//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Cannot be bought or sold // Story: My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever // by Postwarmonkey50 //------------------------------// Meanwhile, at Sweet Acorn Orchard Trying to make up for lost time to reacquire Applejack’s present, Rarity, Silver and Crystal Gem walked down a dirt road, looking around for the farm. ‘You know I think I heard of Sweet Acorn Orchard a while back,’ said Silver ‘They’re basically in charge of selling acorns to various places to plant more trees at certain parts of Equestria. They even sell them at local diners and coffee shops because they bring flavor to most coffees and teas.’ ‘Really?’ asked Rarity ‘If they do that, how come I’ve never heard of them?’ ‘Different business ideals.’ said Crystal Gem ‘Some businesses that do well and are well known. Like mother’s boutiques and the Apple farms. Acorns take a little longer to grow, as do trees. And sometimes you rarely get ponies to buy coffee with acorns in them. Though they do make a good profit from the coffee and tea factory.’ ‘Yeah, you wouldn’t believe how much of the stuff Bolt buys.’ said Silver. ‘Oh, we’re here.’ said Crystal Gem. They then stood in front of a sign that said “Sweet Acorn Orchard.”, with a house, a shed and a well up ahead. ‘It is a tad rustic.’ said Rarity as she looked at it. ‘The Acorns won’t be able to grow during Hearth’s Warming,’ said Silver as he looked at them ‘They’ll probably get to work once the snow melts.’ They walked towards the door, allowing Rarity to knock on the door. Once she stood back, the owners of the house, Butternut and her husband Oak Nut answered. They were a little surprised to see a human, considering that they’ve never seen one before. ‘Uh, is this Sweet Acorn Orchard?’ asked Rarity as she gained their attention. The two farmers looked at one another, with Butternut saying ‘It is. But we’ve never had no pony like you visit before.’ ‘Or one that’s not a pony.’ said the husband Oak Nut when he looked at Silver. ‘Uh, Rarity, pleasure.’ said Rarity as she introduced herself. ‘And folks call me Silver,’ said Silver before gesturing to their daughter ‘And this is our daughter, Crystal Gem.’ ‘Hello there.’ said Crystal as she greeted them. Rarity then spoke to the couple and said ‘I’m actually here about a package that was recently deli-’ ‘Oh,’ said Oak Nut as he was surprised, as was Butternut ‘That was from you?’ Rarity sighed in relief, whilst she didn’t realize that the couple were shedding tears of joy ‘So it did arrive. Uh, if I could just…’ Suddenly, Butternut wrapped her arms around Rarity and her family as she said ‘We don’t know how to thank you.’ ‘Thank me?’ said Rarity, clearly confused. Sure enough, after they got inside, Butternut had placed cups on the table, placed a couple of acorns inside and poured some tea in. They began to strike some conversation whilst also trying to enjoy their tea. ‘I was just saying to Butternut,’ said Oak Nut whilst Crystal Gem blew on her tea a few times before she drank it ‘I wish we knew who our Hearth’s Warming Miracle was.’ ‘Miracle?’ thought Silver to himself. ‘If it’s for them a miracle, they must have been going through some tough times.’ ‘Oak Nut and I couldn’t belive it when we opened it.’ said Butternut ‘Pistachio said right away whoever sent it just got him.’ ‘Says when he put it on, he could feel his destiny.’ said Oak Nut with pride. Silver took a sip on his tea whilst flexing an eyebrow, for that was certainly a strange way to put it, with a confused Rarity saying ‘As an…Acorn farmer?’ They heard a light scoff whilst also said ‘A farmer?!’ Rarity, Silver and Crystal Gem looked up and saw it was their son, probably Pistachio. And on top of his head was none other than the hat Rarity had ordered. Silver on the other hand was focused on Pistachio, for he had a strange feeling that he looked familiar somewhere. ‘Filly, please.’ said Pistachio with a smile on his face ‘This is a Fedora Felt Original.’ Crystal was surprised that Pistachio would know what kind of hat it would be, even Silver was impressed. Pistachio climbed down the ladder and stood near his parents. ‘Look at this bold stitching,’ said Pistachio after he took it off and showed them ‘These daring textures. It’s a whole new take on Western Chic. There is no, way I would wear it in the grove.’ ‘Wow,’ said Crystal as she whispered to her parents ‘I’m surprised he noticed the detail on the hat.’ ‘We don’t know where he got his fashion sense.’ said Butternut whilst Pistachio hugged the hat. ‘Heh, as far as we know, a hat’s a hat.’ said Oak Nut after Pistachio placed his hat back on. ‘Except when it’s art.’ said Pistachio. ‘Thank you Rarity.’ said Butternut, causing Pistachio to immediately perk up by the name. ‘Rarity?’ said Pistachio, who then stood face to face with Rarity ‘The, Rarity?!’ ‘Mm-hmm.’ said Rarity. The moment he was close, Silver immediately recognized him. ‘Oh hey, I remember you.’ Pistachio looked at Silver with a flexed eyebrow and said ‘You do?’ ‘Yeah, it was the day when we first opened a boutique at Van Hoover,’ said Silver ‘It was right around that time they held their first ever Acorn festival.’ Pistachio also recognized Silver. ‘Oh my gosh of course. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you earlier. You were the human who showed me around the day it first opened. I was in awe of the designs.’ ‘Well it helps when you’ve learned from one of the most beautiful diamonds in Equestria.’ said Silver as he rubbed his face against Rarity’s, causing her to blush and smile. ‘Oh,’ said Pistachio as he noticed the rings on both of them ‘You two are married?’ ‘That’s right,’ said Silver ‘And we ended up gaining a little angel.’ Crystal couldn’t help but blush whilst she said ‘Father.’ ‘Oh, it’s such a huge honor to meet both of you.’ said Pistachio ‘You have to stay for lunch, I won’t take no for an answer.’ Rarity and Silver were taken by surprise by this generous invitation. With Crystal saying ‘Well I am feeling a bit peckish. So I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm.’ Rarity looked at the Acorn farmer family, with them eagerly smiling, with Rarity stammering a bit, but accepted as she said ‘Well, I uh…we would be delight.’ Meanwhile, at the Castle of Friendship The doors from the library slowly opened, with Twilight’s mane a bit frazzled. Whilst Beau was looking for it, she had grown a bit impatient, but thankfully Beau found it before she freaked out. Beau and Emily decided to tag along with Twilight and Moonlight to make sure they don’t go overboard again. ‘The recipe for Chancellor Puddinghead’s magical pudding was filed under “Magical Spells”, not “Recipes”.’ said Twilight as she took a good look at it. ‘And it only took four hours for dad to figure that out.’ said Moonlight. ‘I don’t get why the pudding was placed under magical spells,’ said Beau ‘Or why they made it magical in the first place.’ ‘Knowing them, if they messed up the recipe,’ said Emily ‘It’s a disaster that’s bound to happen sooner or later.’ ‘Let’s see,’ said Twilight as she looked through the book ‘Nutmeg, sugarplums, gingerbread, candy canes…’ ‘Wow, those are different,’ said Beau ‘Back in our world, every kind of pudding has different recipes.’ ‘He’s not wrong,’ said Emily ‘Though I have no idea what could be the best pudding in the world.’ ‘Hmm, I’ll, make a note comparing to both our world’s puddings later,’ said Twilight as she was interested, then she read the warning as they made their way towards the front castle doors ‘“Warning, to avoid untold culinary devastation, each ingredient must be measured with exact care.”’ She laughs at the warning as she said ‘Book, have you met me?’ ‘Uh, Twilight, you’re doing it again.’ said Beau, reminding her of what happened the last time she talked to an inanimate object. ‘Oh,’ said Twilight with an embarrassing blush, as well as a giggle ‘Sorry.’ They suddenly heard a loud knock on the door, gaining their attention, allowing them to walk towards the door. ‘I wonder who that could be?’ said Emily. The moment Twilight used her magic to open the door, a large familiar group arrived at the door as they said ‘Happy Hearth’s Warming!!’ It was revealed to be none other than Shining Armour, Princess Cadance and Blade, along with their children, Flurry Heart and Raging Halberd. They were greatly surprised by them showing up. ‘Hey, you guys made it.’ said Beau, allowing him and Emily hug the visitors from the Crystal Empire, with Moonlight hugging Flurry Heart and Raging Halberd. Twilight was taken aback, and a little shocked to see them. ‘But…you’re early.’ said Twilight as Shining Armour and the others came in. ‘And we also brought company.’ said Blade. Behind them was none other than Twilight’s old friend Sunset Shimmer, along with her husband Ignis and their son Searing Shimmer. ‘Hey everyone.’ said Sunset as she walked in, causing them to hug them too. Twilight was clearly surprised. ‘Y-you’re here too?’ asked Twilight. ‘Well of course we are.’ said Sunset. ‘We didn’t have anywhere else to go during the holidays,’ said Ignis ‘So we decided to spend the holidays with you guys.’ ‘Aunty Twilight.’ said Flurry Heart and Raging Halberd as they hugged her waist, which made her even more confused. ‘B-but…’ said Twilight as she tried to make sense of all of this ‘Your scrolls said that you were coming tomorrow.’ ‘Uh, the scroll we sent yesterday?’ said Cadance to remind Twilight what the date was. ‘Which we also sent along with theirs.’ said Sunset. ‘Which I told you like twelve times.’ said Beau. ‘Yesterday, right,’ said Twilight before she yelled ‘Welcome!’ They saw that the castle wasn’t even finished with the decorations. Beau groaned a bit, which gained the others’ attention. However, Shining Armour stood near Twilight and placed his hand on her forehead as if he was taking her temperature, much to her confusion. ‘Uh, what are you doing?’ asked Twilight as she pushed her brother’s hand away whilst he let out a simple smirk. ‘Decorations not up. Frazzled mane. Determined look.’ said Shining Armour as he deduced what was wrong with Twilight ‘I’ve seen this before. What are you obsessed about this time Twiley?’ ‘Nothing!’ cried Twilight out frantically. ‘Right.’ said Sunset with a smirk, knowing that Twilight was obsessed with something again. Shining Armour walked over and pointed at the Castle Halls as he said ‘So decorations aren’t up because…?’ Twilight then tried to change the subject as she said ‘Uh…I thought…it would be…a great idea to decorate it together.’ ‘No you didn’t.’ said Beau and Emily, much to Twilight’s slight annoyance, but considering how stressed she is, this was predictable. ‘Really?’ said Blade ‘Oh, that sounds wonderful.’ said Cadance whilst she held Flurry Heart close to her ‘We could start decorating right aw…’ ‘After,’ said Twilight as she cut Cadance off ‘I finish one quick errand. Just a few ingredients. Nothing to obsess about here, Heh! Make yourselves at home, be right back, promise!!’ ‘Wait up!!’ said Moonlight as she teleported with her mother. Cadance then turned around and said ‘She’s definitely freaking out about something.’ ‘Oh yeah.’ said Shining Armour, agreeing with his wife. ‘When does she not?’ said Beau. ‘You have any idea what she’s stressing about again?’ asked Ignis. ‘Let’s just say…’ said Emily as she started off ‘Spike said something that made her stress out again, which caused her to go all panic mode as usual.’ ‘Then I ended up throwing a book in his face.’ said Beau. ‘Wait, what?’ said Blade ‘Why the heck would you do that?’ ‘Because do you have any idea how hard it is to calm her down when she goes all stress mode?’ said Beau ‘I had to make like fifty plates of nachos and doughnuts just to calm her down.’ ‘Now that I think about it,’ said Ignis ‘Didn’t Twilight once ate over a hundred plates of nachos when she was pregnant.’ ‘As well as she added them with relish, radishes, cucumber, peanut butter and…’ said Beau before his face went green, making him run outside and threw up. ‘And I thought you had a weak stomach when it came to some topics.’ said Blade, making Shining Armour glare at him, with Blade saying ‘Well it’s true. It’s not our fault you didn’t bother to pack in your medicine for airsick travel in case of emergencies.’ ‘He kinda has you there.’ said Cadance. ‘I got this.’ said Sunset Shimmer. She used her magic to decorate the entire castle. And with just a flash of her spell, it was complete. Sunset then said ‘Out of all the spells she learned when she was Princess Celestia’s pupil, you’d think she would’ve learned this kind of spell.’ Beau came back after clearing the contents of his stomach, whilst he said ‘So…anyone want some cocoa?’ ‘I’m game.’ said Shining Armour and the others as they headed towards the kitchen. At the same time, right outside of the Mayor’s office From right outside, the crowds continued to go back and forth, trying to make sure that they would get everything ready in time. Even Town Hall was busy, what with the workers wanting to work as fast as they could to ensure that they would finish on time. Trixie and Mystic were waiting at the line, for it would appear that the citizens would also like to put in a last minute request regarding the town and the holidays, including on when to prepare for their businesses. ‘Oh, this is taking forever,’ said Trixie ‘At this rate it’ll be Hearth’s Warming Eve till we get there.’ ‘Look, Trixie,’ said Mystic ‘I know how much you’re in a rush and all, but you can’t expect everything to go by fast on a whim here.’ ‘Oh, but Trixie just wants to get something worthwhile for her best friend.’ said Trixie with her usual pouting face. ‘I know Trix,’ said Mystic whilst he held onto his wife ‘I know.’ ‘Next.’ said a clerk. ‘Oh, finally.’ said Trixie as they climbed up the stairs. But the moment they were on top of the stairs, Trixie grunted and held onto her stomach as she collapsed onto the ground, taking half the ponies, even Mystic by shock. ‘Whoa, Trixie what’s wrong?’ said Mystic. ‘I…I don’t…’ said Trixie as she tried her best to go through the pain. ‘What’s wrong with her.’ asked one of the ponies. Mystic held onto Trixie’s stomach. When all of a sudden, he felt a heartbeat, beating from within. Took him by surprise. Then looked at Trixie. ‘Uh, Trixie?’ said Mystic as he looked at her. ‘What?’ said Trixie, as she was strained from the pain. ‘I think the baby’s on its way.’ ‘What?!!’ said Trixie, which shocked the ponies when they overheard them ‘But…the doctor said that the baby was due next week!!’ ‘Apparently not.’ said Mystic ‘We need to get to the hospital, now.’ ‘But the hospital is too far away from here.’ said Trixie before she nearly yelled in pain. ‘I need a cart over here!!’ said Mystic. ‘But there aren’t any…’ said a pony before Trixie grabbed the said pony. ‘Listen here bub,’ said Trixie as the hormones was now showing as her eyes went red and steam blew out of her nostrils ‘If you don’t get a cart here, then Trixie will show you what happens when mares like me get pregnant on a rare basis!!’ The pony panicked, before he shouted ‘Somepony get her a cart!!’ As a random pony arrived with a cart, Mystic picked Trixie up and took her over to the cart and placed her inside. ‘Get her to a hospital now!!’ ‘Where are you going?’ said Trixie. ‘I’m going to fetch Starlight and Chance,’ said Mystic ‘No way they’re going to miss this, not after the Pinkie Promise they made.’ ‘Hurry before Trixie blows up like a hot air balloon!!!’ shouted Trixie before she was hauled off. Mystic closed his eyes and used his mind to try and find them. He then heard some chatter and he recognized the voices. He opened his eyes and said ‘There you are.’ before darting off in great speed. One minute earlier, near one of the houses of Ponyville Chance and Starlight tried their best to reason with the sales pony who was in charge of selling the house. ‘Look, can’t you reconsider?’ asked Chance. ‘Yes please,’ said Starlight ‘We really wanna buy a house for our friend. She and her husband are expecting a baby any day now.’ ‘Sorry Mr. and Mrs. Glimmer,’ said the Sales pony mare ‘But once the house is bought and paid for, it is out of my reach. And you cannot bid any higher, for the payment has already been delivered to us. I’m sorry, but rules are rules.’ As she walked away, Starlight groaned in defeat. ‘Now what do we do?’ ‘Hey, don’t give up,’ said Chance ‘We’ll find a way, we always do.’ ‘But there’s no other place to go to,’ said Starlight ‘And we don’t have anything to give her.’ ‘We’ll think of something.’ said Chance ‘We just…’ ‘Chance!! Starlight!!’ shouted a voice. They turned around and saw that it was Mystic running towards them. He stopped and took a breather. ‘Whoa, Mystic?’ said Starlight. ‘What’s wrong?’ said Chance. Mystic grabbed the two of them and said ‘You two gotta come to the hospital with me, right now!!’ ‘Why, what’s going on?’ asked Starlight. Mystic then said ‘Trixie’s about to go into labor!!’ ‘What?!!’ shouted Starlight and Chance. ‘We gotta get there now!!’ said Starlight. ‘Trixie’s already on her way there,’ said Mystic ‘We’d better get there, now!!’ ‘Well don’t just stand there, lead the way!!’ said Chance. At great speed, the three of them ran straight towards the Ponyville Hospital in order to be on time for Trixie’s child. Meanwhile, up at the Frozen North From the frozen north, on their way to the gift givers, Pinkie Pie bounced between the mountain of snow hills, Peacon Pie rode a sleigh as he was having a ride of his life, Lemon Pie were skiing as if she was racing. Frosty on the other hand, ended up tripping on something and rolled, making him role into a large snowball. As Pinkie, Peacon and Lemon stopped in their tracks after going through the snow hills, they suddenly saw a shadow, looked up and saw with wide eyes as Frosty was coming down. ‘WHOOOOAAAAAA!!!!’ shouted Frosty before he crashed into his family. Peacon and Lemon Pie were buried underneath the snow, barely being able to come out of it. Frosty on the other hand, landed on top of his wife. Frosty got up and saw he was face to face with his wife, which caused Pinkie to grin at him. ‘Aw, you sneaky devil you.’ said Pinkie before giving Frosty a big kiss, much to his enjoyment. Halfway there, they tried to go through the thickest hail that ever blew in their faces. ‘Why the heck would they even build their house all the way out here?!!’ shouted Peacon Pie. ‘They probably wanted some privacy away from the noise makers!!’ shouted Lemon Pie. The family were suddenly blown backwards as if a heavy force pushed them away. From out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie threw an anchor out with a rope attached to it, allowing her to pull herself in order to get out of the blizzard. Frosty ended up on a dingy whilst he rowed with all his strength, with Peacon roasting a carrot dog and Lemon shouting ‘Stroke! Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!!’ *Wait a minute, since when the heck does Frosty know how to break the Fourth Wall?!! *You kidding? He wanted to keep up with his wife so he asked her on how to do what she does. As for the Pie Twins…well that’s a complicated story And finally, nearing their destination, Pinkie, Frosty, Peacon and Lemon were riding on the back of a polar bear. The moment the bear stopped, Peacon shouted ‘House ahoy!!!’ And sure enough, it was. For it was a normal looking cabin, with trees all around, decorated in Christmas lights. ‘Huh,’ said Frosty to himself ‘This place kind of reminds me of Santa’s Workshop when I was little.’ They climbed off of the back of the Polar bear, with the bear leaving and Pinkie, along with Frosty and the kids waved it goodbye. ‘Remind me to thank Fluttershy for giving me lessons on how to communicate with Polar Bears.’ said Pinkie Pie. ‘I’ll ad it to the party planning cave.’ said Frosty, Pinkie and the kids walked towards the house. They walked towards the house whilst also admiring the decorations all around. ‘You think they’re expecting us?’ asked Lemon Pie. Just when Pinkie Pie was about to knock on the door, an elderly deer, which happens to be a doe, suddenly opened the door sharply, taking them all by surprise as she said ‘By Blitzen’s beard!! It took you long enough!!’ ‘Yep, they were.’ said Peacon before the siblings and parents were pulled in by the elderly deer and closed the door behind them. As they were inside, some of them shook the snow off of their bodies, whilst Pinkie Pie looked around, whilst looking at the deer confused as she said ‘Are you sure you were expecting me?’ Frosty whistled in amazement when he saw so many presents and decorations all around them. ‘Wow,’ said Frosty ‘Santa’s elves from the north pole, eat your heart out.’ As Pinkie and her family walked next to the deer, she said ‘My name is…’ before she was cut off. ‘Pinkie Pie, I know.’ responded the elderly deer before she stopped in her tracks ‘Because I know everything.’ ‘Oh, don’t be silly.’ said another voice. And from around the corner, another doe of a deer arrived, but this one appeared younger, at least a year younger than Pinkie Pie ‘You know what’s already happened. But you don’t know what she’s about to ask.’ Just before Pinkie was going to answer, the youngest deer stood near her as the two of them said at the same time ‘What am I going to ask?’ Frosty and the kids were a bit taken aback by this, with Pinkie Pie shaking her head trying to wrap it around, with cotton candy and pizza. *Sorry, that was random, but I had to type it in because I thought it was funny ‘How did you know I was going to say that?!’ said the two of them at the same time. ‘Will you two stop showing off?’ said another voice. When they looked up, it was another deer, who appeared to be a mother type figure whilst she was prancing down with her reindeer magic whilst she was baking some gingerbread cookies, then landed whilst she said ‘They don’t have all Hearth’s Warming.’ ‘Who, are you reindeer?’ asked Pinkie Pie ‘Aurora.’ responded the elderly deer. ‘Bori.’ responded the motherly deer. ‘Alice.’ said the youngest deer. ‘The gift givers of the grove.’ they concluded with their smiles. Peacon suddenly walked up in awe and amazement with a blush on his face. He then said to them ‘Whoa. You three are the most beautiful deer I have ever seen.’ The three couldn’t help but blush by the little Pie’s compliment. Even though they know stuff, they found Peacon Pie’s compliment very flattering, which Lemon and Frosty rolled their eyes, with Frosty couldn’t help but give out a smirk. ‘Ooh,’ said Pinkie as she clapped her hands together, which Frosty couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of his wife acting like a little girl with a big grin on her face ‘And you can help me give Twilight the best gift ever?’ ‘Mm-hmm.’ said both Bori and Alice with smiles on their faces. ‘What about those matching hats?’ asked Aurora ‘They were so cute.’ ‘Well, that was the original idea.’ said Lemon Pie. ‘But that was…’ said Pinkie Pie before she was cut off. ‘Before she had to get just one gift for Twilight, as well as the twins for both Comfy and Warm Breeze.’ said Bori as she filled Aurora in whilst nudging her ‘Try to keep up Aurora.’ ‘I’m gonna get those boxes Pinkie is gonna say she likes.’ said Alice before she pranced over to one of the boxes. Bori placed the cookie batter on the table as she explained ‘Aurora remembers gifts that have already happened. Alice knows the gifts that are going to happen. I just stay in the moment and keep the two of them in line.’ Aurora simply rolled her eyes at that comment, with Frosty saying ‘Oh, like Hearth’s Warming Eve’s past, present and future?’ ‘Oh, heavens no.’ said Aurora ‘Those ghosts focus on those who don’t like the holidays. We on the other hand focus more on the gifts.’ ‘Gifts that comes from the heart of those who wish to make sure their loved ones have the best holiday ever.’ said Lemon Pie. ‘Exactly.’ said Bori ‘You’re so sweet little one.’ ‘She takes after her mother,’ said Frosty ‘For nopony is sweeter than the mare who raised her family.’ ‘Aw, Frosty.’ said Pinkie Pie as she pecked her husband’s cheek. ‘Speaking of,’ said Bori as she focused on the topic before she would forget about them ‘I believe we have a request for a gift.’ The gift givers went in different directions to prepare the gifts for Pinkie and her family so that they could give them for their Hearth’s Warming Buddies. As Aurora stopped in front of a box filled with wrapping gift paper, she levitated it to the center and said ‘The gift is more precious than gold, but it cannot be sold.’ Bori levitated a couple of ribbons, cut them in half and formed it into a beautiful bow as she said ‘When it breaks, it’s not ended, for quickly it’s mended.’ Alice floated around the empty boxes, trying to find what she was looking for whilst she said ‘It can never be bought, yet is easily sought.’ She then bumped her hand into the boxes, causing some to fall over. Within a split second, she found what she was looking for ‘Ah, here we go.’ As they got what they came for, the Gift Givers flew back down and landed on the ground, using their magic to wrap two specific presents and placed them on the ground. ‘Ooh,’ said Pinkie as she observed them ‘I like those boxes.’ ‘Told ya.’ said Alice with a smirk, with the others rolling their eyes, with Frosty and the kids couldn’t help but giggle. Pinkie, Peacon and Lemon took a peek in both of the boxes. The moment they saw something shiny in them, they immediately grinned at the sight of them. ‘The perfect gift, Wow!!’ shouted Pinkie, nearly startling the gift givers. Until Pinkie got confused and asked ‘I don’t get it.’ ‘You will.’ replied Alice as she still kept the smile, whilst she handed the gifts over to Pinkie and Lemon. ‘Ahem.’ replied Alice as she stood next to Peacon, gaining his attention. Until Alice levitated a mistletoe over between them, which caused Peacon to have a surprised look on his face, then looked at Alice. ‘This is for you.’ said Alice ‘Thought I’d save you the trouble.’ And just like that, Alice kissed Peacon full on the lips. The moment her lips departed, Peacon immediately widened his smile with wide eyes, sat on his haunches and began to rumble like a rocket. ‘Uh-oh!!’ shouted Frosty, causing him to grab Peacon and ran out of the door. He ran a few feet from the cottage and planted Peacon on the ground, with him running back to the snow wall and ducked behind cover. He instantly popped out, with Lemon Pie next to her. Lemon and Frosty poked out of cover, wore their safety goggles whilst Lemon said ‘Launching in three…two…one…’ And just like that, Peacon launched himself in the air and blew up like a rocket whilst fireworks were being displayed as he shouted out loud. ‘YAAAAAAHOOOOOO!!!!!!’ Peacon jumped around all crazy like a jackrabbit on a hot day. Pinkie Pie walked out of the cottage, with the Gift Givers in tow whilst they stood next to Frosty and Lemon. They watched as Peacon jumped around all crazy and acted like a very old cartoon character from Looney Tunes. ‘My, he sure is a lively one isn’t he?’ said Bori as she watched the display with amusement. ‘He takes after her mother,’ said Frosty ‘You’ll never find somepony more energetic than them.’ ‘That’s true.’ said Pinkie. ‘Sow how long does it take for him to calm down.’ asked Aurora. ‘Probably when the scene shifts over to Applejack and Fluttershy where they would have a few stern words with Flim and Flam about selling knockoff products.’ Bori looked at her confused and was just about to say something, until she was cut off by Frosty, Aurora and Alice as they said ‘It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t question it.’ Bori then whispered to Frosty ‘Don’t worry about a thing. Everything’s ready. Just keep them occupied a little longer and we’re all set.’ ‘Great, thanks again for helping us out.’ whispered Frosty back.’ ‘You wanting to make it the best Hearth’s Warming Eve ever is good enough.’ said Alice whilst all of them watched Peacon acted all crazy. Back at the Rainbow Falls Back at the Rainbow Falls, Flim and Flam were still busy trying to sell more of their stuff, where they would try to sell it to two kids next. ‘And once you have these gifts,’ said Flim ‘Your family’s smiles will be brighter than the sun of Equestria.’ ‘So, what do you say?’ asked Flam ‘Do we have a deal?’ The two kids were none other than Apple Slice and Warm Breeze whilst he was holding onto Comfy Breeze. They both looked at one another with flexed eyebrows, then looked at the scam artists back. ‘Oh, they sound great.’ said Apple Slice, pretending to be interested. ‘But uh…can we ask you something?’ ‘Oh, but of course.’ said Flim. Apple Slice signaled Flam to come closer. The moment he did, Apple Slice immediately turned around, stood on both his hands and bucked Flam in the face so hard, it instantly knocked the scam artist out. Flim was surprised by this as he looked back at the two kids. ‘How dumb do you think we are Flim and Flam?!!’ shouted both the kids. ‘Wha…?’ said Flim as he was shocked by this ‘How did you…?’ ‘You really think we’d buy anything from you, after you tried to scam us into giving up our family farm?!’ said Apple Slice. ‘Or the fact that you suckered everypony into buying your stupid tonics just to make an honest living!’ Suddenly, Flim recognized Apple Slice ‘Wait, you’re that child of the Apple Family.’ ‘That I am.’ said Apple Slice. ‘And how dare you two show your faces around here.’ ‘We’re here to just make a living.’ said Flim ‘We have a business to run after all.’ ‘Oh, business huh?’ said Warm Breeze ‘Like you did business with Equestria’s most wanted criminals into taking over the Crystal Empire and turning both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna into stone whilst you worked with those that tried to free Sombra?!’ Flim winced at that, with Apple Slice saying ‘You do realize that there is an arrest warrant for you two, right? They haven’t forgiven the both of you for what you did. They already caught Iron Will and Lightning Dust for what they did.’ ‘The only reason why they didn’t make a move on you is because they didn’t want to bring down one of Equestria’s top businesses where others come to have fun.’ said Warm Breeze. ‘And what are you going to do, call the guard on us?’ said Flim as if he wasn’t scared. ‘Well it pays that our families are friends with four of Equestria’s High Ranking Princesses.’ said Apple Slice. ‘And that most of the Royal Court supports them all the way, especially Fancy Pants, Equestria’s leading member of the Royal Court.’ said Warm Breeze. Flim was now a little scared, whilst also feeling nervous at the same time. Both of the kids kept their glares at the scam artist still standing. ‘This isn’t over by a long shot Flim.’ said Apple Slice ‘We too have friends within the high society of Canterlot and you can bet, we’ll be contacting them.’ But as they walked, Flam, who just got back up said ‘Hmph, he’s no different than that old fart Granny Smith.’ However, unknown to them, Apple Slice overheard it. He was so angry, his face went red with rage whilst fire blew out of his nose and steam came out of his ears, much to the shy siblings’ shock. ‘Uh oh.’ said Comfy Breeze ‘They done a bad thing.’ ‘You can say that again.’ said Warm Breeze. Apple Slice immediately stood in front of Flam, grabbed him by the shirt collar and punched him so hard, he was flung to the end of the tent, much to Flim’s shock. Apple Slice then grabbed Flim by the shirt collar and shouted ‘You got something to say about Granny Smith too?!!!’ ‘Oh, no, no, no, no, no!!’ said Flim frantically ‘I think she’s a wonderful Mare. Celestia bless her soul.’ Warm Breeze pulled then pushed Apple Slice away, and gave him the “Stare”, which caused Slice to back off. He walked away in anger, whilst also shedding a tear, with Warm Breeze looking at Flim and said ‘As my aunt Rainbow Dash would say. “Not. Cool.”.’ Both the kids walked away, unknown that their mothers, aka Applejack and Fluttershy, were walking up to the stand whilst Flim quickly helped his brother Flam standing whilst also having two black eyes. ‘We said, no refunds.’ said Flim as he tried to help his brother Flam out, who was still dizzy from the kick he got in the face. ‘Ahem.’ responded Applejack clearing her throat, clearly not amused by any of this. ‘Oh. You.’ said Flim after Flam shook his head right. ‘What are y’all doin’ with these here dolls and that ridiculous getup?’ said Applejack, barely trying to contain her anger, considering what those two had done ‘Don’t you have a resort to run?’ ‘It’s off season.’ said Flim as he and Flam removed their disguises ‘We’re planning an expansion.’ ‘And expansions cost bits.’ said Flam as he showed them, however, both Applejack and Fluttershy were a bit startled by Flam’s black eyes and a few broken teeth before the two of them closed their curtains. They showed them a new addition to the resort as they said ‘Flim and Flam’s Fro-Yo Flume Ride.’ ‘Oh, that sounds f…’ said Fluttershy before Applejack cut her off. ‘It ain’t no excuse for sellin’ cheap dolls to ponies.’ said Applejack. Both Flim and Flam moved close to Fluttershy, attempting to sucker her again. ‘We’re just getting what ponies what they want.’ said Flim. ‘Shopping for the perfect gift is stressful.’ said Flam. ‘Oh, that’s true.’ said Fluttershy as both the scam artists zipped away. Both Flim and Flam pushed a crate of cheap dolls near them as Flim said ‘You want to get something that really stands out.’ ‘I do.’ said Fluttershy as she walked over to them, causing Applejack to groan as she slapped her forehead, especially Trusty, feeling like it needed help, so he decided to go back to his master, knowing that Warm Breeze might be going back to him first. ‘And when you tell your friend you got them the hottest gift in Rainbow Falls.’ said Flam as he was close into suckering Fluttershy into buying their product ‘What’ll they say?’ ‘Woo-Hoo?’ replied Fluttershy. Applejack slapped the nearest doll near her whilst she had an unamused look on her face as the doll said ‘The more you spend, the more your friend knows you love them.’ before collapsing onto the ground. Fluttershy, realizing that she was about to get duped, retracted her money away from them as she said ‘Oh, right. They really are good at selling things.’ ‘You may not like it.’ replied Flim. ‘But technically, we’re not doing anything wrong.’ said Flam. ‘Ponies are desperate for the right gift.’ ‘And who are you to tell them this isn’t it.’ said Flam as he handed Applejack the doll before reuniting with his brother. ‘If ponies get tired of Holly after a few days…’ said Flim before the doll broke. ‘Or she falls apart. Who really got hurt?’ ‘Nopony.’ said both the scam brothers. At that moment, Flim and Flam pushed both Applejack and Fluttershy out of the tent as Flim said ‘Don’t let the curtain hit you on the way out.’ However, unknown to the four of them, fate had other plans for them. A few minutes earlier Both Apple Slice and Warm Breeze walked past the other stands as Apple Slice, clearly angry, ranted about the scam artists. ‘Oh, I can’t believe those two are at it again!!’ shouted Apple Slice ‘The nerve of those two, showing their faces around and selling their so called good products!! Ugh, if I had my way, I’d banish them to the sun!!’ ‘Calm down Apple Slice,’ said Warm Breeze ‘Look, I know you’re upset because your family had some bad history with Flim and Flam, but what can we do? They’re always good at covering their tracks. Plus how the heck are we gonna convince the rest of the ponies to wise up?’ ‘I don’t know,’ said Apple Slice ‘But one of these days I’m gonna…!!!’ ‘Son?’ said Bucky. Both Apple Slice and Warm Breeze stopped in their tracks and saw their fathers, waiting for them near a hot chocolate stand, with their presents in tow. The kids walked over to them, with Apple Slice crossing his arms with an angered look on his face. ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Bucky. But before Apple Slice could ask, Warm Breeze interrupted and said ‘What do you guys have in those boxes?’ ‘Oh, we happened to find something great for both Rainbow Dash and Spike.’ said Genus as he showed them. ‘In case their current presents doesn’t work out, then we’ll give them our backup presents.’ However, Bucky wouldn’t let this go, for he could tell his son was really upset. He stood on his one knee and held onto his shoulders. ‘Apple Slice, what’s the matter?’ asked Bucky, for he was really worried. Apple Slice grumbled a bit, but said ‘Flim and Flam.’ ‘Wait, what?’ said Bucky as he was shocked to hear this. ‘Yeah, they’re at it again.’ said Warm Breeze ‘They’ve been secretly selling cheap run down dolls to folks, thinking that they’re the hottest new toys.’ ‘I don’t know much about them.’ asked Genus. ‘Put it simply.’ said Bucky as he looked at Genus ‘They’re scam artists and con men who tried to trick us into selling our farm and suckered everypony to buy their stupid tonics that was just grape juice.’ Genus perked up at that, but slowly gripped his fist, his anger nearly boiling over as he said ‘Did you say…con men?’ ‘Yep.’ said Bucky. However, it wasn’t enough to convince him. He then noticed that Apple Slice was shedding tears, much to his shock. ‘Whoa, what?’ said Bucky, clearly worried. Warm Breeze then spoke for Apple Slice and said ‘Flam said that, and I quote, “He’s no better than that old fart Granny Smith.”, end quote.’ That part immediately made Bucky’s eyes widened in shock. Then his face went into anger, then ended up crushing the hot chocolate mug, making it shatter. Warm Breeze noticed that both of them had death glares. ‘Warm Breeze.’ said Genus. ‘Uh, yeah dad?’ said Warm Breeze, whilst growing more nervous because of those eyes. Genus handed Warm Breeze a dragon candle, which had a direct line to Princess Celestia as he said ‘Call Princess Celestia. Tell them to send a platoon of guards.’ Warm Breeze took the candle as he said ‘What are you going to do?’ Bucky and Slice walked and felt heated as if they were angered in fire, with Trusty arriving, barking and directing them to Flim and Flam, allowing them to follow him. However, Warm Breeze and Apple Slice, after he was able to snap out of it, looked in worry, for they realize what they’re going to do. Back at the present At that moment, Flim and Flam pushed both Applejack and Fluttershy out of the tent as Flim said ‘Don’t let the curtain hit you on the way out.’ Fluttershy looked at the doll in disgust as she said ‘Of course Rainbow Dash wouldn’t want this.’ But she was cut off as both Warm Breeze and Apple Slice rushed over as they said ‘MOM!!!’ They noticed the kids had worried looks on their faces, with Applejack saying ‘Whoa, where’s the fires.’ ‘It’s our dads.’ said Apple Slice. ‘I think they’re gonna do something drastic.’ said Warm Breeze At the same time, at the back, both Bucky and Genus went inside the back of the tent, gaining Flim and Flam’s attention. But the brothers tried to make sure that their cover wasn’t blown as they tried to sell them their products. ‘Oh, why hello there customer.’ said Flim. ‘Do you wish to make a request order?’ asked Flam. ‘Oh, I got a request order for you alright, right here!!’ shouted Bucky. When all of a sudden, there was crashing, bashing, screaming and punching. Applejack and Fluttershy quickly went over to see what was going on. When they got inside, to their shock, both Bucky and Genus were beating up both Flim and Flam like wrestlers, with Trusty barking at them at the same time. Bucky head butted Flim in the face and flipped him over on the table, Genus did a monkey toss at Flam, Bucky delivered a clothes line at Flim, Genus did a tombstone move at Flam. Both human husbands did a double choke slam, then did a body slam onto a large table. Just before they could finish… ‘What in tarnation?!!’ shouted Applejack, causing both Bucky and Genus to look at them in shock. ‘Genus, what are you doing?!’ said Fluttershy, clearly shocked to see what her husband was doing. ‘Uh…’ responded the two humans. ‘Bucky,’ said Applejack, clearly angry ‘Get out here, now.’ Bucky grunted, but then looked at Flim and said ‘You ever show your face here or in Ponyville again, you’re gonna have to replace your bills of Las Pegasus for your medical ones.’, before punching a tooth out whilst he walked out. As for Genus on the other hand ‘I won’t go until you give my wife a refund.’ ‘No refunds.’ said Flam. When all of a sudden, Trusty growled loudly, gaining their attention. And in one fell swoop, Trusty bit Flam’s butt, making the pony yelp. ‘Okay, okay,’ said Flam as he panicked ‘I’ll give her a refund, all two hundred bits.’ Applejack was shocked, then looked at Fluttershy with a flexed eyebrow. ‘Really?’ ‘Well they sounded convincing.’ said Fluttershy in a sheepish tone. As Genus took the money and tossed Flam back, he walked over to Fluttershy and said ‘You and I are going to have a little talk about product purchasing because of false advertisement.’ Though Fluttershy wanted to do the Stare, she lowered her eyes in shame, whilst they walked out. But then Genus instantly walked back and said ‘Here’s an old bullying technique I learned back in school.’ ‘Hey, what are you…?’ said Flam, until he felt a painful pull, making his eyes water as he said in a squeak ‘On top of the SPOOOKEEEEEYYYYY!!!’ He then felt something wrap around his head. Then it revealed he had been given an atomic wedgie, the most painful one a bully could perform. Genus walked out of the tent, with both brothers struggling to get up after the massive wrestling beat down they received. At the same time, both the wives took the humans to a secluded spot where they could have a one on one talk with them. ‘Y’all gonna explain yerselves?’ said Applejack with her arms crossed. Both Genus and Bucky looked at one another, with Bucky wanting to go first. He then said ‘It was because of a con man who gave my sister cancer.’ Applejack was a little surprised by this, even Apple Slice. ‘What?’ said Applejack. ‘A month before Daisy, my little sister was diagnosed with cancer,’ said Bucky as he told her ‘My little sister was sick, with a weakened immune system. My parents were so desperate into getting her medicine, they bought it from a doctor, who was a con man selling illegal medication. Oh sure it helped, except the disease began to relapse and ended up giving her cancer.’ He then walked over to her with tears building up in his eyes and said ‘Can you imagine. Both my parents, who stupidly bought a medication pills that were illegal in over fifty states, and they blamed me for what happened to her, when they were responsible for what happened.’ Applejack was taken aback by this information. Now it was Genus’ turn. ‘I was on my way to pick up food for the animal shelter I volunteered because we were dangerously low, but we were low on money, so I went out of town to buy some. But thankfully a friend of mine was able to give it to me for free because they were overstocked.’ He then had a disheartening look ‘But when I got back, I found out they already bought enough food dirt cheap from a con man. But when I got in, all of the animals got sick beyond recognition. It turned out the food for the animals they bought were tainted, past their expiring dates and were also poisoned.’ Fluttershy let out a small gasp, with Genus walking over to her, now he was shedding tears as he said ‘I had to personally put down every single one of those animals to sleep. All fifty of them. Fifty animals that I rescued, looked after, bred and raised as if they were my own. I still remembering their pleading and saddened eyes when they realized I had to do it, and I had to bury them all too.’ Both of them concluded as they said ‘And that’s why we hate con men.’ Both Applejack and Fluttershy had a look of horror on their faces, even the kids were shocked to hear this. Applejack ended up hugging Bucky as she said ‘Oh Bucky. Ah’m so sorry. Ah had no idea.’ Even Fluttershy couldn’t contain her tears as she said ‘All those…animals.’ She instantly hugged Genus, for she couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for every animal lover to go through pain like that. ‘That’s not even the worst part.’ said Apple Slice as he felt like crying himself. Applejack looked at Apple Slice in concern, then to Bucky, with her husband saying ‘He overheard Flam said, quote, “He’s no better than that old fart Granny Smith”, end quote.’ Now Applejack was shocked by what he said and nearly got angry, but remembered that getting angry isn’t what Granny would’ve wanted, so she focused on hugging her son, not wanting him to think things like that. Bucky then said ‘We can’t let them get away with this.’ ‘Oh, you’re so right.’ said Fluttershy ‘I’m so mad, I could just k…’ She then tapped lightly against the nearest stone with her hoof, with her responding with an ‘Eh,’ whilst she held onto her hoof, with her husband helping her. Applejack stood beside them whilst she tossed the rip off doll away and said ‘Convincin’ ponies to buy that doll ain’t in the holiday spirit.’ ‘She’s right.’ said Bucky ‘Those two clearly don’t get how the holidays work at all. Besides, folks want a gift that has quality, perfection and that has to come from the heart.’ ‘But Flim and Flam have a point.’ said Fluttershy ‘We can’t tell ponies what to buy.’ ‘Yeah,’ said Genus ‘Plus when it comes to shopping, most ponies aren’t that bright. Give them anything with a price tag on them, and they’re on it like stink on a pig.’ Applejack began to think, for there has to be a way to teach them a lesson. She then saw from every stand of what the ponies behind the stands are selling. One was selling a crystallized chicken to a farmer, one was selling cherry flavored jam to another (whilst weirded out that the said pony’s face was covered in jam and that he was kissing it too), whilst the third one was selling flowers to the next. Applejack suddenly had a brilliant idea. ‘Huh,’ said Applejack as she smiled and held Fluttershy close ‘But maybe we can show them.’ Bucky then grinned and said ‘You just got a brilliant idea, haven’t you?’ ‘Oh yeah.’ said Applejack. ‘But we might wanna finish up in an hour or so,’ said Apple Slice, gaining their attention as he said ‘Because Princess Celestia replied to our message and she’s sending her guards over and will be here in an hour.’ They were a little surprised by this at first, with Applejack looking at Slice with a flexed eyebrow. ‘What?’ said Apple Slice ‘You do realize that both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna haven’t forgiven them after they helped free Sombra and doomed the Crystal Empire whilst turning them into stone, did you? I mean they already arrested both Iron Will and Lightning Dust for Treason against the crown.’ They were a little surprised about this, with Applejack slapped her forehead, for she forgot that she was there. ‘Oh yeah,’ said Applejack ‘Ah forgot about that.’ Back in the forest of Ponyville Meanwhile, back in the town of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash continued to search the forest from where Discord took her, Bolt and Junior. Rainbow Dash inspected from the ground and saw little foot prints, whilst giving her adorable smile whilst she was searching. Bolt Jr. continued to search from the skies in case they spotted something. Bolt on the other hand stood next to his wife, but he couldn’t help but stare at her flank whilst she bent over. But he noticed that she was lightly shaking her hips whilst she was crouching. He couldn’t help but smirk and said out loud ‘Oh, I love it when you shake your adorable tushy whenever you bend over like that.’ Rainbow perked and immediately blushed, then ended up standing up and slapped his shoulder whilst she said ‘S-shut up.’ ‘Oh, stop complaining,’ said Bolt as he wasn’t fazed by this ‘You know you love every single word that comes out of my mouth whenever it comes to complimenting your figure and everything.’ ‘B-but still,’ said Rainbow as she stood up and rubbed her shoulder ‘It’s really embarrassing.’ ‘Like your mentor told you once long ago,’ said Bolt ‘There’s nothing wrong engaging your feminine side every once and a while. Besides, I love it when you blush. It shows off more of your cuteness.’ ‘I’m not cute.’ said Rainbow, now more red. Bolt then came over and kissed her a few times by the neck and rubbed against her face. Rainbow tried to revolt, but couldn’t help but smile and did the same. ‘You sure you didn’t get any super powers when you first got here?’ asked Rainbow. ‘No, why?’ asked Bolt. ‘Because whenever I get stressed or angry,’ said Rainbow Dash before she kissed him on the cheek ‘You always calm me down by doing that.’ ‘Am I doing a much better job than Beau did whenever he tries to calm Twilight down?’ asked Bolt. ‘Oh, definitely.’ said Rainbow as she hugged him. The two of them suddenly heard some noises, causing them to look back and noticed Discord wearing his winter outfit whilst walking on tennis racket shoes. But then he tripped and fell face first into the ground. ‘Guh,’ said Rainbow as she was somewhat annoyed by Discord, again ‘Could you try to make less noise?’ ‘Yeah dude,’ said Bolt ‘If we want to find a cute animal that Fluttershy would like, then we need to be extra quiet about this.’ Discord lifted his face with a slight annoyance, whilst he had a snow beard and hat that made him nearly look like Santa Clause. But as the snow fell from his face, his face widened with realization as he whispered ‘Of course.’ Discord snapped his fingers, causing Bolt, Rainbow Dash and Bolt Jr. to have instant ninja outfits, whilst Discord wore a ninja outfit that Bolt recognized whilst Discord said ‘We’ll move silently,’ before tossing a smoke bomb and moved behind Dash and then stood on top of a tree and said ‘Blend to the shadows. The Winterchilla will never hear us coming.’ ‘Wait, where the heck did he get the Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow outfits from the GI Joe merchandise?’ Bolt thought to himself. ‘More importantly, how the heck did he even know about GI Joe?’ Pinkie instantly popped over and said ‘Are you kidding? Hasbro had created the GI Joe saga WAAAAYYYYYY before the My Little Pony G1 series came out. It makes sense that they would want to show some of their merchandising here just for some laughs.’ Pinkie instantly went back and disappeared, much to Bolt’s confusion whilst his eye twitched rapidly. ‘My mind is broken.’ muttered Bolt to himself, until he crossed his arms and muttered ‘And I wanted to dress up like Snake Eyes.’ Rainbow Dash removed the mask from her face and said in confusion ‘Winterchilla?’ As Bolt Jr. came down from the skies and landed next to her mother, and Bolt shook his head in order to try and focus whilst Discord stood near Dash and described it to her. ‘Small, adorable, fuzzy and fast.’ said Discord as he stood up and said ‘But they’re so rare. There’s no telling where they…’ Discord immediately pointed out and said ‘Oh, there’s one right there!!!’ And sure enough, Discord was right. For straight ahead was none other than the Winterchilla itself. True to form, it was the most cutest creature they’ve ever seen. Fluttershy would surely love the cute little creature. ‘Now,’ said Discord as he whispered into Rainbow Dash’s ear ‘If you’re going to get it, I think the first move is to…’ But instead of listening, Rainbow Dash flew superfast towards the tiny creature. Within a split second, she came back with the creature in tow. ‘Be superfast?’ said Rainbow Dash, no doubt grinning behind her mask, with Discord simply shrugging and rolled his eyes with a smile. However, the moment Bolt Jr. got a better look, his mind suddenly clicked, whilst thinking to himself ‘Wait…why does the Winterchilla look so familiar?’ Ponyville Hospital At the same time, Mystic, Starlight and Chance rushed right in the room and stood in front of the check in station. ‘Excuse me,’ said Starlight frantically ‘Is a pony named Trixie Lulamoon here? She’s going into labor.’ ‘Oh, yes of course.’ said the nurse at the counter ‘They’re in one of the rooms right now. You’d better hurry.’ They quickly rushed down the hall, heading straight for the room. They got into the room and saw Trixie screaming in pain, for it looked like she was going to explode. However, it’s the look in her eyes that makes her look really scary. ‘WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!!’ shouted Trixie with her vocal cords as high as an opera singer ‘TRIXIE IS ABOUT TO GO INTO LABOR AND THE DAD NEEDS TO BE PRESENT!!!’ ‘Yeesh,’ said Chance as he looked at her whilst whispering to the others ‘And I thought I had a bad day.’ Mystic quickly went over to her whilst the doctors tried to check up on Trixie. ‘Mrs. Lulamoon, please,’ said the doctor ‘You need to hold still, otherwise the child…’ ‘I ALREADY KNOW THAT!!’ shouted Trixie, for she could clearly no longer handle the pain. Chance suddenly panicked and said out of the blue ‘Just try to hold it in like you’re holding in a huge fart!!’ *…* *…* *Are you for real now?* *XDXD.* (Sorry, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t resist, I laughed so hard I nearly fell over) Starlight stared at Chance with a blank expression, with her replying ‘First of all, ewe. Second of all, why would say something like that?’ ‘I panicked, okay.’ responded Chance. Chance was suddenly hit in the head by something metallic, courtesy of Trixie, who grabbed something for saying something so idiotic. After being hit in the head, Chance’s eyes were spinning around. Chance suddenly moved like a ballet dancer whilst moving to the left on his toes, then moved to the right whilst positioning himself with both his arms folded. Moved to his left again whilst he flapped his arms, then went to the right again, only to slowly fall over whilst his eyes were spinning. Mystic and Starlight stared blankly at Chance’s movements. ‘Huh,’ said Starlight as she crossed her arms ‘I didn’t know he knew ballet.’ ‘Neither did…’ said Mystic before he grunted loudly, for Trixie was squeezing his hand really tight. ‘Trixie is in pain and you’re talking about ballet?’ said Trixie, groaning from the pain. ‘Honey, calm down,’ said Mystic, trying to get the feeling of his hand back ‘This is supposed to be a beautiful moment.’ Trixie slowly looked at him and said ‘Beautiful moment? Beautiful moment?’ Trixie then grabbed him by the shirt collar, pulled him close and yelled really loudly ‘THIS IS NOT A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT!!!!’ ‘Yeesh,’ said Chance as he lifted himself up from the ground ‘And I thought you were scary when you gave birth.’ Starlight knew he was talking about her, making him look at him with a glared dagger. ‘Well you were.’ said Chance as he finally stood up. ‘No, he’s right.’ said Nurse Redheart as she came in the room ‘You injured both doctors by kicking them in two different directions when you gave birth to your children.’ ‘To be honest,’ said Trixie before she grunted again ‘That was the most hilarious thing Trixie has ever seen.’ Starlight nearly groaned at that, for it was a day that she didn’t want to remember the day she gave birth to Starshine Shimmer, Lucky Star and Blessed Night. Spike’s room in Twilight’s castle Spike was in his room, for instead of buying a gift, he would make it. He took a new umbrella and began to decorate it with glitter. He was done with the first two corners, now he was busy with the third whilst adding glue to it. ‘Making a gift is way more personal than buying it.’ said Spike before he blew a bit of glitter into it, then said with a smile ‘Rarity loves things that take time and effort.’ The attempted tries at the corner says otherwise. For all of them were many attempts to make Rarity a present, all of them ending in big failures. But he was determined to make one no matter what, even though he didn’t have much luck. ‘I know it’s not as perfect as the gift I got for Emily,’ said Spike as he looked at the now wrapped present that said “To my beloved Emily”, with Spike saying, ‘But at least it’s the thought that counts. Even if…it seems like a failure.’ ‘I’m sure this one will be the one that works,’ said Spike before he lets out a yawn, for now he was getting tired ‘I just need to…stay focused and…’ Spike suddenly stopped, whilst lowering his head with a sad frown. ‘Oh, who am I kidding,’ said Spike as he tossed the glitter away. Now he felt depressed, something he didn’t feel since that time Rarity and Silver ended up together. ‘I’ll never get her a proper present, what was I thinking?’ From behind the door, taking a peek, was none other than Emily, who wanted to check up on Spike to see how he was doing. He looked down and said ‘Maybe Frosty and the others are right. I thought I could get over my crush with Rarity but…They’re right, I don’t have a chance with her, I never had one to begin with. I mean, I didn’t even know what true love was until…Emily came into my life.’ Emily was a little surprised by this, but let Spike continue to speak. ‘I mean,’ said Spike as he continued, but also felt tired ‘I tried as hard as I could to move on but…like a dragon I’m too stubborn to listen. But ever since Emily came into my life she showed her love…for me. I had no idea how lucky I was, I thought I’d never love. Rarity and Silver are happy and have a daughter but…Most times I wonder if I was even meant to be loved.’ Emily couldn’t help but shed a tear about this. ‘I was lucky enough to get her a present and all but,’ said Spike as the drowsiness took over ‘I’ll never find a gift that can be as good as the one I got her. I just wish…that…’ And right on cue, Spike fainted from tiredness and against a bucket of glitter, causing some of them to fall on Spike as he mumbled. As Spike was asleep, Emily slowly walked in and placed her hand on Spike’s back whilst standing on her knees. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Spike. In a way she could relate. When she was in high school, she had a crush on a boy, but he ended being with someone else. Even though Emily may have dated other guys before her and her brother’s demise, the crush was still there, as if he was her true love but he ended up with someone else. She looked at the present and saw it was from Spike to her. He looked at him again, and realized that they did have something in common, they both had crushes but it ended up in a stalemate. She wiped her tear away and kissed him on the forehead. She decided to leave the room in order to let him rest up, but she still couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. As she stepped outside, Sunset came along and said ‘There you are Emily.’ ‘Oh, hey.’ said Emily, trying to hide the sadness in her face ‘Where’s Ignis?’ ‘He’s taken Searing Shimmer to snow sled with the rest of the kids, and Beau’s been trying to calm Twilight down whilst trying to make Pinkie’s gift.’ ‘Oh, okay.’ said Emily, whilst looking down. This however, caught Sunset’s attention. ‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ asked Sunset. ‘Spike wanted to get Rarity a present because of the Hearth’s Warming Helper,’ said Emily ‘But Spike couldn’t find one, and I don’t think he’s been successful into trying to make one.’ Emily then looked sadder and said ‘And I haven’t seen Spike this depressed since before he and I became a couple and got married. And he thinks that he wasn’t meant to be loved.’ ‘Oh dear,’ said Sunset ‘This sounds serious.’ ‘Spike’s a good dragon, the best.’ said Emily ‘When I last talked to Twilight before my brother and Pinkie became a couple, she explained to me that Spike had a crush on Rarity. But ever since Silver came into her life, he felt heartbroken and depressed. But after I came along, I helped him through his funk and we became a couple. He loves me but…the crush he had for Rarity was still there. He didn’t realize it until the Hearth’s Warming Helper thing came along.’ ‘And he’s run out of an idea on what to get Rarity?’ asked Sunset. ‘I’m afraid so, yeah.’ said Emily. Sunset thought about something and something came to her as she said ‘I think I have an idea.’ She quickly made a large musical note and a small side note appear. She quickly used her magic to write really fast. After it was done, she smiled with pride, quietly opened the door and placed the two notes near Spike, knowing that he would read it the moment he got up. ‘What did you do?’ asked Emily out of curiosity. ‘Let’s just say,’ said Sunset with a smile ‘That Rarity will love it, even you.’ The two then walked down the hall and decided to pass the time with a few discussions. ‘So you were once in another world?’ asked Emily. ‘Yep,’ said Sunset ‘After I got there I was turned into a human. I ruined so many friendships there, but thanks to Twilight I worked hard to redeem myself. It was a struggle, but I overcame the problem, even graduated there.’ ‘Do you miss your human friends there?’ asked Emily. Sunset felt a bit sad. For indeed she truly missed them, for in a way, it was also thanks to them that she was able to gain a normal life like many others. ‘Everyday.’ responded Sunset. ‘You still talk to them?’ asked Emily. ‘Every now and then.’ said Sunset ‘We arrange for a get together. I was afraid that I would be late, but thankfully Princess Twilight gave her other self another journal so that whenever they feel the need to have a get together, they write on their journals and I come over to visit them.’ ‘But now that you’re married?’ asked Emily. ‘Let’s just say all of them were excited to meet Ignis,’ said Sunset ‘And that his form still stayed the same whenever we travel through the mirror.’ ‘Never lose that friendship Sunset.’ said Emily as she wrapped her arm around Sunset. ‘Not in a million years.’ said Sunset as she did the same. Back at the Rainbow Falls back at the Rainbow Falls, Flim and Flam were still going on with their usual schemes, despite their injuries and beatings that they got from the husbands, for now they were afraid to face them again. ‘Have a, ow, wonderful day,’ said Flim as he struggled what with his arm in a cast, despite him using his horn ‘And remember, ow…no refunds.’ Flam was standing at the back of the crowd whilst his arm was in a cast, as was his leg. At the same time, Applejack and Fluttershy approached from the back of the crowd. ‘What are you doing…?’ said Flam, until he noticed both Bucky and Genus, both growling and pounding their fists into their other hands whilst Trusty was growling, much to Flam’s fright. ‘Same as everypony else.’ said Applejack whilst she walked towards the stand. She placed her bits on the counter and said to Flim ‘I want a Hearth’s Warmer. In fact, I want three!!’ ‘Seriously?’ said Flim in disbelief. Applejack overacted and said ‘After I saw my friend here with hers. I knew I had to buy some, for my brother, my little sister and some of our cousins’ kids too.’ ‘Yeah, yeah, great story.’ said Flim as he handed Applejack the gift bag ‘Next.’ That’s when they put their plan in motion. ‘But Applejack,’ said Fluttershy as she overacted too ‘Your brother, your sister and our cousins’ kids are all so different. How can the same doll, be the right gift for all of them.’ ‘She is right,’ said Genus as he followed her lead ‘And besides, isn’t your brother and sister too old for dolls?’ ‘Right,’ said Warm Breeze ‘And not to mention your cousins don’t like those kinds of toys. Why, even I wouldn’t buy a gift that looked like it has no meaning.’ Comfy Breeze blew a raspberry and said ‘And kiddies like latest toys, not old ones.’ ‘Oh, well that might be true.’ said one of the ponies as the others began to agree, with Flim and Flam realizing that they were swaying the crowd into not buying their dolls. ‘But Fluttershy,’ said Applejack, continuing with the act ‘This is the must-have gift of the season.’ ‘Just because it’s a must-have for one pony,’ continued Fluttershy ‘Doesn’t mean it’s must-have for everypony, does it?’ ‘Right,’ said Bucky ‘Everypony has different tastes when it comes to gifts. And somepony doesn’t want them to go overboard when it comes to finding the right gifts for the holidays.’ ‘Eeyup.’ said Apple Slice ‘And besides, ponies in this generation have different tastes than the ones in the previous. Why, mah Granny Smith once had a doll that looked like that when she was a filly. But Ponies nowadays want gifts that have proper quality on them.’ Most of the ponies looked at the gifts and murmured, with one saying ‘Now that you mention it, my grandma did have a doll like that when she was little.’ ‘That’s true.’ said Applejack, continuing with the ruse ‘Ah guess ah need to put more thought into getting the right gift for each pony. Can I return these?’ ‘No refunds!!’ shouted the brothers, gaining the crowd’s attention, until Flam’s moustache fell off, causing his disguise to backfire. Applejack handed the gift bag to one of the ponies and said ‘Oh uh, do you want ‘em? I’m gonna go pick out gifts that are just as special as the ponies they’re from.’ ‘Eeyup.’ said Apple Slice ‘Gifts that comes from the heart to show how much you love your families and friends.’ ‘One that they can cherish for a long time.’ said Bucky. ‘And then your lives will be remembered by the gifts we leave behind.’ said Warm Breeze. ‘I…’ said one of the ponies as she changed her mind ‘Think I’m gonna do some more shopping too.’ As she left, the other ponies left too, not satisfied with the gifts that they were selling. ‘Now hang on a moment,’ said Flim, trying to stop them ‘Wait!! Come back!!’ ‘We’ll give you a great deal!!’ said Flam as he tried too. ‘Buy one get one free?’ said both the brothers. As the crowds left, Applejack sighed with a smile on her face and said ‘The sweet sounds of the season.’ Fluttershy nearly giggled at that. When Flim and Flam were about to go after the crowd, Apple Slice stood in front of them and said ‘Going somewhere?’ ‘Out of the way kid.’ said Flim. ‘We don’t have time for…’ said Flam before he was cut off. And from out of nowhere, Apple Slice grabbed both Flim and Flam’s pinkies, causing them to yelp in pain, gaining many ponies’ attention, even Applejack and the others. ‘Oh, look what we have here.’ said Apple Slice. ‘OW!! Let us go!!’ shouted Flim. ‘That really smarts!!’ shouted Flam. ‘Oh, so you don’t feel ashamed about ripping off ponies, huh?’ said Apple Slice ‘And now you’ve gone and insult my grandmother?’ And from out of nowhere, two hoof kicks came to their faces, surprising everypony, even Applejack and Fluttershy, with Genus and Bucky just as surprised, for they’ve seen it somewhere before. ‘What the…?’ said Flim. ‘Was that your hoof?’ said Flam. They received a kick to their faces again. ‘Yes, it’s my hoof,’ said Apple Slice ‘The hoof uppercut, watch.’ They ended up receiving hoof kicks to their faces again. ‘The double hooves.’ said Apple Slice as they received the same kicks again. ‘That’s good.’ said Apple Slice, then he ended up placing his bare hoof near them and said ‘Smell it, smell it, smell it, now take it.’ before giving another kick to their faces ‘That’s for you.’ He then was close to them face to face and said ‘You two like pretzels?’ And before they could react, he grabbed the both of them and wrapped them up until they nearly literally look like pretzels, much to Everypony’s shock, even Applejack was surprised to see that. Apple Slice then bent over and said ‘No one, insults a member of the Apple Family. And you two are going to prison.’ ‘You can’t do that.’ said Flim. ‘We’re respectful business ponies from Las Pegasus.’ said Flam as he struggled to move. Apple Slice then said with a smirk ‘You’re not in Las Pegasus.’ This shocked Flim and Flam, for they were right. At the same time, a platoon of guards from Canterlot arrived. They would’ve been surprised to see the Flim Flam brothers tied up, but because of their training, they showed blank expressions. Apple Slice walked past them and said ‘They’re all yours.’ The guards walked over to Flim and Flam in order to arrest them. As Apple Slice got closer to his family, they stared at him with awe and shockened faces. ‘Bu…wha…?’ said Applejack as she was shockened to see that. ‘How did you…?’ said Bucky, clearly as surprised by what he saw. ‘What?’ said Apple Slice ‘I took some defense lessons from Gilda and her husband Garuda the last time they visited aunt Rainbow Dash and Uncle Bolt in Ponyville. They taught me a thing or two how to fight in case I needed to defend myself.’ Just before Applejack was going to say anything, Apple Slice said ‘Look, I know you don’t like violence and I don’t either. But con ponies or not, they had it coming. And besides, I know you wanted payback because of the way they insulted Granny.’ Applejack sighed, for she wasn’t going to argue with that. Normally she wouldn’t go into violence, but when someone insults a member of the Apple Family, even ones that have long passed, she wouldn’t let this lying down. ‘Ah suppose yer right.’ said Applejack ‘Ah don’t like it, but yer right.’ ‘Um,’ said Warm Breeze as he said ‘Can we please go home now?’ ‘You’re right.’ said Fluttershy ‘I think we overstayed our welcome here.’ The lot of them soon left and went back to the train station, with Bucky and Genus whispering as they followed their wives. ‘You do realize he just…’ said Bucky. ‘Yep.’ said Genus. ‘How did he even…?’ ‘I have no idea.’ ‘Never thought I would see that again.’ ‘You got that right.’ The two humans were silent for a few moments, until Bucky said ‘What happened at the Rainbow Falls, stays at the Rainbow Falls.’ ‘On that, we can agree.’ said Genus as they were nearing the train station.