Qilin was a kind creature to those creatures who were pure of heart, his very presence could soothe any goodly creature. This included foals, as they were the purest beings. No sins had yet tainted their delicate souls.

The six foals he was carrying in a wicker basket all looked up at him with a calm curiosity. He had stolen them all from their respective homes in the dead of night, but this was not a simple act of malicious foalnapping, it was for the good of the planet. For the serenity of generations to come.

He had them, now he was pondering where to put them. It needed to be near Equestria, with a being whose path would eventually lead them to Canterlot. Race did not matter as long as they were kind and good to them.

There weren’t many ponies in Equestria who fit the criteria and could also take care of six fillies. Then it occurred to him, it didn’t have to be a pony. For years he had been keeping an eye on another hooved creature that lived outside of Equestria in the Frozen North.

The Reindeer. They were an industrious species, surviving the harsh cold of the Frozen North with little natural resources available to them. They thrived in the lumber industry, what little trees there were in the Tundra were cut down by teams and used in the construction of houses. Small towns dotted the snow, each independent and lead by a council of elders.

Of course very few Reindeer ever left their small villages, there was no need to. They never exported any goods, they rarely had tourism. One would think it would be hard to find a reindeer whose destiny intertwined with that of Canterlot’s.

Though there was one...she might just work. In a single moment the scenery changed from that of the small town of Ponyville to the barren tundra of the Frozen North. Overhead the Northern Lights shone in full effect, bringing an eerie green glow over the snow covered landscape.

Ahead, not very far, a log cabin poked through the blanket of powder. A singular light was on, illuminating the crystals that littered the ground. The chimney billowed smoke into the cloudless night sky, letting any weary travelers know where they may rest.

Qilin approached cautiously. While usually he would cast an invisibility spell, he could not do so for all six of the fillies he was carrying. Even his spells had limits. His ancient hooves left deep imprints in the snow that disappeared as soon as he took another step. He was just fine with the cold, he could not feel it. But the foals could, not even his calm-inducing presence could contain the feeling of freezing they must have been feeling.

He approached the log cabin and sat the basket down in front of the door. He knew who lived here, a kindly young reindeer with big dreams and her toy maker father. She would raise them right, she would keep them safe and keep them from any harm, and of course when the time was right she would lead them into their collective destiny. Better than all of that, their friendship would be as strong as the strongest steel. Not even the fires of Tartarus can shatter the bonds shared by sisters.

With a nod f his head, nametags were attached to each of the fillies saying their full names and what their key personality trait was. For prudence. It was better to be careful than to rely on chance, chance could be so unreliable.

A strong equine hoof knocked on the door a couple of times, then the Qilin turned and walked away from the ponies he had saved from a terrible fate. He did not look back, his eyes would be watching over them for their whole lives. No need to spare a glance now.

--

Kringle Winter was not necessarily a busy reindeer. He did not need to be up this late, but he wanted to be. In front of him on a cluttered work desk lit only by a single candle was a small wooden train he was working on. It had been simple enough to carve the toy from a single block of wood, now he was on to painting it.

How did a big strong reindeer become a simple toy maker? He was neither big nor strong. Due to a congenital muscle problem he had, he was never able to haul timber like most of his kin. Early on he had found his talent for woodworking. Most reindeer used their antlers to score marks in trees or playfully fight with their friends, he used his to craft toys.

Trains, little wooden dolls, Jack in the Boxes, little wooden ponies, he made them all. He also distributed them to the local foals whenever he found the number was becoming too much.

While he had been cursed with bad muscles from birth, he had been blessed with many things. The ability to bring a smile to the faces of children, the ability to make finely crafted toys, a warm home, and a loving daughter.

His daughter was the light of his life, the only true thing that made him get out of bed in the morning. At birth, a strand of ivy started to sprout just outside the cabin, he took this as a sign of good luck…that she would lead a good life and named her after the plant.

*Knock knock knock*

Kringle’s attention was drawn to the front door. It wasn’t completely unheard of to have visitors at this time of night, many a weary traveler needed a warm bed and he offered that for little more than a story or two.

Slowly, the reindeer lifted himself up from his padded work chair and walked to the door. Luckily the only room of the cabin was not cluttered, it was clean and warm thanks to Ivy. She kept the floor clean, kept the fire stoked, and kept the three beds they had made and ready for use.

The older reindeer nudged open the solid timber door to expose his home to the whipping winds of the North. Being a reindeer, he had a naturally thick coat and could tolerate sub-zero temperatures much better than most species.

Strangely, nothing was outside. No sign of any creature was to be seen, no prints were visible in the snow and no obvious displacement from any wings flapping. He supposed it could be a few bucks getting their yucks by throwing snowballs at doors, but for some reason he doubted it.

Just as he was about to turn around and head back inside a small cry came from his hooves. As he turned his brown eyes towards the ground he saw a basket with six baby equines in it. He had only seen a few ponies in his life, but he recognized the unicorns and pegasi in the group.

But as soon as he realized that they were only young ones out in below-freezing temperatures, he quickly grabbed the basket and pulled it inside. As soon as the basket was jarred all of the foals in the basket started crying at once…while Kringle was good with foals, he couldn’t handle six on his own.

“Ivy!” His daughter could help, she loved foals as much as he did. Kringle sat on his haunches and picked up two of them, the lavender one and the orange one rested in his hooves. The reindeer began rocking them back in forth in order to get them to calm down.

“Ugh…what is it, Dad…? And what’s that noise…?” He felt bad for waking Ivy up. She worked so hard, she deserved what sleep she could get. As she drew closer, Kringle could practically feel his daughter’s curiosity raising. “Are those…ponies…?”

“Yes. Well, technically they’re only foals…but ponies nonetheless.” Now was not a time for semantics, but he couldn’t help himself. “Someone left them on our doorstep, now I could use some help calming them down.”

In a second Ivy was by his side and had two more of the foals in her hooves, the pink one and the blue one for her. As soon as she held them they calmed down immediately.

“Who would come all the way from Equestria just to dump foals…?” She asked as her own bright green eyes looked into the two sets that were curiously looking up at her. “And such cute little things, too.”

“A pony who wanted these foals to have a good home, that’s who.” Kringle had finally gotten one of the foals he was holding to calm down. So he put the purple unicorn back in the basket and picked up the white unicorn.

“What if they were foalnapped…?” Ivy put the seemingly happy pink foal back in the basket and picked up the yellow foal to calm her down. This foal seemed to cling to her as soon as she held it.

“Don’t be so negative, Ivy.” Her father chided her. “If anything, destiny brought them here. Not malicious intent.” He smiled at the little foals and cuddled them gently. “New lives never carry bad omens, only new experiences.”

Ivy sighed, her father was always the optimist. There could be a blizzard outside and he could see it as a sign that good weather was coming. But she had to admire his attitude, it was something that kept the home warm more than the hearth could.

“Hmm. They have names…” Kringle held out one of the little nametags and read it aloud. “Applejack. Honest.” The old reindeer felt a smile creep across his face. “Rarity. Generous. See Ivy? They come bearing harmony. Not discord.”

“Rainbow Dash. Loyal..” The little blue foal’s nametag read. The name seemed appropriate given the polychromatic nature of her mane and tail. “Fluttershy. Kind. Why can’t ponies name their foals normally? They always have these weird names.” Sure, Ivy had only seen two ponies before now, but they both had odd names just like these six seemed to. “What do the other two say?”

The old buck leaned forward to get a good look at the two foals that were sleeping in the basket. “Twilight Sparkle. Magic. Pinkie Pie. Laughter.” Once again, Ivy noted the strange names.

“What are we going to do with them, dad?” Ivy put the two foals she was holding back in the basket now that they too were asleep. “I mean, we can’t keep them can we?”

“I don’t see why not. They were left on our doorstep, that’s a sign of fate Ivy. To give away such a precious gift would seem wrong.” Kringle smiled as he put the last of the now-sleeping foals in the basket. “We have enough food, a nice home, and warm fire. We are blessed with excess, Ivy. It is best to be charitable than to hoard.”

“It’s not the question if we have enough, but can we raise six ponies…?” She looked at the six foals sleeping together in the basket, they were cute now. But in a couple of years they would be a lot to handle.

“Well it’s obvious I’m not going to get any grandfoals from you anytime soon, so I see no reason why we can’t.” Ivy let her shoulders droop at her father’s statement. Okay, so she wasn’t very social with the opposite sex. Did that really matter? She had work to do, she didn’t need to be worried about being courted by some overeager buck. “Just think it over, Ivy. Go back to bed, I’ll take care of them.”

“Are you sure you can handle them by yourself?” It was a legitimate question. He could barely walk into town without help these days, taking care of six foals might be too much for the old man.

“I’m sure. If they get hungry I think we still have some of your old bottles, and some Yak milk in the freezer out back.” Ivy nodded and trotted back to bed, she knew they had some milk in the freezer out back. She had went to town to get it earlier, so at least they were set on that front. But foals had other needs that they might not be able to be met at this time. “Why if I had to guess, they’re not even six months old…I can handle them.”

As soon as Ivy was in bed, Kringle turned to the little sleeping foals. “Let me tell you a story. I’m sure you all like stories…” He swiped a reindeer figurine from a nearby desk and held it up. “Not very far from here there was a beautiful reindeer named Summer Night. She was the most beautiful reindeer in all of the Frozen North, some say not even the Princess of Equestria could match her beauty. One day she met a weak buck who was struggling with some lumber.” Seemingly from nowhere he produced another figurine that looked similar to himself. “The buck was trying to drag some timber back to town so he could start his own home like all reindeer do once they grow up. Seeing how the buck needed help, she lent a hoof and helped him drag it back to town. Now the buck had never seen such a beautiful doe in his whole life!” He exaggerated his point by stretching his hooves out wide. “He was so scared of her beauty that he didn’t even say anything to her, but he knew that he needed to repay the doe somehow. So he went home and carved a little reindeer out of the most flawless block of wood he could find. Little did he know, toy making was his special talent…but we’ll get to that later, huh?”

The little pink foal, Pinkie, gave a yawn as she opened her eyes and looked at the colorful little figures that danced around when Kringle spoke. “So he took the little figure and gave it to her the next day. She said never had she been given such a perfect gift, that nobody had ever given her something out of the kindness of their hearts. She leaned in, and gave the weak buck a little kiss on the cheek. Like this.” He made the female figure give the male one a little peck on the cheek. “And then they lived happily ever after.”

Okay…so that last part may be a little embellished. But foals needed happily ever after’s, they gave hope that everything was going to be right. That nothing could go wrong.

Ivy may have been in bed, but she heard every word her father spoke. It had been years since he told that story, maybe since after her mother passed even. Just thinking about it brought both tears and a smile to her face. It was like being told a fairytale that had actually happened, but you knew it was not actually a happy ending.

--

Ivy woke up a few hours later to the sun shining through the windows of the cabin…that and the sound of a wailing foal. It was a sound that she immediately hated, it was like an alarm of the worst kind.

After throwing her blankets off in frustration, Ivy rolled off of her bed and onto her hooves. Her father was nowhere in the single room cabin, that means she was left alone….with upset foals.

At least before he left he found her old playpen and some toys. So they were at least contained for now. As she approached the playpen she saw it was the yellow one with the pink mane, Fluttershy, wailing. She was reaching for a rattle that Rainbow Dash was holding and shaking happily.

Great, they’re not even a year old and they’re fighting. At least the other foals were crawling around calmly or playing with their toys without incident. But Fluttershy’s crying needed to stop.

Ivy trotted back to her bed and got the stuffed bear she usually slept with, Mr. Bear. It was one of her oldest toys that her mom had given to her…she didn’t want the foal to ruin it…but it was worth a shot.

She hooved the little stuffed bear to the crying filly, who looked at it for a second then immediately latched onto it. She didn’t chew on it or pull on it roughly, the little pony simply hugged it as tight as she could. Okay, so they may be slightly annoying…but at least they were cute.

---

Kringle stepped into the cabin and shook the snow off of his coat. The powdery substance didn’t bother him any, it was just not a good idea to track it everywhere in the house.

To his surprise he saw Ivy in the middle of the playpen with the foals. They were clambering all over her, and she was actually smiling. When one wanted attention, she would give it to them, and when two of the little ponies got into a tiff she would break it up like an expert.

This was truly a blessing for their home.