This mostly adheres to the continuity of the Friendship is Magic series, with one minor alteration being that a few of the ponies from other series are now part of the cast. The storyline is based on a Donald Duck comic by Carl Barks, entitled, "Donald Duck in Toyland" from the Lost in the Andes compilation, which is available on Amazon. Please enjoy, and a very Merry Christmas to all! (BTW, I hae pictures of the ponies from this story, as well as a pic of Sweetie Belle petting Rudolph on the head, available on my blog, the Keeper of the Fun Blog!)

It's a snowy Christmas Eve in Equestria. In the city of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle is just beginning her day, when she hears a knock on the door. "Hmm, I wonder who that could be?" She answers the door, and is greeted by her neighbor Minty(1), a mint green pony with a light and dark pink mane and tail, pink eyes, and a cutie mark shaped like three mint candies, wearing a red and white knit hat and a matching scarf. She's followed closely behind by her pet penguin Wintergreen. "Good morning, Twilight. I have a letter for you from Santa Claus." she hands the aforementioned to her friend.

"Santa Claus?" the purple unicorn echoes, knowing that this must be an important matter. "Thanks, Minty."

"You're quite welcome." replies the green pony, as she and Wintergreen then leave.

As Twilight studies the letter intently, her little dragon buddy Spike happens up to her. "Howdy, Twilight, what'cha got there?"

"It's a letter from Santa Claus."

A look of excitement crosses Spike's face. "Santa Claus? THE Santa Claus? Ohmigosh, what's it say?!"

"'Dear Twilight Sparkle, I'll be needing your help at the North Pole. Please bring your friends, the kids, and Spike, and meet me at your rooftop this afternoon. Sincerely, Santa Claus.'" the purple unicorn reads. Spike begins hopping up and down and excitedly clapping his paws. "Oh boy, this is so cool! We're going to see Santa!"

"We'd better go tell the girls that Santa's meeting us this noon." Twilight states.

"Sure thing." The little dragon replies, upon which they traipse off.

Twilight and Spike go to each of their friends, as well as the little Cutie Mark Crusaders, and inform them of Santa's visit, which they oblige to coming for, especially the Crusaders, who are very exited. "We're with ya, Twilight." Apple Bloom replies. "Oh boy, Santa's workshop!" Sweetie Belle exclaims. "And all those great toys!" Scootaloo adds.

As the afternoon rolls around, Twilight and her friends gather on the roof of her house(This was a bit easier for Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Scootaloo, since the three of them could fly) to see Santa's sleigh flying by. "Whoa, Donner! Whoa, Blitzen!"

"There he is!" Twilight exclaims.

"Right on time!" adds Applejack.

The crusaders clap their hooves excitedly. "Oh boy! It's Santa! It's Santa! It's Santa!"

Santa pulls up by the roof. "Hello, girls."

"Hello, Santa." Twilight says.

"Enchanted to meet you." Rarity says, as the group climbs into the back of Santa's sleigh, which then takes off.

As the sleigh glides through the sky, Twilight turns to Santa and inquires, "What's the problem, Santa?"

"Well, you see, my wife and I are quite concerned; we've been giving away the same kinds of toys year after year without knowing what the children really want, so we thought it a good idea to have your friends' sisters try out all the toys, and perhaps see which is their favorite."

"That's a great idea, Santa." the purple unicorn replies.

"And we'll sure be happy t'help!" the Crusaders oblige.

As Santa's sleigh lands outside his workshop, everyone disembarks traipses inside(Sweetie Belle stops briefly before going in to gently pet Rudolph on the head). Santa leads the group toward one of his workrooms, where a large number of elves are merrily hustling about, tinkering various toys. "Ah, here looks like a good place to start." Santa states, upon which the Crusades hurry excitedly into the room.

"Oh boy!" Apple Bloom exclaims.

"This is so great!" Sweetie Belle adds.

"Which ones should we try first?" Scootaloo wonders in anticipation.

Santa hands each of the adult ponies and Spike a notepad and paper. "Say, would you mind helping me by jotting down their comments as they test the playthings, please?"

"We'll be happy to, Santa.." Twilight obliges, as she and her friends follow after the kids.

The kids quickly find a row of pogo sticks lined up along the wall, climb up on them, and begin hopping away. "Wheeee!"

"Kids, wait! Don't go too far!" Twilight calls them urgently; unfortunately, the kids have already hopped out of earshot by this time. Thinking quickly, the purple unicorn snatches up a pogo stick of her own, and begins following them on it. Twilight, unfortunately, had never used a pogo stick before, and gradually begins bouncing higher and higher as she follows the Crusaders outside,and ends up jettisoning into the air, and landing snout-first in a snowdrift just outside the workshop. The Crusaders bounce by, unknowingly hopping on Twilight's head as they go. "Hey Twilight, whered'ya go?" inquires Scootaloo.

"Right here, girls," the purple unicorn groans, as she dazedly picks herself up out of the snowdrift and scribbles down a note on the pad. "Just writing seven volumes of my comments on the joys of pogo sticks."

Twilight and the kids traipse back inside, upon which the kids spy several shelves of skis, which they quickly seize upon. Sweetie Belle turns to her sister, who's standing in a corner of the room, looking over the dress-up clothes. "Say, Rarity, we were gonna test out these skis next, wanna come with us?"

"Capital idea, dahlings, I shall procure a pair of my own and follow you."

Once outside, Rarity and the kids, with skis on their hooves, climb slowly up a large hill not too far from the workshop. "These skis're real good for climbin' in loose snow." Sweetie Belle states. Rarity takes out her pen and paper. "I shall make a note of that, Dearie." As soon as they reach the top of the hill, the kids ski rapidly down; Rarity follows closely behind, her indigo mane whipping in the wind behind her. "And they're great fer slidin' down hard snow!" Apple Bloom adds. "Splendid, dears. I shall take note of that as well." Rarity replies.

Spotting a cave at the bottom of the hill, the Crusaders quickly change direction; Rarity, who's consumed with writing on her notepad, sails right into it. "Always make sure to look where you're going, dahlings." she(rather ironically) informs them. As Rarity thuds into the cave, the concerned Crusaders rush over to the entrance. "You okay in thar, Rarity?" Apple Bloom inquires. "Did you jot down th' last comment, sis?" Sweetie Belle asks.

Suddenly, Rarity shoots out of the cave's entrance, with a very angry snow leopard in hot pursuit. "With capital letters, dears! With capital letters!" The kids quickly motion to her, "Quick! Follow us!" upon which they all hurry back to the workshop. "Skis're fast, but hooves're faster!"

"I shall make note of that as well, dahlings."

Rarity and the kids quickly rush through the back door and firmly close and lock it. Presently, Twilight happens up to them. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, certainly, dearie," Rarity pants. "T'was only a minor setback." She then slumps to the ground in exhaustion; Twilight and the kids look on in astonishment.

From the corner of their eyes, the kids spot an archery set with suction-cup arrows across the room. "Oh boy, an archery set!" Scootaloo exclaims. "Cool!" Apple Bloom says. "With a target and everything!" Sweetie Belle adds, upon which they scurry off and grab up three bow and arrow sets. Applejack happens up to them just as Apple Bloom shoots an arrow at the target. "Shootin' arrows at this-here target is fun!" the little yellow pony notes.

"Ah'll make a note a'that, sis." AJ replies.

Scootaloo muses for a moment, rubbing her chin. "But shooting an apple off of somepony's head might be even more fun."

"Good ideer, ah'll make a note a'that, too." AJ says.

Upon this Apple Bloom comes running up to her holding an apple. "Thanks, sis! Ah'll give y'all this apple t'put on your head so we-all kin test out our theory!" She then remoes AJ's straw hat and places the apple on top of her head. The orange pony nervously begins sweating profusely and biting her nails(Or should we say lack thereof.) Now, what'd ah say t'get muhself roped inta this deal? she thinks.

The Crusaders aim their bow and arrows, "Ready...aim...FIRE!" They quickly shoot the arrows, which stick to AJ's face and over her snout. The kids blush in embarrassment. "Oops. Apparently shooting arrows off folk's heads is strictly for guys like William Tell." Scootaloo notes. "Have ya made note a'that, sis?" Apple Bloom inquires.

"With indelible ink, kids! With indelible ink!" AJ replies in a muffled voice.

As the Crusaders contemplate their next move, Spike happens up to them. Sweetie Belle turns to him, "Say, Spike, do you have any suggestions on which toy might be good t'test next?"

"Uhm, uhm, how'sabout a game of three-handed chess with vinyl chessmen?" the little dragon replies, hoping to steer the kids toward something safer.

Suddenly the kids spot something else. "Ooh! Here's something!" They scurry off and quickly open up a large red box. "An indoor baseball set! Cool!" Spike begins sweating and biting his claws. Uh oh, looks like another rough time! he thinks. Scootaloo stands at home plate, holding a bat, Sweetie Belle stands behind her, wearing a catcher's mitt, and Apple Bloom stands at the pitcher's mound, holding a baseball. Apple Bloom is about to pitch when suddenly, the Crusaders notice something amiss. "Say, has anyone seen Spike?" Sweetie Belle inquires.

"I'm right here, kids!" Upon hearing his voice, the Crusaders whip around to see Spike walking up to them, clad in a catcher's mask and a chest protector. "I'm all ready to play!"

"Cool!" The kids reply in unison. Spike stands next to Sweetie Belle behind home plate; Apple Bloom begins pitching baseballs fast and furious, and Spike ends up getting clobbered. Sweetie Belle turns to him. "Have you taken notes for this toy, Spike?"

"Right away, kids, right away!" a dazed Spike groans, as he weakly jots on his notepad, "The catcher's mask and chest protector are defective."

Just then, the Crusaders hear Fluttershy call, "Excuse me, kids, could you help me for a little bit, please?"

"Sure!" the kids hurry over to Fluttershy, who's standing by a shelf lined with dolls. Spike sighs blissfully, as he lies on the ground, "Ahhh...nice safe dolls."

The Crusaders each pick up a doll and gently cuddle it. "Oh, they're so soft!" Sweetie Belle coos. "An' so pretty!" Apple Bloom adds. Fluttershy picks up another doll. "Hmm," she muses. "I wonder if these dolls can say, 'Mama.'" She gently presses the doll's hand. "Am-am." it squeals. The yellow Pegasus stares in amazement. "Hmm, this one's voice box seems to have been put in backwards." Sweetie Belle presses the hand of another doll, which also squeals, "Am-am."

"Looks like a lot of them have this problem." the little unicorn informs Fluttershy.

"I'll make a note informing Santa of this." Fluttershy quickly jots a note down.

Just then, Rainbow Dash calls, "Say, kids, would you like to help me test out the toy cars?"

"Oh boy, we'd love to!" the Crusaders reply, as they hurry over to a corner of the room where Dash is standing in front of several large ride-on cars. "Yippee! What snappy models!" Sweetie Belle exclaims. "I like the third one!" Scootaloo states, as she hops into a green car. "Ah'll take th' second one!" says Apple Bloom, as she hops into a blue car.

"All right!" Dash hops into a red car at the very end, upon which the three of them motor off. Sweetie Belle observes a traffic cop outfit sitting on a nearby table, which she quickly dons.

"Gangway for Darin' Dash, terror of the turnpikes!" the blue Pegasus exclaims as she barrels across the room.

"One side for Skitterin' Scootaloo!" Scootaloo yells as she comes motoring from the other side.

"Look out, folks, here comes Avid Apple Bloom!" the little yellow pony calls as she comes zooming down the center of the room. Seeing the cars coming straight toward each other, Sweetie Belle holds up her hoof and blows her whistle; unfortunately, this warning comes a bit too late.

CRASH! The cars smash headlong into each other. "Any comments, kids?" a dazed Dash mumbles as she sticks her head out from under her car. "Uhm, yes," Sweetie Belle replies. "Let's go test the jigsaw puzzles."

The ponies spend the rest of their time testing out various other toys; the Crusaders find several little toy walking dogs, and begin merrily walking them around the room. "Wow, look at 'em go!" Scootaloo says. Pinkie Pie gets a dog of her own and begins walking it. "Ooh, nice doggy!"

The kids next find some yoyos and begin playing with them; Dash picks up a yoyo of her own and joins them. "These sure are fun." Apple Bloom states. Dash's yoyo doubles back and wallops her in the snout. "So to speak..."

The Crusaders then find some building blocks and begin constructing a house with it. "Boy, these blocks are sure nifty." Sweetie Belle states. "I'll say!" says Pinkie, upon which the kids whip around to see her building an even bigger house; she sticks the roof on top from the inside.

"Uhm, it is a very nice house, Pinkie," Scootaloo says. "Only..."

The pink pony peeks through the doorway. "What's the problem, kids?"

"How will you get out?" the little Pegasus continues.

A distressed Pinkie crawls through the doorway, causing the house to tumble down. "Oh phooey, I've really written myself into a corner this time!"

The Crusaders then find a toy train, which they set chugging down its tracks. "Boy, it sure is fast!" Apple Bloom remarks. Spike holds up the very end of the tracks. "I wonder if it can climb up a hill." At that moment, the train zooms up the tracks and hits him squarely in the belly. "Oof! Looks like it can!"

After a few moments pass, Santa comes by to see how things are going. "Well, kids, looks like you've gotten around to just about everything! Which toy did you like best?" he asks the Crusaders, who are playing with a miniature dollhouse. "All of them!" they reply.

Santa stares blankly. "All of them? Well..." He scratches his head as he traipses off toward the next room. "I'd better find Twilight and the others." He sticks his head into the room. "Uhm, hello, Twilight. Surely the kids must have liked one of the toys better than he others! May I see the comments that you and your friends took down, please?"

Twilight is trying to solve a Rubik's cube, while Applejack plays with a miniature farm playset, Pinkie juggles several bouncing balls, Dash kicks around a hacky sack, Fluttershy plays with a tea set, Rarity dons a fancy dress-up hat, and Spike plays with two action figures. "Uhm, comments?" Twilight blushes. "We've all been having so much fun with your toys, I guess we must have forgotten."

"Ho! Ho! Ho!" Santa laughs merrily. "Well, bless my soul! I guess kids never change-and that's all we wanted to know. Thank you all so much for your help and your time." Twilight smiles. "You're quite welcome, Santa."

Christmas rolls around the next day, and each of the ponies' houses abound with noise and merry chatter and goings-on. Lickety-Split(2), a pale purple pony with a white mane and tail, brown eyes, and a cutie mark shaped like three ice cream cones, and Melody(3), a bright pink pony with a curly blue mane and tail, darker blue eyes, and a microphone shaped cutie mark, look on in disdain as they pass by the houses. "Those girls' houses are in bedlam!" Lickety-Split says indignantly. "Drums, whistles, electric trains, kids hollering!"

"Sounds like they're fooling around with their sisters' toys." Melody adds. "Honestly, you don't know what gets into some ponies!" She then begins to play with a yoyo. "Yeah, I'll say!" replies Lickety-Split, as she begins to push around a doll in a baby carriage.

The end.

Voice Cast

Twilight Sparkle-Tara Strong

Spike-Cathy Weseluck

Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy-Andrea Libman

Applejack/Rainbow Dash-Ashleigh Ball

Rarity/Melody-Tabitha St. Germain

Apple Bloom-Michelle Creber

Sweetie Belle-Claire Corlett

Scootaloo-Madeleine Peters

Santa Claus-Michael Bell(4)

Minty/Lickety-Split-Cathy Cavadini(4)

(1)She's from G3.

(2)She's from G1.

(3)She's from Tales.

(4)A nod to another famous series by this show's creator, the Powerpuff Girls.