Sugarcoat sighed as she walked through the abandoned hallways of Crystal Preparatory Academy. Her bag felt three times as heavy as it usually did. The corridors were empty in this part of the building anyway. Where were her classmates? Then she began to wonder if she was in the wrong part of the school entirely, and she had to be in the other building. That would mean going back down the stairs, running outside into the freezing cold, and hiking up three flights of stairs again with her stupid bag.
She made the long journey through the dark, swirling snowstorm to the second school building, but found that the doors were locked. The same had happened to the building that she had just left. She was alone in the dark and the cold, but she was not afraid. Someone would come to help her, and then she would give them a lecture about locking the doors when students had to get around the school to their lessons.
She sat under a balcony and watched the lights on the Christmas tree inside the window change from red to gold to green to blue. She didn't mind the cold. She had been much colder before now, but she was still annoyed at being shut out and she was still going to get her father to speak to the school board. That would sort it out.
"You know, you're supposed to feel some kind of fear or guilt. I'm certain that is how it works."
The male voice startled her, and she looked around to find the speaker. In front of her was a horse of some kind, a grey unicorn with a red horn and a black splodge on his flank.
"Um, hello? What is this? Who are you? Leave me alone!" she demanded.
"Hello, Sugarcoat. This is a dream. I am Sombra, a pony from the land you may know as Equestria and, to my horror, I cannot leave you alone for the meantime as I have been sent here to talk to you," he answered.
Sugarcoat knew of Equestria. A land of magical talking ponies that could only be accessed via a portal in the grounds of Canterlot High School, unless you had enough magic to create a portal yourself. She - along with her friends and the old principal - had once pressured a classmate into using stolen magic to win the Friendship Games, and the result was a she-demon, the ground disappearing and a lot of screaming. She hadn't felt too bad about it, because nobody was hurt and the principal resigned.
"What are you doing here, pony?"
"I am a servant of Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of Equestria, and I have been asked to walk through the realm of dreams and help those who are in need. A laborious job if I ever knew one, especially since she and I are not on good terms. However, it's either helping her or being turned to stone, so I might as well help her."
"Ouch. Pony Twilight's got some anger issues, then."
"She's Princess Twilight," he corrected her. "I am here because I have recognised somepony not dissimilar to myself, Sugarcoat. Your name is full of sickly sweet irony as you never sugarcoat your words. You are honest, but agonisingly so. You'll end up burning all of your bridges. I used to rule an empire with an iron hoof, and it got taken away from me three times. My then subjects hated me, and I had not one friend. I also was obliterated, brought back from the dead, killed again, and once again resurrected only to be put in this most miserable of situations. Believe me, I'm not here for my own benefit."
"If you're not here for your own selfish whims, then why are you here?"
He gagged. "I am a bad example. I am somepony that others do not want to turn into. Being forced to visit the dreams of others to show them what will happen if they don't behave is, as you might have guessed, a rather depressing job. From zero to hero and back to zero."
"I still don't believe you. How am I going to turn into you?"
"I can assure you that you won't," he laughed. It was a bitter, twisted thing, not a laugh of happiness. "You will never sink quite as low as I have."
"That doesn't answer the question properly. You're really bad at pep talks and encouragement. Far worse than the sports coaches at school."
"Takes one to know one," he answered swiftly. He began to walk in slow circles around her. His hoofsteps made no sound in the snow, and Sugarcoat thought it was unnatural. "It happens slowly. Your friends notice small things, like how you didn't go shopping with them when they cleared their schedules or that they bought you Hearth's Warming - wait, you humans call it Christmas - anyway, Christmas presents and you didn't get anything for them. They notice how you never do anything nice for others without a string attached, such as your rude comments. They decide that they are stuck in a one way friendship, where they put in time, money and effort but get nothing back. They don't want to have friends like that and cut you off. It would be better in the long run to get them a little gift and hold your tongue."
"So what? What are friends when you can have entire empires and be rich and powerful? You are only saying these things to cover your flank."
He lashed around, anger showing on his face for the first time as he snapped, "Now that is a bit of an insult. While I would never admit these things to Princess Twilight, I have seen the error of my ways and do not exactly want to see that so many others are trotting this wonderful path to nowhere. While I can lead the horse to water, I cannot make it drink. You are at the water's edge.
"I cannot show you that things were brilliant in the past, as you have not lost your friends yet and have nopony to make amends with. All I can say is that you have friends right now, and you won't if you don't do something about it. Just," he paused, closing his eyes momentarily to find the right words, "Just think about it, ok?"
"Ok you-"
"Ah ah ah. That is not how you be nice to others." His voice was like a parent's when they were admonishing a child. It ridiculed her.
"Fine!" She facepalmed, sighing in defeat. "I get what you mean. You want me to be nice. I guess it could be worse."
"That's all I am looking for. I'll be back in a couple of nights to check that you actually listened to my advice. If not, I'll have a few things to say to the Princess, who frequently contacts Dean Cadance on your side of the mirror portal."
"That's a lie."
"It's not. I swear on my life."
"Well, I need more than that, since you can somehow be brought back from the dead. I don't know how that works, but I'm not taking risks."
"Then be good, and heed my advice. Dean Cadance will be annoyed if you don't."
He jumped through a window and disappeared. Curious, she tried as well, and she ended up inside Canterlot Mall, right by the Carousel Boutique. As much as she disliked the girl who ran the store, she knew that, if she visited in the real world, she could get the perfect Christmas presents here. Then, closer to Christmas Day, she could always go to Sugarcube Corner and purchase some baked goodies for her friends. Even if it was just to get the unicorn to stop bothering her, she would buy something, and go out of her way make her friends happy over the Christmas holidays.
"What was it you said to Sugarcoat about seeing the error of your ways?" Twilight questioned Sombra with amusement.
"I was only saying that to get her to listen to me! I swear!"
"I'm impressed. I think the Crystal Ponies might even let you back into the Crystal Empire over Hearth's Warming as long as you behave. I'm sure Prince Shining Armour and Princess Cadance will let you stay in the Crystal Castle. And I know how much Flurry likes you..."
"Fine. I have changed, and I would like to return to the Empire." He grinned. Maybe this isn't too bad, he thought to himself. All's well that ends well.
Author's Note
Writing this was a little challenge, since I haven't watched any EqG in a while. It's on my list of things to do if I have time over the holidays, but Hearth's Warming is a crazy time of year. 
This was a Jinglemas 2020 story written as a Secret Santa for another site user. It's unrelated to the other projects I have been working on.
Happy Hearth's Warming and Happy New Year, everypony! Let's see what 2021 has to offer! Probably not much, lol. 
But let's stay in the friendship moment. 
