“Are you sure that what we are looking for is out here, darling? I mean this is the Everfree Forest. What kind of friendship problem could be out here in the middle of nowhere?” Rarity glanced to the side at Twilight as she and their friends walked through the Everfree forest. The purple mare sighed as she was once again asked the same question that had been asked multiple times over the last few hours.
“For the last time I don't know. The map only showed that it was somewhere out here past the old castle. I'm not even sure what we are looking for or what kind of friendship problem would even be out here. I'm not even sure if we are heading in the right direction anymore, this place is just so confusing.” Twilight waved a hoof around her at the snow and trees with a huff. The mare looked around once more before pulling out a map to try and figure out where they were while the others gathered around her.
“Why don't we check out that sleigh thing over there that we've been walking for the last hour?” The five mares look at Pinkie Pie in confusion at first before following the path of her pointing hoof. Through a gap in the trees they notice a bright red figure that doesn't match the rest of the forest. Seeing the object, they turn back to the pink pony.
“Pinkie? Why didn't you say something earlier?” The mare just shrugged at Rainbow Dash.
“You didn't ask.” A chorus of groans met that answer as the part pony bounced off towards the object, soon followed by the others. As the object came into view, they found that it really was a sleigh like Pinkie claimed. They walked around the object, taking in the red and gold colors and all the bells attached to it and the harnesses in front of it.
“Well this is certainly interesting. Why would somepony leave something with such a fabulous design out in such a grungy place like this?” Rarity prodded at one of the bells on the sleigh as they all looked over it out of curiosity. They could tell that it was made for a much larger creature than them as they could all easily fit in the seat of it with there still being a lot of room remaining. As Applejack poked at a sack sitting on the ground inside the sleigh, Twilight came across a book in a hidden compartment and slowly pulled it out.
“Hey girls, I think I might have found something.” The group gathered around the alicorn as she ran a hoof over the cover of the book. Opening it, they were met with one of Twilight's worst nightmares, causing her to drop it.
“It's blank?! What is the point of a blank book, how is that going to help us? We need something that will tell us why we are even here and what the problem we were sent out here for.” As Twilight spoke the pages began to shift as words and pictures began to appear on them. Fluttershy was the first to see it and let out a gasp, drawing the attention of the others. The purple alicorn picked the book up once again and began reading.
“Hmm, it seems that this sleigh is owned by some... being known as Santa Claus. He seems to be in charge of some holiday named Christmas in a different world. But why is it here?” Twilight took a thinking pose, not noticing that the book was changing once again.
“Maybe his reindeer got really, really sick and he had to stop somewhere so that they could get better but it's taking so long that he won't be able to deliver all the presents he is supposed to and needs somepony to take his place?” Twilight looked at Pinkie pie in confusion.
“Pinkie? Just why would you think that is the reason?” The pink mare just shrugs and points at the book.
“Well why else would the book say that?” The alicorn blinked a few times before quickly looking at the book once again to find that she was right. Turning the page she found detailed instruction on what they needed to do, as where to find the tools to do so.
“This book is strange. I've never seen one that can change the words within it. Applejack, look inside that red sack there. It supposedly has something we can use, though I'm not sure how since it looks empty from here.” Applejack looked down at the bag before shrugging and digging through the opening of the sack. She soon paused before she pulled out a red outfit and set it aside, before pulling out five more along with hats to go with them.
“Oh my, this fabric is magnificent. The design is rather simple though.” Rarity picked up one of the outfits before trying it on. She pulled out a small mirror and began to look over herself in it.
“Though I must admit that I do make it look good.” The others looked at her before each picking up one of the outfits and putting it on. Soon all six of them were wearing the read outfits and hat before turning to Twilight once again.
“Well I guess now all but one of us have to have to get into the harnesses and... Actually I'm not sure, it doesn't quite explain much past that.” The six looked at each other before trying to figure out who would ride in the sleigh. After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, Pinkie was sitting in the sleigh while the others were putting on the jingling harnesses.
“Ah still don't understand how all of us could choose paper and only Pinkie chose scissors, or even how she did it. Why did we even choose that game in the first place?” The others shrugged as the pink pony bounced in her seat and spouting her usual nonsense.
“Dashie, with your mane so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?” The cyan mare looked back at the giggling mare with a raised eyebrow.
“Seriously Pinkie?” The mare shook her head as she finished hitching herself up to the harness, being the last of the group to do so. As soon as she did so the hooves of the five mares lifted off the ground as the sleigh began flying into the air.
“Whoa Nelly! Twilight, what's happening!?” Twilight didn't have a chance to answer Applejack as the sleigh swung around hard before diving into a portal the just appeared. As they were surrounded by swirling green, red, and gold lights they could hear Pinkie behind them.
“On Rarity, on Twily, and Jackie! On Dashie and Fluttery, too!” Before they could question the mare on what she was doing, the tunnel they were in ended and they were high above a city that was full of lights.
“So pretty.” The others nod add Fluttershy's comment as the sleigh began to descend towards a cluster of homes. Soon they landed atop one of the homes and Pinkie began to bounce towards the nearby chimney with the sack and book atop her back.
“Pinkie? What are you doing?” The pink pony freezes in midair before she turns back to Twilight.
“I'm doing what the book says to and going down to leave presents. See? We wouldn't want to disappoint the children.” The alicorn blinked as the book was shoved into her face as Pinkie disappeared down the chimney, leaving the others to wait on the roof.
Pinkie Pie popped out of the fireplace of the home with a happy hum before bouncing towards the nearby tree. She paused briefly next to a plate of cookies and milk, which was now sporting half the amount of items on it as when she entered the room. At the tree she reached into the seemingly empty sack she was carrying before pulling out a stack of presents which she arranged around the tree. Just as she was finishing and started finishing off the rest of the treats a gasp sounded out behind her.
“Hey! Put those down you stupid pony, those are supposed to be for Santa!” Pinkie paused in her eating as she felt something thumping into her side and looked to find a small child beating her fists at her. The mare tilted her head before swallowing the cookie she was eating and brought a hoof up to ruffle at the girl's hair.
“Aww, aren't you the cutest little thing ever? Yes you are you little cutie, you.” The girl flinched away when the pony touched her head, but her eyes soon widened as she realized that it also spoke to her.
“You can talk?! Who are you?! What are you doing here?! Where's Santa?!” Pinkie Pie paused as she considered the question before smiling at the child.
“Of course I can talk, I'm Pinkie Pie. Santa is busy taking care of his sick reindeer so me and my friends are here to deliver the presents for him.” The mare said all this with a smile, but it caused the young girl to frown.
“Santa's not coming? But I need to see him, it just won't be the same if he doesn't show up. Nobody will believe me if he doesn't come, he just has to!” The mare tilted her head questioningly before sitting down next to the girl.
“”Really? Why do you have to see Santa? The book says the nobody ever sees him.” The girl looks crestfallen about that before she sits down next to Pinkie and pouts.
“But that's not fair. Everybody always makes fun of me when I talk about him and say that he's fake. How am I supposed to prove that he's real to them if I can't ever see him? They used to believe in him as well but when they stopped they just got meaner.” Pinkie looked saddened at the crestfallen look of the girl and shifted to lay a hoof across her back.
“Aww, don't be so sad. At least you know he's real for sure now. How many others can say that? Maybe they just all need somepony to cheer them up?” The girl looked at the pony for a moment before giggling at her.
“Any-pony?” Pinkie looked confused for a moment at the girl's giggling before she realized just what she said and joined in as well.
“Ehh, I guess that is a bit silly to say around here isn't it?” The girl nods as she continues to giggle along with the pony. As the sounds of joy began to fade, Pinkie looked thoughtful before she reached into her mane and pulled out one more present.
“You may not be able to meet Santa, but here's something to remember me by at least. They may not believe you, but maybe you can do something to make them happy again. I always love making my friends smile, it's one of the greatest things ever.” As the girl accepted the present with a thoughtful look on her face, Pinkie quickly wrapped things up and ascended the chimney to rejoin her friends. At the sound of hooves on the roof, the girl shook her head and rushed to the window to see the sleigh flying away being pulled by ponies through the air. She watched in awe until the vanished from view, when a voice called out from behind her.
“Lauren honey? What are you still doing up? Santa won't come until if you don't go to sleep you know?” The girl looks back at her mother with a sad smile.
“Santa's reindeer are sick so he can't come, mommy. But that's all right, a pink pony is taking his place instead.” The mother looked at her daughter for a moment before chuckling and shaking her head at her daughter's imagination.
“All right, half an hour more, then right to bed. That's all.” The young girl nodded as her mother went back to her room before she looked over at the present the pony gave her. Removing the lid she found a plush doll of the pony wearing the same outfit waiting for her, and she smiled at it before setting it down next to her and pulling out some crayons and a blank piece of paper from a nearby shelf and began to draw.
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The six mares flew from house to house delivering presents, until the five pulling the sleigh had to stop Pinkie from entering it at one point.
“Pinkie, why don't we take a bit of a rest. I mean look at Fluttershy, she's getting exhausted.” Twilight pointed to the shy pegasus as she was panting from all the flying, with Rainbow Dash rubbing at her back. The pink mare hummed for a bit before she nodded and ran over to pull the yellow one from her harness and sat her in the seat of the sleigh.
“Okie dokie! Fluttershy can do the next few deliveries then! I know that she'll do a great job, too! All you have to do is touch the name in the book and follow the directions to the house then bring the sack with to drop off the presents!” While Fluttershy tried to deny being tired, she was ignored as she was left in the seat and Pinkie Pie took her place on the pulling team. The others looked ready to argue, but they each were interested in just what went on inside the homes as well and just shrugged it off and prepared to fly again. Seeing as her protests were being ignored, Fluttershy sighed and did as Pinkie said before warily setting the sleigh into flight, causing her to let out an eep of fear as it began to move. Soon the had arrived atop of a large building, one that was unlike all the homes and apartments they had already been to.
“Um, are you sure this is the right place? I think this might be a hospital.” While they were in flight she had been reading through the book to get an idea of what she needed to do, but it said nothing about what to do with non-home buildings. The others glanced at the glowing cross atop the roof with them before shrugging.
“Well ah guess that there must be some reason ta be here, sugar cube. Ya might as well go and check just ta be sure. Doesn't tha book say what ya need ta do?” Picking up the book once again, Fluttershy finds directions in it and she nods to Applejack. Shyly she walks towards the staircase and makes her way into the building. Making her way through the halls while following the books directions, the mare was brought to a halt as she ran into someone.
“Eep! I'm sorry!” The mare cowered in place before she slowly peeked out from behind her wings to see the figure before her. Standing in her was was a tall figure, female by the swelled chest area, wearing a white outfit and hat like the nurses at the Ponyville hospital wore. The strangest part though, was that the figure didn't move an inch and seemed unaware that the pony was there.
“Umm, excuse me?” Fluttershy poked at the mare yet received no response. Looking down at the book she found that the directions had not changed and warily followed them, occasionally glancing back at the figure until it was out of sight. Throughout the building she found more figures and yet not a one of them was in motion. Despite the strangeness, she pushed past her fear and finally made it to her destination.
“Oh my!” The mare's hooves leapt to her mouth as she entered the room and found it to be full of children. Along each side of the room were dozens of beds, bordered by curtains, and each of them contained a small figure an various stages of injury. Fluttershy teared up as she moved from bed to bed, placing a gift that she had pulled out of the sack until she came to the last in the line which was surrounded by older figures.
“Wh-what's going on here?” Peering into the bed she found a small child, yet couldn't tell if it was male or female as it was too young to tell from outward appearances and was devoid of any hair, unlike all the others she had seen. The child looked to be asleep, yet when she looked on the faces of the figures around them she saw what seemed to be looks of grief. Curiosity pulled at her as she looked around and found the patient chart, finding the child to be a girl, and slowly read through it. Her curiosity soon turned to horror as she read through it until she came to the end, her eyes full of tears.
“N-n-no. This can't be real, can it?” She turned back to the sack and reached in, just to pull out a package much like the others. Opening it, all she found was a doll, which she stared at in shock.
“This is it? This is all you have for her!? She's dying and all you have for her is a doll?!” The pegasus looked at the sack incredulously before looking at the crying figures around the bed.
“This isn't right. I read the book and this is not what this Christmas is supposed to be about! Where's the hope! She only has hours to live and a DOLL is all she gets!? How is that going to help her! Help her family! What kind of joke is this!” At this point the mare had tears streaming from her face as her hooves tried to strangle the bag. She didn't notice the glow coming from it's opening, or the fact that it began to cover the entire room. What did catch her attention though, was a soft voice calling out from the bed.
“Are... are you an angel?” Fluttershy let out a gasp before her eyes darted to the bed to see the girls eyes looking at her blearily. Soon the girls eyes closed, yet she could visibly see her color improving, and her breathing seemed to go from ragged to what she thought was healthy. Darting over she checked over the form, yet could find nothing wrong even though she wasn't sure what was normal for her. Yet looking around the room she found that many of the children were looking better than they had, yet none of them seemed to be moving like the girl was. Seeing this, she clutched at the sack again, this time out of gratefulness.
“Oh thank you. Thank you thank you thank you.” Her tears had returned, but this time it was due to relief and gratefulness. She was unsure how long she lay there, but when she finally regained control of herself she began to dart from room to room in the hospital and watched in awe as the magical sack healed everyone in them. It was hours later that she finally returned to the roof and her friends.
“Wow Fluttershy, what took you so long? I was about to go down and search for you. Are you all right?” Fluttershy shook her head at Rainbow Dash as she climbed into the sleigh again.
“I'm fine. But, um, if we get any more places like this, can I be the one to deliver the presents?” The others looked at each other before shrugging and agreeing to her request, though the cyan mare had noticed the streaks on her friends face from where she was crying. While Pinkie seemed fine, Fluttershy seemed to be deeply affected and it was only one delivery and the athletic mare vowed to see what the hubbub was as soon as she could.
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“Come on, it can't be that hard. I mean, Fluttershy was doing it by herself just fine so it can't be that bad.” The others looked at Rainbow Dash uncertainly as they weren't expecting the mare to volunteer so enthusiastically. Yet, while she acted like it was no big deal, the cyan mare saw how Fluttershy had changed a bit after leaving the first building she went into. Whatever it was though, she wasn't going to let anything like that happen to her friend again.
“Um, are you sure you want to do this? It's not as easy as it sounds, um not that I'm saying you wouldn't be able to do it.” The rainbow-maned pegasus just scoffed at her feathered compatriot.
“Pff, please! Look at who you're talking to? Just going in and dropping off a few boxes for whatever is inside? Please, that will be a piece of cake for the number one flier of Equestria.” Before anything else could be said the pegasus snatched up the book and sack before diving down the chimney leaving the others to shake their heads.
Inside of the home, Rainbow Dash appeared from the chimney and she looked around with a bit of interest. Despite the alien nature of the creatures she had heard living there, the home seemed rather normal with only a few objects she couldn't identify. In fact it seemed too normal to her, what with how Fluttershy seemed to be affected from that earlier place.
“I don't see what's so tough about this. Now let's see, I'm supposed to just drop a few presents under the tree and go. Should be easy enough. Oh hey, free snacks as well!” The cyan mare was distracted by a plate of cookies nearby which was quickly emptied of its contents as she walked by it. Before she reached the tree her eyes were drawn to a cabinet along the wall, and a multitude of gold objects withing it.
“Well now, this is cool. Heh, reminds me of home even.” Inside the mare saw a bunch of ribbons and trophies, a few of them with a photo of a young girl next to them. She smirked at seeing that the girl seemed to be skilled at some form of racing and mentally started comparing what she saw to her own achievements. She was about to turn away when her eye caught a picture tucked away in a corner, causing her eyes to widen.
“What? No way...” In the last set of pictures, it showed the girl resting in a hospital bed covered by a blanket. Yet, compared to the other pictures, there seemed to be less under the covers than there should have been. The reason was revealed in the next picture as it showed that the figure had lost most of her legs, leaving only stumps remaining. The next few pictures showed the girl in various activities, yet the look in her eyes slowly faded in each one until the last one showed her looking nearly dead inside.
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened at the last picture and she began running around the home. Soon she found herself at the side of the bed of the girl in the pictures. Looking around her she found the room to be a mess, and the girl sprawled recklessly in the center of it all. The mare felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked at the girl and how much of a mess she was. Even though she didn't care much about appearance, she could tell that her hair hadn't been washed for days, if not weeks and, given the smell coming off of her, the rest of her wasn't much better. For an athlete, seeing another that seemed so much like herself in such a state tore at her heart.
“It... It's just not fair. It looked like she had so many dreams, yet this happens to her? Just... How...” The mare trailed off as words failed her. Slowly her eyes drifted over to the sack hanging from her side, causing her to frown.
“Wait. Fluttershy and Pinkie said that this thing is magic and stuff. So maybe...” With a shaky hoof, the pegasus reaches into the sack and starts digging around inside of it. Soon she was able to grasp something and slowly pulled it out to stare at, before her face twisted in disgust.
“Y-you think this is funny?!” Rainbow Dash reared back before throwing the stuffed doll off to the side.
“Seriously?! A doll?! She lost everything that makes her happy, and this is all you can give her?! What kind of joke is this holiday?!” In a fit of pique she kicked at the bag, only to wince as she struck something hard inside of it. As she hopped around grasping at the injured limb, she failed to see the shimmer flowing across it which faded as she turned to glare at it.
“Ow, what the buck was that now?!” Reaching down she dug through the red sack again and pulled out two long metallic-seeming objects. She frowned as they were fully revealed before she dropped them near the girl's stumps in disgust as she threw her head back.
“Seriously?! Do you think this is funny?! I'm not sure what she needs, but how will a couple of fakes help her? Huh?!” The mare reached down and attempted to throttle the bag, but movement to her side caught her eye. Where the girl was frozen before, she was slowly turning over onto her side to curl up on herself. What caught her eye, though, was the fact that her legs looked to be moving on their own like they were actually a part of her body. Rainbow poked at the bottom of one of the feet, only to jump back when it wiggled as the girl giggled in her sleep.
Seeing that the legs were actually working, the pegasus looked over at the red sack before slinging it over her back. She quietly left the room and, after stopping by the tree to drop off a couple more things, prepared to leave until she passed by a stack of paper and writing utensils. Looking at them a moment she picked up a pencil to write a quick note before leaving the house. She left it atop one of the presents for the girl where it lightly fluttered in a breeze from a nearby vent.
Dear Fellow Athlete,
I'm not good with words so I'll just come out and say this. Don't let others tell you what you can or can't do, even if it's your own body. As long as you don't give up and have a strong belief in yourself you can do whatever you put your mind to. So please, don't give up and always reach for the gold.
RD
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“Rainbow Dash, what just happened to ya back there? Ever since ya left that home ya haven't said a thing.” The pegasus just sighed before turning her head away from the farm mare.
“AJ, please just drop it. I don't want to talk about it right now.” The farm pony frowned at her friend, as she would normally expect more hostility from her prodding her. Yet, the pegasus only seemed to fall further in on herself as if she was deeply thinking of something. The red sack the was sitting in the sleigh caught her attention and she rubbed her chin thoughtfully, as an idea began to form. Once the group landed, Applejack put her plan into action as she quickly snatched up the bag for herself.
“Applejack what are you doing?” They all looked at her curiously, but one of them knew exactly what was going on and tossed the book to the farmer, who quickly caught and and raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Just don't let it make all the decisions, AJ. It isn't always right.” The eyebrow rose even higher at Rainbow Dash's words, but the earth pony still nodded to her friend as she moved towards the chimney. The other mares looked between her and Rainbow Dash before surrounding the latter to bombard her with questions as the former dove down into the home.
Upon landing inside of the home Applejack knew that there was something wrong. Bottles lay scattered around the entire room, and with them the smell of alcohol. The mare had to bring a hoof up to cover her nose with how overpowering the scent was.
“What the? Just what is going on here? How can anypony live like this?” Picking her way across the room, she looked around for the tree her friends told her was supposed to be there yet failed to find it. Assuming that it was elsewhere, she started looking through the rest of the house. The going was difficult as there was little room to walk, forcing her to push through all the clutter. Coming up on a pair of doors, she paused as she looked them both over before deciding on the one that seemed the cleaner of the two, not wanting to touch t he other.
Inside she found it to be much cleaner than everything else she had seen, but was still rather run-down. Looking around, she was about to leave until she noticed a small tree hidden away in a corner of the room. With a frown she walked in and glanced around, noticing a bed in the corner that had no occupant. She was looking over the scrawny pine tree when she heard a shuffling behind her. Turning she found a desk that she had missed before which also happened to have a sleeping occupant.
“Huh, I thought that they said that everything was frozen while we were here. And what is a youngin' doing... Whoa Nelly!” She reared back as she got a good look at the child and she definitely did not like what she saw. From what she could tell it was a young female of the species, yet she doubted that it was supposed to be covered with bruises and other marks of abuse. Stepping away she had to bring a hoof up to her mouth before turning back once again.
“What could have happened to a child to cause all of this?” Looking closer she finally noticed the marks of tears on her face, and following them down saw that she was resting on a book of some sort. Carefully the apple farmer reached out and pulled it out from beneath her head and started reading.
“Huh, a diary? Let's see now.” Doing a quick read through of the current entry she frowned as she found that it was the girl's mother that was the cause of all of the damage. Yet it was the final sentence that really caught her attention.
“'Why did daddy have to abandon me here? She said that she loves me, but she's a big liar. I hate them, I hate them all.' Now what in the hay is going on here?” Her eyes drifted behind her to the book that had led her and her friends out here as Rainbow's words came to mind.
“I wonder. Ya seem ta be magical-like and showed us pictures before going blank, so show me just what happened here.” Nothing happened at first, and she started to wonder what she was thinking, talking to a book of all things, when the pages began to move on their own. An image slowly appeared on the page it finally landed on, showing the girl clinging to her mother's leg, with some kind of vehicle moving away being controlled by what she assumed was the father. Before she could ask for more, documents began to slowly flash by; a divorce certificate, a custody order from a court, and finally a restraining order. Finally, the book showed one last image of the father with a pregnant woman and another child, the older male looking sadly at a picture in his hands.
“That tears it. There is no way I'm leaving this child to be abused by that thing that calls itself her mother. Tha father seems ta still care as well, so maybe...” Looking at the girl one more time, Applejack nodded before looking around the room. Unfortunately part of it was ruined as there was nothing really bothering with so she just sighed and shifted the girl from the desk onto her back. Once she had her settled she carefully made her way out of the house and back to the roof where she was met by her friends.
“Applejack! Is that...? What are you doing with that child?” She apple farmer just shook her head sadly before replying.
“There is no way I'm leaving her with that... Thing. Just look at her!” Taking a closer look the other mares gasped at the collection of injuries while Applejack settled her in the sleigh.
“I don't know what laws they have here, but I do know that her father still cares for her. So that is where I'm gonna take her.” The others looked at each other, but when no arguments came they nodded and began strapping themselves into their harnesses again. Once everything was situated, the sleigh once again took to the skies. While she didn't know where the father lived, a bit of poking at the book soon revealed an arrow pointing to their destination which they quickly followed. Shortly enough the began to settle on the roof of a farm-house that was much like that on Sweet Apple Acres.
“Come on little one. Let's get you to yer family that truly cares about ya.” Lifting the girl and the red sack, which Applejack set over her like a blanket, she walked over to the chimney and made her way down it. The inside of this home was like night and day compared to the last one, in fact Applejack almost felt like she was back at home with how familiar it was. Looking around her eyes finally settled on a couch and moved to set the girl on it, pulling the quilt covering the back of it over her. Before she left, the mare looked once more at the sack and thought on the documents she saw.
“All right now, as for you. Rainbow Said not ta let ya off the hook, so ya better have something so that she isn't pulled away from her real family again.” Reaching in, her hoof quickly came into contact with a small bundle and, upon pulling it out, found it to be a stack of pictures and documents. Glancing through them, Applejack found that they appeared to be pictures of various incidents of the mother abusing the girl, as well as medical reports, pictures of the state of the home, as well as a couple police reports. With a nod, the farm mare set the pile on a small end table near the girls head, and set an apple from a nearby bowl on top of it all before heading back to the chimney before turning back once more before leaving.
“Don't let her destroy what family ya have let. Forgive your father for not being there since he didn't have much choice. Ya never know what ya have until ya lose it, so treasure the family that loves ya still.” Soon after she had left, an adult male entered the room with a yawn, heading towards the kitchen. He paused when he saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and turned to berate his son, but stopped when he saw just who was on the couch, causing his eyes to widen.
“No, it can't be...” Stumbling over, he found his daughter resting peacefully under his mother's old quilt. When he saw the state she was in he was horrified, even more-so when he found the pile of evidence showing what had caused it all. He sat there with a picture of his ex-wife slapping his daughter before crushing it in hands before turning back the way he came.
“Laura! Laura, wake up! Get on the phone, we need to get the police and your family out here, now!” He had barely gotten any sleep, but for the sake of his daughter he would go through anything, and her knew that there would be many long nights to come in the near future.
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The mood of the mares was a somber one as they flew away from the ranch. While it had seemed like a fun idea at first, they were soon finding that it wasn't as straight forward as they had thought it would be. A quick check through the book showed that these were issues that were normally ignored by the original being that did it and they had to wonder why. Those that had already done some deliveries weren't very enthusiastic to start again when they landed again, leaving Twilight and Rarity to look at each other before the latter sighed.
“Well I guess that I should be the one to go next. I just hope it isn't anything too terrible like that last one.” Taking the bag and book, she looked around at the rooftop before sighing.
“Looking at this place it doesn't seem like that is the case unfortunately. I've seen buildings like this in Manehattan, yet none have ever been this filthy. Well, wish me luck girls.” The others nodded as the fashionista descended into the building where she found herself in a large room with a good-sized tree in the center of it. Despite how the outside looked, the inside was rather pleasant to look at for her. Yet there was something that stood out to her.
“Just how many children live here? The building doesn't look like a single home, so why does it seem that all of the children use this one room?” Her flair for the dramatic and fascination with mysteries pushed her to start digging when she spotted the oddities. Yet it did not take her long to find what she was looking for, and it really threw her off when she did.
“An orphanage? That...?” She looked sad at the thought of all the children that would have to be here all alone, and she wished that there was something that she could do for them. Making her way back to the tree, she was about to reach for the bag across her bag when a thought occurred to her.
“I wonder. The others did not say much about what happened, yet I can not help but feel that something deeper happened than just delivering presents. Applejack obviously didn't bother with it when she pulled the poor dear out of there. So I wonder if...” Focusing on just what she wanted as she reached into the red bag, she pushed in deep into it until she felt something touch her hoof. Pulling it out, she smiled as it was exactly what she was looking for.
“Oh yes, this is just perfect. Ooh, this is going to be the best thing ever, and I am sure that all these children will agree. I mean, what good is a holiday celebrating family if you don't have one to share it with.” For a good many minutes, the mare's laughter flowed through the building and when she rejoined her friends she was in such a high mood that it infected her friends who wondered just what she had found.
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The mood of the mares lasted for dozens of buildings after that, though each of them started to instinctively know just who would be the best one at the time. Twilight was starting to feel left out when they finally came to a building that none of the others immediately volunteered for. Seeing her chance she stepped forward and grabbed the bag and book in her magic.
“Finally it's my turn. I was starting to worry that you all would have all the fun. I mean how can I study this new holiday o race of beings if I'm stuck up here all the time?” The other five rolled their eyes at her, but none of them moved to stop her. They all gave her a couple simple tips on what they had learned, but left much of the experience for her to learn for herself.
Inside the building she discovered a room that wouldn't look out of place in Canterlot. Luckily she saw the tree nearby and went to do her duty. Yet the object she pulled out of the red sack wasn't quite what she was expecting.
“Coal? Why would anypony get a gift like this? Even Spike would turn these down, or at least ask to have them made into diamonds at the very least, so why...?” She trailed off as she looked at the book for a moment before opening it. Unlike the others, she was very thorough with her exploration of the book, so she found multiple functions in it and was soon able to browse through it with ease.
“Hmm, so this house is for somepony on what is called the Naughty List? Interesting, but rather unimaginative, not to mention that looking at the history of a sample of those on the list it doesn't help at all.” Her mind went to some of the others that she knew such as Discord and Nightmare Moon where the punishment did nothing to change them, yet other means worked far better. Even then, not every villain was given the same punishment or way to reform, so what worked for one would obviously not work for them all.
She wasn't sure just how long she was there, nor did she care. All that mattered to her was that she found a solution to the issue that she had found and she put all of her effort into it. Eventually she sat back and looked at all the notes she took before nodding and rolled them up.
“Well it's not my best work, but it'll have to do. Strange, I would have thought that day would have come by now, I just wish I had time to study this magic, but who knows how long that would take. I've probably already wasted enough time as it is. Now to see if I can get these two objects to follow along with this plan.” Using her magic she attempted to modify the book slightly by adding in her new formulas. When nothing happened, she assumed that it worked and looked towards the bag before testing it. This time instead of the coal she pulled out a strange looking doll, which made her hope that this was what she was hoping for.
“Well looks like everything is in order. I just hate that I can't stay to verify that it worked. Still, as we've learned, sometimes a little compassion works far better than punishment.” Of course, with no way to truly test out the results, she had to leave her experiment incomplete as she set out the rest of the presents before joining her friends once again, most of them complaining about how long she had take before they were on their way once again.
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The six mares were unsure how long it took, but by the time they had finished delivering all the presents they were completely exhausted. Even Pinkie Pie felt that she could sleep for a week, especially as it felt like they had been awake for a month. So when the sleigh landed back where the originally found it they let out sighs of relief.
“Looks like that was it girls. Ugh, why did we even agree to this without finding out how long it would take? I just hope that we weren't gone from here as long as it seemed. We should really check on that before anything else.” The others were motionless as Twilight spoke, and even for a short while after that. When her words finally sank in, they all bolted to their hooves and took off towards their respective homes to check on their family or friends with Twilight not far behind at a slower pace.
Once all of the mares were out of sight of the sleigh, the sounds of the forest picked up again which none of them had noticed had been missing. The sounds soon quieted once again as a new group of quadrupeds entered the clearing, followed soon by a towering mass of life.