Tinsel

It was Hearth's Warming eve, and ponies all alike, were all snug in their beds, (even dragons like Spike!).
The stockings were hung, by the chimney with care, in hopes that Tinsel Claus soon would be there.

Twilight remembers the story quite well. She read it to Spike every Hearth's Warming Eve. She had just finished her annual reading and was now resting by the fireplace, looking at the stocking that Spike had hung up. She never bothered hanging one up for herself. She knew how fake Tinsel was. She stretched out her wings and yawned, then took a sip of her hot cocoa.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie burst into the door. The cold breeze blew in and made the alicorn shiver. The bundled up pink ball of laughter closed the door quickly to keep the cold out, and she took off her toque, scarf and boots. She approached Twilight and sat with her.

Now, under normal circumstances, all of the mane six would be there with Twilight. But a wicked storm had brewed up and the blizzard made it near impossible to fly, and foolish to walk. With the snow piled up to their tummies and rising quickly, everypony was relaxing at home with their fire, enjoying the warmth and light it brought. Pinkie was the only one this year. She never wanted to leave her friends hanging. So she curled up with Twilight by the fire and smiled.

"Hello Pinkie Pie." Twilight smiled.
"Hiya Twilight! What'd you ask for this Hearth's Warming?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean from Tinsel, silly! You DID ask for something, didn't you?"
"Tinsel? Oh come now, Pinkie....You don't REALLY believe in that old pony's tale, do you?"

Pinkie Pie gasped loudly, then whispered to Twilight.

"You don't believe in Tinsel?!"
"No....?"
"Twiliiiiight! You have to believe otherwise she won't come and leave you a present!!"

Twilight smiled and shook her head.

"Oh Pinkie....It's impossible for Tinsel to fly around the entire world in just one night. And she's only a pegasus, so she can't use a time spell."
"Shh! She might hear you!"
"Pinkie, I appreciate your concern, but it's not needed."
"Of course Tinsel can fly around the world in one night!"
"How?"
"Well, what if she has a unicorn friend that uses the time spell for her?"
"Okay, okay. True, that is possible. But what about all the presents? The planet's population is gigantic! She can't possible create billions of presents in a year, even if she made them 1 toy per second!"
"She has elf ponies to do that for her!"
"Okay. But how does she transport all those gifts? The bag would be humongous, so don't you think somepony may of noticed a big velvet bag flying through the sky?"

Pinkie pulled out a chalkboard and scribbled a picture of a velvet bag on it, then she drew and arrow pointing in.

"What about an enchanted bag of holding?"
"Alright, you got me there. A bag of holding does make them virtually as light as feathers, and it has infinate space. But even with time stopped, a bag of holding AND she has a team of elf ponies creating toys for her, it's still impossible! She'd tire out soon enough. For a pony who eats nothing but milk and cookies, I can't imagine she even manages to get out of the north pole!"
"Um.....Hearth's Warming Magic?"

Twilight smiled and pat her friend on the head.

"I understand you want me to believe, but it's scientifically impossible."
"Twiliiiiight...."
"I'm sorry Pinkie, but without evidence, she's just another pony tale to me."
"....What if I proved to you that she's real?"
"How in Equestria would you do that?"
"Just set up a camera and see if you can catch Tinsel in the act! I always do, but I never get any footage. And she never trips my traps."
"That's not a bad id- wait....traps?"
"I've always wanted to meet her in person, but she's so crafty..."

Twilight face hoofed.

Later that evening, Twilight took her post at the surveillance screens. She had set up multiple cameras. One in the chimney, one in the main entry way, one in the living room (where the tree was) and one in the upstairs balcony. She had virtually every corner covered and she sat there and stared.

She had to make sure to stay awake. She didn't want to miss a thing.

Minutes soon turned to hours, and the more time she spent there, the more heavy her eyelids became. Slowly, but surely, her eyes began to droop lower and lower until the poor mare couldn't do it any longer and fell asleep. She snored cutely into the night.

Suddenly, she was awoken by a strange noise coming from the ceiling. Somepony was rustling in the trees above her. She looked around suspiciously, then got her magic ready for the intruder. Whoever it was, they were coming in through the chimney stack. She cautiously approached until suddenly, with a cloud of soot and ash, a Pegasus with a coat as green as pine trees and a mane and tail silver like the decorations she was named after came crashing out of the chimney flew. Twilight coughed and cleared the smoke and looked at her, and her eyes lit up like a pinball machine.

"YOU'RE TINSEL!!"

The Pegasus suddenly jumped up and covered her mouth with a sooty hoof.

"Shhhh! Keep it hush, Twilight!"

Twilight removed the pony's hoof from her mouth.

"But you're real?"
"Of course I am, silly!"
"What about your stories? Are they true?"
"A few are. Ponies just make it up as they go along."
"But it doesn't bother you?"
"No. As long as I can keep them believing in me, my magic will continue to work. Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a lot of presents to deliver."

Tinsel started to unload a few presents and put them under the tree, and a few things into the stocking Spike had hung.

"Wait, miss Tinsel! Can I please come with you?"
"What?!"
"I have so many questions!"

Tinsel looked at her watch, then groaned.

"Okay, hurry up, get in my sleigh!"

She took Twilight to the roof and strapped herself into the harness. Twilight stared and mouthed the word "wow", but Tinsel was getting impatient.

"Come on Twi!"
"Oh! Right! Coming!"

She climbed into the sleigh and they pulled off. Twilight watched as Tinsel flew from house to house, dropping off gifts and asking her questions when she could get one or two in.

"How do you get around the world so fast if you don't stop time?"
"Hearth's Warming magic. That and two jet engines on the sleigh help."
"Is it true you really have a team of elf ponies to create the toys?"
"Yep!"
"How do you read every single letter to you?"
"That's my secret."

Soon enough, the presents were delivered and Tinsel had a little time to visit Twilight at her house before having to depart. They came in the same way, and Twilight was brushing the soot off her coat when she turned to Tinsel.

"So why didn't you leave me what I asked for that one year?"

Tinsel shot up, then looked at her.

"Which year? Back when you were 6?"
"Yeah...."
"Well, I felt that it'd be irresponsible to give a little filly a sample of Plutonium for Christmas....is that why you stopped believing in me?"

Twilight rubbed her foreleg and nodded meekly.

"I thought you had forgotten about me."
"Twilight, I would never forget a filly or colt as long as I live!" She beamed.
"But...how do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Go undetected every year?"
"Oh, I don't, silly! Thousands of ponies young and old have seen me. But no one remembers what I look like after I cloud their mind just like I'm doing to you now!"

Twilight suddenly went into a strange trance and Tinsel smiled.

"Sorry Twi, but I need to keep myself secret."

Twilight soon curled up on the floor and fell asleep. Tinsel then lifted the sleepy unicorn up and put her into her bed, then tucked her in and pat her head. She then took flight and departed with a soft jingle.

The morning was surprisingly calm despite the harsh storm that had raged on only hours ago. Twilight had slept in later than usual, that is until Spike had started jumping on her bed. She awoke and managed a weak smile at the dragon.

"I'm coming Spike..."

The two of them went downstairs and Spike started to open his many gifts. The other girls soon joined in on the festivities as well, bringing one or two of their own gifts to open, as well as a few for each other. Twilight got mostly book related things, while the others seemed to have gotten exactly what they wanted.

Soon, they were all having candies, pastries and chocolate for breakfast, laughing, playing and enjoying each others company. That's when Spike spotted one unopened gift for Twilight. Whatever it was, it was bulky, and very heavy. As if it were made of lead! Twilight used her unicorn magic to levitate it over and read the tag.

"To Twilight.....from......Tinsel? Okay, who got this for me?" She smiled and looked at her friends. But none of them would own up. They all said they hadn't seen it before. Not even Pinkie did.

"Hm...."

She removed the paper and gasped. The others just looked confused. Suddenly Twilight ran off and came back with 6 hazmat suits and a pair of tongs. They all glanced at one another, until Twilight started to put on her suit. The others swiftly did the same, and Twilight opened the lead container. She carefully removed the contents with the tongs. Inside was a glowing green irradiated rock.

"It's the plutonium I asked for when I was only a filly!"
"You asked for PLUTONIUM when you were a filly?!" Applejack looked at her.
"erm....yeah. But who could've gotten it?"
"Tinsel! Obviously!" Pinkie cut in.
"Tinsel...." Twilight smiled. "Pinkie.....I think I can believe....for at least one more year."

And some say that if you looked into the Ponyville sky that particular day, that you'd see a green and silver Pegasus, pulling a sleigh. And she'd smile and call as she rode into the northern light:

"Merry Hearth's Warming to all, and to all, a good night!"