight, what have you done to this town this time.”

She accepted defeat, and started to walk home.

Scootaloo was walking alongside her scooter as she walked home, the snow always made it harder to ride on. None of her parents came to pick her up today. They were both working all day till the night shift today, so she had her whole house to herself when she got home.

Although she wished one of them was there today, to comfort her after hearing what Twilight said. There has to be a Santa, there must. She kept saying this to herself over and over but it never seemed to stick. How could there not be a Santa was starting to be replaced by, how could there be a Santa.

It was then that she notice the shadow that was following her, like an eagle stroking its unexpected pray, until the prey notices that shadow and looks up, that is. After looking up she saw that it was none other than her older friend, and now mentor, Rainbow dash.

“Hey, Scoot.” The cyan blue tom boy called down on her way to say hi to her number one fan. “You would not believe, what happened on weather patrol today. This one guy I know asked if, he…could” it was then that she realized the look on Scootaloo’s face. “Hay, what’s got you in a mood?”

Scootaloo just looked up with the sad look in her eye that all the other children at the school had, she had just hidden the truth from herself longer.

Twilight had gone to Sugarcube Corner after what had happened at the school, she didn't feel like showing her face to the rest of the town, but she didn't want to go back to the library, not after how she broke the news to Spike.

“What do you mean he’s not real, of course he is, where else do all the presents come from?” Twilight had just told Spike thinking that this was a good time to tell him after he asked how Santa does it, think that with Twi’s amazing brain she would know.

It’s hard to remember that the dragon was still a baby, and therefore, still a child. She had, for maybe the first time in a very, very long time, overestimated how much he thinks like one.

“No Spike.” She thought at the time that he was old enough to know the truth…but sometimes, Twilight forgets to think about the happiness that lies bring. “You know the presents we get each other every year, well I kind of say that a lot of them are from Santa instead of me.” She said with a somewhat nervous smile, hoping he would understand why she had told him that, but what reason was there to understand, he wasn't real but why tell him now when there was no reason to.

That was the last thing she could say to him before he ran up the stairs crying to himself, and he hadn't done that in a long time.

How could she have been so stupid, Spike loved Santa, his very first hearth's warming eve, he was so scared of the gain thing that wasn't a pony, he had never see anything but ponies when he was born, apart from the odd griffin or donkey. Although he was terrified of the beast he still went up to him, and the bearded giant gave him a small candy cane that he sucked on for three days straight, even in his sleep.

She thought that going to Sugarcube Corner would lighten her mood, and if not she knew Pinkie could, or at least try to. However, word of mouth travels fast and in a small town like this, it only travelled faster.

“Twilight…Twilight…Twilight!” came the scream of a hyper Pinkie Pie bouncing from one side of the room to the seat next to her purple friend. It was then the Twilight noticed that her two other friends from earlier had come in and were right behind Pinkie. “Twilight, what happened at the school, the others won’t tell me.”

“Well…” Twilight didn’t really want to talk about how she ruined the dream of every foal in Ponyville. “I kind of blurted out to the whole school that…well.” She was trying to find the way to say that she did, indeed, ruin the dream of every foal in Ponyville. What she didn’t notice though was that Rarity and Applejack were making hoof jesters behind Pinkie; tell her not to say anymore. “I kind of told every foal in Ponyville that Santa doesn’t exist.”

“What!” Rarity and Applejack both face hoof behind Pinkie, why…well because. “Twilight, are you loco in the coco again, of course there’s a Santa, the big fat Minotaur with the white beard, he’s my ideal you know.” giving off an even bigger grin “Why would you say a thing like that?”

“Because he’s not real Pinkie, I thought you knew that, you’re old enough to know this stuff. It’s impossible to do the stuff that he does.” Twilight did it again, blurted out the words to kill a childhood, although Pinkie didn’t seem to be changed.

“Aw don’t be like that Twilight” she said with one of her overly sized smiles. “Santa must be real, who else puts presents under the tree.”

“Are ya sure the cakes don’t just hide them in da closet till you go to bed?” Applejack final spoke up. As soon as she said this Pinkie gave a small thought and then suddenly dashed upstairs leaving only pink smoke behind. When she got back, her eyes were much bigger than when they left and her three friends could see that there were tears just about to shoot out.

“It’s true!” Pinkie started crying out, waving her hoofs in the air frantically, but somehow still managing to keep her balance. ”The storage closet is full of stuff for me and the twins.” She screamed with waterfalls spraying out of her eyes. “Santa’s not real.”

“That’s a bunch of horseapples!” came aloud cry from the doorway, where the rainbow mane mare of Ponyville stood, with a smaller orange filly standing beside her. “Of course there’s a Santa.”

“Rainbow it’s just impossible.” Twilight slightly protested, not really trying that hard to keep up her argument because of the misery that it had already brought it herself and serial of her friends.

“Didn’t you learn anything about that Pinkie sense fiasco you had a couple of years ago.” Rainbow growled. For some reason she was way more angry about this whole thing then most of the parents at the school.

“Pinkie sense is one thing Dash but this is Santa. How could he travel around the whole of Equestria in one night, let alone the world?” Twilight said like it was the most obvious thing in the whole, which come to think of it, it was.

“That’s easy, you get the strongest and fasted reindeer there are, there all about as fast as me, well almost as fast.” She said proudly, getting a couple of aw’s from her crowd of friends.

“But even if he does, how in the name of Princess Celestia do they fly” Twilight being a little more stern is time giving her answer.

“Reindeer magic” saying it like it’s the most obvious thing ever, which this time, it wasn’t so much.

“There’s no such thing.” Twilight protested a little louder then she should have before giving out a hard sigh. “Alright, even if this is all true, where’s the proof that he’s real? No one has ever seen him, ever.” she lowered her head a little before continuing. “I know what you’re doing Rainbow. You’re trying to make me feel better by trying to convince everypony in Ponyville that there still is a Santa, but I think it’s a little late for that.” Twilight said lowering her head even more.

“Twilight, if I was going that I would have gone to them and not you.” There was a more calmness in her voice know. She gave a small bit of thought before saying “Wait here.”

Before anypony could say anything, she had zoomed off into a rainbow blur. Rainbow arrived at her house and drove right into her cupboard. Alright a Wonderbolts poster, she said to herself before throwing it out of the cupboard and grabbing the next thing she found. Daring Doo, tank’s flying hat, a Know Your Mares magazine. She paused after picking up the next thing. “Arr, here it is.”

She dashed out of her house back to the bakery, holding the proof in-between her hoofs. When she got there, she held it up in the air and her face beamed with her signicher hero face and pose.

It was a small snow globe with Rainbow herself inside it, along with somepony else. It looked like a stallion but none of her friends could make it out with all the snow flying around from all the shaking it must have taken during the flight.

“He gave this to me” she said

“O my gosh! You met him, Dashie.” Pinkie beam now smile her heart out. “What’s he like, is he as fat as they say, or is he just really tubby. Is his beard white or is it slightly grey like Rarity!” aloud “WHAT” could be heard for the fashionista as Twilight picks the dome up in her aura.

“Rainbow, you can get theses at a gift shop, not that I don’t believe you but…this isn’t really evidence.” Twilight said making everypony around her start to frown again. Rainbow’s face just became one of shock.

“Ok!” Rainbow spoke up running towards the door.

“Where you going Dashie” ask a sad and confused Pinkie Pie.

“If this isn’t proof enough for you, then I’m going to get more. In fact, I’m going to get proof so damn awesome, that it’s going to make everypony in Ponyville believing in him again!” before another word could be said dash zoomed off once again.

“What’s got her so wound up” Applejack said making everypony stare at her. “Yay, ah know that everypony’s a bit upset about what Twilight said but ah didn’t expect Rainbow of all ponies to care this much…Pinkie sure but Rainbow?”

“I do agree, that what was a bit out of character for her.” Rarity spoke up getting a sort of worried and agreeing look for Applejack before she turned to Pinkie Pie. “Now, what was that you said about my coat Pinkie dear?” she ask the baker with a, tell me or I kill you, sound in her voice.

“Well, I better head home. It’s getting late and I guess I have to face Spike about this at some point” Twilight interrupted as she slowly walked towards the door, with a small sound of dread in her voice.

“Ah guess I should too, I got to help Big Macintosh sweep the snow off the path to Sweet Apple Acres so we can get the apple cart to town tomorrow.” Applejack said walking along side Twilight

“I’ll join you two in a in a moment, wait for me won’t you dears.” Rarity called out with her sing song voice, before turning back to pinkie with a more serious face on. “Now what was that you said about my coat going grey darling.”

After what should have been a very short conversion, the three friends started trotting home, unaware of the bright red light that shining in the sky, just like another star above them, but this one was watching them go.

“Are you sure this will get them believing in Santa again” ask a voice, which sound like a colt that was just starting to go into his stallion year.

“Of course it will.” another voice replied, which came from the one and only Rainbow Dash. “Well, maybe except Twilight but she’ll come around, she always does…most of the time” she continued with a nervous giggle.

“Well, whatever you say Dash” came the voice again, this time sound like he was a little less confident in what they were about to do, whatever that was “I just hope I don’t get in trouble with the big guy about what I’m about to do for you.”

“Na, don’t worry about him.” Rainbow assured the voice “He still owes me one remember.”

End of part 1

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed. This is my first fanfic on anything so please comment on mistakes and say if you like it or not. May continue with this if I get a bit of time, thx.