The Best Gift Of All

"See you later!" Gallent called to Winter as she waved.

"Bye!" replied Winter.

Right, thought Gallent. I suppose I'd better see if they have any good costumes in the shop.

She made a turn in her path and headed toward a nearby small building. The bell above the door rang as she entered.

"Ah!" She looked at the "Animals" section and rummaged through the costumes on hangers. The raccount suit seemed interesting, as did the frog and cat suits. Although maybe it was a good idea to avoid looking toosilly. Her parents did tell her she needed to grow out of her little tradition of wearing a costume every birthday and that it should have ended at age seven, but Gallent had simply loved it so.

She looked past some of them and saw a familiar stallion's face. "Hyper? Hyper Chaser?"

The stallion looked a bit awkward. "Uh... hi, Gallent."

The green mare shook her head. "Really, Hyper, you should know by now that we don't resent you."

As a colt, Hyper Chaser had been a bully towards poor Winter Ice. But now, as an adult with a more developed view of the world around him and higher emotional maturity, he felt absolute sorrow for what he had done. Even though it had taken some time, Winter Ice had agreed to put it all behind them. He didn't even look like the kind of pony to be a bully.

"I know.." He sighed sadly. "But these things really catch up with you, you know?"

"I understand," replied Gallent. "But to me, the fact that you're sorry and want to make it up makes you a good pony in my book."

"Yes, well... anyway, how is Winter Ice doing?" he asked.

"I went to see her just now," explained Gallent, trying to read a label. "And she's in a bit of a rut right now. Money troubles."

Hyper hid his face in his hooves. "I can't believe I was actually like that to her..." he said in a voice that suggested he thought of himself as the scum of the earth.

"Hey, look, buddy," said Gallent, lifting his chin up. "You were just a colt. Surely you can understand the difference between a grown stallion with a fully developed mind and a young colt without experience of the real world?"

"Excuse me..." said Hyper, and turned to go to the door. Gallent frowned as she watched him leave. The past was clearly causing him problems.

"The banner seems good enough," murmured Winter with a smile as she admired her and Lightning's work.

She noticed something out of the corner of her eye, and when she looked, she seemed a little unsure at who it was. "Um... hello, Hyper Chaser?"

Hyper looked down at the ground. "So, um..." He finally looked up. "What's going on?"

"Well, since it's Gallent Rage's birthday, we're setting up a little special something for her," Winter told him.

"Ah, I see how it is," responded Hyper. "Look... I know it might all seem strange, but... may I help?"

"I don't know..." said Lightning, squinting at him. He still had his suspicions.

"Lightning! Don't be so rude!" said Winter. She turned her attention back to Hyper. "Why, yes," she replied. "If you really want to, you can help. It's what Gallent would like."

Hyper did something he couldn't even remember doing for a while. He gave a smile.

And the trio were off to work, making what would be a pleasant surprise for dear old Gallent.