Entering her chambers, Princess Celestia paused, grateful for a bit of downtime. Hearth’s Warming Eve was sixteen days away and this time of year was always so busy. So busy in fact, that the days became the shortest out of all of the year, with the sun rising late and being put to bed early.

More than anything, Princess Celestia wanted some time alone. All day long she had been dealing with crowds of ponies. Today had been the charity fundraiser; for a fee, one could have their photo taken with Princess Celestia and the photo could be printed as a lovely holiday card that could be sent to friends and relatives. This years theme was ugly holiday sweaters—Princess Celestia had been quite surprised by some of the… things that passed as holiday sweaters.

Still overwhelmed, Princess Celestia wasn’t quite sure what to do next. She stood just inside the door to her room, staring a vacant stare into her fireplace. The room was quite chilly and there was no fire in the grate. One delicate eyebrow lifting, Princess Celestia realised that there should be a fire burning. It seemed as though the maids forgot to light one. Everypony got frazzle-dazzled around the holidays and Celestia was a big filly that was capable of looking after herself, no matter what the tabloids had to say about her.

There were logs in the grate, all they needed was a little pyrokinetic flick. Taking a deep breath, Princess Celestia realised that she had to be careful. The last time she had lit her own fire, well, eventually the fire had gone out and the melted stones had been replaced. The damage, she had been told, was minimal.

“Hmm, I do believe a fire is in order,” Princess Celestia said to herself.

“No it isn’t.”

Tilting her head, Princess Celestia blinked a few times. Her chimney had somehow developed some sass. The alicorn princess’ ears perked forwards as she took a step backwards. Since when did chimneys have any say on when a fire was lit?

“No, really, it is quite chilly, I do believe I shall light a fire,” Princess Celestia said, curious about the voice in her chimney. Eyes wide, she waited, hoping for a reply. It wasn’t often that one got to have a conversation with a chimney.

“You can’t light a fire—”

“I most certainly can,” Princess Celestia insisted, “in case you do not know who you are speaking to, I am the most powerful pyromancer that has ever lived.” Princess Celestia heard a loud gulp from within her chimney and she took another step backwards. Using her telekinesis, Princess Celestia tugged upon a fine silken rope to summon her guard.

“Don’t you dare light a fire!”

Such sass! The voice in the chimney was squeaky, a bit fearful, and whomever it was, they sounded a bit thirsty. The corners of Princess Celestia’s mouth curled upwards and the alicorn mare began to look rather devious. “No, I am quite cold, I do believe I shall start a fire. I do believe some marshmallows are in order.”

“Hey! You can’t go around setting ponies on fire!” the voice in the chimney shouted.

Hmm, a pony in the chimney… this is becoming far more interesting. Princess Celestia, now grinning, her eyes gleaming, heard hoofsteps just outside of her door. “Oh, here comes the guard! Just in time for cocoa and marshmallows. Or perhaps we can make s’mores over a roaring fire.”

From within the chimney, there was a whimper of fear, a dreadful sound, and Princess Celestia, who had been enjoying this up to this point, felt a twinge of worry. Her chamber doors opened. Several unicorn guards entered her room, along with Princess Luna’s nocturnal guardians.

A moment later, Princess Luna herself burst into the room, her eyes narrowed, a fierce expression upon her face. “WHO DARES DISTURB THE SANCTITY OF MINE SISTER’S CHAMBERS?”

The force of Princess Luna’s voice thundered through the room and Princess Celestia flinched from the sound, her ears ringing. It had been too long a day with far too much shouting. “Luna, do keep your voice down.” Princess Celestia pointed at her fireplace. “My chimney sassed me.”

“She was going to set me on fire!”

Rushing forward, Princess Luna stood beside her sister, eyeing the surprisingly verbose chimney. “But that is what one does in a fireplace, start a fire. Who are you to protest the natural order?”

“Guards, would one of you please light a fire? I am feeling chilly—”

“NO!” the voice in the chimney whined. “I’m stuck, somepony please help me… please don’t burn me!”

“Start talking, I am in the mood for marshmallows.” Princess Celestia took a step closer to the fireplace, her horn glowing.

Something in the chimney sighed, a sad, defeated sound. “I came here to rob you… I came down a chimney. I didn’t know it was your chimney.”

“Majesty, the chimneys are far too narrow for a pony to fit down. They have been secured against invaders.” One of the unicorn guard peered into the fireplace after coming closer, and then tried to look up the chimney, his horn glowing.

“Oh, a thief is in my chimney,” Princess Celestia said, a teasing smile returning to her lips. “Marshmallow time. Please light a fire, will you—”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

From within the chimney, something thrashed and soot drifted down into the fireplace like black snowflakes. A fearful cry echoed out the chimney, followed by squeaky sobbing. A howl resonated in the chimney and Princess Celestia turned to look at her sister. She saw Luna give a faint nod. Princess Celestia’s horn glowed ever brighter.

With a pop, a sooty black pegasus colt appeared in front of Celestia, a cloud of ash floating around him. He was as black as night, black as coal, and the whites of his eyes were the only colour he had. Looking down, she saw two orange-yellow eyes staring back up at her. The colt was greasy looking as well as sooty. No doubt, he had greased himself up to come down the chimney. He was small and thin of build.

Much to Princess Celestia’s surprise and shock, the colt recovered quickly and bolted. Reaching out with her mind, she was going to put a swift end to his escape, but much to her surprise, she had trouble gripping the sooty, greasy colt. She could not get a grip with her magic to hold him in place. She was still able to wink him from place to place though, and as the colt got to the door, she teleported him backwards and then shut the door.

At least, she tried. The colt moved like greased lightning and shot through the door just before it closed. Before Princess Celestia could react, Princess Luna had yanked the door back open and was running down the hall after the escaped pilferer.

“HALT, KNAVE!” Princess Luna commanded as she ran after the swift moving soot-ball. “THOU ART SULLYING THE TILES, LITTLE BURGLAR!”

Joining in the chase, Princess Celestia ran down the hall, her eyes bright and merry, now having some fun with this situation once more. Her hooves clattered upon the tiles, it had been a long time since she had ran indoors, and she thought of all of the times she had admonished her students about doing this very thing.

“He’s magic resistant!” one of the unicorn guards cried out.

Her smile vanishing, Princess Celestia cringed as a guard tried to tackle the much smaller colt. She came skidding to a halt, almost falling over, fearing for the tiny colt’s safety. The guard slid along the floor, scooping up the colt from behind, and Princess Celestia let out a sigh of relief as the colt appeared unharmed. The guard had the colt in a hug.

A moment later, the colt shot free of the guard’s grasp like a cork shooting out of a champagne bottle. The impudent little pegasus blew a raspberry at the now soot covered guard and then took off running once more. Celestia found her smile returning and she took off once more in pursuit.

Flapping his tiny wings, trying to free them of the thick, crusted layers of soot, the colt ran down the hallway, evading the guard, avoiding Princess Luna, and trying to make good his escape. Princess Celestia knew she had to end this before somepony got hurt. There was a reason she was in charge, she was supposed to be the capable one. Reaching out with her mind, she shut and locked the doors ahead, cutting off all possible escape routes. After some mental searching, her mind touched upon a gunny sack in the kitchens and with a pop, she conjured it. Under normal circumstances, Princess Celestia would be against stuffing foals into a sack, but these were extraordinary circumstances.

This time it was Princess Luna that tried to tackle the colt and Princess Celestia watched in amusement as her sister dove. She knew that her sister Luna would do no harm. Much to Celestia’s shock and surprise, the little colt bucked out his hind legs and kicked Princess Luna in the face as she tried to grab him. Grunting, the Princess of the Night grappled with the colt, trying to get her forelegs around his middle as he continued to squirm.

With a savage growl, the little pegasus colt doubled back, his mouth open, and clamped down upon Princess Luna’s tender ear, causing the night blue alicorn’s eyes to go wide. Using her size to her advantage, Princess Luna got the colt in a headlock and applied gentle pressure as the colt’s flat teeth gnawed upon her ear.

Somehow, the greasy little colt wormed his way free, slipping out of Princess Luna’s grasp. He took off at a run once more. Princess Celestia, older and cleverer by far, made a brilliant flash of magical light, blinding and disorienting the colt, who kept running. Smiling, she held out the gunny sack in the direction that the colt was running, and, sure enough, the colt ran right into the bag. Still clean, untouched by soot, grease, or grime, Princess Celestia jerked the bag shut and trapped the little pilferer inside.

“Is this necessary?” Princess Celestia asked as she looked at the hogtied little colt. She looked at her guards, then at her sister, Luna, and then, finally, back down at the colt, who looked up at her with fearful eyes, his little barrel heaving. So far, the colt had refused to say his name or answer any questions.

“Do you want him escaping?” a guard asked.

Detecting sass, Princess Celestia’s eyebrow rose upwards, it’s rate of travel moving in proportion to the level of sass detected. For now, she chose to ignore the elevated levels of sass and kept her attention focused on the colt.

“How are you resisting magic?” Celestia asked in a gentle voice.

“If I tell you, will you untie me?” the colt replied.

“You are in no position to bargain.” Princess Luna bared her teeth and let out a furious snort. “Sister, I think he will be far more willing to talk after a decade in the dungeon!”

“Luna, he is far too dirty to go into the dungeon… do you know what sort of mess he would create? We cannot have that.” Princess Celestia peered down at the colt, who now looked terrified. She felt bad for him, but she couldn’t have him knowing that. “A bath first, then, maybe, we shall toss him in the dungeon.”

“Not a bath… anything but that… I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Squinting, Princess Celestia had trouble telling if the colt was being serious or was trying to mess with her head. He looked far too afraid—his eyes were little more than pinpricks, and his breathing was far too heavy.

“What is your name?” Princess Celestia asked, her voice gentle but firm.

“I… I… I don’t have a name… Miss Haypenny never named me,” the colt replied.

Her muzzle contorting into a scowl, Princess Celestia stared down at the hogtied colt. He was staring up at her, fearful, she could see that his lips were trembling and his little ears were quivering.

“Sometimes, Miss Haypenny calls me ‘Shithead’ if she calls me anything at all.”

There was a gasp from Princess Luna and a soft growl escaped from Princess Celestia’s throat. The big white alicorn’s eyes narrowed into slits and she stared into the colt’s eyes.

“I snuck out… I keep trying to escape, but they keep bringing me back… I stole a potion from a zebra’s shop and I stole a tub of shortening from a store. I greased myself up, snuck up to the top of the castle, and tried to go down the chimney. I got stuck. I was there for hours.”

“Am I to assume that you are an orphan?” Princess Celestia asked in a low voice. She watched as the colt gave a fearful nod. The princess took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then turned to look at her sister. Luna looked blank faced. After a moment, she returned her gaze to the colt. “We cannot have you returned to the orphanage looking like this, it would reflect poorly upon us. You need a bath.”

The colt kicked, squirmed, thrashed around, and then let out a wordless, piercing shriek as Princess Celestia lifted him, grasping him by the ropes he was tied up with. She sighed, having seen plenty of foal drama during her long life. Foals hated bathing for a variety of reasons. Twilight Sparkle had hated bathtime because books could not be brought into the bathtub. Princess Celestia smiled, having fond memories of the little stinker that had been her student.

The little colt was an exceptional screamer. Princess Celestia’s ears were ringing as she dangled him over the tub full of water. The colt had his eyes closed, he kicked and thrashed against his bonds, and he screamed himself hoarse. Princess Celestia actually felt a tiny bit bad for him. It would be all over soon enough. She wanted to untie him, but she knew he would escape.

Without further ado, she dunked him in the tub. As she did so, he let out one final piercing shriek, and then went dead silent when he hit the water. Confused, more than just a little bit puzzled, Princess Celestia stared down at the little colt, who was sitting in the water, wide eyed, confused, almost as if he was in shock.

In the back of her mind, something made a quiet suggestion that something was wrong. Princess Celestia watched as the colt sat very, very still in the water, not moving, not thrashing against his bonds, just sitting there, silent, his eyes wide.

“It’s warm,” the colt whispered.

“Well of course it is warm,” Princess Celestia replied, “you are a very silly colt.”

“Miss Haypenny always dunks me in ice water. She knows how much it hurts me… how much I hate it… it is how she punishes me… she holds me down in ice water until my wings ache and I can’t fly away from her anymore.”

Trembling, her heart thumping in her chest, Princess Celestia realised that the little colt wasn’t lying. She felt her breath catch in her throat. Her horn flared but she had trouble summoning her magic. She took a deep breath, her whole body shaking, and with great effort, she undid the ropes that held the colt secure. She tossed them aside and watched as the colt made no effort to escape. An ember of rage ignited in her breast as she stood there, looking at the little colt who sat in shock, unmoving in a bath full of warm water.

Saying nothing else, Princess Celestia armed herself with a bath brush and began to scrub.

“Luna, assemble a team of nannies at once… look for ponies who are kind and gentle with foals. Have your guards go out and find Miss Haypenny, wherever she is. I want her brought to me at once. There are some questions that demand answers. Have the nannies take over the orphanage until such a time that a suitable replacement can be found.” Princess Celestia looked over at the colt, who was now wrapped up in a blanket and sitting in front of a crackling fire. He was little more than skin and bones, scrawny, each rib showing in high detail through his pale white pelt. Each vertebra stood out on his back like sawteeth.

“Sister?” Luna’s eyes flashed, she looked curious and worried.

“Just do it… I want that mare brought here at once.” Princess Celestia’s voice was low, cold, and dangerous. She watched as Luna’s ears pinned back in a submissive gesture.

“I will do as you ask,” Princess Luna replied, “she will be found at once.” Turning about, Princess Luna made a hasty departure.

Standing there, shaking, Princess Celestia tried to compose herself. She had never dealt well with anger. She took a deep breath and looked over at the colt once more. She began to pace, not realising that she was doing it, moving back and forth through her chambers, her gaze locked upon the little bundle of bones wrapped in a blanket. This was like the bad old days, the horrible old days before the reform. Princess Celestia lived in fear of those days, when the streets were filled with dirty, neglected little orphan gangs of near feral foals.

“‘Ullo, dearie.”

Ears pitching forwards, Princess Celestia watched as an older unicorn maid set down a tray of food on the floor beside the colt. It was hardly even on the ground before the little colt attacked it, shoving his face down into his plate, slurping and sucking everything up in mere seconds.

“Oi… ‘ang on, I’ll go get more. Don’t you move, you li’l ‘ooligan.” The old mare teetered off, shaking her head, and mumbling something under her breath about bringing back public flogging for ne’erdowells.

Still pacing, Princess Celestia looked at the colt, who was watching the maid go as he licked the crumbs from his plate. She suffered from the odd mix of feelings that were heartbreak and rage. “When was the last time you ate?”

“When I’m bad, she doesn’t feed me very much,” the colt replied.

Brows furrowing, Princess Celestia felt her mouth go dry. She licked her lips, struggling to keep her composure, not sure what to say or how to say it. “Is she like this to all of the other foals?”

“No.” The colt shook his head. “Just me. I’m the only one that gives her trouble. Sometimes, somepony else does something bad, and they get punished a little bit, but I get punished a lot because I never behave.”

“So why do you not behave?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Because… Miss Haypenny is always hurting me and punishing me,” the colt replied.

Her lips pressing together, Princess Celestia didn’t know how to respond.

“She’s always so nice to the other foals… I hate it. It’s not fair that she punishes me the way she does. I think she just hates me.”

For one very dark moment Princess Celestia wondered if Miss Haypenny did what she did as an example to keep the other foals in line. The struggle to keep her emotions in check continued. The colt appeared to be honest, something was clearly going on, but she knew that there had to be more to this story, she did not yet know the whole truth.

Miss Haypenny was a kind looking unicorn mare of middle age with a pale green coat, a black mane with grey streaks, and crooked, smudged glasses. She looked a bit befuddled and confused about having been hauled to the castle in the dark of the night.

On the outside, Princess Celestia was statuesque—on the inside, she was seething. She wanted to vent her fury, she wanted to rage, she wanted to scream and shout. But she didn’t. She took a deep breath and began her questioning.

“Miss Haypenny, you have some explaining to do,” Princess Celestia began. “I have in my custody a colt,” Princess Celestia saw Miss Haypenny’s eyes go wide behind her glasses, “a little colt that you are responsible for.”

“Oh, so this is where he got off to,” the mare replied.

“Yes, and I have some questions for you.” Princess Celestia took another deep breath and fought to keep her anger in check. “To start with, I would really like to know why he has such a fear of water. Would you mind telling me why you dunk him into ice water?”

Miss Haypenny’s lips pressed into a straight line and the mare made no reply. Princess Celestia stared down at the mare and the two engaged in a silent contest of wills. The alicorn’s eyes seemed as though they were going to bore a hole through the much smaller unicorn mare.

“He is a very, very willful little colt. He does nothing to behave. He lies, he cheats, he steals, he refuses to follow the schedule, he does nothing to cooperate. I have had to resort to creative measures to try and get his cooperation.” Miss Haypenny cleared her throat and looked away from Princess Celestia, unable to look the alicorn in the eye any longer.

“He does not have a name.” Princess Celestia’s voice was icy, cold, and full of scarcely contained anger.

“He has displayed no defining quality or trait worthy of a name,” the mare replied. “Perhaps you’d like it if I named him for his thieving abilities? His disrespect for authority? His constant running away?”

After grinding her teeth together for a moment, Princess Celestia forced her jaw to relax. “Do not speak to me in that tone.” She cleared her throat, a sour, bitter taste on the back of her tongue. “At some point, your attempts to bring him back into line went wrong, Miss Haypenny. I do not know the full extent of what has happened, but I assure you that I will find out. I know that foals can be challenging, but gentle correction is the key… what you have done is abuse, plain and simple.”

Miss Haypenny’s cheeks puffed out and her face darkened. Her nostrils flared and her barrel heaved. Her glasses fogged over. “He’s an ungrateful little shit, that’s what he is. He’s in a place where he can get three good meals a day plus have a comfortable place to sleep. All he has to do to have those things is to follow the rules, obey me, and act decently.”

“When a foal steps out of line, they must be corrected with love.” Princess Celestia, aware that the volume of her voice was rising, tried to calm herself. “Withholding food is not an acceptable punishment… he is nothing but bones. Giving a foal hypothermia is not an acceptable punishment, not in the slightest. And then there are the matter of the half-healed welts I found all over his backside… in the bath, he told me that you’ve hit him in places that are sensitive to his gender.”

“He brought it on himself… had he behaved, none of those things would have happened. As for hitting him there, I told him to hold still while I was administering punishment. He moved and I hit him there by mistake. It was an accident.”

“Your methods are not appropriate… he needs love and affection… you have heaped abuse upon him.” The corner of Princess Celestia’s mouth twitched.

“Some foals are very difficult to love. Since coming into my care, he has done nothing but try my patience.” Miss Haypenny coughed, wiped her nose with her foreleg, and after mustering all of her courage, she looked Princess Celestia in the eye. “You have no right to judge me… you have no idea what it has been like, or what he has done, or how difficult it has been to raise him.”

“So this is an excuse to abuse him rather than show him the love he needs?” Princess Celestia demanded.

“You speak so highly of love… you haven’t even had him for one night… how much trouble has he caused you? It is my understanding that the little thief was trying to commit robbery… before you even try to judge me, why don’t you try loving him? Let’s see you do it… let’s see how long your patience lasts before you break down and try to do whatever it is that it takes to shut his disrespectful mouth or try to make him behave!”

“You will not speak to me in such a manner,” Princess Celestia said in a flat voice. “As of this moment, you are relieved of your position and a thorough investigation will be conducted.”

“What about gentle, loving correction? You’ve already lost your temper with me… this isn’t fair at all… you can’t do this to me! You can’t do this to me!”

Turning tail, Princess Celestia fled the room before she truly lost her temper.

Weary, unable to sleep, troubled, conflicted, Princess Celestia lifted her head when she heard her door opening. Her horn glowed and a soundproofed bubble popped into existence around her bed where the colt was sleeping. The white alicorn looked at her sister, hoping for some kind of answer, hoping for something that would make her feel better.

“We have conducted a few interviews with some of the foals, but it was getting late into the evening when we did them. More will happen tomorrow. There was also extensive questioning done of the staff at the orphanage. By all accounts, Miss Haypenny is an excellent caretaker, patient, gentle, kind, she is exceptional in every conceivable way, except with her dealings with the unnamed colt. She assures the staff that she knows what she is doing and that it required extreme measures to bring the colt back into line. Since she is so good with the other foals, it seems the staff members, some of which do not agree with her actions, allow her to continue with the hopes that the colt in question will be taught to behave.”

Eyes stinging, blinking, Princess Celestia sighed, her sides heaving.

“The colt has committed arson twice. The first time he set the art supply closet on fire. The second time he set some of the shrubbery ablaze. He steals everything he can reach when he makes his escape out into public. He seems to have severe behavioural issues. The other staff in the orphanage are unable to deal with him at all, leaving all of the work of handling him to Miss Haypenny. It seems that he is a very difficult foal to love, and from what I have gathered, some might feel that such a task is impossible.”

“It has to be an endless cycle,” Princess Celestia whispered. “He is acting out because he feels unloved… I am certain of it… the constant punishment only provokes further misbehaviour. If somepony could reach him, if somepony could make him feel loved, I do believe there would be some improvement in his behaviour.”

Princess Luna, hearing her sister’s words, chose to remain silent. Her sister believed in the inherent goodness of all ponies. Princess Luna on the other hoof, who spent far too much time in the dreaming minds of her subjects, did not believe in such foolishness.

“What do we do? If Miss Haypenny really is a good caretaker, we have far too few of those, I would feel bad taking her away from the foals that have come to depend upon her.” Conflicted, Princess Celestia felt her insides clench, if felt as though her stomach was tying itself into knots. “On the other hoof, her treatment of the colt is monstrous. She must be made to answer for what she has done. Sister, I do not know what to do… every pony makes mistakes… there is no excuse for what she has done, but I find myself trying to understand why she did it… her motivations… if she really is an exceptional caretaker… what would provoke her to such extreme, callous action? How could she become so heartless to one of her charges?”

Because every pony has a dark side, Princess Luna thought to herself. She felt a growing tightness in her barrel, a dull ache in her heart. She stood there, silent, watching as tears rolled down her sister’s cheeks.

“Luna… it is my sincere belief that every pony, even if they have flaws, can be saved.”

“Sister… I—”

“Luna, beloved sister of mine, you are proof of that… you fell deep into darkness, yet here you are,” Princess Celestia said in a trembling, hesitant voice.

Choking, Princess Luna’s words died in her throat. She stood there, staring, her eyes now glassy with tears, a lump growing in her throat. She felt a deep, painful heat creeping up her neck, her brain felt fevered, and her ears felt far too hot for her comfort. Luna found herself at a total loss for words.

Standing beside the bed, Princess Celestia watched as the colt’s eyes fluttered open and then she saw him yawn. Her heart was heavy, she had been awake all night pondering what to do, but felt no wiser and was no closer to an answer. She watched the colt squirm beneath the blankets, his cheek rubbing against the silk pillowcase. She saw a bulge beneath the blankets, the colt’s wings fluttering as he woke.

“Good morning, Marshmallow.”

“Marshmallow?” The colt blinked, looking very confused, and stared up at Princess Celestia, who was standing beside the bed where he had slept.

“Yes, Marshmallow. Small white things that you roast over a fire.” Princess Celestia gave the colt the best smile she could muster, which she guessed was probably a pretty sad looking smile. “We had to call you something.”

“Marshmallow?” the colt repeated.

“Well, you are small, white, fluffy, and you protested being roasted over the fire,” Princess Celestia replied. “Just what a marshmallow would do if they could talk.”

“Oh.” The colt stretched, yawned, let out a whine while he was yawning, and then asked, “What are you going to do with me?”

“I do not know yet. For now, Marshmallow, you are going to stay with me until the holidays are over. After that, part of what happens next is going to be up to you and how well you behave while you are my guest. I would like to believe that you are a good pony that does bad things because of trying circumstances.”

The colt, now named Marshmallow, squinted up at Princess Celestia, a puzzled look upon his face.

“Come, we have a busy day ahead of us. You need to have a full breakfast, I have spoken with a nutritionist about getting some weight back on you. You are going to see a doctor and you are going to get a physical. You are going to apologise to Princess Luna at some point for kicking her in the face and trying to tear her ear off. You are going to have a very, very busy day ahead of you.”

“Do I have to get out of bed?” Marshmallow asked.

“Yes.” Princess Celestia’s voice was soft and patient.

“What happens if I don’t?” Marshmallow looked up at the alicorn and wondered what his chances were.

“Well then, I stuff you back up into the chimney where I found you, and then, perhaps I shall light a fire, little Marshmallow.” Princess Celestia’s eyebrow raised.

“Before breakfast, can I have another bath?”

“Yes, and you will be brushing your teeth, too. Now come on, out of the bed, there is much to do.” Very much to Princess Celestia’s relief, Marshmallow got out of bed, a good start to the day. She watched him as he glanced at the fireplace, then looked up at her.

Perhaps an alicorn could succeed where a common pony failed. Princess Celestia watched as the little white colt trotted off towards the bathroom, his little tail swishing from side to side and a spring in his step. She smiled, already having a backup plan. If somehow, for whatever reason, she could not reach the colt and make him feel loved, she knew of another alicorn that could. As she thought of Princess Cadance, she felt her weary spirit lifting, and she found the courage to face the day.

Author's Notes:

The END!

Happy holidays, however it is that you celebrate them. Remember, this is a shitty time of the year for a lot of people... be good to one another and try to cheer somebody up if they seem down. Have a good time and Hail Eris.