A Newfoal Nöel
By Dafaddah
Submitted as part of the XIIth TCB Event, December 2012
Clean Slate had been a teacher for most of his life. He was never stern or demanding. He never lost patience, he never got mad, and the foals loved him for it, even the troublemakers, the hard cases, the little ponies with big issues. One day in class with Clean Slate, and they would actually try to behave. They may not have always succeeded, but that was okay with Clean Slate. He could wait for “the flower inside” to bloom, which is why they usually sent him the foals that other teachers had given up on. And he was okay with that too.
Today was an exciting day for the earth pony: a brand new class was starting in Ponyville. The town, like most across Equestria, had volunteered to help the tide of newfoals who needed time and assistance adjusting to life in a new land. This time he had twenty or so foals entrusted to his care. A new hidden bouquet, ready to finally see the light of day. He took a chalk in his mouth and began to write his name on the blackboard.
“Hey, what kind of pigeon scratch is that?” asked one of the foals, a surly looking orange colored earth pony with a dark brown mane. Timmy Burgess (refuses to answer to pony name), recalled Clean Slate. He nudged a tiny unicorn colt sitting next to him, who didn't answer back. In fact the little blue unicorn just seemed to shrink in on himself even further. Fred Smith (refuses to answer to pony name) said the file on this colt. I'll have to keep an eye on these two, thought the teacher.
Clean Slate put down the chalk. He gave the class a big grin. “I am your teacher, Clean Slate. In Equestria students usually call their teachers Mr. something or other. I know you newfoals already have a Mr. Clean you're familiar with, so I won’t try to steal his name.” A few of the foals laughed at this. “I would rather you just call me Slate.” He pointed to the board. “That’s my name written in Equestrian script. Don’t worry if you can’t read it yet. You’ll learn it soon enough, 'cause that’s what I’m here for. I’m gonna make all of you bloom!”
He took out a little flower pot from a drawer and put it on the desk. He closed his eyes a moment and put both forehooves onto the pot. Several of the youngsters straightened up as they saw something green shoot from between his hooves and grow amazingly fast into a bright blue flower. Now many of the foals were whispering to each other excitedly. “See,” he said. “Now it’s your turn!” He went back to blackboard and with his chalk began to draw the Equestrian alphabet, one letter at a time.
It was lunch break. The little newfoals were playing games with the emphatic dedication of those who knew that all too soon the bell would ring and call them back to class. Their heads were surrounded by little vapour clouds in the crisp December air.
Slate looked at the youngsters with interest. He always did so in order to map out the various friendships and potential conflicts in a class, but this time it was also to see how different these newfoals would be from their Equestria-born peers. They played many of the same games: tag, hoof-ball, and skip-rope, but it was obvious they were much clumsier than foals of their ages would normally be, and there was very little usage of magic or frantic flutters of half-flight compared to a native class of the same age group.
He also noticed something else. Many of the foals stuck together very closely, and many played alone. When one foal was approached by another more often looks of suspicion were exchanged rather than those of friendship. So much fear, he thought. He had been provided the brief, and in many cases horrific, histories of these little ones. These were tales of broken families, abandonment, orphanages that were more like prisons, and even forced ponification. He had been warned about this, still the sight broke his heart.
Several of the foals played hoof-ball together at least. He saw Timmy kick the ball to Fred who tried to kick it forward, but he only managed to get tangled in his own hooves and crashed to the snowy ground. Timmy trotted over to him and began to loudly berate the little unicorn as he tried ineffectually to get up. Better ring the bell before things get out-of-hoof, thought Slate. He stood and called in the class.
Slate locked the school's door and turned to go home. He noticed a commotion near the back of the school-house and decided to investigate. As he turned the corner he saw Fred on the snowy ground again, crying. A short distance away, Timmy and another foal, Aspen Leaf, faced off, each one rather ineffectually trying to maintain a three legged stance while threatening the other with a raised hoof. He trotted up to the trio.
"Take it back, you dickhead!" said Timmy.
"No way!" shouted Aspen Leaf. "We left all that stuff behind on Earth. This is Equestria, and there ain't no Santa or Christmas here!"
Slate quickly examined the crying blue unicorn and saw no obvious injuries. Yet the colt cried even louder after Aspen Leaf's shout. He arose and stared at the two combatants with a patient look on his face.
Timmy looked at him warily. "Well," said the colt, "aren't you gonna break us apart and punish us? Aren't you gonna tell us that Hearth's Warming Eve bullcrap like Ass-piss-leaf over here?" When the teacher still said nothing he put his hoof down in disgust. "What's detention here in lovey-dovey land anyways, half an hour of petting bunnies while sitting in a tree?" He looked away.
The teacher looked at the three youngster and smiled. He had figured out the likely course of events. "Aspen Leaf, did you get into an argument with Fred?"
The yellow pegasus smiled at his teacher. "Yeah! These 'Equestria deniers' are saying that they think Santa Claus is gonna come visit them at Christmas here in Equestria. They just don't have a clue about where they are and what they are." He managed to stand on his hind legs and cross his forelegs for a moment before losing his balance and flopping back down clumsily on all fours.
"Aspen Leaf, how about you go home now. I'll come by to see you later, but first I'd like to talk with Timmy and Fred," He sat down on his haunches. The young pegasus left looking smug.
"How about I walk you colts home?" Clean Slate asked pleasantly. Surprised, Timmy nodded, then turned and helped Fred get back up onto his legs. He had been right about these two. "So Fred, why were you crying?" he asked as they started walking back to town.
"'Cause that idiot told him Santa don't come to Equestria," blurted Timmy angrily. Slate ignored the interruption and just looked at Fred expectantly. Finally, the little blue colt spoke up in a shaky voice.
"Yeah, he did. And he told me I wasn't a real Equestrian cause I still believed in Santa." He looked at his young companion. "And then Timmy told him off, and then... and then..." He looked away, eyes brimming with tears again.
"Timmy, is that why he called you two 'Equestria deniers'?" he asked of the other foal.
"Yeah. Ass-piss-leaf wants to forget everything about Earth and who we were... I mean who we are." He corrected himself emphatically. "We weren't born like this. All our lives we've been told what to do, and we had to do it. Even becoming ponies." He head dropped lower. "Look, we know we woulda died if we had stayed human. We don't hate being ponies, but we don't wanna forget who we are is all."
Slate was quiet a moment. "Is that why you only answer to your human names?" asked Slate.
Timmy looked up at him, eyes wide. "Yeah. We got shit for it, be we refused to take the names they gave us. Our names are all we have left of our families! We ain't gonna lose 'em. No way, no how!"
They had arrived at the house where they were staying and stopped at its doorstep. Timmy looked downcast and a bit grim. A green mare opened the door just as they arrived.
"Hello Slate" said Lyra. "I was just going to see what was keeping the boys from returning home."
"Hello Lyra. I just wanted to take a moment to get to know Timmy and Fred, so I asked them to walk home with me. I didn't mean to cause you any alarm."
Lyra looked abashed. "Well, maybe I'm just being a tad over anxious. After all, Bon Bon and I have never taken care of foals full-time before."
Slate laughed. "Well your concern shows you have your hearts and your heads in the right place!" He turned to the colts. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Don't forget to do your homework!" He waved and began the walk to the house where Aspen Leaf was staying. The colts waved back, and Timmy even flashed him a tentative smile.
Timmy and Fred shared a bedroom in the loft of Lyra and Bon Bon's house. In the three weeks they had been living with the mares they had become more at ease with them, Ponyville, and life in Equestria. Ponies in town seemed to have taken their strange human names in stride, and almost universally made them feel welcome.
Fred was a lot happier, except when he thought about Christmas. He sighed. Timmy had used to tease him about his attachment to the holiday, until he had told his friend how his parents had died when the family was returning home from Christmas vacation. Out of fifty people on the bus, Fred and an old lady were the only survivors. Christmas more than any other time reminded Fred of the happy times with his parents. When Aspen Leaf had told him there was no Christmas in Equestria it had been like a blow to his very heart.
The very next day Aspen Leaf had apologized. But now, as Ponyville prepared for Hearth’s Warming Eve, he began to feel a tug on his own heart and he couldn’t prevent his mood from showing. Well, not to Timmy, Lyra and Bon Bon, at least. He sighed as he finished his supper, which as usual ended with an amazing desert from Sugarcube Corners, where Bon Bon worked.
He helped Timmy and Lyra do the dishes, and then he and Timmy did their homework. It turned out the Equestrian alphabet was pretty easy to learn, and, with their guardians’ diligent help, they could read Equestrian almost as well as they been able to read before becoming ponies.
When they were done, Lyra sighed and stretched. “How about we hit the hay early tonight? I’ve had a long day and so has Bon Bon." She winked at her room-mate.
“Good idea, Lyra!” replied Bon Bon, sighing in turn. “C’mon boys! Let’s go brush our teeth and get ready for bed.”
Fred looked at Timmy who shrugged and put away his school bag. Lyra went to the window to close the shutters. As they started to climb the stairs Fred heard Lyra exclaim: “Hey, what do you suppose those ponies are up to?”
Timmy, Bon Bon and Fred rushed to the window to see. Outside, several families were making their way to town hall, candles in hoof. Fred thought he recognized many members of the newfoal class amongst them. “Hm. Maybe we should investigate?” said Bon Bon. “What do you say we put off going to bed for a minutes longer, boys?” she suggested with a smile while Lyra went to fetch a large candle and lit it with her magic.
Fred and Timmy looked at each other. “Sure, why not!” said Timmy with a crooked smile.
They all lined up behind Lyra, and followed her out of the house to join the other families’ processions in the dark.
They arrived at the town hall, and entered the large main hall. Inside was a huge Christmas tree, decorated just as it would be on Earth, except that is wasn’t a Christmas tree, it was a Hearth’s Warming Eve tree. But just for tonight, Fred could pretend it was a Christmas tree, and he smiled because seeing it made him feel happy.
On the stage was a choir. Ponies liked to sing as much as humans did, so he wasn’t surprised when the choir’s leader, a yellow colored mare with pink hair and a white bunny sitting on her withers came out and tapped her hoof three times. The choir began to sing. The words weren’t immediately familiar, but the music was.
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
Fred, Timmy and all the newfoals ran up to the base of the stage, and stared up at the singers in awe.
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight
A few smiled and began singing. Soon almost all of them were singing along. Fred noticed Bon Bon and Lyra, singing along with them. Fred opened wide, and belted out the familiar refrain with all the others:
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh...
The song ended. The little newfoals and their guardians applauded enthusiastically. The singers paused a moment quickly paging in their song books. Then they started singing another song:
Just hear those sleigh bells jinglin', ring ting tinglin' to
Come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
The snow is fallin' and friends are callin' "you-who"
Come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you...
The choir sang Christmas song after Christmas song. All the families noticed food and refreshments along the sides of the hall. They mingled and the foals played as the choir sang. Fred sat wrapt, drinking-in every note, even the songs in other languages. It didn’t matter, ‘cause it was Christmas!
After the choir finished singing “Oh tan-a-bomb” which was the same song as “Oh Christmas Tree”, Mayor Mare came out and asked everypony to sit down. She was dressed in red and green, like some strange pony version of an elf. Everypony had a good laugh, including Mayor Mare. He and Timmy sat down on their haunches, like they had been taught at school.
“Is everypony having a good time?” she asked. Enthusiastic applause answered her back. “Excellent! Ponyville would like to wish a big Merry Christmas to all our newfoal friends here tonight, especially the littlest ones. Now, Equestria is far away from Earth, but that has not prevented a special guest from joining us here in Ponyville. I want you to give him a warm welcome, because this is his very first time ever in Ponyville. Now, everypony, we mustn’t make any noise and scare him away!” She put a hoof in front of her mouth and went “Shhhh!” The hall became so quiet you could a pin drop.
Then, as if from a distance, there was the sound of sleigh bells. The sound circled the town hall once or twice. And then there was a clatter on the roof. “Oh, my!” said Mayor Mare. “The town hall doesn’t have a fireplace. Maybe we should open a door.” Some ponies went to open the big front doors, and a blast of cold wind blew in. And then, the roof clattered again, and with a sound of bells, in through the door came nine tiny reindeer pulling a big red sleigh. Inside, and Fred could not believe his eyes, sat a small man with a white beard, wearing a red coat and laughing. It was Santa! He had come to Equestria! He stood up, and all his friends from the newfoal school did the same and they rushed to Santa.
“Ho, ho, ho!” went the little Santa. “Is this Ponyville?” he asked.
“Yes, Mr. Claus. You’ve got the right place!” replied Mayor Mare.
“Ho, ho, ho! Good, then I’ve got some gifts here for all the good little foals of Ponyville. He reached into the back of the sleigh and pulled out a red bag almost as big as he was. He pushed an arm into the bag, and began to take out gifts wrapped in beautiful paper and bows. “Is there an Aspen Leaf here?” he asked.
“Here! Here I am!” The little pegasus fairly flew into Santa, making everypony laugh.
“Ho, ho ho! I think we have a future Wonderbolt here!” said Santa with a wink. He gave the foal his package. He plunged an arm into the bag and pulled out another gift...
Fred and Timmy waited excitedly as Santa called out name after name. “Timmy Burgess,” said Santa, and his friend went up to get his gift. He came back down off the sleigh, holding the package by its bow with his mouth. He put it down at their hooves.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” asked Fred, his eyes bugging out.
“Nah! I’ll wait till you get yours and we’ll open them together, deal?”
“Deal!” said Fred. He didn’t have to wait long. “Fred Smith,” called Santa. Fred felt as uncoordinated as he did on the first day he became a pony, but somehow he made it up to Santa and returned with the package levitating in the air besides him. He lowered it onto the ground next to Timmy’s. He looked Timmy in the face a moment. His friend grinned and they both launched themselves into unwrapping their gifts. Lyra and Bon Bon laughed as the paper and ribbons flew!
A moment later, each saw that they had a stack of books, although Fred’s was thicker. They each opened the books and saw that they were photo albums, as well as written records. Birth certificates and so on. Fred opened one of his books that was mostly photos of him and his parents. There were even some photos of the last Christmas they spent together, on vacation. Fred shut the book and held it to his heart, tears began to drop onto the floor in front of him. Lyra and Bon Bon snuggled up close.
“What’s the matter Fred? Don’t you like the Christmas presents?” Lyra looked at Bon Bon in confusion.
“No, Lyra and Bon Bon, this is the best Christmas present I ever got. Now I won’t forget them. They’ll always be with me.” He hugged the books close and smiled up at his guardians. He saw Timmy staring at a rather official looking scroll. “Whatcha got there, Timmy?”
His friend looked up at him, eyes wide as saucers. “It’s a clan registry certificate, whatever that is. It says that my official pony name is Timmy Burgess, and its even signed by Princess Celestia.” He smiled from ear to ear. “Hey, that means we can stay who we are, Fred. We don’t have to lose our names!” He stared down at the document in wonder.
Around them, all the newfoals had received similar gifts. Some were excitedly paging through the albums, relating who this person was, and where that picture was taken. Some just held the books and cried. All of them looked happy.
On his sleigh, Santa arose. Rudolph’s nose blinked bright red and some of the ponies cleared the way in front of him and opened the doors. “On Rudolph, on Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen!” The sleigh rose slightly off the floor and slowly moved out, bells ringing. They heard as it made a circle or two of the town hall. Then, they heard a final shout from Santa: “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
In the hall, the little groups gathered together, and lit their candles again. One by one, the families left to return home. Clean Slate came out of the shadows in the upper balcony, and was joined by Mayor Mare. “I can’t thank you enough Mayor. You have no idea how much this meant to them.”
“After tonight, maybe I do,” she replied. They both took the stairway down to the main floor.
A few minutes later the front doors were opened again and ‘Santa’ on his sleigh re-entered. For a moment the illusion held, and then a pale white unicorn with a flowing purple mane stood in place of Santa Claus. Clean Slate and the Mayor approached.
“Thank you, Rarity,” said Slate. “The bearer of the element of generosity made a fine Santa Claus!”
She tilted her head and looked at him with a grin. “Darling, we all know who the real ‘Santa’ was here tonight.” She looked at the assembled ponies. “Everypony played a part. I may have made the costume, but without Twilight’s magic I doubt I could have managed the part of a fat, old, bearded human male!”
The idea did make Slate crack a grin. “And we also have Twilight to thank for doing all the research as well.” The mare in question blushed at the praise. “Let’s not forget to mention the feast Applejack and her family prepared, and Fluttershy’s wonderful carolers and music.”
“Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash removing a red glow light from her nose. “I’m kinda sorry we only heard it from outside.” She looked at the pegasi next to her who were also removing their reindeer costumes. “And it’s going to take a lot of work to get that black paint off the wings of us Wonderbolts.”
Slate looked around. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?”
A lone pink hoof rose up from in back of the huge decorated tree. “Pinkie, please come here.” The pink mare slowly made her way to the gathering, head low.
“Pinkie, is there a problem?” asked Slate. “I think the family history-albums were a huge success.”
Pinkie looked up rather crestfallen. “Yeah? But a lot of the little foals cried!”
“Oh, Pinkie! Them was tears of joy, sugarcube,” said Applejack. She gave the pink mare a great big earth pony hug, but the mare didn’t seem entirely convinced.
Slate placed a hoof on her withers. “Pinkie Pie, nopony else could have done what you did. You gave them back their families after they’d lost them. Thank you Pinkie, you’ve made them happier than they’ve been for weeks, and for some of them maybe even for years.” He looked around at the gathered ponies. “That goes for all of you. Thank you.”
He paused a moment. “There’s one pony I didn’t thank. Who got the letters of clan registry signed by Princess Celestia?”
“It was Spike!” said Twilight. “By the way, I haven’t seen him in a while. Where is he?”
There was sudden brilliant light up in the balcony, and then Princesses Celestia and Luna stood there. The ponies bowed. Spike waved to them from Luna’s back.
“Er, hi everypony,” said the little dragon. He jumped off and ran down to join the others.
“Citizens of Ponyville,” said Celestia. “We have watched your efforts for these little newfoals...”
“... and We are very pleased,” said Luna. “Well done!”
The princesses bowed to astounded ponies below.
“Ooh, ooh, then there’s only one thing left to do!” said Pinkie Pie.
“And what’s that, my pink little pony?” asked Celestia, raising an eyebrow.
“PARTY ON!” said Ponyville’s Prime Party-mare. “Fluttershy! Do the Equestrian version of Jingle Bells.”
Music filled the hall, and everypony got ready to party into the wee hours. On stage, Pinkie Pie sang with the carolers.
Dashing through the snow
In a pony open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on Starswirl ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a pony open sleigh, hay!
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Hold on tight, we ride tonight
And sleigh our cares away!
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Daisy Bright
Was seated by my side
The sleigh-pony was new
And blinded by the snow
We got into a drifted bank
And then he lost a shoe
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells...
A pegasus came by
He hitched up to the sleigh
And soon Miss Daisy Bright
Did let out such a neigh
For the sleigh took to the air
so far above the snow
The sleigh-pony chased after us
but he was much too slow!
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells...
To ward away the cold,
From a blanket did we peek,
And soon Miss Daisy Bright
Did kiss me on the cheek!
We laughed and sang our songs
As through the air we weaved
We'd never had such fun before
On a Hearth's Warming Eve!
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a pony open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Hold on tight, we ride tonight
And sleigh our cares away!
The Hug
by Dafaddah
Note: This was a quick submission to Flashfic Prompt Tag posted by 'bats'. I added it here because it really belonged with A Newfoal Noel.
There were days when she could not understand what was going on. People would dance around her in a mad whirlwind, like the leaves blowing across the orphanage yard on a windy day. Faces would come and go before she had a chance to gather the clues that let her know what they wanted. A brief smile would flash, and then they’d be gone. No signs of greeting, no expressions in their eyes, not even a finger pointing at an object or person. Those days left her feeling confused and alone, and then the tears would come.
Sometimes though, when that happened, someone would pick her up in their arms and hold her close. She would feel the warmth of their bodies against hers. She would smell them, and taste their skins. Sometimes she could even feel the beat of their heart, and that was the best of all, because then she knew with a certainty that none of her other senses provided, that she was not alone.
Today, all she had to hold onto was the hand of one of the big girls. Even that was dropped all the time when the big girl made signs that she hadn’t learned yet, or made them so fast that she couldn’t understand. Then the big girl would pull her left and right as they followed the other children, and she tried hard not to fall down. It was all very confusing, and more than a little bit scary.
They had gone by bus to a new place. It was bright, and there were ponies there! At the entrance she saw a pink pony with one of the teachers. They exchanged pieces of paper, like the grownups did all the time, only this time the paper floated in the air in front of the pony, glowing a bit while she looked at it. She thought it was so funny to see the paper just floating there with no wind. The sight made her smile. The pink pony noticed and smiled back.
There was another tug and she struggled to stay up and follow the big girl, sad that she had been taken away from the pink pony. She and the other children were brought into a room. There were grownups in white dresses, just like the nurses and doctors who visited the children at the orphanage. She crept back behind the big girl. Sometimes the people in the white dresses poked and squeezed her. Sometimes it hurt. They always spent a lot of time looking in her mouth and ears, which also scared her.
One of the grownups approached. The big girl suddenly pulled on her arm, and led her to a table just like the ones the doctors made her sit on when they poked and squeezed her. She tried to pull away, but the big girl just pulled back even harder. Resigned, she quit struggling. It was no use, and sometimes when she did struggle she’d get a whack from one of the big kids. The person in the white dress put her on the table. The big girl lay down on another table next to hers. There were some other kids on other tables in the room. The grownups touched her head and moved it. She felt cold and alone and scared. She started to cry.
Then the pink pony came in. She had a tray on her back with little cups. Each of the grownups in white dresses took a cup and brought it to one of the kids, who each drank it, then lay down.
She was afraid. When the person held the cup to her she shied away. Hands grabbed her and pulled her head back. She started to breathe hard and her tears fell. She kicked out with her little feet and tried to push away the huge hands with her little ones, but they were so strong, and so she shut her mouth and her eyes and...
The hands went away. She felt something hard and something soft touch her cheek. She smelled something different, and opened an eye just a crack. In front of her was the pink pony! She was smiling and touching her cheek with a pink pony arm. It had something hard at the end, but it was still a pretty pink color. She grabbed the pony’s arm. Her hand was too little to go all the way around, but the pony didn’t pull it away.
The little paper cup hovered in the air in front of her face. The pony smiled at her. She took the paper cup in her other hand and looked inside. It had grape juice. She liked grape juice! She brought the cup to her lips and drank it down. Then she felt really tired, and fell asleep, and dreamed of ponies and pony princesses.
Mary was used to everyone and everything being bigger than she was. The only ones smaller than her were the babies who crawled around on all fours. They were too little to make signs, but she wasn’t. She could stand and sign all she wanted, although the big kids knew a lot more signs she did. And there were a lot more big kids than small kids in the home. Sometimes that made her feel really lonely. So she was surprised and so happy when she saw the ponies. They were little! Just like her.
She woke up in the middle a beautiful green park. At first she was alone, but then the little ponies began to arrive. She watched in fascination as they came to play in the park. They were so small she thought that maybe they were babies, but they didn’t crawl around like babies. They must be little kid ponies she concluded, a bit bigger than babies, just like Mary was. She signed “Hello” at them. They looked and smiled, and some came close and nibbled at her fingers. It was then that she understood. Ponies didn’t have hands, so how could they sign? Most signs required fingers, and ponies had none!
The little ponies jumped and ran and played around her. Soon, she joined in, first chasing a pony, and then running away as the pony chased her. It was so much fun! Even when she fell down, the green floor of the park was much softer than the usual carpet. She rubbed it with her hands and her face. It was cool, and clean, and smelled so much better! A pony came running at her and she jumped upright. The little pony was so surprised it sprang really high into the air! When it came down it stuck out its tongue at Mary, grinned and then ran away. Laughing, Mary gave chase.
She played with the ponies for a while. Then the ponies started playing a new game: a few would run together, first one way and then another. She ran as well and waved her hands in delight as several ponies ran with her. Soon, they were all running together. She held her arms out like wings behind her as she ran as fast as she could: she felt like she was flying!
She ran with the ponies until she noticed something she hadn’t seen before: a big white tent. All the little ponies slowed down and then waited as she came closer. Some began to nibble at the grass, others lay down for a nap. Some just smiled at her and tossed their heads in the direction of the tent's opening. She knew that she was supposed to go inside, and this time she wasn’t afraid. With a last glance at the happy ponies she entered the tent.
There were two big ponies inside, a white one and a dark blue one. They lay on the grass and smiled at her.
Hello Mary...
Somehow the words were in her head, even though the ponies hadn't made any signs. How could they without hands! She lifted her tiny hands and signed "Hello pony." She was very proud to do the signs for pony as she had just learned them from one of the big girls at the home.
Come closer, child, asked the white pony. Her eyes were purple, and very kind. Mary had only seen a few people with eyes like that. When they visited the home they were always very kind, and sometimes they were also very sad. She approached and sat down before the white pony.
Do you know why you're here, Mary? From this close, it seemed as if her lips moved with the signs. Mary had a strange feeling in her head. There was a buzzing in her ears, but she didn’t scratch them because she needed her hands to sign.
“Big girls say go live with ponies,” she signed. “True?” she asked.
Yes, Mary, it’s true. Do you want to come live with us? The white pony and dark pony looked at each other. Their expressions were very serious. Mary saw their lips move and the itching in her ears grew worse.
Mary thought about it. She really didn’t know. Nobody had ever asked her if she wanted to go anywhere. She thought of how much fun she’d had with the little ponies.
“Live with you, can play little ponies more?” This was very complicated for Mary to sign. The big ponies waited as her fingers haltingly made the signs.
Yes, Mary. You can play with the foals again. And you will be a foal, too. Would you like that, Mary?
Mary smiled at the thought, but then a realisation came, and she felt herself tearing up. Haltingly she signed. “Mary pony no fingers. Mary pony no sign. Mary pony sad.”
The two big ponies again looked at each other, their lips moving just like many of the big kids and grownups did when they didn’t sign at other. The buzzing returned, even worse than before.
From now on you will be able to sign even to people and ponies who don’t know how, or don’t have fingers. Would that make you happy, Mary?
Mary knew that sometimes people could make signs without using fingers. They stood face to face and their lips moved, but their fingers didn’t. It was all very mysterious, but a big girl had said this was ‘talk’. She wondered if it was the same thing. She had a thought. If she could still sign with the little ponies without fingers then they could all play together. Even those games that needed signs to be fun. The idea made her smile. If she could do that she wouldn’t be so lonely. She might even have lots of friends to play with!
Her fingers trembled in excitement. “Mary happy. Mary pony happy.”
The white pony smiled, and then so did the dark coloured one.
“Then Mary,” Suddenly she understood the buzzing. Somehow it had become like signs in her head. “Welcome to our family.” It came from the lips of the white pony! “When you wake up you will be a pony too. And you will have a new way to sign. It will take you awhile to become good at it, but don’t be afraid, child. And remember that from now on you will never be alone.”
Mary thought about that for a moment. It was hard to imagine not being alone. She wanted that badly. So badly it made her feel like crying again. The white pony lifted an arm. She scootched in for a hug and felt herself wrapped in the fur and warmth and smell of the white pony. She lay her head against the pony’s chest. A feeling of peace washed over her, and she fell asleep to the beat of the pony’s heart.
“It was a great risk, offering the choice to one so young,” said Princess Luna. “Tia, what would you have done if she had refused?”
Princess Celestia took a breath. “She was old enough to ask for the truth, Luna, which she’s been denied too often during her short life. Also, her deafness makes her seem more simple than she really is. She deserved better from the adults at the orphanage, and I did not have the heart to add one more betrayal to the burden she already carries.” She looked away. “And no, I don’t know what I would have done if she had refused, but this time I felt I had to ask. She was ready for the question, Luna. She deserved no less.”
“You are most likely correct, sister. But I do not deny that my heart did skip a beat.”
There was a sound and the two sisters looked to the entrance of the tent. Another mute orphan child had arrived.
Hello, Thomas...
There was something that felt... different. Like a touch, but it wasn’t on her skin, and it was everywhere! She didn’t know what it was. Even when she turned her head it was still there, but sometimes stronger sometimes weaker. It frightened her and she whimpered. Then, she felt something warm around her whole body. She was being held! She felt happier now, almost as happy as she had felt in the dream. She remembered it now. The pony princesses had moved their mouths and something new had come out, something that was like touching, but was everywhere. And she had understood!
She opened her eye a crack, and saw that she was in the arms of the pink pony. The pink pony looked at her and moved her mouth. “Mary.” Up close, she could tell that the new sensation seemed to come from the pink pony’s mouth. The pink pony touched her own chest with the pink hard thing at the end of her arm and her mouth moved again: “Rosy”. The pony poked her in the chest again. “Mary.” It was just like when they taught her to sign her name with her fingers. Suddenly she understood. She was Mary!
On the table next to hers, a little yellow pony raised its head and looked in her direction. It moved its mouth. “Mary!” This pony meant her. She pointed her arm at the pony, and noticed that she didn’t have a hand anymore. She had a blue arm, and just like the pony it had a hard thing at the end. She wondered how she could make signs without fingers.
Mary saw the other pony laugh. “Tee, hee, hee!” came from her mouth. And now she knew that those new sensations all around her came from people’s and pony’s mouths. This is what they did when they moved their mouths at each other. Maybe now she could understand better what they wanted. She grinned at the little yellow pony and waved her blue arm.
She turned back to look at the pink pony that was still holding her in her arms. She... Mary! ...was so happy. Mary placed her arms around the pink pony’s neck, and hugged her as hard as she could. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the sensations that came from all around her. She buried her face in the pony’s chest. It was so warm, and smelled so different from people. But it also smelled really good, and the fur tickled her nose.
And then, something caught her attention. Despite all the new and confusing sensations, one stood out. It beat a steady thump-thump, thump-thump. Mary smiled and knew that she was not alone, at least for now, because she felt, and for the very first time heard, the beating of the pink pony’s heart.
Author's Note
I wrote the conversion dream sequence as part of the TCB event June 2013. It was added into the original version of this chapter.
