“Sunset! You go first!” Pinkie Pie cried. She shoved the bowl of paper scraps across the table to Sunset , nearly toppling her mug of cocoa in the process.
“Whoa!” Sunset pulled up her hands just in time to prevent the bowl from careening into her lap. She laughed and grabbed a piece of paper out of the bowl as she said, “Okay, so how exactly does this work?”
Applejack quirked an eyebrow, setting down her cider. “You never done a Secret Santa before, sugarcube?” When Sunset shook her head, Applejack smirked and said, “Well, don’t worry none. It’s real easy. All you gotta do is pull one of our names outta that there bowl at random. Then you buy a special Christmas present for whoever ya get. Simple!”
Sunset made to speak again, but Pinkie suddenly appeared from beneath the table and pressed her nose close to Sunset’s. “But you have to have to have to keep it a secret! Telling anyone else is strictly against the Christmas Constitution of Festive Merriment and Fun.” Pinkie narrowed her eyes and balled her hand in a fist. “Last time someone blabbed, I jingled their bells so hard…”
A hand appeared on Pinkie’s shoulder. “I think she understands, darling,” Rarity said. Pinkie beamed at Sunset—who, for her part, was just staring wide-eyed—and disappeared under the table, popping back up in her seat. Rarity picked up her latte and gestured to Sunset. “Go ahead and open it, dear.”
Sunset blinked, looked down at her scrap of paper, and unfolded it. Fluttershy, it read. “Huh. Okay.” Grinning, Sunset grabbed the bowl and said, “Who’s next?”
“Pass it here,” Rainbow Dash said. She pulled her coffee out of the way as the bowl slid over to her. She shoved her hand into the bowl and fished around. “I swear if Applejack and I get each other again this year, this bowl is rigged.”
“If ya do,” Applejack said, “can ya at least get me somethin’ better than that apple-polishin’ kit you got me last year? Apples ain’t all I care about, y’know.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Rainbow finally grabbed a scrap and unfolded it. Her smile went wry, but she said nothing. “Cool. You’re up, Fluttershy!” She passed the bowl sideways, and Fluttershy set down her cup of tea.
“I hope I don’t get myself again,” she said, quickly plucking a paper from the bowl. “That was so embarrassing.”
“Why didn’t you, you know, tell someone about that last time?” Rainbow pressed.
“I was too shy.”
The table erupted in little giggles, and the Secret Santa ceremony went on. Sunset looked out the window briefly. Wreaths and giant, novelty candy canes lined the street, and many people walked by wearing Santa hats or reindeer antlers in addition to their huge winter coats. A group of carolers stood across the way, and Sunset smiled.
“This is gonna be a great Christmas,” she whispered.
***
“Bye, girls!” Sunset called, waving over her shoulder. “See you tomorrow!” The other five girls shouted their goodbyes as Sunset rounded the corner. Her apartment building stood at the far end of the street, so she pulled her toque on a little tighter walked on.
The sun had already gone down, so Sunset looked around at the evening beauty. Lights from both windows and brightly decorated trees gave the snow on the ground an eerie glowing quality. It wasn’t snowing, but the night air still twinkled with flakes that tumbled from the rooftops. Sunset sighed contentedly as she took in the atmosphere. It was almost enough to make her forget about the paralyzing cold that nipped at her face. She smiled anyway.
“Would you shut up already?!”
The yell shattered the night. Sunset stopped to look across the street. and her mouth fell slack-jawed at what she saw.
The three sirens walked along the street in the same direction as her. All of them wore dark frowns and slanted eyebrows, and Aria was walking fast to get ahead of the other two. Sonata stopped and threw her arms in the air. “Why do you have to be like this all the time?!” she shouted. “Today was supposed to be fun, and you ruined it with your grumpypuss attitude. Like you always do!”
Aria wheeled on the spot. “I ruined it?! It was ruined before we left the apartment, Sonata! It was a stupid idea, and you’re stupid for thinking of it!”
“No,” Adagio said. “For once, Sonata’s right. We really could have used a pick-me-up after all these wretched months. And it wouldn’t have killed you to give it a chance, you know. But no! Poor, idiot you wouldn’t even give it a chance!”
Even from across the street, Sunset could see Aria’s scowl. “Oh, don’t act so high and mighty now, Adagio. You hated this idea as much as I did. You only went along with it to get Sonata to shut up about Christmas for five seconds!”
“I like Christmas!” Sonata cried. “It reminds me of home, back before we were banished here in the first place. We sang Hearth’s Warming carols all the time back then! Why… why does it have to be any different now?!”
“Aw, poor, crybaby Sonata,” Aria said. “Missing home again? Well, get over it! We can’t use magic, we can’t sing, we can’t go home. Ever. No amount of pansy tears or lame Christmas carols are gonna change that! Got it?!”
“Shut up!” Sonata barked. She ducked her head and ran past Aria, bumping her shoulder on the way into the nearby apartment complex.
Adagio and Aria stood there, glaring at each other. After a tense few moments, Adagio stepped past Aria and walked up the stairs to the building’s doors. “Come on,” she said. “We’re going inside.”
“Screw off,” Aria snapped. She pulled something from her pocket and leaned against the stair railing. “I’m having a smoke.” Adagio glared at her for a few seconds longer before disappearing into the building after Sonata.
Sunset remained frozen to the spot, watching Aria cup her hand around her mouth and light a cigarette. Eventually Aria locked eyes with Sunset, froze for a moment, and turned away. Before long, Sunset turned away too and continued home.
***
Her head hanging a little low, Sunset walked down the street through the late morning. The snow crunched harshly under her boots—the only sound she could really hear. Bags sat under her eyes, and she rubbed them from time to time. She almost missed the turn onto Main Street in her daze, but she caught herself in time and walked on towards Sugarcube Corner.
“Good morning, Sunset.” She looked up and saw Fluttershy step up beside her with a smile. “Sleep well?”
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Sunset said, not even forcing a smile. “Yeah, I guess. Or, well, no, I suppose. Not really.”
Fluttershy frowned. “What’s the matter? Is it anything I did?”
“No, of course not. I just…” Sunset yawned. “I saw something last night, and I couldn’t get it off my mind. I’m not even really sure why. It was just… bothering me.”
“What happened?”
Sunset glanced sideways at Fluttershy. “You remember those siren girls from the Battle of the Bands.”
“Yes,” Fluttershy said. “The Dazzlings. It’s kind of hard to forget someone who threatened you and your friends and the whole school with mind-control magic and tried to take over the world. No offense.”
“Right, well—” Sunset stopped for a second and smirked at Fluttershy, who was smiling. “None taken. Anyway, I saw them last night on my way home, and they seemed really, really angry with each other. Nothing like they were at school. They were bickering pretty badly, really going at each other’s throats.”
“Oh, dear,” Fluttershy’s eyes went a bit sad. “Why were they so upset?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but it sounded like it had something to do with them trying to sing Christmas carols and having it not go so well. Then Aria got grumpy with them or something…” Sunset shook her head. “I dunno. And I know I shouldn’t feel bad for them, but I can’t help it. Everyone deserves to be happy for the holidays, and it’s kind of our fault that the sirens are like that in the first place. Not that it could be helped, but…”
A short silence fell between them, then Fluttershy said, “I think it’s okay to feel bad for them. We never wanted them to suffer like that. Just to stop using their magic on everyone. And you’re right. Everyone should be able to have a merry Christmas, no matter how mean they might be sometimes.”
“Do you think there’s anything we can do?” Sunset asked
Fluttershy shrugged. “I don’t have any ideas. Maybe we should ask the other girls about it.”
“Sounds good to me.” The two of them stopped next to Sugarcube Corner, and Sunset opened the door and held it for Fluttershy. “Seems like a friendship problem, and you’re all more qualified to deal with that than I am.”
***
“So what do you think?” Sunset asked.
The other five girls sat around the table looking thoughtful. Eventually it was Rainbow Dash who broke the silence. “I dunno about the rest of you, but I say tough luck! I don’t wanna help them have a good Christmas. After everything they did? Let ‘em solve their own problems.”
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “That ain’t fair. They don’t even have their magic anymore, RD—they’re harmless! Least we can do is try to help ‘em live like normal folk.”
Rarity nodded, stroking her chin. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
“Not in my book.” Rainbow crossed her arms. “You have to earn a second chance. And by the sounds of it, they still haven’t changed a bit. Still the same, nasty sirens.”
“If you’d had that same attitude towards me,” Sunset said, “we never would’ve become friends. And I was all alone before then. I’m not sure what I would’ve done.” She looked the table over again, gazing at each of her friends in turn. “These girls have lost everything they care about. Everything except each other—and now it looks like they might lose that too. I know they might not have earned another chance, but they still deserve one.” She stared at Rainbow in particular. “They need one.”
Rainbow leaned back in her chair, silent. Fluttershy took a small sip of tea, then said, “What should we do? What can we do?”
“Well,” Rarity said, fiddling with the end of her scarf, “perhaps we should merely do the simplest thing and extend the proverbial olive branch. Offer them our friendship.” She smirked at Sunset. “It worked once before.”
“Right,” Applejack began, “but—”
Something thudded, and everyone turned to face Rainbow. She had leaned back forward, her chair slamming against the ground. “That’s a huge difference, though! Sunset actually wanted our help. What makes us think these sirens actually care about friendship at all? Even if we did wanna help, they probably hate our guts!”
Sunset gave her a crooked grin. “If we wanna help?”
Rainbow stared daggers at her and swiped up her cup of coffee. “Still thinking about it,” she said, taking a swig.
“But what if they do want help?” Fluttershy said, twirling her hair around a finger. “Or what if they want friends but don’t know that they want them?”
Pinkie nearly spat out her hot chocolate. “How could anyone not know if they want friends?! That’s like looking at a dozen cupcakes and being like, ‘Hmm, let me get back to you about those.’ It’s a no-brainer!”
“All the same,” Applejack said, “I reckon Fluttershy’s got a point. Fact, sounds like pretty much everyone’s got a point. Nothin’ else for it, so I say we go up to ‘em and do somethin’ nice to show ‘em we wanna help. If they take it, awesome. If not, least we tried.”
Everyone except Rainbow made little sounds of assent. When everyone else turned to stare at her, she finally rolled her eyes and said, “Fine. But I don’t have to be happy about it.”
“Great!” Sunset exclaimed. “Now that everyone’s on board, all we have to do is figure out a nice gesture to show the sirens that we want to help. But what?”
“Well, duh,” Pinkie said, plucking a marshmallow from her mug. “It’s Christmas, sillies! All we have to do is find the perfect present that says, ‘Sorry things aren’t going your way after you lost your evil magic and singing talent hope this helps you get back on your feet!’” She suddenly furrowed her brow. “I think I have a card for that lying around somewhere,” she said, plopping the marshmallow in her mouth.
Sunset’s eyes widened. “How would you possibly—” A hand rested on her shoulder, pulling her attention to Fluttershy. She just shook her head silently, to which Sunset giggled. The other girls laughed a little too.
“Well then,” Rarity said, “let’s not waste another moment.” She slammed a lid on her espresso, slid her hands into her gloves like they were holsters, and stood up tall. She grabbed her purse, threw her scarf around her neck, and with a look of resolute determination she said, “Come, girls. It’s time to go shopping!”
***
The girls wandered the Canterlot market district for hours, perusing every stall, outlet, store, and boutique they came across. They window shopped for clothes, electronics, jewelry, art, toys, furniture, books, cards, pets, sporting equipment, and even—due to Pinkie Pie’s misunderstanding of the term—actual windows. As the day dwindled on, though, the endeavor seemed more and more fruitless. Twice they had to stop to get more warm drinks to fight the cold, and the endless walking was beginning to wear even on the veteran shopper, Rarity.
Late evening fell over the city, and the group turned a corner into the last section of the outlet mall. Sunset rubbed her eyes profusely and said, “How long have we been at this?”
“Seven hours,” Applejack said. “Probably woulda been eight if’n we hadn’t pulled Fluttershy away from that antique chicken stall.”
“Don’t you listen to her, Belvedere,” Fluttershy said, gently stroking the tiny, ceramic chicken she’d been cradling most of the day. “You’re perfect.”
“This is hopeless!” Rainbow blurted. “I knew this was a bad idea to begin with. There’s not a present in the whole freaking world we could give them that they’d appreciate. Let’s just call it a night already.”
“It pains me to say it,” Rarity said, “but I believe Rainbow Dash may be right after all. The sirens are nearly a thousand years old, according to Twilight, and their magic was unparalleled. A swanky new sweater or an MP3-player simply won’t cut it.”
“And my footsies are killing me,” Pinkie whined. “How am I supposed to dance at our Christmas party when my feet are all achy-breaky? This whole thing stopped being fun a while ago.”
Sunset found herself ready to nod, but stopped just short. She remembered to the previous night—the shouting, the expressions, the absolute venom brewing between the sirens. “Just one more store,” she said, “then we can go home.” She brought her eyes up and scanned the nearby storefronts. One of them read Cut, Clarity, Couture in golden cursive. Sunset pointed to it and said, “That one.”
They entered the store in single file, each girl savouring the warmth of the building as it washed across them. The store itself was largely empty, though—a lone cashier stood behind the counter, fixing her makeup. She briefly looked at them and, in a distinctly French accent, said, “Bienvenue à Cut, Clarity, Couture. Ten percent off any ensemble created with white gold as our Christmas promotion. Do you need help finding anything ce soir?”
“No thank you,” Sunset said, smiling quickly. “We’re just browsing, Miss…”
“Fleur,” the young woman said. “Fleur de Lis.”
“This looks like every other jewelry store we’ve been to today,” Rainbow said, eyeing Sunset. “What makes you think this one has anything special?”
Sunset shrugged. “Blind faith, mostly. Just start looking for something.” Wordlessly, the girls spread throughout the store and started peering into the glass cases. Sunset lazily scanned her eyes across the baubles. Most of this section displayed necklaces and brooches made from white, pink, or pure gold and inlaid with any number of gemstones. They each sparkled against the plush cushions, just as they had in every other jewelry store.
Glancing at one last pendant, Sunset sighed and turned to the next display case. Then her weary mind caught up with her and she whipped back around to look at the pendant. “Whoa…” she whispered.
The necklace itself was a band made of black velvet and dotted with tiny gems that Sunset presumed to be rhinestones. A piece of white gold joined the two ends of the strap, and the pendant hung from there: a pale blue, seven-faceted gemstone. It shimmered in the lights, and Sunset blinked. “That would be perfect.” Something tickled the back of her mind, and she gasped. “I wonder if I could get Twilight to—”
“I’ll be darned,” Applejack said, peeking over Sunset’s shoulder. “Gals! Come over an’ check this one out.”
The other girls swarmed to the display case. Pinkie Pie pressed her face against the glass and gasped. “It’s just like those magic necklace-pendant thingies the sirens wore! But theirs were red, not blue, right? Or am I just going crazy again?”
“Who cares?” Rarity breathed, bumping Pinkie sideways. “That is… marvelous. I’ve never seen such an exquisite crown on an ice diamond. If it weren’t the perfect thing for those girls, I’d be adding something new to my wish list!”
“Gotta admit,” Rainbow said, “that is pretty sweet.” She shot her hand into the air and called out, “Hey, ‘scuse me, Miss Fleur! How much for three of these bad boys?”
Fleur stepped out from behind the counter and walked over. She stared into the glass case and smiled. “Ah, très bien. This one contains l'or blanc, so it will be ten percent off the original price. Après taxes, three of these will cost approximately mille cent trente cinq de dollars.”
Rarity gawked and took a step back, but the other girls just raised their eyebrows. “Uh, English please?” Applejack said.
Wincing, Fleur said, “Sorry, bad habit. After tax, three of these will cost one thousand one hundred and thirty five dollars.” She smiled. “Cash or credit?”
The rest of the group let their jaws drop. Rainbow pushed her way towards Fleur and yelled, “For that?! There’s no way a gem that small costs so much!”
Fleur barely blinked. “Plus the gold, plus the velvet, plus the rhinestones—oui, it can. Ice diamonds are très magnifiques, but also très expensive.”
The entire group deflated as one. “Shoot,” Pinkie said. “Just when I thought we’d found the perfect prezzie…”
“Come on, y’all,” Applejack said, gesturing towards the door. “It was worth a shot.” All of the girls lumbered towards the door, heads hung and shoulders drooping.
Everyone except Sunset, who was still blinking down at the pendant. As she heard the door open and the wind rush in, she whipped around and called out, “Girls, wait!” She ran to them, just as they all froze in the doorway. Sunset made to say something, stopped, looked back to where the pendant sat, and finally pulled a wallet from her coat. “I can afford one by myself. If we all just pool our money for the rest, then—”
“No, Sunset,” Rainbow said, her brow going stern. “You are not about to talk me into blowing ninety percent of my Christmas money on something I didn’t even wanna do in the first place.”
“If we buy them,” Fluttershy said, speaking to the floor more than anything else, “we won’t have any money left for our Secret Santa presents. Or I won’t, anyway.”
“Sunset, darling,” Rarity said. She let the door fall closed, placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, and smiled. “This was a very noble endeavor, but I’m afraid this is just too unreasonable an ask. Let’s all just go home and—”
“Is it?” Sunset shrugged Rarity’s hand away. She frowned and said, “Look, girls, I know this is crazy. It’s ridiculous, and you’re all going to resent me for it, but please just help me do this.”
“Why do ya care so much, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “I know it’s a sad thing for ‘em to be going through an’ all, but—”
“I care because I’ve been there, Applejack,” Sunset said. “I’ve been in the same place as them—before you all rescued me—and I know it hurts, and just knowing how much something like this might mean to them makes it worth it.” She wrapped an arm around Rainbow, looked at her, and then looked at the other girls. “There will be other Christmases, other Secret Santas… but if we don’t do this right now, there won’t be another chance. We have a chance to save their Christmas—to give them something to hold onto and know that someone cares. Even if they don’t care, isn’t it worth it just to know? Just to give?” She frowned. “Isn’t that what the holidays are supposed to be about?”
A thick silence fell through the store. All the girls were staring at their feet, absorbing Sunset’s words as the winter night whistled by outside. Rarity pulled a wallet out of her purse, opened it, and sighed. She pulled out a credit card and said, “You do make a good speech, Sunset Shimmer.”
“I can already see where this is going, darn it” Rainbow said, already digging through her own wallet. She passed a few paper bills to Sunset and smiled. “You’d better be right about this.”
“I know she is,” Fluttershy said, already holding her own credit card.
“Me too,” Applejack said, pulling a wad of cash from beneath her hat. “Granny always did say it was better to give than to receive. Course she was always talkin’ about foot rubs, not Christmas… and the saying only ever applied to me, not her.” Applejack scratched her head.
“Just so you know,” Pinkie said, sliding a debit card out of her hair, “this is gonna cut majorly into my party funds. So don’t come crying to me if the Christmas party only has double chunky chocolate candy cane cupcakes instead of triple ones!” The group broke out in giggles.
Sunset beamed at all of them. “Thank you.” She turned back to Fleur, who still stood by the necklace. “Miss Fleur, we’re ready! Three of those necklaces, please.”
“Would you like them gift-wrapped?”
***
Minutes later, Sunset walked out of the store holding a bag of three, expertly wrapped necklaces. Her friends soon walked out behind her, and they started on their way back home. “You know,” Rarity started, “as extravagant and wonderful as those pendants are, I can’t help but feel like they won’t go over as well as we hope.”
“They’d better,” Rainbow said. “After all the trouble we went to, those sirens had better at least say ‘thank you,’ or I can’t be held responsible for what I’ll do to them.”
“I hope so too,” Fluttershy said, “but I get what you mean, Rarity. The pendants might look like the ones they used to wear, but they’re not magical. They can’t replace the old ones.” Fluttershy frowned and pulled herself deeper into her winter coat. “If anything they might think we’re making fun of them.”
“They won’t,” Sunset said. Her smile was wry. “I’ve got a plan.”
“Oooh!” Pinkie shoved her way up next to Sunset. “What kinda plan?”
“Let’s just say I have a letter to write when I get home.” The other girls all blinked in unison, then smiled. “Well, this is my corner,” Sunset said. She faced the group, clutching her hands together around the bag. “I can’t thank you all enough for helping with this. I just know this is going to be great.”
“The pleasure’s all ours, sugarcube,” Applejack said, tipping her hat. “Meet back ‘round here tomorrow mornin’ to do the deed?”
Sunset nodded sharply. “I’ll be there.”
They all wished each other goodnight, and Sunset started at a brisk walk down the street to her apartment building. On the way she glanced over to where she’d seen the sirens the previous night. Sonata sat on the steps leading up to the building. She was huddled in a big, brown coat and had a book open in her lap. Sunset smiled a little wider and kept going.
Once back at her apartment, she wasted no time in kicking off her boots and running into her bedroom. She rested the necklaces carefully on her pillow, then grabbed a book and pen from her nightstand. The book was emblazoned with her would-be cutie mark, and she felt her heart lighten at the cover. She opened to the appropriate page and started writing.
When the letter was finished, she flipped the book shut and waited. She lay in her bed with the book resting on her stomach, her fingers tapping idly against it.
Moments later, the book buzzed with a familiar noise and Sunset tore back to the page on which she’d written her letter. On the very next page sat brand new words—ones still glimmering with the spark of magic.
Sunset,
I’m more than happy to help! If this act you’re describing is anything to go by, it certainly sounds like you’ve learned quite a lot about friendship and generosity since the last time I was there. Good on you!
The portal’s going to take a little while to warm up now that it’s been off for so long, but I should be there in about three hours. Meet me by the mirror portal with the necklaces and we’ll go from there.
Sincerely,
Twi
Despite the letter, Sunset bit her lip. She looked to her clock: quarter to ten. “Three hours?” she mused. Her head turned to the window, where snow was accelerating on the harsh, howling winds. With a sigh, Sunset wrote a short reply beneath Twilight’s letter and waited.
***
One o’clock in the morning rolled past, and Sunset sat shivering in the snow bank at the base of Canterlot High’s statue. Clutching her legs close to her torso and rubbing her arms, she exhaled harshly as another frozen gale hit her. “Never again,” she stammered through blue lips. “Never agree to meet someone in the middle of the coldest night of the year again, Sunset.”
As if bidden by her words, the mirror portal suddenly shimmered, and a big, purple heap flew out of it. “Oof!” Twilight cried as her face buried itself in the snow bank. “Wow that’s cold!”
“Twilight!” Sunset pushed herself to standing and walked over to Twilight. She reached down and pulled her out of the snow. “Why aren’t you wearing any winter clothes?!”
Wiping the snow from her face, Twilight looked herself over. She wore the same skirt and short-sleeved blouse she had on every venture into this world. “I d-don’t really g-g-get to pick my outfit!” She wrapped her arms around herself, and her teeth started chattering. “I wish w-we had more time t-to catch up, b-but it seems like w-w-we’re both busy for the holidays. You got the n-necklaces?”
Sunset instantly handed her the bag. “Do you think you can really make this happen? I know from my time as Celestia’s student that enchantments like this are some of the toughest things to pull off.”
“Alicorn magic is r-really powerful, so it sh-should be easier. Plus I r-read up on siren m-magic while I was waiting for the portal. I think I can do a modified v-v-version of it.”
Quirking an eyebrow, Sunset said, “You read that thoroughly on siren magic in the past three hours?”
“J-just the past hour, actually.” Twilight shrugged. “I was kinda busy, b-but I still had an hour to k-kill. Nothing like some light reading!”
Sunset smirked. “Okay, I’ll meet you back here at dawn. With a spare coat next time, promise. Now get out of here before you freeze to death!”
They shared a quick embrace. When they pulled away, Twilight said, “This is a good thing you’re doing, Sunset. A really good thing.” With a tiny smile, she ran back through the portal, and the night was silent again.
Once Sunset looked away from the mirror portal, she stared down at her empty hands. She clenched them shut and closed her eyes. “I just hope everyone can see that.”
***
The sun climbed slowly higher over the horizon, burning away the remnants of the icy night. Sunset watched it as she paced back and forth in front of the apartment building where the sirens lived. A small box wrapped in shiny paper—wrapped by Twilight, apparently—rested in her hands. She looked between it, the door, and the far corner. Then she paced through her rounds again, repeating the ritual time and again.
Finally she saw Pinkie Pie skip around the corner, and the other girls weren’t far behind. Sunset smiled and rushed forward to meet them. “Thank goodness! I was starting to think you weren’t going to show up and I’d have to do this by myself.”
“Not a chance!” Rainbow said, grinning over her scarf.
“Got your texts earlier this mornin’,”Applejack said. “How’d it go with Twilight? Did the plan work?”
“Everything went perfectly.” Sunset rapped her fingers lightly against the present. She felt the faint thrum of magic from within. “She said that she and Spike tested them and they work great. Now all that’s left to do is…” She looked up the stairs at the building’s doors—ones which suddenly seemed more like gates. The other girls looked too.
“Well, girls,” Rarity said as she narrowed her eyes at the door, “let’s do this.”
They stepped up to the door as one big unit. Sunset turned towards the intercom at the side of the door and scanned the list of names until she found Dazzle. Butterflies fluttered into her stomach, and the gift in her hands suddenly seemed much more meager than before. She extended a finger to the button beside their name and let it hover there. She gulped.
Pinkie Pie ran forward. She slammed her finger against the button and cried, “Yoohoo, Dazzlings! Special delivery!”
Sunset glared. “Pinkie! I was about to—”
“You were taking too long! Gift-giving waits for nothing and no one!”
Just as Sunset opened her mouth to retort, Fluttershy stepped up beside her. “It’s okay to be nervous, Sunset.” She laid a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “I’m probably even more nervous than you.”
“It’ll go fine, y’all,” Applejack said.
Sunset grimaced. A loud crackle pulled her attention back to the intercom, and Aria’s staticky voice said, “Who is this?”
Again, Pinkie leaned in and pressed the button. “Um, duh! It’s a special delivery, so we’re the special deliverers! Merry Christmas!”
A short silence hung over them before the intercom buzzed back on. “Hold on a sec,” Aria said.
So the group waited. Sunset felt as though her heart was climbing into her throat. “This is so weird,” she said. “I’m nervous, but I’m actually pretty excited too.” She smiled at the shiny ribbon adorning the gift. “I really hope they like it.” The other girls made little sounds of agreement.
Through the building’s glass doors, Sunset saw the elevator open at the far end of the lobby. Aria stepped out, took one look at the entrance, and froze. There seemed to be a moment where she wasn’t sure exactly what to do. But her face finally broke out in a snarl, she marched towards the entrance, and she threw the doors open. “What?” she said through clenched teeth. For a moment, no one spoke. Aria rolled her eyes and shouted, “Either say something or leave! You’re lucky I opened the door for you in the first place.”
“Oh, right,” Sunset stammered. She offered an awkward smile. “Uh, thanks… Aria, isn’t it? Well, I, uh… or we, um…” She stared at the present.
Aria moved her eyes down to it and lifted an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“It’s a Christmas present!” Pinkie exclaimed. She yanked it from Sunset’s hands and thrust it into Aria’s. “It’s a super special one, all for you! Open it open it open it!”
Sunset smirked. “Yeah. We all kind of… well, I saw that you and your friends were going through a rough spot, so we all pitched in to get you—the three of you—a Christmas present.”
“And let me assure you, darling,” Rarity said, twirling one of her hair curls “it’s absolutely to die for.”
“Darn tootin’,” Applejack said. “I reckon it’s one o’ the best Christmas presents I’ve ever taken part in givin’.”
“Seriously,” Rainbow said, not without a small edge to her voice, “I wasn’t even much for this idea in the first place, but that present is pretty awesome.”
“I, um—” Fluttershy gulped. “I hope it helps.”
Sunset leaned in close to Aria, who was just staring between all the girls with a look between confusion and anger. “You’re seriously going to love it. Trust me, it’s more than you could ever hope for.” She stood back and beamed. “So go ahead. Open it.”
Aria stared at Sunset, then at the present, then Sunset, then the gift again. She brought her fingers up to the ribbon and tapped the box idly. She gently grabbed the end of the ribbon.
Her scowl came back. She dropped the ribbon and thrust the box back at Sunset, nailing her in the gut and winding her. “We don’t need your pity. You can take your present and shove it.” She slammed the entrance and stomped back to the elevator.
A gale howled by as the six friends stood motionless on the doorstep, Sunset hunched over the gift-turned-weapon. She pulled it away from her stomach and frowned at it.
“What. The. Heck?!” Rainbow boomed, throwing her arms up. “After everything we freaking went through, that’s the thanks we get?! A gut punch and a door slammed in our face?!” She pushed towards the door and hit her fist against it. “Get back here!” she shouted.
“The absolute nerve of that girl!” Rarity fumed. “Of all the… Does she not have a single generous, compassionate bone in her body?!”
Pinkie rolled up her sleeves and marched up next to Rainbow. “Someone’s about to get Kris Kringle’d!”
Applejack reached forward and yanked both Pinkie and Rainbow away from the door. “Hey now, y’all. We all knew this was a possibility before we even got into this situation. Like I said: least we tried. It’s a right shame, but gettin’ angry ‘bout it ain’t gonna help no one. Best just to forget it, hold our heads high, an’ get on outta here.”
Rainbow wheeled around. “After all that?! We’re really just going to give up and say, ‘gee, what a shame we wasted a whole day and twelve hundred dollars on a gift they didn’t want?!’”
Applejack shrugged. “Less you got a better plan.”
Rainbow opened her mouth, but no words came out. Then just as quickly as she’d gotten angry, she deflated. “Ugh. Can we at least take the necklaces back for a refund?”
“Something tells me that magically enchanting them might have voided the warranty,” Fluttershy said.
“Come on, y’all,” Applejack said, turning away and starting down the stairs. “Time to go home.”
Everyone except Sunset turned and followed. Sunset just kept staring at the present in her hands—part of the wrapping was ripped. She craned her head up and frowned at the elevator doors. A sigh squeezed from her throat. She placed the present on the ground beside the entrance, clear away from any patches of snow. “Merry Christmas anyway,” she whispered. Without another look, she turned and left.
Minutes later, Sunset arrived back at her apartment. She slid off her layer of outdoor clothing and stepped into the kitchenette. One boiling kettle, a pack of cocoa powder, and ten contemplative minutes later, she took her mug of hot chocolate and slumped into the bedroom. She set her drink aside, grabbed the magical correspondence book from her bedside table, and started writing.
Dear Princess Twilight,
Well, we gave the sirens their present today. Or we tried to, at any rate. They just threw it back in our faces without even opening it. I don’t really know how to feel after that. Angry? Sad? Satisfied that we at least tried? My brain is telling me that the whole thing was a waste of time and to just forget about it, but my heart is saying something else entirely. I don’t know.
You know, it’s easy to say things like, “It’s the thought that counts,” and, “No matter what happens, we can be happy knowing that we tried.” It’s easy to say those things because most of the time you’re so sure things will work out in your favour, so you’ll feel justified in having acted selflessly or generously because people usually appreciate it. But when they don’t? When things don’t go how you expect? It’s a lot harder to take. You ever have anything like this happen to you? Any advice on what to think or feel? I’m kind of totally lost right now.
Hope your holiday’s going well, by the way. I miss the days where every Christmas was a white one and you could just look at a schedule to know how the weather would be. Equestria’s awesome like that. This place can be just as wonderful sometimes, but today I feel kind of homesick.
~~Merry Chr~~
Happy Hearth’s Warming,
Sunset Shimmer
With a flourish of her pen, Sunset closed the book and tossed it aside. She sighed through her nose and took a sip of her hot chocolate—the sugary warmth felt heavy going down her throat. Putting the drink back down, she let the energy bleed from her body and fell into her pillow. Two near-sleepless nights finally caught up with her, and Sunset fell asleep.
***
A loud tone brought her back awake. Sunset rolled over and grabbed her phone—she'd only slept for an hour, according to the clock. Groaning, she opened up to her texts. A new one from Rainbow Dash read: meeting @ sugarcube corner in 10. raritys buying ‘consolement drinks’. come if u like. Her hand fell limply against the comforter. She dropped the phone and shoved deeper into her pillow.
The sudden silence only served to emphasize the faint buzzing coming from her nightstand. Sunset peered over her shoulder and saw the symbol on her magical book glowing. She blinked, considered wrapping her head in the pillow this time, then pushed herself to a sitting position. She grabbed the book and flipped to Twilight's response.
Dear Sunset,
I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t go over well. I know how hard you and I and our friends worked to make that present happen, so to hear that they didn’t even open it is a real shame.
Only you can tell yourself how to feel and how to react, but I can still give some advice. No matter what, you can rest easy knowing that your intentions were generous and true. I know that it’s hard to walk the walk sometimes, but you really have to believe in it. Don’t let one bad experience ruin your generous spirit. Keep pushing on and doing what you know is right. Your generosity can reach further than you might think.
And Hearth’s Warming is going really well this year, thanks for asking! It’s my first one as the official Princess of Friendship (and in my own castle!), so that’s pretty exciting. Still working hard to finish my holiday checklist in time. No rest for the wicked! Hope the rest of your holiday goes better—knowing our girls, I’m sure they’re already starting to move on to happier things.
Merry Christmas,
Twi
P.S.: Spike says, “~~What do you mean they didn’t take the present?! We spent all night testing that stinking enchantment for nothing?! What a load of~~ Merry Christmas.”
With a ghost of a laugh, Sunset shut the book. The cellphone caught her eye over the book's edge. She grabbed the phone and texted back a quick Okay before sliding the phone into her pocket. Standing proved to be a tough ask for her exhausted legs, but she eventually rose from her bed and, for one reason or another, looked out the window. Down in the street carolers were still caroling, decorations were still painting reds, greens, and golds across the city, and the snow seemed just as beautiful as it always had.
Despite herself, Sunset managed a smile. “This can still be a great Christmas,” she muttered. She left the bedroom.
***
Later that night, Aria stormed out of the apartment building. She let out an exasperated cry and sat on the first step, burying her face in her arms. Fresh snow whipped across her every which way, numbing her fingers. She pulled a cigarette and lighter from her coat pocket and lit a smoke. She puffed it once, glanced to the side to see if anyone was watching her, and froze.
A box wrapped in shiny purple paper and a bow rested next to her, looking no worse for wear from the weather. Aria blinked at it. Looking left, then right, she groaned a little and grabbed the box. She tore off the wrapping paper and tossed it to the wind. She pulled the lid off and found a neatly folded note resting atop a bundle of tissue paper. She unfolded the note.
It might not be the siren magic you’re used to, but hey, at least you can go caroling again, right? Merry Christmas, from Sunset and friends.
Aria practically dropped the box. She shoved her hand deep beneath the tissue paper until she felt something soft and velvety across her fingers. One firm yank revealed a shining blue pendant of a familiar shape. Her mouth fell slightly open—just enough for her cigarette to tumble into the snow.
She placed the necklace around herself with shaky fingers. An ancient feeling stirred in her chest, so she closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and sang.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
Not only green when summer’s here,
But also when ‘tis cold and drear.
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.
Thy leaves are so unchanging.
The last, perfect word waltzed from her mouth, and Aria sat breathless in the night. She pulled the rest of the tissue paper from the box and saw two more necklaces, just as pristine as hers.
Aria smiled and ran back inside, leaving her cigarette to die in the cold.
