"See?" Blueberry said, putting her magnifying glass over a Hearth's Warming card. "Exhibit A! The writing on this card from Santa does not match the mouth-writing of Mom or Dad! Therefore it must be from the real Santa!"
She waved the card in her sister's face. Raspberry just looked at it unenthusiastically for a moment and then back out the window.
"They could've disguised their writing," she grumbled. "Or gotten some pony else to do it."
Blueberry blinked in surprise. "Oh. Well...Exhibit B!" She picked up three sets of ice skates. "We got these last year for Hearth's Warming, but we did not tell any pony we wanted these! Our parents did not know, thus, they could not have bought them for us!"
"Mom loves ice skating," Raspberry pointed out. "She could have just guessed."
Blueberry frowned. "Well, you'll think differently when you see Exhibit C!"
Cherry showed Raspberry an empty plate in the shape of Santa Hooves.
"Every year," Blueberry said, "we left cookies for Santa! Mom wouldn't even let us near the plate, because those cookies were for Santa and only Santa! We'd wake up on Hearth's Warming morning and find the plate empty! No pony could have eaten those cookies except for Santa Hooves!"
"Are you really that stupid?!" Raspberry groaned as she buried her face in her pillow. "Mom or Dad could have eaten those! Mom and Dad were behind everything! There is no Santa Hooves!"
Blueberry and Cherry stood frozen in place. Raspberry had never called any pony stupid in all her life, let alone her own sisters.
"Would you guys just go to sleep and leave me alone?" the magenta filly demanded. "It's the middle of the night."
Her sisters glanced at each other.
"Well," said Cherry.
"Okay," said Blueberry.
They turned around and crawled into their respective beds.
"You going to be okay, Rasp?" Cherry asked.
"I'm fine!" Raspberry snapped. "Just leave me be!"
Cherry looked to Blueberry, who shook her head and laid it down to sleep. Cherry stole one last look at Raspberry before laying down herself.
The next day at school, the fillies and colts were rehearsing their pageant. They were much improving, with Gemstone learning her lines and Blueberry acting less crazy and more snarky while playing Smart Cookie. However, when they were nearing the end of the play, after Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie and Private Pansy had defeated the windigoes, every pony waited in silence for the next line. After a while, they glanced around, wondering why they were not hearing anything.
Cheerilee looked up from her script and raised her eyebrow.
"Where's Raspberry?"
Blueberry left her position to run backstage and pull her sister out by the tail. The magenta filly was sitting with her head down, not seeming to care that her sister was dragging her.
"Raspberry!" Cheerilee exclaimed. "Your line?"
Raspberry looked up. "Huh?"
"All through the night, the three ponies kept the fire of friendship alive?"
"Oh, right. Sorry, Mrs. Cheerilee."
Raspberry then delivered her last set of lines in a monotone. Every pony frowned at how unemotional she was acting and the actors just stood and watched her, instead of moving like they were supposed to. When she was done, she simply walked off the stage without taking a bow. Cheerilee was at a loss for words.
"Um...okay. I think that will do it for today. Great job, every pony! You're all getting better! Blueberry, Cherry, may I speak with you for a moment?"
The two triplets glanced at each other and moved downstage towards their teacher.
"Don't take this the wrong way," Cheerilee whispered, "but what's wrong with your sister?"
"She's just..." Cherry stammered, "not herself today."
"It's just one of her moods," Blueberry assured their teacher. "She'll get over it in a couple days or so."
"Well," Cheerilee said, "if you say so, but let Raspberry know that if there's anything wrong, she can always come to me. Okay?"
"We'll tell her, Mrs. Cheerilee."
Of course, they would, but Raspberry had not been listening to them much lately. The two sisters went to grab their hats and scarves.
"Is Rasp still fretting over the whole Santa thing?" Prism inquired.
"We've tried to convince her Uncle Discord was wrong," Blueberry explained.
"But she won't believe us!" Cherry declared.
"And she's getting moodier by the minute!"
"Goodness," Gemstone uttered. "We need to cheer her up!"
"I have an idea!" Prism exclaimed. "Hey, Rasp!"
Raspberry looked up and turned in the pegasus filly's direction.
"You wanna go to Sugar Cube Corner and get some hot cocoa? I hear they're trying a new flavor. Peppermint!"
The magenta filly sighed and looked down. "No, thanks."
Prism frowned, but she did not give up. "Well, Aunt Scootaloo said she'd take me skating this afternoon. Wanna join us?"
"No."
"How about sledding? Don't you remember? This is the year we decided we were all gonna race down the Big Slope!"
"What's the point?!" Raspberry shouted.
Prism was taken aback at her friend's outburst and said nothing as the magenta filly walked off the stage. The others had been watching the whole scene. Cherry grunted and stomped her hoof.
"Oh, that's it! I can't take this anymore!"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Blueberry demanded.
"You bet!"
"Let's show that punk a piece of our minds!"
Before any pony could say another word, they zoomed off the stage, out of the schoolyard and into the Everfree Forest.
"Honey!" Fluttershy cried as she pulled a wrapped box away from her husband. "How many times have I told you not to use your x-ray vision to peek at your presents?"
"Come on!" Discord complained. "You know I hate waiting! Can't you at least give me a hint?"
"No! You'll have to wait until Hearth's Warming!" She sighed. "I guess I'll have to hide it..."
They were interrupted when a streak of red and blue burst into the room.
"YOU!" Cherry shouted at the volume of a sonic boom.
"WE'VE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU, MISTER!" Blueberry screamed just as loudly.
"Wha...?" Discord uttered.
"YOU BROKE OUR SISTER!" Cherry declared.
"AND WE..."
Discord silenced them with his paw and claw. "A little softer so we don't damage any more ears, okay? Now, what is this all...?"
"Raspberry doesn't believe in Santa Hooves anymore!" Blueberry exclaimed.
"And it's all thanks to you!" Cherry accused.
"Me?" Discord said, pointing to himself. "What did I do?"
"You told us there was no Santa Hooves!" Blueberry replied.
"And now she's acting like a gloomy pants!" Cherry declared.
Fluttershy glared at Discord. "You told them WHAT?!"
"Well, there isn't!" the draconequus insisted.
"Yes, but you're not supposed to tell them that!" Fluttershy quickly covered her mouth. "I mean..."
"Aunt Fluttershy?" Cherry said. "You don't believe in Santa Hooves either?"
"No! I do! I just..."
"Never mind!" Blueberry exclaimed. "It doesn't matter if there's a Santa Hooves or not! We can't get our sister out of the dumps!"
"Why?" Discord asked, truly concerned. "What's wrong with Raspberry?"
"She's all moody!" Cherry declared.
"She doesn't want to hang out with us!" Blueberry added.
"Or play!"
"Or listen to her favorite book!"
"All she does is mope!"
"She's lost her optimistic spark!"
"Oh dear," Fluttershy gasped, before glaring at her husband again. "See what you've done?! You've crushed a little filly's hopes and dreams!"
"Well, how was I supposed to know?!" Discord protested. "Hey, how come you two aren't as upset?"
"Because we know you're wrong!" Cherry claimed.
"Yeah!" Blueberry agreed. "The writing on our card from Santa Hooves last year did not match that of Mom's or Dad's."
"Then why didn't you show that to Raspberry?" Discord asked.
"We did! She didn't believe us!"
"Why not? I mean how come she believes me when you two don't?"
"The thing about us Tri-Pies," Cherry replied, "is that we're exactly alike, save for our colors..."
"But we each have our distinct personality traits," Blueberry continued, "or rather we have the same personality traits, but some more than others. It's like this. Cherry's the super hyper one..."
"Blueberry's the super smart one..."
"And Raspberry's the super sensitive one. Which means if you tell her something like 'Santa Hooves doesn't exist,' she's going to take it hard!"
Discord's ears drooped. He truly cared about the three fillies and had not meant to hurt one of them, especially sweet little Raspberry. She had always been the most thoughtful of the bunch. Last Hearts and Hooves Day, she had swung by with a basket of heart-shaped cards and candy, and during the holidays she would give them some of the Pie family's annual Hearth's Warming cookies. And no matter how long it would take, she would always make a card for every pony with a little poem inside. Raspberry had always been full of holiday spirit.
Had Discord destroyed that spirit?
"Okay, okay," he said. "I goofed. But what do you want me to do about it?"
"Fix her!" Cherry commanded
"Tell her there's a Santa Hooves!" Blueberry added.
"But there isn't..." Discord started to say. "Oomph!"
He cried out as Fluttershy poked him in the side.
"Okay, okay! I'll find a way to make it up to her! I promise!"
"Pinkie Promise?" both sisters said.
"Do I really have to...? Oomph!"
He rubbed his side and shot a glare at his wife.
"Fine! I'll make it up to Raspberry! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"You'd better!" Cherry warned. "Or else we're gonna bring in the big guns!"
"Cannons, to be specific," said Blueberry.
Discord was not sure what that meant, nor did he know whether he should be afraid or amused that he was being threatened by two eight-year-olds. Truth be told, he was more frightened of the cross pegasus hovering beside him. Whether he liked it or not, he had no choice but to comply with them.
"Take me to her."
Raspberry was flipping through sheets of paper. They were all letters she had written to Santa Hooves over the years. She always kept copies of them. She gazed wearily at the one she had written last year.
Dear Santa Hooves,
How are you? How's the North Pole this year? I bet it's cold. I hope you keep warm.
I don't know if you got Prism's letter, so I'll tell you what she wants, just in case it got lost in the mail or something.
Prism wants to be able to fly, but she especially wants her parents to be home for Hearth's Warming. She also wants a set of roller-skates.
My sisters and I all want ice skates, so we can skate like Mommy.
Me, I want a new notebook. The one I have now is running out of paper. Some pens would be nice if you can spare some of those too. I'm also waiting on that pet reindeer. The stuffed one you gave me last year is nice, but it doesn't fly, you know? I don't even care if I can't keep it. I understand if you don't want to part with a member of your family, but maybe I can just have a ride on it or something. A ride in your sleigh would be even more magical!
I hope I'm not asking for too much. I've been really good this year. So have my sisters and Prism. I also hope the trip isn't too difficult for you. Daddy promises the fireplace won't be burning when you drop in. We promise to leave you cookies! And carrots for your reindeer!
Happy Hearth's Warming!
Raspberry Pie
After reading it over one more time, she crumpled it in her hooves and threw it in the wastebasket with the others. Then she glanced at the stuffed reindeer on her pillow. It had been her favorite toy ever since she found it in her stocking. She had called it Olive, after Olive the Other Reindeer. That had been her favorite Hearth's Warming story.
She picked up the reindeer and stared into its black button eyes.
"Santa Hooves," she uttered.
She tossed the stuffed animal onto the floor.
"Phooey!"
Then she curled up into a ball and buried her face in her knees.
"Aw, that's not nice!"
Raspberry looked up to see Discord holding Olive.
"What did this reindeer ever do to you?"
The filly turned away. "What do you want?"
"Sheesh!" the draconequus said. "Not only are you moody, but rude!" He sat on the edge of her bed. "What's happened to you, Rasp? You were always so cheerful and optimistic!"
The door swung open and Pinkie Pie stood there wearing a green and red apron.
"Who wants to make Hearth's Warming cookies?!" she called. "Oh, hi Discord! When did you get here?"
"Just seconds ago," Discord grumbled. "Do you mind?"
"Well, excuse me, mister! This is my house!" She approached her daughter's bed. "So what do you say, Rasp? Want to help me bake the annual Hearth's Warming cookies?"
"No thanks, Mom," Raspberry sighed. "I'm not in the mood."
Pinkie gasped as if she had just heard a naughty word. "Not in the mood?! Since when are you not in the mood to make cookies?!"
"It's a long story," Discord explained, "and I'm trying to make amends here!"
"You're not sick, are you?" She felt Raspberry's forehead. "Huh. No fever. You didn't eat too many Brussels sprouts, did you?"
When Raspberry did not respond, Pinkie turned to the draconequus.
"What's wrong with my daughter?" she demanded.
Discord bit his lip. "Well, you see...the other day...I kind of told her...there was...no such thing as Santa Hooves."
He closed his eyes, preparing for the explosion. He could hear the pink pony's face boiling red, the steam furiously blowing out of her ears and her hair bursting into flames.
"YOU TOLD HER THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS SANTA HOOVES?!" her voice boomed.
Discord summoned a fire extinguisher and sprayed the flaming pony with foam. When he opened his eyes, her mane was flat and dripping wet, but her eyes still burned with anger.
"What gives you the right to tell a filly that?!" Pinkie screeched as she poked the draconequus in the chest. "Especially one that's not yours!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" he said, holding out his paw and claw. "I'm sorry, okay? I came here to fix all that!"
He knelt down and put his claw on Raspberry's shoulder.
"Sweetie," he said, "just because I don't believe in Santa Hooves, doesn't mean you have to stop believing."
"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded. "Discord can't help being a mean meanie pants!"
"But it was you who left those presents for us," Raspberry said, "wasn't it, Mommy?"
Pinkie stood in silence with her mouth a gape. After a while, she sighed.
"Well...we might have left you some of those gifts..."
"I knew it!"
The filly collapsed on her bed, her face landing in her pillow.
"But not all of it!" Pinkie insisted. "That reindeer, for example! The one you love so much! I don't know where it came from! And those ice skates last year! I thought your father might have left them, but he swore he didn't! There really is a Santa Hooves! Don't you see?"
Raspberry groaned. "You don't have to lie to make me feel better, Mom!"
"I'm not lying! Really! I'm telling the truth!"
"Oh, enough of this!" Discord grunted. "Look, Rasp, does it really matter if there's a Santa Hooves or not? I mean you still get presents on Hearth's Warming Day and get to make yummy cookies."
"Yeah, but..." Raspberry sniffed. "I always thought it was so...magical..."
"And it still is! I don't even know how that Santa thing got started! I mean it has nothing to do with the founding of Equestria or the magic of friendship..."
"I appreciate you trying, but...I just wanna be left alone, okay? I've got some sulking to do."
Discord felt a tug in his heart. "Raspberry, I..."
"You should go," Pinkie said, patting her daughter on the back.
The draconequus opened his mouth to say something, but then sighed and walked out in defeat. Blueberry and Cherry were standing outside the door.
"I tried," Discord said.
The two triplets hung their heads.
"Then there's only one thing left to try," Blueberry declared.
Every year, around Hearth's Warming Eve, a sleigh would be set up in the Town Square for fillies and colts to have their picture taken with Santa Hooves. Four ponies dressed as reindeer stood harnessed to the sleigh while a large red stallion sat in the seat as Santa Hooves. Two ponies dressed as elves handled the crowd of excited foals.
"Ho, ho, ho!" Santa Hooves laughed. "And what do you want for Hearth's Warming, little filly?"
"Well," Gemstone blushed, "I don't know if it's possible, but...I want a brother or sister."
The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's an unusual request. That's something you'll have to discuss with your parents, and you know a baby takes a long time."
"Eleven months, I know, but...that's all I want this year."
"Not even a doll or a pretty dress?"
"No. See, my parents always get me everything, but all my friends have something I don't have. Prism has the twins, the Tri-Pies have each other, nearly every pony I know has a brother or sister! I just want some pony to play with when my parents aren't home and my friends are unavailable."
"Have you been good this year?"
She bit her lip. "Not the best, but...I've been doing better."
Santa smiled at this answer. "Well, I'll see what I can do." He pointed to the camera. "Smile!"
Gemstone posed for the picture and then climbed off Santa's lap.
"Who's next?" he called.
The next filly crawled onto his lap.
"And what's your name?" he asked.
"Prism Soarin Dash," the pegasus replied. "And I'm going to ask you what I asked last year and the year before that. I just want my parents to come home for Hearth's Warming."
"Ah," Santa nodded. "Well, maybe during my route, I'll see them along the way and make sure they make it home okay. I don't care if you've been naughty or nice. Every filly should be with their parents on Hearth's Warming."
"Thanks. I also want my wings to grow and to get my cutie mark!"
"Ho, ho, ho! All in good time, my little pony. All in good time."
They both faced the camera and smiled for it.
"Alright, who's...?"
He was cut off as two fillies leapt on either knee.
"Oh," he said. "And what are your...?"
"Cut the theatrics, Buster!" Cherry exclaimed.
"We know you're not the real Santa Hooves!" Blueberry declared.
The Santa Hooves blinked. "What makes you say that?"
"There's no way Santa can be here, and in all the other cities in Equestria, and at the North Pole!"
"But we do know you're one of Santa's messengers," Cherry said.
"And we have a message for you to give to Santa!"
The stallion shrugged. "Okay. What's the message?"
"We've been really good all year," Cherry insisted.
"And we wanted Santa to get us the Rosebud 3000," Blueberry explained.
"But we've changed our minds."
"Our sister Raspberry doesn't believe in Santa Hooves anymore!"
"And she hasn't been the same since!"
"We don't need proof that Santa exists, but could you ask him to give Raspberry some sort of proof?
"It doesn't have to be big or anything, just enough so that we can have our sister back."
The red stallion glanced between them. "Okay. I'll tell him."
Blueberry then looked at the stallion again and squinted.
"What are you looking at?"
"Are you new or something?" she inquired. "I don't remember seeing you before."
He grinned. "Yeah. I'm new in town. I got the job."
"Well, you're good." She pulled at his beard, making him cry out. "First time they got one with an actual beard, and I like how you don't have glasses." She tapped his red and white striped horn. "The horn's a bit tacky, though. You could have done a better job painting it."
The stallion laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." He pulled them closer and faced the camera. "Smile!"
When Discord had teleported home, he slumped on the couch. Screwball flashed beside him.
"Hey," she greeted.
"Hey," he moaned.
"Mom told me what happened."
"Yeah?"
"Daddy, how could you tell an eight-year-old that there was no such thing as Santa Hooves?"
"I didn't think she'd take it so hard! After all, you didn't take it so hard when you found out!"
Screwball crossed her forelegs. "Dad, I always knew it was you and Mom leaving those gifts and not Santa Hooves."
He looked at her with wide eyes. "You did?"
"I can tell when you're lying, remember?"
"But...you always seemed to..."
"I went along with it, because pretending that there was this unicorn in a red suit flying around the world and leaving presents under the tree made Hearth's Warming...magical. Sometimes, I would get so caught up in it that I almost convinced myself there was a Santa Hooves. I think that's how Raspberry feels about it too. When you took Santa away from her, you took away the magic."
Discord winced. "And you...was that what happened to you?"
She shook her head. "Like I said, I always knew, but you know something? One Hearth's Warming Eve, I heard jingle bells outside. That got me thinking...what if there really is a Santa Hooves? Maybe the parents are just his helpers and keep the legend alive by giving their children gifts under his name. They give them hope. When you told Raspberry Santa was just lie, you destroyed that hope."
Discord leaned his head into his paw. "I messed up big time, didn't I?"
"It's not too late to make things right."
"But I tried! I already talked to her! What else can I do?"
Screwball laid her hoof on his shoulder. "Make her believe."
"How?"
"By keeping the idea of Santa Hooves alive."
She slid off the couch and left her father to his thoughts. Discord did not know what to do. He had been reformed for several years now, yet he still made ponies unhappy. He would not be surprised if his reflection started mocking him again. This time, the pain he had caused was not intentional, and it was to some pony he liked.
He was not particularly fond of Fluttershy's friends, but their colts and fillies had always been so sweet to him, even called him 'Uncle.' He never thought he would be so loveable among foals. After this, he figured no foal would look at him the same way again. He had to make amends to Raspberry no matter what.
He got up to pace around the room when his hoof touched something. He glanced down and saw a notepad. Curious, he picked it up and read the page it was open to:
Dear Santa Hooves,
My sisters and I have been good all year, cross our hearts and hope to fly! We even helped stop an army of evil changelings! Well, there was one time when we got revenge on Gemstone for picking on us, but we're all best friends now!
As usual, Prism wants her family to come home for the holidays, though I'm sure you got her letter this time, because Uncle Discord sent it. Make sure he gets something too! I mean sure he went a little berserk this year, but he made up for it. He deserves to be on the Nice List.
I'm not sure what Gemstone wants, but she's been really good and I'm sure you can get her something nice.
Anyway, back to us. You can forget about everything else I've asked you to get me, because all my sisters and I want is the Rosebud 3000! We need a new sled, and one we can all fit in! And one that's fast! And shiny red! Please? If you can't fit it down the chimney, you can just leave it outside.
I hope you have a safe trip, and give my regards to the wife and reindeer! I have to go now. We're at Uncle Discord's now. He's going to send this letter.
Happy Hearth's Warming!
Raspberry Pie
Discord wiped away a tear as he read the letter. How long had this notepad been sitting here? Raspberry must have dropped it. She had thought of her Uncle Discord while writing to Santa Hooves, and only to be crushed by that very same draconequus a minute later.
What had he done?
As he reread the letter, an idea formed in his mind. He quickly teleported to the toy store, only to be met with disappointment. Where a grand sled built for three had stood, a sign reading 'Sold Out' had taken its place. He groaned and teleported back home.
He could always make a Rosebud 3000 appear, but he did not know what it looked like. Then again, all Raspberry wanted was a sled built for three. Would it matter if it was the Rosebud 3000 or not?
He summoned a pile of wooden planks, a hammer, nails and a bucket of paint.
"I better get to work," he said.