You left the exhausted (maybe?) Element of Laughter behind, deciding the best course of action was to make your way to the train station. Ever since that School of Friendship was built, the amount of rail links between friendly countries skyrocketed. And Yakyakistan was no exception.

It only took you all the money that you were going to use to buy that new video game for Hearth's Warming - Gaea Everfree's Saga. Nothing like searching for a reason why crops are failing, tracing the problem to mystical fairies, and fighting a big forest monster with a pair of magic secateurs...but that could wait.

The train ride to Yakyakistan only took six hours, as opposed to the eighteen hours it used to take on the old Friendship Express, thanks to the Crystal Empire donating a high-speed crystal train to Equestria for their aid against Sombra several times. Not only the speed was upgraded, but the luxuries were off the charts.

Then came the difficult part, however. The rails ended at the gates of Yakyakistan, the city. It was the only settlement in the entire country, and it seemed to be utterly abandoned...at most, the meager amount of straw and wooden buildings could house one hundred and fifty of those hulking beasts of burden. How they were to survive in that climate, you dared not ask yourself.

More importantly, the map you collected from Pinkie stated that the hidden grove was situated far north of the tiny territory, and you realised you forgot to actually bring any supplies (except for your winter clothing and a few chocolate bars you stashed in your pocket a month ago and forgot about. Eugh.)

But was the lack of supplies going to stop you from grabbing and licking and sucking on your extra Hearth's Warming gifts? That may or may not even be given to you? Absolutely not. So you decided to trudge on past the tiny village, for miles and miles.

Along the way, barely able to see through the high winds, and just about capable of moving your fingers (even through your gloves) you managed to hike over a set of what looked like mountains, but were just a series of little ridges and foothills. Not much later, you were blown off your feet twice by the blizzard and had to rest a little while face down in the snow. If there was one thing you didn't want to do in this weather, it was sweat even a bit.

When the storm died down slightly, you were able to walk forward again without needing boots made of iron. Interestingly, you came across what looked like a half-buried anchor of a boat, with a long-frozen rope tied to its loop. What could one of those have been doing out in the snow like that?

A while later into your journey, after you stopped to rest once again and nearly shatter your teeth on frozen chocolate, a big polar bear walked up to you and looked down at you with pity.

"Gah!! Must...slowly crawl away...can't get eaten..." you shouted, quite ironically attracting the bear's attention even more.

"Hey...hey hey, calm down, bud, I'm not gonna eat you..." he said, holding out his paw and grabbing your hand.

Surprisingly, he helped you to your feet.

"Uh, heh...sorry, Mr. Polar Bear, your kind tends to be a little scary..." you said sheepishly.

"Indeed, we look scary, but we hate hurting others. My name's Chuck, nice to meet you."

You nodded politely. "Anon."

"Now, Anon, the only way you could have known how to get up here was Miss Pie having told you. You must be a friend of hers. She and I met last year."

You took out the ancient (or just yak-made) map and showed it to him. "I'm trying to see the Gift Givers. You know of them, right?"

"That's the only reason someone would ever come up here. C'mon, you look exhausted, I'll get you there, like I did for Pinkie," he said, smiling warmly.

"Weeeellll, ok then! I could use the help..." you sighed. He grabbed your arm and helped you up onto his back.

"Now sit back and enjoy the little light show above you, we'll be there in an hour," he called back to you, easily walking forward through the blizzard.

For the hour or so you rested on his back, you just tried to stay warm and watched the northern lights above you. The further Chuck walked into the storm, the brighter the lights became. And soon, you spotted small lamp-posts that could easily fit inside wardrobes. They were striped, like candy canes, and either gave green, yellow or red light out to their surroundings.

And with one last step of the polar bear, you noticed that all around you, the pine trees were decorated in the most beautiful lights you ever laid eyes on. They seemed to be made of crystal and were powered by the overwhelming amount of magical energy you felt in the air. On top of the sights, your nose picked up the smell of cinnamon and mint mixed together.

Chuck then allowed you to slide off his back. "Here we are, sir...the Gift Givers of the Grove."

You turned back to him, waving goodbye. "Hey, thank you so much for the ride, it was a most pleasant journey."

Chuck grinned and waved back, stepping back off into the blizzard. "Say hi to Pinkie for me!"

You continued to wave until he was out of sight. And then you turned around, noticing that the harsh winds and snow had stopped around you. In the distance, you could spot a small cabin with the lights on inside, the path to the front door decorated with candy canes. You ran to the cabin as fast as you could, eager to get out of the freezing weather.

As soon as you reached the front door, and put your fist up to knock, the retired-looking one in heavy green clothing and a scarf that fell over her back yanked the door open, pulling you inside with a shocking amount of force.

"By Antla Claus's glowing nose, what took you so long?" she scolded, wagging a finger at you.

The first glimpse of the place was like heaven for you as a child...and heaven for you in the present. (Hahaha.) Gifts littered the floor of the place, all wrapped up nicely, but with no tags for any specific creatures. Garlands and wreaths and coloured lights hung from the beams above you, and there was an enormous pine tree with even more packages shoved under its needles.

A small furnace warmed the place, making it feel cozy and shielded from the harshness of the outdoors. The smell of cookie dough, as well as the minty and cinnamony smell you picked up outside, was driving your nostrils insane and making you drool. A small archway led to a small, yet homely kitchen, and a staircase led to...well, upstairs.

"Hey hey, arent'cha gonna gimme an answer?" the one with glasses demanded. "What were you doing out in the snow? I mean, did Pinkie really have ta show ya where we are?"

"Oh, uhh, was just admiring the place, Miss..." you started. Just then, the oven in the kitchen dinged, and the middle aged reindeer-lady from the poster walked out into the living room with a tray of the most delicious-looking pastries you'd ever seen.

"The cookies are rea-oh...and who might you be? How did you find us?" she asked, placing them down on a coffee table.

"His name's Anon, and he wanted some extra presents for Hearth's Warming, so he came ALLLLL this way to see us...crazy youngsters..." the older one responded.

A new, younger voice chimed in, and the young teenager-looking reindeer girl floated gently down the flight of stairs...and she had a pair of adorable stockings on her feet. The same kind that could fit gifts and candy inside. The cloven hoof-boots she wore in the poster were gone.

"Don't worry, he's not here to STEAL any toys or anything...I know why he was cumming to see us," she said. You could tell she knew exactly what she said, and she had the most evil little grin on her youthful, freckled face.

"Ummm, right, so what's your names? Considering you already know mine..." you said, slightly creeped out by the younger's demeanor.

They stood side by side, the old one speaking first, then the middle, then the youngest. "My name's Aurora, young'un! I know all that's already went on before!"

"I'm Bori, nice to meet you! I, well, mostly just try to keep these crazy kids from going wild," she giggled, earning a huff from Aurora.

"And I'm Alice. I'm able see the future, like what you're going to ask next."

You felt a strong compulsion to ask an odd series of questions, and the freckled reindeer stared up at you expectantly, with a hint of confusion on her features. "Ummm...Aurora...Bori...Alice...at this time of year?"

Alice held up her hand. "Yes. At this time of day."

"In this part of the country...?"

She nodded. "I have no idea why you're asking this...but yes. Obviously."

"Localised-"

"No, obviously not entirely within our kitchen. You saw that as you made your way over here," Alice interrupted, staring at you like you had twelve heads.

"So, seeing as you know the future, then you've already got...presents ready to give to me...?"

Alice chuckled, shaking her head. "Sorry, my presumptuous...and rather gross, friend...the power of foresight and the impulse to act is just like the interplay between intelligence and wisdom."

"G-gross...well, I never..." you said, knowing exactly what she meant by that. Aurora held a hand out and continued speaking for the young future-oriented reindeer girl.

"One might have intelligence enough to realise that cakes are bad for us, but we may not have the wisdom to stop cramming that delicious-looking fatty cream cake into our salivating mouth."

You sighed and rolled your eyes. "So in your case, you have the power of foresight, but you're too lazy to act on it?"

Bori threw a cookie at your face in displeasure at your assumption. Despite your face being covered in crumbs, you caught the cookie as it slid down your coat, and munched on it with vigour.

"Not LAZY, Anon, but prudent. What could you have possibly come for that would make Alice not want to act on her foresight, hmm? There has to be a GOOD REASON she called you gross..." she said, indignantly, her cloven hoof-shaped boot tapping on the floor.

Alice quickly stepped in front of you, spreading her arms to defend you from any more cookies being used as chakrams. "Whoa, hold on Bori, it's fine, he's not gonna hurt anyone...I just found it kinda funny that something so weird was what he ran all the way up here for."

Aurora nodded and shot you an accusatory look, her aged lips curling into the slightest grin as she straightened her glasses. "The little fella went n' did stuff to that Pinkie Pie girl to find us...and after some weird things done to her feet, the poor girl gave him the map!"

Bori gasped quietly, her eyes going wide, and her normally-pink face going red at the realisation that she got all bent out of shape for no good reason. "Wait...so he wasn't here to steal presents meant for kids across the world...? H-heh, uhm, sorry Anon...didn't realise Alice was just having fun..."

You shook your head and grinned sheepishly, still unable to speak since you were munching on the cookie.

Alice giggled, wiggling her toes beneath the stockings. "These puppies were the only extra 'presents' he wanted. I just HAD to tease him for a bit...oh, what a picture, his eyes barely ever left my feet since he saw them!"

Aurora facepalmed, and sat down on her rocking chair, using her broken antler-wand to slip off her boots and rested her head in her hand. "Well, besides the lil' scandalous stuff with Pinkie Pie, I think Antla Claus would say he's been good this year...whaddya say, Alice?"

Alice floated up and sat by the fireplace, resting her loosely-stockinged feet up near the flames to warm them. "Oh, he's gonna be REAL good, especially after he gets his little present..."

Bori's face remained red, as she stepped back towards the small kitchen, her earrings jingling quietly. Much of the curvy pink reindeer lady's body was exposed, like in the poster, but her maroon boots remained on her feet, sadly concealing them. "I guess, if Aurora and Alice say you've been good...you can come with me and help bake..."

You began to sweat, staring and drooling over Alice's small, nimble (and hidden) toes, and then shifting your glance to Aurora's aged, yet silky feet rubbing together to stay warm. You also desperately wanted to follow Bori to the kitchen...to see what Bori's feet were able to do...

Alice laughed and stroked her own right sole through the large stocking, running her nails along the arch. "You only get to pick one...because you're way more into one of us than the other two. I know it. Tell me whose feet you so badly want to have as a present."

But which do you choose? Aurora, the elder and most experienced? Bori, the motherly and curvy? Or Alice, the younger and cutest?

Author's Note

For lovers of Aurora: Here
For lovers of Bori: Here
For lovers of Alice: Here