“Cadance, are you sure this is a good idea?” Twilight asked her future sister-in-law as she climbed into the back seat of her brother’s car with a plate of Christmas pudding. “Flash’s mom just died a little over a week ago. Maybe we should just let them be.”
“I know it’s risky,” the pink young lady said from the front passenger seat, “but I’ve thought about it and decided that no one should be alone and glum on Christmas, so why not remedy that problem by giving them a little company?”
“Darling, I know you mean well,” replied the young man driving the car, “but don’t be too disappointed if they end up turning us away. I doubt Ms. Lighty’s family is going to be in the mood for celebrating anything this year.”
Meanwhile, in a house in a cul-de-sac, a blue-haired teenage boy stood by the kitchen counter, staring down a Bundt pan and inhaling the smell of cinnamon and sugar with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Flash, if I said it once, I’ve said it a million times,” an elderly woman scolded him as she added some flour to a mixture of yeast, milk, and water. “That monkey bread isn’t going to cool faster with you staring at it.”
“I know, Grandma,” Flash replied. “I was just thinking.”
He turned to the old woman and asked, “Are you sure you want me to bring First Base with me? I mean, you’re already short one Christmas helper this year.” Unbeknownst to him, his younger brother, the First Base in question, had just entered the kitchen to get a glass of water.
“I don’t see why I can’t just stay home,” said the younger boy with a flat tone, getting the attention of the other two people in the kitchen. “I’m not in the mood for any celebrating today anyway.”
“You’re going because all you’ve done for the past week is mope and feel sorry for yourself,” Grandma Birdie said to her younger grandson, the sternness in her voice unmistakable. “Taking a little time to help other people could do you some good.”
“Remember what you said on our first Christmas without Grandpa?” First Base replied defiantly as he filled his glass. “You said that it was okay to feel sad on Christmas because you’re missing somebody you love.”
“Yeah,” Grandma agreed. “I did say that. I don’t recall saying anything about marinating in your own sadness like a piece of meat being okay. In other words, you’re going.”
First Base simply leaned against the kitchen cabinets as he dejectedly sipped his water.
“Well,” said Flash, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “I’m going to head up to my room and get my guitar. The monkey bread will be done cooling by the time I get down, right?”
“Oh, of course,” replied his grandmother.
Flash took off the gray-green apron he was wearing and left the kitchen. Just as he was about to head up the stairs, the front door opened, and a middle-aged woman with a red and brown ponytail entered with a leashed Boston terrier. Both the woman and the dog were dressed in a thick jacket and earmuffs with the woman also sporting a pair of thick gloves.
“Hey, Aunt Flare. Hey, Banana,” Flash greeted. “How was your run?”
“Cold,” Flare replied as she unbundled herself and the dog. “You better remember to dress warm if you’re heading out today.”
“I will,” Flash answered as he continued up the stairs.
A few minutes later, Flash returned down the stairs with a guitar case in one hand, dressed in a thick jacket, a wool hat with earflaps, and thick gloves. Soon after, his younger brother also descended from the stairs, having also gone up to get dressed. The boys found the monkey bread waiting for them on the kitchen table, sitting on a plate and covered in plastic wrap.
Flash gestured for his brother to pick up and carry the monkey bread, and First Base did so robotically. Flash checked his pants pockets for his car keys, and finding them in his pockets, he headed towards the front door. He opened the door with his free hand and was greeted with a sharp knock on his forehead.
“Ow!” he cried, rubbing his forehead with his free hand.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! Are you alright?!” a familiar feminine-sounding voice cried back.
Flash looked up and found himself staring at a pair of bespectacled violet eyes.
“Twilight Sparkle?” he said as he blinked in confusion. He looked behind her and saw her brother and her brother’s fiancée standing behind her. “Shining Armor, Principal Cadance, come on in.”
Flash stepped away from the door, allowing his visitors inside.
“I swear I didn’t mean to hit you. I was just trying to knock on your door because your bell wasn’t working,” Twilight explained.
“Don’t worry about it. I know it was an accident,” Flash assured her.
“Grandma, Aunt Flare,” he called towards the kitchen. “Look who’s here.”
Flare and Birdie exited the kitchen with Flare now donning a tiger-striped apron in contrast to her mother’s red and white checkered one.
“Twilight, Shining Armor, Cadance,” Grandma Birdie greeted, pulling each person into a hug.
“What brings you all here?” asked Flare, giving their guests handshakes.
“We thought you could use some company,” Cadance replied with a warm smile.
“We, uh, brought pudding,” Shining Armor added as Twilight held out the pudding.
“Oh, how thoughtful!” Grandma accepted the pudding from Twilight and set it on the dining room table.
“Gee, umm, I’d love to stay and chat, but Little Bro and I are actually about to head out right now,” said Flash, gesturing with his guitar case.
“Where to?” Twilight asked.
“A group foster home. I’ve been volunteering there about twice a month since last year,” Flash answered, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “Thought they could use a little Christmas during this time of the year.”
“Grandma is forcing me to go with him this year because she thinks it might ‘do me some good’,” Base added monotonously with a roll of his eyes. He was lucky that he was carrying something fragile at the moment, or else his older brother would have poked his forehead for his attitude.
“Mom and I are also in the middle of some holiday baking, so I’m afraid we’re not in a position to entertain guests right now,” Flare said to Cadance and Shining.
“Oh, that’s no problem,” Cadance replied. “Why don’t Shining and I help with the baking while Twilight volunteers with the boys?”
“What?” Twilight and Shining Armor both exclaimed.
“Oh, come on, you two. It could be fun.”
“That’s very nice of you,” Flash answered, “but we really don’t want to impose.”
“It’s nothing. Besides, what’s Christmas Eve without a little helping others?”
Grandma Birdie let out a hearty laugh and exclaimed, “Cadance, you are my kind of girl. Why don’t you get yourself and your future mister an apron from the kitchen?”
Cadance giggled back and began pushing Shining Armor towards the kitchen, despite her fiancé’s several protests.
“You kids have fun now,” she said to Flash, Twilight, and First Base with a wave goodbye.
Flash and Twilight shared a look with each other, clearly confused with the current arrangement. Then, Flash just shrugged and held the front door open for Twilight, gesturing for her to go first.
The three teenagers made their way to Flash’s car. Flash unlocked the doors and held the front passenger side open for Twilight. Twilight was about to take a seat when Base pushed past her and sat down on the front passenger seat himself.
Flash sighed and scolded the younger boy, “Little Bro, there’s a lady with us.”
First Base looked up at his brother with a blank expression on his face. Flash crossed his arms as he gave Base a stern glare. Base rolled his eyes again but nevertheless, got up from the front passenger seat and moved to the back seat along with the plate of monkey bread.
Flash once again smiled at Twilight, gesturing for her to take the seat. Twilight smiled and nodded back as she sat down. Flash shut the door and took his place behind the wheel before starting the car and pulling out of the driveway.
After driving for about fifteen minutes, Flash pulled up into the parking lot of a house-shaped building. The building reminded Twilight of her own house, except that her house didn’t look like it was made of concrete and cheap wood. In front the house was a concrete sign that read “Chrysalis’s Home for Children.”
When the three teens got out of the car, they were greeted by a familiar wall-eyed blonde, who was carrying a basket of warm muffins.
“Hey, Flash!”
“’Sup, D? Have you been waiting long?” Flash greeted back as he went up and gave Derpy a side hug.
“Not at all. My bus just got here.”
“I didn’t know you volunteered here too,” Twilight said to the other girl.
“Flash and I do this about twice a month. You’re welcome to join us anytime,” Derpy answered with a smile. Then, she noticed that Flash and Twilight had another person with them. “Oh, hey, First Base.”
“Hey,” Base greeted back lifelessly.
Derpy looked at Twilight and Flash, confused by the younger boy’s behavior.
“Grandma made him come,” Flash explained.
Derpy’s mismatched eyes widened in realization as she nodded in understanding.
The four teens made their way to the front of the building with Flash carrying his guitar case, Derpy carrying her muffins, and First Base carrying the monkey bread. Flash was leading the group, so he reached the door first and rang the bell.
The bell was answered by a shrill female voice screeching, “Go away! Christmas is cancelled here!”
Twilight and First Base looked at Derpy and Flash in confusion while Derpy and Flash put their free hands on their faces with a frustrated groan.
“She does this WAY too many times, I swear,” Flash practically growled.
“Don’t worry, you two. We know what to do,” Derpy assured the two novice volunteers.
Flash rang the bell twice in quick succession. This time, however, the chimes were answered by the harsh clacking of high heels and the door being forcefully swung open, revealing a middle-aged woman with ashy dark gray skin and stringy blue-green hair.
“Didn’t you hear me the first time?!” the woman screamed in Flash’s face.
“Yes, yes, we did,” Flash replied calmly, seemingly unfazed by the woman’s angry shouts, “but with all due respect, Ms. Chrysalis, my co-volunteers and I refuse to leave until we have spoken to Thorax.”
Ms. Chrysalis simply growled under her breath and slammed the door.
“Thorax!” the four teens heard her shout. “The free help wants to talk to you.” The shouting was followed by the sound of her footsteps stomping away from the door.
Soon after, the teens heard more footsteps coming towards the door, and the door was opened by a man in his early- to mid-20s. The man had chartreuse green skin and medium-length slicked back orange hair. He was wearing bright yellow cleaning gloves and held a spray bottle of cleaner in one hand.
“Hello, Flash. Hello, Derpy,” he greeted with a rather tired-sounding sigh.
“Hi, Thorax,” Flash and Derpy both greeted back.
“We brought more volunteers,” said Flash as gesturing to Twilight and Base. “This is our friend Twilight Sparkle and my brother First Base.”
Turning to Twilight and Base, he continued, “Guys, this is Thorax. He’s Ms. Chrysalis’s assistant.”
Twilight and First Base exchanged greetings with Thorax as they shook hands with him. Then, Thorax let the four of them inside.
“I’m so sorry about Ms. Chrysalis. She’s in one of her moods,” Thorax explained before letting out another sigh. “Again.”
“What’s she punishing the kids for this time?” Flash asked.
“She gave them a whole bunch of extra house chores today because we didn’t meet our fundraising quota,” Thorax replied, pulling out a folded piece of paper from his back pants pocket.
Flash took the paper from him and unfolded it, revealing a rather long list of chores.
“She’s making them wash her car? In this weather?” Flash exclaimed passing the list around to his co-volunteers.
“So, what’s this month’s terrible fundraiser item?” Derpy asked.
In reply, Thorax opened the hall closet revealing a disorganized pile of ugly rag dolls. The head and appendages were a bluish gray while the body was a patchy greenish yellow. Fluff was coming out of the seams, and the button eyes weren’t even properly sewn on. The four teens gasped in horror at the sight.
“I can see why you didn’t make your quota,” Base deadpanned.
“You should have seen the last few fundraiser items that Ms. Chrysalis made the kids sell,” Derpy replied as Thorax shut the closet.
“Well, let’s just at least try to make the kids’ day better,” said Flash. “If we pitch in, we might get this list done in time for the kids to have a little fun.”
“Derpy, why don’t you show First Base to the kitchen and leave your treats there? I’ll take Flash and Twilight to the living room. That’s where most of the kids are right now,” directed Thorax.
Flash and Twilight followed Thorax to the living room where a group of 12 children between the ages of 5 and 12 were doing various chores. The oldest out of all of them appeared to be a 12-year-old girl with tan skin, icy blue eyes, and a blonde ponytail with black stripes, who was listlessly dusting the china shelves.
A six-year-old boy with light rusty red skin and dark brown hair looked up from his sweeping.
When he saw Thorax enter the living room with Flash and Twilight, his green eyes lit up and the corners of his mouth turned up as he cried, “Hey, everybody! Mr. Flash is here!”
Soon, everybody except the oldest girl dropped everything that they were doing and rushed over to Flash, Thorax, and Twilight.
“Hey, kids,” Flash greeted back as he set his guitar case down and bent down to give group hugs to three to four kids at a time.
“Ms. D is here too,” a girl’s voice called as a group of three girls came in from the kitchen with Derpy in tow. The children who had received their hugs from Flash rushed over to hug Derpy.
“Hi there, Honey, I mean, Bee,” Flash waved to the oldest girl who was still standing by the shelves all alone.
The recently identified Bee simply rolled her eyes and kept dusting. Twilight gave Flash a rather confused look about the girl’s response, but Flash simply shrugged. Flash looked over the children who had gathered around and noticed someone missing.
“Hey, Robby,” Flash said to the boy who had announced their arrival, “where’s your sister?”
“NIGHTINGALE!” Ms. Chrysalis’s voice was heard from upstairs. “Quit staring out the window and get your lazy butt downstairs!”
Ms. Chrysalis’s screaming was shortly followed by the sound of slow, heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. An 8-year-old girl came into view. She had light gray skin and long hair of various shades of brown which was partially hanging in front of her face, concealing the sad look she was wearing. When she looked up and saw Flash, she pushed her hair back, and her face broke into a grin.
“Mr. Flash!” she cried joyfully as she rushed over to hug him.
“Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?” Derpy joked, prompting the little girl to give her a hug too.
“We’re happy to see you too, Gale,” Flash greeted back. Remembering how she had entered the living room earlier, he asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine,” Gale replied, trying to hide her slowly vanishing smile.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s Christmas Eve, and I’m happy. See? Happy,” Gale forced her mouth into a wide yet obviously fake grin and pointed at her face.
Flash and Derpy gave Robby and Thorax confused looks. From what Twilight and Base could deduce, the girl’s current behavior wasn’t normal even by more subjective definitions. Thorax looked from Gale to Flash and Derpy and could only shrug.
“She’s been acting weird all day,” Robby whispered to Flash, earning him a dirty look from his sister.
Flash nodded at Robby’s statement but decided to wait until later to talk to Gale.
“Everybody,” Flash began as he gestured to First Base and Twilight, “this is my brother First Base and mine and Ms. D’s friend Ms. Twilight, and they’re here to help us help you guys get your chores done, so you can celebrate Christmas.”
All the children except Bee and Gale cheered.
“Okay, why don’t all of you go back to doing what you were doing before while I look over the chores list and come up with a way to get all this done more efficiently?” Twilight addressed the children.
All the children stared back at her in confusion.
Realizing what she had just said, Twilight clarified, “Efficiently means doing the job right but faster.”
“Oh,” the children chorused as understanding dawned on them.
The kids slowly made their way back to the chores that they had dropped. Gale picked up a duster from the collection of cleaning supplies that Thorax had left by the wall. She shuffled over to the china shelves without looking where she was going, causing her to bump into Bee.
“Watch it, you little pest!” Bee snapped at the younger girl.
Gale’s face twisted in anger, and without even thinking, she pulled her leg back and kicked Bee hard on the shins. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped when she realized what she had just done.
“Ow!” Bee cried. Then, she whipped around and yelled, “I am gonna—!”
The rest of her threat was drowned out by the sound of Gale screaming “I’m sorry” over and over again as she tried to run away. Gale kept screaming as Bee chased her all around the living room and through the kitchen and hallways. Everything happened so fast that Thorax and the volunteers could barely process what was happening.
“EVERYBODY STOP!” Flash shouted, causing the two girls to skid to a stop. “I want everybody on the couch NOW.”
No one need to be told twice. Even the three girls in the kitchen returned to the living room and sat on the couch. Flash stood in the middle of the living room with all eyes on him, including his friends’, his brother’s, and Thorax’s. He could see the guilt all over Gale’s face and the seething anger on Honey Bee’s. Everybody else’s faces communicated only confusion.
“I,” Flash began, unsure how to continue, “I am going to tell you kids a story. I know we have a lot to try and get done, but this is something that I really need to say.”
He took a deep breath as he continued, “So, when I was a kid, my dad went away and never came back, so my grandma and grandpa helped my mom take care of me and my brother. Well, two years ago, my grandpa died, and we had to celebrate Christmas without him that year.”
Flash paused, studying everyone’s faces. He could tell by the way that Gale and Robby were looking at him that he had their attention. Even Honey Bee appeared mildly concerned.
“I missed my grandpa a lot, but I was afraid that if I cried or acted sad, then I would mess up Christmas for the rest of my family, so I told myself that I wasn’t going to let my family see me cry,” Flash continued. First Base nodded as his brother spoke, also remembering Flash’s behavior from that Christmas season. “Well, in my family, Grandpa and I always went out to get the tree, and that year, I didn’t want to go get the tree because I was scared that being out in the tree lot was going to make me cry Well, when I went out to go get the tree, my grandma had to go with me because back then, I wasn’t allowed to drive without a grownup. The two of us got to the tree lot, and I didn’t cry. Then, we picked out the tree, and I still didn’t cry. Grandma got in the car while I tied the tree to the top, and I still didn’t cry. But as soon as I got into the driver’s seat and closed the door, I put my head on the steering wheel and cried my eyes out.”
Flash cleared his throat as his eyes started getting moist. Then he continued, “I tried to make myself stop, but I couldn’t, so I just kept crying. When I calmed down enough to talk, I turned to my grandma and said, ‘I’m sorry, Grandma. I tried so hard no cry, but I just miss Grandpa so much. I’m sorry that I ruined Christmas for you.’ And do you know what she said to me?”
Every head in the room shook, “No.”
“She said, ‘Hun, you don’t have to be sorry. I miss him too. It’s okay to be sad because someone you love isn’t here on Christmas,’” he paused and looked at the kids in the eye, especially a certain little girl. “So, are any of you kids sad about anything this Christmas?”
Robby turned and looked at his sister while she fidgeted uneasily in her seat. Then, Gale got up and rushed over Flash, hugging him as she sobbed into his chest.
Then, she pulled away from him and cried, “I’m sad because this is mine and Robby’s first Christmas without Daddy, and I miss him.”
Flash pulled the little girl into another hug as she continued to cry. Robby got up to join them, and Flash pulled him into the hug also. Twilight and First Base looked at Thorax and Derpy, feeling as if they were missing some context regarding Gale’s outburst.
“Gale and Robby came here just this summer,” Thorax explained to them. “Before, their dad was taking care of them by himself, but he died in a car accident, and the two of them ended up here.”
“That’s terrible,” Twilight replied, looking back at the scene in the living room. Flash was soundlessly crying now as well.
“I’m sad because Ms. Chrysalis is being mean to us on Christmas again,” said an 11-year-old boy with yellow-orange skin and orange-red hair, frowning slightly.
“Me too,” agreed a 5-year-old girl with black pigtails and pink skin. “I wish we can spend Christmas with someone who loves us.”
The other children sorrowfully voiced their agreements. Bee just humphed and crossed her arms as the other children turned to look at her.
“What?” she snapped.
“Are you sad about something this Christmas too, Honey? Is that why you’re grumpier than normal?” asked a 10-year-old girl with pastel purple skin and cream and light brown hair.
“What do I have to be sad about?! I mean, sure, I’ve been here longer than any of you and still haven’t gotten adopted, and once I turn 18, I have nothing to look forward to except a life without a future, but I’m not sad about that.”
Derpy put a hand on Bee’s shoulder, attempting to console her. “Oh, Honey, I’m sure your situation isn’t that hopeless. I mean, I can’t make any promises, but let’s just try to be positive.”
Bee jerked her shoulder away from Derpy and snapped, “Okay, one, stop calling me Honey. Two, fine, I’ll be positive. I’m positive that my life sucks and will keep sucking until the day I die.”
Everyone uncomfortably scooted away from Bee.
“Mr. Flash,” Robby began as he and his sister pulled away from their little group hug. “Do you still miss your grandpa?”
“Sometimes, a little bit,” Flash answered before sighing. “Sometimes, a lot.”
“Mr. Flash, am I just going to keep missing my daddy forever? Is Christmas ever going feel special again?” Gale asked, wiping away the last of her tears.
Flash paused as a thoughtful look crossed his face.
“Take a seat with the others,” he said to Gale and Robby as he got up to get his guitar case. Gale and Robby did as they were told and returned to their places on or by the couch.
Flash opened his guitar case and took out his guitar. However, this guitar wasn’t the red electric that Twilight often saw him playing at school. Instead, Flash took out a rather unremarkable brown acoustic.
Flash tuned the guitar and played a few practice chords before turning to face the kids, “Gale, I don’t know how to answer those questions in a way that will make sense, but my grandma and I wrote this song together after I told her how I was feeling, and maybe this will help make sense of everything.”
Flash started playing a few chords on his guitar and then began to sing, “Snow is falling Christmas Eve/Lights are coming on up and down the street/The sound of carols fills the air/And people rushing home, families everywhere//Are putting candles in the windows/Lights upon the tree/But there's no laughter in this house/Not like there used to be/There's just a million little memories/That remind me you're not here/It's just a different kind of Christmas this year”
Twilight looked around the room as she listened to Flash sing. All the children were hanging on every word, and every single one of them began to look even sadder, Bee included. Gale and Robby especially looked as if they were about to start crying again. Twilight could even feel herself begin to get teary as Flash continued to sing.
“And in the evening, fires glow/Dancing underneath the mistletoe/A letter left from Santa Claus/Won't be the same this year in this house because//There's one less place set at the table/One less gift under the tree/And a brand new ache/To take their place inside of me/I'm unwrapping all these memories/Fighting back the tears/It's just a different kind of Christmas this year”
Flash smiled as he allowed a few tears to fall from his eyes, “And there's voices in the driveway/Family's right outside the door/And we'll try to make this Christmas/Like the ones we've had before/And as we gather round the table/I see joy on every face/And I realize what's still alive/Is the legacy you made//It's time to put the candles in the windows/The lights upon the tree/It's time to fill this house with laughter/Like it used to be”
“Just because you're up in Heaven,” First Base joined in, the first genuine smile in over a week slowly appearing on his face, as Flash finished singing the last of the song, “Doesn't mean you're not near/It's just a different kind of Christmas/It's just a different kind of Christmas this year”
Flash rubbed his eyes as he began to put his guitar back in the case, and his brother, Derpy, Twilight, Thorax, and all but one of the children clapped for him.
“Thanks for the song, Mr. Flash,” said Gale. “And the story too. I feel a lot better now.”
“You’re very welcome,” Flash replied to Gale with a smile before addressing the rest of the kids, “Now, are you kids feeling better enough to help get the chores done, so we can make Christmas special for you guys?”
“Yeah!” all the kids, except Bee, cheered.
Derpy and the three girls she entered the living room with returned to the kitchen to finish the chores that needed to be done there. They were unprepared for the sight that awaited them.
“Hey, the monkey bread and the muffins!” cried one of the two 6-year-olds, the one with mint skin and pink hair, as she rushed to the part of the countertop where the treats used to be sitting. “They’re gone!”
The outburst caused everybody else to come rushing into the kitchen.
“Where’d they go?” exclaimed the other 6-year-old girl. She had light green skin with darker green hair and purple highlights. The oldest girl in their group, a 10-year-old with light green skin and gold hair, began to search the kitchen.
“I think I found them,” she said in disgust, holding up the kitchen wastebasket. Sure enough, expertly buried under a layer of trash were the monkey bread and the muffins.
“Who could have done this?” asked a 7-year-old boy with white skin and dark green hair.
“Who do you think, dumb-dumb?” Bee snapped at him.
“Bee, let’s not call people names, alright?” Thorax scolded. Bee merely rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in response.
“How long did it take you and Derpy to make those, Big Bro?” Base asked.
“Longer than it took Ms. Chrysalis to throw them away. That’s for sure,” Flash deadpanned.
“Umm, well, it’s not so bad,” Derpy stuttered out. “We can still have a special Christmas without the treats.”
“How?” the gold-haired girl exclaimed. “Even if we finish the chores list, there’s no way Ms. Chrysalis is going to let us celebrate as long as we’re under her roof.”
“Maybe Mr. Thorax, Mr. Flash, Ms. D, and their friends can take us out to celebrate somewhere else,” replied the fox-haired boy, causing all the other children to brighten.
“But is Ms. Chrysalis going to be okay with us taking you on an outing?” Twilight asked. “I mean, I know she’s horrible, but she’s still legally responsible for you.”
“Oh, we should be fine. Ms. Chrysalis is okay with outings as long as we follow these three rules,” Thorax explained. “Number one, we can’t spend a cent from the home’s money. Whatever we spend either comes out of my salary or someone else’s pockets. Number two, the kids aren’t allowed to bring home any food, drinks, toys, or material gifts of any kind. The only exception is cash. Number three, any cash we bring home from an outing goes in that jar.”
Thorax pointed to a jar on the countertop labeled “Property of Ms. Chrysalis” and “DON’T TOUCH!”
“So, we just gotta take the kids somewhere that we can go to for free and will still be open when we finish the chores list,” Flash replied with a hopeful smile.
“But Bro, it’s Christmas Eve,” First Base pointed out. “Even if we could find a place that won’t break bank, a lot of places are going to close early today.”
“Royals and Stables will still be open,” Twilight offered.
“The bookstore?” Base skeptically raised an eyebrow at Twilight.
“Yeah, they’re having multiple free story time events going on today. They’re going to be reading How the Grinch Stole Christmas, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and lots of other children’s Christmas stories.”
“Again, I say, the bookstore?”
“I think we should give it a try,” Flash agreed with Twilight. “It could be fun.”
“But the bus doesn’t run to the that part of town, and we’re not going to be able to fit everyone into Flash and Thorax’s cars. I mean, I know it’s not a far walk, but it’s really cold out today,” stated Derpy.
“On top of that, the kids’ winter clothes aren’t well-suited for this kind of cold,” Thorax added. “You can thank Ms. Chrysalis’s budget for that.”
Twilight furrowed her eyebrows in thought as she searched for a way around their current obstacle. Then, her eyes lit up as a light turned on in her brain.
“I’m going to need those dolls in the hall closet, some dry beans and/or rice, a sewing kit, and someone who knows how to sew because I sure can’t,” Twilight proclaimed triumphantly.
“Um, I can sew,” volunteered the pastel purple girl.
“Me too!” a 5-year-old boy with blue skin and brown hair eagerly raised and waved his hand.
“Is sewing the one with the two big needles?” the pink-haired 6-year-old asked, stepping forward. “I’m really good at that one.”
“No, Minty,” said the other 6-year-old girl. “The one you’re good at is knitting. Sewing is the one with the small pokey needles.”
“Oh, never mind then.” The recently identified Minty took a step back.
“So, what are your names?” Twilight asked her two sewing volunteers.
“I’m Gypsy Scarf, and he’s Denim Jacket,” the girl answered.
“Everybody just calls me Denny,” added the boy.
“Okay, Gypsy, I’m going to need you to get the sewing kit, and Denny, can you get me either some dry beans or some dry rice?”
“Can I get both?” Denny asked.
Twilight paused to think before replying, “Sure. Why not?”
The two children rushed off to get Twilight the needed supplies, giggling in excitement as they went.
“Um, Twilight, I hate to break it to you, but if you want to use those awful dolls for anything, you’re going to have to pay for them,” Thorax said hesitantly. “Ms. Chrysalis would be in an even worse mood if she finds out that I let you use them for free.”
“They’re $10 each,” Thorax deadpanned as Twilight pulled out her wallet.
“What?!” cried the three oldest teens, their jaws dropping.
“Again, I say, I can see why you didn’t make your quota,” First Base retorted.
Twilight looked inside her wallet as the gears in her brain kicked into overdrive.
She looked up at her co-volunteers and asked them, “Can I borrow $30 from you guys?”
“No, but I can give you $30 as a Christmas present, no paybacks required,” Flash quipped with a cheeky smirk.
Twilight laughed in response.
“My, how generous,” she quipped back as she and Flash gave Thorax their money.
“Okay, that’s enough for eight dolls,” Thorax said to Twilight.
“It’s not as much as I want to be able to work with, but I think I can manage.”
“I got the sewing kit,” Gypsy announced as she arrived.
“And I’ve got the rice and beans,” added Denny.
“Okay, everybody,” Twilight called, getting everyone’s attention. “While Gypsy and Denny help me with my idea, the rest of you can get to work on finishing that chores list. Before the rest of you go back to what you were doing, I’m going to need at least three people with good cold tolerance to volunteer to wash Ms. Chrysalis’s car. Uh, cold tolerance means that the cold doesn’t bother you as much as other people.” Twilight grinned sheepishly as she caught herself.
“I can do it,” First Base volunteered.
“Me too,” offered the fox-haired boy.
“I’m in,” joined a 9-year-old boy with bluish gray skin and jet-black hair.
“Okay, uh…” Twilight trailed off as she realized that she didn’t know the boys’ names. “I’m sorry.”
“Kit,” said the older boy.
“Kit and…”
“Obsidian Chisel but everybody just calls me Sid,” replied the younger boy.
“Sid. Okay, Kit and Sid are going to go help First Base wash the car, Gypsy and Denny are with me, Derpy and her group can keep working on the kitchen, and I’m going to need some of the kids who were cleaning the living room to get started on the stairs and the second floor.”
“I’ll take care of that last one,” Flash gave Twilight a quick salute as he and the yet to be assigned children returned to the living room. Soon after, Base and his group went to put on their coats and headed outside.
“I’m going to help the boys with the car,” Thorax said. “If you guys run into any problems, just call me.”
While everyone else got busy with the chores list, Twilight took Gypsy, Denny, and their supplies to the front hallway and procured eight dolls from the closet. Upon closer examination, she noticed that the head was roughly the same size as the body, much to her relief. Not only that but the dolls’ heads were so poorly attached to the bodies that she was able to decapitate one with a good pull. Twilight smiled when she looked inside and saw the dolls were stuffed with split peas as well as fluff.
However, the dolls also came with a pull string and a voice box, and when Twilight pulled the string, the headless doll said, “You need more toys.” She pulled the string a second time, and the doll said, “Spending money on expensive gifts is what Christmas is all about.” Twilight dropped the doll in disgust, and her jaw dropped along with it.
“She made you sell these awful things?” she exclaimed to Gypsy and Denny.
“She got them from those funny men at the pawn shop,” Denny explained.
“They said that they’d be the perfect fundraiser for this time of year,” Gypsy added.
Without another word, Twilight took a pair of scissors from the sewing kit and extracted the voice box from the doll. She then cut off its limbs and stuffed their contents along with some rice and beans into the head and body. In the end, she was left with two fat satchels of fluff and dry seeds. She gave the bluish gray one to Denny and the greenish yellow one to Gypsy.
“Do you guys mind sewing these shut for me while I work on the rest of these?” she asked to the kids.
Gypsy nodded and accepted her fluffy, seedy satchel and began to sew it shut. Denny, however, just kept staring at his satchel with a grimace.
“It’s looking at me, Ms. Twilight,” he squeaked. Twilight raised an eyebrow, unsure what the little boy meant by that statement. Then, her eyes widened in realization, and she snipped the button eyes off the doll’s head. Denny smiled in relief and began sewing the satchel shut like he was asked.
Twilight and her group worked in this manner until they had 16 completed round bean bags, which they stored in a shoe box that Gypsy had gotten. The other groups also began to finish their assignments, so Twilight gave them new ones. In what felt like almost no time at all, the chores list was completed, and the teen volunteers were free to take the children out to celebrate Christmas.
“So,” Bee snootily remarked to Twilight as she and the other children began to put on their jackets and gloves, “just how are you planning on keeping us from freezing to death on the way to the bookstore.”
“Watch,” Twilight replied with a smirk as she took four bean bags out of the box and put them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Then, she took them out and passed the around before microwaving another four bean bags.
“Hey, these are really warm,” exclaimed the gold-haired girl as she took a bean bag from Twilight.
“Just stuff them under your jacket, and hopefully, they’ll be able to last until we get to the bookstore,” Twilight replied. She finished warming the last of the bean bags and began helping the children stuff the makeshift hot pads under their jackets.
“Neat trick, Twilight,” Derpy complimented as everybody began to leave the building. “How did you come up with it?”
“During the last sleepover I had with the girls, Rarity, Pinkie, and Sunset thought it would be fun to watch a bunch of DIY videos on UTube, and I remembered us watching one for heating pads,” Twilight explained.
The whole group had walked to the bookstore in silence for few minutes when Gale spoke up, “Hey, we should sing some Christmas songs while we walk.”
“Okay,” Flash agreed. “What songs would you like to sing?”
“What’s your favorite Christmas song, Mr. Flash?” asked Robby.
Flash quietly thought before answering, “Well, I like a lot of Christmas songs, but my favorite would have to be this song that my grandmother used to sing me and my brother to sleep with on Christmas Eve back when we were kids.”
“How did it go?” asked Minty.
“Well, it went a little something like this,” Flash said before he began to sing. “Let the stars in the sky/Remind us of man's compassion/Let us love ‘til we die and/God bless us every one”
“In your heart there's a light,” First Base joined his brother in the second verse. “As bright as a star in heaven/Let it shine through the night and/God bless us every one”
“’Til each child is fed/’Til all men are free,” Twilight continued the song by herself, catching the brothers by surprise.
“’Til the world becomes a family,” Flash and Base joined Twilight in the song as the three of them sang the last verse. “Star by star in the sky and/Kindness by human kindness/Let me love ‘til I die and/God bless us every one"
“Wow, what a pretty song!” Robby exclaimed.
“Can you please teach it to us, Mr. Flash?” Gale pleaded, causing several other children to voice their agreements.
“Okay, okay,” Flash laughed. “I’ll teach you guys. Just settle down.”
While Flash began to teach the kids the song, First Base turned to Twilight and asked her, “So, how did you know the words that song, Twilight?”
“It’s from Cadance’s favorite Christmas movie,” Twilight replied. “Not a lot of people know this about her, but she loves musicals.”
“Hey, so does Grandma, and that’s her favorite movie too. She and Cadance must be REALLY hitting it off back at home.”
Base and Twilight shared a laugh at that last statement.
“I see you’re feeling a lot better now,” Twilight observed with a smile.
“Yeah, actually, I am,” First Base agreed. “In fact, I’m feeling so much better that I’m going to do this.” He turned to Thorax and asked, “Hey, Thorax, can we take the kids to the park after the bookstore to play in the snow?”
“Sure, I don’t see why not,” said Thorax. “I mean, it’s just a block from the bookstore, and the kids could use the exercise.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at Base’s request. The request seemed ordinary enough, and the kids would certainly enjoy another chance to have some fun on Christmas Eve. So, why was Twilight feeling so suspicious?
Twilight’s suspicions were quickly forgotten as the bookstore came into view.
The group arrived at Royals and Stables five minutes before the next story time event was scheduled to start. Thorax and the volunteers helped the children remove their winter wear and settled them in the designated story time area. The event soon started, and the kids quietly listened as they were read to.
Meanwhile, Flash and Twilight were nearby, standing side by side and holding on to the children’s coats.
“You’re really good with kids,” Twilight whispered to Flash, reflecting on the day’s events.
“Thanks,” Flash whispered back. “I have my little brother to thank for that. If he wasn’t around, I probably would have turned out a lot more selfish and a lot less patient.”
Twilight giggled as she took a step closer to Flash. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. Not every guy who is an older brother turns out caring and selfless.”
“Well, I’m not one of those guys,” Flash firmly replied before he smirked and added, “and neither is your brother.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
The two of them shared a snicker before turning their attention back to the kids.
After having story time at the bookstore, Thorax and the volunteers took the kids to the park to play in the snow just as First Base had suggested. Derpy was showing some of the kids how to make snow angels while Twilight and Flash were helping other kids build snowpeople. Thorax was standing off to the side supervising, and First Base was standing off by himself also. However, unlike Thorax, Base had a more sinister purpose for his aloofness.
First Base tracked his brother carefully with his eyes, taking one step closer to him whenever he wasn’t looking. When Base was sure that he was close enough, he scooped some snow up into his gloved hands and packed it into a ball. Then, swiftly and expertly, he rushed over behind Flash and shoved the snowball down Flash’s back.
“Oh gosh!” Flash cried out as he began to jerk about wildly. “Cold! Cold! Cold! Oh gosh! Get it out! Get it out!”
First Base fell on his back laughing as his older brother continued to scream and flail about, trying to shake the concentrated coldness out from under his clothes. Eventually, Flash was able to shake out the snow and collapsed on the ground in relief.
The sound of his younger brother’s uncontrolled laughter told Flash everything he needed to know about what had happened.
He sat up and glared at the hysterically laughing boy. “You know I hate it when you do that.”
Base stopped laughing and smirked at Flash brazenly, “You mad, Bro?”
Flash’s eyes widened in surprise at his brother’s response. Then, his face twisted in to mischievous grin.
“It. Is. On,” he said with his eyes.
“Hey, everybody,” Flash called, getting the rest of the group’s attention. “My little brother and I decided to have a little snowball fight and need to pick teams, so gather around if you want to join us.”
Everyone except Thorax and Bee rushed over. Thorax continued to aloofly supervise, and Bee continued to pelt a nearby trashcan with snowballs, pebbles, and acorns.
“Bee, are you coming?” Flash called out, beckoning the girl to join in.
“No,” Bee bluntly answered, turning her back to Flash and the rest of the group.
“Hey, Base, maybe I should be on your team,” Derpy volunteered. “I know the kids better, so I can help you pick.”
“I guess I’m in Flash’s team then,” said Twilight.
“Hold on,” Base looked over the remaining participants. “We’ve got an odd number.”
“Which is why I’m letting you go first,” Flash retorted. “I can still totally school you with one person short.”
“Why don’t you go first, Big Bro? Age before beauty,” First Base taunted with a smirk. Flash shook his head in amusement.
The brothers picked their teams and built up two barricades of snow for them to hide behind. Thorax stepped in and told them to move the barricades closer since many of the younger children had shorter arms. After making the required modifications, the brothers went over the rules.
“Rule one,” Flash began, “no hiding anything hard inside of the snowballs. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“Rule two,” First Base continued, “no magic.”
“What magic?” asked the girl with pigtails.
Twilight demonstrated by causing several snowballs to float into the air.
“Yeah, that’s definitely cheating,” agreed the green-haired boy, who Base had chosen for his team, “especially since they already have more people than we do.”
“Don’t worry, guys. We’ve got this,” Flash encouraged his team.
“Enough talk,” Base puffed out his chest and struck what he imagined to be an epic pose. “Let’s fling some snow.”
And fling some snow they did. Both sides fought fiercely, shrieking as snow went flying in all directions. Any projectiles that missed their targets slowly chipped away at the barricades eventually leaving both armies exposed. In the end, nobody was sure who won or lost as the battle ended with everybody on the ground, covered in snow and laughing.
“That was so much fun!” Denny exclaimed as they all began walking back to the home.
“Yeah!” agreed Robby. “We should do that again next year.”
The other children voiced their agreements.
“Hey, Ms. Twilight,” said Gypsy, holding up her now air temperature bean bag. “How are we going to stay warm now that our warmers are all warmed out?”
Twilight paused before slapping herself on the forehead, “Oh shoot! I did not think this far ahead.”
“Looks like we’re just going to have to suck it up until we get back to the home,” said Flash, directing everyone into a tight huddle. The children responded with a chorus of “Awww”s.
“You know, I could go for some hot cocoa right about now,” stated Kit as a shiver ran down his back. “That oughta keep us warm for a bit.”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” snapped Bee sarcastically, pushing Kit and the other children away from her only to scoot closer to First Base and Derpy when her need for warmth overrode her hatred of physical contact. “Like some random stranger is going to show up out of nowhere and give us free hot cocoa.”
No sooner had those words left her lips than Pinkie Pie arrived in front of them dragging along Sunset Shimmer who was pulling a wagon holding what looked like a drink dispenser.
“There you are,” Pinkie exclaimed to the group before turning to Sunset. “See? I told you there was a hot cocoa emergency in this part of town. Didn’t I tell you that there was a hot cocoa emergency in this part of town?”
“You told me,” Sunset Shimmer deadpanned, panting from the afternoon’s exertions.
The children blinked at them in surprise.
“Kit, are you a wizard?” asked a 5-year-old boy with sky blue skin and electric blue-tipped black hair.
“Nah, that wasn’t Kit,” Derpy explained. “That was just our friend Pinkie Pie.”
“How did you know that we were going to be in this part of town AND that we needed hot cocoa?” Flash exclaimed, scratching his head.
“Oh, just a hunch,” Pinkie replied, as she began to pour out and distribute the hot drink to the children.
Everyone stared blankly at Pinkie Pie, unable to make any logical sense of her answer. However, they quickly shrugged off the strangeness of the encounter and began to drink the hot cocoa with slow, careful sips. Everyone smiled in content as the drinks warmed them from the inside out.
“Our work here is done,” Pinkie announced dramatically. Then, she rushed away as suddenly as she came dragging a rather tired Sunset with her.
“Bye, everybody!” Derpy and the three other teens waved as Thorax led the kids back into the home.
“Bye,” the little girl with pigtails waved back before going inside. “Thanks for making my wish come true.”
The four teens continued to give their goodbyes for a few more seconds before preparing to go their separate ways. Flash, Twilight, and First Base were about to turn and head to Flash’s car, and Derpy was about to walk towards the bus stop when Gale turned around and grabbed the edge of Flash’s jacket.
“Yes?” Flash said to the girl pulling on his jacket.
“I want to give you something,” Gale replied. “Can you please lean down?’
Flash got down so that he was eye level with the little girl, wondering what she was going to give him. He got his answer when Gale threw her arms around him and brushed her eyelashes against his cheek.
When she pulled away, she said to him, “I used to give my daddy butterfly kisses all the time, but I think he’d be okay with you having one.”
Gale turned to Twilight and motioned for her to lean down too. Twilight smiled as she bent down, receiving a hug and a butterfly kiss as well. Gale gave also gave Derpy and First Base each a hug and a butterfly kiss before turning around and going inside, waving goodbye to the teens as she entered the building. Flash waved back with a smile as he watched her go.
“Hey, D,” Flash said to Derpy. “It’s too cold to be waiting for the bus. Why don’t I give you a ride?”
With that, the four teens piled into Flash’s car, and Flash drove away from the home.
“Well, that was fun,” said Twilight. “I’d love to do that again.”
“Yeah, yeah, it was, and we’d love having you,” Flash agreed. However, a few moments later, Flash’s smile began to fade.
“You okay?”
“Oh yeah, I’m fine. It’s just that…,” Flash sighed, unsure if he should continue. “It’s just that helping those kids helped me forget for a little bit that,” he sighed again, “that Mom isn’t going to be waiting for us when we get home.”
“Oh, yeah,” Base realized, his smile also fading a bit.
A somber silence fell over the group, and Twilight desperately wanted to break it.
“Well,” Twilight began, hesitating a bit, “if your mom can see what you guys just did today, she’d be really proud of you guys.”
Flash smiled at her. “Why, thank you. That, that means a lot.”
First Base flashed a mischievous smirk and said, “On the bright side, at least I’m not,” he changed his voice to sound frighteningly like his grandmother’s, “marinating in my own sadness like a piece of meat anymore.”
Flash burst out laughing in spite of himself, and everyone else in the car soon followed.
“Oh man, that was hilariously accurate,” Flash continued to laugh.
Once the four of them stopped laughing, First Base said, “I mean, I’m still a little sad, but not sad enough to want to spend Christmas doing nothing but mope in my room.”
With that, another long silence fell over the group, this one a peaceful and contented kind of silence. The only sound in the car was of the radio playing Christmas music. The four of them stayed in that silence until “Angels We Have Heard on High” began playing on the radio and Derpy began singing along, prompting everyone else to join in.
Meanwhile back at Flash’s house, Cadance and Grandma Birdie were laughing away as they worked on another batch of bread.
“I can’t believe you know the words to that song,” Grandma exclaimed. “That’s from my favorite Christmas musical if not my all-time favorite musical.”
“I love that musical too,” Cadance remarked. “The theatre department at Crystal Prep actually did a production of it last week for charity. I should have gotten you guys tickets.”
As the two of them continued to talk and laugh, Shining Armor and Flare Burst were in another part of the kitchen quietly kneading dough.
“Well, uh, they sure sound like they’re having fun,” Shining awkwardly stated, looking over at his fiancée.
“Yep,” Flare replied, barely paying her companion any attention.
“So, uh, who are you making all this bread for?” Shining asked, attempting to make conversation. “I mean, this is a whole lot of bread.”
“Some of it is for our neighbors and other friends. Some of it is for our visit to the veterans’ home tomorrow.”
“The veterans’ home?” Shining Armor exclaimed with a chuckle. “First, the boys run off to volunteer at a kids’ home; now, all of you are going to the veterans’ home tomorrow? Don’t you guys relax on the holidays?”
“Mom and I are relaxing right now, aren’t we?” Flare pointed out. “Besides, we can’t start really relaxing until the boys get home. I wonder what’s taking them so long.”
Author's Note
The song that Flash sings to the kids in the home is "Different Kind of Christmas" by Mark Schultz. I did not actually write that song, meaning Flash and his grandmother did not write that song. If I could write original songs for the characters to sing in these stories, I would have done it. I was actually going to title this story after that song but realized that I didn't make the beginning of the story sad enough for that title to be appropriate, so I titled it after "The Heart of Christmas" by Matthew West (he's the same guy who sung "One Last Christmas" which inspired Chapter 5 of Heaven's Not Too Far Away) because it seemed more fitting.
The song Flash teaches the kids to sing while they're on their way to the bookstore is "God Bless Us Every One" from A Christmas Carol: The Musical. I first saw it on DVD back when Blockbuster was still a thing, and I loved it. It's a pretty underrated movie if you ask me.
Royals and Stables is supposed to be the Equestria Girls version of Barnes and Noble. Again, I have no idea why I felt the need to change certain names. It just felt right for some reason.
This story takes place between Chapter 7 of Heaven's Not Too Far Away and "The Trouble with Doubles."
