Mistletoe sat at her desk staring out the window of her boarding school; all of the other fillies and colts were going home. She was an orphan and she sadly tied a ribbon to the foliage of her name-sake. She was a party animal and there was an equalivent of her in Equestria it would be Pinkie Pie. Like the last five years, Mistletoe had just the boarding school staff/orphanage staff for her company over the holidays and it was usually two older mares who wished that some pony would adopt her.
As I sat with the Mistletoe, I remembered how her parents had dropped her off one Hearth's Warming Even six years ago with her asleep and with a note promising they'd be back. She's now fourteen and wondering where her parents were. I and the staff had received a letter two years ago with a note saying that her father had been murdered. In a news article a few months later a mare had been found dead in an alley with evidence of being violated before death. I left Mistletoe in her bed and gently tucked her in and went to talk to my fellow director, an earth pony named Goldheart.
"Goldheart, I need to ask you a question of some urgency."
"What is it, Arctic Breeze? Is Mistletoe asking about the birds and bees?"
"No, she isn't, but it does concern her though. As you know it's been six years to the time of year her parents left her here. I heard her two nights ago and she was talking to her locket and was asking why they left her. As you know we have the intel of her parent's demise, should we tell her now or wait till she is of age that her parents instructed us to tell her?"
"As a pony who was once in her hooves, what does your gutt say?"
"It tells me that we should divulge a small amount of information, as you well know, she saw the article and the image in the obituary and almost recognized her mother had I not spilled the coffee that morning. As touching in telling about her father, I fear she may snap. I'll phone Twilight Sparkle and see if she has any advice...I may phone the castle and ask for advice from Luna or Celestia."
As the two mares talked, upstairs Mistletoe was talking to the image of her parents in her locker. "Why mom...why dad did you leave me here? Was it something I had done? I tried to be a good filly...I wish I knew why you hadn't come back like that note you left with me had promised you would." After a few moments, she screeched, "I did my best my damn it!" and hurled the heirloom against a far wall. As the sound of glass shattering and the sound of brass separating she ran to where the locket had landed. It wasn't salvageable, she wept as the last memory she had, lay in pieces and the only photo she had, had a gash through it. The orphanage directors were running up the stairs and soon we're by her side trying to comfort her, upon seeing the locket they knew they could count on a particular unicorn to repair the locket to its original state.
Meanwhile
"So Treehugger....you have a distant niece in Las Pegasus?" A green earth pony with a red mane nodded.
"Like totally, I send her a gift every year."
"Well, you ought to bring her here instead of leaving her where she's at."
"I do what I can Discount."
"Discord, Treehugger for the love of Celestia quit being so foalish! Damn it, I can't have peace with you two!" At that moment Fluttershy walked in and told Zephyr Breeze to hurry to his day job. Treehugger explained to Fluttershy about her niece, while Discord sat quietly.
Back at the Orphanage the Next Day
Mistletoe had gotten permission to go into town, and as she walked about she noticed a young couple by a shop window. This couple seemed sad, when Mistletoe reached them she saw they were looking into a toy store. "Dear, why was fate so cruel to take our child from us? He was our only chance, the chance of having a family. I wish we could adopt but all the legal fees make it impossible." Mistletoe kept walking when she heard her name being called out. Pausing she turned her head and saw two classmates trotting over.
"Whatcha doing away from the orphanage?"
"I had gotten permission to walk in the city. What's it to you anyway? You've never cared before."
"It's that......we've been needing to tell you that we wanted to apologize but have the nerve to do so...here goes, I'm sorry for the way I've treated you, I was being heartless; can you forgive me? I would understand if you didn't." Mistletoe squeaked as she lunged forward and tackle the colt.
"Of course I forgive you Eightball!" The other classmate scoffed and walked off. Eight Ball was stunned that his twin sister Cueball backed out of wanting to apologize. The pair trotted along until Mistletoe paused and used her magic to form eight snowballs and called out to her friend, as Eightball stopped and turned around he saw the projectiles and didn't have time to move.
A few hours had past and as Mistletoe began her lonely walk back to the orphanage she heard Eightball call after her, "You gonna be okay going back alone? There is a for-casted blizzard tonight, of course, no thanks to Rainbow Dash letting Derpy be in charge for a night."
"I'll be fine see ya again!" Mistletoe replied cheerfully. As the shadows grew longer and the temperatures dropped, the wind picked up and Mistletoe froze in terror as she was now walking blind. Luckily she had decided to count paces as the wind had picked up. Her last count was 35 paces from the last doorway she had seen. Mistletoe did a one hundred eighty-degree turn and began counting out loud. She hit the 35 pace mark and found the doorway of the home she had passed. Before long a shadow loomed over her and she squeaked as she realized she was cornered. She was old enough to know about the type of stallions who enjoyed being with young ponies. She felt lifted by a strong foreleg and wrapped in a pair of wings when the door was pushed open. Blinking in the warm candlelight and firelight from the hearth she heard humming.
"Dear I'm home! I have a guest with me!" A mare trotted from the kitchen and saw Mistletoe.
"She is the young mare we saw earlier, bring her by the fire...come on Pipsqueak."
Mistletoe looked at the young couple, the mare was pink with a light purple mane with a white accenting streak. The mare gently removed the wet garments and hung them by the fire and returned to preparing dinner.
"May I help you, ma'am?"
"If you wish to do so, wash your hooves." As they pair cooked, Mistletoe was being very careful as she moved about.
"How did you and your husband meet?"
"We had gone to school together back in Ponyville and even ran for school president as rivals then. I almost lost my best friend then."
In the study
Pipsqueak felt like he had seen the filly's mother at one point, his wife had that look in her eye that gleamed when a face was familiar. Digging through files of old stories they had written together, he found a 2-year-old article about a mare and another about a stallion. Looking at the pictures side by side he saw Mistletoe was in the middle as their child. During the meal, Mistletoe sensed that the couple knew something about her and were keeping it quiet.
"So what you two do for jobs?"
"We're reporters, I do the fashion and gossip while my husband does all of the serious articles. We've both have done this now for ten years." Mistletoe had to ask a nagging question that became evident now as she realized that Pip may have come across her parents.
"Pip, sir did you ever meet my parents?" Pipsqueak looked away, he feared this question would come one day since he had taken over the crime section of the paper.
"I....did an article on them both......I'm so sorry you had to hear it from me and two later.....I had covered reports of their being found...deceased." Mistletoe looked at the young stallion and she felt like crying, but the stallion looked like he needed cheering up.
"Sir, I'm glad you wrote their obituaries, those were well written. I believe fate brought us together for a reason.
The week of Hearth's Warming Even.
Mistletoe caught Treehugger dropping them off the gift as usual. "So, Treehugger it's been you! I did some digging and as an aunt, you kinda suck at it."
Treehugger smelled like marijuana and Mistletoe turned her head to see Diamond Tiara & Pip walking from the orphanage/boarding school. Curious she went to talk to Goldheart and Arctic Breeze. Treehugger turned to leave. Once inside, Mistletoe noticed adoption documents on the desk Goldheart used. She had figured she got passed up again as she became acutely aware that another creature had stayed behind. Mistletoe knew she shouldn't be selfish but she wished it was her, but the other creature; if Mistletoe recalled her name right was Rosebud.
Mistletoe and Rosebud sat side by side with Goldheart and Arctic Breeze sitting in front of them. "Girls there has been an inquiry about you two. Not to get your hopes up, but there is a request pending for your adoption. Mistletoe has met the couple already, Rosebud you've heard of Diamond Tiara and Pipsqueak. Anyways Diamond Tiara is going to try to speed up the process by talking to Princess Twilight Sparkle."
The girls were ecstatic to say the very least. Rosebud had been at the institution for most of her life. Her parents then had to bring her there when their debts got too high and their health was declining, and they wanted to make sure their child was safe.
Hearth's Warming Eve
Mistletoe awoke to sunlight filtering through the window and Rosebud beside her in another bed, "I had a weird dream that we got adopted by the same couple last night." Rosebud could be heard mumbling.
"I don't think that it was a dream Rosebud, we're someplace else." The two looked around the nicely furnished room just the door swung open. In walked Pip and Diamond Tiara with trays of warm food.
"Morning you two, we brought you breakfast. No worries though this isn't a dream. The princesses sped up the process and we were able to bring you home." After they talked, Diamond Tiara gave Mistletoe a gift. Opening the small box she found her old locket fully restored and the picture was also restored. Rosebud also received a gift, a locket with a photo that she had lost years prior.
As the family began to arrive, Mistletoe and Rosebud couldn't believe the amazing gift they received.
It was the time of year where ponies should've been the most charitable. But in a city in particular the ponies were cold and heartless toward the less fortunate. A poor family was close to eviction and almost broke. The father's 401k was dry and social security was non-existent and the emergency fund was far spent. The family sat huddled over a meager meal of gruel and their small house was drafty and not well insulated, their only foal was sick and close to death.
The temperature was dropping and Hearth's Warming Even was just hours away, the young filly was barely breathing and the breathing was getting shallower. As hope was fading, a green unicorn appeared and quickly used a spell to reverse the age of the house, and pulled from some void hot food, and a massive collection of bags filled with bits. The filly tried to walk over to give the newcomer a proper welcome but collapsed.
Mistletoe ran over and placed the filly on an old sofa. The mare did her best to encourage the filly and tried a healing potion to reduce the raging fever that she felt from the filly. To no avail the life force of the filly was waning; "C'mon sweetie, you gotta make!" In the back of her mind, she thought, "For the love of the holiday Celestia let her live!"
Meanwhile...
"Luna, we've watched Mistletoe for the entirety of her life; if Cadence and Twilight agree we should give this mare alicorn status. This family will be in shambles if their filly doesn't survive."
"Yes, sister we shall ask Cadence and Twilight at once. I fear we may be too late."
Mistletoe & the Princesses
Mistletoe and the parents of the dying fully stooped in awe as the alicorns stood before them.
A raspy voice was heard and a cough came from the hallway; Mistletoe galloped to the sound with the parents on her heels. Mistletoe was soon seen holding the filly in her forelegs as the form went limp.
As the grief became thick in the air, Mistletoe saw the shadow of a unicorn walking away; Mistletoe used the most powerful spell she knew and to the other ponies there was no change to be seen. Mistletoe used a spell to transfer her life to the form of the filly. When the filly blinked her eyes open she froze as she had retained all of her memories wept.
The filly had begged Luna and Celestia to resurrect Mistletoe. When Mistletoe awoke, she was confused and quickly was brought to speed.
The family was able to have a very happy Hearth's Warming Eve, and Mistletoe was very happy that she was able to help this family and she mentally added the family to her list of ponies she had helped over the years. "Mistletoe, as a reward for your heart and the power you've had since birth has been used to help others we wish to bestow upon you alicorn status."
In downtown Manehatten, the snow fell lightly, the cold winter wind blew gently; crowds of ponies and other creatures scurried about. In the poorer district, a couple were staring into a recently emptied room, the furniture was still there and cert sparse. It once held a young filly who had passed on after falling through a frozen pond in the park. Unbeknownst to them, a young orphan the same age was wandering the streets.
Meanwhile
Along Main Street, the snow was soiled from the heavy hoof traffic. A young changeling orphan was trying to find shelter from the night. Her name was Mistletoe, her alternate form was a green unicorn with a red mane accompanied by green highlights. This filly saw some well-known faces in the crowd. The easiest one to spot belonged to a mare from Ponyville named Rarity.
This filly trudged along hungry and she had counted this day as number five since her last meal...a meager meal of a few leftover hay fries she found after the garbage collectors emptied a trash can. All she knew was that one night she went to bed and when morning came, her parents had left her in a mostly empty house with a small amount of foodstuff. All she had of her folks was her dad's old paper colt hat and her mother's old saddlebag and grandfather's old harmonica. The day was turning into evening, and it was getting colder. By dusk, most stores were locking up, and restaurants had their booths filled with patrons. Mistletoe counted the few bits she had from her last allowance and it would barely cover a small coffee. She had tried to work for food but to no avail. Sadly Mistletoe sank behind a dumpster to get some sleep. The only blanket she could get a hoof on was one some young filly of a wealthier middle-class family had tossed out because it had just a small but repairable hole. When the dawn came and Hearth's Warming Eve was a week away Mistletoe walked into the city and to get to acquire a job.
The Sad Couple
This couple who had lost their filly was walking along when they heard harmonica music playing. They had noted a small green filly playing cheerfully. The filly seemed healthy and full, but if they had known this filly's secret they would have realized that the love the others around them were sharing had been keeping this filly alive for the past five months. Mistletoe was becoming acutely aware now that her small body was kicking into starvation mode, as ponies ate lunch, the couple from earlier could be seen eating lunch in a cheaper fast-food joint. Mistletoe on the other hoof managed to get a cupcake from a crazy pink mare who was at this moment with a white unicorn with an electrifying dual-tone blue mane with purple sunglasses. The unicorn's dubtrot music blasting from a cellphone and the pink pony rapping away was comical.
The week of Hearth's Warming Eve
The couple had been observing Mistletoe and realized that the filly seemed alone. They had tried to convince the filly to stay at their modest apartment but to no avail. Mistletoe had tracked her folks down and saw they had another filly; the emotion was immensely burdensome. She felt rage at being rejected then replaced, sadness, and deep depression settled in because she felt like she wasn't good enough. Standing on a bridge and looking at the thinly frozen river below she was contemplating her next move. In the corner of her eye, an almost raven black unicorn with a black and purple mane and tail stood at the end of the bridge and was slowly walking up and motioning for her to follow. Curious about the interaction she left the spot where she had been standing and followed the unicorn back into the city and found that she was near a group of mares to get left, to her right and behind her a bit sat the couple with their backs toward her, and finally she saw her traitorous parents talking, and their filly nowhere in sight. No one had noticed them but what Mistletoe heard made her cry inside.
"I can't believe that your grandfather left his estate to Mistletoe! I guess we should track her down..."
"I can't believe it either my dear husband. However, she does have some value to us now." The conversation was painful to listen to and it got more degrading. The couple that Mistletoe had interacted with we're talking about trying to find her and weren't having any luck. Suddenly her Harmonica was levitated and the unicorn, Mistletoe learned was named Obsidian. Being told to play she began to do so and Obsidian slowly walked away. All eyes turned to her and she saw her parents put in a show as if they had been worried sick about her. The couple sadly sat watching the scene, the mares had turned their heads. An orange earth pony looked with disdain, she could tell something was off in the reunion. The 6 mares could see now, after hearing the conversation and now seeing Mistletoe cutie mark and all knew what needed to be done.
Hearth's Warming Eve
The short but brutal court hearing got spearheaded by Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they contacted various friends who helped the kind couple get the best lawyers. The husband Redwood and his wife Willow were so very thankful, and Mistletoe opened her eyes to see Willow and Redwood looking in with bright smiles.
So it wasn't a dream, after and she forgot that she wasn't on a doorstep face planted onto the floor. She stood up and trotted over to hug her parents, she felt sure that these won't leave her and she finally felt safe. The day was spent at a relative's house and she got to meet her new cousins. Mistletoe and her cousins were a nightmare when it came to be being pranksters. Mistletoe was finally home.
This night was a sad night and the fifth one since the fateful day. A pale blue unicorn with a broken horn and a prosthetic foreleg sat in a pub sipping cider alone. The room was large and the smell of cider, ales, beers, and cigar smoke assailed the nostrils.
The forlorn figure was named nicknamed "Enigma" because she was hard to decipher and figure out. Enigma would seem pretty congenial but on the flip side, she would scare the hell out of you with her adrenaline rush schemes that would get you killed. Enigma also was known to be an oddball and crazier than Pinkie Pie herself.
Enigma had a special some-creature once and was set to be married five years to the day and time. Her boyfriend she caught red-clawed. Her griffin boyfriend had been cheating on her and a three-way brawl broke out. The girlfriend bolted away after slamming a heavy paperweight onto Enigma's horn then disappeared. Her ex-boyfriend stood his ground and as he left Enigma stepped forward and landed in a special trap designed to catch unicorns once enough magic is sensed. With a crushed heart and leg, she watched her griffin walkout. She screamed, "Sandstone! I loved you and you had my heart! When did I not become good enough for you?" With no reply, he took to the sky.
The Pub
Enigma sat silently and observed from across the room a corner booth filled with music ponies. Hearing the chatter die down and glancing from her cider she saw a griffin walk in. Her anger boiled, it was her ex Sandstone and it rose higher when another came in. She fought the urge to use her magic to incinerate the couple. Most of the patrons noticed her horn sparking and were ready to hit the deck. Many of the patrons knew Enigma as a regular to this pub and were shocked to see such anger and malice spew from her normally sweet-looking mint green eyes. She painfully stormed up to the couple and spat, "Sandstone...you got balls coming to my home city...this is my turf and if I were you cunt...turn around and walk out." The cold edge would have severed dragon scales and everypony else sat speechlessly.
"Bitch! Don't talk to my husband that way!"
"I haven't forgotten about fucker, you stole him from me and you were lucky that I didn't kill you that night. Broken horn or not my power is still very potent."
"Poinsettia please leave us a moment."
"Leave you with this crazy bitch? That's not happening." At that moment Poinsettia was blasted from the pub into the street, Enigma levitated several glass bottles and glared.
"Enigma, I came here to this city to re-acquire an item I left in a deposit box that you and I shared, and to my annoyance, I heard you closed it and took my stuff and burned it."
"I burnt it, and that guitar you left behind...I burnt it after I smashed it! I don't give a fuck if it was a family heirloom." Sandstone turned and glared as he walked out, he could see the hurt that Enigma still felt, and his gut was telling him that she knew about his current affair somehow...Enigma always knew his secrets somehow.
Once Sandstone fled the pub with glass bottles flying at him and a stray knife. Enigma sat down and wept, how could she feel such malice toward the creature that broke her heart and yet still have feelings for him. Something in her gut made her feel like Sandstone was in the midst of an affair. After cleaning her mess up and paying for the broken bottles of booze she had taken from some of the patrons and trudged to her home. Anypony who wished her the best holiday got cussed at. One pony bumped into her and she shoved the pony hard and to her dismay, she shoved a small river that flowed beside the street on which she walked. Once she got home she got a beer and began to read a book about death and she turned on her stereo and blasted heavy metal throughout the house to attempt to drown her feelings. Her behavior over the past five years had gotten the attention of the map table and had summoned aid for Enigma.
A very hungover Enigma answered the knocks on her door and when she opened she was staring into the eyes of a greyish blue griffin with hazel-colored eyes. He stood silently when he saw the look of malice. Enigma welcomed the creature in and went to get cleaned up.
"So Enigma, I was sent from Ponyville by Princess Twilight's friendship map to you and I don't know why."
"That map is usually is sending folks to fix friendship problems, my problem cheated on me and married some creature else. In two weeks on Hearth's Warming Even is the sixth year. I don't know what you can do for me....what is your name?"
"I'm Cipher, got named that because they told me that the first thing I played with was a cipher."
Three Days until Hearth's Warming Even
Enigma was finally truly happy again, she and Cipher had grown close and things couldn't have been going better. On a fateful day, a text on Cipher's phone appeared, and Enigma assumed the worst.
"Are you seeing someone else?" What ensued was a forty-five-minute bout of yelling and Cipher getting slammed into a wall. Enigma began delving into a habit that she had stopped for the past 11 days. She began slugging beer down.
48 hours later
Enigma heard knocking and she went to open her door and there stood a female griffin and she sheepishly introduced herself as Shale. "I heard from my brother Cipher about your fight....and I know what was going through your mind. I want you to know that he would never cheat on his girl and...."
Enigma drunkenly bolted through her door and went to search for Cipher. The city of Fillydelphia was large and she went to everywhere that Cipher had said were his favorite haunts. Sadly she began to trudge homeward. She stopped at her usual coffee shop and as she waited her turn she saw the usual patrons and as she stepped up to the counter and in the corner of the shop she saw Cipher. She nervously walked up and asked if she could join him.
She poured her soul out, and Enigma begged and pleaded for Cipher to forgive her. The latter knew he had to do.
Everyone who knew Enigma we're happy that she finally found someone and found someone who loved her. The pair confused others but the news got around that Sandstone and Poinsettia had divorced and Enigma ran into her ex and she no longer felt malice for him but sadness.
