’Twas the night before Hearth’s Warming, and all through the castle,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a—

In the middle of a diplomatic note to a country far outside of Equestria, Princess Celestia paused with her quill held motionless above the paper, lost in thought and ancient memories triggered by the little bit of remembered poetry. Centuries worth of tradition had been created in response to the tragedy of Luna’s fall, and even tonight on Hearth’s Warming Eve she could still feel the ripples of that ancient battle. The loss of her sister had been a crushing blow to Celestia’s tranquil nature, and it had taken a very long time for her to be dragged out of her sorrow and regain even a small semblance of her normal life. It was strange that her return to the world of her beloved little ponies had started in her own private study, on this very night.

The wounds of her battle against Luna had still been visible on her silky-white coat even after months of recovery, and the servants about the castle seemed to scurry from shadow to shadow in her presence as if in justifiable fear that she might take the same road to insanity that her sister had strode. There were so many things for her to be sorrowful about that even the glow of Hearth’s Warming had barely managed to chase the chill from her old bones. No more long winter evenings spent with Luna, curled up before the fire, drinking cocoa and telling stories. No more juvenile games of tag in the winter sky when none of their subjects were watching. No more little bits of doggerel poetry scattered about by an exuberant sister exulting in a particularly beautiful night’s flight. Even ordinary language brought back memories of Luna’s forays into all things etymological in her eternal quest to find a word with two Q’s that would allow triple scoring on their weekly word games.

On that first Hearth’s Warming without Luna, she had been unable to control her emotions in the middle of the hushed celebration for family and friends. In a fit of pique, Celestia had dismissed every servant in the castle for the night, including the nursery staff. It was an act of frustrated impulse, not logic, but despite a thousand years of time that had passed since that night, the unexpected consequence of her actions still brought a smile to her face every time she passed one of the Night Guards in the hallway.

A warm fire crackled in the fireplace of her private study, but Princess Celestia did not have time to sit down and enjoy the soft glow as she had so many times with her sister. Instead, she scurried around the room with breathless cries of “No, put that down,” and “That’s ink, not juice!” Four dark little ponies scurried around under her hooves, their bright golden eyes taking in every dark corner of Celestia’s private sanctuary and seeking to unearth the secrets that it held. Each of them fluttered a set of membranous bat-like wings, so different than ordinary pegasi, although their behavior still matched almost perfectly against the energetic young ponies they had been before Nightmare Moon had transformed them a few months ago. Celestia had just finished diapering the youngest little dark pegasus when she noticed two others had begun to tinker with the locked bottom drawer of her desk. By the time she had apprehended the little safecrackers, the other two had begun a vigorous game of tag. Either that, or perhaps their game was actually a destruction derby among the priceless antiques in her room. With the noise and the chaos of little ponies at play, she almost missed the arrival of a fifth guest into her room, a guest who was much larger than the little colts, and much older.

A trickle of bright red and white glitter began to pour out of the fireplace, swirling around the rug in a brilliant display that momentarily entranced the little troublemakers, even making one of them drop the toy hammer he was carrying. The stream of glitter grew to a musical torrent and swirled together around the floor with all the colors and sounds of the season. Gingerbread and warm pumpkin scents mixed with the jingle of silver bells and the sharp bite of newfallen snow as the sphere of sparks took shape, finally solidifying into the form of a huge, fat reindeer dressed in a furry red and white coat. His dark eyes glittered with joy as he looked down at the four little dark pegasi who all lined up in a perfect row to stare back at him in awe. When he laughed, his belly did indeed shake like a big bowl of jelly, and from his silver horns and bright red cheeks to the shiny black boots on each of his hooves, he was every inch the Santa Hooves standing in every store and street corner of Canterlot, but with one exception.

He was real.

“Ho, ho, ho! What do we have here?” The jolly reindeer bent down to look the four little ecstatic colts in the eye with a happy smile of his own. “Have you been good little ponies this year?”

One small file suitable for jimmying open a certain bottom desk drawer was dropped, and one small hoof promptly kicked it under the rug. Like a practiced chorus, all four of them chimed, “Yes, Santa.”

“Well, let’s see what Santa has in his bag for you then.” With an experienced grunt, the big reindeer heaved the lumpy bag on his back to the floor and four little wrapped presents came floating out in his silver magic, each to a little colt who wasted no time tearing into the wrapping paper. Turning his attention to the last pony in the room, who was leaning on her desk taking advantage of the first break she had experienced in hours, the big reindeer lost a little of his jolly smile.

“Celestia. I’m so sorry for what happened. Have you heard any word on your sister yet?”

“Nay, good Santa. Nothing but the prophecy that predicts her return in a thousand years. A thousand years!” Celestia’s voice nearly cracked with strain, and she quieted herself to a whisper as the little colts looked up from their unwrapping activity. “It is such a long time, even for an immortal.”

Santa pulled his bag over next to the desk and patted Celestia on the hoof. “Hold strong, Princess. As long as there is life, there is hope. Now, I’ve got a present for you tonight too.”

“No, please.” Celestia turned away from the warmth of the fire and the big reindeer to look out of her window at the Hearth’s Warming eve night, aglow with the sparkle of brilliant stars and the happy songs of revelers in the Canterlot streets below. “My heart is just not in the spirit tonight. I’ve been so busy finding loving homes for all of Luna’s…” She choked up and tried not to look at the four little dark colts all tumbling around the floor with blunt toy swords, happily smacking each other over the head and rump in a joyous activity so different than the bloody warfare that had left them orphans.

“Only four left, Celestia?”

She could not speak, but nodded instead.

“Your ponies are a forgiving kind, Princess. Among the reindeer, I’m not certain even I could find homes for that many orphans. But the hearts of your ponies reflect you, and tonight more than ever. Here.” There was a rustle of unfolding and a single sheet appeared in the corner of her vision. One lonely piece of paper with the names of four families.

Celestia took the paper and stared at it in shock. “You found them homes? But these are families who lost children in the battle! I could never ask them to accept one of Luna’s…”

“You don’t have to ask them, Celestia. They asked me. There was something precious in their lives that was taken from them when they lost their children, and these four families are willing to extend their love and acceptance. They know their loss was not the fault of Luna’s children, and the love they offer will heal more than their own hearts. It will help heal the pain of loss in the children’s hearts too, as well as your own. As long as they live, they will remind you of your sister, and her eventual return. Can you accept their offer? All that is needed is your blessing. What would Luna say?”

After a quick wipe of her nose on the back of one foreleg, an action that would have scandalized half of Canterlot, Celestia sniffed and looked up into his big brown eyes. “She would tell me I was being a silly goose, and to say ‘yes.’” A light touch on her leg made Celestia look down to see the four little colts had abandoned their game to sit at her feet. Four sets of mournful golden eyes looked up at her, the oldest of the colts sitting in front.

“Princess Celestia, Ma’am? We don’t want to go to another home. We want to stay here and protect you. Ever since your sister left, you never smile, and we thought we could remind you of the good times you had playing with her.”

She caressed the cheek of the little colt with a sigh. “Rye, you know I’ll always remember Luna and all of the time we had together. You and your friends deserve good families with mothers and fathers who will love you and have time to play with you. When you’re older, you can become a Royal Guard and help protect all of Equestria, but for now, you all need to live with a real family.”

“And when you’re older,” rumbled Santa Hooves, “I’m going to need some help with the sled. There’s a lot of presents tied on that rattling old wagon, and I’m always afraid one of the bags will slip off some night. It would be really nice if some Princess were to send some of her Royal Guards to help out just one night a year. Wouldn’t want to disappoint any of the little ones on this night, now would we?”

“No, sir!” All four little colts saluted in an enthusiastic wave of little hooves that had the big reindeer laughing heartily, a booming wave of happiness that made Celestia smile for the first time in a very, very long while.

Still smiling, Celestia shook herself away from the memory and returned to her personal correspondence. Cards and letters in various states of being read and written lay strewn around her private study, part of her yearly tradition of spending Hearth’s Warming Eve secluded away from the world.

Ruling the country left only a few precious moments to herself. With this year far more chaotic than ever, she was once again treasuring the simple pleasure of writing by the warm firelight, listening to the pop and crackle of the fire while the snowflakes gently brushed against the windows. The irony was not lost to her; The immortal Princess of the Sun treasured time more than any number of bits, but this occasion allowed her the ability to give from that infinite personal store to her beloved little ponies. Soon, several new parents would find a personal note from their Princess congratulating them on the birth of their new foals, many young colts and fillies would squeal with joy over a carefully crafted reply to their scrawled notes they had sent to her without hope for a response, and even a griffon fledgeling in her far-away nest would receive a warm letter she would proudly treasure more than any number of shiny trinkets or ornaments.

Closing the castle on that Hearth’s Warming Eve long ago had really made an impact on the staff, and the whispered conversations she overheard afterwards made her decide to continue the tradition. It was more difficult at first than she had imagined, but year after year, she persevered. Every year after attending the Hearth’s Warming pageant — which she always made a point of attending alone, without diplomatic or royal escort — the Princess of the Sun would retire to her residence for an evening of quiet contemplation, and the entire castle staff except for a few guards would be free to return to their homes and loved ones for an uninterrupted evening of celebration. Over time, it even became somewhat of a game for her. No studious young bureaucrat up late at night in their quiet office crafting some policy on radish inspection was safe from a sudden warm breath on their shoulder and her soft voice inquiring about his or her plans for going home and spending time with family. In fact, there was a persistent rumor about two such overstudious ponies having been introduced by the Princess in this way, being served a quiet meal at her own table, and sent out into the festive city with a polite suggestion to make the most of their time together. In the rumor, the Princess even presided over their wedding, a quiet service that took place in the castle library with the happily married couple spending their honeymoon in the observatory, but to the castle staff, it was just a rumor from times long ago.

To Celestia, it was a treasured memory that gave unexpected rewards years later.

There had been so many lonely Hearth’s Warming nights since the first one she spent without Luna. Other than the odd doomed attempt by the castle staff to put on a special ‘Surprise’ party for her on this special night, she had treasured her solitude even as the silence stirred up painful memories. But every year, the jolly old reindeer would stop by and lighten the burden on her soul with some small gift or trinket, and even once a selection of chocolates so exquisite she had never tasted their likes ever again.

And then one night she found herself sharing her time with a very special student.

The door to her private study squeaked slightly as it opened just the smallest sliver. There was just enough space for a tiny flash of purple to be visible to Celestia, who had been resting quietly on the cushion in anticipation of a somewhat larger visitor.

“P-princess Celestia? Are you still awake?”

Celestia sighed and put aside her reading. Well, to be honest, it was a book, but there had been little actual reading of it for several hours, and her regular visitor was late again anyway. Her former student, Sunset Shimmer, had never been this insistent on visiting Celestia during the holidays but had always amused herself among relatives and friends. Little Twilight Sparkle was turning out to be so different than her former promising student whom she had failed so badly. Even the castle staff found themselves holding doors open for the polite little filly as she walked the corridors with a book suspended in front of her nose and several more floating along in her wake. It had been quite a surprise on the first morning when Celestia had found a sleepy little unicorn at her breakfast table with a list of insightful questions, and even more of a surprise to find it becoming a regular event to start off her day. If nothing else, it had shaken the old alicorn out of her routine, and for a princess who had actually worn a set of hoofmarks into the marble floors of the castle, that took a lot of shaking.

“Yes, Twilight. I’m still awake. I’m just a little surprised that you’re not in bed at your parents’ house tonight of all nights.”

“Spike and I are staying with Cadence while mom and dad are off at Great-Aunt Twinkle’s in Fillydelphia. She’s been sick a lot lately, but now she took a turn for the worse, and they didn’t want me there just in case of… You know.” The little purple unicorn came shuffling into the private study dressed in her pajamas. There was a thick book being dragged behind her in a literal fashion, bouncing along the cool marble tiles of the castle floor as if Twilight’s anxiety was interfering with her magic.

Celestia could feel a familiar twinge of sorrow in her heart as the little unicorn curled up by her side and snuggled in, dragging the book up in front of them both. Twinkle Shine had been such a vibrant young mare in the school, filled with life and a certain zeal for spellcraft that made the teachers dive for cover whenever she presented a new project or experiment, but that had been many years ago, and sometimes it seemed as if Celestia had barely gotten to know a pony before she had to attend their funeral. She ran a comforting hoof down Twilight’s tangled mane and shook her head.

“I presume you told Cadence where you were going? We wouldn't want to worry her when she wakes up alone.” Actually I had hoped she would be keeping company with that handsome brother of yours whom she seems to have fallen for so strongly. I swear, she has been so slow off the blocks with that young colt that some other filly will grab him away from her.

“Yeah,” said Twilight with a yawn. “Spike’s sleeping like a rock. When Cadence fell asleep, I wrote her a note and came over here. Can you help me with a few questions on some discrepancies between Hearth’s Warming and the traditional stories in the book?”

Only Twilight would be conflicted when two fictional legends disagreed. Celestia had recently discovered the little filly’s ‘few questions’ could easily be considered a thesis with multiple pages of references by others. In fact, given a steady supply of books and food, she was fully capable of vanishing for weeks if not a full year with the only signs of her existence being a trail of dropped notes between her hiding place and the bathroom. Twilight flopped the thick book of Hearth’s Warming stories open to display her trademark maze of little notes tacked across the pages and pointing to key phrases. With another yawn, she solemnly pointed to the first note and cleared her throat.

‘Twas the Night before Hearth’s Warming, and all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

“See, right there? If no creature was stirring, then who exactly was narrating? There had to be an observer at the event, and that observer would naturally be a creature stirring, so the poem is logically inconsistent in the first verse. And then this section over here.”

With a little old driver so quick were his moves,
I knew in a moment he must be Santa Hooves.

“Now how in the world could he determine the name of the reindeer just from his speed? I mean, I know Santa Hooves is supposed to be fast, but according to my research, he’s theoretically able to visit all the good little colts and fillies all over Equestria in just one night. Just one night? I’ve mapped out a minimum time flight path for all the cities in Equestria along with their distances, and unless he can do a sonic rainboom from one end of the country to another, there’s just no way!”

Twilight’s graphs and charts were nearly perfect, showing a heuristically proven Traveling Salespony’s route between every major and minor Equestrian city that reminded Celestia of times long ago when she was young. For just a moment she could feel the blast of icy wind in her mane and the shrieks of her ecstatic little sister to her side as they accompanied Santa on his rounds, but then the creak of aging joints as she shifted positions brought reality crashing back down over her. Celestia concealed her discomfort by checking Twilight’s math and complimenting her on coloring inside the lines on her pie charts, but the thought ate at the back of her mind anyway.

By the time Celestia’s late-night visitor finally arrived, Twilight Sparkle was sprawled out over the cushion with her lip connected to the floor by a thin trickle of drool, expanding and contracting with every tiny little snore and snort as she slept.

“She’s so cute,” said Santa Hooves with a playful lifting of his eyebrow to the Princess of the Sun, who had one wing trapped underneath the sleeping filly. “Good evening, Celestia. I knew you had somepony special when her list showed up at my workshop. I’ve never had a request list cross-referenced by item name, price, and weight before, and addressed to ‘Santa Hooves or Occupant.’ I was so tempted to just give her everything she asked for and call it a bookstore, but I’m too far behind on my schedule as is.”

“Very funny,” whispered Celestia as she craned her head to look at the heavy tome the reindeer was slipping under her student’s head. “Why did she request One Thousand and One Spells For Practical Jokes?”

“She didn’t. It’s for both of you.” Santa hefted his bag onto his back and turned for the fireplace with a wink and a quick glance at the clock on the wall. “She’s far too serious, and is going to need to unwind sometime, just like you. You’re placing a terrible burden on such a young filly, Celestia. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“So do I,” whispered Celestia once he had vanished up the chimney and the room had once again emptied of everypony except her and the young student. “So do I.”

The popping of a log in the fireplace sent a shower of sparks up the chimney, bringing Celestia’s attention back to the present and the sharp chill that filled the room. After a glance at the glacial clock and levitating another log into the fireplace, she looked out the window at Luna’s infinite stars with memories of another Hearth’s Warming Eve that had seemed so cold with the chill of evaporating hopes and dreams.

Where the years had passed in an endless parade of identical days before Twilight Sparkle had entered her life, her student had brought hope that the ancient prophecy would be fulfilled and Luna freed from Nightmare Moon. Looking back, it seemed as if Celestia’s heart had slowly frozen without Luna’s constant warmth to keep it thawed. There was a chill to seeing an endless sea of faces, ever changing, waves of mortal ponies each taking some small speck of her soul with them as they were loved, appreciated, and eventually passed away. Twilight Sparkle had returned a radiant warmth into her life far greater even than her sun to end her days of normalcy and routine. There was a vivacity to her relentless assault on the forces of ignorance and false reasoning that rubbed off on Celestia by daily contact, seeming so much like Luna that she had almost called her by name several times over the years.

It was difficult to remember just how much that Twilight had changed in a single night. At times, Celestia still felt a twinge of regret for losing that special sense of being needed so much whenever Twilight was going through one of her frequent crises or trying to explain just exactly where things went wrong and the frogs had begun to appear. She had grown so independent, and although Celestia was still a very important pony in her life, she was now only one of many. The lessons she had taught about friendship made the pain of loss bearable, for the magic of friendship was in the sharing, not the keeping.

The faint sounds of merriment ongoing in the streets of Canterlot caught her ear as they filtered up through her window, and her thoughts turned yet again to the other valuable lesson Twilight had taught her. It was a lesson of nearly averted disaster that had played over and over in Celestia’s mind after she had sent her student off to Ponyville with the instructions to “make some friends.”

The sounds of a school party filtered through Celestia’s study window, the happy music and shouts of her gifted students enjoying the crisp winter night with the youthful disregard for ice that would have their teachers all wrapped in mufflers and legwarmers against its chill embrace. With as many years as Celestia had ruled Equestria, this school Hearth’s Warming party in the Royal Gardens was something unprecedented, and the concept of doing something nopony had done before had caught fire with the young students. Despite that, it had taken considerable poking and prodding to get her student involved in decorating for the festive activity, and Celestia had not been optimistic about Twilight’s actual attendance at the event.

Now Celestia sat with the study window open to the flow of chilly winter air that swept across the icy marble tiles of the castle and made her scoot her cushion dangerously close to the fireplace. The party was in full swing, and the Princess of the Sun was doing everything she could to make certain the young ponies had as much fun as possible.

By staying away.

It had taken several false starts and considerable reassurance before she had seen Twilight off to the dance, dressed in the cutest blue dress with a mane full of bouncy curls and two other students at her side. And Spike, of course, who had been in charge of mistletoe placement and the subsequent testing of which by several of her students to the point where his cheeks were nearly solid red from lipstick. The little dragon was deeply revered among the students due to his uncanny ability to find needed books and his eager willingness to help with any scholastic task. If only Twilight Sparkle could be as well-liked.

As Celestia wrote, she sat and listened to the faint music drift through the night, a raucous beat that the youth would have been disturbed to find that she enjoyed. Perhaps tonight her young student would meet some friends. The time of Nightmare Moon’s return was far too near, and the Elements of Harmony were still just exactly where she had left them on that horrible night when she had imprisoned Luna in her beloved moon. The Elements had not changed from their inert stone forms, and still refused to answer to her touch. Without Twilight… Celestia could not bear to think of the consequences and bent to her writing instead.

The night drew on as Celestia caught up with more than a few letters and notes that had been delayed for too long, finding the process to be a fairly effective method for distracting her away from what was happening at the party. The faint thump at her door caught her by surprise, making her smear a blot of ink on a signature, but after a moment, the noise repeated itself. And then again.

“Twilight? Is that you?” she called, hoping secretly that it was perhaps some sort of attack on the castle instead.

“Yes,” came the quiet voice of her student from under the door, matched by another soft thump, but no further explanation.

When Celestia opened the door, Twilight Sparkle nearly fell flat on her face inside the study. She had been resting her forehead against the cool wood of the thick door directly between the two Night Guards, who exchanged sideways looks of quiet desperation indicating that they too would have preferred to be facing some sort of lethal invasion rather than the Student of the Sun in her present despondent mood.

Scooting Twilight inside with one broad wing, she gave the two charcoal-grey Nocturne guards a polite nod of thanks before closing the door. Leaning slightly against her teacher, Twilight walked the entire distance to the cushion with her eyes closed, stumbling on the edge and flinging herself down on the warm spot where Celestia had just gotten up.

“I’m sorry, Princess!” she sobbed into a pillow. “I tried, I really did. But everypony I talked to always left for more punch, even if they already had a full glass. And I kicked two colts when we were dancing, although I really don’t think the ambulance was warranted for the one, and then I stepped on one of your prize hibiscus plants and decided it would be better to go play games before I broke something else. I mean, there was alcohol in the punch bowl too, and I had a couple glasses of punch so I could have been drunk but I don’t think I was drunk because I could still do my squares and cube roots but I didn’t know the rules to the bottle game and when it pointed at me and the colt kissed me I kind of…” Twilight huddled into a little ball of sniffing misery and pulled the warm blanket up around her for concealment as much as warmth. “I think I bit him.”

“Oh, Twilight.” Celestia stroked her student’s tangled mane and considered how Twilight’s frazzled physical condition was so closely mirroring her student’s frayed state of mind. The cute little blue dress that she had been wearing this evening had become considerably split and wrinkled from her activities. There were even blotches from spilled hors d'oeuvres and punch mingled among leaf and grass stains spread across the fabric in such abundance that they would never be able to be cleaned to the Royal Seamstress’ satisfaction. At least her mane would grow out, because the cute little curls that looked so adorable before, now had somehow woven together in one stressed tangle that extended from horn to hocks. Even the Royal Stylist would have problems with that, but Celestia reached out with her magic and picked up a manebrush, stroking softly as her student hiccuped against her warm side and rambled through her recitation of the night’s events.

The mess Twilight had made of the party was the most organized chaos Celestia had ever heard since the days of Discord. Even if her student had schemed intentionally to disrupt the celebration, there was no way she could have pulled it off with such style. After all, she had somehow managed to preside over the destruction of the dance floor, the spiked punch bowl, and an overly affectionate unicorn colt who was going to need stitches on his bitten tongue, of all things. Even through all that, she had managed to have Moondancer escort Spike home when the little dragon got tired of the party and made precise mental notes about the whole escapade as if she were planning on writing a report. Which she probably was.

The slowing voice of her student tapered off to a quiet snore as a familiar stream of red and white sparkles flowed down the chimney and onto the floor, whirling around in a silent ball until the large form of Santa Hooves took shape. After a quick peek at the sleeping unicorn, he tucked away a small bag of golden sand and brushed off his hooves before nodding to Princess Celestia with an uncharacteristically solemn face.

“Good evening, Celestia. Have you told her about Luna yet?”

“No,” whispered the princess, still running the manebrush through her student’s tangled hair with the most delicate of touches. “I can’t. Just look at her. She tries so hard to please me, to be the perfect little student to her princess. If I were to tell her about Luna, she would be willing to do anything to save my sister. Even tonight, she went to that party just because I told her to go, and she tried so hard to make friends because I wanted her to make friends, not because she wanted them.”

The big reindeer shook his head before digging through his lumpy bag and floating out two books in his silvery magic. “I can’t say I agree with your methods, Celestia, but this is your responsibility, and therefore your call. All we can do is trust in Harmony.”

It took a little craning of her neck to read the title of the book Santa had slipped under her student’s head, and she compared it against the title of her own present. “You got her Predictions and Prophecies and me The Elements of Harmony - A Reference Guide? You know I already have a copy.”

The reindeer shrugged while shouldering his bag. “Perhaps you should donate it to a library. I understand the Ponyville Golden Oak Library is short a copy.”

“I thought we were supposed to trust in Harmony?”

The big reindeer turned with a wink. “Doesn’t mean we can’t give Harmony a helpful nudge every once in a while.”

And then in a whirl of sparkles, he was gone.

The fire had burnt itself low by the time Celestia heard the faint jingle of bells on the roof. There was a time for memories, and a time to embrace the present. And as if the thought of presents had triggered it, a smile crept onto her face, slowly at first, and then a broad grin of pure joy as the big reindeer appeared in front of the fireplace in his traditional fashion. Rather than running to him and wrapping him in a crushing embrace as she wanted, Celestia settled for a nod as she raised her voice.

“Luna. There’s somepony to see you.”

The side door to the study slammed open as the Princess of the Night bolted into the room with a happy cry of “Santa!” Even with his added bulk, the impact from the ecstatic alicorn moved him backwards a few feet, knocked off his balance by both the hug and the ecstatic kisses that followed. “We hath written a substantial list for your consideration, arranged by year and indexed for inflation and accumulated interest!” Luna produced the thick roll of paper and waved it around the room in her magic, until with one last kiss, she tossed it into the fireplace. “But I would fain to give it all up just to hear you laugh again.”

“Ho, ho… hee… Hey, that’s unfair! No wings!” The big reindeer was well-protected from the cold by his thick coat, but deftly manipulated wings negated his natural defenses and his jolly laughter was soon mixed with mutual giggling as Luna pressed her advantage.

“Princess Luna, I waited next door like you said, but when can I come out? And what’s all the noi—” Twilight Sparkle froze in the doorway, taking in the sight with wide eyes. Her teacher motioned her forward with one hoof and she obeyed, stumbling into Celestia’s study on unsteady hooves. She was speechless for the moment, but the moment did not last long.

“Princess, is that…” The same brave unicorn who had faced down Nightmare Moon, fierce dragons, and a rather large spider in the library, looked at the red coat, the black boots, and the broad belt before actually working up the courage to look at the large reindeer wearing them. “Santa Hooves? No! It can’t be.”

Celestia moved up beside her stunned student and put a wing over her back. “You’re old enough now to be part of the Adult Conspiracy, Twilight.”

“No, Princess. It can’t be. I mean, it defies all logic. That can’t be the real Santa Hooves.”

The big reindeer stood up and straightened his coat, brushing off a few small dark feathers that had gotten trapped inside before responding in a warm tenor. “When you were a little filly, you used to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night and get into your brother’s presents so you could read all of his comic books before he did. Your mother almost caught you one night, but you made up a little fib about hearing hooves on the roof to get out of trouble. It almost made you wind up on the naughty list the next year.”

“Santa?” Twilight's eyes grew large and her hooves began to dance in tiny little hops. “It is you. It really is — Oh, no!” She looked over at Celestia in a panic. “Can I get that essay on mythical creatures I wrote three years ago back, Princess? I need to make a few corrections.”

Celestia chuckled. “I have something else planned for you tonight. A very special present that I think you both will like.” She turned to Santa Hooves with her smile growing even larger.

“After all the times you’ve visited me with presents to raise my spirits when I needed it most, I thought it would be very fitting to give you a present in return. I can still remember when Luna and I were young enough to help you deliver presents to all the good little colts and fillies, and I thought maybe this year, you’d like an assistant for the night. I even made her a scarf for the trip.” Celestia produced a warm scarf in holiday shades of red, yellow and brown, holding it out for her student’s inspection.

“And I have created your assistant a most festive garment for this eve too, good Santa.” Luna held out an intricately-knit sweater that fairly glowed in the firelight, with festive holiday decorations of candy canes, penguins and flowers spread in enthusiastic abundance across every inch of fabric that was not occupied by the scripted lettering of ‘Santa’s Little Helper — All-Equestrian Tour.’

“Me?” squeaked Twilight Sparkle.

“He has a checklist,” said Princess Celestia with a wink.

“A checklist?” Twilight blinked at the thought of a long list of little colts and fillies, all with a neat checkbox besides their name. A very, very long list.

“I’ve already checked it twice,” rumbled the big reindeer with a wink back at Celestia. “But you can check it again if you want. Think fast, we need to get going. I’m already late.”

“And when you return, we shall have a steaming hot cup of cocoa waiting for each of you,” announced Luna. “It shall be exceedingly good to visit with you for what little time we have this year, good Santa. It has been far too long since I last climbed up in your lap and told you what I want for presents.”

“Luna!” chided her sister. “Twilight is in the room.”

“Yes,” announced Twilight Sparkle in a near whisper as her mind processed the idea. Then she added more firmly, “Yes! Yes! YES! Let’s go!” She moved in a near blur, shrugging into the sweater and wrapping the scarf firmly around her neck before giving each of the alicorn princesses an appreciative kiss on the cheek. In a whirl of sparkles, both assistant and reindeer vanished up the chimney and were gone, leaving only the sound of receding bells.

The two alicorns settled onto the cushion with a mutual sigh, bumping together as the sisters jostled for space. Two steaming mugs of cocoa were produced and gently tapped together in a toast before being sipped slowly while they watched the fire. There were so many things that needed said, but for this night, the things that did not need said were far more important. And for many hours, the two sisters just rested in each other’s presence, a warm harmony resumed after a long, cold winter apart.