At 7 AM the next morning the alarm went off. Both Sunset and Twilight woke up and showered dressing appropriately in lounge wear complete with festive t-shirts. At 8 AM a knock on the door signalled the arrival of Rarity and Applejack, a few moments later Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy came followed finally by Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch. Each girl threw off their coats and revealed festive sweaters underneath. All manner of Santa Claus, reindeer and elves adorned their attire. Rarity and Applejack even had reindeer hairbands.
The girls all settled wherever they could. Large cushions had been set out for those who didn't get a chair or the couch. Rainbow Dash agreed to distribute the presents which were all placed under the tree.
"So how are we doing this? One at a time or just give everyone their presents and let er rip?" Dash asked the group.
Sunset thought for a moment. "Well it would be nice to slow down and let everyone appreciate their gifts. But I think we should just give them all out at once."
"Can do Sunset!"
Rainbow Dash's geode glowed and in a blur of rainbow there was a small pile of presents next to each girl.
Rarity was the first to open her presents. She received an assortment of hair accessories, perfumes and a silver necklace with a jewel in the center.
"These are all wonderful, thanks so much girls."
Applejack went next receiving a new toolbox, a new set of rather expensive looking high quality tools, a cookbook and a pair of earmuffs with an apple on each ear.
"Mighty kind of y'all to be so generous, thanks a million."
Rainbow Dash received a new pair of sneakers, a voucher for her favorite music streaming service, a new soccer ball and her own pair of earmuffs with a cloud and rainbow colored lightning bolt symbol on the ears.
"Cool presents guys, thanks a lot. I needed a new pair of these."
Fluttershy was given a letter confirming a very generous donation to Canterlot's animal shelter. Along with a reindeer outfit for her bunny rabbit Angel, a new bag and what seemed to be a theme of the day, earmuffs marked with butterflies on the ears.
"Wow, thanks so much everyone. I appreciate the shelter donation too. I wish more people would be as generous as you guys, they deserve it."
Next came Pinkie Pie who was given some pouches of confetti, a small clip on storage pouch, a book titled "Unique Baking for the Unique Baker" and her own pair of balloon marked earmuffs.
"You guys are the best, this book looks super fun! I'll be sure to make good use of the pouch too. Nothing like pocket confetti for a quick getaway."
Vinyl got some new CDs, a voucher for the same music streaming service as Rainbow Dash, a new pair of wireless earbuds and a pair of earmuffs marked with a double quaver music note.
"Awesome presents guys, to think I'd probably be at home alone munching leftover pizza if I hadn't met my gal Pinkie and made some kick butt friends. Thanks a bunch."
Finally came the hosts of the day.
First Twilight opened her gifts which contained a detective novel, a set of chef's knives, a cookbook and a pair of earmuffs marked with a pink eight pointed star and white sparkles.
"I love them, but who made all the earmuffs?"
Producing her own diamond marked earmuffs from a bag Rarity piped up. "Who do you think darling?"
Everyone laughed as Sunset opened her presents last of all.
She received a new game called Ultimate Cage Fighter 3, a brand new pair of leather boots, a new leather jacket and her own earmuffs marked with her sun symbol.
"I don't know what to say guys, thank you so much. These are all great. But why don't we remember that its the giving and not the receiving that matters most."
All the girls nodded in agreement and each of them re-examined their own presents, chatting among themselves about each other's presents. Shortly afterwards Twilight and Applejack took to the kitchen to start preparing their Christmas Dinner. Extra plates had been brought over to acommodate everyone and Pinkie had agreed to bake a unique dish she had come across online.
"It's called Christmas Pudding, apparently it's a sweet dessert made using all kinds of spices and dried fruit, it sounds super yummy and I'd love to give it a try! I brought everything with me and once Applejack and Twilight are out of the kitchen I'll start preparing it."
The TV was turned on to an old Christmas cartoon they had seen a hundred times over the years.
Sunset was the first to comment. "They always play the classics at Christmas don't they?"
"Yep." Responded Rainbow Dash "and they're just as cheesy every single year."
By this point Fluttershy had lay her head on Rainbow Dash's lap on the couch while the other girls awwed at her.
"It's nice to see that we're all happy in our personal relationships as well as being friends." Sunset said.
Vinyl spoke up "This kinda thing would've been alien to me awhile back, but I gotta admit seeing friends together just makes me all the happier that I got someone too. It's always nice to know you got a special someone as well as friends to look out for you."
Vinyl then kissed Pinkie on the cheek who giggled sweetly before responding.
"Sometimes it's nice to just kick back from the crazy and relax with that special someone. Of course our relationship is anything but relaxed I can tell ya that much." She laughed while Vinyl blushed.
"Pinks, what goes on at home ain't none of their business."
"I'm just teasing ya Vinyl." She said with a wink.
"Hey, how's dinner coming" Rainbow Dash hollered into the kitchen area.
"It'l be awhile yet, y'all know a full turkey takes a good bit of preparation and cookin'" Applejack shouted back.
"But If you're that impatient to grab some grub I brought some of granny's home made mince pies, they're in my bag."
The girls proceeded to enjoy the strange sweet pies. Applejack had no idea where the recipe came from but Granny Smith told her they were brought to Canterlot by far off travelers years ago when she was still young.
The girls started playing videogames together to pass the time, they decided nothing too competitive given the spirit of the holidays so they settled for a party board game that ended up getting a little more competitive than they bargained for with Fluttershy eventually winning by a hair, Sunset and Rainbow Dash looked ready to tear each other to pieces before Rarity and Pinkie stepped between them.
"The stupid game is rigged! If it rolled me a good number on that last turn i could've won!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
"Well you didn't have to use that item to slow me down! You only stopped me so your girlfriend could win!" Yelled back Sunset.
"Calm down you two. It's Christmas, a time for celebration and togetherness, you lost a videogame. so what? It's not the end of the world." Rarity tried to reason.
"Yeah, you don't want to fight on Christmas, that'd be silly." Pinkie added.
The two took a deep breath and apologized.
"Sorry things got a little heated Sunset. I guess I can be a little competitive."
"Yeah I know what you mean Dash, I'm the same way. Didn't Fluttershy tell you what happened the first time I invited her round to one of my game streams? She kicked my butt and I let her play the game on her own while I watched afterwards."
Fluttershy just smiled at the two. "Everyone's good at something I guess."
Soon after the meal was ready, Pinkie had prepared her pudding and left it in to cook while everyone else sat wherever they could find space and grabbed a plate. The food was all placed on their small living room table and everyone was free to dig in, though Applejack did have control of the turkey cutting so people didn't go overboard and leave none for the rest of the group. Everyone piled their plates high with all the food they wanted, Sunset and Fluttershy both enjoyed Twilight's vegetable casserole by the end of the meal everyone was absolutely stuffed and the TV was again turned on to an old Christmas movie.
Sunset commented "Is this really the only thing they show at Christmas? All these old movies? There's gotta be something better on."
Rainbow Dash laughed "Sorry Sunset but there's never anything on at Christmas besides the classics."
"If you ask me, Christmas is more about spending time with your friends and family than watching TV anyway." Fluttershy said.
Everyone agreed and pulled together into a big group hug.
Applejack had an idea. "Hey why don't we get a big Christmas photo of all of us together? This probably won't be the only time we spend the holidays with each other and I think it'd be nice to make some memories together."
"Oh absolutely darling." Rarity responded. "Being with you girls has given me moments I know I'll never forget."
Pinkie smiled. "Mhm, me too. I know I'll never forget you girls we've been through a lot together and we've got a lot of years ahead of us to make more memories."
"Yeah you girls are the coolest people I know, all the great times we had at CHS and now we're in the same college together. I don't think anything could break us apart." Rainbow Dash finished.
Rarity set up her phone camera with a timer and placed it on the table giving the girls time to come together in shot and smile for the camera.
"I definitely want that framed." Sunset said smiling.
Pinkie Pie took her pudding out of the oven and allowed it to cool before serving a piece to everyone who wanted it with some fresh cream.
"So what do you think?"
"It's great Pinkie." Sunset said smiling
Vinyl gave Pinkie a peck on the cheek and followed up. "Yeah Pinks, It's amazing."
After approval from everyone else they debated what to do next.
Sunset inquired, "Do any of you girls actually want to go home tonight? We have plenty of spare sleeping bags in a closet. You guys said we should keep them here in case of impromptu sleepovers."
"Aren't we a little old for that now Sunset dear?" Rarity said smirking
Applejack grabbed her girlfriend's hand. "Shoot Rares, ya ain't never too old to sleep over at a friend's place. Just cause we aren't in high school anymore doesn't mean we can't still stick together."
"I suppose you're right darling." Rarity said grasping Applejack's hand.
The girls all decided to stay over and rather than break out sleeping bags like the old times, they just fell asleep in whatever chair, couch or floor they felt comfortable in while Sunset and Twilight grabbed spare blankets for them all from the closet.
"Well Sunny, I think we did good today. Everyone was happy and we spent time together, that's what the holidays are about."
"Yep, although I'll admit I'm not particularly looking forward to tomorrow. You're dragging me to dinner with your parents."
"Hey, they could be your future in-laws, who knows Sunset."
"Maybe some day, but right now." She interrupted herself with a yawn and placed an arm around Twilight. "I just want to Sleep. It's been a long day."
"Hey you sat on your butt all day, your biggest achievement was being about 5 seconds away from getting into a scrap with Rainbow Dash. It was myself and Applejack that did the hard work today."
"Don't forget Pinkie and her amazing pudding."
They took one final glance at the living area. Fluttershy was cuddled into Rainbow Dash's chest. Rarity the same with Applejack, and Pinkie and Vinyl each had their arms around the other, It was a magical sight to behold.
"They look so peaceful. Let's go to our own bed Sunny I'm getting tired too."
The two girls climbed into bed together and hand in hand drifted off to sleep.