It was supposed to be a joke. I swear that’s all I wanted it to be. How was I supposed to know that this would happen? Am I supposed to be able to predict how everyone thinks? I thought she would enjoy it, or at least laugh about it. I-I-I didn’t want this, never!

I mean, she did enjoy it! She liked it! When I gave it to her she was smiling. Smiling!

Please, please believe me this is the farthest thing from what I wanted. She’s my friend, my best friend, my… I… I can’t do this. I just can’t do this. Can’t you understand?

It’s not like giving Pinkie a shock or accidentally burning one of Applejack’s trees. Hay, I’d prefer making Fluttershy watch me kill a fly than having this happen. They could forgive me then, we could move on. But this… this is beyond that! E-Everything I do, I say, I try and make clear just comes out as more proof, more evidence.

She’s the most amazing pony I’ve ever seen, and I’ve… I-I didn’t want this, I just didn’t! Please forgive me… please…

I’ll… I’ll tell you everything. Really! I’ll tell you everything I did! I’ll tell you how this is all my fault, I’ll tell you why she’s like this. I’ll tell you it all!

Just please… please forgive me…

It was Hearth’s Warming Eve, a fresh coat of snow on the ground. The feathers in my wings had started to lose some of their luster, the annual molting fast approaching. I saw Fluttershy in a similar situation as me, but she didn’t fly nearly as often as I do. She didn’t mind being grounded for a week or two, three tops. To me, that sounded like the natural progression of a torture session.

It was every winter to be honest, but that doesn’t mean I grew used to it. Even if flying in the cold wasn’t good for me, it still felt good, reminded me that I was still Rainbow Dash, fastest pegasus in Equestria. Besides, it never did any kind of damage. The only fear was molting wings while in the air. I may have had a few rough landings in my life, but falling straight from the sky to the ground wouldn’t be a fun experience for anypony.

Anyways, the rest of the girls and I were having a trip to the spa, warming our frigged hooves is what Rarity called it. She and Fluttershy had the works. Manicure, pedicure, mud bath, sauna, everything. It wasn’t the cold that made me shiver as I watched them. Applejack opted for just a mud bath and sauna with Pinkie Pie, that left just Twilight and I. Honestly, I just wanted to get in the baths and stay warm, but Twilight talked me into getting just one thing done on me. Face mask.

I grimaced the entire experience. Feeling the puffy cream sit on my face and being told not to move. It was torture. I couldn’t even count the dots on the ceiling with the sliced vegetables over my eyes. You know that itch you just can’t reach? Yeah, exact same thing. It was a blessing from Luna when I finally took that stuff off. I ate the cucumbers as protest. It was a satisfying victory.

The baths, however, made that torture worth it. Living in a cloud home during the winter really is about as bad as anypony can expect it to be. It isn’t as high as Cloudsdale, so the wind can still get to me relatively easily. Believe me when I say nothing in Equestria compares to having warm water wash over frigid wings, frigid from the cold at least.

Anyways, the rest of the girls started talking about what they were doing for Hearth’s Warming Eve. Most of them were going to spend their times giving gifts away. It’s what they’ve done every year, all of us have. It’s a pretty cool feeling, shaking the box to guess what some pony got you.

But then Twilight had an idea.

Instead of everypony getting something for each other, we could pull a Secret Celestia. It must have been a unicorn tradition, because Rarity started giggling in joy while the rest of us were completely lost. Twilight sighed when she saw our confusion. She sighs a lot.

Apparently, what’s supposed to happen is each of us pulls a name out of a hat, and whoever we draw, we have to get a gift for them. So in the end, none of us would know who was getting a gift for whom, except for who we were supposed to get a gift for. I had to admit, it sounded like fun. I know Pinkie liked the idea, because she started listing off a thousand different party names for it.

We laughed, Twilight laughed.

After that, we all finished up our time at the spa, said our goodbyes and agreed to meet up sometime tomorrow for the event.

We all met at the library, the unofficial headquarters for us. It was the place where we first all came together, the first time all six of us were in the same room. Now, it seemed like we came here on an almost daily basis.

Rarity, the ever proper mare, got a hat for us to throw our names into. Twilight, to absolutely no surprise to me, made sure we all had paper of similar shape, size, and texture, so we couldn’t try and find a name to get a gift for. It was apparently against the rules to get a gift for somepony you wanted to get a gift for. Funny, but I didn’t laugh.

We each took turns drawing from the hat, Twilight going first. She drew the name out of the hat with a bit of her magic, and I swear I saw her eyes glowing in joy. I couldn’t help but ask who she got. Of course, she said it was a secret. One by one, we took turns drawing from the hat. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, than me.

My hoof pulled out the last parchment of paper, folded perfectly in half without a single mismarked crease. I knew who’s it was in a second.

Pinkie Pie didn’t waste any time heading out to go shopping, promising that she had to get a gift that would keep somepony smiling for the entire day. Fluttershy followed after her. Applejack left next with a tip of her hat, followed by Rarity collecting her own hat before heading out the door. I looked to Twilight, her eyes beaming with joy, no doubt from pride as her idea took off so well.

With that same smile, she asked me if I had any ideas for my gift yet. Honestly, now I had none. The mare I had gotten already had everything I could possibly think of. When I told her, she shook her hoof, smile never fading.

“Don’t worry,” she said to me, “I’m sure you’ll find something great for whoever you got.” With that, she turned towards the door, walking out with a bounce in her trot. Now I was smiling too. My wings flared and I took off, ready to find the perfect Hearth’s Warming Gift for the friend I had.

Twilight Sparkle.

As it turns out, finding a gift for a single pony is hard.

I must have flown by and in at least a couple dozen shops before I realized that no ideas were coming to me. I knew Twilight was right, on some scale, that I’d be able to think of the perfect gift for her, even if she didn’t know that the gift was going to be for her. But still, I couldn’t find anything.

I looked from shop to shop, trying to have anything spark in my mind as the perfect gift. I didn’t have the bits for jewelry, not like I’d know what to get here from a place like that anyways.

She hated things being placed on her horn, or so it was made obvious whenever Rarity tried to tie anything around it. Speaking of which, she definitely wouldn’t dare wear anything unless it was made by Rarity. Probably afraid of offending her. While on the thought, I’m also pretty sure she wouldn’t touch a sweet unless it came from Pinkie Pie either.

The possibilities of finding a good gift sank lower and lower. What could I get to guarantee a good Hearth’s Warming Eve for Twilight? What could she possibly receive that she would enjoy, shriek in joy, and give me a big hug in thanks, the last part optional.

By the shining horn of Celestia’s might, I swear I felt the wind slap me silly.

Books. I had to find a book for Twilight.

It was almost too obvious that she would enjoy any book somepony gave to her. She reads anything from books as cool as Daring Do to pages as nerdy as quanto… quananiou… nerd books, you get that. Getting a book for her would doubtlessly make the unicorn’s Hearth’s Warming Eve. What was it that Pinkie had said? Get a gift that would make the other pony smile for the entire day. Yeah, a book would definitely do that for Twilight.

Now what kind of book would be good? It couldn’t be anything from her library, cause she’d already have it then, obviously. But there’s no way I can go in and ask for every book she has, that would be insanely obvious. And that was a challenge. Finding a book that Twilight didn’t have without knowing what she did have.

I took to look for the few bookstores in town, not including the Library. They carried the latest novels on their shelves, a few standing on top of the wooden displays with their bindings opened for them to stand straight. They were mostly things I’d enjoy though. A few Daring Do books I’ve already read, Captain Coltossus, Harry Plotter, things like that. Action, adventure, fantasy, nothing scientific or in depth.

Yeah, Twilight could read that stuff, but chances are she already has. I can remember as clear as my first Sonic Rainboom how she blew through the latest Daring Do book in a couple of hours before letting me have my turn. It took me a couple weeks to finish. Something that lasted only a few minutes for her wouldn’t be anything close to a day’s worth of enjoyment. It had to be one of two things, either really long or really complicated.

I still couldn’t find anything though, three stores down and I couldn’t find a single book long enough for her or anything I couldn’t understand. If it was something I could follow, it probably wouldn’t be anything too hard for Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic.

I let out a bitter laugh. She was definitely one of the smartest ponies in the herd, but oh pony feathers, was she also the densest. She fell victim to even the simplest of pranks. I still can’t believe she never heard of a whoopee cushion before. Seriously, unless it’s happened before, I don’t think Twilight can see any prank coming.

Wait…

Would she mind a joke gift?

The idea at the time made me snicker, Twilight expecting to pull out something crafted by the hooves of Luna, only to receive a colt’s guide to rock collecting. Knowing her though, she’d probably still be able to enjoy the gift all the same. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s not like I wanted to turn what could be happy moment into some joke, but the possibility was just too good to ignore. Hay, if the cards were played right, she might treasure the book like Applejack did her hat.

The problem was now, what book? What kind of book, or book specifically, would Twilight consider a joke? Just about anything that had words on it was something she’d read. Like I said, there really isn’t anything she’ll just toss down by title alone. And once she starts to read something, I don’t think she stops until she’s done. It’s like me and racing. Can’t stop until you cross the finish line.

Something clicked in my mind.

Twilight reading was a lot like me and racing. We would never turn down the opportunity, ready to dive in and give it our all whenever the opportunity rose. No matter what kind of tricks, turns, or curves the path may give us, we took each and every sway with joy, thrilled to move further, to go farther. In the end, no matter what had happened, we made progress. All we needed was a place to start.

What if there was nothing there to start.

A blank book. The idea made me smile.

Twilight unwrapping my present, eager eyes moving the paper left and right to free the item I had hidden inside. She would discard the ribbon, string, or whatever else I wrapped around the thing to make it harder to reach. The last of the wrapping would fall away, and she would squeal with joy as her eyes landed on a book cover she had never seen before. I might even get the hug then and there.

Then she would open it up to the first page, expecting some words of thanks to the author’s source of inspiration, but find nothing. She turned the page, thinking it was the style of formatting from the publisher, only to find the next page blank as well. Page by page by page, she would find the entire thing empty…

Okay, maybe it wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be, but it would get a small laugh at least. A backup gift would be good though, just in case this was too far outside of ‘her’ plan. Still, this could be a pretty wicked prank. Twilight may be a stooge for rules now and then, but she loved to laugh as much as any pony. I just had to make sure I had a back-up plan in case she didn’t get the joke.

Like I said though, a backup gift was an option, but my budget was limited as it was. Plus, finding a joke present was hard enough. How was I supposed to find a real present on top of that? It would have just put me back at square one. But then I started to think like Twilight, thinking of the best ways to turn the worst of situations into the best of circumstances, magic basically.

The blank book was a prank, I never even tried to tell myself otherwise, but I just had to think of a way to make Twilight think it was something else, just in case she didn’t get it, or was offended by it. But what good was a blank book to a pony? I don’t know if Twilight was interested in writing, she sure had enough spare paper as it was, and I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea of Twilight having any book that was freshly published sacred, not unless it was from Princess Celestia herself.

But there had to be something that I could do with it. I mean, it’s not like Twilight is one to settle for only one use of everything. I’ve seen her try and experiment with things dozens of times before. Books can’t be that far outside of that. Sure, I’m not expecting her to try and cook and eat it, but maybe she could do… something else, like build a book fort, or make a pop up book, or-

For the second time in just under an hour, I had a lightbulb moment. I really am the fastest pegasus in Equestria.

“Rainbow Dash,” I spoke to myself. “You’re a genius.”

Hearth’s Warming Eve didn’t waste its time. No sooner did Celestia raise her sun than did the streets explode with sounds of excited foals, parents following their children into the snow, playing with the toys the early morning had given them.

I saw Sweetie Bell playing around with her parents, Rarity “daintily nodding her approval” from the safety of her boutique. I felt tempted to do a little fly by snowball throwing, but opted against it. I’d get a shot later, and she was enjoying herself. They all were happy, and that’s what matters on Hearth’s Warming Eve. Besides, it wasn’t like I’d be the only pony itching for a snowball fight, today of all days.

Besides I had somewhere to be.

As usual, we met in the library. I swear we’ve met more here than everywhere else combined. But, I guess it made more sense than any of our houses, I mean, we go from the my house in the sky to Applejack’s barn outside of Ponyville, and you are guaranteed to find something that one of us will be fidgety about. Twilight’s house… it’s almost like neutral ground.

No sooner had I arrived then did the rest of the girls show up. Spike was in a corner of the room, eagerly chewing on a large ruby I’m sure Twilight got for him. Bet a wing feather too, there was a supply of them in one of the closets. I had my present for Twilight neatly settled on my back, given a small tie down to prevent it from falling off mid-flight. Would be hard to explain a soggy gift.

We settled round the fireplace, eagerly letting the flames lick our coats and giving a comforting amount of heat. I let my wings bristle at the sensation. Compared to my cloud home, basically a refrigerator in the sky, the warm fires of any heart is a great thing to enjoy. My musings were distracted when I heard polite cough from Rarity across the semi-circle. She was holding up her hooves, long pieces of fabric hanging from them. Apparently, she made gifts for everypony.

We each got a different color scarf, “something seasonal,” as she put it. Honestly I couldn’t really tell, but it made me warm so I was thankful. Element of Generosity in her prime. Her announcement of her Secret Celestia was close behind however. I had to let out a snicker when she said who it was.

Little miss prime and proper had gotten the rough and tumbling Applejack.

She did get a pretty good gift for that cowpony though, a custom stitched Stetson hat, built out of some kind of fancy material name. I can’t remember what she called it, but I remember Applejack blushing redder than Pink’s coat. That got a good laugh out of everyone.

Apparently good old Fluttershy got my name. She got some feed for Tank, which I’m glad for, but also a poster for the Wonder Bolts I’ve never seen before. She must have seen how surprised I was, probably because my wings were flared stiff and straight. Never did tell me where she got it from, but I also played ignorance whenever she blushed looking at the only blue pegasus on the poster.

Next up was Pinkie Pie, sporting that new scarf that Rarity had gotten her. She had Fluttershy, and was absolutely thrilled giving her gift to my fellow pegasus, or I guess gifts would be a better way to say it. There were hair clippings, pet feed, gardening tools, shampoo, spa coupons, market coupons, cherries, blueberries, and even cupcakes. She covered literally every aspect of Fluttershy’s daily life with those gifts. A low whistle came out from my lips. I guess if you can’t go for quality, go for numbers.

Applejack volunteered to go next. With about as much grace as ever, she walked up to Pinkie Pie and gave her some sheet of paper. I unsuccessfully suppressed a facehoof. I mean seriously, how does a piece of paper count as a gift? That thought was thrown out of a window from Cloudsdale when Pinkie nearly hit the ceiling in excitement. Took the better part of an hour, but when she finally calmed down, she explained how Applejack had given her a month’s guaranteed supply of apples for trying new recipes. I did like Apple candy.

Twilight looked to me then, probably hoping she’d go last. No such luck there princess.

“C’mon Twilight,” I spoke with my signature grin, “Who’d you get?” We all knew though. Only two ponies left to get a gift and she was one of them. That was all it took to convince her to give her gift. Her magic flared for a moment before I caught sight of her gift drifting down from the level below. I guess if you had to hide it that would be the way to go.

It was wrapped in paper whiter than the snow outside, and given a very detailed ribbon. And, really, I mean detailed. Seriously, I couldn’t count the sparkles, streams, and mini-diamonds across it. Not to mention the fact that it was basically without even a crease. From the reaction of the mare across from me, Rarity was very pleased.

Twilight set the box down in front of the alabaster unicorn, who eagerly began to untie and unwrap the box. Figures, she can’t even break that prismatic attitude for opening a gift on Hearth’s Warming Eve. Ah well.

She lifted the lid off the now free box and gave a small gasp at watch she saw, hooves rising to cover her lips. Her eyes were as wide as my wings. Lighting her horn Rarity lifted the prize from the box.

Inside was easily one of the largest jewels I have ever seen in my life. Spike wouldn’t have been able to chew on it, let alone eat it. Tears collected on the edges of the unicorn’s eyes as she lifted the massive object next to her. Her eyes rolled over it, inspecting every detail she could. Those tears started to glimmer with every moment that passed.

I thought it was pretty safe to say Twilight hit a bull’s eye, metaphorically of course.

After that, I was the only one left.

“One guess who I got, egghead?” She knew me well enough to know that I was just teasing her, I always do, really, honest, I do. I never insult. And she smiled back, ready to accept whatever I gave her.

I took a deep breath, and reminded myself of the back up plan. Just incase, but it was good to be prepared.

I pushed the box out in front of me, letting Twilight take a good look at it. Her eyes sparkled like her name as she eyed it. I’d like to say it was nothing special, but I seriously put sometime into wrapping this thing. The paper came from Rarity’s boutique, the box underneath from Derpy’s shipping line, and I had to ask I don’t know how many random unicorn’s to help me wrap the thing. Seriously, I couldn’t have Twilight or Rarity wrap it. It was meant for one, and the other couldn’t button her lips even if it was by Celestia’s command!

Anyways, Twilight’s magic gingerly tore at the paper, revealing the plain brown box beneath. Her eyes grew more and more curious as nothing about it told of what was inside. I had to be careful about that. Heck, I was probably more careful with buying and wrapping this gift than I was with my mid-Winter flying, and that stuff could cost me my life.

She lifted the lid from the box, looking inside.

Twilight’s face lit up as she saw the unfamiliar book, pulling it out with something almost akin to greed, holding it against her chest like a precious object. If everything worked it, she might just do that. But, when she opened the book up, I knew the prank had fallen through.

“D-Dash?” She looked at me with a shaking voice and confused eyes. Her hooves held the book of blank pages, oddly terrified by what she was seeing. Honestly, really, she was acting like Fluttershy if I told her I stepped on a butterfly, or Pinkie if I lied and said she had no friends. Her gaze locked with mine as she finished her question.

“What is this?”

That’s when I first knew my prank had completely fallen through. Either she didn’t get it or it really was the worst time to pull this out. I held back a curse against Luna as I brought my back up plan into action. With a proud smile, but half drawn eyes, I spoke to her.

“It’s a journal egghead.”

My voice must have come out the same as ever, because the fear fell away to leave just confusion alone and vivid. That was some progress at least.

“A journal?” Her lavender eyes looked back to the blank green book.

“Yeah,” I forced my voice to give a bit of cheer to it. “You know, something to write your thoughts down in.” Slowly the confusion started to fade.

“That’s a great idea Rainbow!” She smiled, she genuinely started to smile. Perfect. I let out a breath of air from my lungs as I started to smile myself. Colt, that was intense. “I’ve never thought of keeping a journal before. I mean, with my studies, I always thought that taking notes would make do.”

“Twilight dear, a journal is a bit different than… oh a few notes about your life.” Rarity interjected, sitting proudly atop her new jewel. “You have to do more than merely state what happened, you have to… oh dear, what is the word for it?”

“Embellish?” Pinkie Pie threw out with a smile.

“Ye-NO!” Too late princess. I joined in the laughter with my friends as Rarity huffed into the air.

“Relax Rarity, I understand,” Twilight explained as she hooved threw a few of the empty pages. I still have no idea why she did that. “I’ve just never had anything to write about before. I mean, I take care of a lot of things in my reports, wouldn’t it feel kind of… redundant?”

“Then do something different.” I spoke proudly to her. “Like, I don’t know, list all the things you’ve accomplished, big and small. See how long it takes you to fill up the thing.” Her face brightened like the lights outside at night.

“That’s a great idea Dash!” I smiled again, subtly giving myself a leg pump. Gave Twilight the perfect gift, got her a few ideas on how to use it, and I got a good laugh in, even if it was Rarity instead of Twilight who got fooled. At the time, I thought it was the perfect day.

There isn’t anything I wish for more now than being able rip that blank book into a million shredded pieces.

It would have prevented all of this.

Author's Notes:

I have nothing creative to say or anything fancy to write. This is just a mild disclaimer. No guts, gore, sex, or even fantasies of the sort. This is just a straight shot of sadness and sorrow influenced and grown from the recent events in my life so far.

Go.