I won't be home for Christmas

by epreeses1

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 6940

Twilight and her friends find themselves trapped in a cottage two days before Christmas

Twilight and her friends wanted to go on a little vacation before the hearth's warming eve pageant, but trouble follows them from Ponyville, and it might cost one of them their lives. Will the Christmas spirit shine through, or will the Mane 5 find their spirits crushed by the thought of never seeing their family again?

Published 2013-12-24 18:10:07 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-24 18:10:07 UTC

Trapped

It happened right after lunch, Fluttershy was outside sprucing up her favorite snow man when the sound of a chestnut popping went off. The sound made her think that Twilight started roasting chestnuts without her, but when she turned around, a new and much scarier sound came, and she was met by a white wave of Jack Frost’s finest snow.

Twilight and her friends wanted to get a small break from Spike after he rampaged through town, going through one of the main emotions dragons’ go through, greed. He nearly destroyed everything he cared about and was being punished by cleaning the library and staying home from their vacation. She knew it was a little harsh, and planned to bring him home a couple of gems as a reward for doing his time like a big dragon. Plus, they needed a little time to brush up on their Christmas (also called Hearth’s warming) facts.

Twilight had been wrapping the leftovers when the same popping sound hit her ears. At first she thought it was Applejack teasing Rarity with one of the rubber bands from the jar in the kitchen, but she remembered that there were no rubber bands. Confusion turned into fear as the popping sound gave way to what could only be an earthquake, and before she could say ‘Jolly ol’ Saint Nick’’ the lights went out and she fell to the floor, half of a daisy and honey sandwich hitting her in the face.

Rainbow, who was taking a nap in the shared bedroom, literally hit the ceiling when the snow pounded the roof. Applejack nearly choked on a bite of the caramel apple she won from the best snowman competition. Rarity practically lit herself on fire and popped like one of those chestnuts, but Pinkie, who was for the first time, reading a book that didn’t have too many pictures, did nothing.

The entire cabin shook as the snow settled and to Twilight and her four friends, it wasn’t the biggest concern to look for Fluttershy.

Rainbow was the first to recover and set out to find out what had happened. The rest, including Applejack, tried to catch their breath while their hearts pounded like the little balls inside of jingle bells. The fact that it was now completely dark, since Rarity inadvertently put out the fire and the windows were blocked by feet of snow didn’t help much.

At first Rainbow noticed that the windows and doors wouldn’t open, then, almost a full minute after the avalanche happened, thought of doing a head count. It was then that she finally realized Fluttershy’s absence, and it hit her like a runaway sleigh. She frantically called out for her in the darkness, hitting her head on the ceiling about ten times before Applejack was able to relight the fire and give some light to the situation.

She must have torn the cabin apart three times, checking under the smallest of cracks in before grasping the fact that her fillyhood friend wasn’t here.

She started to bang futilely at the door that opened outward, finding it shut tight. She then tried the ceiling, but stopped almost immediately when she found how easily it cracked in the opposite direction she wanted. If she hadn’t stopped when she did, there might have been something other than chestnuts popping.

Twilight recovered after Applejack, and tried to reign Rainbow in, but she was having such a fit, she had to wrap her up like a present with her magic just to stop her from destroying the cabin. But she dead panned when she got the news that Fluttershy wasn’t there and that Rainbow had been trying to get out to find her.

Immediately, the worst case scenarios that would never be conceived this close to Christmas popped into her head, scenarios where the poor timid pegasus was either dead or trapped under concrete like snow, suffocating.

Shaking her head, she tried to get the thought of death so close to this specific holiday out of her head. It was inconceivable for that to happen, Fluttershy would just fly out of the way of the avalanche. She let go of a breath that she didn’t know she was holding as this soothing thought combed her mind. She then easily calmed Rainbow, saying that Fluttershy is probably digging her way down to the cabin and would reunite with them in a few hours at most.

That was two days ago.

Twilight was leaning against one of the windows in the small cabin that still refused to let the sunshine in. “I’m dreaming tonight, of a place I love, even more than I usually do,” she sung, her eyes full of tears. “And although I know, it’s a long road back, I promise you.” She held the note out like she was afraid to go to the next verse. “I’ll… I’ll be… no.” Her face fell as tears flowed down her cheeks. “I won’t be home for Christmas… you can c-count on that.”

They couldn’t tell whether two days passed, or two years, and Twilight and her now four friends weren’t feeling jolly at all. They had been trapped in the cabin for two days, the firelight being their only way to see their hooves in front of their faces, and they were beginning to run out of logs.

While Rainbow Dash still held on to the frosty hope that Fluttershy was even alive, Twilight and Pinkie Pie knew the horrible truth, the one that didn’t mean opening presents underneath the christmas tree or spending time with loved ones. The truth that whenever they get out of this, there would be a heavy and heartfelt funeral to go to, and even more tears to shed as they mourned for the gentle soul of one of their closest friends.

“‘Sniff’, why did this happen?” Twilight said. “Not even a hydra could do this to her.” She had been going on with ‘whys’ and ‘what if’s’ for three hours straight. What if they had lunch an hour earlier? Why did it have to be her of all ponies? And why now of all times? Christmas was supposed to be a time of love and compassion, not of despair and loss. The thoughts drove her into a never ending spiral of guilt and misery.

She and her friends seemed to have aged as stress pounded their minds, breaking ties with reality like the snow broke their connection to the outside world. Twilight and Applejack had grown wrinkles under their eyes, not only from crying too much, but from thinking of the horrible pain their friend went through and how lonely she felt before it all ended.

They all tried to cope with the situation in their own way. Rarity had taken apart one of the sofas to make some kind of dress. It brought her the sense of normality that she wanted, but she knew it was like a sugar pill, and wouldn’t change the emotional turmoil she was going through. And she only had a finite amount of material to work with. That lead to more stress in her mind, crushing her brain in ways she didn’t think possible.

Twilight tried to make up some kind of plan to help save Fluttershy, but no matter what she tried, she knew it would only cause even more pain. She thought about digging her way out of the cabin through the door, but remembered that it opened outward so ponies could get out in case of a fire and not be roasted alive. She then thought to teleport her friends out, but she didn’t know how deep the snow was and might end up trapping her friends in the same situation Fluttershy was in. She wondered if she could melt the snow, and even had some success with melting the top of the chimney so they could get fresh air, but that was where the success ended. She couldn’t risk increasing the temperature of the cabin because that might set the whole house on fire, killing them all. Like Rarity, her mind began to rot and she started to go insane as well.

Applejack just tried to share Twilight’s burden and Rainbow nearly killed herself trying to get out, but Pinkie actually helped cheer her friends up. She sung Christmas songs, from I’ll be home for Christmas to Sleigh ride, songs that gave her friends hope of escape, but as time moved forward, their chances of seeing their friend alive became slimmer and slimmer. And once everypony lost hope, her hair seemed to explode, falling flat against her face and then she started to sob like a little filly, and you know Pinkie Pie crying is never a good sign. Now she just sat there, rocking back and forth as dry sobs wracked her body.

Rarity ran out of materials sooner than anyone hoped, and planned to cut her own tail and mane off with one of the knives in the kitchen in order to get more materials, but stopped when Twilight started to sing. It was a very depressing sight to see, and brought a new sense of life to her.

“Twilight, Darling, you need to calm down,”she encouragingly said, trotting over to Twilight in order to pull her into a gentle hug. “We don’t know if Fluttershy is… well… you know.”

Twilight tensed, she was all for a comforting hug right now, but it didn’t feel right coming from one of her closest friends. It made it feel like they weren’t equals, like she was her mother or something and knew how to get them out of here. If felt like she was telling telling her not to be mad that she didn’t get the right answer, and that wasn’t what friendship was about, that was parenthood.

“For all we know, Fluttershy is frolocking in some kind of… er… Winter wonderland, yes, that right. She’s in her own private Winter wonderland.”

Something in Twilight’s mind snapped, not only did she think she was better than her, but had the bravado to tell her that Fluttershy was happy to be killed in an avalanche. Twilight forcefully broke her friend’s hug, nearly hitting her in the face. She got up, glaring medically, her right eye twitching, at her shocked friend .

“Take. that. back, NOW!” She said, her voice cracking as Applejack looked up from the floor.

Rarity quivered under the unexpected attack; she was just trying to help, she wanted to cheer her friend up not hurt her.

“I said take, it, back!”

“What Twilight? All I said was that Fluttershy was probably happily walking in a Winter wonderland, why are you reacting so brutishly?”

Twilight screamed, punching Rarity in the mouth, knocking her to the floor. She was never one for fighting, in fact, she hated hurting ponies, even verbally, but that punch felt undeniably amazing. It was like she punched her worries away, and wanted, no, needed more. She punched Rarity in the gut, ignoring the horrible cries of pain she gave as euphoria and relief washed over her.

“Take it back, Rarity,” she yelled, stamping her hoof on the ground next to her, hearing her whimper.

“I… ‘hic’ I take it ‘hic’ back,” she said, her voice shaking from the sudden pain and fear.

“Good, now lay there and think about what you did.” Twilight had a smile on her face, she taught Rarity an important lesson on friendship, and that was that you shouldn’t think your better than others because of one thing or another.

As she walked back to her window, her fears and worries creeped back as the joy of taking out some of them ebbed away. By the time she sat down again, she was ready to cry, hitting Rarity didn’t solve their problem, it only brought more pain and suffering, straining her friendship. But before she could even say sorry, she was punched in the face.

Applejack took pride in being the voice of reason, but under the stress and shock of seeing one of her closest friends physically hurt another, she cracked and planned to get even with Twilight. While she held back when hitting Twilight, she still saw her head collide with the wall, knocking her out almost immediately. It wasn’t satisfying as she couldn’t see the pain she brought to her, but she did what she set out to do and that was good enough for her.
When she turned around to comfort and help Rarity lick her wounds, she was met with the most terrifying sight she had ever seen from one of her friends.

Pinkie Pie was right up in her face, a crooked smile brandished as her eyes seemed to float around. She looked happy to see her friend, but it was hard to tell with the twitching eyes and flat mane.

“Why did you deck Twilight’s halls, Applejack?” Her voice cracked and screeched as her head cocked itself to one side. “This is supposed to be a happy time for all of us, not a sad and frown filled one.”

Applejack flinched, it wasn’t easy to scare her, but seeing Pinkie Pie like that brought shivers up her spine at the rate of one of her favorite christmas songs, which was surprisingly Deck the Halls.

“Oh, you don’t know why you decked Twilight’s halls, do you know what kind of pain she is probably under right now??? Hmmmm”

Suddenly her normally sweet breath became cloying, adding to the unusual fear she felt.

“Oh, you don’t know, well in that case, why don’t I deck your halls?” Pinkie raised her hoof and hit Applejack so hard that she reeled backwards into the wall, sliding on top of Twilight as a thin stream of blood ran from her nose.

Pinkie moved to Rarity, who was crying silently, trying to stay away from anymore pain, She was gentler to her than she was to Applejack, but it had the same effect, knocking her unconscious and bringing her relief from the pain and a chance to recuperate from the attack.

When all of her friends slept soundly, she collapsed into tears, crying herself to sleep after a few minutes.

Twilight was dreaming, she knew she was dreaming because real life didn’t really include flying through the sky faster than a jet. She was in a cold mountain somewhere above the snowed in cabin, she could feel the snow flakes attack her body, and the insistent wind didn’t really help her feel warm.

She was passing a small cave when her momentum suddenly died. Her body stopped so fast that she would have whiplash for the rest of her life, which should have ended since that much whiplash would rip a pony’s head clean off their body. Twilight didn’t know, maybe it was some kind of dream logic that kept her alive? Whatever it was, it gave her a hell of a headache as all of the blood in her body was forced to her brain. She didn’t even notice her body slowly falling to the ground, and felt the blood in her brain freeze when she touched the freezing cold snow.

When she was able to stop from hurling her lunch, she surveyed the situation she found herself in. She was on the top of the mountain, everywhere she looked was a deadly fall to an untimely death, everywhere but in the cave. The white puffs of wind coming out of the cave’s mouth made it seem like it was alive, and it looked like it wanted to tell her something.

Twilight felt her blood recirculate through her body, bringing life to her limbs once more.

She moved forward, feeling the cold snow crunch underneath her hooves like dead leaves. It brought a sense of foreboding to her, and she wanted to go anywhere else, but there was nowhere else to go.

The cave had a warm sticky feel to it, like the inside of some beast. A symphony of drips and drops coated the ground in some kind of sticky solution, but for some reason, it felt colder inside than out. Moving through the muck, Twilight was forced to touch the sides unless she wanted to fall down a grandiose crevice.

She had no idea what she was supposed to find, if this was the kind of dream that made you learn some kind of moral, it was constantly assaulted with things that could kill her. Mainly massive cliffs and sharp rock formations, but there were the occasional boiling pools of water, and one poisonous snake to contend with as well.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her, it’s scary in here and she wanted to be anywhere else, but, when she turned around, she found that there was nothing but black. It might have been another one of those dream mechanics, she didn’t know, but there was a gigantic black wall stopping her from retracing her steps. She was forced to continue her journey

As she rounded a particularly slippery corner, she could hear a faint sound, not exactly crying, yet not exactly laughing at the same time.

As she rounded a particularly slippery corner, she could hear a faint sound, not exactly crying, yet not exactly laughing at the same time, and for some reason, it reminded her of Trixie. How the showmare boasted about being able to defeat an Ursa major, but was unable to protect neither herself or Ponyville when an Ursa minor attacked. She hadn’t thought about her since she was run out of town, not where she was or how she was doing, for all she knew, Trixie could be dead. But why now of all times to think about her? Why in this weird tunnel so close to Christmas?

As she moved onward, the sound grew in volume, and Twilight was finally able to figure out what the sound was, it was crying, and it was close. Once again, her thoughts moved towards Trixie, what had happened to her after Ponyville? She figured that she would have been run out of every other city she tried to perform for, and might be going through some kind of emotional turmoil. But when she rounded that last bend she saw Trixie and she was nothing like she was the last time.

She saw Trixie lying down on the cold, sticky floor, shaking violently, her trademark purple and blue star covered cloak and hat were missing, exposing her entire body to the elements. She was emaciated with her ribs poking out like little speed bumps in the road that was her chest. There were multiple cuts on her body, none of them being treated or bandaged and some still fresh as they gently oozed blood onto the cave floor.

Twilight’s heart lurched at the sight, but the smell was what really got her. It was a rancid kind of smell, one you might associate with death, but this one had a sickeningly sweet air mixed in. It made her gag, and she immediately wanted to leave, but once again she was stopped by the black wall.

Trixie seemed to notice her presence as her head shot up in alarm. Twilight could see that her magenta eyes were bloodshot, and could hear faint hiccups as she recovered from what she guessed was a long and painful crying session; two of her teeth were missing and there were multiple cuts on her nose.

“T-trixie,” Twilight said, trying not to heave. “What happened to—”

Twilight was cut off as the feeble pony shot to her at uncanny speeds, making goosebumps form on her flesh.

“You,” she vehemently hissed. Twilight felt angry hooves pin her to a wall “You, it’s all your fault.” Pain grew in her shoulders as her hooves could only twitch.

“What, did I do, Trixie?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Sparkle, if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be dying like this.” She shoved her to the ground, eliciting a yelp of pain from Twilight as she collided with a few rocks that drew a bit of blood from her sides. Tears formed in her eyes as confusion coursed through her body. She didn’t remember much of their last encounter since that was about three months ago, and she couldn’t figure out why Trixie was so famished, and did she say dying?
Trixie moved over Twilight, hovering her hoof above Twilight’s leg like a hammer to a nail. “Because of you, I was kicked out of every town I went to, forced to fend for myself as no pony would even give me a room for the night, and do you know how hard it is to talk in third person all of the time?” The hammer came down, and Twilight screamed as her leg snapped in two. Pain began to overload her senses, blinding her to anything else. Every twitch she made sent sparks of pain up her spinal column.

“T-trixie,” Twilight said, fear quaking in her voice. She didn’t notice Trixie move back to the center of the cave nor that she lit her horn.

The pain seemed to disappear as quickly as it came. “Trixie,” her voice felt feeble and weak, and an inferiority complex grew in her mind.

Trixie looked up again, a frown adorning her features, ”Go away, Sparkle, before I break your leg again.”

Twilight didn’t want to go away as she felt inferior, something that normally didn’t bother her, but felt like a giant hornet buzzing around her brain, looking for a place to sting; she got into a sitting position and took a deep breath, but that breath cut itself off as she heard her leg snap like a twig.

“Go away, Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said, her voice demanding yet feeble at the same time. She watched Twilight writhe in pain, rolling on her side, but it didn’t feel satisfying anymore, she lit her horn, healing Twilight once again before moving away.

Twilight got to her shaking feet, thinking about running while she still could, but stopped. She looked back at the broken pony, feeling that inferiority complex again, but this time it was accompanied by something else, one of the main emotions Christmas brings, compassion. Trixie has nothing, and is practically dead, and while her attack was vicious and unexpected, she didn’t kill her. It made her think that behind those spiky defenses of hers, lay a pony with a bleeding heart. Twilight could have left, and in hindsight, probably should have left, but the magic of friendship finds you in the most unexpected places.

She turned around and looked right into Trixie’s eyes and said “No.”

“What did you say?” Trixie tried to get up, but for some reason, she couldn’t, and dropped to the floor with a wet ‘smack’

Twilight moved towards her, a gentle smile on her face. “I said no Trixie, I won’t leave you alone.” She didn’t realize this at first, but she was doing the exact same thing Rarity did which caused her to have this dream in the first place. She felt like she had power over Trixie since she endured her rage, and planned to teach her a personal lesson on friendship.

“Go away, Twilight Sparkle, I don’t want to see you ever again.” Trixie tried to get up, but everytime she did she fell to the ground. She didn’t know if she was tired, or if her circumstances were catching up with her.

“Oh, are you afraid of me Trixie?” Twilight sat down next to her and, feeling compassionate, she gently hit her shoulder, making her rock back and forth a little. She didn’t scream, but did flinch as she never pegged Twilight to get physical like that. ”There is no need to be.”

Trixie wanted to run away, she had broken her leg not once, but twice, and yet she insists on staying; she couldn’t tell if the crazy mare was there to help her or hurt her.

“Please go away Twilight,” she said, noticing how bad she smelled and feeling the hunger that had eaten away at her for nearly a month. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore.” She knew her words were feeble and that they wouldn’t get the stubborn unicorn to move an inch. She knew that the one who put her out on the street, effectively making her cutie mark useless, was in complete control of the situation. She could tell that Twilight wanted to hurt her to get back at her for breaking her leg. But she didn’t hit her, she instead pushed an apple to her side.

“Where did you get that?” Trixie said wondering if it was poisoned.

“This is a dream, I can do anything I want here, now eat before you wither away to nothing.” Twilight’s voice was stern to the point of being demanding. Her hoof started to twitch when Trixie refused.

“I don’t take charity, Twilight, now could you please leave me be? I would like to die, alone. in peace.”

Twilight was about to hit Trixie, when her words struck a tone in her heart.

Was Trixie alone? On Christmas? No, that would be impossible, everypony has a warm home to go to for the holidays, why not—

A spark ravaged her brain, making her wince in pain again.

“Twilight?” Trixie said “Oh great, you are finally leaving me alone.”

Twilight didn’t want to leave yet, there was still so much she wanted to know; she didn’t even know if she was lying or not. But no matter how hard she fought, the world around her faded and she felt herself dissolve as she began to wake up.

Darkness enveloped her body as she felt herself float in some kind of limbo. She tried to swim back, to find out where Trixie was and see if she could help her, but it was like she was going against the jet stream and kept moving forward, where she felt an icicle touch her spine making her shake like sleigh bells.

Rainbow was out cold, snoring like a horse under a heavy blanket, nearly her entire head covered in magical bandages. She had rammed her head against the walls as her determination to find Fluttershy overcame her, and she ended up giving herself two conclusions, three hairline fractures on her skull and wouldn’t stop until she broke both of her wings. Yet, the roof collapsed on her last hit, pouring nearly three feet of snow into the main room, narrowly missing Twilights body as it pinned her to the ground.

Gasping, Twilight woke up on the cold floor, feeling a draft blow through her fur. She tried to move, but every twitch she made sent bullets of pain to her brain. She smelled holly and tinsel in the air and finally noticed that she was trapped under a giant log that was a part of the cabin’s roof.

“Help,” she said trying not to move as that would only bring her more pain. “Applejack, Rainbow, anypony.” For a moment, nopony came and she felt just like Trixie looked, sad, helpless, but most importantly, alone. The thought of driving her friends away because of her actions towards Rarity hit her like a freight train, and she felt herself shake. “Help, please” Tears started to form on her eyes and she could see that there was a tree in the living room.

“What if I’m alone and the rest of my friends died in some horrible accident? What if I’m going to die out here? No, I can’t think like that. They’ll save me, I just know it.” But doubt hit her mind anyway, and she ended up crying rather loudly at that horrible thought.

“Twilight?” Somepony said, “Oh, Celestia, we forgot all about Twilight!” Applejack rushed into the living room, stopping only to shiver as a cold breeze blew over her. “Hang in there Sugarcube, help’s on the way.”

Twilight let her tears roll off of her face as rescue came, but another feeling came over her as well. A feeling of inferiority, the same one she felt when Rarity tried to cheer her up, and she half wanted to hit Applejack, but that all stopped when she felt a rather bitter gust of wind roll through her mane.

“Twilight, ah’m sorry, Rainbow Dash broke a hole in the roof trying to get out,” Applejack said trying to push one of the giant logs off of her back. “I would have come sooner, but Rainbow herself pretty badly.” Twilight didn’t care about Rainbow at that moment, she just wanted to get out of this cold wind before she turned into Frosty the Snowman.

Twilight looked up, her tears freezing on her cheeks, but her body, which was being protected by one of the logs from the freezing gale, was still rather toasty. She looked at Applejack wondering how she could help, and feeling her frozen foot thrum, but remembered her horn. When was the last time she used that thing anyway?

LIghting her horn, she effectively made all of Applejacks efforts pointless as the logs lifted off of her leg like it wanted to be somewhere else entirely

“Man, am ah relieved to know that yer okay Twilight, now let’s get you into the bedroom to warm up, yer freezen.”

Twilight shook, realizing that she really was freezing, and that toasty sensation she felt earlier was quickly being replaced by a bitter cold one. She let Applejack lead her to the shared bedroom, but that feeling of inferiority wouldn’t leave her be, yet the barrage of icy winds helped her control it a little.

All of her friends rejoiced when Twilight entered the bedroom and was gently placed on one of the pillows and given a blanket, but not all of them meant it. Rarity flinched when she saw the friend that punched her just because she wanted to help, but was able to hold her frustrations inside like a real lady should.

Twilight was given a cup of piping hot chocolate, but rejected it saying that she would make herself one in order to stop this feeling of inferiority, but Applejack put a stern hoof on her shoulder and said straight up, No.

“Rarity,” Twilight said, wishing the cold gale would take this painful emotion away and make her feel like herself again. “I’m sorry for hitting you.”

Rarity nodded, but didn’t walk over to give her a hug, and Twilight was fine with that. “I know you are darling, and I wish to apologize for something as well.” Rarity levitated a book to Twilight. “I am sorry for sneaking a look at your book, but I found something rather interesting. Go to page thirty four, it explains cabin fever.”

“Cabin fever,” Twilight started “a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a pony or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do for an extended period.” she looked up to see if her friends were still awake as they tended to fall asleep when she read definitions like this, but they were awake so she went on. “a pony may tend to sleep, have distrust of anyone they are with, and an urge to go outside even in the rain, snow, dark or hail.”

Twilight put the book down and took a sip of her hot chocolate, rejoicing as warmth poured down her frozen throat. Everyone watched in anticipation as she put the cup down and pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “Well, that explains why I have this inferiority complex, but not why I got some sick twisted kind of joy when I hit Rarity.” She blushed and turned her eyes away from her friends.

“Well ah don’t know and personally ah don’t care, but if you apologize then I’ll say sorry about knocking you out Twi,” Applejack said.

Twilight didn’t waste anytime apologizing, she didn't even care if she had already apologized either. She shot up, going in for a tight hug to make sure her point was driven home.

Rarity seemed to flinch as if she expected to be hit again, but eventually hugged her back, forgiving her friend for abusing her, but something she couldn’t explain was that she... liked the abuse. It scared her in addition to confusing her, but it was true and she wouldn’t forget this trip in a long time.

Twilight smiled when Rarity tightened her grip, but frowned when the hug was over. Feeling the cold rush back into her fur, she herself rushed back under the blanket and took a long sip of the hot chocolate, making her friends laugh and her blush, but she smiled none the less.

“It’s the most, wonderful time, of the year.” Rarity started to sing,

“With the foals jingle belling and everyone telling.” Applejack added.

Twilight didn’t think her throat was up to singing and stayed out, but she expected Pinkie Pie to join in any second, but it felt like they were forgetting something.

“Be of good cheer,” Applejack and Rarity sang together “It’s the most wonderful time, of the year.”

The song continued, but Pinkie didn’t join in, in fact, it looked like she was ready to cry, but why? And what had she forgotten? She already made a mental note to talk to Celestia about Trixie to make sure she got enough food and had shelter, the way was open and they could leave once Rainbow felt up to it, what could they have forgotten?

She took another sip from her cup, and thought about it, in fact it bugged her to no end. When she finally did a head count, the morbid truth hit her like a runaway sleigh.

“Fluttershy!” She said.

The singing stopped, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie had a frown fall on their faces at the mention of her name.
“You didn’t find her, did you?” Twilight felt the tears sting her eyes once more.

“No, sugarcube, but it’s Christmas time, and we can’t have those kinds of thoughts muddle with our holiday cheer.”
Rarity gave Applejack a hard glare. “What are you talking about Applejack, we must worry for Fluttershy, in fact, I presume that we search again once poor Rainbow is feeling up to it.”

“She’s dead.” Pinkie Pie, who had been quiet said in a morbid tone that she wasn’t known for. “It would take about two days for her to either dig her way to us, or get help, and you all heard that avalanche, if she got caught in that, there is no way she could make it out. I don’t even know if she would try to make it out.” Twilight saw a few tears fall down her face before she rammed the point home. “Another point of Christmas is to count your blessings, and the five of us have been blessed by her time, hell, Rainbow dash is blessed just to be alive.”

The three of them stood there silently, watching Pinkie Pie break down into harsh sobs. Twilight felt a familiar tinge, the same one she got with Rarity, but there was something different behind it. Something that would ratify her next action.

Twilight got up, dropping her blanket; she took another sip from her cup of hot chocolate, once more relishing its movement down her throat, and moved towards her fallen friend. She could hear the creaking of the wooden floor beneath her hooves, and feel the questioning stares from her friends, but that didn’t stop her. She levitated Pinkie her to eye level; noticing tear streaks that had fallen during previous sob sessions.

She didn’t look her in the eyes and seemed to be embarrassed by her outbreak, and stayed perfectly still. “Look at me, Pinkie.” Twilight shook her friend, ignoring the strained cries coming from her mouth. “Please look at me.”

She turned her head revealing her puffy red eyes with tears leaking down. She hiccuped and looked for Applejack and Rarity for help, but neither moved as they were trying to figure out what Twilight was going for.

Twilight slapped her friend across the face, not as hard as she did to Rarity, but hard enough to get her message across. She gave it a second for the sting to really kick in before suddenly embracing the stricken mare.

Applejack and Rarity wanted to do something, wanted to hit her for hitting a crying mare, but were too stunned to do so.

“Fluttershy is alive, Pinkie,” Twilight said, rubbing her back in a soothing manner as she cried on her shoulder. “And while I agree that Dash is lucky to be alive, You forgot one thing about Christmas.”

“Wh-what?” She said rubbing her nose and getting her hoof covered in snot.

“You forgot that Christmas is the time where families get together to rekindle, even strengthen their bonds; Christmas is a time for peace, not tragedy, and you, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack and most importantly Fluttershy are part of my family.”

Pinkie looked confused, she hiccuped and tried to get away from Twilight, but even she couldn’t break her grip.

“Your statement is touchin Twilight,” Applejack said “But I don’t understand how it changes the fact that Fluttershy’s gone?”

“I’m glad you said that Applejack.” Twilight gave Pinkie one last squeeze before gently letting her stand on her own hooves. “While I was asleep, I saw Trixie, you remember her, right?”

“Yeah, ah remember that dastardly varmin, but what does she have to do with Fluttershy?”

“I have to concur with Applejack, Twilight,” Rarity added, looking for a bandage for Pinkie. “Trixie has nothing to do with our current situation.”

“That is where you are wrong, because I didn’t see her like she was last time we met, but how she might look right now. I know you realize that what happened in Ponyville a few months ago did have an affect on her life.She probably isn’t going to get too many more shows now, and might run out of money sooner than anyone realizes.”

“Ah don’t mean to cut you off Twi,” Applejack said. “But our situation has nothin, and I repeat nothin to do with that boost buster. Fluttershy is a gentle soul and doesn’t deserve to be compared with the likes of her.”

“I’m not comparing them like that Applejack, Trixie is a fighter, if my dream says anything,” she said before quietly adding “She nearly killed me twice.”

“What was that Darling?” Rarity said worryingly

“Oh nothing, anyway, if Trixie can go through near starvation and still act the way she did, then Fluttershy can go through an avalanche. Maybe she was hit, but was able to get herself out before the snow got too hard? I don’t know, but I do know that she is still alive!”

“Indeed you are right, Twilight. “ Everypony gasped at the new voice. “I like your comparison Twilight. Christmas does have to do with family, and you five have certainly shown similar bonds.”

Twilight gasped, “Princess!”

Everypony bowed, and Twilight trotted up to her mentor, who greeted her with a motherly embrace.
“But, how did you know we were still here? We aren’t due until tomorrow.”

Celestia shuffled her wings, as if in some kind of code or signal to something. She then levitated Twilight’s hot chocolate and made her take another sip, watching as the warmth coursed through her body yet again.

“Twilight, I want you to know that it is tomorrow, and you were due an hour ago.” She waited for a moment to let Twilight work up a bit of a panic before calming her down to explain. “Don’t worry, I knew you were in a pickle up here, and I want you to know that I am not alone.” Everypony started to look around, wondering if it could really be her.

“Umm, hi.”

They all turned to the pony who just spoke, and their eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as they saw the butter yellow Pegasus Pinkie deemed dead.

“Ummm, I hope I didn’t—” Fluttershy was interrupted as Pinkie rammed into her with the force of a runaway sleigh, and the two decked the halls in their own special way, landing in the freezing snow; Pinkie’s mane poofing up like a holiday marshmallow. Twilight, Applejack and Rarity soon followed and began to spout questions; hugging their lost family member.

While they all questioned her survival, Twilight focused on the scientific aspect, Applejack checked to see if she had any injuries, and Rarity cried tears of joy.

“Um, don’t I get a chance to welcome Fluttershy back into the fold?”

Twilight looked back to see Rainbow Dash floating in the air, all of her bandages off and looking as healthy as Santa at an all you can eat buffet. She looked beyond Rainbow to see Celestia slyly wink at her; then, smiling, she motioned for Rarity and Applejack to get out of the way, and physically had to grab Pinkie before Rainbow barreled in to hug her fillyhood friend.

“I have taken the liberty of packing your things,” Celestia said. “Now I don’t mean to rush your family reunion,” she winked yet again at Twilight, who blushed. “But you do need to be at the rehearsal, the show is tomorrow.”

“Oh, sure Princess,” Twilight said, not questioning how she got their stuff together so fast. “Come on girls, we have a pageant to put on.” She let Celestia slide her saddlebags onto her back before saying. “I’ll be home for Christmas… you can count on that.”