Author's Notes:

Well, I was originally aiming for Christmas...
Then the 26th...
Guess today will have to do!

I got a very big job at work and it has been so grueling that I have been pulling long shifts, moving material, and dealing with mistake after mistake that by the time I'm done I'm just dead tired and want to do absolutely nothing. Thank you all for the support, I never thought that I would get this much love!

And no, that is not a goodbye!

Even though its January...

I sighed contently. Winter had finally arrived in Equestria. It wasn’t quite like what I had anticipated, but then again, I have no idea what I was expecting. Not like I watched Rainbow and her team play with clouds all day. But apparently, that floating city named Cloudsdale, travels from town to town depositing the snow they make for winter. My guess is because of the strange way the planet, sun, and moon operate, that it was a result of that gravitational anomaly.

“You ready for Hearths Warming, Excalibur?” Twilight asked as she approached, dawned in a little striped scarf and earmuffs. Just behind her, the rest of the gang along with Drax and Serenity were just behind her. The latter of the two Tenno, had blinking lights tied around her neck brace.

I shrugged. “I guess? I got you guys gifts.” It was amazing how similar it was to Christmas back home. Also, strange that the Grineer like to celebrate that holiday to though. I never figured out how that works. “Oh! Before I forget!” I said, turning to face everyone fully. Holding up a hand, I pressed a button in my palm.

There was a flash of light and everyone was covered in a looming shadow. They all looked up in horror just in time to witness a large pile of snow collapsing on all of them. There was a scream for a split second before it became muffled by all the snow.

“Victory!” I shouted, throwing my arms to the sky in celebration.

That was for the crap snowball fight they got me into the other day. Somehow, they convinced the entire town to ambush me. There was so much snow, I somehow was turned into a snowman. No, seriously, round body and everything. Someone even threw a carrot and some coal somewhere along the line. I’m more confused that embarrassed.

But sucking a whole field full of snow up and hiding a few storage containers sure made up for it! As I stood there laughing, Rainbow was the first to poke her head out, followed by Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, a giggling Pinkie, and Applejack. A white arm signaled as to where Drax was trapped, and a leg revealed Serenity. Now, Ponyville...

You're next!

I just stood there, watching the amusing display of everyone trying to pull and dig themselves free. After about ten minutes, Pinkie and Twilight were free and Serenity’s head and lights out. Drax simply melted the snow away and growled at me when he got free before grabbing Rainbow and pulling her free. “I bet I could modify one of my weapons to fire snowballs?” I said to myself, lost in thought. The Astilla maybe? I mean, if we can make a sword out of solid cryotic, I bet I could get a gun to fire a snowball!

I’ll think about it…

It wasn’t long afterwards that everyone was free. Rainbow started a small snowball fight with Applejack, Pinkie had built a ramp and somehow produced a sled to ride on. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity sat in a small circle with three mugs of steaming hot chocolate, the latter of the three still straightening her hair, grumbling, and glaring at me out of the corner of her eye.

As the sun started to set on the horizon, the blanketed surroundings glowed bright orange, illuminating the land in a rather wonderful orange glow. Placing my hand in the snow, I grabbed a fistful and quickly and stealthily, formed it into a snowball. With a little finesse, I hoofed (threw... okay?) it over Rarity and beaned Dash in the side of the head. “Nice shot Rarity!” I shouted.

“What!?” It was already too late, Dash believe my fib and wasted little time in making a massive ball of snow.

“You’re dead Rarity!” the prismatic mare declared, grabbing the ball with all for hooves and taking flight. The white mare in her pink scarf, blue glasses, and hat, screamed at the top of her lungs and bolted screaming ‘not my mane’ the entire way! As Dash flew between Fluttershy and Twilight, the former giggled at her friend’s antics and Twilight turned her gaze into a glare at me.

“Oof!” Twilight yelped when a snowball hit her right in the face.

“Hehe… sorry!” I apologized.

Twilight shook her head, clearing what show she could before she opened her eyes and groaned at me. Her horn ignited and that's when I knew I made a mistake. “You tried!” My eyes went wide.

...Shit.

A massive pile of snow lifted off the ground and shot at me like a bat outta hell. I only had enough time to open my shield and hide behind it as the frozen water pelted the metal. The onslaught lasted several seconds before it stopped, leaving me unharmed. Daring a peek, I poked the top of my helmet over the shield. Glancing down, there was a large pile of snow at the base. “Missed me!”

Twilight smiled contently and hummed a little tune to herself as she lifted a hoof and gestured above me twice. Now… dare I look up? Do I dare to see what that massive shadow is created by- “Shit!”

Okay I looked up…

Well… as much as payback sounds applicable here, it really isn’t. Since, well, I was the one exacting revenge sooo…

There was a flash and I was free. Twilight’s smirk loomed over me a seconds later. Quickly, with speed only a bullet could match…

I booped Twilight on the nose.

Her eyes crossed as she stared at her muzzle for a second before she sneezed. Her muzzle scrunched up again as she wiggled her nose before falling back and rubbing her face like a cat. “Ngnnn!”

I snorted a laugh when I sat up. Applejack trotted up next to me with a quizzical look. “What in tarnation did you do?” I reached over a prodded her nose quickly. Applejack too went cross eyed as she sat there for a second…

Before she fell backwards and started to scratch at her muzzle with her back hooves and whimpering. “Huh…” Now my assumptions have gone from stuffed animals to cats as their closest relatives.

“What did you do!?” Rainbow demanded as she flew up. Poking her nose, the mare locked up and fell to the ground from the few foot hover she was originally in. Landing, she started to rub herself vigorously on the ground. “It itches!” she whimpered.

“Me! Mememememe!” Pinkie shouted as she joined the chaos. With a smile a mile wide, she stood in front of me, expecting to boop her nose. Shrugging, I reached up and poked her nose…

Squeak!

She… squeaked?

Squeak!

Pinkie started to giggle the more I poked her nose. You know? I have no idea what I was expecting. With each poke, she made the same noise, just at different pitches. Okay… just another reason to stop thinking about it. With one last poke and a squeak, Pinkie deflated with a saddened ‘awww’ when she realized I was done, but was better not a second later. The other three mares had regained their composure soon after and shot me disapproving glares.

Rainbow lifted her head. “What is that?” Confused, I turned around and looked to the night sky. High above the plains of Ponyville, I could see a bright red light. It flew overhead at a rapid pace, soon heading past and towards Canterlot.

“I have no idea,” I replied, turning and heading to the Liset. “Sure isn’t a meteor or anything of mine.” As I ascended the ramp, girls and drake not far behind, I grabbed one of the ramp pistons and turned to face them. “I’ll take a look. Be back shortly.”

Couldn’t be anything to important.

Ordis and I had been following the light far into the frozen north or Equestria. We were so far, I had watched as we passed the Crystal Empire. I stood in the center of the cockpit, one arm crossed in front of my chest, the other holding my chin. “Ordis? Anything on comms?”

There was a buzz before Ordis replied. “No, Excalibur.”

I sighed. “Try one more time. But in the meantime, scan the ship. I want to take a look.” As Ordis was trying the comms yet again, a quick flash of blue shot out from the front of the ship and illuminated it for a second. I swore I saw red. Turning around, I faced the left table.

A… a 3D feed of a horse drawn sled appeared. “Ordis?” I said slowly, confused as hell. “What is that?”

“A sled, Excalibur,” he replied honestly.

I turned back to face the windshield. The bright red light was the only thing to see this far into the north. Okay, now I was just even more confused than beforehand. “Follow it,” I ordered. We continued for a little while until the object banked and dove to the left. “Follow! Follow!” I order urgently with a point of my right hand.

Following rapidly into the darkness. The ship that I have now concluded it to be, dove hard and fast. Stepping back, I held onto the left table with one hand for stability. “Keep on it, keep on it…” I said quietly.

As we continued to race after the unknown ship. Snow began to blow over the ship, blurring our vision to near invisible conditions. “Ordis, bring the ship up on therm-SHIT! PULL UP!” If Ordis had eyes, they would have gone wide. The flaps flared wide and the engines roared in an attempt to reverse from the oncoming ice. Ordis pulled back hard, raising the nose to prevent from crashing into the ice of Northern Equestria. The unknown ship dove nose first into a crevasse in the ice. Snow blew over the windshield yet again as we came to a slow hover.

Damn… almost crashed a second time…

“Ordis! Land the ship and keep the engines warm!” I ordered, heading for the back of the Liset. “I’m headed out there! I have to know what that thing is!”

“I… Yes Excalibur,” Ordis hesitated. The engines roared yet again before the ship jolted lightly, indicating that we landed. There was a hiss, indicating that the ramp had lowered too. The heavy winds filled the ship with snow in a single massive rush of air. “Reminds me of Europa!” I shouted to myself over the roaring winds.

Ordis set a waypoint for me to follow as I disappeared into the darkness. “Be safe, Excalibur…”

“You sound like I’m going to die?” I replied. There was a moment of silence. “Ordis?” I asked as I stepped in a rather deep hole, forcing myself to pull my leg free.

“... I have a bad feeling about this.”

I paused, slowly turning my head and glancing back at the ship for a moment. “Just keep the ship close, Ordis.” There was no response, so I trudged on. At least this wasn’t as cold as the actual winds of Europa. That place is so cold, shield generators take such a hard hit they need to be replaced unless warmed rapidly. After a few minutes of post holing in the snow, I reached the crevasse.

“Well…” Only one way to go in… and that's down. Crossing my arms over my chest, I jumped feet first into hell. “YEEEEHOOOO!” Okay, I couldn’t help but scream for joy as I slid. That was one fast slide! Turn after turn and one long slide and I clocked my speed at about 20. After several seconds of speed and uncontrollable laughter, I came to a stop…

Face first in a pile of snow…

“Okay!” I complained loudly. That was the third time in a week I got whitewashed. Pulling myself from the white mess, I quickly brushed myself down and drew my rifle. The hunt is afoot! The snow may have stopped, but the howling winds didn’t seem to cease. At least that will keep my noise down. Sparing a glance up, I was pretty deep down in this thing. At least the ice looked nice. A gorgeous light blue.

Don’t tell Frost I said that…

Unsure, I kept the safety off and continued onward. There were turns here and there and a few spots where the crevasse fractured off, but most were too small to hide a personal ship. It wasn’t long before I rounded one last corner…

And I froze… and no, not because my armor locked up. There, about 30 meters in front of me, stood a man in a red suit with white accents, he was investigating the bright red sled, back to me. At the very front, I could see nine reindeer strapped to the front. Eight tied side by side with the ninth as lead. All of them look exhausted and two of them looked injured.

Confused, I looked around the area. Like, I expected Pinkie to jump out and scream surprise or something. Honestly, this was just weird. Aiming right at the back of the man's head. He was so preoccupied, he didn’t notice me until I poked him in the back of the head with my rifle muzzle. “Hands… now!”

The man slowly lifted his head, the ball on the top of his hat shifting lightly as he stood to his full height. “I… said… hands!” I growled. “NOW!” He took a deep breath, his shoulders rising before dropping as he breathed out.

“You have been a naughty boy… young man…” he said in a deep, Norse accent. Man, for a fat man, he sure can move fast! I heard a blade draw and his elbow slammed my gun to the left and out of my hands. He swung wildly, and not the wild of random strikes, he knew what he was doing!

I stepped to the left to dodge and attack and ducked to avoid one aimed at my neck. He recovered and swung again, forcing me to block with my right arm, preventing me from drawing my own blade. He swung three more times before I got a punch in. His head recoiled back and the hat went flying. “SANTA!” I heard a voice scream.

I grabbed the man by the collar and - “Wait?” I released the man and stepped back. “Santa?” The large, white bearded man rubbed his right cheek where I struck him and stood up from his kneeling position, sword still in hand. There was the sound of hooves on ice as one of the deer ran up, the lead to be precise.

“Santa! Are you okay!?”

The rest of the eight surrounded me, heads down, antlers up. The man stepped back while the deer rose and placed its hooves on the man's shoulders, inspecting his face while mumbling silently. Dropping back on all fours, it turned to me with a growl. “How dare you!”

I snorted a laugh.

“Not gonna lie… hard to take you seriously with that bright red nose…”

The deer went cross eyed as it stared at its mutation of a nose before growling and stomping a hoof with a snort. “Rudolph!” the man I presumed to be Santa chastised. “Stand down!”

Rudolph’s face went from anger to shock, spinning on his heels. “Santa! You can’t be serious!?” he questioned, holding a hoof towards me.

“I said down!” Santa ordered forcefully. “We do not have time for this! Christmas is tomorrow!” He turned to look at the rest that had me surrounded. “That goes for all of you! Pitch is after us! It has never mattered more than now that we make tonight count!”

I furrowed my brow at this. “What do you mean?” I asked, taking a step forward, only to be blocked by two bucks. “Who the hell are you?”

Now it was his turn to snort a laugh. “Do you not recognize Father Christmas!?”

I felt my right eye twitch. “WHAT!?” I blurted unceremoniously. This whole panicking and brain failure this was supposed to be Twilight's thing! Okay bad example. But still!

There was a loud *thump* behind me, causing me to duck down and turn around. There, in front of me, was what I could only compare to as dark magic in the form of some sick monster. Several more landed not far behind it, quickly surrounding us all. Each looking like some sick monster. “What are those!?” I shouted.

“Nightmares!” Santa replied as he drew a second blade, his head moving from creature to creature. “I lost them just before you hunted us down!” He explained, shooting a glare at me. “Everyone! To your posts!”

“Not at all!” one buck replied.

“We won’t leave you!” another shouted.

Santa was having none of it though. “Go! That’s an order!” Everydeer? -Oh how pony acronyms have gotten to me...- Seemed conflicted before they turned and made a run for the sleigh. That's when all hell broke loose. These dark shadows jumped and screeched like rabid animals. I drew my blade and hacked at the shadow in front of me, causing it to disappear into a black mist. Santa hacked and two with his twin blades. The bucks thrashed antlers and kicked hooves as they fought tooth and nail to reach the sleigh. Once they were close enough, the harnesses rose off the ground via magic and attached to their respective pullers. “Santa! Get in!” Rudolph shouted.

The red suited man slashed at two figures, turning them to dust before making a beeline for the sleigh. I cut into two with mine before turning a throwing my Skana, its blade cutting through a line of three like butter. I spun and made a sprint towards the sleigh, hot on the fat mans heels. Santa was up front grabbing the reins in a matter of seconds. “Come on boys! Hya!” he shouted with a snap of the reins. Just as he started to pull away, I jumped over and into the back seat. Sitting up and holding out a hand, my blade was back and soon replaced with my Soma.

“What are these things!?” I asked again, opening fire with my Soma in small bursts at the shadows. “Ordis! Get out of here! Grab Serenity and Drax!”

“But-” came the reply, before I cut him off.

“GO!”

I could hear the roar of the engines in the distance over the roaring wind before a loud boom signaled the ship’s departure. Santa snapped the reins again. “Dark shadows!” He shouted over his shoulder. “Subjects to the great Pitch Black!”

“Who!?”

“The Boogeyman!” Santa shouted again with another snap of the reins. “He will do anything in his power to stop me!” Another snap of the reins, Rudolph headbutting a shadow trying to block our path. “I am the only one left of the original guardians! Christmas cannot die!” Another snap.

I sat down and reloaded before holding my Soma sideways and firing at several shadows to the left. “How did they find us here!?” I shouldered my gun to shoot out the right side.

“Pitch provides the targets!” Santa shouted. “King Sombra provides the magic!”

I paused. “King Sombra…” I said under my breath. “I killed that son of a bitch!”

“His body is dead but his spirit remains!” Santa replied as I turned around to keep firing. Holy shit there were a lot of them! My radar was strangely blank. Probably since the damn things weren’t alive! I counted 50 and still counting! Time to just fire!

I held the trigger and dumped all 200 rounds into the crowd. But when one died, two took its place. This was a losing battle…

Boxed in with no way out! “This is the strangest roller coaster I’ve ever been in!” I shouted while working the action and chambering another round. Once the gun was ready, I sat there in though for a moment before shrugging. Feeling lazy, I held the gun backwards over my head and fired with my thumb.

The sleigh bounced heavily, causing me to bounce in my seat. “Get us airborne!” Santa shouted to his team. The sled bounced violently a second time as it jumped several more feet before slamming on the ground, hard.

“We have to get out of this crevasse!” “I shouted, bouncing around in the back seat. Once I got a steady spot, I opened fire yet again. Tracers illuminated the surrounding area, chipping and melting ice as they impacted. These damn things just keep coming!

“Look out!” Rudolph shouted. Grabbing onto the side rail of the sled for support, the sled jerked again before we took flight. Sleigh bells jingled loudly as we took to the air. More dark shadows surrounded us as we flew.

I loaded up another mag before leaning over the back of the front seat. “Can you shoot!?” I shouted at the fat man. He gave me a glance before looking over his shoulder at the still pursuing creatures.

“I maybe a swordsman,” he replied. “But I know a good weapon when I see one!” Holding out a hand, I slapped my Lex Prime in it. Santa flicked off the safety, held the reins in his left hand, and opened fire. More heavy gunfire resonated throughout the crevasse, each shadow hit screamed out in agony when they seemed to ‘die’.

I fell back in my seat yet again as I loaded another magazine. “Last mag!” I shouted, cocking the gun. “You better have ammo in this sac here!” I shouted at Santa, gesturing to the large, red bag that sat next to me with my body.

“Reach inside!” he shouted back. “You may find something you like!” Furrowing my brow, I glanced at the bag before holstering my rifle and crawling over to it. Shoving my hand in without hesitation, there was a flash of light as my hand grasped a large handle. With a grunt, I pulled the object out.

“Oh, hell yeah!” I cheered.

“Language!”

“Fuck you!”

Time to bring the pain! I grasped the forward handle of the massive handheld chain gun in my hands and held it up before chambering a round. With a slap of my right hand, I took my stance…

And opened fire!

The heavy gun roared like thunder as the massive rounds tore through the night sky. With three round bursts, the air around the barrel superheated, creating heat waves to waft off the barrel. Pretty soon, the floor was littered with brass casings that clicked and tinked with each bounce or drop of a casing.

“Hang on!” Rudolph shouted.

Uh… oh…

The sled jerked so violently, I was thrown from my feet, slamming into the right side, knocking the wind from me. Pushing myself up, the sled lurched to the left. Unable to keep my hold, I rolled backwards, gun in hand, and bounced off the massive red bag and over the other end. “Shit!” I clamped my hand down hard onto the edge of the sled.

“You still there son!?” I heard Santa shout before he fired two shots.

I glanced down at the dark abyss below me. “Yeah!” I heard a hiss and lifted my head. Not too far in front of me, were two shadows that looked like a mix between a massive dog and a sick cat. They hiss angrily at me. My head snapped down to the chain gun in my right hand then back up at the two figures.

I smirked.

Swinging my hand back, I used the momentum to help get the gun up. I opened fire before having my sights on target. Using the momentum of the recoil, the gun lifted. Both lighter spots that I assumed to be eyes, went wide on the shadows before they were obliterated into dust.

Up above, Santa wrapped the reins around a metallic holder on the front. “Rudolph!? You’re in charge!” he ordered to the lead deer. Placing the gun on the seat, he spun around and leaned over the edge of the sled and holding out a hand. “Take my-oof!” he grunted, falling backwards as a black blob slammed right into his chest.

My eyes went wide as the worst came to mind. Dropping the chain gun -to my dismay- I spun to grab onto the edge with both hands. “Santa!?” Rudolph shouted. Pulling myself up with a grunt, I rolled onto the back seat. Just as I was sitting up, I was knocked back onto the seat, my foot catching the bag and dropping back onto the seat.

I winced as a black mass adjusted itself on top of me and hissed. All I saw was a massive maw of teeth. As it tried to bite down on my face, I held up a hand and it slammed down on my arm. It thrashed violently and continued to try and bite at me. During the struggle, my foot kicked the object on the floor.

“Run boy run~!”

What?

Both myself and the shadow stared at each other in confusion before I leaned up and it leaned back to look at the small music player sitting next to my right foot.

“They’re trying to catch you! Run boy run~!”

I raised a brow as we shared another confused glance. I took this opportunity to open my Venka and straighten my arm. With a defiant shout, I threw my arm forward and stabbed the shadow in what I assumed to be the things neck, causing it to disperse. I quickly sat up and grabbed Santa by the back of the jacket and up into a sitting position.

The left buck closest to the sled glanced back. “How is he!?”

I held a hand to his neck, when my fingers moved slightly I knew he was fine. “He’s alive! Just knocked out cold!” Now I just need to wake him! The sled continued to lurch and bounce with each maneuver the team did. I started by lightly slapping him on the face while shouting for him to wake up. When that failed, I started with pain points, when that failed…

Well… this could work…

“Easter is the best holiday ever!” I shouted into his face.

Both his eyes shot open and he sat up perfectly, arms flailing every which way. “AHHHHHH! I’ll skin that rabbit alive!” he shouted before freezing, his brow furrowing and lips pursed as he seemed to take in situation we were in. “Where am I?”

“Guess!?” I shouted, grabbing my handgun with my right hand and his right hand with my left, I slapped the gun in his open palm. “We’re still in this fight! Open fire!” I sat back and grabbed the music player from the floor. “If we’re going to do this!” I came to a stop when a bass started to play, a smirk on my lips. “We’re going to do this right!”

“I’m gunna fight em’ off~!”

“That’s more like it!” dropping the player, I rose to my feet held my hands together, the sound of metal grinding signaled that I was so done! I held my Exalted Blade out before taking my stance. “Honor thy enemy… but hold nothing BACK!” I said quietly before bringing the blade under my left arm and swinging horizontally.

A massive arc made of pure, red void energy shot out from the blade, tearing through several dark masses before impacting against the ice. The ground shook violently at the sound of ice shattering, causing several large ice chunks to break free, crushing several darker minions.

Up ahead, several shadows raced ahead before they all slammed together, creating a massive wall of darkness. Rudolph’s eyes went wide, “Heads up!” he ordered to the rest of the team. “Antlers down, brace for rams!”

The two leads bucks -with the help of magic- moved to the sides, allowing the lead to fit in between them, causing the three to stand side-by-side. Their heads dropped, sharp antlers at the ready. “Brace! Brace! Brace!” Rudolph ordered.

Santa grabbed the reins and held onto the front while I grabbed the back of the seat. The sled shook violently as Rudolph and his two partners thrashed their heads, shattering the wall like glass. Another wall formed and it was shattered like before. This continued for two more before Rudolph shouted that they couldn’t keep it up.

“I got it!” I shouted, hopping over and into the front seat. “I’ll weaken the wall! Keep your eyes out for exit points!” With a set of nods, I held onto the front with one hand. I held my blade over my head and held it for a second as the wall started to get closer.

Now!

I swung furiously, each slash forming an ‘X’ formation, cutting through the wall. The team continued to bash through several more walls before Rudolph turned his head to the left as we passed by a massive crack in the ice. He blinked twice. “Back there!” he shouted, pointing a hoof behind us and to the left. “I think I saw a way out!” Both Santa and I turned out heads in the indicated direction.

“Ever drifted a sled before?” Santa asked me.

“No?” I replied dumbly. “Shit!” The sled jerked to the left hard, throwing me back into the seat as the sled turned hard. With a snap of the reins, the team was off, full bore towards the crack on the ice.

“Come on boys!” Santa cheered. “We’re almost out!” As soon as we reached the crack, we banked to the right, the skids dragging along the left wall of the ice. We came roaring out of the crevasse not to long afterwards, dozens of shadows chasing after us.

While I glanced back, Santa let out a defeated sigh as a little bright orange dot started to race towards us. “This is the last thing I need…” Looking forward, I smirked.

“What is that!?” another buck shouted.

“Get ready boys!” I shouted back, placing a hand on the edge of the sled. “Here come our reinforcements!”

“Excalibur, ETA, sixty seconds!” Ordis informed over the radio.

“You got fifteen!”

It was a long thirty later. As the ship came roaring up, Drax raced by with a guttural roar himself, the archwing attached to his back as he tackled one of the shadows. The duo hacking and slashing as they fell. I cheered with a raised, celebratory fist as the Liset came roaring up, turning hard to open the ramp. As the ramp dropped, Serenity racked a round into the massive .50 cal. support weapon…

And opened fire!

The heavy weapon roared like a dragon as she pointed it in every direction, no point in aiming, just spray and pray! The Liset continued to keep pace, providing covering fire. Over the roar of the gun and the wind, Pinkie and Twilight appeared. Twilight took to the skies and started her own aerial battle, using her magic to fend off the darkness.

Pinkie on the other hand…

“Cannonball!” Pinkie declared as she jumped, curling up into a ball all the while. She hovered for a moment before landing flank first in the red bag. She popped out a second later with a bright pink, steel helmet with a private symbol on the front. She slapped to a salute. “Private Pinkie reporting for duty!”

“Pinkie?” Santa replied. “Are you a mare for sore eyes!”

I… I continued to stare at the pair. “You two know each other!?” I shouted, with a point of my finger.

“Of course!” they replied in unison.

“Santa and I go way back!” The pink mare declared. “Although the human look is new!”

“I… forget it! We don’t have time!” I shouted at them. “Ordis! Give Serenity the Imperator!” I turned my attention to Serenity, who was still firing. “Serenity, toss me the gun!” The woman continued to fire with one hand and used the other to grab the arch-gun. Swinging her arm, she threw it with all her might. Standing, I caught the weapon and turned around, wasting little time in firing.

“Pinkie!” Santa shouted at the mare over the gunfire. Pinkie, turned to look at the man, removing her hooves from her ears. “I got something you might like! Look in the bag!”

Pinkie gasped loudly. “You did!?” She jumped out of the bag and dove back in head first, her tail wagging happily while her legs kicked around. She grunted a few times as she started to pull a large object out. It took several seconds, but once she was done, there was a loud, comical *pop*. Once again, Pinkie gasped once she saw what it was. “A cupcake fed Gatling gun! With detachable tripod!” she turned to the red clad driver. “Santa, you know me so well!”

That’s a thing!?

You know what… never mind.

Pinkie quickly set up the tripod and had the weapon ready. She pulled a plate of cupcakes from her mane, shoved them in, and turned the crank. The thing even sounded like a Gatling gun! The night sky was lit up like fireworks with the power of all three chain guns. This was the first time I had ever seen cupcakes used as a deadly weapon.

A rainbow explosion off in the distance signaled that Rainbow Dash was on the way. The sounds of rushing air and arcing electricity as Rainbow lead a small squad of Wonderbolts. I could hear whistling over the roar of equipment. Sounded like incoming ordinance! The team of four came racing in at high speed, slamming into the first target they saw. The four bolts were a fury of punches as they tumbled through the air.

Up above, Twilight came to a hover, surveying the battle. “Look out!” She warned, but it was all in vain. The sled shook violently as two massive shadows slammed into the team. Pinkie yelped, then screamed as she was violently thrown into the air. I wasted no time in reaching for the pink mare.

“Pinkie!” I shouted, wrapping an arm around her small body, I pulled her close and held her like a teddy bear, dropping my Imperator at my feet and holding on tight. Lifting my head, I watched in horror as three heads went limp.

“Comet! Dasher! Prancer!?” Santa shouted as all three fell free from their restraints. The sled lurched again as we started into a steep dive. Santa pulled hard on the reins as the team struggled to stay aloft. “We won’t stay up for very long!”

“Twilight!?”

“I got them!” the mare in question yelled as she raced by in a dive. “Rainbow!” She shouted to the mare at the top of her lungs, “Hook up!” Rainbow’s ears perked as she threw a punch, destroying another mist creature.

She watched as the sled dropped like a rock before turning to her teammates. “Hook up! Hook up!” she ordered, pointing at the sled. Two of her teammates glanced at us, then gave a prompt salute before shooting off after their leader. All three dove before coming up hard, automatically connecting to the harnesses. “Come on you two! Let's get airborne!”

With three mighty wing flaps and the rest of the team pushing with all their might, the sled started to raise and level out. An explosion of light below us surprised me. Twilight raced by, a purple trail following her, similar to Rainbow’s rainbow trail. She peaked out just above us with flared wings, the three bucks in her magic. “STAY AWAY FROM MY BOYFRIEND!”

Pinkie turned her head to look up at me while I looked down at her. “I have no idea when that became a thing…” I shook my head. “Twilight! Get them in the ship!” I shouted at her. My voice seemed to grab her attention as she glanced at all three of them. With a determined nod, she raced towards the ship. Serenity stepped to the side to allow access.

Once inside, Twilight raced to the cockpit, where Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity waited, nervous looks on their faces. “Fluttershy! Applejack! Help these three! I need to get back out there!” She gently placed the three down on the floor and racing back out of the ship.

Fluttershy gasped and Applejack immediately jumped into action. Both started to tend to the wounded as Rarity turned to the left table. “Excalibur, Darling?”

Outside, my attention moved to the ship. “Rarity? What happened to Ordis!?”

“He’s preoccupied,” she answered. “He wanted me to inform you that we are just a few miles from the Crystal Empire! If we turn to the right now, we should be there in a few minutes!”

My head snapped to the south-west. “Head that way!” I ordered with a point of my hand in the proper direction. “We should be there in a few minutes!”

Santa let that linger for a second. “You heard the man! GO!” A soft thump and bounce of the seat signaled that something had landed next to us.

“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie greeted happily.

Never mind.

“I contacted Cadence!” she informed. “She has the entire Crystal Royal Guard at the ready! As soon as we land, we’ll have backup!”

“There’s a team of Wonderbolts there too!” Rainbow shouted over her shoulder. “I had Twilight tell them too!”

“It’s going to be a long few minutes!”

Cadence stood by nervously as she watched the northern end of the shield from the base of the castle. She slowly glanced behind her at her husband who stood nearby, the two shared a glance before she glanced back at the entire Crystal Empire Guard.

“Here they come!” one of the guards shouted.

All heads looked to the skies as the Liset entered the empire, followed closely by a large red sled being pulled by three ponies and several reindeer. Drax and a one more Wonderbolt entered the field…

Followed by dozens of dark masses!

“Heads up! Weapons ready!” Shining Armor ordered. Every guard and Wonderbolt snapped to the ready, weapons drawn, ready for action. The Liset roared overhead, kicking up dust as it raced by. The large, red sled came racing in, banking hard to avoid crashing. There was a loud clang as the metal sleds scraped along the crystal street, the passengers bouncing around violently before it came to a crashing stop against several trashcans.

I stumbled out of the sled, a little dizzy. As I regained my footing after trying to figure out how to rate that roller coaster, I could see that the line had been set. On one side stood the Crystal Guard, the other were the dark shadow figures.

“ENOUGH!” came a new voice from somewhere.

A new combatant has entered the battle.

Several shadows started to shake before they shot towards each other and became one larger mass. It contorted violently all over its body before it became one single mass and rose. It looked human… but the grey skin and long black… man dress? Said something else…

“Pitch…” Santa hissed under his breath.

So, this is the Boogeyman?

“This is the last time you get in my way fat man!” he shouted in a fit of rage. Much like Nightmare beforehand, he turned into a fine mist and shot out after the red suited man. Santa’s eyes went wide as he took a step back.

I grunted as the shadow slammed into my chest, taking the hit for him. I winced and ignored the shouts of protest. With a painful grunt, I slapped my hand against my chest and grabbed a fistful of sand-like material, pulling the dark mass with all my strength, it came with my hand. “GAHHHH!” A face started to for with a defiant shout of its own as it was followed by a forming body. After several seconds, I massed formed into a body, held up by his collar.

I scowled at the startled figure in my hand…

“If it lives… it breathes…”

Metal grinded on metal as my Venka shot open. I pulled my arm back and shoved them to the hilt, right into Pitch’s abdomen. All he did was look at me with a blank look before coughing, a black substance splattering against my suit.

“If it breathes… it bleeds…”

Time slowed as I pulled the blades from his side, a dark black ooze coating them, dripping onto the ground.

“And if it bleeds… I can kill it!”

I shoved the blades directly into his chest and releasing him with my right hand. Pulling my right arm back, I shoved the second set of blades in. I was ruthless, pulling the blades free and shoving them back in like an animal. The attacks came swiftly as the multiple holes oozed the dark blood.

After several vicious attacks, I pulled both sets of claws free and drew my sword. With one fluid motion, I slashed the man across the chest, spinning, I spun the blade in my hand, holding it reverse. I came to a stop, the blade millimeters from the figures neck. “You’ve been replaced…”

With a flick of my wrist, his head left his shoulders. His body and head dissipated before they hit the ground. Defeated and leaderless, the shadows vanished like they were never there…

Once the last was gone, the entire division broke out into loud cheers. Ponies all around started to hug and slap hooves. The exhausted reindeer team finally collapsed on the ground, happy smiled on their faces. Santa fell backwards on his fat ass, an exhausted sigh escaping his lips.

I sheathed my blade, and turned to look back at the man as Twilight and the girls walked up. “You should be safe here,” I said. Santa snorted as Rudolph approached and started to examine the man. “You did good son!”

The bucks head snapped up at me. “Son!? I’m a girl!”

I reeled back. “What!?”

“What!? You got a problem with me in the lead?” she snorted angrily. “I will have you know I have led this team for a long-time mister!” Welp… this is awkward. Let’s see what Rarity is… and she is fawning over one of the guys in the team. Why am I not surprised?

I clicked my tongue off the roof of my mouth. “...Sorry” She, she ‘hurump’d’ in an acceptance before turning back to Santa.

“Thank you…”

I smirked under my helmet. Turning to the Liset, Fluttershy excited, followed by three teams of medical ponies, all six carrying a stretcher with a buck on each of them. Well… it was late, and we were all tired. I glanced down at Twilight. “Time to head out.”

She nodded and started to turn, but froze when she saw Cadance and her brother. All three of them locked eyes before Twilight abruptly turned and headed towards the ship. Tears started to flow on Cadence’s face while Shining look to the ground with a hurt expression. As I watched Twilight walk towards her friends, I took a deep breath and held up a hand.

“Cadance?”

The mares head snapped up as she looked at me. With a flick of my wrist, a small object covered in colorful wrapping paper hovered through the air. It hit her in the chest lightly and bounced against her hooves as she struggled to hold it. Shining started at his wife in confusion before he jumped back with a yelp as my sudden presence.

I spun the second object in my hand and held it out to him. Confused, the stallion stared at it for a few seconds before holding up a shaky hoof and taking the object. Once I was sure he had it, I turned and walked away.

The pair watched as the ship took to the skies and out of sight. They’re attention moved to the objects in their hooves. “Merry Hearth's Warming,” Santa said quietly from not to far away. “Enjoy the gifts.”

Confused, Cadence opened hers first. She gasped loudly and held a hoof to her muzzle as more tears started to flow. In her hoof, was an expertly made necklace with an equally expertly cut pink Heart Nyth in the center. Nearby, Shining tore open the long gift, revealing a masterly made Skana, with the words inscribed…

“Honor Your Enemy, But Hold Nothing Back…”