"Hope, Jingle, Charity, Noble," Santa Paws called to his puppies. "I suggest you go with Eddy and Eli to school. Now."
"Yes, Dad." The Santa Pups replied.
"Noble, you always get us in trouble." Hope pouted.
The pups soon left for their lesson with Eddy and Eli.
"They're lucky they can just go to school even though they're just dogs, and I'm terrible at doing this." Patch commented.
"Aw, Patch, it's okay..." Santa Paws told him. "Nothing's your fault."
"But I'm the one who taught Noble to be a leader, but I forgot to add in to be a good leader." Patch frowned.
"He'll get the hang of it soon enough, the Santa Pups will grow up," Santa Paws promised. "...At least I hope so when they learn about the Christmas Icicle."
"Which they'll learn today." Patch said.
"That's right, Patch," Santa Paws nodded to him. "It's as simple as The Code of the Elves: 'Treat every day like Christmas, There's room for everyone on the Nice List, and The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear'."
"Nice." Patch smiled.
Santa Paws smiled back.
Mrs. Paws soon came out since she could walk around a lot easier now.
"Good day, Mrs. Paws, how are you?" Patch greeted the new mother.
"Fine, thank you," Mrs. Paws smiled to him. "I guess the pups are in school now?"
"Yep." Patch nodded.
"That should keep them busy a while," Mrs. Paws yawned and stretched. "I'm hearing you'd like to be a father someday?"
"Well, there's this cocker spaniel I've known for quite sometime..." Patch blushed shyly about Colette.
"You must love her." Mrs. Paws smiled.
"I really do..." Patch admitted. "Ever since I first met her when I moved into my boy Atticus's house. Turns out the girlfriend he made is her owner and she's also his friend's new cousin."
"What an amazing turn of events," Mrs. Paws smiled. "Isn't love just lovely? I hope someday the Santa Pups find their own soulmates."
"I'm sure they will someday." Patch smiled.
Mrs. Paws giggled.
"So, how'd you meet her?" Patch smirked to Santa Paws. "I don't remember her from the last time I was here."
"Oh, we should tell him." Mrs. Paws smiled.
"Oh, uh, you think so, dear?" Santa Paws asked his mate.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Mrs. Paws giggled. "He should know."
"Well, okay..." Santa Paws smiled to Patch.
"Tell me everything," Patch smiled back. "I want to know every detail."
Santa and Mrs. Paws chuckled to Patch as they soon told him the story of how they met and came together.
"Dad, don't make it gross." Scruffy groaned.
"Well, all right, I'll just say it was a romantic story." Patch replied.
Dot smiled dreamily to the love story between Santa and Mrs. Paws while Scruffy looked like he was going to be sick.
"I'm sure you can tell why, but I felt really close to Noble," Patch told his puppies. "He reminded me a lot of myself at that age."
"Is it 'cuz of the black spot over his eye?" Dot asked.
"Huh... That's a good point..." Patch had to admit. "Well, there's that, and he had adventure in his heart while becoming a leader. Also reminding me a bit of your Uncles Lucky and Scamp."
"What about Uncle Thunderbolt?" Dot asked.
"Yes, Uncle Thunderbolt too." Patch chuckled.
"Yay!" Scruffy smiled.
Back in the story...
Patch came to check on the Santa Pups as Eli was teaching them about the Christmas Icicle. He smiled at the education, but soon frowned as he looked over to see that Noble, Charity, Hope, and Jingle had fallen asleep at their desks.
"Ahem, uh, Eli, I think you need to wake up your students?" Patch suggested.
"Huh?" Eli asked before he turned around to see that the Santa Pups had fallen asleep on him. "Ahem... AHEM!"
"Huh?" The Santa Pups blinked as they suddenly woke up.
"Santa Pups!" Eli scolded slightly. "This is a very important lesson about magic crystals."
"He's right." Patch said.
"But, Eli, maybe we'd pay closer attention if we actually had our own crystals like Patch over there does." Noble suggested as he raised his paw.
"You'll earn your own crystals in time." Patch said.
"Magic crystals have great power," Eli added. "And with great power comes great responsibility."
"That's what Uncle Ben told Peter Parker." Patch smiled.
"Um, right." Eli smiled back to him.
"Ooh, I'm totally responsible!" Charity smiled. "Seriously, Patch, where can I get one of those?"
"Sorry, Charity, but you'll need to be older and learn the responsibility of having a magic crystal." Patch said.
"Can I earn one by singing?" Jingle asked before she was about to sing. "Hark the herald, Jingle sings, Glory to~-"
"Yikes!" Eddy shuddered as he overheard that on his way inside as Eli plugged his ears.
"No, no, no." Patch said.
"You will earn a magic crystal when you understand the true meaning of Christmas," Eli told the Santa Pups. "And then you can use the Christmas magic to do good deeds, and grant Christmas wishes around the world."
"Are you serious?" Noble asked. "'Good Deed' is my middle name!"
"And we'd be extremely good at granting Christmas wishes!" Hope added.
"Patience." Patch smiled.
"You've got so much more to learn before that day will come." Eddy added.
"Now, where was I?" Eli asked himself. "Oh, yes. Magic crystals are used to spread the joy of Christmas."
Noble raised his paw again.
"Yes, Noble?" Eli asked.
"What makes the crystals magic to begin with?" Noble asked.
"Excellent question, Noble," Patch replied before looking to Eli and Eddy. "Uh, may I?"
"Be our guest." Eddy smiled to him.
"Thanks, Eddy," Patch smiled back. "Now, um, Noble, I think this question would be best answered in person in the form of a field trip."
"Oh, boy, a field trip!" The Santa Pups smiled.
"That sounds like a great idea, Patch." Eddy smiled to the young Dalmatian.
"I thought so." Patch smiled back.
They soon went out of the classroom and went to visit the Christmas Icicle.
"This, right here, Pups, is the heart of all Christmas magic," Eli educated. "We use the energy in the Great Christmas Icicle to make Christmas happen, things like powering the workshop for building toys, or-"
"Ooh, I love getting toys!" Charity beamed.
"Flying the sleigh-" Eli continued.
"Oh, I love sleigh rides!" Hope smiled. "Especially when we hit turbulence."
'I'm guessing this might not help them learn about the responsibilities of having a magic crystal.' Patch thought to himself.
"And, of course, we use the energy in the Christmas Icicle to power our magic crystals." Eli told the Santa Pups.
"He's right," Patch nodded as his and Eli's magic crystals soon glowed with the Christmas Icicle which gave them both Christmas magic. "Got all that?"
The Santa Pups were amazed by the spread of magic.
"I get it," Jingle smiled. "It must be the Great Christmas Icicle that makes my voice so magical!~"
"Um, not exactly." Patch said.
"But that's the right idea, Jingle." Eddy added.
"Where does the energy in the Great Christmas Icicle come from, you ask?" Eli prompted the Santa Pups.
"I was actually going to ask again about getting our own crystals," Noble replied. "But okay, where does the energy in the Great Christmas Icicle come from?"
"Well, that's where our next stop is going to take us." Patch said.
"To the Spirit Map!" Eli smiled.
They then came inside of the workshop as the elves worked hard.
"How are our young students doing?" Santa Paws smiled.
"There's still some rough edges to get around." Patch said.
"Well, you know what they say, the North Pole wasn't built in a day." Eddy said to Patch.
"That's true, Eddy," Patch had to admit. "Anyway, we're going to show them the Spirit Map."
"Oh, it's time to learn about the Spirit Map, is it?" Santa smiled. "Well, pay close attention, Pups, this will be on the test!"
"As you can see, Pups, the Spirit Map allows us to monitor where Christmas Spirit comes in from all over the world," Eli educated. "We can even identify where Christmas Spirit is highest."
"And where it's in Pineville." Patch added with a smile.
"Zoom in, Elpert." Eli told the elf at the top of the ladder by the Spirit Map.
"Pineville, USA: The top place in the world for emitting Christmas Spirit." Santa Paws told his puppies.
"Christmas Spirit is contagious," Santa added. "And a town like Pineville can have an impact far beyond its township. The greater the Christmas Spirit, the more energy the Christmas Icicle will have."
"And the better our magic crystals will work?" Noble guessed.
"Yes, Noble, very good." Patch smiled.
"So, now can we have our own crystals?" Noble asked.
"Oh, Noble," Eddy chuckled. "You are certainly a persistent pup."
"We need to give credit to our Ambassadors for the Santa Cause," Mrs. Claus told the Santa Pups. "They ensure that we maintain Christmas Spirit all year long. Unfortunately, we've just learned of the loss of one of our best Ambassadors in Pineville. If we don't replace the Ambassador soon, Christmas Spirit could decline."
"Ooh, this is bad." Patch said.
"But with Christmas just three weeks away, there's no way I can leave the workshop." Santa frowned to his wife.
"How about I go?" Patch offered. "I may not be a Santa dog by birth, but I helped you guys out before, and I still plan to in the future if you'll let me."
"That's very noble of you, Patch." Santa said.
"Thank you, Santa." Patch replied.
"I should go too," Mrs. Claus told her husband. "Someone has to."
"Are you sure, Mrs. Claus?" Patch asked her. "I mean, this will be your first time out of the North Pole."
"I'm sure, Patch," Mrs. Claus promised. "I've done a lot for my husband in the past back in the darker days back in Sombertown."
"Well, if you're sure." Patch said.
"This is a very important mission," Santa announced. "Prepare the sleigh for Mrs. Claus and Patch!"
The elves responded to Santa to let him know that they would get on that.
"Oh, wonderful!" Mrs. Claus smiled and hugged her husband. "Wonderful!"
"Yeah, and Pineville seems like an easy town without trouble." Patch smiled.
"Mrs. Claus and I were off, but little did we know, a certain quartet of pups had a plan." Patch narrated.
"By any chance, did you count on them to come?" Scruffy asked.
"Well, I suppose I should've seen that coming." Patch admitted.
"Keep telling the story." Dot smiled.
"So, we were off to Pineville!" Patch smiled back. "The merriest town in all of the Christmas season!"
Patch and Mrs. Claus were soon on the sleigh.
"You don't have to do this, Mrs. Claus." Patch said to the woman.
"Oh, I know, dear, I don't get out as much as I used to anyway, so I really don't mind." Mrs. Claus smiled.
Patch smiled before smelling four scents behind them.
"Rudolph, be careful." Clarice told the red-nosed reindeer she was mates with.
"Don't worry, Clarice, I'll be just fine." Rudolph promised her.
"I know, I just don't want the baby to worry." Clarice said.
"You take care of yourself and the baby, we'll all be okay." Rudolph promised her while nuzzling her.
"Fly safe, dear." Santa told his wife.
"Don't worry, Santa; I'll make sure nothing bad happens." Patch assured him.
"We'll take good care of her." Comet added.
"We'll be back in a Christmas minute." Patch saluted Santa.
"All right, boys, are you ready to fly?" Mrs. Claus asked.
"Ready, Mrs. Claus!" Rudolph called out like when he got to fly for the first time with all of the other reindeer.
"Alright, then up and away we go." Patch smiled.
"You say the word!" Comet told Mrs. Claus.
"And we'll have lift-off!" Blitzen added.
"On, Dasher, on, Dancer, on, Prancer and Vixen!" Mrs. Claus began. "On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!"
"And Rudolph!" Patch concluded.
They soon took off into the air. Santa and the elves waved them off as they left the North Pole.
"Next stop, Pineville U.S.A.!" Patch cheered.
"Here we go, boys!" Rudolph laughed.
Clarice smiled to Rudolph, but she sighed since they had a lot to do now with their future as adult doe and buck now.
"This is going to be easy." Patch smiled.
Dot raised her paw.
"Yes, Dot?" Patch smiled to his daughter.
"Is Robbie the Reindeer really Rudolph's son?" Dot asked.
"Yeah, is he?" Scruffy added.
Patch chuckled. "I'll get to that story another time."
"Okay, Dad." Scruffy and Dot replied.
"Are you going to be okay, Clarice?" A buck asked his mate's old friend.
"I'll be fine, Frost, I assure you," Clarice replied. "Are you sure you'll be okay with Holly?"
"Now, now, let's not worry this season." Frost smiled to her.
Clarice smiled back as the other reindeer left the North Pole.
