//------------------------------//
// It's Warm 
// Story: The Gift of Giving 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

“Huh?”
That was what all three reindeer said in unison when they saw the lodge. Huh? was the perfect word for the occasion: they desired a sign of civilization or some suggestion of help, but a random house in the middle of nowhere had never crossed their minds.
Their antlers pulsed rapidly, lights blinking in succession upon this bright wintry day. Aurora and Alice beheld them with questions in their minds. For Bori: she smiled, wrapping a hoof around Aurora’s and Alice’s necks. “This is it, girls.”
The hoof-wrapped deer glanced at her oddly. They would’ve asked if they should knock on a stranger’s lodge (if it did belong to anyone). However, given they’d just defeated a fairy tale creature, they let that question slide: something odder could crop up.
Everything had calmed down. Snow fell upon their antlers at a leisurely pace, winds had slowed to a manageable breeze upon their coats, and trees’ leaves swayed with the air’s flow to point these guests to the lodge.
Bori sighed and saw her breath turn into frost before her. She had a foreleg on her barrel, striking a confident pose.
“Well, no time like the present!” Bori declared. “We’ve come too far to go back; we’ve signed up for this. Whatever happens, happens, and we’ll face it together.” She turned to her side to face her friends. “You ready?”
Aurora and Alice nodded simultaneously, smiles back on their faces. Alice even jumped before landing flat on her face.
After Aurora picked her up, they walked towards the mysterious lodge. They gave passing looks to the trees, hoping nothing would pop out at them. Nothing did save for the buffet of fresh pine tree smell. Devoid of surprises, it was a refreshing walk through calm snow in a place that happened to be very cold.
They reached the door, Bori leading the three-deer herd. Stopping right before it, she took a deep breath and then another deep breath. She examined the door’s dull design, but that was another matter. She tried to look through the provided door window, but a sheet of fabric blocked the interior from view.
Nothing else to do but wait for someone (if there was a someone inside) to notice them or knock. Bori knocked.
She waited. She waited some more. She waited a bit more. Aurora tapped her hoof impatiently while Alice looked at her foreleg to check the time; she proceeded to slap herself on the head when she realized portable watches wouldn’t be invented for a century or two.
Bori knocked on the door again, worry crawling on her lips. “Uh, hello? It’s, um, us! We’re three reindeer: Aurora, Bori, Alice. We were l-led here by, uh, strange antler flying magic. Could you please let us in?”
No response.
That elicited another “Huh?” from Bori.
“I didn’t come all the way here for nothing!” Aurora said, budging Bori out of the way and stretched her hoof towards the doorknob.
“Wait, Aurora! You can’t just—“
The door opened.
The three of them, including Aurora, shuddered at that. “Well, that’s unusual!” the elderly cow said herself. “I was hoping jangling on their locked doors would have ‘em scrambling downstairs!”
“But why would they leave their front door open?” Alice mused. “It’s like they’ve been expecting someone to come here around this time.”
“Considering your track record with the future,” Bori said, “you may not be far off.”
Alice nervously scratched her mane. “Hah! I wasn’t even trying!”
“’May not be far off’,” Bori said, sounding pedantic much to Alice’s irritation.
So, Bori took a step forward, a step into the lodge. She raised a hoof, signaling her friends that it was OK to enter.
They closed the door after them and saw what was inside: knickknacks, curios, and various other whatnots laid about on the floor and the shelves and on each other in semi-organized piles. Special glittery wrapping paper teemed a crate or two Alongside them, more pine trees stood by, filling the building with their luscious minty yet earthy natural scents. Yes, furniture was there, but why bother about the furniture when they’re overshadowed by so many trees and gifts-to-be?
At the end of the living room reposed a furnace, on and burning. Like any other good furnace, it provided warmth for the room, which eased the reindeer into the house’s coziness away from the harsh and biting cold outside.
After getting quite comfy with the welcome blast of hot air, the reindeer looked at the plentiful gifts in awe. Here, Bori held up a silver bell hanging from the rafters. There, Aurora enjoyed the wind chimes yet to be wrapped, lying beside a sheet of wrapping paper.
“Uh, Aurora?” Alice began, sitting by the furnace and rubbing her hooves. “You didn’t tell me you had a vacation home out here! I thought you were always on vacation!”
Aurora let out a playful “Hmph!”
Meanwhile, Bori smiled and rubbed her antlers. “Looks like our strange magic thingies led us in the right direction. We have all we need to make gifts.” Then, she rubbed her chin in thought. “But who prepared all of this?”
Two pairs of eyes fell upon Alice. She got the memo and shrugged. “Beats me.”
Bori shrugged back. “Anyway, no matter who did this, we just have to make these gifts and help out other creatures... but who are these gifts for exactly?”
“As many as you see fit,” came a fourth voice.
“Agh!” and Alice leaped to Aurora to cling onto her.
Aurora wasn’t that fazed by the voice, but she was more than surprised by Alice’s accidental assault which Bori softened by galloping right by Aurora’s side.
Now together in the same living bundle of flesh and antlers, they each took a step back from... anywhere, really; the voice kept echoing from every angle, bouncing off from and in every angle so it was like someone had spoken to them in circles.
Bori gulped, eyes darting everywhere. “Wh-who are you?”
On cue, the furnace burned and glowed brighter, its crackling growing noisier. Sparks fell upon the floor but caused no fire. Still, it was enough for the reindeer to look that way, in time to see smoke billow into the room.
However, it was too thick and dense to be ordinary smoke; it had more in common with a storm cloud than tenuous smoke. Unlike ordinary and tenuous smoke, it was gathering, not drifting and dispersing everywhere, and it didn’t give off that familiar pungent stench. Slowly, the smoke took form—or three forms, rather. As more smoke came, featured emerged: first, they took on vague equine outlines. Next came their hooves and their manes, shaped into something eerily tangible. Their barrels and the rest of their lower bodies came about along with their tail, and clothing was forged out of this smoke. Finally, their heads were fashioned into something recognizable, something distinctly pony. So the rest of the smoke vanished, leaving behind three creatures.
When it was done, the reindeer saw three ponies. The first was a pegasus donning a rugged hat between her ears and a flower on her mane, complete with a ragged, rustic gown; what most caught their attention, though, was her ethereal appearance which made her ghostly transparent. The second was an Earth pony who had a garland of fragrant flowers and tiny cornucopias of fire, sporting a robe of gold on her torso and the widest of smiles on her face. The third was a unicorn with a huge cloak, shrouding its figure which proved the tallest among the three; much of her face was hidden by the cloak’s shadows.
The reindeer just clung to each other tighter, wishing these three ponies wouldn’t do something bad to them.
But Alice, venturing out to brave whatever might come, asked them, “Wh-who are you ponies?”
The second one stretched her smiling cheeks wider which should’ve been impossible. “I’m so glad you asked!” she said in a pepper tone, sounding just like that mystical fourth voice. Turning to her companions:“You know it’s roll call time, spirits!”
“Spirits?” Aurora muttered, silently letting go of her grip on her friends. Now, fear gave way to curiosity. “Spirits o-of what?”
The first one bowed her head. “I am the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Past.”
The second one hopped forward and stood on one leg. “I’m the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents!”
Bori cocked her head at this oddity. “Shouldn’t it be present? As in, what’s going on now?”
“Not really,” the pony replied, bobbing her head to the side. “Really, I’m the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Gifts, but that doesn’t sound as catchy as presents. I mean, you could call me Presents because—seriously—who’s going to say Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Presents every one hundred seconds?”
Bori’s genuine smile morphed into fakery, masking her anxiety in the hopes that she wouldn’t offend this unfathomable spirit. She left Presents off with,”O...K... whatever you say, spirit.”
Last but not least, then, was the third one who stepped forward, revealing a glimpse of her hoof adorned by a shiny silver shoe. Lowering her head, she simply said, “I am the Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Yet to Come."
Alice was impressed by the imposing figure. “Pretty cool, Spirit of Hearth’s Warming Yet to Come!”
Presents trotted forward, shaking her head at saying one of their long names, but she shook that out her mind. Turning back to the reindeer: “Together, we’re the Spirits of Hearth’s Warming! We do our best to make Hearth’s Warming go superb for the ponies of Equestria!” She leaned on Past who was miffed at someone just using her back for cool introductions. “So what do you think, kind reindeer?”
If anything, the reindeer had their mouths open at not knowing what to say. Having three spirits pop out from the furnace’s smoke wouldn’t be expected, after all.
Aurora was the first one to close her mouth and reel her senses back. She raised her hoof and asked, “... so why are we here?”
Past chuckled and rubbed her own mane. “You don’t get it? Consider our names and you’ll see.”
That sent the reindeer thinking, racking their minds. Alice hummed her way through that thinking process while Aurora absentmindedly scratched her scarf to free her brain up from any distraction.
A few seconds later, Bori gasped with eyes widened. She leveled a hoof at the spirits in a sweeping motion, terrified awe overtaking her.
“Wh-what’s wrong?” Alice asked, seeing Bori in this mad state.
Bori didn’t mind her; she was too astonished by the revelation before her. Gazing upon the spirits, she uttered, “A-Are...are you the ones who made our antlers glow?... and made us want to go outside to give gifts to complete strangers?... and made us leave home to be here?”
Yet to Come nodded. “That is correct.”
And the reindeer gasped together, staring at each of the spirits in shock. They saw Past’s blushed cheeks, Yet to Come’s blank expression, and Presents’s still wider grin.
Aurora kept staring at Past with that face of disbelief, only for Past to come forward and pat her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, old-timer. If it comforts you, I’m a lot older than I look. All three of us are.”
“In case you want to know, we’re quite busy doing our jobs most of the year,” Presents said, bringing Bori in with half a hug; the reindeer was closer now to the spirit’s slight dose of scatterbrain. “Which sounds weird because Hearth’s Warming is a winter thing, but these things take time, you know? Like how animals store up food for the winter—you get me now? It’s that hibernation thing.”
Before Bori could reply, Alice trotted up to Yet to Come. “So, let me guess: You can—“
“—predict stuff from the future?” Yet to Come finished. “Yes, young one. I believe my name would’ve given that away.”
Alice felt dizzy at that. “Woah! It feels weird being on the receiving end of that.”
A chuckle came from Yet to Come’s wry smile.
After being let go of Presents’ hug, Bori had a hoofful of curiosity on her mind, much more than intrigued by a holiday having its own spirits. “So... what exactly do you do with Hearth’s Warming?”
Presents winked at her while picking up a pillow. “We’re spirits, so we can’t do much in the material world... least not directly. Our specialty is mental whispers and conjuring dreams.” She twirled around on the floor, doing a short jig before continuing. “We’re here to stir up the spirit of Hearth’s Warming (figuratively speaking, of course!) by reminding ponies of how the holiday came to be back then, of what it means right now, and of wonderful memories and times further ahead!”
Alice’s ears drooped in thought, eyes set on Yet to Come. “Yeah, because nothing speaks bright futures better than wearing a dark cloak.”
Yet to Come sighed, upset by the choice of words. “These clothes weren’t my choice.”
That got the reindeer’s eyebrows raising, evoking a harmonious Huh? from the three of them.
Past took her mane flower off and put it close to her chest. “We got some explaining to do.” She took a deep breath and began: “We used to be ordinary ponies back in the day, living in an ordinary village with ordinary neighbors and friends. Well, ordinary as can be when famine’s abundant in the land and the tribes got at each other’s throats. When Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns united to form Equestria... well, there was lots of celebrating. With something so historical, it took two and two and everyone started calling it Hearth’s Warming.”
Presents nudged her on the elbow. “Uh, now they’re wondering why we’re still here after all those hundreds of years!”
Past blushed again, giving her hooves idle work in tying her mane to wipe the anxiety away. “Oh. Right.”
“I’ll take it from here,” and Presents stepped in front of Past, blocking her from view. With the attention focused on her, she went on for the reindeer: “You see, we weren’t content with just giving stuff to other ponies. We wanted to make gift giving extra extra!... but we didn’t know how,” and her ears deflated a bit. “Long story short, we got here, realized we wanted to help others a lot, and it was like Hearth’s Warmingness came to us and turned us into its spirits!”
She amazed the reindeer, not really for the story itself but for how casually she’d hoofed it to them. Intentionally or not, she played up the casualness by leaning on Past again, though the latter wasn’t amused at being used like a wall.
“B-but,” Aurora began haltingly... “but all this magic stuff took us from our f-friend and family!”
Bori’s and Alice’s cheerful mood dampened at that, memories of sweet home and comfy friends rushing back in.
Yet to Come nodded solemnly. “Yes, it is indeed a sad affair, and I don’t wish to downplay that. For a time, even we didn’t expect you to become estranged from your own.” Here, she raised a hoof, her tone becoming lighter: “But I know you got something in you, something that runs even deeper than even your friends and family.”
Alice looked up at her. “What’s that?”
Past went over to Alice and pat her on the shoulder. “To start with, you three got the biggest hearts to give... and it’s always been there. It’s just that, like all the other reindeer, you had that ‘Oh, no! Outsiders are bad!’ sort of thinking.”
“It was only later,” Yet to Come continued... “only after did you learn later that those outsiders have their own struggles and problems on the same level as the average reindeer’s. You learned that a good gift from nowhere is a fresh glass of water in the middle of the desert.”
Presents took out a grape from one of her garland cornucopias and flicked it to the furnace to roast. “Too bad we couldn’t get everyone else in on it with you; sadly, we’re not omnipotent or anything like that. And even if we wanted to, this thing’s a three-deer thing.”
“Three-deer thing?” Bori asked. “What do you mean?”
Presents’s eternal smile failed her now. “Um... we’re spirits.” She pointed at herself and gestured towards the other Hearth’s Warming spirits. Sure, it looks like we got flesh and blood and all that good material stuff, but it’s a really good illusion spell over us.” She waved her hooves in front of her face like a second-rate ghost actor. “Our bodies aren’t really bodies. Because of that, we can’t do physical stuff really well—tires us a lot to stay in these forms for more than day. Our energies are better spent mentally telling creatures to know Hearth’s Warming more, which won’t be enough if we don’t do any of that physical stuff.”
So Bori stepped back, had Alice and Aurora lending her worried looks. Turning to Present with a caution written all over her face, “What’re you getting at? I guess you want us to help you in some way, no?”
It was Presents’s turn to blush. “... yeah, though I don’t want to think of it as helping us. I think of it as helping you... helping us helping you, if you know what I mean.”
“But you must understand,” Yet to Come added, cutting in: “this offer is not normal. I believe it will unsettle you at first.”
The three reindeer exchanged looks before turning back to the spirit in question. “What is it, then?” Bori asked, itching to know.
Yet to Come cleared her throat. She loosened the hood of her cloak, revealing her face a bit more and showing strands of her mane.
“You’ll be granted greatly expanded use of our powers,” Yet to Come said, slowly pacing around them with her imposing figure, striking not fear but a moment’s pause in their hearts. “The future shall come clearer to your head, especially for the gifts that have not happened yet. The past will be given this same clarity along with its gifts that have already happened. As for the present—“ she gazed upon Bori a tad longer than the other two “—you will know the present even more, seeing into many’s deepest thoughts when the need arises... to what troubles and pleases them at the moment. You will thus serve as the balance between the past and the present, as their hinge.”
“And also because the present is now!” Presents shouted happily, giving Yet to Come a surprise hug which she didn’t mind.
What Yet to Come had said, however, gave the reindeer more than just food for thought. Here lay these improved-and-not-so-new powers, to be elevated from mere random surges and flashes, all for the purpose of Hearth’s Warming.
“This is the part where you tell us the catch, right?” Alice asked.
Past nodded sadly, leaning on a tall chair and not on a living creature unlike a certain spirit. “That depends on how you see it. Firstly of all, this lodge will be your new home. For some reason, this gift-givingness force or whatever you call it is strongest here: we can manifest ourselves like this longer than anywhere else, for example.”
“Which means you will stay here,” Yet to Come said darkly. “You might’ve been born in Rennefer, but that is no longer your home now.”
In a second, all three reindeer became crestfallen. An imaginary chill coursed through their veins and arteries, a swift reminder of this journey’s cost.
Presents came up to Aurora who was most affected by the first catch. “I know it’s not easy to break it to you... but remember it won’t be the last time you’ll see Rennefer.”
Those imperfect eyes then lit up in hope, under better light through her eyeglasses. Alice’s and Bori’s ears perked at the tender promise.
“And another thing,” Presents said, plucking a flower from her garland and putting it on Past’s mane, much to Past’s confusion. “I’m surprised you didn’t say anything about how we’re still alive and not dead after so many years.”
That set the reindeer’s minds ringing alarm bells, which was a quaint way to put it. Aurora, for instance, bit her hoofnail.
“That’s one perk of being a Hearth’s Warming spirit,” Presents said. “You were given immortality, or at least long-livedness. I mean, I don’t feel like my back’s getting super crunchy and I’m over seven hundred years old!” She bent her back and, sure enough, not a single crunch or crack thundered throughout the entire room.
Past and Yet to Come nodded together. “We’re all over seven hundred years old,” the former told. “721 years old, to be exact.”
To this, Alice let her foreleg sway in concern. “Are you saying we’ll live for a long time?”
“That’s what I said!” Presents said. Then, trotting up to her specifically, “For you it’ll be special because you’ll end up seeing stuff in the future. That sonar won’t invent itself, you know!”
Alice shook her head in amazement. “How did you know?”
“Read your thoughts, eh!”
In the background, Bori rolled her eyes.
“So,” Presents said, twirling around the reindeer, “I know we’re right here and would really like you to help us—and I know it does sound a bit selfish—but we thought of it this way: We didn’t give you the desire to give to others. We just helped put it to the forefront, gave you the push to be unafraid... ‘cause deep down,” touching Bori’s chest, right over her heart, “we know you want to give to others... and that Hearth’s Warming, most of all, shouldn’t just be for ponies.” She took out a mini painting of a pony for emphasis. “Sure, ponies started it, but we realize there are other winter holidays out there and, more importantly, that giving gifts to others shouldn’t just be a pony thing... it’s a big thing! I think you said that, Yet to Come, didn’t you?”
Yet to Come nodded.
Presents grinned in response and turned back to the reindeer. “Think of this as the opportunity to fulfill that passion of yours in the best way possible.”
Past joined Presents in going around the reindeer (not the twirling). “Still, if you think it’s way too much, then we understand. Being the spirits of Hearth’s Warming wasn’t easy for us, especially in the beginning: we’d outlive all our friends and families, for one.” She glanced away, staring emptily at the wooden wall.
“And it’s something you can’t take back,” Presents said. “If you say ‘yes’, the powers and the responsibilities stay with you for the rest of your lives. Trust me, there were times when even I wanted a break, and I absolutely love giving presents!—if I do say so myself,” and smirked at them.
Yet to Come paced around the reindeer again, completing the circle of spirits surrounding them. “Should you choose to decline the offer, we’ll grant you a severance package.”
Aurora and Bori looked at each other, perplexed. “Severance package?”
Alice, however, winked at Yet to Come. “Are we doing inside future jokes now?”
Yet to Come coughed and cleared her throat. “Perhaps I should’ve worded it in a more, hm, present fashion: We’ll give you all we could give to assist you home or wherever else you may go: Equestria, Griffonstone, Yakyakistan... wherever. We don’t have the power to teleport you to your destination, but consider this our next best option.”
Presents broke the pacing circle and trotted inside. All eyes on the reindeer, including hers. She spread her forelegs wide, took out a flower from her garland, and extended it to them. “So, what’s it gonna be?”
All eyes were on them. The reindeer huddled together, hunkering down with each other. No words came out of their lips, however. The flurry of thought was in their minds: nostalgia-tinted memories of the past, of familiar faces and familiar places, of something safe and nothing dangerous in Rennefer; weighty musings on the present, of making it here in this lodge in one piece, of wild wonder and novelty of these Hearth’s Warming spirits, of the price to pay for giving gifts “the best way possible”; curiosity for the future, of more adventures to be had, of being given a more powerful form of this strange magic, of giving gifts anywhere and everywhere to the joy of anyone and everyone they’d pass by.
First to act: Aurora with her mellow smile for Bori, fixing her eyeglasses. Bori didn’t know what that meant, so she turned to Alice.
The teenage calf winked at her. “We’re with you whichever way you choose; the present is your forte. I know you know what to do.”
Bori didn’t voice a snarky comment about how Alice also knew. She was above that.
She took a step forward, a step closer to the flower Presents had been holding for a good two minutes straight. Took the flower, that flower of a thousand aromas she could discern. Bori put the flower down, still on her hoof, to face Presents’s waiting smile. She closed her eyes, inhaled...
“We say, ‘yes’.”
The flower disappeared in a flash.
Suffice to say, Bori didn’t expect that. On her hoof where the flower had been, there was now nothing but empty space. It was enough to pull this word out of her mouth: “... what?”
Light engulfed the three reindeer, their bodies slowly levitating into the air. They could see nothing, could hear nothing, could sense nothing in this exotic state.
As fast as they ascended, the light disappeared, and they fell to the hard timber floor, landing on their backs with a few thud!’s.
Nothing but light-headed pain was what they felt for a few seconds. Bori quickly gained her bearings, and her eyes shot open into a sideways view of the room.
She rubbed her aching head. “Ow... I-I didn’t know that would hurt.” She lifted her head, straightened her vision to see Aurora and Alice still lying down. “G-girls, are you OK?”
“Gingerbread, candy canes, jam, cinnamon, purple rock sugar for Pinkie!” Alice yelled rapidly, standing back up in one jump.
Bori blathered, “What did you say? And for who?”
Alice and Yet to Come exchanged knowing smiles and a hoofbump. “It’s a grocery list due in, say, three hundred years. Best you don’t mind it for now.”
Bori had a puzzled look on her face as Presents helped her up. “OK... at least you’re taking this a lot better than I expected, Alice.” After saying a quick thank you to Presents, she turned to Aurora who was trying to stand up. “Uh, Aurora?”
Instead of the usual five seconds, however, Aurora got up a lot faster, too fast since she wobbled and almost got to know the floor with her head a second time.
“H-huh?” she muttered before steadying herself. “Wait a minute... I feel...” and jerked her head up towards Past who was smirking all this time. “I don’t feel old now. I-is that—”
“Comes with it,” Past said, elbowing her on the leg. “Tell me: what’s on your mind now?”
Aurora let out a hmm which went well with rubbing her chin and squinting her eyes. “I... can picture Rack Ramble, Oat Milk, even Pyrite... but clearer, like I have this scroll of their lives and the gifts they gave in my mind somewhere!”
“Like?” Past prodded, reining in her bubbling excitement. “They might think you’re bluffing.”
“Rack Ramble setting aside a fancy chair for her lumberjack friend when she was looking for presents for her friends back home.”
Past let her head lean with her smile. “’Atta there.”
That left Bori with her head still in an aching flux. Thoughts of now rushed through her head, thoughts of what gifts this or that creature from across Equestria and beyond bouncing in her mind. She closed her eyes, clenched her jaw, grit her teeth.
“It’ll take some time getting used to,” Presents said, patting her on the back and massaging her withers, “but I’ll help you get the hang of it. We’ll help all of you get the hang of this.”
That said, the reindeer studied their respective spirits. Each of the spirits looked back at them with golden smiles before they gave each other knowing faces.
As for Aurora, Bori, and Alice: they did the same and gave each other the same sort of faces. No words needed to be said; they knew it was a time for a hug, so they hugged each other. In that loving embrace, there was company, there was comfort, there was camaraderie against the loneliness in this house in the face of an apparent forever—all felt in their affectionate grips and their warming tears and their muddled chokes.
“I can already taste it!” Presents muttered, clasping her forehooves in a fake swoon, consistently and constantly annoying Past with her antics. “All six of us, working together as a team! It’s the Hearth’s Warming Squad!”
“Psst!” and Past silenced her. “You have to give them some space.”
Presents looked their way, witnessing that bittersweet hug. “Oops! Sorry!”
A smaller forever came to a close when the hug finished. Bori turned to Presents who was busy wrapping a rock with paper. “Well... I d-don’t know what to say, but... thank you for giving us this... thing.” She let out a long and tired sigh, shifting her gaze away from her. “I don’t know how it’ll turn out, but I know we’ll be fine in the end.”
Aurora and Alice grinned, their teeth shining a shade of yellow under the furnace light.
Presents smiled back, using a mirror to reflect the furnace’s light on to her teeth. This made Bori laugh a bit.
“And if you need help,” Presents said, “or if you want a shoulder to cry on or if you just want a listening ear, we’re here for that and more.” She stretched a hoof out towards them, and so did the other spirits who’d come together by her side, forming a grand and ghostly welcome.
Bori rubbed her hooves together, invigorated like she had been given a new lease on life. “Alright, what’s the agenda?”
Presents glanced up, knee-deep in thought. “Good question, and good timing! Why? It’s because I just thought of a nice idea!” She pointed at Bori and her friends. “Since you can fly around and make gifts properly, what about...” and she scratched her throat. “First off, do you know Saddle Clumps?”
The three reindeer shook their heads in sync.
Presents grabbed a chair and sat on it, taking on the role of storyteller. “It’s a legend ponies tell their foals around Hearth’s Warming time. The thing is, Saddle Clumps is a chubby pony—ahem, allegedly. Anyway, that’ s not important: He flies around all of Equestria with a sack of gifts for all the good little colts and fillies while they sleep through Hearth’s Warming Eve.” She shook her head. “Of course, there’s no such thing as a Saddle Clumps; just an invented dude... but, what about we make the legend real?”
Alice let out an Ooh!, leaning forward but not enough to fall flat on the floor. Aurora glanced at the other spirits to see what they had to say about it: they nodded in agreement with Presents.
Bori asked, “Are you suggesting we go around Equestria and give gifts during Hearth’s Warming Eve while everyone’s asleep?”
“About three days from now, actually,” Presents said. “I know that’s a lot of gifts—” the spirit pointed at the piles of gifts to be finished “—but we’ll help whenever we have the energy to be physical enough for the task. Past also brought a cookscroll for things like coffee and other caffeine recipes, and if that doesn’t help, Yeti can play the violin for you!”
Yet to Come groaned and tapped Presents with her violin bow. “How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t call me Yeti.”
Presents put on a jester’s hat. “You know I won’t stop, Yeti!”
The future spirit rubbed her eyes in resignation. “Fine. Just don’t push the nickname too hard. Alice is going to call me Yeti at this rate.”
“I promise I won’t!” Alice guaranteed.
Presents took off her jester’s hat and went back to ordinary conversation mode. “On topic: So, what do you reindeer think of the Saddle Clumps idea?”
“I think that’s a great idea!” Bori replied.
Aurora took a while to put her reply into words. After some prodding from Past, the reindeer said, “I’d like to see joy in the faces of those little ponies. Heh... it will be more fun when the parents can’t explain it away!”
“And I don’t think it’s just ponies now, is it?” Alice said.
Presents shook her head. “Just about anyone you want! We trust you on that. I mean, who knows? I know you’ll surprise us!”
And so, the reindeer looked at each other once more. Here laid the plan. Ahead, a few days’ worth of invaluable gift work. None of them had any certain idea about what was coming next, but this was their new life, and time wasn’t waiting for them.
“I’ll let Past and Yet to Come show you your bedrooms!” Presents said. “Leave it to me to bake you some dinner! You reindeer need a proper meal after all that walking!” With that, she hopped up the stairs, away from their sight.