Holiday Rush
It was the final week of the holiday season in the Winter Village. Throughout this special region of the Lego World, minifigs were making their final preparations for their holiday celebrations. Nearly all of the decorations were already in place by now, and plans for the annual feasts were well underway in many households. Perhaps most importantly of all were all of the various gifts that were being purchased, acquired, or created for the purpose of being shared with friends and family. Various shops and markets all across the village were busy selling the last of their products and merchandise to those who braved the final rush to obtain any reasonable holiday gifts they could get their hands on.
Within one particular cabin, the Equestria Girls — a group of friends from Canterlot City — had gathered around the table and were sharing some idle, pleasant conversations with each other as they waited for the arrival of the only member of their group not yet present.
SLAM!
The six girls immediately snapped their attention to the front door, which opened a few seconds later to reveal Rainbow Dash standing in the doorway with a pained expression.
“Ow…” muttered Rainbow Dash as she staggered into the cabin. “If not for all these icy roads, I would’ve totally gotten here in ten seconds flat.”
“That’s why I insisted you should’ve taken the snowmobile parked out front,” reminded Sunset Shimmer as she gestured towards one of the front windows of the cabin.
“It wasn’t out there when I left for the post office,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Oh!” spoke up Pinkie Pie with realization. “That’s because I decided to go out joyriding on that thing earlier. Who knew it was possible to get a speeding ticket on one of those things?” She then casually took a sip of hot cocoa from the mug in her hand.
Rainbow stared blankly at Pinkie for a moment, then turned to the others and asked, “Do I even wanna know?”
“Probably not,” confirmed Rarity bitterly.
Rainbow sighed in displeasure and noted, “Well, the important thing is that I mailed in all of our greeting cards and they’re already being sent out to our friends and families.”
“Thank you so much for taking care of that for us, Rainbow,” praised Fluttershy.
Twilight Sparkle turned her attention to everyone around the table as she eagerly asked, “So, now that we’re all here, who wants to go first?”
While the rest of the group also smiled with anticipation, Rainbow Dash frowned and raised an eyebrow as she asked in confusion, “Uh, for what? What are we doing?”
“The secret present switcheroo!” answered Twilight excitedly as she and the other girls each pulled out a giftwrapped present and placed them onto the table.
Rainbow’s jaw dropped as she stared at the small pile of gifts that had suddenly been set out on the table. “That’s today?!” she asked in disbelief.
“Don’t you remember?” reminded Fluttershy. “We pulled names from Applejack’s boot when she forgot her hat.”
“Ya mean mah lucky boot,” added Applejack smugly.
“Uhhhhmmm…” muttered Rainbow as she awkwardly tried looking away while rubbing the back of her head.
“You forgot about this exchange, didn’t you, darling?” asked Rarity with a knowing smile.
Rainbow quickly responded awkwardly, “Oh! N-No, of course not! I, uh, did remember! Um, I just have to, uh… return something I borrowed. B-R-B!” She then immediately rushed out the doorway she had left open and sped off in a rainbow motion blur towards the village.
Sunset smiled as she turned to the rest of her friends and confidently asked, “She totally forgot about it, didn’t she?”
“Eeyup,” agreed Applejack smugly. “Definitely.”
Whoosh!
Rainbow Dash sped away from the cabin and towards the center of the village, but once again, the icy roads caused her to be unable to stop where she intended and instead slid forward until she plowed through a snowman that two kids were just putting the finishing touches on. She landed face-down on the snowy ground, then groaned as she pushed herself up and muttered, “Sorry about that.”
The two kids moaned in disappointment and walked away.
Once Rainbow was up on her feet again and had brushed the snow off her winter clothes, she groaned in disbelief and exclaimed, “I forgot! I can’t believe I forgot to get Fluttershy a present! How am I supposed to find a present in the next few minutes?!”
Rainbow Dash desperately glanced around at her surroundings, but soon smiled as a realization hit her. “Oh, yeah,” she remarked in delight. “This is the Winter Village! This place practically exports holiday gifts! I won’t let you down, Fluttershy!” With that declaration, she zoomed off to begin a quick search for any shops that might offer a reasonable gift for her animal-adoring shy friend.
The first place Rainbow chose to check was a pet supply shop, as she felt that such a place would be easy to find something Fluttershy would appreciate. Unfortunately, as soon as she got there, she was stunned to discover there was a line of people that extended outside the main door.
“A line?!” exclaimed Rainbow in disbelief. “Seriously?!”
Rainbow zoomed off to check another potential shop for a gift for her friend. The next place she came across was a clothing shop, but just like with the pet shop, there was a line that led out of the main door and extended around the corner of the building.
“An even longer line?!” shouted Rainbow in disbelief. “Come on!”
Rainbow continued to rush around the entire village, checking practically every single shop she thought could offer anything that could be a decent gift for Fluttershy. But no matter how many different places she looked — such as a bakery, a bookstore, a toy shop, a hardware store, and even a sporting goods shop — she saw long lines of people waiting outside each and every one of them. She knew she was getting really desperate when the next shop she decided to check was a video game store.
“Please no line, please no line, please no line…” Rainbow quietly pleaded as she approached that building, only to once again see a long line of minifigs leading out the main door. She growled in frustration and furiously screamed, “What is with the Winter Village being so crowded on the holidays?! Some of us have some last-minute shopping to do!”
“Then stop whining and get in line,” grumbled one of the minifigs in line nearby.
Rainbow Dash gripped her hair and clenched her eyes shut as she let out another growl of frustration.
“Need to cut the line?”
“Yes!” begged Rainbow as she turned to the source of that voice. “I’d do anything to—!” She immediately froze in terror the moment she opened her eyes and saw who was standing in front of her. This minifig may have been wearing the shop’s uniform of a white shirt and brown pants, but she immediately recognized him for his aquamarine skin, blond hair tied up in a messy bun, purple eyes, and stubble on his face. It was none other than Zephyr Breeze.
Zephyr Breeze was Fluttershy’s younger brother, and since Rainbow had been close friends with Fluttershy since childhood, that inevitably meant she had known that guy for just as long. Much like his sister and her best friend, Zephyr grew up in the special region of Cloudsdale, a floating city that would often change its location as protection against outsiders, with security so strict that even lifelong residents who chose to leave were unlikely to ever be allowed back in ever again. But while Rainbow and Fluttershy were both quickly able to find a nice place to live and hold a steady job they enjoyed, Zephyr ended up frequently jumping around from one job to another, often in entirely different regions of the Lego World. He always insisted he quit each and every job he held, although all of his former employers would argue that he was actually fired for his atrocious work ethic. But perhaps Zephyr’s worst trait of all, in Rainbow Dash’s opinion, was how he was fully convinced that he was an irresistible ladies man who was destined to be with Rainbow, when in fact the reality in all aspects of that was the complete opposite.
To put it simply, Zephyr Breeze was absolutely the last person in the entire Lego Universe that Rainbow Dash wanted to be anywhere near under any circumstances.
“Undo!” Rainbow swiftly insisted desperately as she waved her arms around in rejection. “It’s been less than three seconds! What I just said doesn’t matter!”
“Rainbow Dash,” greeted Zephyr Breeze smugly. “It’s all good, Miss Awesome.” He then stepped aside and gestured at the shop behind him as he proudly stated, “Come on in to ‘Trend of the Line’, your home for everything trendy from wi-fi shoes to… uh… regular shoes and… smaller shoes?” His confidence quickly fell as his voice drifted off. “Uh, how’s it go again?” He quickly cleared his throat and tried again. “Come on in to your trendy home for everything from wi-fi shoes to, uh… just plain old regular shoes and… uh, how’s it go again?”
As Zephyr continued to fail as a salesman, a bored Rainbow Dash glanced through the windows into the shop. That place seemed to be full of novelty items, fad merchandise, and other randomly assorted trendy stuff. They were hardly the kinds of products that would make an ideal gift for someone like Fluttershy, but at this point, she was desperate enough to try any place.
“You work here?” asked Rainbow irritably.
Zephyr chuckled awkwardly and acknowledged, “Not for long if I can’t remember our slogan, but yeah.” He then perked up again offered, “But hey, since we’re buddies, I’ll let you jump the line!”
The other minifigs standing in line who overheard that immediately muttered words of protest. “Hey! How come she gets special treatment?” complained one woman.
“She’s part of the LEGO Team,” the guy in line behind her pointed out bitterly. “I bet they all get VIP passes for everything.”
As Zephyr gestured for her to follow him inside, Rainbow hesitantly responded, “Uh, thanks, but I don’t know if ‘buddies’ is exactly the word I’d use.” She then shook her head and quietly told herself, “No! You gotta be nice to the guy, but only because you’re doing this for Fluttershy.”
Zephyr glanced back and asked. “Oh, you’re getting something for Fluttershy?” He then grinned and gestured towards the main doorway into the store. “Then you’ve come to the right place. Follow me, milady.”
Rainbow Dash glared daggers at Zephyr and grumbled, “Call me that one more time and you’ll find out what happens when you get punched in the face at three hundred miles an hour.” She then reluctantly walked through the doorway into the small building.
Zephyr — following the cliché “ladies first” rule — stood beside the door and allowed Rainbow to walk by. Before he followed after her, he noticed a lot of looks of displeasure from everyone waiting in line outside, to which he chuckled and smoothly remarked, “What can I say? She can’t get enough of me.” He then turned around and closed the door on his way inside.
“Now there’s a dummy in denial,” grumbled one guy in line.
“Yeah,” another girl in line sourly agreed. “He wouldn’t know rejection, even if it knocked his head off.”
Inside the store, Rainbow Dash began browsing the shelves and was already starting to feel a little conflicted about her decision to search this place in particular for a potential gift. Among the products on display were handheld spinners, the latest dolls and action figures, novelty clothing, silly accessories, obscure sports equipment, and all kinds of wacky things on a stick. A lot of these things were something she could easily get for herself or one of her other friends, but she just couldn’t imagine anything around here that could be worthy of being a gift for Fluttershy.
Rainbow was trying out one of the skateboards when Zephyr approached her with a large box in his arms. “This is so Fluttershy,” he explained as he held up that box, the front of which depicted a basketball hoop with a basketball flying towards it. “A high-tech basketball hoop! It yells at you to ‘Get good!’ when you miss a three-pointer, so you’re always motivated to reach your athletic performance goals.”
As Rainbow Dash took a look at that box and listened, she silently admitted that it was pretty tempting to purchase that for herself, but she knew she had to stick to her priorities. Once Zephyr was done speaking, she responded, “Uh… I’d like to have that, but no. I don’t think Fluttershy would be interested.”
“Cool!” remarked Zephyr excitedly. “I knew you’d love it!”
Rainbow Dash facepalmed and argued, “No, I’m not here for me. I need a gift for Fluttershy.”
Zephyr held the large box under one arm so he could point his free hand at Rainbow and confidently responded, “Got it.” He then walked away behind one of the nearby shelves.
Rainbow Dash shook her head in disapproval and approached one of the other nearby shelves along the wall. On the upper shelf were some plush animals with ridiculously goofy faces that she wasn’t sure Fluttershy would approve of. On the lower shelf were scepters with a ball on one end surrounded by a hoop and pair of wings. She picked up one of those novelty scepters to inspect it more closely, only to get briefly startled as the sphere popped open to spray glitter and elastic snakes across the floor.
“Nah,” muttered Rainbow dismissively as she put that novelty scepter back on the shelf. “Too flashy.”
Behind Rainbow, Zephyr tapped on her shoulder and asked, “How ‘bout these?”
Rainbow turned around and yelped as she suddenly found her face close to Zephyr’s with his eyes obscured by some kind of high-tech goggles with built-in headphones. Once she got over the initial shock, she frowned and noted, “Ooh, that looks expensive.”
“They sure are!” confirmed Zephyr eagerly. “And when you wear them, it takes everything you see and turns it into an urban landscape under attack by aliens from outer space.”
“Even forests with cute animals?” asked Rainbow skeptically.
“Absolutely nonexistent when you’re wearing these bad boys!” confirmed Zephyr excitedly.
Rainbow stared at Zephyr with a bored expression before she stated, “That might be something Twilight or Sunset could appreciate, but it’s definitely not for Fluttershy.”
Zephyr removed the goggles and once he actually saw the look of displeasure on Rainbow’s face, he smiled awkwardly and responded, “Right, right, my bad. Hang on one sec.” He then walked off behind the shelves again.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes before she approached some other nearby shelves. She glanced past all the novelty clothing with cheesy catchphrases printed on them and soon settled her attention on a push of a rather cute-looking fluffy cat with an adorable top hat and bowtie. She smiled as she picked up that plush and remarked, “This looks promising.” She then lightly squeezed the plush toy.
FRRRRRRRRT!
“What the—?!” yelped Rainbow Dash in shock, not only from the flatulent noise but also the toy’s eyes and tongue bulging out. After she relaxed her grip — which silenced the toy and brought its face back to normal — she searched around the plush until she found the tag, which she then read aloud, “Novelty joke plush, with built-in self-inflating whoopy cushion?” She reread the tag again, stared at the plush toy in disbelief, then gently set it back down on the shelf as she muttered, “That seems more appropriate for Pinkie Pie than for Fluttershy.”
“Oh, yoo-hoo!” sang Zephyr Breeze from the other side of the shop. “Rainbow Daaaaash” With a smile of amusement on his face, he laughed lightly as he pulled out what appeared to be a hand on the end of a stick. “How about this?”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s that?”
“It’s for high-fiving when you’re really far away,” answered Zephyr, “or when you’re really short.” He then demonstrated the function of that novelty item by aiming it towards Rainbow and extending the rod until the hand on the end of it was less than an arm’s length away from her.
Rainbow Dash glared at Zephyr for a moment, then slapped away the extended hand and furiously exclaimed, “What?! That’s not a gift! That’s not for anybody! Who would want such a stupid thing?!”
“Wow!” exclaimed a little boy excitedly as he walked out from behind one of the shelves while holding another one of those extendable hands. “This is so cool!” He then looked up at Zephyr and pulled out two green 1x2 tiles with a white “1” printed on them. “I’ll take two!”
“Good choice, kid,” praised Zephyr as he retracted the extendable hand he held, then exchanged it for the two dollars. “I’m guessing one of them is for your best buddy, right?”
“Nope!” replied the young boy eagerly. “They’re both for me, so I can do this!” He then slapped the two novelty hands together a few times.
Smack-smack-smack!
The little boy giggled and cheerfully shouted, “Slappy-slappy!” He then charged out the door and repeatedly slapped those hands together again.
Smack-smack-smack!
Zephyr watched the young boy run away with his recent purchase, then turned back to Rainbow as he chuckled and remarked, “Kids these days.”
Rainbow facepalmed and shot back, “These are your suggestions? Do you even know Fluttershy?”
“Who?” asked Zephyr innocently with a smile.
“Your sister?!” snapped Rainbow furiously.
Zephyr recoiled, then took a few steps back as he responded, “I know, I know, I-I was just joking around. Sorry. Look, I know a gift that will make Fluttershy super-happy. I’ll go grab it for you now.” He then turned away and walked behind the shelves once again.
Rainbow crossed her arms as she growled in frustration and grumbled, “Same old Zeph. Completely hopeless at everything.” She then walked over to yet another set of shelves and browsed through some of the accessories. After a brief search, she decided to grab a headband with fake flowers covering the top of it. It certainly seemed like something Fluttershy would not find terrifying or offensive, but after thinking it over a bit more, she sighed in disappointment and put that accessory back on the shelf. “Who am I kidding?” she muttered in defeat. “If I give this to Fluttershy, everyone’s gonna think I didn’t put any thought into it.”
“Here it is!” declared Zephyr Breeze confidently as he returned. “Trust me, she’ll love it. It’s an instant camera.”
Rainbow Dash looked closely at the camera in Zephyr’s hands and noticed that not only was it pink, but also had a casing that was shaped to look like it had rabbit ears on top of it.
“Around this time last year,” explained Zephyr, “Fluttershy’s instant camera broke, and she really wanted another one.” He then spoke in a more sincere tone as he added, “Trust me, if you really want to make someone happy, then give them something they’d never get for themselves.”
Rainbow stared at the camera and muttered, “Huh… that’s actually…” She then smiled and excitedly spoke up, “…a great idea! Thanks, Zephyr! You’re amazing!” She then zoomed past Zephyr and out the door in a rainbow motion blur, the pink camera in his hands suddenly replaced with a green 1x2 tile with a white number “50” printed on it.
Zephyr stared down at the fifty dollar bill in his hand in confusion for a moment, then smiled as he looked out the open doorway where Rainbow Dash ran off and remarked, “Well, I may not have gotten the girl this time, but at least I got a paying customer out of it.” He then made a pathetic effort at striking a cool pose and proudly declared, “Zephyr Breeze is makin’ progress!”
Back at the cabin, the rest of the Equestria Girls had decided to determine who would be receiving which gift they had brought for their exchange while they waited for Rainbow Dash to return after “returning something she had borrowed”, although practically all of them were convinced they knew exactly what she was actually out doing.
“So I guess that just leaves Fluttershy,” concluded Sunset, “which means—”
SLAM!
The six girls immediately turned their attention towards that impact noise at the front door. Twilight used her telekinetic magic power to open that door, revealing Rainbow Dash, who then groaned as she stumbled inside, slightly dazed.
“You forgot to close the door on your way out,” Twilight pointed out, mildly irritated as she then closed the door behind Rainbow.
“Yeah… I noticed,” muttered Rainbow Dash as she staggered her way across the room towards the table where her friends were gathered around. She shook her head briefly, then once she had recovered from running into that door, she held out something and spoke up with uneasy confidence, “Here you go, Fluttershy. I totally had this thing ready ahead of time.”
While Fluttershy happily accepted the gift, the rest of the girls were unconvinced by Rainbow’s effort and gave her suspicious looks. After all, that gift had apparently been hastily wrapped in what seemed to be napkins and used cheeseburger wrappers.
Rainbow ignored the others and watched anxiously as Fluttershy slowly unwrapped her gift. She couldn’t help but feel increasingly nervous as she saw her friend slowly peel off one strip of tape after another. As Fluttershy finally started removing some of the wrappers, Rainbow was really struggling to handle the pressure and eventually closed her eyes, waiting desperately for any reaction.
Finally, Fluttershy lightly gasped and spoke up, “An instant camera? I love it!”
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and smiled as she asked, “You do?”
“It’s perfect for fun candid photos,” replied Fluttershy happily. “Zephyr got me one last year after my old one broke.”
Rainbow Dash stared blankly at Fluttershy for a moment before the cyan athlete asked in disbelief, “He did?!” She facepalmed as she let out a groan of frustration and grumbled, “I should’ve known!” She then sighed and sadly muttered, “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” asked Fluttershy as she pulled out her other instant camera, which was virtually identical to the one Rainbow just gave her. With a smile on her face, she noted, “Now that I have two, I can finally do two-angle instant photo bear cub candids.” She then lightly giggled as she stood up and gave Rainbow a hug. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow chuckled as she hugged back and quipped, “Yeah, I knew all along you’d love it.”
“Sure you did,” Applejack slyly remarked with a smile.
Rainbow released the hug and dropped her smile as she turned to the rest of her friends.
“Okay, hands up,” confessed Sunset as she faced Rainbow and held up her hands. “We all knew you got that gift at literally the last second. We just let you go ahead and try to find something that would be at least acceptable.”
“But seeing as that gift exceeded everyone’s expectations — including your own by the look on your face — I guess you’ve proven just how much of a good friend you really are,” acknowledged Twilight.
With a confident grin on her face again, Rainbow crossed her arms as she smirked and remarked, “What can I say? I’ll always be there for my friends, even if I need a little reminder every now and then.”
“I suppose you deserve a little reward for your successful efforts,” Rarity spoke up as she picked up the blue gift box that was wrapped with a purple ribbon. “This one is for you, Rainbow Dash. I customized it myself.”
Rainbow Dash accepted the gift apprehensively, knowing all too well that the word “customized” in relation to Rarity often brought to mind something with an excessively impractical design. But with all of her friends watching her, Rainbow made sure to not hesitate for too long before she removed the ribbon and opened the box. Not surprisingly at all, it was a piece of clothing, but when she pulled it out and unfolded it, she smiled.
“No way!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash excitedly. “It’s a jersey that’s just like the ones used by the basketball team that won this year’s championship!” She turned around the red jersey and saw the white number “1” printed on the back. “Aw, sweet! And it’s even got the number of my favorite player on that team, too!” She turned her attention to Rarity and cheerfully added, “Thanks! I didn’t think you’d ever give me something that was even half as awesome as this!”
Rarity giggled in response and quipped, “Never let it be said that my desire for fabulousity should come at the expense of a more appropriate gift for the intended recipient.”
“In that case, I think you might like what I got for you,” Twilight spoke up as she grabbed the purple gift box wrapped in a magenta ribbon and handed it over to Rarity.
Rarity delicately untied the ribbon and set it aside, then removed the lid of the box. She lightly gasped as she removed what turned out to be a book from within that gift box, then turned to Twilight and asked, “Is this the latest novel in the Shadow Spade series?”
“It sure is!” confirmed Twilight. “I preordered it online and arranged to have it shipped here.”
“I was wondering what was in that package that arrived yesterday,” noted Pinkie Pie.
“Goodness,” remarked Rarity happily. “I thought I’d have to wait until next summer to eventually get my hands on a copy of this.” She reached one arm around to give Twilight a brief hug. “Thank you so much, darling!”
Twilight giggled as she returned the hug, then noted, “I many not know much about fashion, but I am aware of your interest in the Shadow Spade series of mystery novels, so I figured it would be a relatively simple gift idea.”
“‘Atta girl, Twilight,” praised Applejack. “Knowin’ when not to overthink somethin’.”
Sunset smirked and remarked, “I guess the same could be said for my gift to Twilight.” She then grabbed the orange box with red ribbon and passed it over to her intelligent friend. “It’s not anything either of us find particularly interesting, but I’m sure you’ll get a good laugh out of it.”
Twilight untied the ribbon and removed the lid from the box to reveal something soft and covered in green fur had been stuffed inside, practically completely filling up that box. She raised an eyebrow in confusion, then grabbed the green furry surface and gently tugged it. It took a little effort, but she soon managed to yank the mystery object out of the box, allowing it to quickly expand back to its original form and revealing that it was actually a giant stuffed parakeet.
Sunset struggled to suppress her laughter as she watched her gift being opened, and once it was finally revealed, she couldn’t hold back anymore and began laughing out loud.
Twilight was initially confused by Sunset’s reaction to such an object, but as she began to remember the circumstances from the previous time she had seen a giant stuffed parakeet like that one, she immediately understood and it wasn’t long before she also joined Sunset in hysterical laughter.
The five other girls, on the other hand, continued to stare at Sunset and Twilight in confusion. “Uh… I don’t get it,” Rainbow Dash spoke up.
Sunset wiped away her tears of joy as she struggled to bring her laughter under control. “It’s a bit of an inside joke,” she explained. “Applejack might remember this, but back when we visited Equestria Land, Twilight and I practically blew all of our ticket money on a single ring toss game. That stuffed parakeet was the prize they offered, but not once did we ever succeed in winning it.”
“She tried to warn me that carnival games like that one were rigged,” continued Twilight as she set down that large stuffed parakeet. “I thought science would be on my side, but let’s just say that both of us had to learn the hard way that we should’ve listened to Sunset’s advice.”
Pinkie Pie giggled and remarked, “Yeah, it’s nice to be able to look back on some embarrassing moments and still have a good laugh over it.” She then reached over to grab the gift that was covered in pink wrapping paper and held it out as she excitedly declared, “Your turn, Sunset!”
Sunset tore away the pink wrapping paper to quickly reveal the package box of a video game. She initially smiled as she often enjoyed video games, but that smile faltered when she looked closely at the box and saw the front cover featured a squirrel trying to catch a falling acorn. “Wow, Pinkie,” she spoke up awkwardly. “It’s, uh… that game!”
“I knew you’d love it!” cheered Pinkie as she gave Sunset a brief hug. She then released her friend and explained, “I saw that live stream of you and Fluttershy having so much fun playing the first game, so when I found out there was a second game in the series, I figured that you just had to have it. I’m sure you’ll have so much fun with it!”
As Pinkie turned away, Sunset chuckled awkwardly as she stared down apprehensively at that new squirrel video game. Perhaps Pinkie might’ve been a little oblivious, but that particular live stream was notable for Fluttershy achieving a perfect score with little effort, while Sunset struggled so badly that she failed to score any points at all by the time Fluttershy had finished. Behind Pinkie’s back, Sunset was already thinking over how she could give this game to Fluttershy for her next birthday without Pinkie suspecting it was the very same copy she had just given to her.
“Ah guess this means you’re next, Pinkie,” Applejack spoke up as she grabbed the orange gift box wrapped in a green ribbon and handed it over to the pink party girl.
Pinkie didn’t waste any time tearing off the ribbon and tossing away the box’s cover. She blindly reached into the box and pulled out what appeared to be a replica of her party cannon, only this one was small enough to fit within her hands. She gasped and excitedly exclaimed, “A mini party cannon! How did you know?”
Applejack chuckled in amusement and replied, “Ah know how much ya love that party cannon of yours, so Ah figured ya might find some good use outta one that’s a li’l more portable.” She leaned back in her seat and rested her hands behind her head as she continued, “Ah had to make a lotta phone calls to find somebody who specializes in makin’ mini models that work like the real deal, an’ he was more than happy to take on the challenge of your party cannon.”
Pinkie aimed the mini party cannon upwards and pulled the trigger cord, causing it to produce a high-pitched squeak as it shot out a handful of confetti that then scattered through the air. “And it was a total success!” she cheerfully declared. “Best holiday gift ever!”
“Glad ya like it, Pinkie,” responded Applejack. She then sat up in her seat again as she added, “An’ if Ah’ve been countin’ right, looks like the only gift left is the one Fluttershy got for me.”
Fluttershy nodded in acknowledgement before she grabbed the round gift box that was yellow with a turquoise lid and pink ribbon and passed it over to the apple farmer.
Applejack untied the ribbon and removed the lid. She looked inside the gift box, then smiled as she reached inside and pulled out a golden hammer. “Practical an’ fancy!” she noted with enthusiasm. “Now there’s a tool Ah can be proud to show off! Thank ya, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief, then reached forward to share a brief hug with Applejack.
Twilight and Sunset turned to each other with looks of confusion on their faces. Sunset simply shrugged and quietly quipped, “Simple things for simple people.”
“Looks like that’s everyone,” noted Rainbow Dash, who by now had swapped her regular shirt for the sports jersey she had received. “I gotta admit, this secret present switcheroo went great for all of us.”
“Eeyup. Even for those of us who waited ‘til the last minute to get their present,” quipped Applejack teasingly.
Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head as she chuckled nervously and remarked, “Yeah, next year, I’ll make sure to have my present ready before the switcheroo day.”
Smack-smack-smack!
Rainbow paused when she heard that rather familiar noise. She turned back and walked towards the nearest window to glance outside. The rest of her friends were curious what had suddenly caught her attention, so they all also gathered near the front windows to take a look outside.
Running around in the streets just in front of the cabin was a rather happy little boy who held what appeared to be a pair of hands on extendable sticks and kept repeatedly slapping them together.
Smack-smack-smack!
“Slappy-slappy!” the little boy cheerfully shouted as he continued his rather obnoxious behavior. “Slappy-slappy!”
Smack-smack-smack! Smack! Smack! Smack-smack! Smack! Smack!
The persistent slapping of those extendable hands was finally halted by a local police officer who marched over and snatched those extendable hands out of the boy’s grasp. “Alright, young boy,” he scolded the boy. “I think you’ve been disruptive enough today. I’d better have a word with your parents for giving you these silly things.”
“But I bought them myself with my allowance!” argued the little boy.
“Then I’ll instead have a word with the shop worker who thought it was a good idea to let you buy them,” stated the police officer as he grabbed the boy’s wrist and began pulling him along away from the area.
As the Equestria Girls watched that police officer march away with that pesky boy, Rainbow Dash smirked and remarked, “Yeah, he’s totally gonna get fired.”
“Who?” asked Sunset as she and the others turned to Rainbow.
“The guy who sold those ridiculous things,” replied Rainbow Dash. “I had a little help from that same guy finding that camera for Fluttershy. I’m sure you can all guess who it is right on the first try.”
The six girls glanced at one another for a few seconds, then they all simultaneously responded flatly, “Zephyr Breeze.”
“Yup. Called it,” noted Rainbow with little enthusiasm.
Fluttershy sighed and sadly muttered, “If only he could just learn his lesson…”
“At least he’s not completely hopeless,” admitted Rainbow as she turned to Fluttershy. “He was actually cool enough to give me the idea of getting you that camera.” She then glared to the side and sourly added, “Though he didn’t bother to mention that he already got you the exact same camera.”
“Well, either way, at least he actually made an effort to do something nice for once,” muttered Fluttershy. She stared down at the two identical cameras in her hands, then smiled and spoke up, “If it’s okay with all of you, I was thinking of taking a picture of all of us with our gifts.”
“That sounds like a great idea, Fluttershy!” agreed Twilight cheerfully.
“Let’s pose around the table,” suggested Applejack as she began heading back to the table where most of the girls had left their gifts.
While her friends made their way over to the table, Fluttershy set up a small stand for one of her cameras and noted, “I’ll use the camera I got from Zephyr to take the picture, so that it’ll show me holding the one I just got from Rainbow.”
As Fluttershy set up that camera, the other girls grabbed their gifts and got into position. Twilight’s stuffed parakeet was the largest gift, so she placed it in the middle of the table and stood just behind it. To Twilight’s right, Applejack also stood behind the table as she held up her golden hammer, and in front of her, Rarity sat down in a chair and held up her new book so as to show the front cover to the camera. To Twilight’s left, Sunset also stood behind the table and held her video game upright upon the table, though she deliberately held it in such a way as to partially obscure the image on the front. Rainbow Dash wore her jersey and struck an athletic pose as she stood beside Sunset at the end of the table, while Pinkie Pie sat in a chair at the other end of the table as she proudly held up her mini party cannon.
Once the camera was set up, Fluttershy rushed back to the table and quickly sat down in the empty chair in front of the table near Rainbow Dash. Once she was in position, she held up her recently gifted camera as if to take a picture of the camera that was about to take their picture.
Soon, the small light on the camera came on to alert them the picture was about to be automatically taken in only a couple seconds, to which they all smiled and cheerfully shouted, “Happy holidays!”
Click!