Yugioh: Worlds Collide

by ShootingStar25

Chapter 163: Holidays Unwrapped

Winter time had arrived as the weather was starting to get a bit chilly. Granted there wasn't any snow yet on the ground, but based on the forecast it was projected to be a white Christmas by the time the actual holiday rolled around. Which was in about 2 weeks or so, and that meant that everybody at Canterlot High was busying with studying for their winter exams before venturing on their winter break.

"Dear, Princess Twilight

How are things in Equestria? Things have been pretty good since we last left; Isaac has actually started a program that he believes will help the school to finally get recognized into the system. That way CHS can actually be funded by the Board of Education and the state; he also hopes that they can add Duel Monsters to the curriculum to help students on how to play the game. He's determined I'll say the least, to think that in just a few months from on, we'll be graduating and going on our separate ways. I know they say never say goodbye, but I just can't help that we won't see each other as much as we do now. Especially, Isaac. He was hesitant at first on accepting his destiny, but after our trip to Equestria, he's now more sure of what his future will be. Which is probably why he's doing all that he can for Canterlot High before he leaves, he just feels like he's running out of time. We all appreciate what's he done and doing, just hope he can relax with Winter Break coming up. Anyways, talk to you soon.

Sincerely, your friend,

Sunset Shimmer.

P.S. How's your relationship going with a certain colt?"

Sunset then closed her book as she hoped that the princess would see her message.

"So did Princess Twilight have anything new happen in Equestria?" asked Isaac as he approached Sunset who was sitting at the table in the house. He knew that often time, Sunset would write in the book she had as it allowed them to communicate with the pony princess as she often asked for updates from them and vice versa.

"Just sending her a message that we're about to start our last Winter break as students, and told her about what you've been doing since you got back from Equestria." said Sunset. "Turns out right after we left, she had to deal with some sort of time travel issue with a certain pony. Now she's tutoring said pony as her student and teaching her about the values of friendship."

"Interesting. So, are you planning to go for Winter Break?" asked the boy.

"I still don't know about that, it would be nice to spend Christmas in Equestria." said Sunset. "Anyways, I need to head over to Pinkie's house. The girls all want to do some last minute study for the exam. You wanna join us?"

"Nah, you go on ahead. I need to take care of somethings for the students when I meet with them tomorrow and discuss my plans for when they return from break." said Isaac.

"Alright, then. Hope you won't miss me much, boy toy." said Sunset with a sly smile.

"I think I'll manage." said Isaac as he played along with Sunset's flirtiness.

"Well, see you at school tomorrow." said the bacon-haired girl as she got up from the table and put on her winter clothing as she exited out of the house and was on the way to meet the others.

"Well, got the whole house to myself. Which means I need to get to work." Isaac then started to go over the lessons he had planned for the students. He also made a few calls to his 'associates' as he got to talk with them about some stuff concerning the cards they sent him. It was about 7 at night, as Isaac decided to get some final studying in for his final exams.

Morning had arrived as the sun was rising over the town as it brought some warmth to the denizens. Isaac's alarm went off as he reached over to his side table as he turned off the noise. He then let out a yawn as he stretched his limbs; he then got out of bed as he prepared himself for school. Once he got everything ready, he then exited out of the house as he was on his way to school. He managed to make it as the bell rang, since he was one of the few individuals of the group who had 3 classes, it meant that Isaac had a bit more time before his exams started.

"I wonder, where the girls are?" asked Isaac.

Meanwhile...

Seems the late night studying didn't go according to plan, as the girls managed to fall asleep. So when the morning sun, came over the girls were all exhausted and tired as they each had bangs under their eyes. Soon an alarm went off as it awoke the girls as they let out a gasp.

"I'm awake! I'm awake! What time is it?! Did we sleep through the test?!" asked Pinkie before she immediately fell back asleep.

"No, but school starts in thirty minutes!" said Rarity as she turned off the alarm.

"How's everybody feeling about our test?" said Sunset as she let out a distressed sigh.

"Even after our all-night study session, I still don't know the difference between vaporization and sublimation." said Fluttershy.

"Reckon this test is gonna be an abomination." said Applejack as she put on her hat and she too let out a sigh.

"I can't believe we all fell asleep halfway through our first all-nighter!" said Twilight as she faceplanted into the book in her lap.

"Not all of us. While you chumps were studying all night, guess who was coming up with a plan." said Rainbow Dash as she was by the window and pulled apart the curtains as there was nothing there. After a few seconds, a tiny snowflake was then seen falling.

"You call that a plan?" asked Twilight as she and the others didn't fully understand what their chromatic friend was insinuating.

"Ugh! Come on! Do I have to spell it out for you?! It's snowing!" exclaimed Dash as the others still looked at her with questioned looks. "Snow day means no school! No school means no test!"

"Uh, it's hardly snowin', Rainbow Dash."

"Come on, guys! You are seriously lacking vision!"

"I've got twenty/twenty vision, and I can clearly see it's not snowing enough for the school to be canceled!" stated the bookworm girl.

"Too bad it's not a snow day." said the buttercup girl as she let out a sigh and put her book in her backpack.

"It's not a snow day yet. If we face the forces of evil and magic, I'm pretty sure we can convince Principal Celestia to call a snow day. There's a lot of innocent kids out there who probably didn't study, and they're depending on us! So what do you say? Who's with me?!" asked the chromatic girl.

"I don't know." said Twilight as she was still unsure about this plan. "And technically, it was Isaac who mostly had to deal with all those problems."

"Huh? Huh?" said Rainbow as she looked to the others for support as they were starting to see her idea.

"Hmmm... I guess." said Twilight as she accepted the idea.

"Yeah!" shouted Rainbow as she and the others all got to work on her plan.

"Hope, Isaac is doing better than us." said Twilight as she soon joined the others.

Pinkie was still snoring when the others exited the room, "Ah! Can't believe I almost slept through a montage!" said the girl as she awoke and then chased after the others, but not before taking a leftover slice of pizza and ate it.

And so the girls got to work on executing Rainbow's plan. They had managed to secure a blank canvas as they setted it in front of Principal's Celestia's office. Pinkie was currently working on a sack of potatoes as she was peeling them when suddenly she noticed a racoon in front of her staring at her and the food. The racoon and Pinkie looked at each other and then at the potatoes as he tried to slowly steal one to which Pinkie immediately grabbed them and began to fight with the furry creature. She tossed them up high into the air and then she leaped up and in slow motion was able to cut and peel the potatoes with ninja effects as the racoon watched in awe. The potatoes landed in the bowl as both human and racoon were still fighting each other. Meanwhile, the others were all doing their part. Applejack had managed to get some blocks of ice as Fluttershy was using her animal skills as she managed to get some woodpeckers to carve the ice to which then did. They even did a statue of her as Fluttershy just let out a cute giggle. Twilight was put on shovel duty as she was having to shovel the bits of snow and ice the fell from the woodpeckers doing their work; she also fell down several times due to her lack of strength. Sunset was given the task of painting the canvas to create a convincing backdrop which was easy given due to her artistic skills. As for Rarity, she just simply sat in a chair as she was knitting a scarf. Pinkie and the racoon had managed to put their difference aside and were now making a snowman from the potatoes.

"Yeesh, are they really that desperate." said Isaac as he watched this scene from the classroom. He then shook his head as he turned in his test to the front of the class as he exited his class and was making his way to meet with the students.

He made his way to the classroom as all of the students were present.

"Well at least you guys are on time." said Isaac.

"Uh, professor Isaac, where's are the others?" asked Amber.

"Yeah, what's the deal, teach?" stated Jason.

"They sick or something." said Shadow.

"Probably still doing their exams." responded Jack.

"No, it's something else." said Isaac.

"Like?" said Penny as she rolled her hand for an explanation.

"How would you guys like a little field trip?" asked Isaac.

"Where we going?" asked Bryant.

"Hope it's somewhere fun." exclaimed Lucky Star.

"Ohh, I think you all will get a kick out of it. In fact, it should be happening... right about... now." said Isaac as he led the group out of the classroom.

"We did it! We saved the world!" shouted Rainbow.

"I got to admit. We really did pull together as a team." said Twilight as she was even impressed by what they were able to accomplish.

At that moment, both Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna came into her office as they saw the scene outside of their window.

"A blizzard? Quite an unforeseen development, I'd say." said Luna.

"Indeed." stated Celestia.

"Shall we cancel school?" suggested the younger sister.

"Hmmm..." Celestia took her sister's request and started to reach for the phone.

"She's making the call!" said Rainbow.

"Don't bother with the snow day! It's phony baloney! Hope those girls enjoy detention after their test!" said Cranky Doodle as he entered Celestia's office and told the women of the girl's plan.

Celestia now had an angry look on her face and was about to confront them, when another person showed up.

"Hold on, Celestia. Care if I add some input of my own?" said the person with a smug smile on their faces.

"What's going on?" asked Rarity.

"What are they doing?" stated Aj.

"Quiet, you guys! I'm trying to see!" said Rainbow. Soon she and the others all heard someone clear their throat as they turned around and saw Principal Celestia standing there with an angry look on her face.

The girls were now all in detention as Cranky Doodle was the moderator for the test as the girls doing their test.

"How are we supposed to know how snow fits into the water cycle?!"

"Pinkie, what have we been doing for the past two hours?" stated Twilight.

"All part of the plan. What better way to study than a hands-on project?" said Rainbow.

"Ohhhh! I get it! This test relates to our snow day! Which means... potatoes get mashed, then evaporate into potato moisture, where they converge into potato clouds! And when those clouds can't hold the weight, that's where the potato flakes come from! Or is it potato chips? Am I missing something?" said Pinkie as she managed to go on a tangent like usual.

The girls all just laughed at their friend's behavior as Rainbow felt a bit tired.

"I didn't sleep."

"Then, you better wake the hell up!" shouted a voice.

"Ahh, the replacement is here." said Cranky Doodle.

"Replacement?" said the girls as Cranky Doodle got up from his seat and the person now taking over for the old man was none other than their male companion. "Isaac?!"

"Hello, girls." said Isaac in a low and evil tone as he had his hands clasped together.

"Honey." said Twilight as she tried to put on a sincere smile.

"Yeah, don't try that with me, Twi." said Isaac as she immediately fell back in her seat. "I can't believe you, of all people, would go along with Rainbow's stupid idea."

"Hey! It worked, for a while." said the chromatic girl.

"Tell it to me when you're the one whose going to be shoveling the snow off the house steps." stated Isaac. "I had more respect for you girls."

"Well, what about you, boy toy?!" demanded Sunset. "You couldn't at least convince Principal Celestia to give us more time?"

"Hey, it's not my fault, you all decided to wait to the last minute. I'm busy with other stuff and I still had time to prepare for the test." said Isaac. "Speaking of which, how are you kids enjoying the show?"

"We love it!" said the students as they loved watching their tutors get in trouble as they couldn't help but laugh.

---

It was another day in school as it was the very last day before the students were going on their Winter Break. All the students of CHS were exchanging cards with each other. Applejack was passing by as she saw the many interactions that were happening, she gave a quick wave to Vinyl and Octavia as she climb up the steps to the next floor as she saw the rest of the gang near Rainbow and Rarity's lockers.

"Hey, y'all! Who's ready for a new holiday tradition?" asked the country gal.

"Technically, it's not a tradition if it's new. Tradition implies something that's been done before and everyone expects it and—" said Twilight as she was going on a tangent to correct her friend.

"How do y'all feel about startin' a holiday tradition?" said Applejack as she interrupted her friend.

"Sounds cool." said Rainbow.

"I'm in." stated Sunset.

"Oooh!" said Pinkie.

"Fabulous!" answered Rarity.

"Words matter, people." pouted Twilight.

"Don't be like that Twi." said Isaac as he kissed her forehead to cheer her up. "So what did you have in mind, Aj?"

"Every year for the Apple Harvest Festival, my family sends a theme photo to our friends. This is when we were pioneers. This year, we were the forest. And last year, we all pretended to be ghosts." said Applejack as she showed the group some pictures.

"Uh, there's no one in this picture."

"Because you can't see ghosts, Twilight. Sheesh." said the country gal.

"Indeed. We're all familiar with your yearly cards." said Rarity.

"I was thinkin' we could all get gussied up and do a holiday photo to send out to the whole school!"

"Ohhh... G-Goodie." said the fashionista as she and the others had a bit of a worried look on their faces.

"Oh, man, AJ, I would love to, but I have a... a thing. You know, right now. With Hoops Dunkington. You know, Hoops from Crystal Prep. We're gonna get... sandwiches." said Sunset as she was hoping to back out of it.

"Heh. You're so funny. Bring him along. He can take the picture." said Applejack.

"Aw, man. He just... canceled." said Sunset as she knew her excuse didn't work.

"Well, I need to meet with the students to discuss my plan for them when they return for the second semester." said Isaac as he was hoping his excuse would be more believable.

"Alright, you're excused city slicker. I know how hard you're working to kickstart this program." said Aj.

"Yes." said Isaac as he fist bumped.

"But you're helpin' to take the picture and gettin' the set ready for our pic." demanded the girl.

"Deal." nodded the boy.

"We just gotta figure out what we're all wearin'." stated Aj.

"I could design it!" offered Twilight.

"No!" shouted the other girls.

"Why is that a bad idea?" asked Isaac.

"You were busy doing whatever on Halloween, Isaac. But Twilight made us look silly." said Rainbow. "She made us be the quadratic equation."

"I didn't mind that costume." said Fluttershy.

"'Cause you got to be a plus or minus. I could barely function." Rainbow then let out a gasp. "Wait. Was that a math pun?!" asked Rainbow as Sunset shook her head to which she let out a groan. "You're ruining me!"

"Ah, don't be such a square." joked Twilight hoping to get a laugh from the others but nothing as Pinkie delivered a rim shot.

"Remind me to get you a joke book for Christmas." said Isaac to which Twilight looked at her boyfriend with a glare.

"I already decided on the theme. A cornucopia! You know, them goat horn-shaped basket thingies overflowin' with flowers, fruit, and corn? It's the symbol of the Apple Harvest Festival!" said Applejack.

"I'll take the lead on wardrobe." stated Rarity. "Simply tell us the location of the photo, and we will be there!"

"Well, this is the best news ever! Thanks, y'all. I'll get the auditorium ready for the shoot. See you guys this afternoon!" said Applejack as she turned to leave. "And don't forgot..."

"Yeah, I promise. Soon as I'm done with the kids, I'll head over to help." stated Isaac as Applejack left.

"Rarity, are you okay? I think you just offered to do something that you don't really want to do." said Sunset as she saw how distressed her friend was due to her giving a sigh.

"No, Sunset. Unfortunately, I offered to do something I have to do. As a good, generous friend, I have to save Applejack's photo shoot. I also have the best taste of anyone involved."

"Yup. Knew there was another reason." snickered Dash.

"I know not what a goat horn-shaped basket thing—"

"Uh, cornucopia?" said Rainbow with a smug smile.

"—cornu-huh-duh-buh is," said Rarity as she couldn't say the word due to her accent, "but I can guarantee that I will make us the most fabulous version of that... that... thing that I can." Twilight then showed Rarity a picture of the thing as she let out a gasp and nearly fell on the ground as she fainted.

"Rarity! Are you okay? What do you need?" asked Pinkie as she managed to catch her friend.

"Take me to the drama department's costume room! Time is running out!" shouted Rarity as Pinkie nodded and slung her over her shoulders as she ran leaving the others.

"Well, you girls have got your work cut out. I'll see you all later, can't wait to see what costumes you're wearing." snickered Isaac as he quickly left to avoid getting attacked by the girls.

The girls were all with Rarity as they were working on their costumes. Pinkie was just rocking out with a boombox in her hands as she was jamming to the music while bobbing her head. Sunset on the other hand was on her phone as she was trying to find an escape route from this ridiculous idea. Rarity was determined as she was at a table with a sewing machine as she was using the materials to make the costumes.

"I'm going to make this..."

"Cornucopia!" said Rainbow as she dashed away.

"...so fashionable that people will learn what a..."

"Cornucopia." said Rainbow again.

"..is." said Rarity as she still couldn't say the word due to her accent.

"So, no appointments this afternoon?" said Sunset as she was talking on her phone.

"What are you doing, Sunset?" asked Twilight.

"Trying to get any appointment I can for this afternoon. But my dentist, doctor, dermatologist, podiatrist, and guitar teacher are all booked." said the bacon-haired girl.

"You have a podiatrist?" said Twilight as she was surprised by that fact.

"I can't be in this picture, Twilight. We're gonna look silly." said the girl. "God, why did Isaac get out of this agreement? I rather teach the kids then do this."

"Yes, Sunset. Yes, we are. But we're going to be the most fashionable kind of silly there is. As Applejack's friends, it's the least we can do. For friendship." said Rarity as she handed the costumes to the girls.

"For friendship." said Sunset letting out a sigh.

With that the girls all got dressed as they put on their costumes and accessories. Safe to say they were... horrible.

"I would just like to point out that the quadratic formula was better than this." said Twilight as she looked at their costumes.

"Yeah, well, I'm feeling a little 'husky', so I don't want to 'ear' it." chuckled Pinkie as she was dressed as corn. "Sorry if that joke was 'corny', but it's all I have right now!"

"Well, I like my outfit. I'm a bunch of grapes." said Fluttershy with a sly smile.

"Let's just get to the auditorium before anyone sees us." said Rarity as she pulled a string on her costume as she inflated the bottom half.

They were all struggling to walk as they were making their way to the auditorium when the bell rang. At that moment, all the doors opened for the classrooms as out came the students and saw the girls in their wacky getups as they couldn't help but stare and create some chatter.

"RUN!" shouted Rainbow as she dashed away as quick as she could to get away from all the attention when her foot got caught in someone's bag as it caused her to trip and fall. "Aah! Oof!" said the girl as both her hand and foot were trapped all the while the group of students in front of her were laughing and taking pictures. "Help! I'm stuck!" called out Dash.

The others all started to run as well as Pinkie just stood there with a smile on her face as she chose to accept it as she posed for a few pictures.

"Oh! Whoa!" Twilight was having a hard time keeping her balance and walking in the getup as she bumped into some of the to other students who also fell down.

"I got you!" said Fluttershy as she was helping Rainbow get up.

The others weren't fairing any better as Rarity and Twilight managed to run into each other and then bounced off. Pinkie was still posing for some pictures when Sunset crashed into her as both fell down.

"Okay, so, now that we are a laughingstock—" said Sunset.

"Did someone say 'stalk'?" joked Pinkie.

"Let's just get to the picture. Nothing to lose." groaned Sunset as they were all humiliated and embarrassed in front of the entire school.

"With that, have a nice break, kids." said Isaac to the students. "Rest up, and enjoy the holidays. You're all officially at the halfway mark of not only completing your first school year at CHS, but also being part of this program."

"So, are we really almost done?" asked Bryant.

"Man, time sure flew by." said Shadow.

"Then that means once you guys start your second semester, I've got some challenges for you all to face." stated Isaac.

"Like what, Teach?" asked Penny.

"You'll see. Enjoy the break, you guys earned it." smiled Isaac as he dismissed the students as they left the classroom. "Well, better get to the auditorium." stated the boy as he looked at his watched and grabbed his backpack. Isaac entered through the door as they was Applejack on the stage with the set behind her as Photo Finish had her camera all set up.

"Finally, city slicker." said Applejack.

"Wanted to wish the kids a safe happy holiday." said Isaac. "But I'm here now, so what's left?"

"Just a few finishin' touches. Care to grab that and bring it to me?" asked Aj.

Isaac put his backpack down as he helped Applejack to finish the set for the girl's photo.

"Nice done." said Isaac as he looked at the backdrop.

"It's nice, isn't it. Say Isaac, mind fetchin' me mah stuff?" asked the country gal.

"Sure thing, Jacklyn." snickered Isaac as he left to avoid Aj from punching him in the face for calling her by her birth name.

"Grr, I hate that name." said Applejack as he gritted her teeth. She turned back to the photographer. "Looks great, Photo Finish." Soon the door opened as both saw the girls enter in their getups.

"Vat iz dis?" asked Photo Finish.

"Well, we told you we would do this photo shoot of dressing up and w-whatnot, Applejack." said Rarity.

"And we put ourselves through quite the ordeal to get here, amidst laughter and judgment. But it's because we're your friends. And we respect your family traditions. So if we have to look like corn and squash—" said Sunset.

"And grapes." added Fluttershy.

"Then we're willing to do it. We love you, friend." stated the fashionista.

Applejack could help but smile at how dedicated her friend were in keeping her traditions even if it meant being embarrassed that she just let out a laugh. "What?! Granny Smith is the one that made us dress up. I was just sayin' we should take a picture with a cornucopia set behind us. Should've known when you said 'wardrobe'." stated the country girl as the girls just sighed and groaned.

Sunset then got an idea as she whispered into Rarity's ear.

"Uh, we could change. But it would be a shame to waste the ensemble I made for you." said Rarity as she held Aj's costume with a sly smile.

"Uh..." laughed Applejack nervously.

"Alright, I'm back. App... What the hell did I just walk into!!" shouted Isaac as he saw the girls on the stage getting into position for the photo.

"Shut the hell up, boy toy! Don't say anything, just take the photo or we'll put you in something so you feel our pain." shouted Sunset.

"Sheesh, alright." said Isaac as he helped Photo Finish in taking the photo.

"Wishin' y'all a Happy Holidays, from our cornucopia to yours. Love, Applejack."

"Sunset Shimmer."

"Rainbow Dash!"

"Fluttershy."

"Rarity."

"Pinkie Pie!"

"And Twilight Sparkle!"

With that the photo was taken. All the girls smiled as soon another camera click was heard as they looked to see where it came from.

"Lovely girls." said Isaac as he had his phone out and took a quick pic of the girls in their costume.

"Isaac, you put that phone down and delete the picture. Or else we're really gonna hurt you boy toy!!" said Sunset as she and the others girls all seemed to be serious about that part, apart from Pinkie and Fluttershy. Isaac just slowly looked between his phone and the girls several few times. He slowly lifted his phone up and clicked the capture button. "Get him!!!" yelled Sunset as she and the others all jumped off the stage to straggle their male friend.

"It was worth it!" shouted Isaac as he began to run from the horde of girls. While he was running from the girls, Isaac managed to send the photo to the students so that they could laugh at their tutors to which they all did.

---

Applejack was busy helping her family getting ready for the annul event they were going to have. In fact, she knew it was going to be a lot of work as she had both Isaac and Twilight there to help them out. Moreso cause tonight, she and the boy would provide the entertainment for the party with a duel. Everyone was hard at work on making sure everything was good to go by the time the party started.

"Thank you so much for inviting us to your family's holiday party." stated Twilight.

"I always did want to see how you make your cider." stated Isaac as he was munching on an apple. "So, do you could give me a couple of extra bottles?"

"Isaac, you know you can't do that." snickered Twilight as she looked at her boyfriend. "Would you say the Apple Family Annual Holiday Harvest and Cider-Making Fest is more of a mulling fest or a chilling fest?"

"What kind of a question is that?" asked Isaac as he looked at his girlfriend.

"Don't you fret. It's always a blast. Well, aside from when the Flim Flam brothers make their appearance." said Applejack.

"Huh?" said Twilight as she was confused.

"Them again." said Isaac as he finished snacking on the piece of fruit. "I thought we dealt with them the last time, Aj."

"We'll they're persistent, Isaac. Even though you managed to beat them in a duel, you didn't expect them to keep their word." said the country girl as she turned back to Twilight. "They make it a tradition to swindle my family at the Harvest and Cider-Making Party. One year, they took all our ladders in the middle of the party." mentioned Applejack as she recalled the past memories. "We had to improvise. Another year, they de-bottomed our baskets. Last year, they gave Apple Bloom a pet worm."

"Don't remind me." said Isaac as he too remembered that encounter. "I still can't believe you kept the little guy."

"He was cute." shouted Applebloom as she addressed Isaac.

"Until Colonel Wigglesworth and all his friends ate up every apple we had." stated Aj.

"That's horrible. And to think, bow ties used to be a symbol of integrity that only cool people wore." said Twilight as she let out a gasp.

"Oh, honey, you're thinkin' of bolo ties." corrected Applejack.

"She's right." said Isaac as he was looking up the info on his phone. "According to Wikipedia, bolo ties are widely associated with Western wear and are generally most common in the western areas of the country."

"Anyway, this year we're settin' traps for those no-good Flim Flam brothers. If they try anythin' slippery, then things are gonna get sticky." said Aj as she pounded her fist.

"Applejack, I promise if you let me come up with a plan, we can out-bamboozle those bamboozlers!" said Twilight as she was offering her assistance.

"What do you think, Isaac?" asked the country girl.

"Hey, who am I argue?" said the boy. "I say let the nerd go at it."

"Don't call me that!" pouted Twilight as she didn't like it when her boyfriend called her by that.

"You know you enjoy it, plus your adorkable." teased Isaac as Twilight turned her head in embarrassment as she was trying to hide the shade of red on her face.

"Anyways, I was hopin' you'd say that!"

"Yes!" shouted Applebloom as she and the others all got to work.

With that the entire group got to work. The whole Apple family had gathered together as they sat down in front of Twilight who had a large and long blackboard with her. She then turned it to the other side as it had so many designs and plans that they were all confused, while Isaac just facepalmed himself as seeing his girlfriend go overboard with her brainstorming. Twilight then tried to find her personal laser pointer, but realized that she forgot it. She then heard a cluck as chicken was poking her leg as it she had a stick in her mouth and was pointing at it. Twilight then grabbed it and began to use it to point out and elaborate each of her steps. Even then, they still had not idea what Twilight was talking about. Isaac then stepped in as he knew what Twilight was trying to say as he translated using simpler terms that they could understand. The Apple Family nodded as they knew what the plan was as they pumped themselves up and split off to complete the objective.

"You couldn't let me have my moment." pouted Twilight.

"Hey, not everybody understands when you go into 'nerd mode'. For some weird reason, I can understand you when you do it, and I'm nowhere near as smart as you." said the boy.

"I told you, don't call me that!" shouted Twilight as she stamped her foot.

"But you're cute when you pout." said Isaac as he stood in front of his girl and gave her a kiss. He then pulled back as he smiled to which Twilight tried to hide her own smile but it was for naught as she blushed.

Applejack and Applebloom were now smashing some apples with their feet as Big Mac had a tub under a small nozzle as out came apple cider. He then presented it to Twilight who stuck her finger in it and tasted it to which she gave a thumbs up. Isaac tried to stick his own finger in until Twilight slapped his hand as she gave him a look. they then proceeded to pour the golden liquid into a jug as Twilight put the sticker label on it. They then moved onto the next part, Applebloom was currently working on putting a neck inside of a jack-in-a-box as it then popped out and fell on her head. She then did several attempts on trying to get the net to stay in, but they all ended the same way as they kept on capturing her instead. Applejack came by as she took the net off her little sister and then neatly wrapped it up as she put it back into the box as it didn't come out. Twilight now had Big Mac blindfolded as she had to direct him on where to dig some holes.

In the barn, Isaac was helping Granny Smith as they were currently putting pepper into a tub of water. Twilight then arrived as she took a taste of it as she let out a face of disgust. She then gave a thumbs up as Granny Smith put more pepper into the water as Twilight grabbed an jug that had a pepper shaker label on it as she replaced it with an apple cider

"Is this really gonna work?" asked Isaac.

"Have faith in your girlfriend." smiled Twilight smugly. "I mean, I did catch your attention the first time we met with my smarts."

"Well, that and other things." Isaac smiled back at his girlfriend as the two let out a laugh. With that everything was set into motion.

It was now time for the party as the guests were standing around very still inside of the barn.

"Nobody's talkin. They're just standin' around. Guess a cider party ain't much fun without cider." said Applebloom.

"Huh. You sure this is the best way to fool the Flim Flam brothers?" asked Applejack.

"It is in fact the only way. I triple-checked my game theory matrix. Those no-good grifters are gonna offer a fake diamond for the party's eponymous cider. We'll play along, and by the time they figure out we sold them pepper and salt water, we'll be celebrating our victory with the real cider, which is hidden in here." said Twilight with as she placed her foot on the container that contained the cider.

"Twi, just how many detective stories have you been reading lately?" asked Isaac.

"Shut up!" pouted Twilight.

"Hey, I believe your plan will work. I just wanna know how much you've invested in those books I've bought you?"

"Just few, hundred. Okay, I have been reading a lot, lately." said Twilight as she looked at her boyfriend who just rolled his eyes.

"I hope you're right." stated the country girl.

"Trust me." stated the purple girl as there was a knock on the door.

"Greetings!" said Flim.

"Salutations!" stated Flam.

"No tricks this year!" exclaimed Flim.

"Cross our hearts of gold!" replied Flam.

"Speakin' of gold, how would you feel about selling us your cider? For the generous sum of..."

"...Let's say..."

"...Ohhhh..."

" ...This genuine real-life diamond?" said both brothers as they actually were doing what Twilight.

"Holy shit." said Isaac. "I don't know what's more impressive, the fact that Twilight called this or that they actually have a diamond."

The group then gave the brothers the 'supposedly' apple cider as they loaded it into their trunk.

"Y'all come back next year, ya hear?" said Applejack as she waved them off as she closed the barn doors.

"We did it!" shouted Granny Smith.

"Yee-haw!" shouted Applejack.

"That was amazin'!" exclaimed Applebloom.

"Twilight was one step ahead of 'em from start to finish! Let the real Apple Family Annual Holiday Harvest and Cider-Makin' Fest begin!" Applejack then opened the trunk that Twilight had hidden the real cider as she let out a gasp. "Uh-oh. Where's the real cider? Did they take the real cider?!" The entire family then lifted the trunk as they noticed a hole in the trunk as it as connected to a hole in the ground.

"Aw, man!" pouted Applebloom.

"That ain't fair! They must've known about the switcheroo and double-reverse switcheroo'd us right back!" said Applejack as she had a panicked look on her face.

"Unless I knew they'd doubled-back and take the real cider using a series of tunnels I dug knowing they'd find them and use them, ensuring that when they emerged right outside the front door, they'd get... trapped in a net!" said Twilight as she was grinning ear from ear at explaining her plan.

The family then looked at Isaac for some explanation.

"Hey, don't look at me." said Isaac as he had no idea about any of this.

"Did you do that?" asked Applejack to her friend.

"You tell me!" shouted Twilight as she opened the door and to her surprised the brothers weren't captured in the net.

"Nope." said Aj bluntly.

"Looks like you got an 'L' on this one, Twi." said Isaac.

"Uhhh..." said Twilight with a stunned look on her face.

"Looking for this?" said Flim as his brother Flam was holding the box with the net inside.

"Nobody outsmarts the Flim Flam brothers. Oh, thanks for the cider!" said Flam as he winded up the box and soon the net came out as everybody ducked to avoid getting caught as it landed on the outer guests.

"Time to go!"

"See you next year!"

"Oh, and one more thing..." said Flim as he tossed the jug to Twilight.

"Enjoy your pepper water!"

"Yah-dun-dun-dah-dun-dah! Hey!" said both brothers as they got into their car and zoomed off.

"Well, that went well." said Isaac as he tried to lighten up the mood.

"Guess this party's over." said Applejack as she took of her hat and was starting to walk away.

"Actually... it never got started." said Twilight with a sly smile and her glasses were white.

"Oh, boy. She's got the anime glasses." said Isaac as he saw his girlfriend and knew what that meant.

Twilight then took off the net from the guests as she pushed Ms. Cheerilee as she fell to the floor as it was revealed to be just a stand-in.

"No wonder Scootaloo was so quiet." said Applebloom.

"But... who... how... how'd you...?" said Applejack as she was shocked.

"These clocks are all wrong. The real party doesn't start for another twenty minutes." said Twilight as she picked up a clock and then put it down as she grabbed a pair of cups and gave one to Isaac as he clinked his cup with hers as both took a sip. "Mmmmm. Delicious!"

"Oh, that's good." said Isaac as he licked his lips.

"You didn't switch the cider, did ya?" said Applejack.

"Mm-hmm." nodded Twilight as she peeled the sticker to show the label.

"The one move that nobody ever sees coming." stated Isaac as he took another sip.

"Surprise me once, shame on you! Surprise me twice, shame on me! Surprise me three times, the fourth surprise is gonna be on you! " laughed Granny Smith. "You're the surprised ones! " Soon her laughter turned into her cackling.

"Huh. Wow. I... I don't know what to say."

"How about... cheers?" offered Twilight as gave a cup of cider to her friend as they joined in with Isaac as they let out a laugh.

Sometime later, Isaac was busying shoveling the holes Big Mac had dug up as he was covering them full of dirt. While he was doing this, Twilight was leaning against the side of the barn with a cup of cider in her hand as the party was already starting inside. Isaac took his cap off as he wiped his forehead as he was sweating, he then looked at Twilight.

"What you staring at?" asked Isaac.

"Uh, nothing." said Twilight as she turned her head as she wanted to avoid telling her boyfriend that she enjoyed watching him sweat.

"Nothing, huh." smiled Isaac as he got in the face of Twilight as they were inches apart as he grabbed her chin with his right hand as he looked at her. "How does a nerd like you capture my attention everytime?" flirted the boy.

"The same reason why a geek like you makes me fall in love with you over and over again." responded Twilight with a flirt of her own.

Isaac then leaned forward as he captured Twilight's lips with his as they shared a moment.

---

It was another cold day as school was officially out for winter break. Isaac had managed to finish what he needed as he came up with the next assignments for the students to focus on once they got back from their break. As for the group, after the incident with the girls trying to fake a snow day, they had managed to finish up their remaining exams as they were now on Winter Break. Despite, being on break, they also had something to take care of and that was the Toys for Kids Festival in which the group would be giving kids some toys to kids who didn't have any. As for Isaac, being the co-owner of a card shop, he was able to secure some extra piles of cards as he also hoped to give it to the kids. Right now the entire group was walking to Sunset's locker to get the toys they would be giving.

"It's winter break, I have hot cocoa, and we're about to bring a giant wagon of toys to little kids! This is the best day ever!" said Pinkie as she let out a gasp and took a sniff at what she saw. "Is that... a marshmallow? Today just got better!" squealed the girl.

"And there's more." said Isaac as he put some caramel and sprinkles in Pinkie's beverage as she took a sip.

"Aw, that's delicious." said Pinkie as she licked her lips. "You know me so well, big bro."

"Do I know my little sis or do I know my little sis?" said Isaac with a smile.

"Mighty kind o' ya to let us keep all these toys in your storage locker, Sunset. I didn't have the space after Granny Smith converted our barn into a hot yoga studio."

"No biggie. Nice to finally use this darn thing. I've been paying monthly, and I never use it."

"What is it, a gym membership?" snorted Twilight as she let out a laugh. She then looked at her friends to see if they too found her joke funny, but none of them were laughing. She then looked at Isaac as she hoped he would back her up.

"What do you want me to say?" asked Isaac as he too found the joke not that amusing.

"Let's just open the locker." said Twilight as she wanted to move pass the joke.

"Yeah... Good idea, Twilight." said Sunset as she rubbed her neck. "You know, the Toys for Kids Festival is gonna start soon, so just open this lock with the key. Pinkie?"

Pinkie just blinked a few times before answering. "Oh! I gave the key to Rainbow Dash."

"I gave it to Fluttershy."

"And I entrusted it in Chad. Do you have it, Chad?" asked Fluttershy as she had an owl perched on her arm. Chad gave a hoot as he looked at Rarity.

"Oh, right! The key! I put it in a charming little bag, and I gave it to you."

"Yeah... and I left it in my locker." said Sunset as she realized what it meant.

"So basically, nobody has the key." said Isaac bluntly.

"Oh, no worries. We'll just run down to the school, get the key, and we're back in business." said Rainbow as they all began to leave.

"Uh, school's closed." said Twilight as she let out a sigh.

"Cheer up, Twi." said Isaac as he then began to walk with her after their friends.

The group now found themselves at the entrance of the school as Sunset was trying to do everything she can to open the door, but it was to no avail.

"Like I said, school's closed for winter break." repeated Twilight.

"Well, this won't do at all. Without the key, there's no toys. And that means those adorable children at the Toys for Kids Festival are going to open empty boxes!" said Rarity.

"Ah! That's worse than clothes!" exclaimed Rainbow.

"Excuse me?!" stuttered Rarity as she took offense to the comment made by her friend.

"Well, as much as the kids will like the cards that I'm giving them. They gonna want other toys as well." said Isaac.

"Not on my watch. I have a plan. The school doors might be locked..." said Sunset as she began to tell her plan in a voiceover as heist music was playing as it looked to be something that would happen in a Mission Impossible movie. "...but the air vents aren't. Unfortunately, the hallway has a motion sensor security system, which we'll have to hack into and disable. That's where Twilight comes in. Once we're in, we'll need a distraction so the janitor doesn't see us." said Sunset as she planned to have Chad to serve as the distraction. "I'll grab the key, and we're out. Any questions?" asked the girl to the group as she had a pair of sunglasses.

"A few. You do know that you're describing breaking and entering, right?" said Twilight as she had her personal notebook in her hands.

"Well—" started Sunset.

"And Fluttershy is friends with animals, sure. She's not going to use them to attack our janitor." clarified Twilight as she kept on pointing out errors.

"Not 'attack' exactly."

"And finally, climbing through a vent is dangerous, and if a young person saw us doing it, they might try to imitate it and get hurt." responded Twilight as she made her final point.

"Plus, you forgot the cool explosion at the end when we're all walking away." said Isaac as he pointed out the biggest flaw with Sunset's plan. "Cool guys and gals, never look at explosions." stated the boy as he turned his head to the side as he put on his own pair of shades as a make believe explosion went off behind him.

"Then I guess it's game over." stated Sunset as she let out a sigh.

"Except game not over, 'cause ch-ch-check out my awesome plan! Here's what I'm thinking..." said Pinkie as it was her turn to come up with a plan as she put on her shades. The same thing happened with Sunset as heist music was playing as Pinkie voiced over her plan to the group. "First, we bake a dozen pistachio cream cupcakes." stated the girl as the oven went off. "Then, we leave them outside Principal Celestia's office to lure her out. Once she's out and while the door's still open, I'll use my licorice whip lasso to catch the door handle. Then, when we get the key... that's where these chocolate-covered crunch nuggets come in." Pinkie then pulled the treats out of her hair as she began to chomp on them. "Mmm!"

"What are those for?" asked Sunset.

"To eat, silly! After all this heisting, we're gonna be hungry! Any questions?" asked Pinkie.

"Actually yeah. So, how are we supposed to bake two dozen cupcakes before the Toys for Kids Festival, hmmm?" said Twilight as she was pointing out flaws in Pinkie's plan.

"Uhhh—"

"And I don't think a licorice lasso is a real thing." said the bookworm.

"Mmmm... it could be." said the pink-haired girl.

"And once again, this is trespassing. Come on, someone has to have a plan that's not a crime." informed Twilight as she looked at the group.

"We got powers! Why ain't we using them?" groaned Applejack. "Well... one of us does."

"What are you looking at me for?" asked Isaac.

"Come on, city slicker. Can't you just use yer fancy schmancy magicians to poof the key into our hands?" asked Applejack.

"That's not how it works, that's not how any of this works." said Isaac. "I can't just tell my magicians to do whatever I say, plus it's not magic that allows me to talk to them, it's our bond. Plus, none of you all can see them."

"Exactly what I was going to say." said Twilight.

"You know what? Fine. Why don't you plan the heist?" stated Sunset.

"Hmmm..." said Twilight as she had a smug smile on her face. She then plugged in her ear pods as she pulled out her phone and began to use it.

At the same time, Principal Celestia was in her office as the phone went off. She then looked at it and soon was heading out the door and towards her destination. As Celestia was walking, Twilight just kept dwindling with her phone as the others looked at her as they were worried about the plan. Soon it was done.

"Thanks again for letting us come in and get Sunset's key, Principal Celestia." said Twilight as she looked at the tall women while in the background, Sunset was opening her locker and grabbed the small object.

"Of course, Twilight. You know that all you had to do was knock." said Celestia as she was beginning to walk away.

"Thank you." whispered Sunset to her friend.

"Oh, and Isaac make sure you lock the door when you all leave." said Celestia as she turned the corner.

"Wait, what!?" shouted Sunset as she looked at her male friend who was spinning the key chain with his finger.

"Principal Celestia has given me a set of keys to entire school building." said Isaac.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" shouted the bacon-haired girl as she was steaming.

"You never asked." snickered Isaac.

"Did you know about this?" said Sunset as she looked at Twilight.

"Maybe." stated Twilight with a smug smile. "Honestly, sometimes I want to stay late at the library so I ask Isaac."

"I tend to stay with her till she fills her heart's desires." said Isaac as he knew of all the time his girlfriend and him stayed way past the hours in the library as he loved seeing her be happy.

"I hate both of you." Sunset said as she gritted her teeth. "Let's just get the hell out of here."

The gang was now at the mall where they were giving the kids all the toys they had collected. The girls all had smiles on their faces as they enjoyed making the children happy. One kid dropped his gift as it caused Pinkie and Fluttershy to have sad looks, especially for the kid who dropped it as he looked to cry. Pinkie then reached into the pocket dimension that was her hair and pulled out another present for the kid as Fluttershy let out a breath. Soon Isaac arrived as he had a huge box with him, he then opened it up as it was full of cards for the children as they all looked in awe and wonder. The amount alone was enough for the kids to think it was Santa himself who came to deliver the gifts; all the kids then started to surrounded Isaac as he smiled and bent down to their level as he started to hand out cards for the kids to have their own makeshift decks. The girls all just smiled as they watched their male friend put smiles like only he could with children, they even offered some advice with the kids by picking out cards that they would enjoy.

"Well, that's the last gift." said Sunset as she handed some cards out to a kid as she held an empty sack. "Now who wants to go cash in some gift cards?" The girls all cheered as they liked that idea. "Twilight, where's that bag I gave you?"

"I left it at school!" gasped Twilight. "But I got an idea." said the girl as she put on some shades with a sly grin.

"Uh, Twi." said Isaac as he dangled his set of keys to the school.

"Oh, right." laughed Twilight sheepishly.

---

It was another day as Sunset was currently with Pinkie Pie in her house.

"Oh, your soufflé's looking great, Pinkie Pie." said the bacon haired girl as she saw the pastry and then stood up and leaned against the oven as she gave a thumbs up.

"Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Big Mac, Chestnut Magnifico, Chumbly-Bonk-Bonk..." said Pinkie as she had her eyes closed and was standing still as she was reciting names.

"Pinkie Pie?"

"...DJ Pon-3, Flash Sentry, Fluttershy, Gloriosa Daisy, Juniper Montage, Lily Pad, Lyra Heartstrings, Maud Pie, Muffins..." Pinkie was still rambling on.

Sunset then grabbed the timer on the stove as she looked at it and was it was now moving, "But you forgot to set the timer!" said Sunset as she let out a gasp.

"...Octavia Melody, Photo Finish, Rainbow Dash— Shhhh! Zecora, Zephyr Breeze, Zipporwhill... Done! I stopped using the timer after I realized a soufflé takes the same amount of time as saying all my friends' names in ABC order!" said Pinkie as she began to take the soufflé out of the oven.

"You're friends with someone named Chumbly-Bonk-Bonk?" asked Sunset.

"Eh, he's more of a walk-by-what's-up acquaintance, but I needed an extra half-second on the list." stated the puffy haired girl as she closed the oven with her leg and the two took a sniff of the treat.

"Mmm-hmmm! So what's this for?" Sunset asked.

"This is a holiday tradition I have with Rarity." said Pinkie as her imagination began to take control as she voiced over the cartoon imagination. "Every year, I surprise her with a dessert that's as elegant as she is. And every year, she asks me why it's all deflated." said Pinkie as her imagination had her pastry become flat.

"What...?" interrupted Sunset as her imagination had a drawing of her appear.

"Soufflés are only good for a little while, and I never get it to her in time. We have seven minutes to get to Rarity's house before this soufflé frumples into a soggy yuck-bucket!" stated the girl.

"Seven minutes? How many friends' names is that?" asked Sunset.

"How would I know?" scoffed Pinkie. "Gimme that timer, woman!" She then set the timer for 7 minutes as they began to get ready.

The two girls then zipped up into their winter clothes as they prepared to head out. Just as Sunset was putting on her gloves, Pinkie was thinking when she had an idea and started to add more winter clothing on her friend.

"Uh, Pinkie? [muffled] Pinkie? Pinkie! The time!" shouted Sunset as she tried to tell her friend.

"Half the time is gone! Why didn't you say so?!" shouted the girl as she yanked Sunset out of the extra layers as she was standing back in her original outfit. "Now, this year I have it all planned out. The route, the speed, the exact angle I need to hunch over at to protect the soufflé from the wind. There will be no deflation this year!" Pinkie then took an inhale of air as she opened the door and was introduced to the sight of a bloodbath, uh I mean, snowball fight.

The two girls saw the scene before them and it was a war! All around them laid dead bodies, the scent heavy with flesh and death. The image of seeing individuals fall over with a single shot, this is... Saving Private Ryan! Oops, wrong script. Just give me a second to find the right one, one second... ah here it is. Ahh, there we go. Much more family friendly. And begin scene.

The two girls saw the scene before them and it was a war! All around them was a gathering of people as they were currently engaged in a snowball fight to the death. Back and forth the snowballs were flying as each side was trying to take down the other. Neither side was giving an inch as they didn't want to be the one to surrender. Pinkie closed the door for a moment, to avoid her and Sunset getting pelted by the snowballs as they opened it back up slowly to see the scene. Even their friends were getting in on the action.

"You go!" commanded Photo Finish as she ordered Snips to move forward as he threw a snowball and hit his target.

Pinkie looked at her soufflé and then at the path they had to cross as she covered it with her hands and took a deep breath as both her and Sunset engaged in the line of sight. Maud came to the front door as she was unamused by the sight as she was covered in snowballs as she closed the door.

Applejack looked over her wall as there was a flag next to her that had an apple on it. "Ambuuuuush!" shouted the country girl as she noticed Sunset and Pinkie near their base as she thought they were enemies.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoop! Oof!" said Pinkie as she and Sunset managed to get behind some cover as she noticed her soufflé wasn't in her hands. It then appeared as it seemed to still be intact, "Whew." Both girls then noticed Fluttershy next to them.

"We've been pinned down for hours with no reinforcements and no handwarmers." said Fluttershy in a dramatic war-like voice as she breathed heavily. She then noticed one of her fellow soldier lying in front of her.

"I'm cold... S-S-So cold..." said Trixie as she was a bit freezing and acting like she was in pain.

"Stay with me, Trixie!" said the shy girl as she still had the dramatic voice as if trying to keep her comrade alive.

"Uh, hold up, everyone! Pinkie Pie and I aren't in the game!" said Sunset as she hoped to ceasefire.

"What game? This here's war! Fire in the hole!" shouted Granny Smith as she and her family threw apple juice covered snowballs at Sunset as they acted like grenades on a battlefield.

Sunset barely managed to get out of the way as she was back behind cover. "One hit, and this thing's finished!"

Pinkie then pulled out her timer as she let out a groan, "Oh, well. Maybe next year." Pinkie let out a whimper as she felt sad and was looking to cry.

[dramatic music]

Sunset was looking over her wall of protection as all around her it really was like D-Day as everybody was crawling along the floor. Nobody was safe, not even dogs, as Winona took a bullet for Applebloom as she let out a scream as the dog just smiled and had her tongue out. Sunset then noticed Applejack on top of her wall as she had a huge snowball she was currently holding as she struggled a bit to lift it over her head.

"Real life ain't the same as them silly ol' video games you play, ain't that right, Sunset?!" mocked Applejack.

"Nobody calls Tickle Fruit 2 "silly"!" fired back Sunset as she took offense to that.

Applejack then threw her giant snowball as Sunset had a snowball of her own. Then as if it was something out of the Matrix, she managed to step on the snowball as she used it to propel herself and then threw her snowball as she managed to hit Applejack square in the chest as she fell over as Big Mac caught her in his arms and down Aj went.

"Rarity is getting that soufflé, and you're gonna get it to her!" stated Sunset as she was determined. "Flash Sentry! To me! Double time!" shouted the girl.

"Reporting for duty! And seriously, thank you, Sunset! 'Cause, like, I've been wanting to come on one of your adventures for so long 'cause, I mean, you guys do so much cool stuff, and I—" started the boy.

"Flash." said Sunset as she got him to stop talking.

"I promise I won't mess this opportunity up." said Flash.

"Whatever! Stop talking! Are you ready?" asked Sunset.

"I was born 'are you'." stated the boy.

Sunset then grabbed some snow as she put some on her face to create some marks that athletes used. Sunset grabbed Pinkie as she was holding her like a log as she was running low and close to the ground as Flash provided cover before he fell down.

"Well, that was embarrassing. Go on without me! I'll be fine!"

"Pinkie! Run! Aah!" shouted Sunset as she out her friend down and grabbed some snow to provide cover fire as she was pelted with snowballs and down she went.

"Sunset!" called out the pinky girl as she went to check on her friend. She then flipped her over as there laid Sunset with a snowball in her left eye as she wasn't moving. "Sunset!"

Sunset let out a cough in between her words. "Tell... Rarity... OW!"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I fell on my keys. Go, go!"

"Right! Bye!" said Pinkie as she went on her way.

"All right! Who threw those cheap shots?! Was it you?!" demanded Sunset as she was back in the game and looking at the person who she thought hit her.

"I'm a conscientious objector!" said Bulk Biceps as soon he was pelted with snowballs.

Pinkie was slowly crawling through the snow as the timer went off when she pulled it out. "Oh, my sweet little soufflé! All I ever wanted was for you to be torn apart and digested by my friend Rarity so she could feel the same kind of joy she brings to me!" sobbed the girl.

"Is that this years' soufflé?" asked Rarity as she was standing in front of her friend.

"Rarity?! Where'd you—?! How did you—?! Wait, tell me later! Eat!"

Rarity then used a fork as she took a bite of treat as she munched on it. "It's heavenly!" exclaimed the fashionista.

"YES! I finally did it!" exclaimed Pinkie.

"Target acquired." said Rainbow as she was inside of the snowman behind the two girls as she looked to strike her foes. "Sneak attack! Bet you weren't expecting this!" shouted the girl as she threw her snowballs only for them to be stopped by some kind of barrier. "What the hell?!"

"Hey, Rainbow!" shouted a voice.

Just then the girl turned her head in the direction of the voice and Isaac caught her in the head with a nice shot as down she went like a ton of bricks.

"Never shout 'sneak attack' when you're doing a sneak attack." said Isaac as he managed to hit his friend from afar and land a clean shot. "Threat neutralized, milady." said Isaac as he bowed before Rarity.

"Thank you, Isaac. I knew it was smart to enlist your services." giggled Rarity as she gave the boy a peck on his cheek for protecting and keeping her from harm.

"Well, I couldn't have done it without my magicians." said Isaac as both Mahad and Mana were next to their master as they both had different looks.

"Aww, no fair! I spent two days as a snowman for that!" complained Rainbow. "Hey, Isaac! No one say you could use your monster to help you!"

"Nobody said I couldn't!" replied the boy. Just then he found himself surrounded by the other girls as they all had evil grins on his face as they each had snowballs in their hands. "Uh-oh."

They all then threw them at Isaac as he closed his eyes to accept his fate. He then opened them for a second as he was now being protected by his magicians as they put a shield around their master, soon they had the snowballs bounce off the walls and hit the girls back as they fell to the floor.

"Cheater!!" shouted Rainbow.

"Hey, it's not my fault my magicians are loyal to me. It benefits when you're the only one who can Duel Monster's spirits." snickered the boy. He then pulled out a fork as he took a taste of Pinkie's treat as he gave a thumbs up to his little sis.

---

The holidays were in full swing as everybody was doing some last minute shopping. All around inside the mall, there was tons of people who were all looking for their gifts. Whether it be for their family or for someone in particular, the mall was busy trying to fulfill every customer's needs. Soon there came a streak as it was someone who was dashing through the halls of the mall as she was trying to make her way to her destination.

"Sorry I'm late, everybody. Hard to park at the mall at this time of year." said Rainbow as she panted from being out of breath.

"That's why we carpooled." said Fluttershy.

"Ugh. Really gotta start checking my texts." said Rainbow as she looked at her phone.

"Especially, the ones where I ask you to pay me back all the money I lent you." said Isaac.

"Shut up! I said I'll pay you back!" pouted the chromatic girl as she looked at her male friend.

"Why didn't you just run here to avoid parking?" asked Sunset.

"I learned the hard way that high velocity and icy sidewalks don't mix well." laughed Rainbow nervously as she didn't feel good about that experience.

"Hey, you got daily science lesson in. I'm proud of you, Dash." snickered Isaac.

"Shut up, geek!" stated Rainbow as she stuck his tongue out to him to which Isaac responded back with his own.

"Now that we're all here, who wants to go first?" said Twilight with devious smile.

"For what? What are we doing?" asked Rainbow.

"The secret present switcheroo!" said Twilight as she and the rest of the group all pulled out their gifts.

"That's today?!" said Rainbow.

"Remember? We pulled names from Applejack's boot when she forgot her hat." stated Fluttershy.

"You mean my lucky boot." said Applejack with a sly expression on her face.

"Remind me why we had to use that thing again." said Isaac as he was against using Applejack's boot to draw names.

"Uhhhhmmm..."

"Didn't get that text either, huh?" said Sunset with her own smug look.

"Oh, yeah! N-No, yeah, uh, I did! Um, I just have to... go to the bathroom!" said Rainbow as she dashed off. "Sorry!" said the girl as she managed to bump Bulk Biceps into Derpy. "I forgot! I can't believe I forgot to get Fluttershy a present!"

"Rainbow." called out Isaac as he excused himself to go after his friend.

"Don't say it, I don't want to hear a smart remark from you. I get it, I forgot, you don't have to bring it up." pouted Rainbow.

"I was going to say if you wanted help." said the boy.

"Yeah, I... what?"

"I think everybody knows that you forgot to get a gift. So better late than never." stated the boy.

"But about your gift, shouldn't you give it to your special buddy?" asked Rainbow.

"I could do, but then again, I couldn't be able to help my friend."

"You're really are a sucker for playing the good guy. Thanks." smiled Rainbow as she gave him a jab to the arm. "How am I supposed to find a present in the next five minutes?!"

"Really?" said Isaac as he used his eyes to get Rainbow to look at where they were.

"Oh, yeah. I'm at the mall. This is where presents are born. I won't let you down, Fluttershy!" shouted Rainbow as she was determined to complete her mission. She then dashed off again as Isaac followed behind her.

"A line?!" said Rainbow as she came to a store; she then zoomed over to another place. "Ugh! An even longer line?! Really?! Come on!" Rainbow now groaned as off she went again to another part of the building. "Please no line, please no line, please no line...! What is with the mall being so crowded on the holidays?! Some of us have last-minute shopping to do!" yelled out the girl.

"What do you fricking expect, it's the mall?!" said Isaac as he caught up with his friend. "Plus, this is why you do your Christmas shopping ahead of time."

"Yeah, yeah. I already now my lesson, don't rub it in my face." said the chromatic girl as she looked at her male companion.

"Need to cut the line?" said a voice.

"Yes! I would do anything—!" stated Rainbow.

"You might want rephrase that." said Isaac as he pointed to who was talking with the girl.

"Shit! Undo! It's been less than three seconds! Doesn't count, what I said!" said Rainbow in a panic at who she was talking with.

"Rainbow Dash. It's all good, Miss Awesome." said Zephyr Breeze with some charm in his voice. "And... Isaac." Though that last part he had some bitterness in his voice as he recognized his sister's friend and the incident of what happened last time he appeared when it was just him and Rainbow. "Come on in to 'Trend of the Line', your home for everything from wi-fi shoelaces to... uh... regular shoes and... smaller shoes? Uh, how's it go again? Come on in to your home for everything from wi-fi shoelaces to, uh... just plain old regular shoes and... Ugh. How's it go again?" said the boy as he tried to remember what he was suppose to say for the customers.

"You work here?" said Rainbow with a distressed look on her face.

"More importantly, why did they hire you?" asked the boy.

"It was mostly my charm. But I won't be here for long if I can't remember our slogan, but yeah. Since we're buddies, I'll let you jump the line." said Zephyr as he led both individuals inside, well mostly, Rainbow as he still kept a glare at Isaac.

"Uh, thanks, but I don't know if 'buddies' is exactly the word I'd use." said Rainbow. "No! You gotta be nice."

"You sure you want to do this?" asked Isaac in a similar whisper. "I know you want to get Fluttershy a gift, but is it really worth it to get help from her brother? Who I remind you has tried to hit on you so many times in the past?"

"You think I'm ecstatic about this?!" responded the girl in a similar volume. "Trust me, I thought after what happened last time, he could take the hint. But it seems he just thought it was one time deal." stated Rainbow as she was referring to the time when Isaac happened to be passing by and she had him fake being her boyfriend and even kissed him on the lips to "convince" Zephyr.

"Yeah, no shit. Did you really expecting kissing me on the lips one time was enough to persuade him?" asked Isaac.

"I said I was sorry, and I kept my word and told Twilight about breaking her sacred rule." responded the girl. "Besides, do you think I enjoyed that?"

"Yes." said Isaac with a smug smile.

"I didn't!" said Rainbow in a bit more volume but made sure that only her friend heard. "You're so annoying."

"But that's what you love about me." said Isaac.

"I don't love you!" stated the girl as she had a bit of red on her face. "I'm only doing this because I love Fluttershy."

"Fluttershy?" said Zephyr as he managed to just hear that last part that Rainbow was whispering. "Follow me, milady. And... other." Zephyr made sure to give a look at Isaac as they entered the store to which they came upon some fidget spinners as they both had dreaded looks on their faces.

Zephyr led them to a section of the store where Rainbow immediately got distracted by some sort of board as she got on it and did a couple of tricks on it.

"This is so Fluttershy. A high tech basketball hoop. Oooh! It's yells at you to 'get good!' when you miss a three-pointer, so you're always motivated to reach your athletic performance goals." said Zephyr as he held the box in his hand and showed it to the pair.

"Uhhh... I want that, but... no, I don't think Fluttershy would." said Rainbow.

"That might depress her if is constantly has reminder that she's failing." said Isaac.

"Cool! I knew you'd love it!" said Zephyr as he ignored what the pair just said.

"No, no, no. I'm not here for me. I need a gift for Fluttershy." said the girl.

"Got it." said the boy as he went to get another possible gift.

Both Isaac and Rainbow then approached some kind of staff looking things as she picked one up and held it for a few second. Soon some glitter came out of the top as it hit Isaac in the face as he had a angry look as he wiped the stuff off of him, he even had to cough some that got in his mouth.

"How 'bout these?" said Zephyr as he came back wearing some kind of VR headset.

"Aah! Ooh. They look expensive." said Rainbow.

"I am not lending you money to buy that!" said Isaac as he already gave his friend enough money from his own savings account.

"They are! And when you wear them, it takes everything you see and turns it into an urban landscape." said Zephyr as he pushed a button on the headset and the pair could see the image he was talking about.

"Even forests with cute animals?" asked Rainbow.

"Absolutely nonexistent when you're wearing these bad boys!" The screen then went blank as it malfunctioned.

"Uhhh... nah. I don't think Fluttershy would like that." said the girl.

"Right, right, right. My bad, my bad. One sec." said Zephyr as he left once again.

Rainbow then saw a plushie animal as it brought a smile to her face as she squeezed it to make a squeak.

"Aw, cute." said Isaac. Rainbow then gave it a harder squeeze as it had the animal's eyes and tongue popping out. "What the @#$%!" shouted Isaac. "Put that little devil thing back!" stated the boy as Rainbow did just that.

"Oh, yoo-hoo! Rainbow Daaaash?" said Zephyr in a singsong voice. "How about this?"

"What's that?" asked the girl as she was looking at the object in the boy's hand.

"It's for high-fiving when you're really far away or when you're really short. Like... [grunts] ...or like... [grunts] ...or maybe... [grunts] ...oh, come on... [grunts] ...you know? [grunts]" said the boy as he had to put some effort into extending the thing so that Rainbow could high five it.

"What?! That's not a gift! That's not for anybody! Who would want this?!" asked Rainbow.

Isaac was about to answer that when they heard a voice behind them.

"Oh, this thing rules! Snails is gonna love it!" said Snips as he bought the item and rushed out of the store as the pair watched him leave.

"Well, that answers your question." said Isaac to which Rainbow gave him a hard jab to the arm to silence him from making his usual smart remark.

"These are your suggestions? Do you even know Fluttershy?" asked the chromatic haired girl.

"Who?"

"Your sister!" shouted Dash.

"I know, I know. I-I was joking. Sorry. Look. I know a gift that will make Fluttershy super-happy. I'll grab it for you now." said Zephyr as off he went to the back to fetch the item.

Rainbow let out a groan as she approached some headbands. She took one that had some flowers on top of it as she put it on with a look, before she put it back on the rack. Just as she was putting it back, there was snap sound as Isaac had pulled his phone and took a picture of Rainbow wearing the cute headband.

"Now that's a cute picture." said Isaac as he showed it off to the athlete.

"Hey, who said you could take a picture! Give me that photo!" demanded Rainbow as she didn't want anybody to see her acting all girly. She tried to get Isaac's phone so that she could delete the photo as Isaac held it over his head as Rainbow was trying to reach for it.

"I think I'll keep this one." snickered Isaac. "The girls will get kick out of seeing you being all 'girly' and cute."

"No, you won't. Give me that phone!" shouted Rainbow as she wanted to maintain her cool image, even in front of her friends.

"Why should I?" asked Isaac as even with the phone above his head, he managed to put it into a message for their group chat and was all ready to go the moment he pushed 'send'. "All I got to do is push the button and the girls get the photo."

"I beg you, don't send that message!"

"What are you gonna do?" asked Isaac.

"I'm do anything you ask me."

"Anything?"

"Anything! I'll pay back the money I owe you, I'll give all of my secret cider stash, I'll give you my skateboard, just don't do it!" pleaded the girl as she looked at her friend.

"Not persuading my mind." said Isaac.

"Fine you want me to say it!" said Rainbow as she took a deep breath and couldn't believe she was about to say this to the boy. "Alright, I love you. Is that what you want to hear, I love these little moments between us. I love kissing you, I love it all! Is that what you want?!"

"Well... not really. Didn't expect that to come out of your mouth?" said Isaac as he was surprised by what Rainbow chose to confess. "But I think I've made you suffer enough." Isaac then clicked send as the message was being delivered.

"You promised!" shouted Rainbow.

"Relax, Dash. I sent the message, but not to our friends. Check your phone."

"Huh?" Rainbow's phone then went off as she received a message. She then opened it up and to her surprise it was the photo that Isaac took a few minutes.

"As much fun as it would be for the girls to see you, I know you still want to uphold your image." said Isaac. "Besides, I got my money's worth in making you suffer."

"I hate you." gritted Rainbow as she looked at the photo.

"True, but..."

"Yeah, I love you." said Rainbow as she knew what her friend was going to say. Both then let out a quick chuckle as they found it a bit hilarious.

"You can delete the photo if you want." stated Isaac.

"Actually... I'll keep it." said Rainbow as she archived the photo. "Something to look back on."

"And I won't say, this will be our little secret between the two of us." said Isaac as he snuck a quick peck on Rainbow's lips as he smiled to which she did the same with a bit of red.

"Here it is!" called out Zephyr as Rainbow quickly got rid of her blush as the pair looked at the boy approaching them with a an object in his hand. "She'll love it. Instant camera. Around this time last year, Fluttershy's favorite instant camera broke. She really wanted another one. Get someone something they'd never get themselves. Trust me."

"Huh. That's actually... a great idea!" said Rainbow as she let out a small laugh. "Thanks, Zephyr! You're amazing!" Rainbow then dashed out of the store as she left the money in his hands.

"Right on!" said Zephyr.

"Well, better get back to the others." said Isaac. "Thanks for the somewhat useful help."

"No problem, just remember, she's mine." said Zephyr.

"Yeah, okay pal." said Isaac as he tipped his cap and exited the store as he had to meet up with the others.

"And who got Fluttershy?" asked Twilight as all the gifts were on the table.

"Standing here the whole time! Here you go, Fluttershy!" said Rainbow as she was out of breath and handed her gift to her friend.

"An instant camera? I love it!" said the animal loving girl as her face was filled with joy.

"You do?"

"It's perfect for fun candid photos. Zephyr got one for me last year after my first one broke." informed the buttercup girl.

"He did?!" said Rainbow as she let out a groan. "I should've known. I'm sorry—"

"Now that I have two, I can finally do two-angle instant photo bear cub candids!" giggled Fluttershy as she gave her friend a hug. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash!"

With that the rest of the gifts between the girls were given out. Applejack had given Pinkie a tiny party cannon as it was perfect for not creating so big of a mess around the house. It even fired off a shot of confetti as she gave the country gal a hug. Rarity had made Rainbow a sports jersey that was colored red as it had the number 1 on it as they both shared a hug and got a picture taken. Sunset somehow managed to fit a giant parakeet plushie into the small box as even Twilight was amazed by how she was able to do it. Fluttershy ended up getting Applejack a hammer for her farm work as she took a picture. Pinkie had gotten Sunset a new video game, but it turns out it was a sequel to the squirrel game that she had played with Fluttershy as she put on her best fake smile. She really despised the game, but Fluttershy on the other hand was interested in playing it. And lastly, Twilight had gotten Rarity a new Shadow Spade book as she was brimming with happiness as they each got their picture taken. Everybody was enjoying their gifts, as for Isaac he was watching his friends from afar as he couldn't help but smile himself. Just as he was about to say something, he heard some voices as he looked to his side.

"You got me the same thing that I got you?!" asked Snails as both him and Snips got the same weird present.

"High-five!" said both boys as Snails was starting to cry.

"You... Y-You crying, Snails?" asked Snips.

"No. Friendship means never having to say 'high-five'." stated the boy.

"Well, all's well that ends well." said Isaac as he rolled his eyes at the little moment he saw. My time, is running out. Halfway there. Isaac looked at his watch as it was serving as a constant reminder that his time was fast approaching and soon he would be no more.

"Hey, Isaac!" shouted Rainbow. "Come on, geek. We want to see the presents you got all of us."

"Again, why was I the only one who had to buy everyone a gift?" complained the boy.

"Cause you're the one who has the most in his savings account." said Rainbow.

"Plus, we took a vote on it and we all agreed." said Twilight.

"This is why I hate being the only guy in the group. You all gang up on me." said the boy.

"Yeah, but you make up for it with your skills, boy toy." said Sunset. "Now give us our gifts."

"Oi vey." said Isaac.

---

Sometime later, the gang was back in the house as they were having their own holiday party filled with music, games, and food. They all did a celebratory toast as they were celebrating the last Christmas they would have together as high schoolers. While the girls were enjoying themselves, Isaac quietly excused himself as he headed upstairs. He entered his room as he locked it to make sure that nobody would interrupt him. Tigre was on his bed as he gave her a petting before he went to his desk as he opened up laptop. While it was starting up, Isaac reached into one of the drawers as he pulled out a different box from the one black one he had hidden. Just then his computer was on as he started to click on somethings and pressed some keypads. Once it was done, Isaac now found himself in a group call as he saw several other of his acquittances.

"There he is, the man of the hour." said one person as he saw Isaac enter their group call.

"How's it hanging, bud?" asked another person.

"Everything is fine on my end." said Isaac as he looked at the screen and the people he was talking with.

"How are your friends doing, they keeping out of trouble?" asked a third person.

"More or less." chuckled Isaac.

"So, got the thing?" asked the fourth person.

"Yeah." said Isaac as he showed the box he was holding. "You guys told me not to open it until a special occasion, I think the holidays counts as that."

"Then open it." said all four of them.

Isaac then took the ribbon off as he took the lid off of the small box. He then took off the paper as his eyes widen at what he saw; he then pulled them out as he and the others saw it.

"You're all serious?" asked Isaac.

"We trust you." said the third person.

"Hey, you need all the help you can get once you're set." spoke the second voice.

"Thanks, guys." said Isaac. "I don't... know what to say."

"Hey, keeping doing what you're doing and you'll have nothing to worry about. We noticed you crying but you showed that you belonged on that dueling field." stated the fourth voice.

"Now, let's tell you how they work." said the first person as each of them began to inform Isaac about his special gifts.

Comments

[nightshroud96]

"Just sending her a message that we're about to start our last Winter break as students, and told her about what you've been doing since you got back from Equestria." said Sunset. "Turns out right after we left, she had to deal with some sort of time travel issue with a certain pony. Now she's tutoring said pony as her student and teaching her about the values of friendship."

Looks like the events of Cutie Re-Mark has happened then.
Curious on how it went due to Spike having a deck there and that hooded figure is still on the loose?

Its pretty cool seeing the Holidays Unwrapped shorts adapted into here.
Saddening that Holidays Unwrapped was apparently the last EQG thing released before the show got cut off for some reason.

[ShootingStar25]

The events of Cutie Re-Mark play out the exact same in the show. The deck that Isaac left behind serves more as a memento since there's no more Duel Monster spirits in Equestria. And the hooded figure well if you paid attention to the small details, especially the last 2-3 chapters of the Equestria story arc, you'll know who it is.

[nightshroud96]

10943287
Didn't get to see the reply till now since you didn't click the button that makes the comment link to which comment(s) you are replying too.

So nothing else is happening on Equestria's side there anymore regarding duel monsters for the rest of the story?

Yeah.. I haven't figured out who the figure is(I kind of got a guess so far but feeling unsure on saying it or not). I feel pretty awkward..

[ShootingStar25]

10943302
Whoops, forgot. And as for figuring out who the identity of the hooded figure was, that more so for you guy's pleasure. It won't ever be revealed, but moreso as a fun thing for the audience to figure out.

[Fluffy-Boi]

Ooooo. Wonder what the gifts are