Love And Joy

by Mister E

Chapter Three- The Dazzlings

Three figures shuffled along an endless line. Finally after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, they made it to the front. Wordlessly the volunteer of the day passed over a large steaming bowl of stew to each of the three, just as he had the hundred or so before them, and just as he would to all the rest behind them. At least, that is, until he had no more left to offer.

Experience therefore had taught the trio that if they had expected to eat that day, that they had best be in line at least a half an hour before mealtime. Especially during the holiday season, when the generosity of others usually meant a better than average meal.

After receiving there bowls the three quickly made there wait to an empty corner of the room where they could dine in privacy. Well, relative privacy. Like all other shelters they had been to, this one was overcrowded far beyond it's legal limits. As a consequence, space was limited, food was limited, and the thermostat was set barely high enough to keep people from freezing. Yet only the newer arrivals ever complained. The older homeless knew that it was only a matter of time before they too shed their cloak of dignity, and surrendered to the basic needs of survival. Food, shelter, and warmth.

“This is… surprisingly good!” Aria Blaze remarked, as she quickly began blowing on the spoonful of her second bite.

“ANYTHING is good when you are hungry enough,” Adagio Dazzle refutes, before she too began to blow on her own spoonful.

“Well, it's not like we are having tacos,” Sonata Dusk adds wistfully. “But then, how would that even work? All the broth would just spill out. I mean I guess you could freeze it then put it in a taco shell, but who eats cold soup? Oh wait, what about a frozen gazpacho taco?”

“Sonata,” Aria begins. “Never mind, I'm not even going to try.” She says in defeat, before quietly resuming her meal.

“We can't go on like this,” Adagio says bitterly. “Going from city to city, shelter to shelter. We used to be powerful, loved, revered!” She finishes angrily, her voice rising to a shout.

A few heads turn her way, then resume their own meals. “They will learn,” is the thought shared among them.The attendant merely gives them all a long look before going back to the magazine he was reading.

The three resume eating silently for a few more moments, before Adagio says petulantly. “And why is it so cold? How can it be so cold with all these people packed in here like a clearance sale at the mall?”

“I miss the mall,” Sonata says sadly. “I miss new clothes. Hey Aria, know what else I miss?”

“Tacos! Now shut up and eat your soup.” Aria replies flatly.

Glumly Sonata complies.

“Right now all I miss is being warm.” Adagio complains. And then quietly so the other two can't hear, “and being special.”

“Aww, don't be sad Adagio,” Sonata says brightly. “Maybe this will cheer you up!” She says holding out a large brightly wrapped box, nearly hitting Aria in the face in mid bite.

“Hey, I'm trying to eat here!” Aria says, as Adagio takes the box from Sonata.

“Sonata, where did you even GET this?” Adagio asks, turning it around in her hands.

“I dunno. It just appeared on the table next to my soup. It's got our names on it though.” She adds helpfully.

Adagio finds a tag just under the edge of a huge bow. Sure enough it has all of their names on it. She reads what it says aloud. “To Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk, true happiness is found in the giving, not the receiving. Happy Hearths Warming!” Adagio's eyes widen in surprise. “Hearths Warming? This is from Equestria! Someone sent us something from Equestria!”

“No… Way!” Aria says dropping her spoon. “Well don't just sit there, open it!”

Adagio begins to quickly remove the bow and tear the gaudy paper from the box.

“Ohh, I can't wait to see what's inside!” Sonata says excitedly. “What do you think it is” Jewelry? Perfume? You don't think… it could possibly be… Tac-”

“Finish that sentence, and I will END you.” Aria says, tearing her own gaze away from the box long enough to glare at Sonata.

“Shut up both of you!” Adagio says, as she removes the lid. Whatever else she would have said died on her lips as she looks incredulously at the box's contents.

“Well?” Aria says, as the silence drags on.

Wordlessly Adagio lifts out a jacket from the box. Not new, and not stylish by any standard. It was a huge old army jacket, far too large for any of the Dazzlings.

“Is this some sort of joke?” Adagio says, holding the jacket aloft.

“Ugh, that is SO not my color.” Aria says in disdain. “And even if it were, it's way to big to fit me.”

“Oh, maybe we could use it as a blanket! I'm not really picky about colors right now.” Sonata says with a shudder.

“It's not THAT big.” Adagio declares, looking at the garment ruefully. “Someone is playing a joke on us. This so called 'gift' is completely useless.”

Adagio casts a quick glance around her. “Hey you!” she says, sizing up a nearby man sitting a table away.

“Huh, me? What do you want?” He says looking up, surprised that he was being spoken to.

“Here,” Adagio says, tossing the jacket in his direction. It lands on the floor next to him, the man too surprised to even make a grab for it.

“I can have this? Are you serious?” He asks, his eyes going wide as he plucks the jacket from the floor, turning it in his hands. “There isn't a hole or a mark on it,” he says incredulously. “It's barely been used. And I can just HAVE it?” He asks once more.

“Yeah, yeah, keep it. Happy Hearth- I mean, Merry Christmas.” Adagio says, waving her hand in a shooing motion.

“Thank you. Thank you so much!” The man says, quickly thrusting his arms into the sleeves and buttoning it up.

“Must be nice,” Adagio mutters, preparing to throw the empty box off of the table. Then she notices that the box isn't empty at all. Something else is inside. Something pink.

Adagio lifts out this newest find. It has to be the ugliest pink sweater that she had ever seen. There are snowflakes falling out of a pink sky onto a snow covered field, where little pink clad children were building snowmen. It was all together hideous.

“Oh my!” An elderly lady said as she was walking by with her empty bowl. “That reminds me of my granddaughter. She used to make me those same terrible sweaters every year for Christmas. Of course that was back before my Charles died, and we could still afford our own place.” The lady rambles, lost in her own past. “I wonder where she ever ended up? I wonder if that was one of her creations? It certainly looks tacky enough.”

“Here!” Adagio says, thrusting the offending garment out before her.

“For me? Are you sure?” The old lady says in wonder.

“Oh yes, I'm positive.” Adagio replies trying surreptitiously to wipe the memory of pink from her hands.

The old lady walks away, a tear forming in her eye. Before Adagio can sit back down however, a lean man in a worn tee shirt and jeans comes up beside her.

“Um, pardon me miss.” He begins slowly. “I really hate to bother you.”

Adagio turns to face the man, a biting retort on her lips, then she sees the state he is in. She's seen this before. Here is one of the 'suddenly homeless'. Not one of the abandoned people, no, this one was blindsided by it.

Without quite meaning to, the question escapes her lips. “What happened?”

“Oh.” He says, surprised anyone would care enough to ask. “My name is James Caldwell. Me and my wife recently moved here from DC. She was going to college, and I was working at a law firm. Nothing fancy, just a desk jocky, an office assistant. We were living on the cheap y'know. Ramen, space heaters, taking the bus to work and school. Just until Janet could get out of school and get a job.” Adagio makes a move it along gesture. “Well, there was a fire. One of the space heaters, while Janet was at school. We lost everything. Neither of us have any relatives we could call. We tried to rent another place, and was about to sign the papers, then my job laid me off. They were downsizing so their fourth quarter earnings would look better. We had nowhere to go. No money in the bank, and no-one is hiring the last week of Christmas. We literally only have the clothes on our back. Anyway, I saw that you were giving people warm clothes. And… it's not for me, but if you had anything I could give to my wife, anything at all...” he says, his voice trailing off in desperation.

“Oh you poor, poor man,” Sonata says, coming around the table to offer him a hug. “Of course we will help!”

“Sonata!” Adagio says harshly, “We don't even know...” She begins, then stops as Sonata lifts item after item from the box, jeans, blouses, shirts coats, an armful of clothes, then another, handing them over to the startled man.

“Oh my God!” He exclaims. “I-I don't know what to say. Thank you! Thank you all so much!” He exclaims, before taking his bundles and making his way to the other side of the room where a woman rises to her feet, to meet him. He points frantically back to the trio, and they can see, even from across the room, an expression of gratitude and relief on her tear stained face.

Adagio simply stares. That look. More sincere than any person, or pony, had ever given her before.

As if reading her mind, Aria says from beside her. “Right now, she thinks we are the most important people on earth. Hmm. Isn't THAT something.”

“Y-yeah.” Adagio says absently. “That's something all right.” Turning to Sonata, she pats her affectionately on the head. “You done good.”

“Aww, it was nothing. It just seemed the right thing to do y'know?”

“Well,”Aria says rising to her feet, “it looks like word has gotten around. I hope that magic box of yours hasn't run out of juice, because our day just got a lot busier.” She says, gesturing across the room toward James and Janet.

They were still talking excitedly together, and what they were saying had not gone unheard by the people around them. Many of them were already making their way toward the Dazzlings. Soon all three were being bombarded with requests. Surprisingly nearly all of them were for someone else, someone worse off than they were. The few that were asking for themselves did so with such shame that even Adagio found it heartbreaking.

Tearfully the three of them dove their hands again and again into the box, passing out garments by the armful. No one there questioned where they were all coming from. They could see a Christmas Miracle unfolding before them, and accepted it with tearful joy. Soon everyone had all the clothes they could carry, and all were dressed warmly.

But the box wasn't finished quite yet.

“Sonata, am I seeing this right? Are those...” Adagio asked skeptically.

“Tacos!” Sonata yelled excitedly. “Hey everybody, come back! We're having tacos!” Sonata yelled to the departing crowd, many of whom quickly reversed course at her cry.

“Tacos for Hearths Warming,” Adagio said, shaking her head. “Only Sonata Dusk would make that her Hearths Warming wish.”

“And what about you o' fearless leader,” Aria says munching a taco as they watch Sonata passing out handfuls with gleeful abandon. “Did you get what you wanted for Hearths Warming?”

Adagio thinks about the look in Janet's eyes. A look that she will never forget as long as she lives. “Yeah, Aria I did. I got exactly what I wanted. And what about you?”

“Nah, I guess I was too greedy. But there's always next-”

“Excuse me miss,” the shelter attendant says, approaching Aria. “Um, I just wanted to say, that what you three are doing here today… Well, it's just such a beautiful thing. I've been volunteering here for over a year now, and in all that time I've never seen anyone as generous and kind as you three.”

To Adagio's utter astonishment, she sees Aria do something that she has never seen her do in all the centuries she has known her. Aria is blushing.

“W-well,” Aria stammers, “we were just in the right place at the right time y'know?”

“And now you're being modest.” The attendant exclaims. “Look, I have a full time job at Eastside Mall, and I happen to know that one of the new shops that is opening is looking for several teenagers to fill positions in their store. They want young people that will actually care about helping the customers. Well, after I tell them what I've seen today, I can guarantee that they would hire you. If, that is, you don't mind working in a Mall.”

“Heck yes we'll work in a Mall!” Aria says, totally unlike her normal self.

“Great. Let me go back to my desk and I'll get you some directions. My name is Jeff by the way.”

“I'm Aria. Aria Blaze. And these are my friends Adagio Dazzle, and the one handing out tacos like there's no tomorrow is Sonata Dusk.”

“Very nice to meet you.” Jeff says, taking her hand warmly. Then quickly releasing it as a blush begins to spread. “Well, um, I'll just go… and get those directions for you… back in a minute.”

As Jeff departs, Adagio shakes her head once more. “Well, you are just full of surprises Aria. A job at the Mall? That was an unexpected wish.”

“Welllll,” Aria says, still not sounding like her usual self. “That wasn't EXACTLY what I was wishing for.”

“Hey!” Sonata shouts, “this isn't a taco. This isn't a taco at all.” She says pulling something with green leaves and white berries out of the box.

With a huge smile Adagio plucks the branch from Sonata's hand. “Don't worry Sonata, that's just a little something for Aria.” Then turning, she presents it to Aria who's face is blushing crimson.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.” Aria says indignantly.

“Now, now, no pouting. It's Christmas here. There are rules against that. Now as band leader my final command today is that you go over to that desk, and open up your present.” Adagio says holding out the sprig of mistletoe and grinning trollishly.

“Fine!” Aria says, snatching the mistletoe from her hand, and sounding for a moment like her normal self. Adagio lets her make it three steps before shouting loudly for all to hear, “and find out if he has a brother!”

“Ugggh!” Aria says in exasperated embarrassment.

Adagio watches as a red faced Aria shyly approaches Jeff. After a moment he notices what she has in her hand, and his face turns crimson as well. Hesitantly, Aria lifts the sprig over her head. “Well that's enough of that,” Adagio says turning back toward Janet and James. “Hey James!” She yells, getting his attention. “How do you guys feel about tacos?”

Meanwhile back in the Crystal Empire. Three exhausted ponies collapse on the bed of Princess Cadence.

“Whew,” Cadence says panting heavily. “I'm certainly glad you asked for help on this one Pinkie Pie.”

“Y-yeah. I guess we got a little carried away this time.” Pinkie replies equally breathless.

“Well I for one found it to be exhilarating!” Rarity says, not at all winded. “look at all the people we helped today! And all by relocating bunches of used clothing that other people were throwing away.”

“Well, the taco thing was all Pinkie Pie.” Cadence says, sitting upright.

“Um hmm.” Pinkie agrees. “And Rarity used a variation of her gem finding talent to locate all the clothing. But it was your magic that was able to portal them into the box.” She says smiling. “And what about that bit at the end? You know, with the mistletoe?”

“Well, I AM the Princess of Love. It was obvious the moment I saw them. I just gave them a little Christmas nudge.” Cadence says innocently.

“Riiight.” Pinkie replies, before giggling. “You need to meet my family, you're a lot more fun to deal with than the Pairing Stone.”

“Pairing Stone?” Cadence asks suspiciously.

“Never mind,” Pinkie says quickly. “How is our other friend doing? Is the filly almost there?”

“I received a scroll from Luna just as we were finishing up. She's had the filly following one of her brightest stars for the last half hour. Luna said to tell you that she really regrets not being here, but they expect her to be at the party with her sister. She wants you to know just how important this filly is to her.”

“I'll write her a scroll right now.” Pinkie says, pulling parchment, pen, and ink from her mane. “She has nothing to worry about, we won't let her down.”

Comments

[Crimson Dawn]

Makes you wonder if Pinkie had a bad experience with the pairing stone lol.

[Crimson Dawn]

Pinkie should take the time to give Gilda a gift even if they are not enemies anymore. Pinkie and GIlda are a fun duo.