The most wonderful time of the year, as Christmas was called in that song, was coming close in the city of Canterlot and around the world. A special, unforgettable day spent in a warm circle of friends, family, and loved ones to celebrate the holiday and strengthen those bonds. Everyone was excited for that day, especially the kids, as Santa Claus would come and bring to their homes what they wanted for Christmas.
Today was Dec. 23rd. A soft, white blanket of snow covered the streets of Canterlot, and naturally, the city was decorated for the special day. Our focus in this story is the orphanage and hospital Big Heart Home for Children. Right now, the kids were playing in the snow at the courtyard of the orphanage, either making snow angels or building snowmen.
Not all the kids, though, unfortunately. In a medical room inside the building, an eight-year old boy, covered in a warm blanket, was lying on a bed, which was close to a window. He looked outside it. He had short blue hair with yellow streaks, greyish yellow eyes, and slight red skin. He was clad in his cyan pajamas with clouds printed on them.
"This sucks..." the kid muttered, letting out a few coughs afterwards.
A knock on the door was heard, which caught the attention of the boy and he looked at it, seeing the door slowly open to reveal a girl who was about the same age as him. Her skin was peach colored, and she had pink hair and yellow eyes. She was clad in a blue winter jacket with white long skirt and blue boots.
"Hey, Wing. Are you alright?" the girl asked, smiling at him.
Sprinkle Wing, the kid, smiled tiredly at the girl comming. "Heya, Patch. I'm doing fine. Don't you want to play with the other kids?"
Patch hummed while placing her arms behind her back. "Well, yes, but first I wanted to see how are you doing and let you know that Miss Sugar is about to bring you lunch."
Wing was about to reply, but then he began coughing up again until he stopped. "Okay then."
"So..." Patch began as she looked down at her feet. "Have you already decided on what do you want for Christmas?"
At that question, Wing had a wide smile, which surprised Patch, albeit pleasantly. Most kids would want for Christmas a toy, be it an action figure, a plushy, cars, or whatever type of toys exist, or a video game console. But in this case, this little guy wanted something very different.
Wing nodded. "Oh, yes. I have. It's something that I want to share with the other kids."
"Well, what it is, Wing?" the voice of a young woman warmly asked as the woman herself came to the room, carrying a bed tray with food.
Upon seeing the lady, both children smiled. "Miss Sugar."
The woman looked like she was in her mid-twenties, and she had long orange hair which reached to her shoulders, cyan eyes, and pale skin. She was clad in her own winter clothes; a greyish red scarf around her neck, a red jacket with a black t-shirt underneath, blue denim pants, and brown boots.
Sugar Flare walked over to Wing's bed and put the tray beneath his thighs, ruffling his hair affectionately with a smile, to which earned a happy giggle from Wing. The moment Wing looked at his food closely, his stomach grumbled. His lunch consisted of a slightly warm rice soup with a spoon, and a can of apple juice from Sweet Apple Acres.
"How you're feeling, little guy?" Sugar asked, grabbing a nearby chair to sit down beside the bed.
"A bit better. My head still hurts, my throat still feels sore, and I've been coughing up a lot," Wing replied, and once again, he began coughing up.
"Not to worry. You'll be feeling better today when you eat your lunch," Sugar replied, giving him a gentle smile.
Wing smiled at Sugar in return and he took the spoon, beginning to eat his soup rapidly, earning a laugh from Sugar Flare in mild amusement.
Patch simply smiled at him. Even though her friend is ill, she knew pretty well Wing would eventually recover. After all, the staff, mainly Sugar Flare, are taking care of him. Nonetheless, Patch hated seeing him in that state and she always visited him to keep him company, especially when the holidays are coming.
"So, what do you want from Santa?" Sugar Flare asked with that same smile from before. "Something to share with the other kids?"
"Yeah. What is it?" Patch asked as well while she stood beside Sugar.
Wing looked down at what little was left in his soup, but not in a sign of sadness. "Well, I want to keep this as a secret from everyone. I want to surprise them."
Naturally, Patch covered her ears to not hear Wing's Christmas Gift, so she couldn't spoil herself the surprise. Sugar Flare simply chuckled at her reaction, and patted her in the shoulder to catch her attention, causing Patch to uncover her ears and look at her.
"Patch, why don't you go to play outside?" she asked with a pat in the head.
"Huh, well, it's more secure not knowing the surprise if I'm not here," Patch shrugged and fixed her gaze on Wing, smiling at her friend. "See ya later, Wing."
Wing waved at her and coughed up, again, but with a smile of his own. "See ya."
Sugar Flare gave the girl another smile as she leaved the room, and looked back at Wing. "So..."
"You know Patch and me are fans of the Wonderbolts, right?" Wing asked, and he took a sip from his apple juice.
"Yes," Sugar said, and in the inside, she had a feeling his gift was part of the Wonderbolts memorabilia. "Last year's gift for Patch and you were two jerseys autographed by Spitfire and Soarin."
Wing took a deep breath, a wide smile forming on his face. "What I want for Christmas is to meet the Wonderbolts. I want them to come here, and also give the other kids presents."
Sugar Flare blinked a few times in surprise, processing what Wing wanted. She couldn't help but smile warmly at such a Christmas's gift. Of all the things that Wing wanted, she never expected Wing would want this kind of gift.
"That's... A good gift. No, it's a fantastic gift," Sugar muttered under her breath. "But why?"
Wing tilted his head in confusion. "Why what?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic gift," Sugar clarified, giving him another smile. "It's just that why do you want the Wonderbolts to also give gifts to the kids?"
"Oh, that. The thing is, they say that Christmas is also the time of give to others, right?" Wing said with a smile.
Sugar realized what he meant and nodded in approval. "I see, I see."
"Can you give me a paper and a pencil, Miss Sugar? I already want to write my gift," Wing excitedly said, his smile never fading, even when he started to cough up again.
"Sure, buddy," Sugar replied, smiling warmly.
She stood up from her chair and left the room to head to the building's front desk. Moments later, she returned with a piece of paper and a pencil, her own pencil to be exact, giving them to Wing. Sprinkle Wing started writing his letter to Santa, and once done with it, he gave it to Sugar.
Sugar Flare read the letter, giggling at how Wing's orthography was a bit messily written. Something catched her attention, however. The letter also mentioned that they should also bring gifts for the staff, and what's the reason? They make a good job at taking care of them.
"Aww, Wing," Sugar cooed, and she ruffled slightly his hair. "That's nice of you."
Sprinkle Wing simply smiled. "Well, it's true. If it weren't for you, we could be out there in the streets without a home. Don't tell them the gift. I want to surprise them as well."
Sugar Flare chuckled warmly. "Sure thing. Now to put the letter on the tree."
Later that day at night time, when all through the Big Heart Home was silent with every kid peacefully asleep. Members of the staff that were volunteers left the orphanage, either when their shift ended, or at the closing hours, although some of the staff volunteers, like Sugar Flare, stayed in the orphanage, in case the kids needed help during the night, or in the early hours of the next day.
A small box was placed in a table, near the Christmas tree. It was red, with some symbols related to Christmas colored in white. The box contained in the inside the letters of the kids, as well some letters of the staff members, meant for Santa Claus, so he can read them to see what they want for Christmas.
However, all the letters started moving. Suddenly, the box was opened, albeit silently, as letters were lifted up in the air. Disappearing, the letters were now outside, just above the orphanage. The letters weren't the only ones affected by this strange activity, as other letters were in the outside, also above the homes of the citizens. The letters then flew towards the north...
Meanwhile, in another place of the city, a certain flame-haired young woman walked through the snowy streets while holding two boxes; one was a green box wrapped in a red ribbon while the other was a red box with a white ribbon wrapped, and both had a note attached to the ribbons. One gift was for her mother, and the other was for her boyfriend, Soarin.
Spitfire felt a mix of relief and excitement for the holidays. Relief because so far, no one has recognized her. Sure, she likes to interact with the fans, and the majority of said fans respect her privacy. She was rather relieved that the paparazzi weren't following her. Always following them to any place with camera in hand, those were the kind of people that annoyed her and her teammates.
Also, it was time to relax around these days, doing things such as hanging out with her friends, and the next soccer tournament season wouldn't begin until spring. Today was one of those days. Nonetheless, the Wonderbolts still worked out in their training grounds in the weekends. Even if there wasn't any tournament activity, better to stay in shape.
Spitfire spent the last couple of days going to the mall, buying Christmas gifts for her teammates, and today she bought the last ones of her Christmas shopping for her mother and Soarin. Despite having a tough demeanor as captain of the team, she cares a lot for the whole team. Not just the team, also the fans.
Clad in a dark brown bomber flight jacket with winter leather gloves, blue denim pants, and black winter boots, Spitfire found herself walking through the central park of Canterlot, which was the home of the big Christmas tree.
"Ain't that a pretty sight?" Spitfire told to herself, looking at the tree and the decorated park with a small smile.
"It has color, charm, and personality like you," someone replied, a familiar male voice.
Spitfire stopped in her tracks and smiled, turning to look at the source of the voice. The young male, Soarin, returned the smile with one of his own, and waved at his girlfriend. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a light blue t-shirt underneath, grey denim pants, and white winter shoes.
"Hey," he said and he walked up to her, starting to walk along with Spitfire. "Need help with those gifts?"
Spitfire shrugged and she gave him a simply nod. "Sure thing. Grab the red one."
Soarin nodded as he took the red gift from Spitfire, noticing afterwards the note attached to it. He read the note, and he simply smiled, which didn't go unnoticed by Spitfire, and the flame haired woman gave him a coy smile.
"You know the rules, Soarin. You can't open it until tomorrow at midnight," she said, waving her finger back and forth.
Soarin rolled his eyes playfully in response. "Sure thing."
"Fancy meeting you here," Spitfire commented and she fixed her gaze back on the park's road. "What have you been doing today?"
"Eh, not much. It's boring when everyone is busy, so I thought it was a good idea to see the big tree, and that's where I meet you here," Soarin explained, his gaze fixed on the road as he put his hands on his jacket's pockets.
Spitfire raised her eyebrow. "So, you haven't done anything the entire day?"
Soarin looked up at the sky while letting a hum. "Besides playing a few video games to pass the time, and wandering through the city, nothing at all until now," he replied and looked at his girlfriend. "What about you? Besides doing Christmas shopping."
"Not much, only doing a little of training in the morning," Spitfire said, shrugging her shoulders.
Spitfire was about to say something, but an idea just came across her mind, one that made her smile. "How about if we spent some time together?"
Upon hearing that, Soarin had knowing smile on his face. "Sure thing. Where do you want to go first"
"Well..." Spitfire suddenly drifted off, her eyes fixed on something falling in the sky. "What the...?"
Soarin had a expression of confusion, and looked at the direction that Spitfire was facing, squinting his eyes to take a look of what she was looking at. It certainly wasn't snow, or snowflakes. Once the couple took a good look of what was falling towards their direction, it was an envelope and it landed directly on Spitfire's head.
Spitfire blinked a few times before taking the letter from her head, and looked at it. "Hmm, someone must have dropped it, and the air blew it to here."
"Most likely," Soarin replied as he took a good look at the letter.
"I wonder..." Spitfire started as she turned the envelope, only to remain silent, her eyes widening upon the names on the other side of it.
Soarin tilted slightly his head, a look of confusion across his face before looking at the envelope. The moment he laid his eyes on what was written, they widened in surprise.
To: The Wonderbolts
From: Santa Claus
That was what written in the envelope. Spitfire and Soarin had a hard time believing that this came from Santa Claus himself. A strange occurrence, one way on saying it. Sure, they had heard some crazy things happening at a school by the name of Canterlot High, but they were labelled as rumors. This, on the other hand, was real. It seemingly was real, to be exact.
Soarin kept looking at the envelope, wondering if they should open it. He immediately got his answer when Spitfire opened it, which caught him off guard.
"We won't know if we don't see what's inside," Spitfire said as he looked at Soarin, pulling out a letter out of the envelope.
Soarin nodded. "Sure thing, even though this is still hard to believe for me."
Spitfire couldn't blame him. A letter from Santa Claus sent to them, it sounded like a story for children coming out to real life. Yet, there was that huge pang of curiosity about the letter. What was written in the letter, and why Santa sent it to them? Spitfire sighed and began to read the letter.
Dear Wonderbolts
I know that this letter will come as a surprise to everyone of you. If you're wondering why, I'll explain a bit later. This letter is not the only one I sent. Various letters have been sent to every member, and I need a favor for you.
There is a kid called Sprinkle Wing. He is an orphan living at the Big Heart Home for Children, and a big fan of yours, along with other children living there. His Christmas gift is to meet the team. To meet the Wonderbolts, and give the children in the orphanage presents. I want you to fulfill his Christmas gift. Don't you worry about the children's gifts. I'll will meet at your training grounds tomorrow at night, and I'll be lending you the gifts.
Once again, I know this is surprising, but it would be pretty good for the child if he meets his heroes.
Signed, Santa Claus.
Spitfire moved her eyes from up to down, and after reading completely the letter, her expression softened, a warm smile starting form across her face. Before Soarin could say something, Spitfire gave him the letter, simply telling him to read it. Soarin did as he was told, and began to read the letter. As Spitfire expected, her boyfriend had a smile on his face.
"Okay, this is..." Soarin trailed off, and chuckled. "This is unbelievable, but since it involves a kid's wish, I'm in."
"You said it," Spitfire said with a chuckle of her own, and looked up at the sky. "We have no choice. We must do it."
"Agreed," Soarin nodded, and flashed a happy grin. "Besides that we'll make kids happy, we'll meet in person. I mean, the real Santa. Not a person in a Santa costume."
Spitfire simply smiled at his enthusiasm. Just then, her phone rang inside the pocket of her pants. Spitfire pulled out her phone, and noticed that it was a message sent by Fleetfoot. Another ring from the phone, another message showed up, this time from Misty Fly.
"Well, let's gather the guys together at the training grounds to talk about this," Spitfire said as she began typing a message for all of her comrades.
It's quite an understatement on the situation the Wonderbolts found themselves. Nonetheless, they didn't wanted to disappoint the little fan. New priority for The Wonderbolts, make this day for the children at that orphanage memorable.
Two days later, Wing's fever has subsided. While he wasn't 100% cured, Wing was now allowed to stay outside, but not for too long. That didn't bother Sprinkle Wing, though, and he didn't minded staying all day in the bed, and for that, he waited patiently not just for the fever to go away, but also for Christmas day.
It was the early hours of Dec. 25th, and the sun was starting to rise behind the horizon. As expected, the first thing the kids did was to go where the tree was for their gifts. Some of them didn't come because of being sleepy heads. To be fair, the night before the orphanage held a Christmas eve party, which went all well, and the kids had fun, but staying up late left some of them tired.
Everyone in the orphanage enjoyed the Christmas party. The kids talked about the stuff they like, which also applied to the members of the staff, while some kids were listening to a Christmas story read by Sugar Flare.
Notably, the orphanage received a special visit from the Rainbooms, and unsurprisingly, the owner had requested Pinkie Pie to set up the party. He also allowed Pinkie to invite her friends, knowing well that the group was a rock band, so they could plays songs for the kids, and maybe even interact with them.
Rainbow Dash and Rarity have already visited the place before. In the weekends, Rainbow came there to play with the kids in the courtyard, mainly soccer, or basketball. Rarity came to donate money for the place, using the gains from the sales of her boutique, and also played with the kids, though unlike Rainbow, the games were table games.
Sprinkle Wing, Patch, and the children got to meet the rest of the Rainbooms, and new friendships were formed. What the kids enjoyed was a smooth accordion rendition of a Christmas song, courtesy by Pinkie Pie, and each of the Rainbooms teaching them the importance of Friendship, and six virtues: Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, and Redemption.
Sugar Flare let out a warm sight after taking a sip of her cup of hot chocolate, standing at the orphanage's balcony. In her opinion, the best drink for these days. Much to the surprise of others who have meet her, not getting her tongue burned from the drink was a surprising feat. Rather than going downstairs, she decided to watch the sun rise that will welcome another Christmas morning.
A sound of a engine was heard, but Sugar didn't paid heed to it, believing it to be a bus carrying passengers coming across the street. The sounds of bus became closer and closer, and the mere moment Sugar took a look at the bus, her eyes widened in surprise as the vehicle was approaching to the orphanage.
The bus was colored in cyan and yellow, with the most notable aspect of it was the symbol of the Wonderbolts sealed at the sides. Sugar then fixed her gaze at the red ribbon a the top of the bus, which she found it weird. The thing that piqued her curiosity was a sled, that had a resemblance to the sled usually seen in any depiction of Santa Claus, attached to the bus, and it carried a big red bag.
Sugar blinked a few times before realizing what this meant. "Oh, right. His wish."
A big smile formed on her face, and she quickly went back inside the orphanage. She had little doubt, but if one thing she learned from Christmas stories, is that the most of the good things happen out of nowhere, most commonly courtesy of Santa himself.
"I know I said this before, but what happened yesterday was pretty rad," Sky Stinger commented, leaning against his seat, with her girlfriend, Vapor Trail sitting beside him.
"No kidding," Vapor muttered, looking at the photos she took at Santa, or rather, the silhouette of him with his reindeers carrying his sled in the sky.
"That makes it ten times he said that," Sun Chaser muttered, looking outside the window. "Not that I disagree with him."
"Will people believe that we meet Santa?" Star Hunter asked, who was sitting beside Silver Zoom, looking at him with a curious expression.
"Don't know. Probably only the kids, as not many people believe in him," Silver replied, giving a small shrug of his shoulders.
Midnight Strike chuckled. "Yeah, but me? I always believed he existed."
"So, you believe me?" Fleetfoot typed on her cell phone, a message for her younger sister, Night Glider.
"I want to, to be honest," Night's response came later with an emoji of a smiling head. "Still, have a good time there, sis."
Fleetfoot smiled warmly and typed back her reply. "I will, and when I get to visit you later, I'll have a gift for you."
Spitfire looked over her shoulder at the members chatting with each other, a small smile on her face as she fixed her gaze back at the road. She would liked to have Christmas party with her companions, but make no mistake, meeting with Santa Claus and helping him to deliver Wing's Christmas gift was way better. For the occasion, everyone had Santa hats on their heads, and clad in their Wonderbolt jackets with the males in matching denim pants, and the women in matching denim skirts, though some women wore knee length sport shorts.
"Hey, everyone, I think we are getting closer," Cobalt Wheel, the bus driver, commented, pointing at a building.
Spitfire looked at the direction where Cobalt pointed at, a smile starting to form on her face, and looked back at her friends. "Hey, everyone! Get ready!"
Wing slowly opened his eyes and let out a yawn as he sat up in his bed. He let out a cough, but unlike before, this cough was small and his throat almost didn't feel it was sore. Wing smiled, knowing that he was almost cured of his cold, and that smile got even wider now that it was time for the Christmas presents.
Before he could climb down of his bed, however, the door of his bedroom opened and Sugar Flare came inside with a friendly smile, closing the door.
"Morning, sleepy head," Sugar greeted as walked up to his bed, grabbing a chair to take a seat. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling better. My throat isn't that much sore, and I think my headache is gone," Wing happily replied.
Sugar's own smile only widened at that and she let out a chuckle. "Nice to know."
"So..." Wing started, looking down at the floor. "The Wonderbolts will come?"
Sugar didn't replied. Instead, she picked Wing up by his armpits and placed him on her back, eliciting a confused expression on the kid's face. Carrying the kid on her back, Sugar left the room, heading downstairs to the lobby. Sprinkle Wing opted to not say something, although he started to wonder if the Wonderbolts really came to the orphanage, which made him deep down excited.
"Hey, where are the gifts?" that was the first thing that Sugar and Wing heard when they arrived to the lobby.
All the kids of the orphanage were already in the lobby, starting at the bottom of the Christmas tree. Much to Sugar and Wing's surprise, there weren't any gifts under the tree. Sugar gulped, fearing the worst that could happen. A chorus of kids crying, heartbroken that Santa didn't delivered their gifts. Definitely not pleasant at all.
"Maybe Santa Claus hasn't arrived yet to the city," Patch said, catching the attention of the others kids. "Hey, is still Christmas, so maybe at one point he will appear."
A few moments later, the kids made a sound of understanding, some nodding, and some saying things like "That's right", "There many houses", and "Maybe he went to get a quick snack for him and his reindeers".
Sugar let out a sigh of relief. Patch, that little sweetheart. She felt the need to hug her tightly for keeping the spirits of the kids high, but what about the presents of the kids? As far as Sugar understood Wing's gift, the gifts for the kids should be under the tree, while the Wonderbolts would come to the orphanage to deliver more gifts to the kids.
"Excuse me, this is the Big..." a voice suddenly said through a megaphone, only to trail off. "Umm, wait a moment. Let me read it again. Okay, for anyone inside the house, this is the Big Heart Home for Children?"
The voice came from outside the orphanage, which caught the attention of the kids, Wing, Sugar, and the members of the staff.
"Who's that?" Wing asked as he climbed down to the floor.
Sugar had a knowing smile and looked down at Wing. "Get your winter clothes, kay?" she said and fixed her gaze on the rest of the kids. "Little guys, get your winter clothes. I think there's someone who wants to meet you all."
"One... Two... Three!" Soarin yelled as he along with Misty, Silver, Sky, and Surprise, grabbed the heavy bag, and carried it carefully to the front of the orphanage. "Set it down gently to the ground."
"Pens are ready in case they want autographs?" Spitfire asked to the other players inside the bus, placing her hands on her hips and wearing her military sunglasses.
Everyone nodded and raised their pens. "Ready and set!"
Spitfire smirked, and gave a thumbs up of approval. "That's the spirit."
With that said, Spitfire led her teammates out of the bus, while the others set down the bag. Everything's set, and while the lack of paparazzi was very welcomed by her, it would be nice to let everyone know about the event that was about to unfold. That's when a lightbulb pop up in her mind.
"Cobalt, do you have a camera?" Spitfire asked, looking up the driver, who was at the top of the bus and holding a megaphone.
"Well, not exactly. My cell phone will be fine to record. You want this to be recorded?" Cobalt asked, pulling out his cellphone.
Spitfire gave a slow nod. "Yeah... I want to share this moment with the fans."
Soarin knew well what she meant, which brought a smile to his face. He knew it wasn't for publicity, but rather to share a special moment.
As if on cue, the doors of the orphanage opened. Cobalt started to record with his cellphone, the Wonderbolts got the gifts out of the bag, and Spitfire took a deep breath.
The moment Wing walked out of the door with Sugar, his eyes widened in shock. "No way..."
"So, where's the little champ who wished for us?" Spitfire asked, showing a friendly smile.
The next thing Spitfire knew, she was tackled with a hug from Wing around her waist, a excited squeal coming out from his lips. Naturally, Sugar had the biggest smile on her face, and the Wonderbolts couldn't help but smile warmly at this sight. Spitfire's smile only grew, and she returned the hug.
"Are you Sprinkle Wing?" Spitfire asked in gentle tone, breaking the hug.
Wing happily nodded. "Yeah! That's me! I'm glad you guys came!"
The kids came out of the orphanage, including Patch, and as expected, they squealed with excitement. Patch was the one that was the most affected, staring in silence at the Wonderbolts, and the bag with gift that they brought, before a big smile drew across her face.
Fleetfoot pulled out a gift, and read the note that was attached to it. "Okay, this is one from Patch," she said and looked at the kids with a warm smile. "Who's Patch?"
Patch quickly ran towards Fleetfoot, and instead of grabbing her gift, she grabbed her hand. "Nice to meet you, Fleetfoot! I'm Patch! I'm a fan of Soarin, but you're also my favorite player!"
Fleetfoot chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Same to you, Patch."
"Okay, time to get this started, team!" Soarin said, a wide smile on his face as he pulled out another gift.
"Yeah!" the Wonderbolts happily replied, and they began with their work.
Thus, the all the kids, as well the members of the orphanage, got their presents, and said presents were exactly what they wanted for Christmas. They were surprised by this, since as far as the kids thought, Santa Claus is usually the one who delivers those gifts. Nonetheless, they gladly accepted the gifts.
"To my best fan, Sprinkle Wing... Spitfire," the flame haired woman muttered, now inside the orphanage as she autographed Wing's soccer ball and the Wonderbolts still delivering the final gifts, smiling widely and handing the kid his soccer ball back. "There ya go!"
Wing took his soccer ball, and smiled up at Spitfire. "Thank you, really. I wanted to do something for my friends."
"Just doing the right thing, kid," Spitfire said, giving a wink to him.
"Stiil, how did you and the Wonderbolts got the gifts?" Wing asked, tilting his head in curiosity.
Spitfire chuckled, and she patted him in the head. "Let's say, we got help from someone."
"It was Santa?" Wing asked again.
"You could say that, but first, I want to ask you something," Spitfire said, her smile never leaving her face. "Do you wish to become a soccer player?"
Wing looked down at the floor, humming in wonder for little before answering. "Well, haven't decided yet."
"Eh, it's fine. Whatever thing you want to pursue, don't forget this," she said, the kid looking up at her again. "If you are brought down, get up. Use any criticism directed at you as motivation, and if you happen to be with people who support you, never leave them behind," Spitfire said and placed her hand on Wing's shoulder. "Never give up, Wing."
Wing balled up his hands into fists, and nodded. "You got it, Spitfire. I won't let down those close to me, just like you didn't let down your friends and fans."
Spitfire smirked, and crossed her arms. "That's the spirit, kid. With that kind of response, you would be already part of the rookie squad if you were older."
Wing smiled, and wrapped his hands around Spitfire, pulling his hero into another hug. Spitfire gave another smile of her own, and returned the hug.
For the kids and the staff of the Big Heart Home for Children, it was a memorable Christmas. For the Wonderbolts, it was a moment that they won't ever forget. If Santa Claus ever needs the team for another gift delivery at the orphanage, or at other orphanages, they would immediately step in and accept the offer. The main goals of the Wonderbolts are well known: Win the matches, lend a helping hand to the teammates, always be a good sport to the rivals, and always be there for the fans.
