>Adrenaline pumps through your body as the next song starts up.
>You start hopping in place to the melody, wings fluttering with each hop. 
>’Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go! I wanna be sedated!’
>”Spitfire.”
>’Nothin’ to do, nowhere to go! I wanna be sedated!’
>”Spitfire?”
>’Just get me to the airport, put me on a pla-’
>Your headphones are yanked off just as you’re reaching the best part.
>”Spitfire!”
“Oi what gives?!”
>You spin around to see Anon staring at you with a look of disapproval.
“Oh… hey there! Didn’t hear you come in.”
>His look morphs into a scowl as he continues to stare at you with your headphones in hand.
>”That’s because you had your music up too loud, so you didn’t hear me knocking.”
>You return a sheepish smile, shrugging.
“Yeah sorry about that, but hey! That’s how you really get into it mate! You should know that’s how I roll.”
>He sighs, shaking his head before handing back your headphones.
>You pause the music, giving him your full attention.
“So what did you wanna talk about?”
>”Just got a call from my boss and they need me at work.”
“You serious? That’s such horse shit! It’s freaking Christmas Eve for crying out loud!”
>”Yeah I know it’s bull, but they’re short on help and are being overwhelmed with last minute orders. I can’t really say no.”
“Uh yeah you can, it’s as easy as saying ‘no’, see?”
>He rolls his eyes.
>”I wish it were that easy, but I can’t. The overtime will help paying off your fine.”
>You say nothing, remembering briefly the various crimes you did.
>So what if you got into trouble with the law a few times?
>…
>Okay maybe it wasn’t a few times, but you certainly didn’t intend to get caught last time!
>How were you supposed to know that it was the police station that you were tagging.
>Well… the police cars should’ve been a dead give away.
>Though to be fair, you thought it was a doughnut shop.

>After all, that’s were all the cops go to eat and hangout.
>It still sours you how you didn’t notice the darn security cameras.
>Ah buck it, no point in thinking about that garbage now.
>You notice Anon is talking, so you focus back on him and catch the end of whatever he is saying.
>”-ready for work, so stay out of trouble.”
>You wave your hoof.
“Don’t worry about it.”
>He shakes his head.
>”Promise me.”
>Sitting on your haunches and bringing your fore hooves together in a prayer, you try to mimic your best innocent face.
“I’ll be an angel, I promise.”
>He raises a brow, folding his arms in front of him.
>Figures he wouldn’t buy that.
“I swear! I’m not gonna get into trouble today Anon.”
>Smiling, he nods slowly.
>”Just want to make sure, you seem to have a knack of finding trouble.”
>Puffing out your chest as you stand, you run a hoof through your mane.
“Trouble finds me mate. It’s not my fault I’m so popular.”
>He laughs and ruffles your mane.
>”That’s one way of putting it.”
>You jump back, cheeks burning from embarrassment.
“Oi knock if off ya wanker!”
>”You like it and you know it.”
“Nuh uh!”
>”I enjoy riling you up, it’s always fun.”
>Rolling your eyes, you fire back.
“Whatever gets your jollies off.”
>Laughing again, he starts to make his way out of your room, stopping at the door.
>”I’ll grab dinner on the way home, probably some fast food or something.”
“Sweet. But uh hey Anon?”
>”Yeah?”
“Good luck at work, knock some skulls if ya have to.”
>”Heh thanks, I’ll try not to.”
“You never know.”
>Smirking as he leaves, you put back on your tunes and start dancing again.
>’California sun has sunk! Behind the Anaheim hills, comes the night!’
>Aw yeah, love some Rancid!
>Adrenaline once again energizes you, fueling your movements.
>As you’re rocking out, some thoughts come to mind.
>Sucks that Anon had to go in today, you were hoping two could play some more Tony Hawk’s Skater.

>Game is really addicting and far more fun to smack talk one another as you two play.
>Not much you can do about this though.
>Honestly, he’s the coolest guy you know.
>Well the only one that you actually hang out with.
>He took you in from the streets when no one else would.
>Everyone told him not to help you, but he did.
>The more you think about it, the more you feel yourself losing that energy you had.
>What have you done for him really?
>You really don’t pull your weight around here.
>You do try to keep the apartment clean, not like that’s difficult though.
>But you did get a job!
>Had a job, more like multiple jobs. Been fired for one reason or another each time.
>Not like you didn’t try stay employed.
>You’re not feeling this music as much anymore.
>In its place, you’re starting to feel angry.
>Angry at yourself.
“I gotta make it up to him somehow.”
>Pulling off your headphones and stopping your tunes, you try to come up with an idea.
>Not much comes to mind. What can you really do?
>Wracking your brain, you let a groan of frustration.
>There really isn’t anything, is there?
>The snow lightly falls outside your window and with it, a spark of inspiration finally comes.
“That’s it!”
>You’ll decorate the apartment and surprise him with a gift. He’ll never see it coming!
>It’s a totally flawless plan.
>Aw yeah!
>You leave your room and start searching for decorations.
>Though as you dig through boxes you come to a pretty crappy realization.
>There are no decorations to speak of.
>Then again, you guys don’t really go all out on celebrations.
“Well crap.”
>Could try to make some with what you got lying around.
>They’ll probably lack that Christmas look though.
>Well that only leaves one thing left.
>Gotta go out and buy some decorations.
>Hopefully some stores are still stocked with what you’re looking for.
>You return back to your room, rooting around your things for cash.

“Nope. Nope. Er nope.”
>This room is a disaster, probably should clean it sometime.
>Wait a second.
“Where’d that come from?”
>Likely from Anon pestering you to clean this place up, that’s gotta be it.
>Focusing back to the task, you continue searching and find your dosh finally.
“Aha! There you are.”
>You empty out the bag and start counting.
>Unfortunately there isn’t as much left as you’d hope.
>About twenty dollars or so, and some change.
>Great…
>Screw it, you’ll make do.
>After all, how expensive could everything be?
>You grab your jacket, bags, cash, and some music to listen to while you’re out.
>Just before you leave, you pause momentarily.
“Should I lock up?”
>Why should you? There really isn’t much here to steal anyways.
“Nah it’ll be fine, I won’t be out long anyways.”
>Feeling confident, you exit into the hallway.
>Neighbors are being loud as usual, not that you mind.
>You used to tick them off with blaring your music, but they complained and Anon put a stop to that.
>As you descend the stairwell, you set your tunes to shuffle and reach the door to the outside.
>The moment you open the door, the cold wind assaults your body.
“Damn winter.”
>A chill courses through you as you start to walk.
>Thankfully you got tunes and a mission to distract you while you’re out.
>Most of the snow has been shoveled from the sidewalk which makes things a little better.
>The trip to the store is mostly uneventful.
>There is hardly a soul out. Not that you’re surprised.
>Except for a few humans that you see and a single pony like yourself.
>They avoid you though. No surprise there.
>You do have a bit of a reputation around the town as the punk queen.
>You pay them no mind, and reach a store at last.
>Just before you go to enter, you stop and remember that you’re banned from shopping here.
>For theft of course.
>It was just one candy bar darn it!
>…
>Alright it was more like a whole box, or several…

>Would’ve gotten away if you weren’t such a lousy flier.
>Doesn’t matter, move on to the next store. Just gotta avoid the ones you’re banned from.
>You start searching and find a small convenience store that hasn’t banned you.
>Pausing your music as you enter, the cashier looks up and does a double take.
>”YOU!”
>You jolt and look around before back to him.
“Me?”
>”Yes you! Out!”
“What? Why? What did I do to you?”
>”You think I haven’t heard about you? You’re a thief, and I don’t want you in my store.”
>For crying out loud, this is the last thing you wanted to deal with...
>Maybe you can reason with him?
“Oh come on man, it’s Christmas Eve, I just need to buy a few things and I’ll be out.”
>”No, out now before I call the police.”
>You grit your teeth and hold back your words.
>Normally you’d argue with an idiot like this, but you promised Anon that you’d be good.
“Alright fine, I’m going, I’m going...Jerk off…”
>Once out into the streets again, you search for another store.
>Should’ve figured that the store owners would talk to one another.
>There should be still some that would allow you to shop there.
>However as you find stores, you keep facing the same problems.
>They’ve either heard of you or banned you.
>Guess that’s what you get for having a reputation.
>The worse part is the words they call you, most of which you’d rather not remember.
>Sighing, you feel your pace start to slow despite having good music to listen to.
>You’re starting to feel bummed again.
>Maybe everyone is right about you.
>Maybe you are a failure.
>As you’re walking by a store front, you catch your reflection in the window, and stop to look at yourself.
>You’re nothing like the pony you’re based off.
>Sure you share the same name, coat color, cutiemark, and even a similar voice.
>But you’re not her.
>You’ve got a vibrant blue and pink mane, a rebellious nature, and are a terrible flier unlike her.

>Slowly, you find yourself starting to hunch over and your eyes moisten.
>You’re just a bootleg of a better pony.
>You’re never going to be good enough, will you?
>...
>No…
>No!
>NO!
>You stomp your hoof and straighten up.
>You’re stronger than this!
>Anon believed in you when no one else would!
>So believe in yourself damn it!
>A quick change of tunes to something a little more upbeat, you start trotting in place.
>’Show me how to lie you’re getting better all the time-’ 
“That’s more like it.”
>Feeling confident again, you get a move on with greater resolve.
>There is one place that you know for a fact that won’t throw you out or reject you.
>The dollar store.
>The stuff there may be cheap, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
>There is a bit of a problem though.
>They’re on the other side of town and you’ve spent the better part of the day running around.
>You check the time and figure you got enough to spare if you do things right.
“Just gotta be a little faster.”
>Shame you’re not much of a flier, that would make things SO much easier.
>Can’t change that though.
>Picking up the pace, you nearly break into a full gallop to reach destination in time.
>You ignore everyone you pass by, they don’t matter, you know what matters.
>Get decorations and a gift for Anon.
>Finally reaching the store, you stop outside and try to catch your breath.
“Ha..ha...ha...finally...ha...made it...phew…”
>You slowly regain control of your breathing and check yourself over in the window.
>Don’t look too shoddy, at least not much more than usual.
>Nodding, you head into the nearly empty store and see the one other person who likes you.
>”Hey there Spitfire.”
“Hey Stacey, how’s it hanging?”
>Smiling, she looks around the store devoid of customers.
>”Oh I’m super busy, can’t you see?”
“Yeah I can see you’re swamped.”
>The two of you laugh for a bit, and she leans on the counter, smiling all the while.

>”So whatcha doing out here anyway?”
“Last minute shopping actually.”
>She gives you a deadpan look.
>”Really?”
“Yeah yeah I know! It’s a long story, but do you guys still got decorations?”
>”Some, but most of the stuff has been swapped out for Valentines day.”
“You gotta be kidding me…”
>”Nope, I know it’s dumb, but that’s just how this place runs.”
>Now what are you supposed to do?
>It’s not like there is any other place you can go with what time you got left.
>Some panic starts to fill you as you try to figure out what to do.
>However Stacey must’ve noticed, because she starts talking again.
>”Like I said, most of it, there still should be some stuff left. I’m pretty certain of that actually.”
“Oh, right. Thanks.”
>Can’t let those kind of thoughts bring you down.
>”Anytime for my favorite pony.”
>You give her a smile, grabbing a basket and start walking through the aisles to find stuff.
>Turns out she was right, there are some decorations left.
>Not nearly as much nor what kinds were hoping for though.
>No trees, no stockings, nor any garland.
“Crap… gotta make do.”
>You start grabbing what you can, mostly what you’ll be able to carry on the way home.
>Even grab some other decorations from other holidays or birthday that should fill in the blanks.
>Hopefully.
>With what you got, you just need to get a gift for Anon.
>But what exactly?
>He doesn’t need much, and hasn’t really told you what he really wants.
>You stop at the glasses rack, looking over some shades they have.
“Maybe this’ll work?”
>Shrugging, you grab a pair and swing by the food section.
>A bottle of cheap eggnog and some cookies are added to the small pile you accumulated.
>As you reach checkout, Stacey raises a brow and starts scanning your purchases.
>”Find everything alright ma’am?”
>Putting on a fake smile, you play along.
“Sure did, you guys had ‘everything’ I needed.”
>She laughs and finishes ringing up the last item.

>Thankfully you didn’t overspend, but it’s pretty darn close.
>You stuff what you can into your bags until they’re nearly bursting.
>Not enough room for everything though, so you carry a bag in your mouth and one on your back.
>Just as you’re about to head out, Stacey stops you.
>”Hey wait a second.”
“Hm?”
>”Sure you don’t wanna buy anything else?”
>She shoots you a grin knowing that you can’t respond back properly.
>Glaring at her, you unfold one of your wings and do a flipping off motion.
>You hear her break out into laughing as you exit the store.
>The cold air bites you once again, helping ease your burden while you head home.
>And what a walk back it is, you have to be fast and delicate. Something you’re really not.
>After an agonizing amount of time, you reach your building and discover a new problem.
>Opening the door to the stairwell.
>It’s a pain, but you manage to do it.
>The walk up however, is another story.
>By the time you finally reach the apartment, you nearly collapse at the front door.
>You push through, getting inside and dropping everything on the floor.
“That was freaking exhausting!”
>You’re tired, sweaty, and frazzled, but at least you did what you set out to do.
“What time is it anyway?”
>Looking over at the nearby clock, you realize you don’t got as much time as you’d like.
“Oh sod it all!”
>Hurrying, you empty out the various bags and go about setting things up.
>String up a birthday banner that you modify to say ‘happy birthmas’ and put up some streamers as well.
>With that, you put a plastic plant on the table that you decorate with the baubles you got.
>Even set up some figurines around it, some of which you’re certain are from Halloween or some other holiday.
>And lastly, you put on some Christmas music to set the mood.
“Finally done…”
>You plop down the couch with ten minutes to spare.
>That ten minutes comes and goes by far quickly though.

>Feeling some boredom coming on, you stand up and pace about while waiting.
“He’s probably stuck in traffic, that’s all.”
>A half hour passes and some concern starts to grow within.
>You ruffle your wings and try to keep yourself calm.
“He’s fine, I’m certain of it.”
>Continuing to wait, the music starts to grate on you.
“I gotta change this. Let’s see…”
>You flip through various Christmas songs, but ultimately they’re all too cheery for you.
>Eventually you settle on the something a little in between.
>https://youtu.be/iEKDv6qQlTA
“Eh not bad, better than nothing.”
>Still waiting, you grab some newspaper and start fashioning them into snowflakes.
>They could be worse, but it’s an attempt at least.
>You add them in with the other decorations, finding them fitting in better than you expected.
>With what newspaper you have leftover, you use it to wrap up Anon’s gift.
>Not much more you can do, so you head for the couch.
>Just as you reach it, the front door opens with Anon coming in with a few bags.
>”Sorry I’m late, you would not believe the traffic. How was your...”
>Whatever words he has die as he looks around the apartment.
>”Well… this is new.”
>You start feeling a bit anxious as he stands there.
“Do you like it?”
>”It’s… It’s uh.”
>He doesn’t like it, does he?
>He finally looks back to you with a smile.
>”This is awesome Spitfire.”
>What.
“What.”
>”I said this is awesome, I never expected you to do something like this.”
“Well I-I...er...I thought of it at last minute! That’s right!”
>You puff out your chest and grin.
>He chuckles and brings the bags over to the table, setting them down.
>As he starts pulling things out, he looks over to you.
>”Where’d you get all this anyway?”
“The dollar store.”
>”Guessing you had fun having to go across town then?”
“Oh you have no idea mate.”
>”Sounds like a story you can tell me while we eat, I got Chinese for dinner.”

“Sweet! Well I got some eggnog to go with it.”
>”Got eggnog too? How fancy.”
>The two of you sit down and eat while you recount your tale from today.
“...I had to go several blocks with those bags mate, you have no idea how tiring that was.”
>”At least you got a workout from it all.”
“Oh ha ha, so funny.”
>You roll your eyes, finishing off your veggie dish.
>Anon smiles and continues to eat his chicken and rice.
“Ugh, I’m pretty stuffed.”
>Finishing swallowing, he offers up a fortune cookie.
>”And not have your fortune?”
“Oh, right. Forgot about that.”
>He gives you a serious look.
>”You never forget about the cookie, it knows all.”
>The two of you stare at one another before laughing.
>You open it up and read it while eating the little treat.
“Invest in family. How original.”
>He shrugs, finishes off his food before tending to his cookie.
>”A great future awaits you.”
“Better than mine.”
>”Suppose, wanna watch some movies?”
“Heck yeah I do!”
>You follow him to the couch, pulling out your gift and get his attention.
“Uh hey Anon?”
>”Yeah?”
>He turns to you as you show him the present.
“I got you a gift.”
>”Shouldn’t you wait till tomorrow to give me it?”
“Yeah, but I’d like to give it to you now.”
>He smiles, taking and looking it over.
>”Duct tape and newspaper, why am I not surprised.”
“Oi, I had to work with what I got.”
>He grins and shoots you a look.
>”Never gets old to rile you up.”
“Just open it up already you idiot.”
>Chuckling, he opens it up with some difficulty.
“So uh, what do you think of it?”
>”Hmm…”
>Putting them on he poses.
>”Give me your boots and your clothes.”
>You laugh and shake your head.
“Terminator? Really?”
>”Oh come on, it’s a classic!”
“Yeah yeah I guess.”
>”But hey, I got you something as well.”
“Oh?”
>”Yep, I’ll be back.”
>You smile and feel some excitement as he heads off into his room before he quickly returns with a large blue folder shaped gift.

>”Here you go, I know you’ll love it.”
“You sure about that?”
>Smiling, he nods.
>”One hundred percent sure on that.”
>You sit down on the couch to open it, and he joins you, watching for your reaction.
>What you find is something you’ve been wanting for a while now.
“A Sex Pistols vinyl? This is… it’s...”
>For a brief moment, you feel your eyes grow wet.
>Before the waterworks get loose, you reach over and give him a hug.
“It’s awesome Anon!”
>He chuckles and returns the greeting.
>”Told you that you would love it.”
>You quickly wipe away any tears that were there and pull out of the hug.
“Yeah you did. It’s great.”
>”Merry Christmas Spitfire.”
“Merry Christmas Anon.”