Twas the time for the holidays in Ponyville, and Pinkie Pie was happily bouncing through the snow-covered sidewalks, humming a delightful tune to herself. The air was crisp with the scent of pinecones and cinnamon, as The Flower Sisters were busy managing their holiday stand. Pinkie Pie stopped in mid-air, admired the scent and turned her bouncing to the direction of the little shop.
"Hi Rose! Hey Lily! Morning Daisy! Whatcha gals up to?" asked Pinkie, looking over the assortments of small Christmas-themed snacks and random little trinkets.
"We're selling Christmas stuff!" said Lily with a smile.
"And homemade snacks and cookies!" added Rose, gesturing towards the table and the sides of the stand, where baskets contained pinecones and holiday-themed items.
"Ohhhh, that sounds super marvelous!" said Pinkie with wonder. "I don't even know what to buy!"
Pinkie Pie brought her face to the stand and sniffed a small basket of festive donuts, taking note of their red and green christmas-tree shaped sprinkles. They smelled great, but not as good as the large cinnamon-sticks right next to them, which invaded Pinkie Pie's nostrils and made her smile widely.
"I'll take cinnamon sticks!" said Pinkie, taking the entire basket. "I'll also take some donuts!" she added, piling every last one of them inside the basket as well.
Daisy looked over to Rose, and the three sisters giggled to each other.
"That'll be thirty bits," said Rose. "Would you like a bag with that?"
Pinkie Pie nodded, and Lily handed her a brown sack. Pinkie Pie put her snacks into the sack and reached into her puffy pink mane, protruding her hoof and pulling out a small bag of bits. She dropped it onto the table and trotted off with her bundle of treats.
"Thaaank youuu!" she said loudly. Rose looked back to her sisters.
"Did she just take that out of her mane?" she asked, picking up the small moneybag that Pinkie left behind.
Pinkie Pie continued down the street, now armed with a pack of pleasant pastries and comely cinnamon sticks.
"I bet I could fill this bag with all SORTS of stupendous and stunning snacks! I have to find more!"
As she bounced, she passed the Mane Square, where ponies were busy buying things and quickly scampering through the snow to get those last-minute gifts.
Pinkie saw that the giant Christmas tree in the middle of town, usually filled with plenty of lights and decorations, was empty and barren. She wondered why it was left in this state.
"Christmas Day is tomorrow..." she said to herself. "If nopony is going to put up decorations, who will?"
She thought heavily to herself as she approached Fluttershy, who wore a rather heavy-looking beige winter coat. Fluttershy smiled lightly at the sight of her friend.
"Oh, hi Pinkie," she said softly. "Merry Christmas Eve... oh well, technically it's Christmas Eve Morning, but you know..."
"I sure do, Flutters!" said Pinkie. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have any special snacks for me to fit into this sack, would you?"
"Snacks?" asked Fluttershy. "Oh no, I don't have any of those. If you want snacks, shouldn't you just go to Sugarcube Corner?"
Pinkie's jaw dropped slightly as she gasped. "Fluttershy... you're a genius!" she said, bouncing around Fluttershy.
The yellow Pegasus smiled. "Glad I could help!"
Pinkie Pie bounced back to Sugarcube Corner, passing many happy ponies and little fillies and colts, who played in the snow. She entered her shop and exhaled, enjoying the warm atmosphere of the bakery.
Mr. and Mrs. Cake were pacing around behind the stand, making fresh batches of chocolate chip cookies and brownies. They smiled upon seeing the happy pink mare.
"Why hello Pinkie," said Mrs. Cake. "What's in that sack you have?"
"All sorts of scrumptious treats!" said Pinkie. "I was wondering if I could have some more!"
"What for?" asked Mrs. Cake.
"You can never have too many treats!" said Pinkie. "But I have a really good idea!"
"Alright," said Mr. Cake. "More treats, coming up!"
Hours later, Pinkie Pie left Sugarcube Corner with a sack that had quadrupled in size. Mr. and Mrs. Cake waved as Pinkie bounced away yet again.
She thought about sharing these treats with all her friends, but another thought came to mind. She thought about the Christmas tree, which should still be empty of all Christmas cheer.
She found herself heading towards the Mane Square, only to find the town's best mailmare, Derpy Hooves, flying around the tree (rather haphazardly) and scanning it from all directions.
Pinkie also noticed that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were here as well, looking up at the tree in sight disappointment.
"Girls?" asked Pinkie. "What are you doing?"
Derpy quickly flew up to Pinkie and shook her. "Pinkie! Nopony decorated the big tree yet!" she said. "Christmas is tomorrow!"
"How come nopony added decorations yet?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Usually a random pony will set everything up..."
Fluttershy nodded and frowned. "I guess everypony was too busy..."
Pinkie almost dropped her sack from the force of Derpy's frantic shaking.
"That's why I'm here!" said Pinkie happily. "Since you're all here, I could use your help!"
"My help?" asked Derpy. "Nopony ever asks me for help! I can lend a hoof! What do you need?"
Derpy flared her wings and smiled widely, her eyes crooked as they usually are. Rainbow Dash smirked and also flared her wings, and Fluttershy smiled lightly.
Pinkie opened up her sack. "Here's what you need to do..."
It was only after Pinkie, Derpy, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash had completely emptied the sack that they realized they were completely alone outside. Light snow had started to fall, but by this time, all the treats and snacks had been put on the tree.
"I'm sorry Pinkie, but I have to go back home to Dinky," said Derpy.
"It's okay," said Pinkie. "We both did really good!"
Derpy hugged Pinkie. "Thanks for asking me to help! This was fun!"
Pinkie hugged her back and smiled. Derpy flew off towards her home, leaving Pinkie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
Pinkie looked up towards the big Christmas tree. Every bit of it was covered in Christmas-themed snacks.
Suddenly Pinkie realized something. "I forgot the lights!"
And it was true. The big Christmas tree was missing its flashing lights and colorfulness.
"Oh man, you're right..." said Rainbow Dash. "Now what?"
Just as Pinkie began to panic, she spotted her dear friend Twilight Sparkle approaching, wearing her own violet coat.
"Pinkie?" she asked. "What are you doing? It's late."
Twilight looked up. "Wow! The tree looks fantastic! Did you do this?"
Pinkie nodded. "Uh-huh! But there's no lights! What am I going to do?" she said in fear.
"Is there anything you can do, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.
Twilight thought for just a moment. "I came here to get my private stash of gems for Spike. He always manages to find them in the library. I think I can help... can somepony get Rarity?"
Before Rainbow Dash could fly off, Pinkie Pie zoomed away and returned with Rarity faster than Rainbow Dash ever could.
Rarity was shivering and had a look of horror on her face from Pinkie's sudden ponynapping.
"Sorry Rarity, there was no time to get your coat. This is important!"
Rarity arched an eyebrow and light came from her horn. Suddenly, Rarity was wearing a very extravagant white coat.
"Darling, you should know I'm always prepared," she said.
"Rarity, the big tree has no lights," said Twilight. "I need your help to do a light spell."
"A light spell?" asked Rarity.
Rarity looked up and then back at Twilight, nodding.
"I'll try..." she said.
Everypony stepped back as the two unicorns approached the tree. Touching horns, the two conjured up a Mega Light spell.
Their horns began to glow, then shine, until a light that can only be compared to Celestia's very own sun began to form.
The giant ball of light grew in size from their horns, and it was very clear that the two were struggling to keep it from becoming unstable. The entire street, block, and Mane Square was bathed in this bright light. Pinkie shielded her eyes, as did Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
Rarity and Twilight released the ball, shooting it off into the tree.
A miniature explosion without sound happened, and the ball blew up into tiny little lights of all shapes and colors, making bright Christmas lights. There was red, green, yellow, and every other festive color.
Twilight and Rarity panted softly, and stepped back to admire their work. The result was a giant tree, covered in snacks and now, lights scattered all over. Lights of every kind of visual spectrum.
It was hard to not look at the masterpiece that they had all created, and the non-unicorns had opened their eyes in awe and wonder.
"Holy cow..." said Rainbow.
"Oh my..." uttered Fluttershy.
"It's beautiful," said Rarity. "I had no idea we could do such a thing! Imagine the possibilities!"
Twilight beamed. "Wait until Celestia hears about this..."
Pinkie's smile grew three times in size, and opened in excitement. "We should set the tree up every year!"
The group agreed and turned around after hearing a noise. The entire town of Ponyville was behind them, all gathering around, chattering, and looking up in amazement.
Derpy flew up to the group with Dinky in her hooves, smiling with her daughter. The crowd grew, admiring and commenting on the bright tree to each other.
Before Twilight could say anything, she was approached by Mayor Mare.
"We were all awoken by that great light," she said. "You six did fantastic work!"
Twilight smiled. "This was all Pinkie's idea. You should thank her."
Mayor Mare turned to Pinkie. "Excellent job, Pinkie Pie. I hereby appoint you as Head... of Christmas!"
Pinkie Pie beamed and bounced in place. "Yaaay!"
"And as for the rest of you," continued the mayor. "You can all help Pinkie set up the big tree like this every year! Think you can do that?"
Twilight nodded along with her friends.
Everypony in Ponyville stayed outside, sitting or standing with their fellow neighbors to watch the Christmas Tree. The light snow continued to fall as the big bright Christmas tree glowed and sparkled.
Something is missing... thought Pinkie Pie.
It was then that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had approached, wearing matching Cutie Mark Crusader coats.
"Pinkie!" said Applebloom, holding up a large glass star.
"We bought it for the big tree, but nopony had it set up..." said Sweetie Belle.
Applebloom gave the star to Scootaloo, and stood beside her sister Applejack. Sweetie Belle stood by Rarity as well.
Rainbow Dash swooped up and took Scootaloo up to the top of the tree. "Go ahead, squirt," she said.
With Rainbow Dash's help, Scootaloo reached the very tip of the tree and placed the glass star on top. Light reached the star from the existing tree lights, and refracted.
The crowd oohed and aahed at the spectacle. Rainbow Dash flew back down and was hugged by Scootaloo, who hugged back.
Everypony huddled up with their loved ones to keep warm, as they watched the big Christmas tree glow, sparkle and shine, making everything brighter.
Pinkie Pie shed a tear. "I can't believe I helped make this happen."
Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "You made this possible, Pinkie. You should be proud."
The six friends group hugged, and giggled.
"Merry Christmas, gals!" said Pinkie. "I just wish I had saved some of those treats for us!"
Author's Note:
A couple updates before I possibly disappear for a bit once I get my hooves on Far Cry 3 this Christmas:
1) My Little Pwny Redux has been taken down.
2) I may make another (or a couple more) Christmas fanfic(s).
Goodbye and have a wonderful Christmas!
-Sharky wishes you a merry Christmas