It is a cold and snowy Christmas Eve, and the Mane 6 are preparing the town for a glorious Christmas Day while everypony else is asleep. Of course, Rarity is in a lavish coat and scarf.

"Ohh, how much longer do we have to stay out here? A pony like me needs to get her beauty sleep, you know."

"We're here until the job is done, Rarity," Twilight replied. "Now, let's get down to jobs. Applejack and Pinkie Pie, you go find a tree."

"We'll find the best darned tree in all of Equestria," said Applejack.

"Ooh! Can we get a candy tree?" Pinkie asked.

"Naw, Pinkie. You'll have plenty o' that in your stocking."

"Rarity and I will be in charge of décor and lights," Twilight continued.

"And I have the perfect design! 10,000 lights, each a different color, 100 feet of garland. No! 1,000 feet of garland! And maybe there, a gigantic, robotic-"

"Here are the decorations, Rarity." Twilight dropped an old plastic box full of them.

"Well…I suppose I can do with that." There was a long pause.

"Aren't you gonna dig in?" Twilight asked.

"Well, not right away. There could be spiders in there," Rarity replied.

"Okay…and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash will be in charge of distributing presents to boys and girls in Ponyville."

"Doesn't Santa do that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, come on, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash replied. "Everypony knows Santa's not real."

"He's NOT?" Fluttershy and Pinkie exclaimed.

"No, just a story our parents used to get us to be good and go to bed on time. Right, Applejack?"

Applejack looked very nervous and had very shifty eyes.

"Come on, Applejack. You know you can't tell a lie."

"Um…well, it's…kinda…um…just don't tell Apple Bloom, okay? She's really wantin' her cutie mark fer Christmas."

"Alright, everypony. Let's get a move on. We've got seven hours until daylight."

Everypony did as they were told and headed off in different directions, except for Twilight and Rarity.

"Rarity, why are you worried about spiders when you can just use magic?"

"Even the thought of spiders scares me."

Twilight groaned and lifted up the lights.

"Twilight, what in Equestria are you doing?! Everypony knows you don't put the lights up first."

"It really doesn't matter-"

"Here, let me do this."

Rarity started decking the City Hall, and Twilight knew she was in for a long night.

Applejack and Pinkie's hooves crunched under the fresh snow, Pinkie's bouncing making a crunch every two seconds or so. After a while, they arrived at the place where they were selling trees. Pinkie started looking around right away.

"How about this one, Applejack?!"

"Naw, it's got a bare spot."

"This one?"

"Lopsided."

"This one over here?"

"You've gotta look at a tree before you decide, Pinkie. We've gotta get the perfect one, one that's-"

Out of the corner of her eye, Applejack saw a scrawny little tree where the moonlight was shining.

"This one right here is perfect."

Pinkie looked strange at her.

"Are you sure?"

"This one ain't bad at all. It's just underrated. I bet if we love it some, it'll be as great as Bloomberg." Applejack hugged the tree and got pine needles in her mane. "Did ya' bring the axe?"

"What axe?"

"Okay, one, two, three!"

Applejack pulled on Pinkie's tail, and it started a chainsaw with her teeth that crunched right through the tree's trunk and brought it down with a tiny crunch in the snow, not even giving Applejack enough time to say "Timber".

"Now, let's get this baby home!"

Pinkie shook the tree bark out of her mouth.

"Be sure to brush your teeth tonight, Pinkie."

On a hill near Fluttershy's cottage, her and Rainbow Dash were strapping heavy sacks of toys to their backs. All of Ponyville was beneath them, and they had to get a toy to every house.

"You hanging in there okay, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy's frail body couldn't handle that much weight. Her legs crumbled underneath her and she fell on her side.

"I just don't know how Santa can handle this much cargo," said Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy, I told you that Santa isn't real. You think a fat, old guy in a jolly red suit from the North Pole with a big fat sleigh to accompany him and nine reindeer goes all over Equestria and shouts "Ho, ho, ho!", then delivers presents to all the good little boys and girls in one night?"

"Well…yes."

Rainbow Dash glared at her.

"Hey, what's that?" Fluttershy asked.

The two ponies saw a red blinking light in the distance, even though every other pegasus pony was asleep. Fluttershy got a pair of binoculars out of her toy sack, and she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Santa! HE'S HERE HE'S HERE HE'S HERE HE'S HERE HE'S HERE!"

She gently took off the toy sack and flew as fast as a jet toward Santa's sleigh.

"Hey, who does this bozo think he is?"

Rainbow Dash pursued the sleigh also. Fluttershy flew beside, then got inside and sat right next to Santa.

"Santa. Oh, I'm so sorry for intruding, but it is so great to be meeting you. I knew you were real all this time."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Pull over!"

Santa signaled to Rudolph, and he shot a stun laser out of his red nose right at Rainbow Dash.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGHH HH!" she screamed with a thud on the snow.

"Will she be alright?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine," Santa replied. "The snow will act as a cushion."

"Santa, you don't know what an honor this is."

"It's an honor for me, too, Fluttershy, since you've made my good list every single year. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for your friend."

"W-w-what?"

"I'm afraid Rainbow Dash is on my naughty list this year because, you know what they say, when you target the boss, you get coal. Or…maybe it was something else."

"Oh, please, Santa. M-m-maybe we can work something out."

"Like what?"

"…You can give me coal instead."

"Aw, you're so noble, Fluttershy. Exactly why you're on my good list this year."

"And besides…um…Rainbow Dash has done lots of good things, like…saving us from falling to our deaths at the Wonderbolt Training Academy and…saving Rarity from falling to her death at the Best Young Flyer's Competition. So…Rainbow Dash has a big heart and cares for others, so…please, Santa. Give her another chance."

The yellow pony made big puppy dog eyes at the bearded man in the red suit.

"Okay, I guess she deserves a second chance."

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

She hugged Santa, and he hugged her back, his white beard and fleece jacket protecting her from the cold.

"Well, you'd best be getting home, Fluttershy. I don't come to your house unless you're asleep."

"Okay, Santa. I've gotta check on Rainbow Dash anyway."

Fluttershy spread her wings.

"Oh, before I go, Santa, how do your reindeer fly if they don't have wings?"

"They do have wings." He pointed at the tiny wings on the reindeers' sides. "See?"

"Oh…"

And with that, Fluttershy was on her way.

"And this should go over here, and this goes all around the fountain over here."

Rarity was busy decorating Town Square so much that Twilight was just sitting on the curb, bored and freezing.

"Um…do I ever get a turn?"

"Yes, in a minute. I've just got to-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH HHHHHH!"

Rainbow Dash fell on a string of lights, causing them to snap free and the cord wrapping around the wreath in front of city hall, pulling it down and dragging the garland with it, finally falling down in front of the light-up reindeer.

Rarity fell to her knees and curled up in a fetal position while Fluttershy flew down to the rainbow pony's side.

"Oh, my, Rainbow Dash. That was quite a hit you took."

"Ah, I'm fine."

She weakly managed to stand on all fours.

"Do you need any help getting home?"

"No, I'm fine." She silently cursed under her breath as she limped away.

"What happened up there?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight, you won't believe this! Santa is real!"

Twilight sighed. "I know."

"Really?"

"Yes. In fact, he is one of the oldest legends in "Legends of Equestria." I just didn't want to act like a foal in front of everypony else."

"Oh, Twilight, you're much too smart to be a foal. I'm sure, if you believed that Santa was real, the others would, too."

"Fluttershy, you always know how to make somepony feel better."

"We're back!"

Applejack and Pinkie came, hauling the little Christmas tree behind them.

"Applejack!" Rarity exclaimed, horrified. "What kind of horrible monstrosity is that?!"

"What, this? It's a tree." Applejack nudged the tree and pine needles fall off.

"No, no, no, this won't do! Maybe something a bit taller. Maybe 50 feet taller."

"This is fine, Rarity. All we need to do is give 'im some love. Maybe decorate 'im a bit."

"Yeah!" Pinkie said. "There'll be lots of sparkly things and ornaments and candy canes and a star on top! You guys in?!"

"Sure, Pinkie. This little guy looks like he needs some love," said Fluttershy.

"I haven't done anything all night. I'm in." Twilight said.

"Well…" Rarity pondered. "I suppose it's worth a shot." The five ponies put their hooves in the middle.

"Wait just a apple-buckin' minute," halted Applejack. "Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"Come on! One, two, three!"

Rainbow Dash flapped her wings multiple times and managed to get five feet off the ground before making a thud in the fresh snow, still recovering from the effects of Rudolph's laser nose. She shook the white powder off and prepared for another try.

"Hey, Rainbow." Applejack trotted up to her. "We were just plannin' tah decorate the new tree. You wanna come?"

"I dunno, I'm kinda tired."

"Aw, what's wrong? Big, tough Rainbow Dash too tired for a little decoratin'?"

"Oh, did I say tired? I meant stoked! Yeah, totally!"

Rainbow weakly limped to her side.

"Hey, what's wrong? You're limpin' more than a bullfrog at a rodeo."

"Ah, it's nothing. Just a laser."

"Lasers…? Maybe a bump on the noggin would explain more."

"Yeah, maybe so. It was, like, this big, red sleigh, and it had nine pegasus ponies, or whatever they were, pulling it."

"Huh. I think ah heard that story before."

"And one had this big, red nose and shot this huge stun laser. I dropped, like, 10,000 feet down to the Town Square. Fluttershy saw it, too."

"Are ya' sure who you're talkin' about ain't…Santa?"

"What? No, that's impossible."

"Ah dunno. Stranger things've happened."

"So…you're basically saying that Santa is real?"

"Could be. Who's to say that he ain't?"

There was a long, awkward pause as the two looked up at the night sky.

"Ya' sure can see the North Star clear tonight."

"Yeah."

"Ah used to look up at that star when ah was a filly and wonder where it would take ya' if you followed it far enough."

"Probably to Manehattan. Besides, how's that star gonna tell you what's east or west?"

"Hmm, good point…Well, c'mon. The others are waitin'."

Apple Bloom opened her eyes to a snowy Christmas Day at Sweet Apple Acres. She excitedly looked at her flank, but looked very, very depressed when she found no cutie mark. As she slowly dragged herself downstairs, Applejack was waiting for her.

"Howdy, Apple Bloom. How'd ya sleep?"

"Oh, sis, no matter how hard I wish, Santa still wouldn't give me my cutie mark!"

"Well, Santa may not be able to give ya' a cutie mark, but he might be able to give ya' a little help. Go ahead and look under the tree."

Apple Bloom dragged herself to the tree and opened her present.

"Oh, no, a book!"

"Read the title."

Apple Bloom's face lit up with joy when she read the title of her new favorite book.

"101 Ways to Get Your Cutie Mark!"

"Santa knew you were having some trouble, and with this book, ya' can't lose."

"Oh, thanks, big sis!"

"Aw, don't thank me."

"Thanks, Santa! I've gotta show this to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!"

She galloped over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse and met up with the other two.

"Hey, what'd you get for Christmas, Sweetie Belle?" asked Scootaloo.

"I got '101 More Ways to Get Your Cutie Mark'!" Sweetie Belle replied.

"Ooh, me too! I got '101 Even More Ways to Get Your Cutie Mark'!"

"Ah got '101 Ways to Get Your Cutie Mark'! And with this many ways, we can't lose!"

"I dunno, we've already tried some of the stuff in here," said Scootaloo as she flipped through the pages.

"Some of it we haven't done, either!" said Sweetie Belle. "Like racing and video games…There's even scooting!"

"Scooting? That sounds awesome."

"Well, when do we start?" Apple Bloom asked.

"How about now?!" Sweetie Belle squeaked.

"Okay, let's start with #1: Singin'."

"Well, it's Christmas," Scootaloo declared. "So there must be…"

"Christmas carolers!" screamed the three.

The three rode on Scootaloo's scooter through the Everfree Forest and Fluttershy's yard, waking her up.

"Oh, my. Who could that be?"

"Hey, Fluttershy! Wanna go caroling with us?!" asked Apple Bloom.

"Well, I suppose so, but-"

Scootaloo grabbed her hoof and dragged the yellow pegasus pony with them.

"What about my coat?!" she screamed as she was being dragged down the street.

When they finally got to the Town Square, an exhausted Fluttershy met up with the rest of the Mane 6.

"Whoa!" the three Cutie Mark crusaders gasped.

The Christmas tree that Applejack bought was the best tree anypony had ever seen. It was decorated with tons of ornaments and candy canes from Pinkie's shop. It also had a touch of Rarity's glamour, Applejack's country roots, Fluttershy's love, Rainbow Dash's toughness, and Twilight's magic.

"This is the best tree in the history of everything!" cried Sweetie Belle.

Mayor Mare stepped up to the podium and adjusted her microphone.

"Good morning and Merry Christmas, everypony. I just wanted to welcome you all to the annual Christmas Day Festival. The credit for this marvelous tree goes to the Elements of Harmony."

A tremendous cheer rose up from the crowd.

"Now, before we begin, I'd like to state what Christmas is really all about. It's not really about receiving, but more about giving to others. It's a time to act brotherly or sisterly to total strangers. It's a time to consider the needs of the needy. It's a time to-"

"Get to the point!" shouted a random pony from the crowd.

"But most importantly, it's a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, who was a very important man, hence the name "Christmas". Now, let's begin our festivities."

The crowd cheered a tremendous cheer.

"They never pay attention to us Hanukkah ponies," said one Jewish pony.

"Well, at least we get more gifts," replied the second one with a laugh.

"We'll start with our annual day of caroling."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooohhhhhh…

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooohhhh..

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooohhh..

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooohhhh…

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oohhhh…

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh hh…

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ohhh…

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooohhh…

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooohhh…

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooohhh…

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYPONY!

Hark the herald angels sing!

"Glory to the newborn king!"

Peace on Earth and mercy mild!

God and sinners reconciled!

Joyful, all ye nations rise!

Join the triumph of the skies!

With the angelic host proclaim:

"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Hark the herald angels sing!

"Glory to the newborn king!"