//-------------------------------------------------------// Mrs. Santa -by vincent789- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue In a land far far away from Equestria, lays a small village. This village was buried by snow all year throughout and was filled with creature of unknown nature. However the center point of the village was a large mansion. This was not an ordinary mansion however. No, this is Santa's workshop. All the way north of the north pole, above the Crystal Empire and the hills in the background. This place was filled with snow, ice and candy canes all year through. However it was inhabited by small ponies, these ponies were called Elfs, for their small stature. Skills in crafting and love for candy. These Elfs were ruled by single family, the Claus family. This family is known for their generosity and kindness. They were also very rich. And normally this would be advantageous, however not this time around. No their sponsorship deal with the Cola Family had no influence over this problem. And oh man, this was a big problem. "Santa!" The youngest Elf shouted through the halls, fear apparent on his face. "Santa!" The Elf shouted again, panic clearly displayed. "Right here. What is the matter, young one?" The famous Santa Claus asked. "We have a massive problem." The Elf said, somewhat relieved. "Oh? Did Rudolf run away again?" Santa asked worried. "Bigger! The magic crystal, it's..." The Elf said worried. "What is wrong with it?" Santa asked, his worry started creep into his voice. "Its darker in color. I believe we might have run out!" The Elf said panicked. Realizing the severity of the situation, Santa Claus walked passed the Elf and into the magic crystal room. The crystal indeed appeared to be somewhat dormant. And when he allowed his hoof to rest on the crystal, he clearly felt no warmth from it. "This is really bad." Santa said worried, he saw how the Elf nearly fainted at the mention. "What do we do?" The Elf asked. "Take a letter. I have to contact an old friend that might be able to help us." Santa said as he walked back towards his office. "Okay. Towards who?" The Elf asked as it stumbles along. "Twilight Sparkle." Santa said. "Twilight!" Spike called out, he was busy sorting the books in Twilight's massive crystal castle. "Not now, Spike. I am kinda busy here." Twilight said as she was busy doing science. "Actually, this might be important. I got a letter from Rainbow Dash from Cloudsdale." Spike said as he ran towards Twilight. "Well, what does it say?" Twilight said as she didn't look towards Spike, instead she calmly and carefully poured some unknown liquid into a vial with pink stuff in it. "Okay." Spike said as he opens the letter reads it through. His expression went from confused to shock in mere moments. And although she wasn't watching his expression, Twilight could feel his shock despite it. This caused her stop what she was doing and turn towards Spike. "What is it Spike?" Twilight said in a more motherly tone. Clearly her mother instinct activated at Spike's reaction to the letter. "It says that we might not get a white Christmas this year. Something about money and a lack of response from Canterlot." Spike said shocked. He then gives it to Twilight. Twilight reads the letter, it goes something like this: 'Dear Egghead, It's me, your awesome friend! Rainbow Dash the great. So listen we have a major problem. After some years of neglect, the snow making machine finally broke down. That is a problem, since it means we can't start winter without it. However this was caused due to a much bigger issue. Cloudsdale weather factory has lately not received their monthly payments of money from Canterlot. This caused the company to not give anyone a paycheck. Which resulted in protests. My boss attempts to contact Canterlot but they aren't picking up. And although I would like to turn to the princess herself. I was like, "Twilight is a princess too. Perhaps she can help out." So this letter is a request of assistance. I do not know what is going on in Canterlot. But I do know that you can help us. Knowing you, you are probably doing something that is not of benefit to the crown. So maybe you can fix this. Yours truly, Rainbow Dash.' "Hm. That is problematic indeed." Twilight said in deep thought. "So what do we do?" Spike said, only for him burp another letter out. This letter had a special seal. Twilight looked at the seal. It was a Christmas hat. And the letter was made of an older material. "Is that?!" Spike said surprised. He knew of him, but he never thought that that pony would ever write to Twilight. "Hold on. Let me read this really quick." Twilight said. Twilight's letter from Santa goes something like this: 'Dear Mrs Claus, It has been a long time, hasn't it? And although I would love to send you an ordinary letter to you. I am afraid this letter is the bearer of bad news. You see, the crystal that supplies magic to my workshop and the town hasn't been very good this year. In fact the crystal has gone dormant. That means that unless we get some kind of assistance from you, and your great magic ability, we might not be able to celebrate Christmas this year. Without its power, we cannot make presents. Nor receive lists with Christmas wishes on it. I fear for my family and the Elfs if this doesn't get resolved. So I humbly requests that you come to my workplace and power the crystal back up. Knowing you, you probably already know how to do that. Until then, I await your answer. Yours truly, Santa Claus.' Twilight was now seriously worried, not only are we not getting snow this year. We might not get Christmas all together. And worse of all, the Christmas party Twilight had been planning all year. Might not become a thing unless something gets done. "Spike. Get me Pinkie. I need to talk to her about something very serious." Twilight asked. "Uh. About that. I heard from Rarity that the main five have been overworked. They are really tired. And are probably unable to help you right now." Spike said worried. "I see. Then get me that vacation brochure. I will help them with that issue." Twilight requested. "Understood." Spike said as he ran into another room. He then comes out with a massive brochure, that held all the vacation types on it. "Actually, Spike can you choose a good vacation for them? Make sure to report to me, the exact details of why and the cost. I need to go to my office and investigate that Cloudsdale problem." Twilight said as she walked to her office. A room she doesn't use often. "Sure. I will do my best." Spike said he ran back to the room he got the brochure. "But why her?" The Elf asked Santa. "She is a good friend. And also the most magically powerful individual I know." Santa said. "Really? Who is she exactly then?" The Elf asked curious. "You want to know the truth?" Santa asked with a humble smile. "Please. I am curious." The Elf pleads. "Alright. Sit down. This will take a while." Santa said smiling. The Elf and Santa take a seat in front of a fireplace. Santa then opens a weird looking book and began to read the past to the Elf. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 'Flashback. Santa Claus was walking down the streets of Canterlot disguised to buy presents for the fillies. Most of the roads of Canterlot was filled with lots of cheer and comfort. Santa was only a bit under dressed for the area. This was during one of the coldest winters in Equestria's history. So Santa was walking down the road, while also shivering once in a while. It was then that a young purple filly saw him shake due to the cold. She was dressed very well, but she realized not everyone was dressed well enough. Young filly was called Twilight Sparkle. And she was a noble. However she was special since she had an extremely high desire to give to ponies. So Twilight bought a decent leather jacket from the store she standing in front of, and ran up towards the disguised Santa. "Sir!" Twilight pants as she is trying to catch up. The disguised Santa stops to take a look at Twilight, he sees that she is carrying a leather jacket that is way bigger than herself. "What is it young one?" The disguised pony asked. "Take this jacket. I saw you shiver in the cold. So I bought it for you." Twilight said somewhat excited. "For me?" The disguised pony said surprised. "Yeah. It's Christmas! Everyone deserves a present! Including you." Twilight said excited. "It's a present?" The disguised pony asked one last time. "Yeah! I love giving people stuff. This jacket is for you mister. I hope you like my present!" Twilight said excited and hopeful. "I love it. Thank you," The disguised pony said gladly, however he ended his sentence to catch her name. "Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight said happily. "Thank you Twilight." The disguised pony said happily. "Yeah. Well I go back and buy some more for those poor ponies over there." Twilight said as she points towards them. "How about we go and do that together? I also loving giving people presents." The disguised pony said. "Sure, wait what is your name? I never heard you say it." Twilight asked. "Just call me mister Claus." The disguised pony said. "Ah! Sure! Your surname reminds me of Santa Claus. But that might just be a coincidence." Twilight said wisely. Mister Claus smiled at Twilight intelligence, but said nothing about it. "So what are we going to give them?" he asked. "I was thinking about jackets for the stallions and coats for the ponies." Twilight said happily. "Sure. But there is a lot of ponies that are too poor. How are we going to help them all?" Mister Claus asked. "Simply, we are going to do it, one by one. I brought my pocket money for it. I hope it is enough." Twilight hoped. "My little pony, let me pay. I am quite rich and like to give away. You just take the coats and jackets to the ponies. Okay?" Mister Claus instructed. "I don't know... I want to spend some money also to give away." Twilight said uncertain. "How about this. I buy the presents for the poor and you buy decorations for the houses." Mister Claus suggested. "Sure! That sounds good." Twilight said as the two happily enter clothing shop after clothing shop. What Twilight didn't know was that Mister Claus had a list of poor ponies. So he knew how many gifts to buy. He also tasked Twilight at given the presents to the poor ponies. Which she gladly did. They did this for hours. Until eventually the entire slums was filled with Christmas lights and everyone had a smile on their face from it. Twilight even gave gifts to those that have been bad this year. She had to buy those gifts herself, since Mister Claus refused to give them the jackets or coats. Twilight didn't care who to give them, she repeated over and over that everyone deserves a second chance. Something Mister Claus admired, so although he wasn't pleased about doing it. He allowed Twilight to do what she wanted. "*Puff* I am exhausted. We have literally done everyone." Twilight said exhausted. "How about we go and eat something sweet and hot at that cafe we passed several times?" Mister Claus suggested. "Sure." Twilight said happily albeit tired. Mister Claus and Twilight walk towards the cafe and take a seat. A waiter than comes out and asked what they wanted. Twilight wanted some Christmas cookies with hot chocolate milk. Mister Claus settled on some cold milk with hot Chocolate chip cookies. As soon as it arrived, both Mister Claus and Twilight dug into the cookies. And after a while, Mister Claus looks up at Twilight. Twilight noticed that Mister Claus looked at her, which caused he to sit up straight. "What is it?" she asked. "So why are you doing this?" Mister Claus asked. "Like I said, I love giving gifts to others." Twilight simply replied, she did so while taking a sip from her hot chocolate milk. "But why? Most ponies don't go this far." Mister Claus asked curious. Twilight's mood slightly dropped, "Do you wish to know the truth?" Twilight asked somewhat sad. Realizing that this might be serious, he nods towards Twilight. "Alright. So when I was even younger than right now. I asked Santa Claus for a special magical tomb. However, unknowns to me. My parents first told me that Santa Claus doesn't exist. And that I will never get that special tomb. Primarily because I had been bad that year." Twilight said saddened. "However I did get that tomb in the end. The present was given by my brother, using Santa Claus's name. I later found out that they bought it for me. But they withheld the paycheck from my favorite maid. That maid just happened to be ill that year. And by refusing to pay her, she died due to lack of money. She died an empty death that could have been avoided." Twilight said as she drooped. Mister Claus looked shocked at Twilight, but she simply continued without realizing it. "Realizing that I might have indirectly killed her, I was about to spiral out of control. Only for me to find a letter in that book. The letter talked about her illness. And the fact that was going to die regardless. So want to give me the best Christmas, even if she wasn't going to be there for me. So she bought the book and gave it to Shining Armor, my brother. Only for her to quietly pass away without my knowledge." Twilight said as cold tears were released from her eyes. "It was then that I realized that I have a lot of money that I was only spending on myself. I felt disgusted at myself for doing so. Realizing what had to be done, I would go around Canterlot each and every year to had out presents to others. It is my way of trying to grant everyone else the best Christmas they could every have. Something that I obtained, at cost of someone else life. I wanted to show her, that her actions will make me the best Mrs. Claus I can be." Twilight said as her sad smile turns proud. "I see." Mister Claus said proud. "So that is the truth." Twilight said. "So you wish to become Mrs. Claus?" Mister Claus asked. "More than anything. That has been on my wish list the last five years. And it was the only thing on my wish list. I don't ask for presents or money anymore. No I spend my Christmas giving away instead." Twilight said somewhat proud. "Then I am sure, you already know who I am. Right?" Mister Claus asked. "Yeah. You are most likely Santa Claus. Your desire to not give presents to bad fillies gave that away." Twilight admitted. "That is correct." Santa said proudly. "Of course. That didn't matter to me. I believe everyone deserves a present. No matter how small or big. Bad or good." Twilight admits. "Then come. I want to show you something." Santa said. "Oh?" Twilight stood up. She paid the waiter the money including a massive tip. She did so, before Santa could. After that I showed Twilight my sled and through a portal I showed her my workshop. She was amazed, but she had a strong desire to help me. So after making some presents and then falling asleep. I secretly moved her back home and into her bed. I then gave her the Mrs. Claus nickname. And a personal present from me to her.' /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "So what was that present?" The Elf asked. "Oh that? It was a locket. With a very special photo inside." Santa said. "Oh? What was on that photo?" The Elf asked. "A photo of her with her favorite maid." Santa said happily. He looks passed the Elf to the coat rack behind the Elf. It still had the jacket that Twilight gave, all those years ago. Author's Note Christmas is yet to arrive, but If I don't start now. It won't be completed when Christmas does arrive. This book I had to remodel to meet my current writing standard. Or you will find the difference between books to be so different that you won't read this. Like seriously, I couldn't read my own book. That is how bad it was. I needed to do something. And for those that liked the original, sorry, but I deleted it. It was garbage. It needed some much needed remodeling. From the ground up. Written 42 days before Christmas in 2021 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 Twilight was moving left and right in her office, she herself was unsure as to why Canterlot failed to respond. However she considered that of little concern, what was of concern is her reaction to Rainbow dash's plea. Rainbow wasn't one to ask of assistance so easily, in fact Twilight considered her quite tough skinned. However this plea made her fear for the worst. Still somewhat unsure, Twilight called forth her most trusted guards to her office. Meanwhile she got in contact with Cloudsdale weather factory in an attempt to get a proper understanding of the situation. "Your highness." One of Twilight's most trusted guards said as he and three others entered her office. "It is good to see you four." Twilight said with a small smile. "You called for us." The leader of the four trusted guards said. "Yes. We have a rather difficult situation on our hooves. I need one of you to go to Canterlot and figure out the reason for the lack of communication between Cloudsdale and Canterlot." Twilight ordered swiftly. "I shall go, I am the fastest." The scout of the trusted guards replied. "Please hurry." Twilight said as she saw the scout leave her office. "Next I need someone to check up on weather stations across Equestria to investigate the situation at those locations. Please leave Cloudsdale to someone else." Twilight ordered. "Leave that to me." The communicator of the four replied before leaving the office. "Godspeed." Twilight said as she saw him leave. "Next up. I need two individuals to go to Cloudsdale to do the following tasks. I need someone to investigate the damage to the snow machine and report that to the blacksmith in Ponyville. I want it repaired as soon as possible. And secondly I need someone to make sure that the protests in Cloudsdale remain calm." Twilight order the remaining two trusted guards. "I am a skilled engineer. Leave the machine to me." The engineer of the four said before leaving. "I am a skilled leader. I will rally some of my troops to go and ensure a safe and calm protest." The leader replied. "Good. Leader please also keep an eye on the others. I want a report as soon as a change of information is available." Twilight commanded. "Understood it will be done." The leader said before leaving. "Good luck." Twilight said before turning her eyes onto the communications orb. After some waiting, the orb finally made connection with the weather factory. It was clear that there were a lot of ponies missing from the office as she saw in the background. "This is weather factory of Cloudsdale. How may I help you?" A annoyed sounding mare said on the other side. "This is Princess Twilight Sparkle. I wish to contact your boss." Twilight requested. "Your Highness! Of course. One moment, I will connect you with my boss's communication orb." The mare said surprised. "This is Weather Boss speaking. Who is this?" Weather said in a very dominant voice. "You are speaking with Princess Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said. "Your highness! My apologies. How may I help you?" Weather said as his voice turned meek. "I recently got a letter from my best friend Rainbow Dash that stated that you have some issues. Is this true?" Twilight asked. "I am afraid so. In fact we have had this issue for a good long time now. Canterlot has failed to pay for the last twelve months of weather protection and its causing some internal problems. Something that finally extended into us being unable to pay our staff." Weather said in a sigh. "And thus unable to repair your snow machine." Twilight concluded. "Among many other things. Yes." Weather said worried. "May I ask a potential reason for the lack of payments? Perhaps some kind of internal strive between cities?" Twilight asked. "Actually, we don't know. You see, we haven't been able to contact Canterlot for the past twelve months. Nor is the train from Canterlot arriving at our station anymore. So besides the lack of communication, we haven't had any visitors from Canterlot either. Which is causing some major problems for the tourism industry in Cloudsdale." Weather explained. "I see. How big is the scale of the debt that is being produced?" Twilight asked. "Well the debt with us and Canterlot is growing into the billions. But the debt with Cloudsdale and Canterlot is already into the trillions." Weather replied. "That is terrible news. For now, I have enacted my scout to investigate the communications problem, my communicator to check on the other weather stations, my engineer into checking the damages to your snow machine and my leader of the guard to attempt to keep the masses calm as they protest." Twilight explained. "I thank you dearly. We hope that there are no further issues at the other stations, but this is good to hear." Weather said as his mood increased. "So how many billions are you lacking?" Twilight asked. "Hm. Roughly twenty billion." Weather said. "It's increasing by five hundred million a month." "I see. I will see if I can get some kind of emergency fund pack together to assist your issues. In the meantime, try to minimize the costs by closing parts of the factory. Besides the critical parts, for now try to lower the cost by laying off some employees." Twilight instructed. "Understood. I am thankful for the quick responds." Weather said. "Oh and one more thing. Tell my engineer to check on all the structural problems, not just the snow machine." Twilight said. "I will. I thank you for your support." Weather said before cutting the connection. Twilight sighed, that will help the situation for now. But there is a lot to do. However this is all she can do for now. As Twilight looked at the picture she made all those years ago when she visited the weather factory with dash, she sighed in worry. In the meantime, Spike entered the office. He held a small stack of papers. "Twilight. I found the perfect vacation for the group. But will you join them?" Spike asked. "I am afraid not, Spike. The situation is far worse than we initially expected." Twilight said worried. "How bad?" Spike asked worried. "Canterlot hasn't paid any money to Cloudsdale for the past twelve months. They also lost total communication with Canterlot. And they also haven't received the train either from Canterlot. It is almost as if Canterlot has gone totally quiet." Twilight explained worried. "Hm. What if the communication array in Canterlot is broken?" Spike offered. "As much as I hope that to be the case, I fear we have a much worse scene on our hooves. In fact I fear that we won't have much luck contacting them either." Twilight said uncertain. "Anyways, here is the location. I was going to send them on winter sport. North of the Crystal Empire sits a ski resort. With a hot spring. The price is recently reduced for groups larger than five." Spike said as he gives Twilight the report. "It's perfect. Invite Starlight Glimmer, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Applejack." Twilight requested. "Alright. Which means we are going to be stuck here in Ponyville aren't we?" Spike said somewhat disappointed. "I am afraid so. I sadly don't have anytime for a vacation and I also need my best assistant to help get past this scenario." Twilight said smiling. "In that case I can't leave now can I?" Spike said proudly as his ego got bolstered. Twilight giggle as she hugged Spike in a motherly tone. Twilight did look slightly worried as she hugged him, but it quickly passed. Meanwhile in Canterlot, the leader of Twilight's guard arrived at the scene, along side the engineer. He looked at protest and saw that most ponies had already dispersed. "I suppose I can take a look on the inside of the weather factory with you." The leader said serious. "Yeah. Leave your troops outside. It might grant ponies the feeling of protection." The engineer suggested. "Will do. Besides, I doubt that the factory enjoy seeing so many guards roam the factory." The leader said. "Yeah. I don't like seeing so many guards enter my house by force either." The engineer agreed. "Halt! Who goes there?" One of the guards of the factory shouted. "We are princess Twilight's personal guards. I am their leader and this is the engineer." The leader said as he points at his engineer and himself. "Ah. I heard from the boss of your arrival. You made it in time. The boss was told by princess Twilight to tell the engineer to check the infrastructure of the entire factory instead of just the snow machine." The guard said. "Understood. Well I will be busy. Good luck leader." The engineer said as he ran towards the factory. "What about you? Weren't you supposed to concentrate your actions on the protests?" The guard asked. "I would love to, but most of the protesters have already dispersed." The leader said. "Ah. Yes that did happen, however there is another rather rowdy protest ongoing in the city center. Perhaps you can assist them." The guard suggested. "I will after I report to my princess." The leader said as he brings out a mini communications orb. And after a few beeping it got through. "What is the matter?" Twilight asked on the other side. "The protests in front of the factory already dispersed when I arrived. However there seems to be another protest near city center that is getting a bit rowdy. Should I intervene?" The leader asked. "If you could. Please. And get me in contact with the mayor of Cloudsdale." Twilight requested. "Will do." The leader said as he cuts the connection. "You heard the princess. Good luck." The guard said. "Yeah. Thanks." The leader said as he headed off into the city center direction with his troops. As the leader flew towards the city center, he saw as the protest had already reached dangerous levels. Ponies were preparing to attack buildings and innocent bystanders out of rage. Realizing that he has to act fast, he decided to do a large shout. "Anyone that attempts to harm another for any reason will be arrested on the spot without warning. Princess Twilight Sparkle will have thee right to call down a smite on anyone willing to attempt anything unlawful. You have been warned!" He shouted as loud as he possibly could. This caused everyone to look up. They saw guards fly down in the royal armor of Princess Twilight Sparkle. They were also armed to the teeth. It was clear to anyone that they weren't kidding around. This caused many to stop what they were doing and behave themself. As they land, many landed with their spears drawn. They patrolled around and warned anyone that was carrying a weapon of sorts. The leader approached the center of the protests. Right in front of the mayor office. "Why are you protesting?!" The leader shouted into the crowd. He got a mixed responds, but one of the many stood out. "We are suffering due to extreme cold." some said. This was surprising as Pegasi were immune to cold. Yet these Pegasi complained regardless. "What do you mean, you are cold? You are immune to cold." The leader asked surprised. "And yet many are suffering it regardless." Another one in the crowd responded. "I understand. I report this to Princess Twilight Sparkle. She is currently attempting to repair the damages to the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. But she is willing to assist Cloudsdale in general. I am going to attempt to talk with the mayor about it." The leader said as soon as he turns around. Many ponies seemed to calm down at this new knowledge. The leader entered the mayor office. He looks around and sees the mayor attempting to flee Cloudsdale. The leader than proceeds to literally grab her by the neck and stop her from doing so. He moves her to her office and places a communications orb in front of her. "Princess Twilight Sparkle wishes to talk to you." The leader said. "I understand. My apologies for trying to leave, but this office is oh so cold." The mayor commented. "Apology accepted. Please call her now." The leader said. The mayor taps the communications orb and it activates immediately. "Ah. Mayor. It is so good to see you. Is everything alright?" Twilight asked pleased. "No. It's so cold. Also it seems many Pegasi are suffering from the cold despite their immunity." The mayor said. "Shit." Twilight swore on the other side. "What?" Mayor asked slightly shocked, but mostly confused. "I know the cause. However it is not simply solved. For now, I recommend enacting the emergency heating system." Twilight ordered. "I understand. It will be done. But you said the cause..." The mayor asked. "Leader please leave the room. The following things must not spread." Twilight ordered. "Understood." The leader leaves and ensures that nobody enters. "As you know. The snow and ice are connected to the workshop due north of the Crystal Empire." Twilight said. "Yes. From that old grumpy man. What is the matter?" She asked. "Well I got a letter stating that the crystal has gone dormant." Twilight said. "Oh no." Mayor said as her face went wide in fear. "It is as I feared it. Soon Equestria will receive snow, but not the kind anyone wants." Twilight said worried. "I see. But what can we do?" The mayor asked. "For now, lower the height of the placement of Cloudsdale. To increase the temperature. And enact that emergency protocol. I will deal with that crystal." Twilight said. "Alright. I will be in your hooves. We Cloudsdale will follow you, until the end of the disaster." The mayor said confidently. "Very well. I am sure we will meet soon. Until then." Twilight said. "Yes. I will go to your castle to talk about counter measures." The mayor said. "Good luck and fair winds." Twilight said as she cuts the connection. Author's Note For those confused. This is the current problems Twilight is facing: -The Weather factory has run out of money. -The Weather factory is severely damaged due to lack of maintenance. -The Pegasi has currently lost their immunity to the cold. -With the winter crystal out of magic, the winter season is currently out of control. -Without the winter crystal, Santa is currently unable to deliver Christmas. -The main five is currently overworked. (Including Starlight Glimmer) -Cloudsdale is currently enacting the emergency heating protocol to stay warm. -Canterlot has lost communication with Cloudsdale all together. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 Twilight had woken up from her slumber on her desk in the office. Somewhere in preparing the money package, she had fallen asleep. Luckily her assistant Spike noticed and removed the paperwork from the desk to keep her from drooling all over it. And on top of that she had a blanket over her. Realizing this, she went to the dinner room. She noticed a lack of her assistant, but he had prepared her some pancakes to start the day. After eating them, she went back to her office. Picking the paper back up and placing them on the desk, she continued back with signing papers and refusing them, back and forth. Until eventually Spike returned. "Good morning. Did you have breakfast?" Spike asked. "I did. They were delicious as always, Spike." Twilight said with a smile. "Are you going to be stuck the whole day in this office?" Spike asked worried. "Sadly not. I have a meeting with the Mayor of Cloudsdale and Mayor of Ponyville. After that, I need to talk to the organizers of the Christmas event I was going to hold in Ponyville. But first, take a letter Spike." Twilight said, Spike grabs a scroll off the desk and some ink and feather. "I am ready." Spike said. "Dear Celestia, It's your friend Twilight. I have a select few questions for you. Why are you not communicating with Cloudsdale? And why did you stop paying the weather factory for the past twelve months? Right now we have a major emergency on our hooves. The weather factory is severely damaged due lack of money and maintenance. On top of that, it seems that the Pegasi have lost the ability to be immune to cold temperatures. And finally it seems the winter crystal has run dry of magic. Please respond as early as possible, Yours truly, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said out loud. "Alright. Should I send it over?" Spike asked. "Please do. Because I have a meeting to get to." Twilight said as walks towards the meeting room. Twilight's meeting room was inside the massive library inside her castle. As soon as she entered, she sees both mayors she invited. But also the scout and the communicator. Twilight takes a seat and everyone in the room looks into her direction. "Welcome to this emergency meeting everypony. As you know, there are some major issues currently in play. And without Princess Celestia and Luna's assistance, I have been tasked in their stead. Before I explain these issues, I need the scout and the communicator to explain their presence on this meeting before continuing." Twilight stated, her tone quite serious. "Let me begin." The scout said, before continuing. "I entered Canterlot to investigate the lack of communication issue. But I was unable to enter the city. Even if I flashed my royal guard badge. They wouldn't let me in. Something about an emergency lock down instigated by princess Celestia." The scout explained. "So instead, you sneaked in correct?" Twilight asked. "Exactly. Once inside, I saw a bizarre scene. Lots of black smoke and the sign of a fight. After going to my favorite information dealer. They said, that they saw Celestia fighting Luna. Or something that looked like Luna." The scout said. "Thank you. That is enough. Go back on standby." Twilight demanded. "Understood." The scout said before leaving. "So I checked the weather stations. Besides the odd lack of Pegasi inside of the complex locations. I saw no reason for concern." The communicator said without missing a beat. "That is excellent news. Thank you. Please join the scout on standby." Twilight ordered. "Understood." The communicator said before leaving. "Alright. Back to the meeting. Welcome to my humble home, the crystal castle. Before I begin, is there any drinks or snacks that I could interest the both of you?" Twilight introduced. "Anything hot would be greatly appreciated." The mayor of Cloudsdale requested. "Some tea would be nice. But no cookies. I do not want to get fat." The mayor of Ponyville requested. "Alright. Spike! Could you get tea for three ponies please? Your blend." Twilight shouted. "Okay!" Spike shouted from the kitchen. "Well then. While my assistant is getting us some tea. Lets get started." Twilight said as her mood turns serious. Both Mayors nodded towards Twilight. "Before I start. How much are you aware of, Mayor Mare?" Twilight asked. "Not really much. I am somewhat aware of some issues in Cloudsdale, but nothing alarming." Mayor said dismissive. "Alright. So we have some major issues at the weather factory, primarily money related. And some major issues in Cloudsdale, regarding the Pegasi. You see, they have lost their cold immunity." Twilight explained. Mayor Mare looks shocked towards the mayor of Cloudsdale. She simply nodded in agreement. "Let me put it simple. The winter crystal that is in control of all things winter. Has run out of magic energy. This means that the cold immunity that the crystal produced is gone. And our ability to control the snow and ice is also gone." Twilight explained. "But how is that possible? I only heard of this crystal in legends!" Mayor Mare shouted in confusion. "Actually, this crystal does exist. It exists far north. It is an object that based in a small village. That village also relies on the crystal." Twilight explains. "Which is why, besides our ability to control the winter is gone. Christmas is also not coming while this crystal in not working." The mayor of Cloudsdale explained. "Don't tell me, that village..." Mayor Mare said shocked. "Yes. That village belongs to the Santa family. It houses the workshop." Twilight confirmed. "Oh no. The festival..." Mayor Mare looks apologetic towards Twilight. "I am afraid it is not the most important on our list. For whatever reason Canterlot is in lockdown and Cloudsdale hasn't received a single form of communication with Canterlot for about a year. This includes money that is required to maintain the weather factory." Twilight explains, her mood quite dark. "That is terrible. Does that include the transportation network?" Mayor Mare asked "It does." The mayor of Cloudsdale replied. "So I have an plan. You see, I might be the only pony in Equestria that knows how to recharge the winter crystal. So I will not have much of a choice, but to go and assist Mr. Santa. However, I will only do that, once the issues regarding the weather factory and the issues in Cloudsdale have been resolved. Or placed in good hooves." Twilight admits. "Thank you. How are you going to help us?" The mayor of Cloudsdale asked. "Well, regarding the weather factory. I am going to use some of my personal funds to create an emergency funds pack for the factory. However, Cloudsdale is simply too large for me to assist properly. And that is why I invited you, Mayor Mare. I was hoping that you might be able to help Cloudsdale with their current issues." Twilight explained. "I see. Can you give me a proper rundown of the issues in Cloudsdale?" Mayor Mare asked the mayor of Cloudsdale. "Alright. Our hospitals are currently getting overrun with Pegasi that are suffering from hypothermia and from Pegasi that are experiencing a severe form of the freezing of their wings. We are going to start generating hot air to try and negate this, however we do not have a proper factory to deal with that new issue. And lastly, to avoid even more severe cases, we are forced to put Cloudsdale on the ground." The mayor of Cloudsdale explained. "Alright. We have a factory available for that issue. Just hook the pipes onto it, and we will start our production. We also have several hospitals with a lot of experience against hypothermia, please make use of their expertise where it is possible. And lastly, we prepared a large plot of land for the festival. Please use that land instead. We will clear it out, and allow you to stay close to the ground. It is quite close to the factory." Mayor Mare allocated. "We are truly grateful. After this incident, we will pay Ponyville back for their help." The mayor of Cloudsdale said. "No. Please use that time to create an system in case of another event like this one." Mayor Mare demanded. "We would, regardless. Please, you are the first to listen to us in over a year." The mayor of Cloudsdale practically pleaded. Twilight and Mayor Mare looked at each other, and then sighed at the same time. "Fine." Mayor mare gave in. "Yes!" The mayor of Cloudsdale proclaimed. Spike took exactly that moment to enter with hot tea. It was using his personal blend of Earl Gray. "Thank you Spike. Please do me a favor and explain to the festival hosts to clear out the festival grounds. Cloudsdale is going to use it to stay grounded." Twilight requested. "Sure thing." Spike said as he calmly placed the tea on the table. After which he ran out the door. "Alright. So, as you probably already knew. But I do not really have any form of money source. So all of this money is essentially pocket money. Not to mention, I have already spend quite a bit on the festival. So the initial pack is going to be quite small. Instead I am going to request assistance with this money problem to all over Equestria. I am going to produce a proper Support pack for the factory, in the from of a Mayday pack." Twilight explained. "I have already contacted other towns to try and gather some emergency money for the factory. Right now that pack total is already sitting on an healthy 5 billion coins. I am going to grant the factory a small 10 billion to get them started. However that is where my assistance will end. I am afraid this is all I can do. I simply do not have any other form to help you any further." Twilight continued. "I see. You are going to spend all your days attempting to fix Christmas and their winter crystal correct?" Mayor Mare asked. "That is correct. It is going to require all of my attention." Twilight said. "That is perfectly reasonable. Please leave the money collecting to me. I will ensure that the weather factory will spend it accordingly." The mayor of Cloudsdale said confident. "Alright. I will also work on fixing the communications with Canterlot. Also, I am going to try and restart the transportation network from this town. That means all forms of transportation is going to go through Ponyville first. If that is alright with you." Twilight asked. "No. Leave the transportation network with me. I was already working on it. I need you to repair that crystal as soon as possible. We can't have another winter where everything goes haywire." Mayor Mare said. "Understood. Winter and Christmas will be my responsibility. While Mayor Mare will work on the hospital, the transportation network and the heating issue. And lastly the mayor of Cloudsdale will work on lowering the amount of hypothermia cases, the money package for the factory and keeping said factory in check. Is this everything?" Twilight asked. Twilight looks at Mayor Mare, she nodded in her direction. Mayor Mare seemed quite pleased with this meeting. It was the first time, Twilight came to her as a princess. Not merely as a friend and neighbor. Twilight then looks at the mayor of Cloudsdale. She had totally warmed up from Spike's tea. She too nodded in her direction. She seemed ecstatic about this new development. Though she still had something to say. "Actually, Princess Twilight. If you are interested. You could invest into a more permanent connection between Cloudsdale and Ponyville. That way, we will not feel so lost when Canterlot refuses to respond." The mayor of Cloudsdale suggested. "Perhaps I will. But later. My money pile has now totally run dry. I will not be able to do so, anytime soon." Twilight said. "Very well. I will await your response." The mayor said pleased. "Good. Then this meeting is now been dismissed. If you need anything else, do make a call. I will come running if you need anything else." Twilight said. "Thank you. And until better times." Both mayors said at the same time, before leaving. Twilight mood went from tense to calm in and instant. With that, most of the problems have been placed in the hooves of more talented individuals. That is not to say that she was going to have an easier time, but it certainly going to be a lot more fun. "Twilight! A letter from Celestia has arrived." Spike shouted as he ran inside. "Place it on my desk. Right now I have slightly more important duties to take care of." Twilight said dismissive. "She stamped it as an emergency." Spike reasoned. Twilight sighed, "Fine, give it it here." she said annoyed. Author's Note Okay so, this book has a deadline. It must be completed before Christmas arrives. Or until the end of December. I hope I will succeed. Only 10 more chapter to go. Also my apologies for that cliffhanger. I will place that in the next chapter to start it out. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 'Dear Twilight, As you probably already found out. I had to put the city in lockdown. This was due to a severe threat. Inside of Canterlot resided a demonic creature that rampaged for a good month. After Luna and I took it down, it left the whole city in an awkward state. Besides the unusually high amount of damage, we were not certain if it was just one. The amount of damage made that clear. Also Luna warned that by opening our gates, the creature could have escaped. So we decided to go into complete lockdown. That also sadly meant our inability to communicate was strengthened. We truly apologize for the inconvenience but we are unable to help Cloudsdale at the moment. Besides that fact that we have a lot of damage to repair to our own city, the whole winter crystal thing. Is a mere myth. Me and my sister attempted to see the truth behind it, and came up empty. For this reason I do not believe Cloudsdale to be in any trouble. I once more apologize, but we will not assist Cloudsdale. And about our reasons to skip out on paying the weather factory. Well, we simply forgot. Yours truly, Princess Celestia.' 'You simply forgot?! That is bull.' Twilight thought angrily. "And?" Spike asked. "Light the fireplace and burn this letter. It contains nothing of interest." Twilight said angrily. "You sure?" Spike asked worried. "Yeah. Celestia simply 'forgot' to pay the factory." Twilight said while grumbling. Spike raised his eyebrow at Twilight's response. So he too, quickly read it through. And after he finished reading it, he too, shook his head in disappointment. "Alright. It will be gone. Should I send another letter?" Spike asked. "No. If Celestia is useless, then we will do this ourself. Did you tell the hosts?" Twilight asked. "I did. I also told them about the fact that you wished to talk to them. So I placed them in the secondary meeting room." Spike explained. "Good. I will meet them right away. Please get us some hot chocolate milk." Twilight said as she began to walk that direction. "Also Pinkie has joined that meeting. Alongside Rainbow Dash." Spike quickly added. "Thanks. Please make enough for everyone then." Twilight said. "Alright. One last thing, they seemed very tired. Especially Rainbow Dash." Spike said. "Noted!" Twilight said as she made it past the corner and walked towards the meeting room. After a small five minutes, Twilight had arrived at the secondary library. Which also housed the secondary meeting room. She opened the door, reveal an exhausted Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Alongside them, sat the two hosts. Cheese Sandwich and Vinyl Scratch. "Welcome to my humble home, Spike is getting us some hot chocolate milk. Before we start, are there any questions?" Twilight asked. "One small thing. Is the festival cancelled?" Cheese asked serious. "I will get to that. Anything else?" Twilight asked, she saw everyone shake their heads. "Good. So as the hosts have heard. Due to some kind of accident, Cloudsdale will have to be place on the location of the festival. They are currently experiencing an exploding case of Hypothermia. This is due to the winter crystal having run dry of magic power. Which made all the Pegasi lose their cold immunity." Twilight explained. "I understand. Spike already made us move all our equipment back into the boxes. And back into town." Cheese said somewhat disappointed. "I hope you understand why this has happened." Twilight hoped. "I do. It is not as cold down here as it is higher up in the sky." Cheese said, "However I am slightly disappointed at this fact regardless." "Alright. So the event has to either scaled down, or get cancelled." Twilight said. "How do envision us doing this event smaller?" Vinyl asked. "I might turn the marketplace into a temporary winter market. And use the town center to broadcast Christmas music." Twilight explained. "Oh? That is an interesting idea. If you want, I could try to see how much that is possible." Cheese said surprised. "So it would turn into a slightly smaller scale event, rather than a festival?" Vinyl asked. "Have you ever done or visited Manehattan version of the Christmas event?" Twilight asked. "I have." Vinyl said. "It would be based on that." Twilight said. "Ah. Yes, that is indeed interesting. I have never done such a version inside of Ponyville. It would make it unique event." Vinyl said intrigued. "Would you also want to extend the event then? Seeing that a smaller event could still draw a lot of crowd. Especially since its so unique." Cheese asked. "I would. However I am unable to pay for the extension. I had to invest like 10 billion coins into the weather factory to keep it from collapsing. As they were losing employees and they were having some severe issues due to lack of maintenance." Twilight admitted. "What?!" Vinyl, Cheese and Rainbow shouted. "You heard that right. 10 billion coins." Twilight confirmed. Spike choose exactly that moment to bring the hot chocolate in. Surprisingly, most ponies in the room refused the hot chocolate. Since they were far too busy to accept such a nice drink. Including Pinkie, which just showed how exhausted she was. This made both Spike and Twilight worry for her health. Though Pinkie simply shrug their concerns off. "No need to pay for the extension. We will do it on the house." Cheese said impressed. "Consider it the Christmas present." Vinyl said smiling. "Alright, thank you. I appreciate that very much." Twilight said appreciative. "Hm. We will extend it by ten days. Is that possible?" Cheese asked Vinyl. "I will have to cancel a few events I was going to join, but that is fine. I will stay through the whole event!" Vinyl said excited. "That is the spirit! Well Princess Twilight. We will have to get going. It is a lot of work to suddenly change the event. So we need to get going." Cheese said. "Oh yeah! I need to make entirely new music, just so that it can last thirteen days." Vinyl said as he already left the meeting room. "Do keep me updated, alright?" Twilight requested. "Sure." Cheese said before he too quickly left the meeting room to join Vinyl. "Alright. Now that the event is taken care of. How can I help you two?" Twilight asked as her mood went to a much friendlier mood. "I heard that you were getting us a vacation." Pinkie said half-asleep. "That is correct. I already paid all the bills. You guys will receive the ticket tomorrow and the train departs the following day." Twilight said smiling. "You won't join us?" Pinkie said somewhat disappointed. "As you heard earlier. Equestria is somewhat is a bind. I am afraid that takes priority. Instead Starlight Glimmer will join you instead." Twilight said. "Ah, alright." Pinkie said tiredly. "By the way, why are you all so exhausted?" Twilight asked honestly confused. "Well Fluttershy had to deal with a tough customer and her pet being rather, chaotic to say the least. Rarity might have been overworking the past few weeks, she is so popular! Applejack was sick recently, she still hasn't entirely recovered." Rainbow Dash explained. "I have been overwhelmed by the amount of cake requests at the bakery that I am also running out of steam." Pinkie admitted. "And you know what is going on with me." Rainbow Dash said knowingly. "Yeah." Twilight said feeling slightly sad. "So anyways. I came here on behalf of the other to say thank you for this surprise vacation." Pinkie said. "No worries. Do rest out for it. As it is a sport vacation." Twilight said. "We will." Pinkie said somewhat excited, before leaving. "And I came on behalf of the weather factory workers union. They want to thank you for assisting the weather factory. It means a lot to them." Rainbow said. Twilight smiled, "Of course. No worries. We still have a lot to iron out, but they are going to make it." she said. "Yeah. I got lucky. My element of harmony prevented me from get hypothermia. This caused me to be temporarily turned into a search and rescue operator." Rainbow said, "This is another reason as to why I am so exhausted." "That is good to hear. Well I am sure you are busy. I am going to investigating the winter crystal. And get it back online. Until then, I wish you the best of luck." Twilight said. "Thanks. I will get going. Oh. And I heard you are going to Santa Pony. Will you deliver him my Christmas list?" Rainbow asked. "As much as I would love to. I am afraid that without the winter Crystal, nobody is going to get any presents. The winter crystal powers the workplace. Without it, no presents can be made." Twilight admitted. "Aw. Then hurry! I know you can do it!" Rainbow said before leaving. 'I will, I will. I will have no choice either way.' Twilight thought before walking into her main library to investigate this crystal. Meanwhile on the north pole. Santa Pony was busy brushing the reindeers into shape. When the same elf from before stormed into the stables. "Santa! When is she coming? The others are starting to get impatient." The elf said worried. "I know. But seeing as it is taking her this long. Something else must also been happening." Santa said knowingly. "What do you mean?" The elf asked. "Without the crystal, all Pegasi must have lost their cold immunity." Santa said somewhat ominous. "Oh no." The elf said shocked. "Which probably let to Hypothermia for a lot of Pegasi." Santa said. "Is that the reason why she is late?" The elf asked worried. "Probably. I heard she had become a princess. So she is also busy maintaining the country along side the two rascals." Santa said. "Oh. So she has become a proper miss Santa." The red nosed reindeer said out of nowhere. Santa smiled, "So it would seem." he said. "Did you just call the two rules of Equestria rascals?!" The elf said shocked. "Yeah. They are marked for being bad this year." Santa said. "For?" The elf asked curious. "Failing to properly communicate with Cloudsdale, failing to properly pay the weather factory. And for forgoing Twilight's journey." Santa said annoyed. "Which is why Twilight is probably paying the weather factory instead, right?" The red nosed reindeer asked. "That is correct. She is even seeking the rest of Equestria for assistance. Besides Canterlot, everyone is helping out." Santa said quite pleased. "What about that event she was going to hold?" The event elf asked. This one was in charge of Christmas events all over the world. He was overhearing the conversation when he suddenly remembered about the event Twilight was going to hold. "She scaled it down. It is now going to be an event that reminds me of Manehattan." The red nosed reindeer said excited. "If I wasn't a reindeer, I would totally want to visit that event!" "It does sound interesting." Santa admits. "Well it is being hosted by Vinyl Scratch and Cheese Sandwich." The red nosed reindeer said. "Wow! Those two titans?!" The elf said excited. "I see. Should we add it to the list?" The event elf asked. "Please do. Miss Santa is the one the originally hosted it." Santa said smiling. "Really?! She hasn't done an event since that large event she did. All those years ago!" The event elf said somewhat excited. "Which is why it is going to be so awesome!" The red nosed reindeer said. "Alright. Miss Santa's event has been added to the list." The event elf said. "Good. Well the brushing is complete. When Twilight arrives and we finish the presents. We can immediately depart." Santa said impressed by his own work. "Very well. Do you think she is coming soon?" The elf asked. "I am not sure. I sure hope so." Santa said slightly worried. Santa walked from the stables into the now dark and silent workshop. The all the elves inside were sleeping and waiting. Waiting to restart, however with no hope in sight. They simply slept until they were required. Santa walks towards one of the windows and looked outside. A snow storm had started outside, this caused all elves to stay inside and do nothing. With snow piling up fast, Santa was slowly dying inside. It made him incredible sad to see his village gone this far. He also hoped that his greatest sponsor never found out about it. But he was more worried about Twilight. Twilight is taking on an incredible strain. Just to get to this point. All he hoped was that she was going to be happy this year. Nothing else really matter to him. All he hoped was a happy Christmas or happy heart warming. It really depended who was asking. Author's Note So I must say. My writing skill has had a real level up this year. This book originally had chapter that had max 1.5k words. Nowadays my minimum is 2k words with a max of 10k. It would also usually write each chapter in a single day. Only some took longer than a single day. The longest I ever worked on a single chapter was three days. Anyways. 9 more chapters to go.