The cold winter season in Equestria brought with it a fuzzy feeling of inner warmth as well as everypony huddled in their homes with their families around their fireplaces. It was Hearths Warming Eve. A time of happiness and joy, giving, and remembering.
Rainbow Dash and the rest of her group of friends had just returned home from putting on another Hearths Warming pageant. Scootaloo was perched atop her back as she walked through town, her eyes brimming with excitement. “Wow Dash, I thought you were amazing!” Dash could only smile. It seemed, since that night camping out, she had earned herself a little fan pony. “Heh. Thanks dude. Yea I try to play up the drama a bit.” Dash stopped in front of her foster home and gently nudged her off her back.
“Well it's getting late. You should run off to bed. After all, Santa Hooves doesn't visit little ponies who stay up past her bed time.” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “...I don't believe in Santa Hooves anymore. He didn't get me what I wanted last Hearths Warming...I want my parents back.” As she ran off into her home, those last few words rang in the back of Dash's head.
It almost brought her to tears. Dash knew that Scootaloo missed her parents, and that she wanted them back more than anything.
That evening, Scootaloo was woken up by a gentle knocking at her door. Pulling open the door, she saw Dash standing out in the hallway. “Dash? It's midnight, what are you doing here?”
“I want to show you something. It's a Wonderbolts secret though, you can't tell ANYpony else what I'm going to show you.” Dash said. Scootaloo grumbled. “Let me get dressed...it better be good. What about...” Dash smiled. “Don't worry, I told them. They said they trust me. And you'll be back within the hour.”
Scootaloo got on her winter gear and headed out the door next to Dash. “We're headed to the Wonderbolts stadium.” Scootaloo looked at her and tilted her head. “At midnight? On Hearths Warming Eve? Dash what's going on?” Dash smiled a bit. “You'll see...”
Soon, Dash had made her way through the snow and up to the Wonderbolts Stadium in Cloudsdale. The entire place was deserted almost, though the gate was left open. Dash walked right through and down onto the main track, where the rest of the Wonderbolts were assembling together. It was dark, nearly pitch black except for a few stadium lights that had been lit.
Spitfire spotted her and marched right over. “You're late, and you're not in uniform! And who is this? Dash I TOLD YOU not to tell anypony!” Dash sighed. “Trust me, she's cool okay?” Spitfire sat in silence for a few seconds, her glare shifting between Dash and Scootaloo. “...Okay. But if she says anything, I'm holding you personally responsible, got it Dash?”
“Yes Ma'am.” Dash said with a salute. “What is everypony doing here Dash? This is getting weird...” Scootaloo said, looking around a bit nervously. “Just wait...” Mere seconds later, the door at the far end of the stadium swung open, the light from behind the door blinding everypony for a few seconds. A large, rather plump figure stepped through and began to walk towards the center of the stadium.
As he grew closer, Scootaloo could hear the jingle of the bells dangling from his red suit. Over his shoulder, he carried a large brown sack. The unicorns fur was a pure snow white, and his eyes a crystal blue. Though he was quite old, and a bit overweight, the aura around him was lit abuzz with a powerful magic that could dwarf Twilights. Behind him, a team of two ponies drug his large, grand sleigh across the ground to the middle of the stadium.
“AtennnTION!” Spitfire called out. Dash sat Scootaloo back down and rushed over, standing in perfect formation with the rest of the team and saluting him as he approached his sleigh and sat the large sack in the back. “Oh ho ho ho! At ease soldiers!” Santa Hooves joked. He then caught sight of the small filly sitting behind the Wonderbolts.
Scootaloo, her eyes like saucers and her jaw on the ground, sat simply amazed, unable to process what was going on. “Well hey there little one.” He approached her and knelt down on one knee, looking at her with a broad smile. “No need to be scared. Scootaloo is it?” She looked up at him, still unable to believe what she was seeing.
“Y-y-you kn-know...m-my name?” Santa nodded with a smile. “Of course dear child, it's my job to know everypony.” Scootaloo simply thought that Rainbow Dash had hired him and put him up to this as some elaborate Hearths Warming gesture. But even if it was, the supposed fact that Dash had gone to these lengths just for her...
“Well then. These presents won't deliver themselves.” Santa said. “You heard him! Just like we practiced, in formation now!” The entire group marched steadily to the sleigh. As they were hitched up, Dash looked back at Santa. “Would you mind if Scootaloo rode with you in your sleigh?” He laughed. “Ho ho ho! Did you think I was going to leave the poor tot behind?” Scootaloo gasped and quickly ran up to the sleigh. She still couldn't believe her eyes but riding in a sleigh pulled by the Wonderbolts? There was no way she was going to pass that up.
“On Dash, on Soarin, on Spitfire, on Fire Streak! On Fleetfoot, on High Winds, on Misty Fly, on Lightning Streak!” The team of pegasai began to slowly pull him towards the track and make their way around, gradually picking up speed. Faster and faster, until finally, they were able to lift the sleigh from the track and fly out into the night sky.
Scootaloo's eyes were a blaze with excitement as she leaned forward, watching as the track dissapeared from beneath them. Soon they had soared way up into the night sky. But when the snow slowed and remained frozen in place, she looked up at Santa. “What's going on?”
He looked down at her. “Time spell. How else do you think I'm able to deliver presents to everypony in Equestria all in one night?” As they delivered gifts to everyponys home, Scootaloo watched in amazment. But now she was convinced that this one was the real deal. However, it left the question...why? As he sat back down in his sleigh, she looked up at him through tear filled eyes.
“Santa. I stopped believing in you because last Hearths Warming, the only thing I wanted, the ONLY thing I put on my wish list was my mom and dad. But I woke up to a new scooter, a new helmet, and a stocking full of candy. At the very least, I want somepony to adopt me...”
He looked down at her. “Dear...I can freeze time, I can read the minds of everypony in Equestria and produce toys practically out of thin air. But bringing back the dead...and changing the will of others...that lies beyond even my capabilities. It shattered my heart when I read your letter, it did but child, I never forgot about you.”
Dash listened to the conversation, and though she kept it silent, it had brought tears to her eyes. What seemed like hours had, for them, passed in only a second. Soon after Santa unfroze time, the team landed softly in the middle of the stadium. Dash was mostly silent as she walked Scootaloo home, carying the young pony in her arms as she yawned tiredly.
The next morning, Scootaloo awoke and ran downstairs. Without even writing a wish list, Scootaloo had gotten everything she had been wanting in the back of her mind. A new scooter for one, and a new helmet to go with it as well. However there was one thing she wasn't expecting.
Dash was sitting next to the tree with a big red bow in her mane. In her hoof, she held a stack of signed adoption papers. She pulled the young filly into a hug and smiled.
“Go and pack your things. You're coming home with me...my child.” Scootaloos face lit up, and instantly, she burst into tears of joy. "I got a mommy for Hearths Warming!"
