Equestria Girls Christmas: Santa Claus is Comin to Townby CrashGuy41ChaptersBaby ClausKris Goes to SombertownAn Act of KindnessThe Burgermeister's PlanThe LegacyBaby Claus DECEMBER 24, 1969 Today, children everywhere are making preparations for an event of world-shaking significance-- the annual visit of Santa Claus. Informed sources report legions of junior citizens are making monumental efforts not to cry and not to pout. Meanwhile, letters by the thousands have been flooding postal facilities at the North Pole. Yes, indeed. Hundreds of letters were being delivered from children across the globe. Some of them asked for toys, but a lot of them asked Santa some questions. Some of them included questions about why he wore a red suit, why he comes down the chimney whenever they're asleep, and the list goes on and on. But if you were to ask me, I'd tell you that I can answer all of those questions. You see, I'm kind of an expert on the big man's history. There are a few things you should know, first, though. You see, Santa is a busy man. He has no time to play. He's got millions and millions of stockings to fill on Christmas Day. So, you better write your letter now and mail it right away. Because he's getting ready with his reindeer and his sleigh. Now then, with that out of the way, you want to know all about Santa, huh? Well, the best place to start is at the very beginning when Santa was just a little baby. Now, don't sound too surprised. You see, everybody's got to be a baby at least once in their lives. Now, this was many years ago. I believe it was around the late 1890's or so. It was in the country of Germany, you see. It was during the last known influence of the German Empire. And in that country there was a small city called Sombertown. It was a cold, cold place which shivered in the shadows of the strange Mountain of the Whispering Winds. People were often poor and gloomy and barely smiled at each other. Now, the main reason for all this gloom was the mayor, or the Burgomaster. He was an old, stout balding man with grey hair at his sides. He was a mean old grouch who went by Burgermeister Meisterburger. One night, he was enjoying a feast of a dish called mutton, which is goat meat, when his second-in-command, Grimsley, burst into quarters with a blanket in his arms. "Herr Burgermeister! Herr Burgermeister!" he called. "Look what was discovered on your front stoop!" "What? What, Grimsley?" Burgermeister asked. "The milk? The daily paper?" "No, sir, a baby." "Oh, is that all?" After he heard those words, however, the Burgermeister choked on his mutton before coming to his senses. Grimsley then took out a note that was found with the infant and read it. "Please, sir, take care of my child and protect him from the dangers of the Mountains of the Whispering Winds. He will be exceptional if only given the love he needs." The Burgermeister would have none of it, however. He even called the notion outrageous. He was curious about one thing, though: the child's name. "This is the only clue, sir," Grimsley said, pulling out a dog tag from the blanket. "It says: Claus." The Burgermeister, however, ordered Grimsley to immediately take the young infant to the orphanage. Grimsley obeyed and was soon on his way there with the baby on a sleigh. Sometime later, Grimsley was on his way during a snowstorm when the sleigh suddenly broke away and was carried away by the wind. That strange wind blew the little sleigh right up to the Mountain of the Whispering Winds. Many of the animals that saw the sleigh ran after it as fast as they could. They knew that they had to get to the sleigh fast. The reason? Well, you see, the mountain was home to the awful, the terrible-- oh, it's hard for me to even say his name. That mountain was the home of the... Winter Warlock. He was the strange magician of the North. His only companion was a demon-like creature named Sunset Shimmer. She had deep red skin, moderate cyan eyes, red, bat-like wings and fiery yellow-and-red hair that often blew in the wind. She wore a dress that resembled parts of a flame. The dress was yellow, black and red in color. She also wore black-and-red colored boots and she had a weird yellow-and-red colored tail, as well. The two of them lived in a ghostly palace of ice, with the Winter Warlock practicing his strange spells and snowy incantations while Sunset delighted in frightening travelers with her ominous otherworldly voice. That's why the animals knew they had to hide that baby as fast as they could. If the Winter Warlock found him, there's no telling what he would do. Once the Winter Warlock passed, the animals took a sleigh up a mountain with the baby on it and started taking it to where it belonged. The animals traveled just beyond the mountain to a place called Rainbow River Valley. True to its name, the river was indeed a rainbow. And there, by a bend in the magical stream, was the home of a jolly family of little people. Elves, as we might call them. Kringle was their real name. One of the animals knocked on the door knocker in order for someone to notice the baby. They then ran off so they wouldn't be discovered. The door was answered by an elf named Dingle. Dingle Kringle, to be precise. Dingle was the first one to notice the baby and called for his brothers, Wingle, Bingle, Tingle, and Zingle. All of them were enamored by the baby and took it inside. They brought it to the elf queen, the incredibly kind Tanta Kringle. There were two teenage-looking girls by her side. Despite looking like teenagers, however, these two girls were actually in their mid-eighties, as they didn't age like you and I do. The one on her right had yellow skin, bright blue eyes and pink hair. She was wearing a bright blue-colored dress and even had flowers in her hair. Her name was Fluttershy. The one on Tanta's left was named Twilight. She had lavender skin, deep purple eyes, and blue, purple and pink hair in strands, with the primary color being blue. She wore a beautiful purple dress, a purple necklace and glasses, as she had poor eyesight. They too were enamored by the baby. "A baby! What a splendid idea!" Tanta cooed. "He shall live with us, and sleep with us, and drink warm cocoa with us." "Aw, he's so cute," Fluttershy cooed as she gently tickled him. The baby giggled upon being tickled by the kind-hearted girl. "What will we call him, Tanta Kringle?" Bingle asked. "His license says Claus," Dingle pointed out as the license came out of the blanket. "Isn't that a strange name for a baby?" Twilight asked. "Really strange," Fluttershy nodded. "He must be special in some way." "He looks like a Kris to me." "I think that's a splendid name, Twilight," Tanta exclaimed. "Kris Kringle." The little Kringles cheered. They had a new member of their family, now. And they were going to raise him with the utmost love and care that he needed. Author's Note I did not own the Family Home Entertainment version of this Rankin/Bass special, for those who are asking. I owned the Golden Books version on VHS. I currently have the special on DVD in my downstairs family room. The opening VHS commercials are to give the story a feeling of nostalgia for those who owned the Family Home Entertainment Christmas Classic Series VHS tapes when they were young. Kris Goes to SombertownWell, a few years passed and as soon as Kris was old enough, the Kringles set up a little school for him in their home. They taught him all of the essentials. How to read, write, talk, and count stars on a clear, crystal night. The most important thing they taught him, however, was how to make toys. That's right. Make toys. That was the Kringles' main occupation. They were toymakers. Yes, even Twilight and Fluttershy. The only problem was there were no children to give them to. See, Sombertown was on the other side of the Mountain of the Whispering Winds, if you recall. And the little elves just couldn't make it past the Winter Warlock. And as a result, the toys were instead piled up outside the Kringle house. Not even Fluttershy or Twilight dared to go near the mountain. You see, Fluttershy, true to her name, was incredibly shy and often startled easily. So for her, going towards the mountain was absolutely out of the question. As for Twilight, well, she had a traumatic experience near the mountain. One of the Winter Warlock's monster trees grabbed her when she was younger. She had barely managed to get out of there before the Winter Warlock showed up. Since then, she had stayed clear of the mountain all together. Even so, she really wanted to see the Kringles' toys get played with by Sombertown's children just as much as Tanta did. "It's really quite sad," Tanta said one day while looking out the window at the toy stack. "We will never be able to transport our toys over the mountain." "Someday when I'm bigger, I'll take them for you, Tanta Kringle," Kris said reassuringly. "That will be the day. We will be great toymakers again as we once were." "When was that, Tanta?" "Oh, years and years ago," she explained getting out the Kringle history book. "The Kringles were world-renowned. For you know, we were the very first royal toymakers. The first toymakers to the king!" She then explained things further with a song: As if by instinct, Kris made his first toy on his first try. The Kringles, Twilight and Fluttershy were so proud of him that they all clapped at his handiwork. But the Kringles and the girls weren't his only teachers. The woodland animals taught him, as well. From the deer, to the squirrels, and even the rabbits. The seals, however, taught him the most important. It was how to have fun and of course, how to laugh, real hard and wonderful, like he meant it. Well, years went by, and finally Kris was a fine young man. This meant that he could finally fulfill his promise and take the Kringles' toys across the Mountain of the Whispering Winds. "It would be nice if somebody played with our toys," Wingle said. "If only one of my dollies could be held tight by a little girl," Tingle said. "It's decided! Tomorrow, I leave for Sombertown," Kris exclaimed. The Kringles and the girls cheered. They were so excited that someone was finally going to play with the toys that they worked so hard on. Later that night, at approximately 3:00 in the morning, Kris was packing the toys in a sack when he heard Tanta come in the room. "Did I wake you up?" he asked. "I was awake, anyhow," she explained as she handed him a box. "I made this for your trip." Kris opened the box and was surprised to see that Tanta went through all the trouble to make him a red Kringle suit in his size for the trip to Sombertown. And to this day, he's worn one just like it. A red suit with white trim, along with a black belt and black boots. Well, once everyone woke up the next morning, Kris said goodbye to all his friends, the girls, the Kringles, and the animals. Just as night was falling, Kris started to make his way through the dismal forest, which lay at the foot of the warlock and Sunset's mountain. As he was traveling through it, he suddenly bumped into a penguin, who was going through the forest rather quickly. Kris soon found out that the penguin was lost and looking for the South Pole. He offered to take care of him and he named him Topper. He then led Topper towards his destination of Sombertown, when the two of them were suddenly stopped by an ominous voice. "Who dares go near this mountain?" the voice asked as snow started falling. Topper leapt into Kris's arms as Kris slowly backed away. Another voice then boomed, giving out a warning. "Go back! Or you are... doomed!" "Come on, Topper!" Kris exclaimed. The two of them ran as fast as they could to get away from the voices of both the Winter Warlock and Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer laughed with the Winter Warlock as they fled from the mountain. "That was so good!" Sunset laughed. "No time to celebrate," Winter Warlock said. "We shall get him when he returns. He's got to cross our mountain on the way home. And then... ha, ha, ha! No more being a nice guy!" "I like how you think!" The two of them laughed sinisterly as they plotted to get Kris on his way home for trespassing on their turf. Speaking of Kris, both he and Topper eventually made it out of the dismal forest and saw Sombertown straight in the distance. "There's Sombertown just sitting there waiting for us and our good Kringle toys!" Kris exclaimed excitedly. That's what they thought. But what they didn't realize was at that very moment in the Sombertown City Hall, the mayor, Burgermeister Meisterburger, was about to make a grand entrance to the people of the town. As he traveled down the steps of City Hall, however, he suddenly tripped over a toy duck, causing him to fall all the way down the stairs. Sometime later, Burgermeister Meisterburger was in his quarters laying down in his bed with an ice pack on his head. His doctor took his thermometer out of his mouth and examined it. "Your temperature seems to be normal, sir," he said. "But it was just as I suspected. According to your x-ray, you've broken your funny bone." The doctor headed out the door and the Burgermeister asked Grimsley what it was that caused him to trip. Grimsley revealed that it was the toy duck on the steps. Burgermeister Mesiterburger was furious. He hated toys. "Either they are going or I am going!" he exclaimed. He then ordered Grimsley to write down a new law that he was about to endorse through song: As soon as he finished telling Grimsley the details, the law was made official and it was as follows: Toys are hereby declared illegal, immoral and unlawful. And anyone found with a toy in his possession will be placed under arrest and thrown in the dungeon. NO KIDDING The law was final. Signed and sealed by Burgermeister Meisterburger himself. Once it was put into effect, the soldiers told the children to give up their toys by the order of the Burgermeister. It was a sad day for the children. They had just lost the ability to play in the streets with their toys. Kris had just arrived in town at that very moment all of this was happening. The townspeople didn't know what to make of him. He was very strange looking compared to everyone else. "Good morning, ma'am," Kris greeted a local woman politely. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself young man," she chastised. "Wearing such outlandish clothes." "Clothes? Look, all I want to do is give away these toys." Hearing that very word sent everyone into a panic. They all locked their doors and windows, believing him to be a menace. Kris was so confused. He had no idea what was going on. As he continued to travel through the town, he saw two children, most likely a brother and sister, doing their chores by the town's fountain. There were also some teenage girls with them. One of them had white skin, deep blue eyes, and purple hair with diamonds in it like a hairpin. She was wearing a beautiful light-purple and pink dress, along with a pink choker that a diamond in the middle. Her name was Rarity. There was also another girl with cyan skin, magenta-colored eyes and hair with all the colors of the rainbow. Her name was Rainbow Dash and she was wearing a blue-and-grey dress, along with blue-green colored shoes. Both she and Rarity were also doing chores with the children. The other two, however, were sitting on the fountain watching the others do their chores. One of them had light orange skin, green eyes, and light blonde hair. She was wearing a navy-and-green colored dress, along with an apple-shaped hairpin in her hair. Her name was Applejack. The final one was a strange girl, to put it lightly. She had pink skin, blue eyes, and pink hair. She wore a purple dress underneath a pink corset that was tied together by a blue bow. Her name was Pinkie Pie. "Well, what's going on, here?" Kris asked. "We're doing our chores," the young girl said dryly. "Yeah, and no more playing," the boy groaned. "I honestly think that it's absolutely abysmal that they passed this stupid law," Rarity groaned. "Tell me about it," Pinkie said. "I was just on my way to give the Burgermeister some of my famous Hazelnut Macaroon cookies, but he immediately yelled at me and forced me to drop them! No one's ever gotten mad about my cookies before trying them before." "Did ya happen to make extras?" Applejack asked. "Thankfully, yes, I did. I put them in a bag just before leaving." Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out a paper bag that smelled like freshly baked cookies. "May I try one?" Kris asked. "Absoltivalutely!" Pinkie exclaimed. She handed him a cookie and he took a bite out of it. "Wow. These are good." "Thanks. It's how I make a living. In fact, it's the only way I make a living. Although this year has been really tough with Applejack losing almost half of her crops." "Tell me about it," Applejack sighed. "Winter came early this year and nearly killed most of our wheat crops. Ma family and I salvaged what we could to make enough dough for our bread and Pinkie's cookies." "Plus, things have been even harder since we can't really play anymore," Rainbow sighed. "No playing, eh?" Kris asked as he finished his cookie. "Are you washing out, uh, stockings?" "Uh-huh. It's one of our daily duties," the boy replied. "Then we hang them by the fireplace so they dry overnight," the girl added. "That's the only way they judge you around here, by how many chores you do and how clean your stockings are." "Is that so?" Kris asked. The boy nodded his head. "Well, you don't have to look so glum about it." "Why?" "I don't know, I just don't like sour faces. And I've got some real nice goodies for you... but not if you look like this." Kris made a Cheshire grin to illustrate what he meant. "You better watch out, better not cry, better not pout." "Why?" the pair asked. "I'm telling you why." "Yeah?" "Because I came to town! And look what I brought!" Kris dumped the toys out on to the street, much to everyone's surprise. "Oh, my gosh! He brought toys!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Real toys!" the boy gasped. "Why, sure!" Kris said with a bow. "Compliments of the Kringles." "But... but what about the Burgermeister?" the girl asked worriedly. "What about him? If wants a toy, he can have one. I'll send him a big, red yo-yo." Pinkie giggled at that comment. She could picture the Burgermeister playing with a toy like that. "Come on, let's play!" the boy told his friends. The children were just about to play, when they were suddenly stopped by a woman's voice. Who exactly was it? Kris was about to find out. An Act of KindnessA woman with blue eyes and auburn hair tied in a bun walked up to Kris. She was wearing a blue dress and had a lorgnette in her right hand. "You must not play with toys!" she said in a stuffy voice. "And who are you?" Kris asked. "That's Miss Jessica, our new schoolteacher," the girl explained. "Kris Kringle at your service, Miss Jessica." "How dare you come here in those ridiculous clothes and make fun of me!" she barked. "Clothes again? I wasn't making--" "And what do you mean by giving the children toys? Don't you know that toys are against the law?" "What?" "Yep. It's true," the girl nodded. "Gee, that's kind of a silly law." "That's what I keep saying," Rarity said. "Of course, almost nobody believes me just because I'm a minor!" "If the Burgermeister saw you, we could all be in great danger," Jessica said. "In danger from toys?" Kris asked as his eyes widened. "Why, that's the silliest thing I ever heard!" "Toys are frivolous, impractical, unproductive and--" Before she could continue, Kris reached into his bag and handed her a surprise toy: a China doll. "I've always wanted one since I was a little girl. But my parents wouldn't--" Jessica just kissed the doll as a way of showing her gratitude towards Kris. She tried to say thank you, but couldn't really find the words. Rarity immediately saw the signs and bumped Rainbow Dash with her elbow. "It's happening!" she squealed. "What is?" Rainbow asked. "Miss Jessica is in love!" "Yes, indeedy!" Pinkie added. "Hey, girls, what do you say you and Miss Jessica help me hand out these presents, huh? It's too big a job for an oversized Kringle and a little lost penguin," Kris chuckled. And they did so as Kris sang a song about love winning over hate: After the children received their toys, they all decided to play in the streets again. Unfortunately, no one knew that the Burgermeister was passing through at that time. Upon realizing that the children were playing with toys, he stopped what he was doing and shouted furiously at them. "You brats are under arrest!" he barked. Before his soldiers could arrest the children, however, Kris stepped in and admitted that he was the one who gave them the toys. "How dare you! You are obviously a nonconformist and a rebel!" Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow watched the whole thing and were understandably worried. "I-I-I-I-I-I don't like where this is going," Rarity whimpered. "Arrest this man immediately!" Before that could happen, however, Kris pulled a yo-yo out of his sack and gave it to the Burgermeister. He was at a loss for words. He used to play with yo-yos when he was younger. He then started playing the toy unaware that he was breaking his own laws. Upon realizing what he was doing, he threw the yo-yo away and was furious at Kris. "I have been bamboozled!" "I think we should run away, now," Rarity said. "I couldn't agree more," Rainbow said. The four of them ran away from the Burgermeister, along with Kris and Topper. The six of them eventually outran the soldiers upon ducking into the woods. After traversing through the forest for a bit, the group stopped to rest. "Wonder where we are?" Kris asked. Topper noticed a sign and called the others over. "You are trespassing on the lands of the Winter Warlock," Kris read. After he finished reading the sign, the monster trees grabbed them and held on to them tight. The tree that was holding Kris summoned their master and mistress, the Winter Warlock and the demon-like creature, Sunset Shimmer. "Kris Kringle, you've disturbed us for the last time!" the Winter Warlock said menacingly. "And now you and your friends are trapped! And you'll never get away this time!" Sunset laughed. "Somebody help us!" Rainbow screamed. "Ain't no use screaming, Sugarcube! We're at their mercy for trespassing near the Mountain of the Whispering Winds!" Applejack chastised. "Way to point out the obvious." "Look, uh, before you do us in, would you tell your tree friends to let us loose for a second?" Kris asked, being the first to speak up. "You see I have something for you both." "What is this? A TRICK?!" the Winter Warlock snarled. "Oh, oh, oh, no sir, Mr. Warlock! Or may I call you Winter?" "Mr. Warlock, if you please!" "What is he doing?" Rainbow whispered. "Ya got me," Applejack admitted. "But if I were you, I'd resist the urge of doing anything rash. Just play along." "I managed to save two little toys... and I'd like the two of you to have them," Kris admitted. "You're saying you're giving us presents?" Sunset asked in shock. "A toy?" the Winter Warlock added. "Yes, sir," Kris nodded. "But... nobody ever gives a mean old warlock a toy." "I'd like to start a new custom... if you just call off--" "I don't believe it! He's actually going through with this?" Rarity gasped. "Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are," Rainbow admitted. "You mustn't mind the tree monsters. Their bark is worse than their bite," the Winter Warlock chuckled. Pinkie ended bursting into laughter upon hearing him say that. Even Sunset had to laugh at the joke. "Hey, uh, Willy Willow, Peter Pine, release them would you?" The tree monsters did as they were told and everyone broke free of their grasp. "And no tricks, now." "No sir, Mr. Warlock," Kris promised. He reached into his bag and pulled out a pull toy horse for Sunset and a toy train for the Winter Warlock. The two of them were shocked. These were toys that they had wanted ever since they were little. They were so touched by Kris's act of kindness that they started to change. The Winter Warlock's outer appearance melted away and his once icy skin was replaced with that of human flesh. Sunset, on the other hand, began to shatter her own appearance. Her wings and tail disappeared and in the place of the demon creature stood a beautiful teenage girl the same age as Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie. She had light orange skin, cyan-colored eyes, and her hair, while still the same color, now flowed down past her hips. She wore a red-and-taupe-colored dress and had a beautiful purple flower in her hair. "Thank you," Sunset sobbed. "I thought nobody cared about me. That's why I turned into a she-demon. All of that hate suddenly manifested into that form when I ventured out here years ago." Pinkie ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "Pinkie..." "Did you really think I didn't know it was you? You're still the same Sunset I remember when we were kids!" Sunset wiped away her tears and smiled at her friend. "It's good to be back." "My icy heart... It's melting," the Winter Warlock sobbed, who was now even more touched by the reunion between Sunset and her friends. "Look, Mr. Warlock..." Kris began. "Please... please... call me Winter." "Winter?" "Oh, yes, yes! Suddenly my whole outlook has changed from bad to good." "Great!" Winter put the toys away into his magic robe and started lamenting on how he is still technically a despicable creature. "It's so difficult to... really change." "Difficult?" Kris just laughed. He then reassured them both that changing one's ways is as easy as taking your first step. And he explained it to them with a song: Sunset was so happy that she was finally reunited with her friends. Not only that, but she was also happy that Winter had finally decided to take the first step into changing his ways. The Burgermeister's PlanThe group eventually decided to discuss ways that they could help each other. "You can bring me nice new toys and I can assist you with my magic," Winter suggested to Kris. "Uh, how?" Kris asked. "I'll show you." Winter then made a large snowball about the size of Kris's head. "Gaze into my magic crystal snowball. Someone is looking for you." Kris gazed into the snowball and saw Jessica calling for him. "Go to her, lad," Winter instructed. "Wait. What about us?" Sunset asked. "Your path is different than his. You and your friends must go to the Kringles' house on the other side of Rainbow River Valley. You will help this young man with his toy production. Go now." The girls did as they were told as Kris immediately teleported to where Jessica was. His sudden appearance managed to shock her for a brief moment. "Only me, ma'am," he reassured her. "I thought I'd never find you again," she said, feeling relieved. "I wanted to bring you these." She then showed Kris a bunch of envelopes that she was carrying. "Letters and notes from the children of Sombertown asking for more toys. You see, the Burgermeister destroyed the ones you brought." "You tell those young'uns they'll be plenty of toys, but only if they behave themselves," he said, putting the letters away in his coat. He then explained to her that he'll know if the children are behaving themselves by use of Winter's magic. "I can see when they're sleeping and I know when they're awake." "My goodness! You know if they're bad or good?" "Uh-huh. So you tell them to be good, for goodness sake." "Oh, thank you, Kris." "For what?" "For being so kind." Jessica then leaned in and gave Kris a kiss on the chin, resulting in him blushing. After that was over, Kris thought about how he was going to deliver the toys the following night. "Now, uh, about the toys, I'll have to kind of slip them in after dark when the Burgermeister is asleep. So you tell all the boys and girls to leave their doors unlocked tomorrow night." Jessica nodded her head and went on her way back to Sombertown. Kris eventually made his back to the Kringles' place to get more toys for the children. He was surprised to see the other girls there, as well. Rarity had just finished making Kris a Kringle hat for him. He was genuinely touched by the generous gesture and put it on. And ever since then, he's worn a hat just like it. Anyways, as for the Kringles, what do you think they did after hearing that Winter had changed? Well, they moved in on him. I guess they figured it made sense to move the source of supply closer to the demand. "I'm crowded! But at least I'm loved," Winter chuckled upon seeing the Kringles building some workshops around his mountain. Twilight eventually helped Kris make a list of all of the children in Sombertown that wanted toys. She even volunteered to help him with his next delivery after seeing how much Winter had changed. They checked it over once and they checked it over twice. They were just trying to figure out who was naughty and who was nice. "Well, I guess they're all pretty nice," Kris said, giving them the benefit of the doubt. So he packed up the remaining toys into his bag and was off to Sombertown with Topper and Twilight. When Kris and Twilight were safe inside Sombertown that night after sneaking past the sleeping guards, they tried all the doors. And if they were open, they knew a child lived inside who was expecting a toy. The word soon got out amongst the Burgermeister's guards that Kris was delivering toys to the children in the dead of night. When the Burgermeister found out about this, he wasn't all too happy. He was so furious at the fact that Kris was delivering toys against his jurisdiction that he decided that all of the doors in Sombertown would be locked at night from now on. Well, once that part of the Burgermeister's law was passed, more and more letters started to come for Kris from the children. Jessica would gather them together and then give them to the animals, who would deliver them to Fluttershy. Fluttershy would then deliver them personally to Kris, who was usually busy checking his list to see who was naughty and who was nice. And of course, with Kris, well, he just couldn't turn anybody down. That night, however, when he and Twilight went into Sombertown to deliver the toys, they found that all the doors were locked. Out of all of the children, though, there was just one special toy they just had to deliver. You see, even back then, people would get sick. Unlike today, however, they didn't have all of the modern-day wonders that we often take for granted to make us feel better. And if you were a child back then, the odds of surviving a serious illness was low. Such was the case with a young girl named Susie. She was a tiny little girl that was very sick with pneumonia; and she had asked Kris for a toy Noah's Ark. Kris just couldn't disappoint her. Topper then honked to Kris that he had an idea of how to get into the house. It was to go down the chimney. "Great idea!" Kris said. He and Twilight climbed to the roof of the house and stopped at the chimney. Kris went down the chimney and delivered the toys that way. Both he and Twilight laughed upon realizing that he was covered in soot from going down. "You look like you put too much coal into a furnace!" she laughed. Both she and Kris continued on their way to deliver the toys by going down the chimneys of the houses in Sombertown. The next morning, however, the Burgermeister had found out that toys were being found by the hearths and mantlepieces. "Each house in Sombertown will be searched before dawn!" he told Grimsley while getting around in his wheelchair. "If any more toys are found by the fireplace, they will be confiscated and the children severely punished!" As he sat down, he failed to notice the toy soldier that he kicked into the chair. He ended up sitting on the sword, which stabbed him right in the nether regions. Despite the new regulations set by the Burgermeister, the letters just kept on coming. "Doggone! How can I get the toys to them? They got to have toys," Kris sighed. "Otherwise their life will be nothing but school and chores and washing their stockings and..." Kris then thought of a brilliant idea. He wrote a letter to Jessica and handed it over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy then handed it over a white rabbit that she liked named Angel. "Angel, take this Jessica," she said, handing him the letter. "She'll know what to tell the children." The next day, the Burgermeister had every house searched before dawn. The soldiers checked through the entire house for toys. They didn't check the stockings as they were a part of the daily chores. Once a house was thoroughly checked, the Burgermeister would leave with his soldiers. Once they were gone, the children would rush to their stockings and reveal that they had the toys that Kris left for them. The Burgermeister was flabbergasted. He couldn't figure out how Kris was able to give the children more toys without him finding out. He finally decided, however, that enough was enough. "I will do what I should've done a long time ago!" he snarled. "I will set a trap for that bothersome Kringle! His next visit to Sombertown will be his last!" Jessica, who was in the school, overheard everything and decided to warn Kris about it. Upon arriving at the location of the Kringles, however, she realized that she was too late. Kris had already left for Sombertown with his bag of toys. Twilight decided to stay behind, as she had a bad feeling about Kris's visit. Jessica then begged Winter to help her stop Kris before the Burgermeister caught him. Unfortunately, Winter had some bad news. "I've been disenchanted," he wept. "I have no more powers. I can't even do card tricks." "Oh, that's terrible! What should we do?" Jessica said. "Nobody is going to do anything!" Grimsley bellowed upon finding them. "They found us!" Rainbow exclaimed with her hands up. "You are all under arrest for defying the law and making toys. And for being an accomplice to public enemy #1, Kris Kringle." Grimsley pushed Jessica out of the way, as he didn't see her as much of a threat as the others. He then led the others towards the dungeon, where they would be held captive. Oh, I tell you, things didn't look good. And if you thought that was bad, back in Sombertown, things were about to get worse. You see, Kris, was just entering a house through the chimney when he was immediately intercepted by the Burgermeister. Before Kris could try to escape, however, the Burgermeister showed his soldiers being rough with Topper outside. Kris ultimately decided to turn himself in, as he didn't want to see Topper get hurt. After he arrested Kris, the Burgermeister gathered all the children in town with a huge pile of toys in front of him. He held a torch in his right hand as he made an announcement. "Children of Sombertown: You will never, never play again!" he announced. After making his speech, he did the unthinkable. He burned the entire pile of toys with the torch. All the children could do was watch helplessly as they witnessed the destruction of the very thing that brought them joy. It was a sad day, indeed. But what about Fluttershy? Well, like Jessica, she was lucky. She was hiding in the forest at the time and just barely managed to avoid being arrested. It looks like it's up to them to try to set their friends free. The LegacyWell, after the toys were burned, Jessica tried her best to reason with the Burgermeister. "Herr Bugermeister, please, you must set Kris, the girls, and the little Kringles free!" she pleaded. "Set them free? Never!" he scoffed. "I promise they will never disturb you again!" "Bah! What good are your promises? Good-bye, good luck, and good riddance!" And with that, he stormed off. "My own town, turned against me!" she huffed. Just then, Fluttershy walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right, Miss Jessica?" she asked. "Yes, Fluttershy. I've never felt more alive in my life. And that's because my eyes are beginning to open for the very first time to what life is really all about. And I know exactly where the two of us belong. With Kris... wherever he is. I know you're concerned and all, but you really don't need to worry yourself, dear. Today is not the end. It's only the beginning." "You know, I think you're right. It's time I stop being such a scaredy-cat all the time and start looking at life through a different lens." That's when the two of them decided to express themselves the only way they knew how: through song. Well, the girls realized the first thing they had to do was set Kris and the others free. So, once night fell, they made their way to the dungeon to see both Winter and Sunset. Fluttershy went up to Sunset's cell window and knelt down. "Sunset!" she whispered. No answer. So Fluttershy started rapping on the cell window's metal bars. "Sunset Shimmer! Over here!" Sunset finally looked up and saw Fluttershy outside her window. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Jessica and I are trying to set you guys free. But we don't know how. If only Winter had his magic powers back, we could bust you guys out of here in no time." "I've been thinking that, too. Unfortunately, his magic powers are seemingly gone. And me? I'm just a toymaker from Sombertown rotting away in the dungeon." "Don't worry, Sunset. I'm sure Jessica will think of something. She's talking with Winter as we speak." Fluttershy was right. As she and Sunset continued talking, Jessica managed to strike up a conversation with Winter, who was lamenting about how most of his magic items had lost their power. These items included a short-circuited wand, a dried up magic potion, and the stubs of about a dozen or so magic candles. The final item he brought out of his pockets, though, caught Jessica's attention. It was something called magic feed corn. "It's of no use to us. It can't dissolve prison walls. All it can do is make reindeer fly," Winter explained. Jessica's eyes lit up. The magic feed corn gave her an idea. "Oh, Winter, may I have some of that magic feed corn?" she asked. "I think I might have an idea of how to you get all of you out of here." Winter handed her the corn and she immediately went over to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, I need you to get some of Kris's reindeer friends. I have an idea that I think will work." "Okay, Jessica," Fluttershy replied. She then turned back to Sunset's cell. "Don't worry, Sunset. Jessica knows what she's doing... I hope." Later that night, Fluttershy gathered eight of Kris's reindeer friends. They were Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. You're probably wondering where Rudolph is? Well... That's actually a different story. Anyways, those deer just had to take one nibble of Winter's magic feed corn and they were instantly flying into the sky. The eight reindeer helped Kris and the others escape the dungeon, despite the Burgermeister's orders to stop. And that's exactly how those reindeer started to fly. The next day, however, the Burgermeister made it his sole mission to recapture the Kringles and throw them back into the dungeon for good. Upon arriving at the workshop near Winter's mountain, everyone saw that the buildings had been reduced to nothing from a fire that was caused by the Burgermeister's soldiers. "Those monsters! They destroyed everything we worked so hard for!" Rarity exclaimed. Applejack searched through the rubble and found a rag doll that was completely unscathed from the destruction. "Not everything, Rarity," she said, showing the doll. Sunset gasped. That doll was special to her. It was her first toy that she ever made with the Kringles. She walked up to Applejack, who handed her the doll. Sunset looked at the doll in her hands and hugged it tightly. "It's not even safe here," Kris said. "The guardsmen will be coming back. We'll have to push on." "I'll go anywhere you say, Kris," Jessica said. Well, like Robin Hood before him, Kris suddenly found himself called an outlaw. He even managed to find a poster on a tree that showed his face the way the Burgermeister remembered him. Kris just laughed, stating that the posters won't do any good, since he finally grew whiskers on his face. Tanta looked at the poster and decided to speak up. "You should not use your Kringle name. It's dangerous!" she said. "Not call myself Kringle?" Kris asked. "What other name would suit me?" "There is one. Twilight, do you still have the tag?" "Yes, Tanta, I do," Twilight said. She reached underneath her necklace and took off the tag that Kris was wearing when he was just a baby. She then walked up to Kris and gave it to him. "You were wearing this when we found you on our doorstep as a baby. Read what it says." Kris read the tag and was confused at it, but soon realized that Claus was his real last name. And it was that exact name that he asked Jessica to share. It was that name Jessica agreed to take as his wife and become Mrs. Claus. It was a lovely wedding. They held it on Christmas Eve in the silent winter woods, since no town would welcome them, as they were considered outlaws. A grove a pine trees ended up being their cathedral as they stood before the Lord. The Kringles and the girls put all that pretty stuff we call decorations onto the pine trees, and then Kris and Jessica placed their wedding gifts to each other under the trees. No manmade church could compare to the beauty of a forest wedding on Christmas Eve. Winter, who was praying to the Lord, asked him if he could have just a little bit of magic. As soon as he finished praying, the lights that were strung on to the pine trees lit up. While Christmas trees have existed in the past, these were the first evergreens to be used as Christmas trees. The custom of giving gifts started even before them. It was when the three wise men, Melchior, Balthazar and Caspar gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn baby Jesus in a stable near Bethlehem. They were gifts of love, which was exactly what Kris and Jessica were doing. They were exchanging their wedding gifts to each other. Their own gifts of love. After the wedding was over, the group pressed onwards. They knew the Burgermeister would stop at nothing to find them. Soon, they found themselves beyond the reaches of civilization, up far past the most northern city, past where even most animals lived... up to the North Pole! That's right. The North Pole. The exact location where Santa lives now. Kris decided that the North Pole was the perfect place to build a castle/toy factory. And that's just what they did. And in no time at all, it was officially built. Santa's castle and workshop, better known as the first and only castle on the left. Well, soon as the building had been built, they settled in and started making toys in earnest. Oh, let me tell you, they needed toys, because you see, despite everything the Meisterburgers tried, the legend of Kris Kringle, or Claus, as he now was known, just grew and grew. The girls were hard at work, as well. Rarity decided to make some clothes for the children that needed them the most. Pinkie was often busy at work making Kris meals before he would go off. Fluttershy still handled the letters from the children given to her by the animals. And as the years went by, letters would often come in by the thousands. With the number of increasing letters, it was decided that the reindeer should fly Kris to the children instead of walking. They eventually decided on a sleigh, Twilight had a job, as well. And that was getting the reindeer ready for night travel. Yes, Kris still had to travel by night, since he was still considered an outlaw. Now, you're probably wondering when they stopped calling him an outlaw? Well, you see, as time went by, that changed. You see, around the time World War I came to a close in November of 1918, the Meisterburgers eventually fell out of power. And by and by, the good people of Sombertown realized how silly the Meisterburger laws were. Eventually it got to the point where everyone forgot all about them in favor of Kris. It soon got to a point where he was revered as a saint. In fact, that's exactly what Santa Claus means. Saint Nicholas. That's the reason why he's called Santa Claus. And it all started in Germany. Santa, however, now limits his visits to once per year, due to so many orders piling up as he got older. He eventually decided on the night of December 24th. The night he and Jessica first got married, which was Christmas Eve. It's also on that night when Twilight goes out to visit one of her family members. You see, Twilight has a brother named Shining Armor. He's married to a person called Cadence. And the two of them have a lovely daughter by the name of Flurry Heart. Every Christmas Eve she looks forward to seeing her aunt stop by after Santa delivers the gifts under the family tree. It always puts a smile on Santa's face to see Twilight shed a tear to see her niece. And this year, she had an adventure of her own. What adventure, you ask? Well, I do believe that that's a story for another day. THE END Author's Note The scene where Sunset hugs the doll is a homage to the original animated version of Mulan. In the scene, Mulan, disguised as a male soldier at that point in the film, finds a doll in a burned down village and hugs it tightly.
Baby Claus DECEMBER 24, 1969 Today, children everywhere are making preparations for an event of world-shaking significance-- the annual visit of Santa Claus. Informed sources report legions of junior citizens are making monumental efforts not to cry and not to pout. Meanwhile, letters by the thousands have been flooding postal facilities at the North Pole. Yes, indeed. Hundreds of letters were being delivered from children across the globe. Some of them asked for toys, but a lot of them asked Santa some questions. Some of them included questions about why he wore a red suit, why he comes down the chimney whenever they're asleep, and the list goes on and on. But if you were to ask me, I'd tell you that I can answer all of those questions. You see, I'm kind of an expert on the big man's history. There are a few things you should know, first, though. You see, Santa is a busy man. He has no time to play. He's got millions and millions of stockings to fill on Christmas Day. So, you better write your letter now and mail it right away. Because he's getting ready with his reindeer and his sleigh. Now then, with that out of the way, you want to know all about Santa, huh? Well, the best place to start is at the very beginning when Santa was just a little baby. Now, don't sound too surprised. You see, everybody's got to be a baby at least once in their lives. Now, this was many years ago. I believe it was around the late 1890's or so. It was in the country of Germany, you see. It was during the last known influence of the German Empire. And in that country there was a small city called Sombertown. It was a cold, cold place which shivered in the shadows of the strange Mountain of the Whispering Winds. People were often poor and gloomy and barely smiled at each other. Now, the main reason for all this gloom was the mayor, or the Burgomaster. He was an old, stout balding man with grey hair at his sides. He was a mean old grouch who went by Burgermeister Meisterburger. One night, he was enjoying a feast of a dish called mutton, which is goat meat, when his second-in-command, Grimsley, burst into quarters with a blanket in his arms. "Herr Burgermeister! Herr Burgermeister!" he called. "Look what was discovered on your front stoop!" "What? What, Grimsley?" Burgermeister asked. "The milk? The daily paper?" "No, sir, a baby." "Oh, is that all?" After he heard those words, however, the Burgermeister choked on his mutton before coming to his senses. Grimsley then took out a note that was found with the infant and read it. "Please, sir, take care of my child and protect him from the dangers of the Mountains of the Whispering Winds. He will be exceptional if only given the love he needs." The Burgermeister would have none of it, however. He even called the notion outrageous. He was curious about one thing, though: the child's name. "This is the only clue, sir," Grimsley said, pulling out a dog tag from the blanket. "It says: Claus." The Burgermeister, however, ordered Grimsley to immediately take the young infant to the orphanage. Grimsley obeyed and was soon on his way there with the baby on a sleigh. Sometime later, Grimsley was on his way during a snowstorm when the sleigh suddenly broke away and was carried away by the wind. That strange wind blew the little sleigh right up to the Mountain of the Whispering Winds. Many of the animals that saw the sleigh ran after it as fast as they could. They knew that they had to get to the sleigh fast. The reason? Well, you see, the mountain was home to the awful, the terrible-- oh, it's hard for me to even say his name. That mountain was the home of the... Winter Warlock. He was the strange magician of the North. His only companion was a demon-like creature named Sunset Shimmer. She had deep red skin, moderate cyan eyes, red, bat-like wings and fiery yellow-and-red hair that often blew in the wind. She wore a dress that resembled parts of a flame. The dress was yellow, black and red in color. She also wore black-and-red colored boots and she had a weird yellow-and-red colored tail, as well. The two of them lived in a ghostly palace of ice, with the Winter Warlock practicing his strange spells and snowy incantations while Sunset delighted in frightening travelers with her ominous otherworldly voice. That's why the animals knew they had to hide that baby as fast as they could. If the Winter Warlock found him, there's no telling what he would do. Once the Winter Warlock passed, the animals took a sleigh up a mountain with the baby on it and started taking it to where it belonged. The animals traveled just beyond the mountain to a place called Rainbow River Valley. True to its name, the river was indeed a rainbow. And there, by a bend in the magical stream, was the home of a jolly family of little people. Elves, as we might call them. Kringle was their real name. One of the animals knocked on the door knocker in order for someone to notice the baby. They then ran off so they wouldn't be discovered. The door was answered by an elf named Dingle. Dingle Kringle, to be precise. Dingle was the first one to notice the baby and called for his brothers, Wingle, Bingle, Tingle, and Zingle. All of them were enamored by the baby and took it inside. They brought it to the elf queen, the incredibly kind Tanta Kringle. There were two teenage-looking girls by her side. Despite looking like teenagers, however, these two girls were actually in their mid-eighties, as they didn't age like you and I do. The one on her right had yellow skin, bright blue eyes and pink hair. She was wearing a bright blue-colored dress and even had flowers in her hair. Her name was Fluttershy. The one on Tanta's left was named Twilight. She had lavender skin, deep purple eyes, and blue, purple and pink hair in strands, with the primary color being blue. She wore a beautiful purple dress, a purple necklace and glasses, as she had poor eyesight. They too were enamored by the baby. "A baby! What a splendid idea!" Tanta cooed. "He shall live with us, and sleep with us, and drink warm cocoa with us." "Aw, he's so cute," Fluttershy cooed as she gently tickled him. The baby giggled upon being tickled by the kind-hearted girl. "What will we call him, Tanta Kringle?" Bingle asked. "His license says Claus," Dingle pointed out as the license came out of the blanket. "Isn't that a strange name for a baby?" Twilight asked. "Really strange," Fluttershy nodded. "He must be special in some way." "He looks like a Kris to me." "I think that's a splendid name, Twilight," Tanta exclaimed. "Kris Kringle." The little Kringles cheered. They had a new member of their family, now. And they were going to raise him with the utmost love and care that he needed. Author's Note I did not own the Family Home Entertainment version of this Rankin/Bass special, for those who are asking. I owned the Golden Books version on VHS. I currently have the special on DVD in my downstairs family room. The opening VHS commercials are to give the story a feeling of nostalgia for those who owned the Family Home Entertainment Christmas Classic Series VHS tapes when they were young.
Kris Goes to SombertownWell, a few years passed and as soon as Kris was old enough, the Kringles set up a little school for him in their home. They taught him all of the essentials. How to read, write, talk, and count stars on a clear, crystal night. The most important thing they taught him, however, was how to make toys. That's right. Make toys. That was the Kringles' main occupation. They were toymakers. Yes, even Twilight and Fluttershy. The only problem was there were no children to give them to. See, Sombertown was on the other side of the Mountain of the Whispering Winds, if you recall. And the little elves just couldn't make it past the Winter Warlock. And as a result, the toys were instead piled up outside the Kringle house. Not even Fluttershy or Twilight dared to go near the mountain. You see, Fluttershy, true to her name, was incredibly shy and often startled easily. So for her, going towards the mountain was absolutely out of the question. As for Twilight, well, she had a traumatic experience near the mountain. One of the Winter Warlock's monster trees grabbed her when she was younger. She had barely managed to get out of there before the Winter Warlock showed up. Since then, she had stayed clear of the mountain all together. Even so, she really wanted to see the Kringles' toys get played with by Sombertown's children just as much as Tanta did. "It's really quite sad," Tanta said one day while looking out the window at the toy stack. "We will never be able to transport our toys over the mountain." "Someday when I'm bigger, I'll take them for you, Tanta Kringle," Kris said reassuringly. "That will be the day. We will be great toymakers again as we once were." "When was that, Tanta?" "Oh, years and years ago," she explained getting out the Kringle history book. "The Kringles were world-renowned. For you know, we were the very first royal toymakers. The first toymakers to the king!" She then explained things further with a song: As if by instinct, Kris made his first toy on his first try. The Kringles, Twilight and Fluttershy were so proud of him that they all clapped at his handiwork. But the Kringles and the girls weren't his only teachers. The woodland animals taught him, as well. From the deer, to the squirrels, and even the rabbits. The seals, however, taught him the most important. It was how to have fun and of course, how to laugh, real hard and wonderful, like he meant it. Well, years went by, and finally Kris was a fine young man. This meant that he could finally fulfill his promise and take the Kringles' toys across the Mountain of the Whispering Winds. "It would be nice if somebody played with our toys," Wingle said. "If only one of my dollies could be held tight by a little girl," Tingle said. "It's decided! Tomorrow, I leave for Sombertown," Kris exclaimed. The Kringles and the girls cheered. They were so excited that someone was finally going to play with the toys that they worked so hard on. Later that night, at approximately 3:00 in the morning, Kris was packing the toys in a sack when he heard Tanta come in the room. "Did I wake you up?" he asked. "I was awake, anyhow," she explained as she handed him a box. "I made this for your trip." Kris opened the box and was surprised to see that Tanta went through all the trouble to make him a red Kringle suit in his size for the trip to Sombertown. And to this day, he's worn one just like it. A red suit with white trim, along with a black belt and black boots. Well, once everyone woke up the next morning, Kris said goodbye to all his friends, the girls, the Kringles, and the animals. Just as night was falling, Kris started to make his way through the dismal forest, which lay at the foot of the warlock and Sunset's mountain. As he was traveling through it, he suddenly bumped into a penguin, who was going through the forest rather quickly. Kris soon found out that the penguin was lost and looking for the South Pole. He offered to take care of him and he named him Topper. He then led Topper towards his destination of Sombertown, when the two of them were suddenly stopped by an ominous voice. "Who dares go near this mountain?" the voice asked as snow started falling. Topper leapt into Kris's arms as Kris slowly backed away. Another voice then boomed, giving out a warning. "Go back! Or you are... doomed!" "Come on, Topper!" Kris exclaimed. The two of them ran as fast as they could to get away from the voices of both the Winter Warlock and Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer laughed with the Winter Warlock as they fled from the mountain. "That was so good!" Sunset laughed. "No time to celebrate," Winter Warlock said. "We shall get him when he returns. He's got to cross our mountain on the way home. And then... ha, ha, ha! No more being a nice guy!" "I like how you think!" The two of them laughed sinisterly as they plotted to get Kris on his way home for trespassing on their turf. Speaking of Kris, both he and Topper eventually made it out of the dismal forest and saw Sombertown straight in the distance. "There's Sombertown just sitting there waiting for us and our good Kringle toys!" Kris exclaimed excitedly. That's what they thought. But what they didn't realize was at that very moment in the Sombertown City Hall, the mayor, Burgermeister Meisterburger, was about to make a grand entrance to the people of the town. As he traveled down the steps of City Hall, however, he suddenly tripped over a toy duck, causing him to fall all the way down the stairs. Sometime later, Burgermeister Meisterburger was in his quarters laying down in his bed with an ice pack on his head. His doctor took his thermometer out of his mouth and examined it. "Your temperature seems to be normal, sir," he said. "But it was just as I suspected. According to your x-ray, you've broken your funny bone." The doctor headed out the door and the Burgermeister asked Grimsley what it was that caused him to trip. Grimsley revealed that it was the toy duck on the steps. Burgermeister Mesiterburger was furious. He hated toys. "Either they are going or I am going!" he exclaimed. He then ordered Grimsley to write down a new law that he was about to endorse through song: As soon as he finished telling Grimsley the details, the law was made official and it was as follows: Toys are hereby declared illegal, immoral and unlawful. And anyone found with a toy in his possession will be placed under arrest and thrown in the dungeon. NO KIDDING The law was final. Signed and sealed by Burgermeister Meisterburger himself. Once it was put into effect, the soldiers told the children to give up their toys by the order of the Burgermeister. It was a sad day for the children. They had just lost the ability to play in the streets with their toys. Kris had just arrived in town at that very moment all of this was happening. The townspeople didn't know what to make of him. He was very strange looking compared to everyone else. "Good morning, ma'am," Kris greeted a local woman politely. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself young man," she chastised. "Wearing such outlandish clothes." "Clothes? Look, all I want to do is give away these toys." Hearing that very word sent everyone into a panic. They all locked their doors and windows, believing him to be a menace. Kris was so confused. He had no idea what was going on. As he continued to travel through the town, he saw two children, most likely a brother and sister, doing their chores by the town's fountain. There were also some teenage girls with them. One of them had white skin, deep blue eyes, and purple hair with diamonds in it like a hairpin. She was wearing a beautiful light-purple and pink dress, along with a pink choker that a diamond in the middle. Her name was Rarity. There was also another girl with cyan skin, magenta-colored eyes and hair with all the colors of the rainbow. Her name was Rainbow Dash and she was wearing a blue-and-grey dress, along with blue-green colored shoes. Both she and Rarity were also doing chores with the children. The other two, however, were sitting on the fountain watching the others do their chores. One of them had light orange skin, green eyes, and light blonde hair. She was wearing a navy-and-green colored dress, along with an apple-shaped hairpin in her hair. Her name was Applejack. The final one was a strange girl, to put it lightly. She had pink skin, blue eyes, and pink hair. She wore a purple dress underneath a pink corset that was tied together by a blue bow. Her name was Pinkie Pie. "Well, what's going on, here?" Kris asked. "We're doing our chores," the young girl said dryly. "Yeah, and no more playing," the boy groaned. "I honestly think that it's absolutely abysmal that they passed this stupid law," Rarity groaned. "Tell me about it," Pinkie said. "I was just on my way to give the Burgermeister some of my famous Hazelnut Macaroon cookies, but he immediately yelled at me and forced me to drop them! No one's ever gotten mad about my cookies before trying them before." "Did ya happen to make extras?" Applejack asked. "Thankfully, yes, I did. I put them in a bag just before leaving." Pinkie reached into her hair and pulled out a paper bag that smelled like freshly baked cookies. "May I try one?" Kris asked. "Absoltivalutely!" Pinkie exclaimed. She handed him a cookie and he took a bite out of it. "Wow. These are good." "Thanks. It's how I make a living. In fact, it's the only way I make a living. Although this year has been really tough with Applejack losing almost half of her crops." "Tell me about it," Applejack sighed. "Winter came early this year and nearly killed most of our wheat crops. Ma family and I salvaged what we could to make enough dough for our bread and Pinkie's cookies." "Plus, things have been even harder since we can't really play anymore," Rainbow sighed. "No playing, eh?" Kris asked as he finished his cookie. "Are you washing out, uh, stockings?" "Uh-huh. It's one of our daily duties," the boy replied. "Then we hang them by the fireplace so they dry overnight," the girl added. "That's the only way they judge you around here, by how many chores you do and how clean your stockings are." "Is that so?" Kris asked. The boy nodded his head. "Well, you don't have to look so glum about it." "Why?" "I don't know, I just don't like sour faces. And I've got some real nice goodies for you... but not if you look like this." Kris made a Cheshire grin to illustrate what he meant. "You better watch out, better not cry, better not pout." "Why?" the pair asked. "I'm telling you why." "Yeah?" "Because I came to town! And look what I brought!" Kris dumped the toys out on to the street, much to everyone's surprise. "Oh, my gosh! He brought toys!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Real toys!" the boy gasped. "Why, sure!" Kris said with a bow. "Compliments of the Kringles." "But... but what about the Burgermeister?" the girl asked worriedly. "What about him? If wants a toy, he can have one. I'll send him a big, red yo-yo." Pinkie giggled at that comment. She could picture the Burgermeister playing with a toy like that. "Come on, let's play!" the boy told his friends. The children were just about to play, when they were suddenly stopped by a woman's voice. Who exactly was it? Kris was about to find out.
An Act of KindnessA woman with blue eyes and auburn hair tied in a bun walked up to Kris. She was wearing a blue dress and had a lorgnette in her right hand. "You must not play with toys!" she said in a stuffy voice. "And who are you?" Kris asked. "That's Miss Jessica, our new schoolteacher," the girl explained. "Kris Kringle at your service, Miss Jessica." "How dare you come here in those ridiculous clothes and make fun of me!" she barked. "Clothes again? I wasn't making--" "And what do you mean by giving the children toys? Don't you know that toys are against the law?" "What?" "Yep. It's true," the girl nodded. "Gee, that's kind of a silly law." "That's what I keep saying," Rarity said. "Of course, almost nobody believes me just because I'm a minor!" "If the Burgermeister saw you, we could all be in great danger," Jessica said. "In danger from toys?" Kris asked as his eyes widened. "Why, that's the silliest thing I ever heard!" "Toys are frivolous, impractical, unproductive and--" Before she could continue, Kris reached into his bag and handed her a surprise toy: a China doll. "I've always wanted one since I was a little girl. But my parents wouldn't--" Jessica just kissed the doll as a way of showing her gratitude towards Kris. She tried to say thank you, but couldn't really find the words. Rarity immediately saw the signs and bumped Rainbow Dash with her elbow. "It's happening!" she squealed. "What is?" Rainbow asked. "Miss Jessica is in love!" "Yes, indeedy!" Pinkie added. "Hey, girls, what do you say you and Miss Jessica help me hand out these presents, huh? It's too big a job for an oversized Kringle and a little lost penguin," Kris chuckled. And they did so as Kris sang a song about love winning over hate: After the children received their toys, they all decided to play in the streets again. Unfortunately, no one knew that the Burgermeister was passing through at that time. Upon realizing that the children were playing with toys, he stopped what he was doing and shouted furiously at them. "You brats are under arrest!" he barked. Before his soldiers could arrest the children, however, Kris stepped in and admitted that he was the one who gave them the toys. "How dare you! You are obviously a nonconformist and a rebel!" Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow watched the whole thing and were understandably worried. "I-I-I-I-I-I don't like where this is going," Rarity whimpered. "Arrest this man immediately!" Before that could happen, however, Kris pulled a yo-yo out of his sack and gave it to the Burgermeister. He was at a loss for words. He used to play with yo-yos when he was younger. He then started playing the toy unaware that he was breaking his own laws. Upon realizing what he was doing, he threw the yo-yo away and was furious at Kris. "I have been bamboozled!" "I think we should run away, now," Rarity said. "I couldn't agree more," Rainbow said. The four of them ran away from the Burgermeister, along with Kris and Topper. The six of them eventually outran the soldiers upon ducking into the woods. After traversing through the forest for a bit, the group stopped to rest. "Wonder where we are?" Kris asked. Topper noticed a sign and called the others over. "You are trespassing on the lands of the Winter Warlock," Kris read. After he finished reading the sign, the monster trees grabbed them and held on to them tight. The tree that was holding Kris summoned their master and mistress, the Winter Warlock and the demon-like creature, Sunset Shimmer. "Kris Kringle, you've disturbed us for the last time!" the Winter Warlock said menacingly. "And now you and your friends are trapped! And you'll never get away this time!" Sunset laughed. "Somebody help us!" Rainbow screamed. "Ain't no use screaming, Sugarcube! We're at their mercy for trespassing near the Mountain of the Whispering Winds!" Applejack chastised. "Way to point out the obvious." "Look, uh, before you do us in, would you tell your tree friends to let us loose for a second?" Kris asked, being the first to speak up. "You see I have something for you both." "What is this? A TRICK?!" the Winter Warlock snarled. "Oh, oh, oh, no sir, Mr. Warlock! Or may I call you Winter?" "Mr. Warlock, if you please!" "What is he doing?" Rainbow whispered. "Ya got me," Applejack admitted. "But if I were you, I'd resist the urge of doing anything rash. Just play along." "I managed to save two little toys... and I'd like the two of you to have them," Kris admitted. "You're saying you're giving us presents?" Sunset asked in shock. "A toy?" the Winter Warlock added. "Yes, sir," Kris nodded. "But... nobody ever gives a mean old warlock a toy." "I'd like to start a new custom... if you just call off--" "I don't believe it! He's actually going through with this?" Rarity gasped. "Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are," Rainbow admitted. "You mustn't mind the tree monsters. Their bark is worse than their bite," the Winter Warlock chuckled. Pinkie ended bursting into laughter upon hearing him say that. Even Sunset had to laugh at the joke. "Hey, uh, Willy Willow, Peter Pine, release them would you?" The tree monsters did as they were told and everyone broke free of their grasp. "And no tricks, now." "No sir, Mr. Warlock," Kris promised. He reached into his bag and pulled out a pull toy horse for Sunset and a toy train for the Winter Warlock. The two of them were shocked. These were toys that they had wanted ever since they were little. They were so touched by Kris's act of kindness that they started to change. The Winter Warlock's outer appearance melted away and his once icy skin was replaced with that of human flesh. Sunset, on the other hand, began to shatter her own appearance. Her wings and tail disappeared and in the place of the demon creature stood a beautiful teenage girl the same age as Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie. She had light orange skin, cyan-colored eyes, and her hair, while still the same color, now flowed down past her hips. She wore a red-and-taupe-colored dress and had a beautiful purple flower in her hair. "Thank you," Sunset sobbed. "I thought nobody cared about me. That's why I turned into a she-demon. All of that hate suddenly manifested into that form when I ventured out here years ago." Pinkie ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "Pinkie..." "Did you really think I didn't know it was you? You're still the same Sunset I remember when we were kids!" Sunset wiped away her tears and smiled at her friend. "It's good to be back." "My icy heart... It's melting," the Winter Warlock sobbed, who was now even more touched by the reunion between Sunset and her friends. "Look, Mr. Warlock..." Kris began. "Please... please... call me Winter." "Winter?" "Oh, yes, yes! Suddenly my whole outlook has changed from bad to good." "Great!" Winter put the toys away into his magic robe and started lamenting on how he is still technically a despicable creature. "It's so difficult to... really change." "Difficult?" Kris just laughed. He then reassured them both that changing one's ways is as easy as taking your first step. And he explained it to them with a song: Sunset was so happy that she was finally reunited with her friends. Not only that, but she was also happy that Winter had finally decided to take the first step into changing his ways.
The Burgermeister's PlanThe group eventually decided to discuss ways that they could help each other. "You can bring me nice new toys and I can assist you with my magic," Winter suggested to Kris. "Uh, how?" Kris asked. "I'll show you." Winter then made a large snowball about the size of Kris's head. "Gaze into my magic crystal snowball. Someone is looking for you." Kris gazed into the snowball and saw Jessica calling for him. "Go to her, lad," Winter instructed. "Wait. What about us?" Sunset asked. "Your path is different than his. You and your friends must go to the Kringles' house on the other side of Rainbow River Valley. You will help this young man with his toy production. Go now." The girls did as they were told as Kris immediately teleported to where Jessica was. His sudden appearance managed to shock her for a brief moment. "Only me, ma'am," he reassured her. "I thought I'd never find you again," she said, feeling relieved. "I wanted to bring you these." She then showed Kris a bunch of envelopes that she was carrying. "Letters and notes from the children of Sombertown asking for more toys. You see, the Burgermeister destroyed the ones you brought." "You tell those young'uns they'll be plenty of toys, but only if they behave themselves," he said, putting the letters away in his coat. He then explained to her that he'll know if the children are behaving themselves by use of Winter's magic. "I can see when they're sleeping and I know when they're awake." "My goodness! You know if they're bad or good?" "Uh-huh. So you tell them to be good, for goodness sake." "Oh, thank you, Kris." "For what?" "For being so kind." Jessica then leaned in and gave Kris a kiss on the chin, resulting in him blushing. After that was over, Kris thought about how he was going to deliver the toys the following night. "Now, uh, about the toys, I'll have to kind of slip them in after dark when the Burgermeister is asleep. So you tell all the boys and girls to leave their doors unlocked tomorrow night." Jessica nodded her head and went on her way back to Sombertown. Kris eventually made his back to the Kringles' place to get more toys for the children. He was surprised to see the other girls there, as well. Rarity had just finished making Kris a Kringle hat for him. He was genuinely touched by the generous gesture and put it on. And ever since then, he's worn a hat just like it. Anyways, as for the Kringles, what do you think they did after hearing that Winter had changed? Well, they moved in on him. I guess they figured it made sense to move the source of supply closer to the demand. "I'm crowded! But at least I'm loved," Winter chuckled upon seeing the Kringles building some workshops around his mountain. Twilight eventually helped Kris make a list of all of the children in Sombertown that wanted toys. She even volunteered to help him with his next delivery after seeing how much Winter had changed. They checked it over once and they checked it over twice. They were just trying to figure out who was naughty and who was nice. "Well, I guess they're all pretty nice," Kris said, giving them the benefit of the doubt. So he packed up the remaining toys into his bag and was off to Sombertown with Topper and Twilight. When Kris and Twilight were safe inside Sombertown that night after sneaking past the sleeping guards, they tried all the doors. And if they were open, they knew a child lived inside who was expecting a toy. The word soon got out amongst the Burgermeister's guards that Kris was delivering toys to the children in the dead of night. When the Burgermeister found out about this, he wasn't all too happy. He was so furious at the fact that Kris was delivering toys against his jurisdiction that he decided that all of the doors in Sombertown would be locked at night from now on. Well, once that part of the Burgermeister's law was passed, more and more letters started to come for Kris from the children. Jessica would gather them together and then give them to the animals, who would deliver them to Fluttershy. Fluttershy would then deliver them personally to Kris, who was usually busy checking his list to see who was naughty and who was nice. And of course, with Kris, well, he just couldn't turn anybody down. That night, however, when he and Twilight went into Sombertown to deliver the toys, they found that all the doors were locked. Out of all of the children, though, there was just one special toy they just had to deliver. You see, even back then, people would get sick. Unlike today, however, they didn't have all of the modern-day wonders that we often take for granted to make us feel better. And if you were a child back then, the odds of surviving a serious illness was low. Such was the case with a young girl named Susie. She was a tiny little girl that was very sick with pneumonia; and she had asked Kris for a toy Noah's Ark. Kris just couldn't disappoint her. Topper then honked to Kris that he had an idea of how to get into the house. It was to go down the chimney. "Great idea!" Kris said. He and Twilight climbed to the roof of the house and stopped at the chimney. Kris went down the chimney and delivered the toys that way. Both he and Twilight laughed upon realizing that he was covered in soot from going down. "You look like you put too much coal into a furnace!" she laughed. Both she and Kris continued on their way to deliver the toys by going down the chimneys of the houses in Sombertown. The next morning, however, the Burgermeister had found out that toys were being found by the hearths and mantlepieces. "Each house in Sombertown will be searched before dawn!" he told Grimsley while getting around in his wheelchair. "If any more toys are found by the fireplace, they will be confiscated and the children severely punished!" As he sat down, he failed to notice the toy soldier that he kicked into the chair. He ended up sitting on the sword, which stabbed him right in the nether regions. Despite the new regulations set by the Burgermeister, the letters just kept on coming. "Doggone! How can I get the toys to them? They got to have toys," Kris sighed. "Otherwise their life will be nothing but school and chores and washing their stockings and..." Kris then thought of a brilliant idea. He wrote a letter to Jessica and handed it over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy then handed it over a white rabbit that she liked named Angel. "Angel, take this Jessica," she said, handing him the letter. "She'll know what to tell the children." The next day, the Burgermeister had every house searched before dawn. The soldiers checked through the entire house for toys. They didn't check the stockings as they were a part of the daily chores. Once a house was thoroughly checked, the Burgermeister would leave with his soldiers. Once they were gone, the children would rush to their stockings and reveal that they had the toys that Kris left for them. The Burgermeister was flabbergasted. He couldn't figure out how Kris was able to give the children more toys without him finding out. He finally decided, however, that enough was enough. "I will do what I should've done a long time ago!" he snarled. "I will set a trap for that bothersome Kringle! His next visit to Sombertown will be his last!" Jessica, who was in the school, overheard everything and decided to warn Kris about it. Upon arriving at the location of the Kringles, however, she realized that she was too late. Kris had already left for Sombertown with his bag of toys. Twilight decided to stay behind, as she had a bad feeling about Kris's visit. Jessica then begged Winter to help her stop Kris before the Burgermeister caught him. Unfortunately, Winter had some bad news. "I've been disenchanted," he wept. "I have no more powers. I can't even do card tricks." "Oh, that's terrible! What should we do?" Jessica said. "Nobody is going to do anything!" Grimsley bellowed upon finding them. "They found us!" Rainbow exclaimed with her hands up. "You are all under arrest for defying the law and making toys. And for being an accomplice to public enemy #1, Kris Kringle." Grimsley pushed Jessica out of the way, as he didn't see her as much of a threat as the others. He then led the others towards the dungeon, where they would be held captive. Oh, I tell you, things didn't look good. And if you thought that was bad, back in Sombertown, things were about to get worse. You see, Kris, was just entering a house through the chimney when he was immediately intercepted by the Burgermeister. Before Kris could try to escape, however, the Burgermeister showed his soldiers being rough with Topper outside. Kris ultimately decided to turn himself in, as he didn't want to see Topper get hurt. After he arrested Kris, the Burgermeister gathered all the children in town with a huge pile of toys in front of him. He held a torch in his right hand as he made an announcement. "Children of Sombertown: You will never, never play again!" he announced. After making his speech, he did the unthinkable. He burned the entire pile of toys with the torch. All the children could do was watch helplessly as they witnessed the destruction of the very thing that brought them joy. It was a sad day, indeed. But what about Fluttershy? Well, like Jessica, she was lucky. She was hiding in the forest at the time and just barely managed to avoid being arrested. It looks like it's up to them to try to set their friends free.
The LegacyWell, after the toys were burned, Jessica tried her best to reason with the Burgermeister. "Herr Bugermeister, please, you must set Kris, the girls, and the little Kringles free!" she pleaded. "Set them free? Never!" he scoffed. "I promise they will never disturb you again!" "Bah! What good are your promises? Good-bye, good luck, and good riddance!" And with that, he stormed off. "My own town, turned against me!" she huffed. Just then, Fluttershy walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right, Miss Jessica?" she asked. "Yes, Fluttershy. I've never felt more alive in my life. And that's because my eyes are beginning to open for the very first time to what life is really all about. And I know exactly where the two of us belong. With Kris... wherever he is. I know you're concerned and all, but you really don't need to worry yourself, dear. Today is not the end. It's only the beginning." "You know, I think you're right. It's time I stop being such a scaredy-cat all the time and start looking at life through a different lens." That's when the two of them decided to express themselves the only way they knew how: through song. Well, the girls realized the first thing they had to do was set Kris and the others free. So, once night fell, they made their way to the dungeon to see both Winter and Sunset. Fluttershy went up to Sunset's cell window and knelt down. "Sunset!" she whispered. No answer. So Fluttershy started rapping on the cell window's metal bars. "Sunset Shimmer! Over here!" Sunset finally looked up and saw Fluttershy outside her window. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Jessica and I are trying to set you guys free. But we don't know how. If only Winter had his magic powers back, we could bust you guys out of here in no time." "I've been thinking that, too. Unfortunately, his magic powers are seemingly gone. And me? I'm just a toymaker from Sombertown rotting away in the dungeon." "Don't worry, Sunset. I'm sure Jessica will think of something. She's talking with Winter as we speak." Fluttershy was right. As she and Sunset continued talking, Jessica managed to strike up a conversation with Winter, who was lamenting about how most of his magic items had lost their power. These items included a short-circuited wand, a dried up magic potion, and the stubs of about a dozen or so magic candles. The final item he brought out of his pockets, though, caught Jessica's attention. It was something called magic feed corn. "It's of no use to us. It can't dissolve prison walls. All it can do is make reindeer fly," Winter explained. Jessica's eyes lit up. The magic feed corn gave her an idea. "Oh, Winter, may I have some of that magic feed corn?" she asked. "I think I might have an idea of how to you get all of you out of here." Winter handed her the corn and she immediately went over to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, I need you to get some of Kris's reindeer friends. I have an idea that I think will work." "Okay, Jessica," Fluttershy replied. She then turned back to Sunset's cell. "Don't worry, Sunset. Jessica knows what she's doing... I hope." Later that night, Fluttershy gathered eight of Kris's reindeer friends. They were Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen. You're probably wondering where Rudolph is? Well... That's actually a different story. Anyways, those deer just had to take one nibble of Winter's magic feed corn and they were instantly flying into the sky. The eight reindeer helped Kris and the others escape the dungeon, despite the Burgermeister's orders to stop. And that's exactly how those reindeer started to fly. The next day, however, the Burgermeister made it his sole mission to recapture the Kringles and throw them back into the dungeon for good. Upon arriving at the workshop near Winter's mountain, everyone saw that the buildings had been reduced to nothing from a fire that was caused by the Burgermeister's soldiers. "Those monsters! They destroyed everything we worked so hard for!" Rarity exclaimed. Applejack searched through the rubble and found a rag doll that was completely unscathed from the destruction. "Not everything, Rarity," she said, showing the doll. Sunset gasped. That doll was special to her. It was her first toy that she ever made with the Kringles. She walked up to Applejack, who handed her the doll. Sunset looked at the doll in her hands and hugged it tightly. "It's not even safe here," Kris said. "The guardsmen will be coming back. We'll have to push on." "I'll go anywhere you say, Kris," Jessica said. Well, like Robin Hood before him, Kris suddenly found himself called an outlaw. He even managed to find a poster on a tree that showed his face the way the Burgermeister remembered him. Kris just laughed, stating that the posters won't do any good, since he finally grew whiskers on his face. Tanta looked at the poster and decided to speak up. "You should not use your Kringle name. It's dangerous!" she said. "Not call myself Kringle?" Kris asked. "What other name would suit me?" "There is one. Twilight, do you still have the tag?" "Yes, Tanta, I do," Twilight said. She reached underneath her necklace and took off the tag that Kris was wearing when he was just a baby. She then walked up to Kris and gave it to him. "You were wearing this when we found you on our doorstep as a baby. Read what it says." Kris read the tag and was confused at it, but soon realized that Claus was his real last name. And it was that exact name that he asked Jessica to share. It was that name Jessica agreed to take as his wife and become Mrs. Claus. It was a lovely wedding. They held it on Christmas Eve in the silent winter woods, since no town would welcome them, as they were considered outlaws. A grove a pine trees ended up being their cathedral as they stood before the Lord. The Kringles and the girls put all that pretty stuff we call decorations onto the pine trees, and then Kris and Jessica placed their wedding gifts to each other under the trees. No manmade church could compare to the beauty of a forest wedding on Christmas Eve. Winter, who was praying to the Lord, asked him if he could have just a little bit of magic. As soon as he finished praying, the lights that were strung on to the pine trees lit up. While Christmas trees have existed in the past, these were the first evergreens to be used as Christmas trees. The custom of giving gifts started even before them. It was when the three wise men, Melchior, Balthazar and Caspar gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the newborn baby Jesus in a stable near Bethlehem. They were gifts of love, which was exactly what Kris and Jessica were doing. They were exchanging their wedding gifts to each other. Their own gifts of love. After the wedding was over, the group pressed onwards. They knew the Burgermeister would stop at nothing to find them. Soon, they found themselves beyond the reaches of civilization, up far past the most northern city, past where even most animals lived... up to the North Pole! That's right. The North Pole. The exact location where Santa lives now. Kris decided that the North Pole was the perfect place to build a castle/toy factory. And that's just what they did. And in no time at all, it was officially built. Santa's castle and workshop, better known as the first and only castle on the left. Well, soon as the building had been built, they settled in and started making toys in earnest. Oh, let me tell you, they needed toys, because you see, despite everything the Meisterburgers tried, the legend of Kris Kringle, or Claus, as he now was known, just grew and grew. The girls were hard at work, as well. Rarity decided to make some clothes for the children that needed them the most. Pinkie was often busy at work making Kris meals before he would go off. Fluttershy still handled the letters from the children given to her by the animals. And as the years went by, letters would often come in by the thousands. With the number of increasing letters, it was decided that the reindeer should fly Kris to the children instead of walking. They eventually decided on a sleigh, Twilight had a job, as well. And that was getting the reindeer ready for night travel. Yes, Kris still had to travel by night, since he was still considered an outlaw. Now, you're probably wondering when they stopped calling him an outlaw? Well, you see, as time went by, that changed. You see, around the time World War I came to a close in November of 1918, the Meisterburgers eventually fell out of power. And by and by, the good people of Sombertown realized how silly the Meisterburger laws were. Eventually it got to the point where everyone forgot all about them in favor of Kris. It soon got to a point where he was revered as a saint. In fact, that's exactly what Santa Claus means. Saint Nicholas. That's the reason why he's called Santa Claus. And it all started in Germany. Santa, however, now limits his visits to once per year, due to so many orders piling up as he got older. He eventually decided on the night of December 24th. The night he and Jessica first got married, which was Christmas Eve. It's also on that night when Twilight goes out to visit one of her family members. You see, Twilight has a brother named Shining Armor. He's married to a person called Cadence. And the two of them have a lovely daughter by the name of Flurry Heart. Every Christmas Eve she looks forward to seeing her aunt stop by after Santa delivers the gifts under the family tree. It always puts a smile on Santa's face to see Twilight shed a tear to see her niece. And this year, she had an adventure of her own. What adventure, you ask? Well, I do believe that that's a story for another day. THE END Author's Note The scene where Sunset hugs the doll is a homage to the original animated version of Mulan. In the scene, Mulan, disguised as a male soldier at that point in the film, finds a doll in a burned down village and hugs it tightly.
