Chapter Theme Song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiS_cQG3sIo
"Let's see here... Hmm... Perfume... Would that be nice? Or maybe a candle or something?"
You are Anon.
Right now, you're at the mall with Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow, and the kids, and you're Christmas shopping for Sunset. It should be a fun time, but the problem you're having is you don't know what to get her. It's Christmas Eve, and you're a fool for waiting this long, you know, but with living arrangements being screwy, and you looking around for work, it's been difficult to find the time to go shopping.
Thankfully, Sunset was back at Pinkie's place and was busy making cookies with her and Applejack. She was smart and got her shopping done a few days ago. You're excited to see what she got you, but you're more excited to see the look on her face when you give her your present. However, you're missing one crucial factor in that equation: a good present.
Sure, it's the thought that counts and all, but it's fun to spoil girls on Christmas. You just don't know what to spoil them with! Especially this girl. Sunset is the love of your life, and you want your first Christmas together to really mean something special. Not just for you, but for her.
During the relatively short time you've been together, you've noticed that she's very out of touch with things. Movies, music, tv shows, just about everything. You've asked her how she hasn't caught on to the trends and stuff before, but she gets hesitant and distant and claims that she hasn't had a chance to get into anything. It's like she was living under a rock before she met you.
Or, rather, in a dumpster...
She obviously has some secrets that she hasn't told you. You don't even know where she's from. She told you that cute little story about the unicorns and the pony world and Princess Celeste or whatever, and while you loved her cute childlike attitude, that wasn't exactly the answer you were after. You would like to know where she really is from.
It's a good question for another time though. Now is the time for Christmas. As soon as you're done here, you're all going to go back to Pinkie's place, pick them up with some cookies, and go look at the Christmas lights they have set up at the town square. You're excited to see the look on her face when she sees all the lights too.
You look around at all the perfume options available to you in the store. There are just so many, you have no idea what to get her. You don't even know if perfume would be a great present. It's overwhelming.
You whine and hop up and down a little like a pouty child. "Rarityyyy! I neeeed yoooou!"
On your right, Rarity walks around the corner with tons of shopping bags in her hands. "Oh, stop whining, darling! I'm right here!"
Thank the Good Lord you brought her with you to the mall.
You sigh. "I need your help! I have no idea what to get Sunset for Christmas! I mean, I have an idea, maybe, but there are just so many options here and I doubt myself, because it has to be perfect for her, because I love her like crazy!"
She sets her bags down and grabs your shoulders, shaking you a little. "Anonymous, calm down! Everything will be alright!" You stop panicking and look her in the eyes. "I will help you pick out a present for Sunset, alright? Just stay calm and I'll walk you through it."
You take a deep breath and nod at her. "Okay."
She smiles and releases you. "Now, what idea for a present do you have so far?"
You take a deep breath and she releases you. "Well, there is this selection of perfumes." You take a big purple bottle off the shelf and handle it. "Maybe she would like one of them."
Before you even finished talking, Rarity is already shaking her head. "No. Don't get her perfume. Not for Christmas. That's not a good Christmas present. It would make a wonderful Valentine's present, but not Christmas."
You frown and put it back on the shelf. "Well, what about a candle? They're great around Christmas."
"True, darling, but they don't make the best presents by themselves. They're best as an accent to another Christmas present you've gotten." She says. "You want to look for something physical, but also meaningful or useful. Something that can last for a long time. Jewelry, or clothing, or even a new appliance, if she likes to cook or something."
You shake your head. "I like to cook, but I don't know if she likes to cook."
"Me, I hate cooking. It's messy, it's difficult, and frankly, I'm bad at it. I'm not losing any sleep over that fact, I'm just saying. It runs in the family, too. One morning, Sweetie Belle managed to burn orange juice." She says before waving her hand dismissively. "That's neither here nor there, though... My point is, for an ideal Christmas gift, you need to find something that she will like, she will use, and that will last for a while."
Something Sunset will like and use for a while, huh?
You cross your arms and think for a moment before looking back at her. "You mentioned jewelry... There's a jewelry store on the other side of the mall. Let's head there and see what they have."
Rarity smiles. "Sounds like a plan. We'll go as soon as I'm done here." She picks up her bags. "While you're waiting for my expert opinion, would you be a doll and go take the girls to go see Santa? They've been waiting long enough, I think."
"Yes, we have!" A frustrated Sweetie Belle shouts from the next aisle over.
From around the corner, she comes walking towards you with Applebloom and Scootaloo in tow.
Rarity smiles and walks away. You follow after her as she turns another corner. There, you're met with Fluttershy, who is carrying a SHITLOAD of shopping bags in her arms.
Rarity piles on some of her shopping bags onto Fluttershy's already massive load. "Come along, Fluttershy! We're not done here yet!"
Fluttershy grunts and her legs shake a little under all those presents. "Happy.... to.... help.... out...." She tries to smile.
You're about to offer your help, when suddenly, you get yanked out of the store by the three little girls you're with.
"Anon, come on!" Applebloom says with a smile.
"We have to go see Santa!" Scootaloo adds.
You chuckle as you're dragged out of the store by the three girls. Man, you love Christmastime.
---
You are Sunset Shimmer.
Right now, you're in Pinkie Pie's kitchen helping her and Applejack make Christmas sugar cookies. You've got little sugar cookie men, Christmas trees, stars, snowmen, and Pinkie wanted ones shaped like balloons, for some reason. This is her kitchen, so you obliged her.
Anon, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow and the girls went to the mall about two hours ago, and you three have been making cookies and stuff in the meantime. As soon as they get back, everyone was going to help wrap presents, and then you were going into town to see the Christmas lights.
You're so excited. Canterlot had lights set up during Hearth's Warming Eve that always looked so pretty every year, and you're looking forward to seeing the human world's equivalent. Anon has shown you videos and pictures of Christmas lights, but he says they don't do them justice, and that they're far better in person. Which makes sense. The Hearth's Warming lights were much better when you were seeing the real things too.
As you're spreading icing on a few of the finished cookies, the oven timer dings and Pinkie hops over to pull this new batch out. The smell of sugar cookies is absolutely heavenly.
"Oooh! This one is all done!" She says happily.
"How many batches have we made so far?" You ask.
Applejack starts counting them. "Let's see... 1...2...3...times 7... 21!"
Your jaw drops. "21 batches of cookies?!"
Pinkie nods excitedly. "Yep! It's awesome, huh?! I haven't made this many cookies since I was in 8th grade!"
You lean against the counter, taking a little break. "Was it for a bake sale or something?"
She shrugs and takes a bite of a finished cookie. "No, it was just a Friday night, and I was bored."
You look at Applejack. She just chuckles and shrugs it off like she's used to it.
This chick is crazy. You will admit, you didn't much care for Pinkie when you first met her. Her wild car ride she took you and Anon on from the airport was enough to make you want to avoid her forever, but when she wouldn't go away, you figured you might as well try liking her.
She has now become one of your closest friends. She still surprises the hell out of you sometimes, though.
She bends down and grabs another tray full of regular circle sugar cookies. She puts them in the oven and sets the timer for... an hour?
"Pinkie, what are you doing?" You ask.
"This batch is Maud's!" She says. "She likes them really burnt and crunchy!"
Maud?
You cock your head. "Who's Maud?"
"...Hello."
You scream at the top of your lungs and bolt over to the other side of the kitchen. Holy shit, that was right in your ear.
You hyperventilate as you press yourself against the wall and stare at the girl who just entered the kitchen. She's wearing a bland, plain, dark purple dress and she's holding a little rock in her hand. Her hair is completely straight and her expression is completely neutral. Everything about her screams 'bored'.
You gasp and pant for air while Pinkie and Applejack start laughing at you.
"...Sorry." The girl says.
She even sounds like she's bored out of her mind.
Pinkie walks up to her and gives her a hug. "This is my big sister Maud! Maud, this is Sunset Shimmer!"
Maud gazes blankly at Pinkie before gazing back at you. "...Nice to meet you."
You take a deep breath and compose yourself. "Likewise, Maud."
She just slowly blinks. This girl is Pinkie's sister? Pinkie Pie's biological sister? That's hard to believe.
Pinkie turns to her. "Maud, I just put your batch of cookies in the oven! I'm making them just the way you like them!"
She just blinks again. "Thanks... Boulder is getting hungry."
Boulder? Does she mean... the rock?
Applejack hands her a couple cookies from batch 13 that were left in the oven a little too long. "Here you go, Maud. Think these'll tide him over 'till they're done?"
She takes them and inspects them. "Sure.... Thanks."
She crushes them in her hand and starts sprinkling the crumbs on top of the rock in her other hand. It's making a mess.
She walks out of the kitchen, still sprinkling the crumbs on top of the rock. You're speechless, but everything seems to be in its proper place now. Pinkie's weird, and so is Maud. She's just a different kind of weird. The Pies are just weird people in general.
But you aren't here to judge. You used to be a talking pony, after all.
You chuckle to yourself and resume spreading icing on some of the finished cookies.
---
This line to see Santa Claus is long. Very long. Thankfully, you and the three girls are almost to the front. You want to go to the jewelry store and pick out a present for Sunset. The mall won't be open forever, and it's packed with people. You're a little worried that all the good presents will be gone by the time you get out of this line.
You check the time on your phone. It's still pretty early in the afternoon, but it's already getting dark out. Winter totally messes up the natural day and night cycle. It feels like it's 8pm.
You put your phone down as the next kid leaves Santa's lap, and you're that much closer to the front of the line. There's nothing to worry about. You're going to get a great present for Sunset, and this Christmas will be perfect.
"You know what's incredible?" Sweetie Belle and Applebloom look at Scootaloo. "There are thousands of malls all over the country, and every single year, Santa comes to visit this one!"
"Yeah, that is weird!" Sweetie Belle says.
"Our town must be really nice!" Applebloom adds.
You smile and laugh to yourself. Kids at this age are so cute. It's wonderful.
You wait there a few moments with the girls, thinking about whatever pops into your head when suddenly, you feel your phone vibrate. You whip it out of your pocket again and answer it.
It's Sunset.
"Hey, gorgeous!" You say with a smile.
"Hey babe!" Sunset says. "How's Christmas shopping going?"
"Pretty good! Twilight and Rainbow left to go to the bookstore a little bit ago, and Rarity and Fluttershy are looking around at their favorite stores. They're all still shopping but I took a break with the kids. We're waiting in line to see Santa right now."
"Ooh sounds like fun!"
You chuckle a little. "How are the Christmas cookies coming? Did Pinkie eat them all?"
She giggles. "Oh no. We made 21 batches! The kitchen is a disaster!"
21 batches, good hell.
"I bet it is." You laugh again.
"I was just taking a little break from spreading on frosting and thought I'd call and ask when you'll be back." She says.
"We should be back soon." You reply. "Once the kids talk to Santa, I've got one more place I need to visit, then I'll let Rarity and Fluttershy know we're good to go."
"Okay, sounds good." She says. "See you when you get back! I love you!"
You smile. "Love you too, Sunny."
You hang up and sigh. You're just so happy. This is going to be the best Christmas ever, you can just tell.
"Awwww!!" The trio of young voices gets your attention.
The three girls are looking up at you with puppy-dog eyes and smiles on their faces.
You smirk. "What are you three looking at?"
They start laughing. "It's just cute, Anon!"
Scootaloo sighs. "I hope I can have a boyfriend that loves me as much as you love her someday!"
You smile and rustle Scootaloo's hair. "Don't worry, squirt. I'm sure you will. Enjoy being a kid while you can, though. Trust me."
The people ahead of you walk away from Santa, waving goodbye to the sweet old man, and you finally make it to the front of the line.
You text Rarity and let her know that you're done as the girls go one-by-one to sit on Santa's lap. She tells you to meet her and Fluttershy by the bookstore. When the girls finish, they wave goodbye to Santa as well, and you all make your way there.
At the entrance, you spot Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. They wave as you approach. Rarity seems to have taken a great deal of Fluttershy's bags from her as they all stand around and wait for you. She looks relieved.
"Hey girls." You say. "Where's Twilight?"
Rainbow rolls her eyes. "She's still in there, looking around. I was happy with my new Daring Do book, but she wanted to look at everything. I got sick of waiting. I want to go to the sports store, before all the good stuff is sold out."
Scootaloo smiles. "Ooh! I'll go with you, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow grins. "Alright! Let's go."
Scootaloo runs over to Rainbow and the two of them walk away.
Rarity smiles. "Sweetie Belle. You and Applebloom go with Fluttershy to find Twilight in the bookstore. Anonymous, come with me."
"Right." You nod.
The girls go with Fluttershy. Rarity gives her back all her bags before she walks over to you. The both of you head through the mall and go to the jewelry store. As you walk inside, you look around at all the display cases. Each one is filled with all kinds of expensive jewelry.
You clear your throat. "Okay, Rarity. Let's look around."
She nods and the two of you wander through the store, looking through the display cases. Rings, necklaces, earrings, and even broaches of all kinds are in here. They're all so sparkly and nice. You feel like you're wasting a fortune just standing here, taking it all in.
"What's Sunset's favorite color, darling?" Rarity asks.
"Orange." You reply.
You continue browsing the pieces of jewelry this store has to offer. Thankfully, it's located inside a mall, so many of them have relatively reasonable price tags. There are no Pink Panther diamonds here. Only a handful of jewelry items are in the thousands. Still, it's all jewelry, so nothing here is exactly cheap, but you don't care. It's for Sunset.
As you move to the next jewelry case, you stop as something catches your eye. Inside, you spot a red and yellow sun-shaped necklace on a small gold chain beside a pair of matching earrings. They even match the colors in her hair. They are absolutely beautiful.
"Rarity?" You breathe.
You keep staring at the necklace and earrings as Rarity comes up next to you to look inside.
She gasps softly. "Oh my goodness, it's dazzling."
"They're perfect for her." You say with a growing smile.
"There's a complimentary note you can have calligraphed with it by one of the associates here." Rarity says, pointing to a little notice beside the necklace.
You stare at the necklace for another long moment before knocking on the glass and standing up straight. "I'm getting it."
Rarity smiles at you. "She'll love it, darling. I approve."
You smile back at her and get the jewelry associate's attention. He comes over and you talk for a moment before settling on a price for them both. Not cheap, but not overly expensive either. You can afford it. He takes your money and begins taking the earrings out of the case to put in a nice box, along with the necklace in a separate box.
Before he closes the necklace box, he asks you what note you'd like him to write. You think for a moment before telling him. He nods and pulls out a nice looking pen with gold ink and expertly writes down what you requested. He hands it to you and you read it.
Rarity smiles at you when you finish. "That's so adorable, darling. Sunset will absolutely love it."
You smile back at her for a moment before giving the note one last look. Then, you slip it in with the necklace and close the box.
You thank the associate and leave the store with Rarity, smiling the whole way. You cannot wait to see the look on her face when you give these to her. You'll probably give the earrings to her when you give everyone else their presents too, but you want to have a moment with her when you give her the necklace. Just the two of you. It will be magical.
As you and Rarity reach the entrance, you spot the rest of the girls waiting for you.
Rarity waves when she sees them. "There you all are!"
They all wave at you and you catch up with them. Twilight is holding a few books, Rainbow has a new soccer ball, among other things, and the kids are holding a few bags of Rarity's stuff that Fluttershy was holding before. No one has any free hands. Fluttershy is holding the majority of the bags though. She looks like she's struggling to hold it all, despite giving a few of them to the kids.
"Uh, Fluttershy? Do you want some help?" You ask.
She grunts, obviously straining to keep herself in an upright position. "Um... if.... it's not... too... much trouble... I wouldn't... mind..."
You chuckle and take some of the load off of her hands. Rarity does as well.
She exhales and starts taking deep breaths. "Thank you..."
You grin and grunt as you lift your load. These bags are heavy, how much did Rarity buy? You're kind of scared to find out. It is Rarity, after all...
"Alright, everyone! Let's head out!" Rarity says.
She turns tail and you all follow her out the doors into the freezing cold weather together. As soon as you get to the parking lot, you see Fluttershy's van. She lucked out and managed to park close to the entrance.
"Shotgun!" Rainbow shouts.
"Dammit..." You curse, softly.
Applebloom slaps your wrist. "Anon! Watch your mouth!"
"Sorry."
The girls all laugh as Rainbow stands next to the passenger side, claiming her spot. You're getting coal from Santa this year, you bad boy.
After loading up the girls, putting all the presents in the back, and getting into your seats, Fluttershy carefully drives back to Pinkie's house. Now, all that's left is to wrap your presents and go see the Christmas lights.
---
You cough and sputter as Pinkie removes the charcoal cookies from the oven.
You're standing there next to her with the fire extinguisher at the ready. You've had too many bad experiences with fire, and you aren't about to have another one.
She hums happily as she sets the tray on the stove. "Perfect!"
Perfect? These aren't even cookies anymore!
She turns to you with a huge smile. "Maud likes them really, really crunchy! She asks me to make these for her every year! They're her favorite!"
You lower the fire extinguisher a little and stare at her. "No offense Pinkie, but your family is weird."
She just giggles again. "Well, duh! What fun is there in not being weird, silly?!"
You grin and roll your eyes.
Applejack claps her hands together, causing you and Pinkie to look at her. "Alright, y'all. They should be back home soon, so let's finish up our cleanin' real quick."
"Right." You turn around and grab a cloth and start wiping off the spilled icing and crumbs from where you were working.
You work as fast as you can so you can go upstairs real quick and make yourself look nice and cute for Anon. You don't look too messy, but your hands and arms are covered in flour and icing and stuff.
Times like this are when you miss having magic. You could just poof the mess away in half a second.
Ah well. You gave up magic, but you found true love in exchange. Not a bad trade in your head.
After a few minutes, your area looks pretty good. You wash your arms and hands, take off your apron and run upstairs into the bathroom.
You close the door and quickly inspect your hair in the mirror. You fix a few minor details and fluff it up a bit to make it perfect.
"Looking good, Sunset... Cute... Very cute... Super cute... Okay! I'm ready!" You smile.
Just then, you hear the door open downstairs, followed by footsteps.
"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!"
That's Anon's voice!
You open the door and look downstairs. Anon has Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hanging off his arms and Applebloom riding on his shoulders. Behind him, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow come inside with presents.
They're all laughing and smiling at Anon and the girls. It's such a cute sight to see.
You sigh. You love him so much.
He sets the girls down and they all laugh. You start descending the stairs, looking at him with a smile.
He finally turns to you and brightens up. "There's my girl!"
You smile wider and skip over to him. You jump into his arms and he catches you. You wrap your arms and legs around him and kiss him happily. It's like you haven't seen him in years, even though it's only been a few hours.
---
The kiss ends and you look her in those beautiful eyes of hers. "Hey gorgeous."
She giggles. "Hey babe."
She looks great.
You set her down and smile. "I'm famished. Let me taste one of your cookies."
"Okay!" She smiles.
You both giggle and she takes your hand, leading you into the kitchen.
You walk inside and greet Pinkie and Applejack. "Hey girls!"
"Howdy Anon!"
"Hi Anon!" Pinkie runs up to you holding a plate of, like, 20 cookies. "Here! These are for you!"
You hesitate. "All of them?"
Pinkie nods excitedly. "Yep! And they're all in everyone's favorite Christmas shapes! There's Santa, Rudolf, Frosty, and Baby Jesus!"
You laugh a little and look behind her to see hundreds of cookies stacked on top of each other. Sunset wasn't kidding on the phone.
You take the plate from her and smile. "Well... thanks, Pinkie!"
"Don't just thank me!" She smiles and points at Sunset. "She helped out a bunch too!"
Right.
You turn to her and smile. "Thanks, Sunny Bunny."
She smiles back and kisses you. "You're very welcome, Nonny."
You take a cookie and start eating it. It's really yummy. She did a great job.
From behind, Rarity knocks on the kitchen doorframe to get your attention. "Pinkie Pie, darling, where is your wrapping paper? We have presents to wrap for tomorrow before we go out to see the lights!"
Pinkie smiles. "I'll show you! I need to take Maud her cookies anyway!"
She grabs a tray of, what looks like lumps of coal, and heads out of the kitchen. How festive. Rarity follows her.
You and Sunset look at each other and smile. You put your hands in your jacket pockets, feeling the box that contains her sun necklace. Even though Christmas is tomorrow, you want to give it to her tonight. You can't wait that long. Once you get back home from seeing the lights, you'll give it to her. Then tomorrow, she can also get her earrings in front of everyone else.
She giggles. "Come on. Applejack said something about putting on a Christmas movie while we wait for it to get dark out."
"Sounds fun." You smile. "Just no peeking at your presents."
She smiles back at you and takes your hand as you go out into the living room. Applejack has turned on the TV and A Christmas Story starts playing. Rarity and Pinkie return a few moments later with the wrapping paper, and Rarity starts divvying up everyone's presents, according to who bought them.
You each segregate yourselves from each other and wrap your presents while also watching the movie. Pinkie is helping out as much as she can too. A party addict like her has wrapped so many presents in her life, she can literally do it blindfolded. It's incredible, and helpful, since that way, she can wrap a few presents, without being spoiled with knowing what she or anyone else got.
After a few minutes, all the presents are wrapped and put under Pinkie's tree. Hopefully, no one saw what you got them. You didn't see anything that anyone else got you. Now, you're all sitting there with each other watching the movie while you wait for it to get dark out. Once the movie is over, you'll head into town to look at the lights.
It's at the part where Flik sticks his tongue to the pole and gets stuck. You love this movie.
---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kHH6LJpEbQ
Finally, you all arrive at a good parking spot near the town center and step out of Fluttershy's van. It's dark out, cold, and snowing again. Just how you like it for Christmas.
You shake a little into your coat to get warmer as the snow crunches beneath your feet. You can see your breath. Sunset steps out of the van behind you and shivers a little bit, but smiles. She's clearly excited. You take each other's hands as you step onto the sidewalk with each other. Rainbow and Pinkie join you a moment later with the kids. Twilight and Applejack walk over with Rarity and Fluttershy. Everyone's here.
Even though you're not technically at the town square yet, you can already see lots of Christmas lights on the buildings around you. They're beautiful. Of all the wonderful things about Christmas, the lights are your absolute favorite.
You all begin walking down the sidewalk towards the town square, passing all the buildings with light displays on them. A few of the girls take their phones out to take pictures. Sunset is holding your hand, but she's looking up at everything in wonder.
As you round a corner, you reach the town square. A massive Christmas tree adorned with colorful ornaments, and white, red, and green lights stands in the center. A large star sits at its top, and a Nativity scene sits at its base. Around the square, a small train is set up for people to ride around in. The track goes through a little path that's filled with lights and signs telling the story "'Twas the Night Before Christmas'. Peaceful music is playing on speakers all over the place. People are standing around and talking, taking pictures, and waiting in line for the train.
"Oh my gosh..." Sunset gasps as she looks around at it all. You can see her eyes sparkling and twinkling as she smiles.
It makes you smile too. She's completely awestruck at all the lights and décor. You wrap your arm around her waist and hold her close. She smiles at you for a moment before returning her gaze to the lights all around.
"What do you think, Sunny?" You ask.
"It's beautiful." She breathes.
You give her another little squeeze as you look at the Christmas lights. With your other hand, you feel the box containing her necklace inside your coat pocket. You so badly want to give it to her now, but you decide to wait. It looks like your group is spreading out to do some other stuff.
"Oooh!" Pinkie exclaims. "There's a place to get some egg nog!"
"Egg nog?!" Rainbow gasps.
They both run past you all and head to a cute egg nog stand on the sidewalk.
Applebloom turns to her sister. "Applejack, can we ride the train?"
Applejack smiles. "Sure thing, Sugarcube! Let's get in line."
Twilight perks up. "I'll go too. 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' is one of my favorite stories."
Applejack smiles and leads Twilight and the kids to the end of the line. The rest of you walk down the street by a few of the lit shops that are open. Most of them are selling candy, cheap stuffed toys, and Christmas stuff. Nothing too extravagant, but still super cute.
From behind, Fluttershy gasps. "Oh, look! Reindeer!"
You all turn to where she's pointing. Behind the massive tree, you see a little animal pen with a few reindeer inside. Real reindeer. Caribou. That's impressive. Fluttershy smiles wide and runs over to them.
Rarity giggles behind you. "Well, I'm going to check out this store for a little while, darlings. You can join me if you'd like. If not, I'll catch up with you later."
You nod. "Sounds good, Rarity."
She smiles and turns around to enter one of the Christmas stores, leaving just you and Sunset behind.
You both turn to each other and smile. "Well Sunny, where do you want to go first?"
She smiles wide and looks around at the town square again, admiring the lights and overall ambiance for another moment.
"Anywhere. I really don't have a preference. It's all so pretty here, I'm really happy with wherever." She replies.
You grin and take her hand in yours again. "Alright. Let's just look around a bit for now."
She smiles and the two of you continue down the street together, looking at all the lights in the town square for a little while longer. This moment won't last forever, so you want to enjoy it and drag it out as much as you can with her.
This is your favorite time of year.
---
You and Sunset enter the Apple's house, being quiet as much as you can. Some of the Apples in here have already gone to bed. You both have your shares of sugar cookies as well.
"Did you have fun today?" You whisper to her.
She looks at you and smiles. "I had a great time, Anon. Thank you so much for taking me to see the lights."
"You're welcome, Sunny."
You kiss each other softly and tiptoe past the living room. The electric fireplace is still on, as well as the Christmas tree.
Now is the time.
"Hang on Sunset." You grab her arm and gently pull her back to you. "I've, uh, actually got something for you..."
She looks curious as you pull out the tiny black box in your pocket and hand it to her.
"I didn't want to wait until tomorrow."
She smiles and slowly opens it and her eyes widen. She covers her mouth as she reads the note inside. It says, 'To my one and only sunshine. -Yours forever, Anon.'
After a few seconds, her eyes start to water. She sniffs and pulls out the necklace, smiling the most beautiful smile.
"It's... It looks like... my..." She stammers.
She's totally speechless. She shakes her head some, almost in disbelief, before she looks to you with an enormous smile and hugs you tight.
"Thank you... Thank you so much, Anon... I... I can't even..."
She starts crying happy tears and you wrap your arms around her. You smile wide and rest your head on hers and stroke her hair, letting her know you're there and she's loved.
"This is... This is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me... In my life..."
You just smile and continue to comfort her. "Anything for you, Sunset."
She laughs and cries some more, clutching your back. "I love you... So much..."
"And I love you..." You reply. "More than words can say..."
After a few moments of hugging, you release her and stare into her beautiful eyes. You wipe some of her tears away and she smiles her beautiful smile at you once again.
"Merry Christmas, Sunset."
She giggles some and kisses you. "Merry Christmas, Anon." She looks down at the necklace again before closing the box and smiling. "I'll cherish this forever."
It feels so wonderful to hear her say that.
You hold her in a half-hug and continue towards your room. You will burn this memory into your soul as the best Christmas of all time. The first Christmas that you got to spend with the sunshine of your life; your light in the darkness.
Your one, true love, Sunset Shimmer.