It was two days until Christmas and Princess Cadence was still looking for the
perfect gift for her daughter Flurry Heart's first Christmas. She scoured every toy store
in the Crystal Empire for a toy for her, but she found nothing. So she sent a letter to her Sister-
in-law, Twilight Sparkle to ask for her and her friends help.
While Cadence was waiting for Twilight to arrive she was giving her husband, Shining Armor
a run-down of things he needed to take care of while she was gone.
"Remember to take the sugar cookie dough out an hour before baking so it can thaw" she
told him "and be careful they burn easily".
"I know, Sweetheart" he said calmly "remember that award I won in school? And that I
was voted best chef in my unit?".
"I know, I know but I just want this Christmas to be perfect".
"I know you do, but making yourself stressed out isn't worth it" he said resting a reassuring
hoof on her shoulder.
Cadence took a deep breath and began to relax slightly, then there was a knock.
"Oh that must be Twilight" she walked towards the door and opened it revealing Twilight
and Spike.
"Hi guys" Twilight said with a wave "Where is Flurry Heart?".
"She's asleep in the nursery" Shining answered.
"Oh that's good" Twilight replied "so Cadence, are you ready to go?".
"Almost" Cadence turned to Shining Armor and Spike "can I trust you two to get everything
done?".
"You can count on us!" Spike said saluting her.
"Don't forget to make the cakes for the party tomorrow" Cadence told them as she and Twilight
walked out the door.
Not five minutes later, Flurry Heart woke up and started crying.
"I'm going to check on her, can you start getting the boxes of decorations out of the
storage room?" Shining asked Spike.
"Got it" Spike dashed off and Shining Armor headed to the baby's room.
Shining Armor picked Flurry up, rocked her back and forth trying to get her to sleep
again.
It was working until a loud crash resounded from down the hallway.
"Oh no, I hope Spike is okay" Shining thought as he and Flurry headed towards the storage
room.
He opened the door which revealed Spike on the floor covered in tinsel.
"Spike, that was on the top shelf, why would you go for that one?".
"It looked light".
Shining Armor promptly facehoofed and Flurry Heart giggled then he used his magic to
clean up the mess.
"Well it seems that this one is wide awake" Shining gestured to Flurry who was perched
on his back "We'll have to keep an eye on her".
"But how are we going to get everything done while watching her?".
Shining tapped his hoof on his chin "I guess we'll have to take turns".
"But what about when we're baking and decorating?".
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it".
They walked out of the storage room and Spike took the first shift keeping an eye on her,
while Shining got the heaviest boxes out of storage, then Shining took over watching
Flurry Heart while Spike got the rest of the decorations.
After about an hour, the great room had boxes scattered around it.
"What's next on the list?" Spike asked.
"I think we should get the cookie dough out so it can thaw".
"I can take care of that".
"Thanks, I'll get Flurry's chair out so she's safely out of our way when we make the
cakes".
Soon after all three of them were in the kitchen, Shining was busy reading the recipes
that Cadence had bookmarked for him last night.
"Okay, did you get the dough out?".
"Yup".
"Great, now let's get these ingredients out" he began reading the list off the recipe for
gingerbread cake.
"Flour, eggs molasses..." he said to himself then went to collect the items, but he and
Spike got so lost in their tasks, they both neglected to keep an eye on Flurry whom had
teleported herself to the counter and had discovered the flour. She started to reach for
the bag just as Shining turned around and caught her in his magic.
"No Miss Heart, you can't have the flour" he told her as he set her back in the chair.
Flurry frowned slightly and Shining got back to baking.
Spike and Shining had some of the ingredients in the bowl and started to collect the rest
of them. When their backs were turned for just a few moments Flurry teleported herself
next to the bowl and proceeded to "help" her daddy and uncle Spike by playing with the
dough.
"Okay I have the eggs and-OH NO!" Shining exclaimed when he saw the mess Flurry had made, she
had her hooves in the dough and was throwing it around and a glop had hit Shining in the
nose, making Flurry laugh.
Shining wiped his nose off and picked Flurry off the counter and put her in her chair.
Once he had remade the dough, he put it in the pan and turned to open the oven door and
stuck the pan in, he closed the door and set the timer.
"Okay on to the next cake, double chocolate" he said as he flipped to the next marked
page "Spike could you clean the bowl out?".
"Sure thing!".
Shining started to get the ingredients for the new cake, Spike set the freshly cleaned
bowl on the counter and they both proceeded to make the dough. Shining went to check on
the cake in the oven and Spike checked on the sugar cookie dough, Flurry once again
got out of her chair and went to investigate the contents in the bowl but slipped on a
patch of dough and flipped the bowl and the contents flew and hit Shining and Spike.
"Time to make more dough" Spike said slightly annoyed.
After they made the dough, took the first cake out and put the new one in, they cleaned
the counter, sprinkled flour across it and rolled out the sugar cookie dough.
Spike found the cookie cutters and cleaned them off, then set them on the counter,
Shining picked up a pony shaped cutter and set on the dough. Flurry reached out to Shining
and the dough.
"Do you want to make the first one?" Shining asked her.
Flurry smiled and giggled in response, so Shining picked her up and gently aided her in
pressing down the cutter and made the first cookie.
A short while later, the cookies were cut out, in the oven and the cakes were cooling,
they began making the icing. They got the necessary ingredients and for the first time
all night they did something without incident. They set the icing in the fridge to set,
they cleaned up the mess and made their way to the great room to begin their next task:
Decorating.
Shining set Flurry down on the couch and he began to open boxes and pulled out a tangled
mess of lights and grimaced.
"Hey Spike, can you help me with the lights please?".
"Sure, because that's the most fun thing about the whole thing!" Spike grumbled and took
the lights.
"And could you test them out?".
"Oh, more fun!".
Shining chuckled as he found a box of ornaments and set them aside for when Cadence got
home to decorate the tree and he heard the kitchen timer go off.
"I'm going to check on the cookies, please keep an eye on Flurry Heart".
Spike nodded and went back to untangling the lights and Shining went to the kitchen.
When he came back he noticed something or rather someone was missing.
"Spike?".
"Yeah?".
"Where's Flurry Heart?".
They began frantically searching for the little pony, checking every nook and cranny of
the room and the began to check other parts of the castle.
"Any sign of her?" Shining asked.
"No!".
They looked everywhere but no luck, they couldn't find her anywhere. They met back in
the great room.
"Where in the hay can she be?" Shining asked.
"I don't know".
Then they both heard a rustling sound and then a soft thunk.
"What was that?" Shining asked.
"Was it a ghost???" Spike asked worried.
Shining shook his head "For the last time the castle is not haunted".
They heard the sound again and saw a box move.
"You don't think..." Shining thought out loud went over to the box and opened it, revealing
a tinsel covered Flurry Heart and Shining chuckled "You are in mischievous mood aren't
you?".
Flurry smiled.
"Well, I think it's time to ice the cakes and cookies" Shining said to Spike.
The three of them went to the kitchen and got the bowls of icing out of the fridge, then
Spike got some pastry bags and tips to ice the cookies with. But before they could get
the cookies and cakes out, Flurry had a small magic surge and caused the icing to go all
over the place and on everybody in the room. Soon there was icing on the walls, cabinets
and counters, making a big mess.
"I guess we're gonna need to make more icing" Shining said.
"Ya think?" Spike exclaimed.
After they made the new batches of icing and put them in the fridge to set, the trio
went to wash off the now drying icing.
They got back to decorating the great room and then they got to ice the desserts.
Then they got to the next thing: Feed Flurry Heart.
Shining got the baby food out, set Flurry in her high chair and he gave her dinner.
"That was easy" Shining said to Spike using his hoof to hide a yawn "I'm getting tired".
Spike yawned "Me too, this has been one crazy night.
"I'll say".
"Anything else we need to do?".
"Yeah, I need to work on my special gift for Cadence".
"What are you giving her?".
"I found some photos of us from when we were dating and I'm going to make a
photo album with them in it".
"That's very sweet".
"I'm going also have pictures from our wedding and when Flurry was born" Shining Armor
explained.
"You put a lot of thought into this".
"I just want it to be perfect" Shining smiled "I'm also going to make one for Twily too,
with pictures of us growing up".
"Awesome" Spike added "What are you getting me?".
"Nice try".
"It was worth a shot".
"I'm going to get the pictures out and put the albums together" Shining got up, brought
in a folding table and the supplies and quickly got to work.
A short while later, Shining had made the albums and wrapped them up.
Then he made Spike and himself some dinner and later played a little with Flurry.
Shining Armor decided to wind down the night reading a Christmas tale but before he finished
they all fell fast asleep.
A few hours later, Shining and Spike were cleaning up the dishes when Cadence and Twilight
walked in the door.
"Hey we're back" a very tired sounding Cadence called out.
Shining walked up to her and gave her a kiss "Did you find what you were looking for?".
"Yeah, I found her an adorable little stuffed reindeer for her stocking and Rarity made
her a cute little set of pajamas for Christmas morning".
"And I found some books of nursery rhymes for her" Twilight chimed in with a gleeful smile.
"That's great" Shining told her "Did you find anything special for her?".
Cadence shook her had sadly "No, I couldn't find anything" she replied "There
was nothing special enough for her first Christmas".
"What are we going to do?" Shining asked "Tommorow is Christmas Eve and it will be even
harder to find something".
"I don't know" Cadence said sounding defeated.
Then there was a bright flash of white light and a certain Dracqunonus appeared wearing
a light-up Santa hat.
"Sooo, does somepony need help with a Christmas gift for a little filly?" Discord asked.
"What do you want Discord?" Shining asked suspiciously "why do you want to help?".
"Is it possible that maybe I just want to help?" Discord told them "That I maybe have
a little soft spot for foals".
"Awww, Discord likes foals" Twilight said teasingly.
"I think they can be adorable, is that such a bad thing?" Discord stated, folding his arms
and letting out a snort of annoyance.
"So, what do you have in mind for Flurry? If I may ask" Cadence said.
Discord snapped his fingers and made a small brown sack appear in his claw, he reached
in a pulled out a square box. He opened it revealing a doll that looked like Discord.
"A Discord doll?" Shining questioned.
"Not just a Discord doll, a Tickle-me Discord doll!" Discord said excitedly "if you
squeeze his tummy he laughs" he squeezed it and it did indeed laugh.
"That's actually perfect! Thank you!" Cadence exclaimed.
"It was no trouble at all" Discord said with a bow "Now I must be going I have treats to
bake for the party tomorrow night" he gave the box with the toy inside to Shining Armor
then disappeared.
"Alright, let's get this wrapped up" Cadence said and she turned to see Shining playing
with the toy and giggling along with it "Shining..".
"What?" Shining asked innocently and Cadence just shook her head.
It was Christmas Morning and after they had breakfast, the family of three went to the
Great Room to open the gifts.
Cadence loved the photo album the Shining had made her.
Shining was in awe over the vintage hoofball cards that Cadence had managed to track down.
And Flurry adored the Discord doll, she loved to squeeze it.
Over and Over.
Flury just giggled.
"What have we gotten in to?" Shining and Cadence exclaimed in unison.
And just outside the castle, Discord was trying to hold back laughter.
