Vinyl panted as she ran up the escalators and into the food court. She had just gotten to the place after a precarious run across the street from the lot she parked in. Weather was changing so much that now the roads and sidewalks were getting covered in snow and ice.
But regardless she made it; and in the food court of the mall was the rest of her friends, waiting patiently for her. "Sorry I'm late, hit a little traffic. Also nearly killed myself just trying to walk across the sidewalk, the ice on the ground kinda makes it hard to run," Vinyl said, gripping onto the table.
"It's alright, mate. Just have a seat," Octavia gestured.
"Okay, now that we're all here, now I can explain," Bon Bon smiled. "So I had an idea the other day. I know all of us get stressed around this time of the year about what gifts to get each other, so I was talking with Applejack the other day, and she gave me an idea. This could save us time on shopping, and we can still give each other gifts," Bon Bon said.
"Yeah? What's that?" Lyra asked.
"She suggested something along the line of... say a Secret Santa. All of us will put our names into a hat, we each pull a name out; and then whoever we get, that's the person we get a gift for. What do you guys think?"
Everyone let her idea sink in for a moment or two, and a few shared a few shrugs and nods.
"Well... it would help us save time on shopping," Sonata shrugged.
"And probably relieve ourselves of some stress," Trixie nodded. "I'm in."
"Me too."
"Count me in."
"Alright, all in favor of a Secret Santa, say Aye."
Everyone clamored, "Aye."
"And against?"
Nothing.
"Alright! Lyra, can you?"
The ninja smiled and she teleported out of the food court. A few seconds later, she manifested back with some pencils and paper. Soon they were passed around and everyone's names were slipped onto some pieces of paper. Lyra then vanished from everyone's eyes, and came back again with a spare hat.
"Just need to borrow this real quick," Lyra said.
"Wait, is that AJ's--"
"Names in the hat!" Adagio said quickly, throwing her name down.
Everyone put their names in a hat. Swishing the papers around, everyone began to pull out a single name.
"Got it."
"Okay."
"Lets do this."
"So we're all good?" Lyra asked.
Everyone gave confirming nods.
"Alright. So... what time do you guys wanna meet up?"
"How about this, we come back tomorrow, same time. 24 hours should be enough, right?"
Everyone gave some shrugs, and soon they began to move their seperate directions. Well, Lyra teleported away to return the hat back to it's owner. The only one left in the food court was just Vinyl Scratch. And when they were away, Vinyl screamed up to the heavens. "I CAN'T DO THIS!!!"
But just then she saw Amethyst running in her peripheral direction.
"Oh, Amy! Thank goodness, listen, do you--"
Amethyst just dashed by Vinyl in a flash. "Don't have Octavia, sorry!"
"Ohhh..." Vinyl moaned. "I wish I had gotten Octavia, I would have known to have gotten her something. Well, hopefully she's having better luck than me. She's always confident.
Meanwhile
"This is impossible!" Octavia screamed, planting her face first into the pillow on her couch.
"What's impossible?" Octavia's mother asked with a raised brow.
"Ugh. My friends and I chose to do a Secret Santa to save time and cash on finding gifts for each other. Except I landed someone who I don't know what to shop for," Octavia said, scrunching at her eyes. "I really wish I had gotten one of my closer mates."
"You mean like Amethyst or Vinyl?"
"Yes." Octavia's eyes shrunk when she realized what she said and she jolted straight up. "Don't get me wrong, Mum. I love all my friends, I do. But it's... I don't know. Suddenly it feels like I don't even know them anymore."
Octavia's mom gave her a smile. "Sweetheart, I know it's difficult now. But you'll find something eventually. You just need to find something that you know will speak to your friend, something from the heart. I know it's hard, but I'm sure you can find something."
And Octavia's only response was to grab a pillow and shove it on her own face.
"There has to something I can get her, but what? Definitely not a set of knives though..." Vinyl paced back and forth. "No, no! I can do this! I know I can. Lets see... what does Bon Bon love? Baking, of course. Cooking, that too. Friends and family, animated films, Maretopia dolls, hmm..."
The violinist paced back and forth, in deep thought. She hadn't left the mall, and it was nearing lunch time.
"There must be something. Unless I can bake her something truly special?" Vinyl lit up, and then went dim. "No, can't bake. Don't need to start a fire again."
She kept pacing around she didn't even notice she was grabbing the attention of the woman behind the counter in one of the stores.
"Excuse me, Vinyl?"
She turned her head and saw who it was. An older woman behind the counter in her 40s, with gray skin and black hair. Dressed in a short sleeved shirt and apron with a graphic of a whisk in a bowl. In other words; it was Bon Bon's mother.
"Oh, Miss Mixup, sorry," Vinyl blushed.
"Come on over here, what's got you so conflicted," the woman said, adjusting some of the pastries in the oven.
"Well, I'm dealing with a bit of a gift giving problem. My friends and I are doing a Secret Santa deal, but I can't seem to find the perfect gift for your daughter. Nothing is coming to me," Vinyl vented. "And I thought I knew her, I do, but... it's like I can't find anything special."
Miss Mixup set some dough in the oven and then closed the door. "I think I understand, and here's the problem, young lady. You're pressuring yourself too hard. If you keep this attitude and believe you're not going to find something for her, then you never will. My daughter loves you like all of her friends; I'm sure she will love whatever you find her."
"I know, but... I just need to find something to show her how much I care about her, something that speaks to her. Something that can surprise her, but at the same time--what are you eating?"
The woman finished what she was chewing and swallowed. "It's a KoKo Kringle. You want a piece?"
"Sure. What's in it?"
"It's just delicious mlik chocolate. Bon Bon loved these when she was a little girl, but sadly they don't make these in Canterlot anymore. They moved their factories to another part of this state."
Vinyl perked up. And she jolted from where she was sitting. "Do you know their location?"
Mixup was a bit hesitant. "They just moved somewhere close to Chicoltgo. Hold on, I know the address..."
The next day, everyone was gathered over at Vinyl's house for the gift giving. Everyone was mostly planning on just a regular sleepover, with some video games included, but it was marked as the perfect spot to open up their holiday gifts to one another.
After everyone had their dinner, everyone gathered around Vinyl's family room, kicking back and relaxing in some of the chairs, couch, and some soft spots on the floor.
"Alright, so we're all here, we're all ready to exchange?" Adagio asked. Everyone nodded. "Excellent! So who shall go first?"
"Um... I could start," Vinyl asked, hesitantly.
"Perfect!"
"O-Okay, well... This is for Bon Bon," Vinyl said, giving the present to Bon Bon.
"Ooooh, now I'm intrigued," Bon Bon said, intrigued. She eyed the milky yellow coloring paper, wrapped up in a neat little blue bow, with some pictures of Christmas cookies surrounding the paper. Bon Bon tore through the wrapping paper and gasped. She cupped her mouth, and her eyes were watering; not out of sadness, but of joy.
"No... way... No way..."
Vinyl was nervous, a little fearful. Bon Bon then puled out one of the candy bars with a joyful face. Unwrapping one of the wrappers, she took a bite of the bar and her face was filled with so much joy, it was adorable.
"KoKo Kringle... this was my favorite candy when I was a little girl! I didn't think they made these anymore, they stopped selling these here in Canterlot! H-How did you find these?" Bon Bon asked, ecstatically.
"Well, I did some looking... apparently they moved their factory operations off Canterlot, just moved them into another city. Took me a while to find them, but I did, so... d-do you like it?"
Bon Bon just answered with a big hug to her friend, so full of joy and happiness. Vinyl softly smiled and hugged her back.
"Thank you," the baker whispered.
"Merry Christmas, Bon Bon."
Bon Bon pulled from the hug and she pulled off a piece of the candy bar, offering a piece to Vinyl.
"Now, the person I got a gift for was Aria," Bon Bon said, passing her gift to Aria.
"Sweet!" Aria snatched her gift like a child. She reached into the bag, pulling out the paper. And unfolding it, she finally saw the contents. A faded red sash and some beads that looked like it belonged to a pirate. Bon Bon had the biggest grin on her face, and Aria's smile grew even wider. "Yeeeesss! Awesome!" Aria grinned.
"You like it?"
"Yeah, this is awesome. How did you know?"
"Well, I thought about some of those pirate stories you were telling about and how much fun you had being a swashbuckler, and even though I couldn't get a sword, I thought maybe something like that could still keep some memories in the past back," Bon Bon blushed.
"Bon Bon, this is awesome," Aria grinned as she tied the sash around her head, underneath her hair, letting the two strands of cloth hang out the back. A soft gold bead was left exposed over the sash as she finished tying it together. "Now my inner pirate's back."
Adagio rolled her eyes, chuckling. "Just don't go hunting for booty, okay?"
"I don't need to. Besides, there's already one I've got to myself," Aria gave a naughty wink. "Now lemme see..." Aria pulled out her gift box. "I've got something for Trixie."
Adagio couldn't help but pout.
"Problem, Adagio?"
"... I wish I could have gotten my girl something sweet," she frowned.
"Aww, don't worry Dagi," Trixie hugged her. "It's okay. Besides, there's still a few days until Christmas. I could get you something special if you wait." She gave a wink, making Adagio giggle.
"Anyways! Lovebirds, if I may?" Aria stopped. "Trixie, here you go."
Trixie's gift was wrapped up in dark purple and green, wrapped with a pink bow and a tag that said 'To Trixie'. Trixie set the box down on the table and tore through the wrapping paper as if it was already Christmas Day. And she too was excited.
"Oh my gosh!" Trixie squeaked. She pulled out a set of sparking looking clothes from inside the box. Long purple socks that reached high to her thighs, blue heels, a sparkling blue jacket with gold general pads, and a top hat with a feather sticking out. "It's..."
"A little something for you to wear when you get back out into performing magic. Something to help you get some more confidence."
"Oh, Aria, thank you!" Trixie squeed, hugging her friend.
"Okay, okay, it's not that big of a deal..." Aria blushed.
Trixie giggled. "Okay, Octavia, this is for you."
Trixie passed her gift to Octavia who, just like the others, was ecstatic to open her gift up. This one all held in black and light purple, with some pictures of treble-clefs. And when she did, the girls swore the punk squeed.
"The Deluxe Edition of the Greatest Rock and Roll hits, I love it!" Octavia squeaked.
Trixie blushed. "Aww, it's no big deal--" And Octavia attacked Trixie in a hug.
"Awww..." Everyone went.
Trixie couldn't help but hug Octavia back, happily sighing in relief. "I'm glad you love it, Octavia."
"Oh, Lyra! You're next!" Octavia announced. "Luv, I wasn't sure about this, but... I do hope you'll like it."
Lyra smiled and she tore the wrapping paper apart, and she gasped. "No... no way! You got Raizuobusonbura?"
Everyone blinked. "What?"
"She got me Rise of Sombra!" Lyra exclaimed, showing the game case.
"Ohhhh..."
"I wasn't sure if I should get this game, I didn't know if someone would get it for me or not but... yay," Lyra squeaked. "Thank you so much!"
"Aww, shucks," Octavia blushed.
Lyra giggled. "Okay, Sonata! Your gift!"
"Yay!"
Lyra passed Sonata the colorful mint green box to Sonata. She ripped off the bow and pulled the lid off the top, and she gasped with a squee. She reached in and pulled out a white teddy bear with a cute little red bow.
"Oh my goodness... he's so adorable!" Sonata smiled as she hugged the bear. "Thank you, Lyra, I love it!"
Lyra smiled. "I knew you would, I just knew it."
"Hehe. Oh, that reminds me, Amy, here's yours!" Sonata giggled, giving Amethyst her gift. Amethyst tore through the wrapping paper, and she smiled with a big grin on her face when she saw it. A neon blue and pink cassette tape, with a sticker marked at the top.
"Ultimate Retro Mix from 83 to 88?" Amethyst grinned.
"I remembered some of your favorite songs were from those times!" Sonata giggled. "I had a lot of fun in those times too. Though I wondered if I should have given Jone Jet a call..." She looked at the rest of the girls who were giving her awkward expressions. "What?"
Shrugging it off, Amethyst went to the second to last gift; wrapped up in turquoise wrapping paper with geometric patterns in yellow, pink, and blue. She pulled the top off and smiled.
"Aww, Amy..." Pulling it off, she could see some purple fingerless gloves made out of leather like the type for bikers, some spiked bracelets, and a headband with a cute red bow on top.
"You like it?"
"I love it, Amy, it's adorable," Adagio squeaked. "Thank you."
Amethyst smiled and let out a little squee.
"And that leaves Vinyl as the last one. Vinyl, I believe this is something you've been looking for, for a long time," Adagio smiled, giving her the present.
Vinyl ripped the paper off, and when she finally got the full look she gasped. One of her hands cupped her mouth, she began to tremble all over. "The sheet music for Equestrian Serenity? I..." Vinyl was shaking up so much that she had to slowly set herself down. "I had been trying to find this music ever since I attended middle school."
Adagio smiled. "I know. I thought maybe you would be happy knowing you could--"
And Vinyl stopped her from talking by nearly tacking her in a hug. Adagio's arms raised up, she let Vinyl's arms wrap around her stomach and to her back, hugging her ever more. Vinyl softly laid her head against her chest, a soft tear of joy leaking from her eye.
"Thank you."
Adagio smiled. And she just wrapped her arms around Vinyl and a tender hugging embrace. And she rubbed her back, while everyone around just smiled happily.
"Merry Christmas Vinyl."
And silence filled the house.
"... Um. You can let go of me now."
"In five minutes."