Hi, guys. It's me again. Remember: all credit for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic goes to Hasbro, Inc. and 'A Christmas Carol' belongs to Charles Dickens.
My Little Pony—A Christmas Carol
Once, there lived a pony who hated Christmas. His name was Shadow Gear. He was an elderly Earth pony with a yellow body and white, curly mane and a straight tail. His cutie mark was an image of two black gears.
He was walking through the streets of a snow-covered Ponyville when he passed by a group of Christmas carolers. Using what little strength he had, he threw snow at them. He continued to walk, passing by happy ponies. It pissed him off, but he would soon be at his shop.
He passed the school and two Pegasus stallions came up to him with smiles on their faces. One was green with a red mane and tail. His cutie mark was made up of two white wings on an animal paw. The other was orange with a light purple mane and tail. His cutie mark consisted of red wings on a heart.
"Why, hello sir. My name is Wing Claw, and this is my partner Care Flight. We were wondering if you could donate to help ponies and animals in need of medicine and food," Wing Claw spoke happily, keeping a smile on his face.
"Are the buildings in ruins and are these no jobs for the fillies and colts?" Shadow Gear asked angrily.
"Oh, no, but with your donation, we can help those who can't find jobs," Care Flight spoke softly, smiling.
"I'm not interested I got work to do. So have a good day sirs," Shadow Gear said angrily as he walked past the annoying Pegasus and, in five minutes, he was at his shop which made out of red bricks. It had a windowsill showing toys like dolls, trains, and cars. He walked in, seeing his partner at was a silver unicorn with a black and yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark was a needle that was sewing a brown teddy bear's stomach.
"Hello, String Fixit. Sorry for being late. I got held up," Shadow Gear said with a sigh.
"No problem, Mr. Gear," String Fixit said joyously. Shadow Gear sat down and started to work on some old and broken toys, like trains and cars, using small tools to fix them and a paint brush to paint them. "Mr. Gear, I was wondering if, since the holiday is coming, I could take some time off," String Fixit inquired unsurely.
"Fine, but before the holiday, I expect you to be here an hour earlier than usual," Shadow Gear said bitterly.
"Okay sir" String Fixit responded with a hit of sadness in his voice but he need to keep working so with a sigh he put a smile on his muzzle and worked.
The day went on and the two of them worked hard as a lot of ponies were coming in to pick up toys or place orders. It was 10 hours later when Shadow and String closed up shop. Shadow walked back home. It started to snow as he walked. Once he reached his home, which was a tall building made from stone, he walked up to his door, but before he could open it, the knocker suddenly transformed to look like a unicorn's face, frowning at him. Seeing this scared him, which made him fall back into the snow.
He got back up and looked at his door. It must be my age. Now I'm seeing things, Shadow Gear thought with a sigh of frustration as he walked in, seeing his brown chair, a wooden coffee table and a set of stairs that led to his room. He sat down on his chair, closing his eyes and starting to drift off to sleep. When he opened his eyes, he saw an Alicorn stallion with a white and black body, a white mane and a black tail.
"Who in the hay are you, and how the buck did you get in my house?" Shadow Gear asked in shock as he saw the Alicorn.
"I'm Shadow Change, and as to how I got in, it was easy with magic. Anyway, I'm here because your heart has gone cold, so now you shall be visited by three spirits and, hopefully, your cold heart will become warmer," Shadow Change said calmly.
"This is either simply dream, or my old mind just playing tricks on me, because I know that there is no Alicorn stallion in existence, and even if you were real, I would say that you're filled with shit," Shadow Gear said angrily, trying to explain this away.
"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not. You must change from being cold hearted to something else," Shadow Change said in a calm, yet worried, tone before he faded away.
Shadow Gear, still confused about this, decided to just go back to sleep, so he walked upstairs and went into his room which consisted of a window, a bed, a bathroom, and a wooden clock. He lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. The clock rang when its hands reached 12 o'clock. He felt a little warmer. Opening his eyes, he saw a unicorn whose body was on fire, and floating above it was a golden bell.
"I am the Spirit of Christmas Past," the flaming pony whispered, calmness in his voice. Shadow Gear got up from his bed.
"What is it that you want?" Shadow Gear asked in anger, looking at the burning pony.
"I'm here to show your past, so hold on." The flaming pony grabbed Shadow Gear by the hoof and the room faded away. Both of them suddenly found themselves in front of a red wooden school building with a green roof. Ponies ran out the school with smiles on their faces as they played in the snow. Looking closely, he saw younger self, his yellow body and blue curly mane and straight tail much more vibrant, his cutie mark of a two black gears standing out much more easily.
"Where are we, and why am I looking at a younger me?" Shadow Gear asked in confusion.
"We are in your past when your heart was warmer," said the burning spirit with some joy in his voice as the two of them watched his younger self fix toys for ponies. He walked with a bag of toys, giving them to ponies.
"I remember doing this. Those were good times, working hard and making those toys for them, but now I've learned that, to keep my lifestyle and to continue my work, I need money," Shadow Gear said with a sigh. They watched the scene fade and soon found themselves inside a barn filled with Earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi of every color. "Wow. No way. This is the Christmas party. No, this is something that should not have changed," Shadow Gear said in excitement.
"It sounds like somepony is already having a change of heart," the burning spirit said happily.
"Don't get the wrong idea. This day is probably reason why I hate this holiday," Shadow Gear said sadly as they watched the ponies enjoy their time, dancing. A teenage Shadow Gear was dancing with an Earth pony. She was a gray mare with a yellow and purple mane and tail and cutie mark that consisted of three white cards. They were both dancing, both with smiles and a slight blush.
"Who was she to you?" the burning spirit asked curiously.
"Her name was Lily Card. She was my first crush," Shadow Gear said, pained, as the party went on. She walked towards her friend and the old Shadow Gear looked away just before the roof collapsed and the mare was buried in the snow and wood. Shadow Gear's younger self ran towards the snow with tears in his eyes. "Spirit, get me out of here. I've seen enough," Shadow Gear said, pained.
"You can't run away from your past," the burning spirit said sadly.
"I said that I've had enough, so be gone, spirit!" Shadow Gear yelled angrily. He grabbed the golden bell and brought it down on the burning spirit.
He woke up in his bed. It was 1 o'clock. He could smell food on the other side of his door. He walked over, opened the door and saw a lot of food. Looking around, he saw a green Earth pony with a yellow mane. The pony was clad in a in a white sheet. White strings were tied around his body.
"Hi, there. I'm the Spirit of Christmas Present," the pony said joyously.
Oh, great. Here we go again, Shadow Gear thought with frustration.
Shadow Gear walked towards his door, but it was gone, and one of the strings on the spirit's robe tied onto to his hoof and they flew out the room. Shadow Gear was being dragged through Ponyville. They arrived at what appeared to be a rundown cottage. The straw roof was falling apart and the black bricks were covered in cobwebs.
They phased through the door and Shadow Gear saw his co-worker, String Fixit, and his son, who looked like his father, but with black and green mane and tail. He had no cutie mark, but that was not all. It looked like the colt had a wooden front leg.
"Hey, Dad, can I say grace?" the young colt asked in a happy manner.
"Sure, Knight Blade," String Fixit spoke happily. He gave his son a smile. They closed their eyes and held hooves.
"Thank you for the food that we are about to eat, and may Mommy sleep well knowing that we are happy," said Warrior Blade sadly.
"What a good colt, but why did you bring me here, spirit?" Shadow Gear asked confusedly.
"Simple; even with the few resources that your partner lives with, he still stay strong through everything, even though his son is sick and about to die, but does he cope with this sadness by hating others?" the pony asked, sarcasm evident in his voice as he looked at Shadow Gear.
"No. How long does he have?" Shadow Gear asked concernedly. He heart was cold, and he didn't care about his partner's life, but hearing this made him sad, and looking back, he remembered that his partner's colt had a brain tumor. He started to cry, wishing that he could do something to help.
"By the look of it, it won't be long, sadly," the spirit spoke sadly. The room faded, and both them suddenly found themselves in front of a bell tower.
"Is there nothing that I can do?" Shadow Gear asked sadly.
"Are the buildings in ruins and are these no jobs for the fillies and colts?" the spirit asked hatefully, saying the same thing that Shadow Gear told the two Pegasus.
The bell tower rang suddenly, the spirit was gone. Shadow Gear could hear wings flying towards him. He looked up into the night sky where he could see a skeletal Pegasus wearing a black cloak. It was heading towards him. Shadow Gear, shocked and fearful, started to run away, but the Pegasus flew faster, picking him up and flying into the dark night. He landed with Shadow Gear in a graveyard filled with tombstones.
"I'm the Sprit of Christmas Future. Now, take a look at that," he said with disappointment in his voice as he pointed at one of the tombstones. Shadow Gear looked at it. It said, 'Here lies a toymaker. Died alone'. He looked at it with regret. In front of him, an empty black hole appeared in the ground, causing him to shake in fear.
"Spirit, can I not change these words?" Shadow Gear asked with fear. He turned around to look at the spirit. The spirit walked up to him.
"It is up to you to change this fate," the spirit whispered kindly, and with a bony hoof, pushed him through the hole.
"No! Please!" Shadow Gear yelled in shock and fear as he fell into the darkness. He woke up on his floor and walked towards his window. There was a young colt—an Earth pony with white and light brown spots on his body and a dark and light brown mane and tail—on the street below.
"Hey, young one, what day is it?" he asked with worry, hopeful that he had time.
"It's Christmas, mister," the young colt said with joy in his voice.
I was given a second chance. Thank you, spirits, he thought with joy. He walked out of his house and, when he passed the Christmas carolers who sang quietly when he came by, he hummed the song with them because he was holding a brown big bag in his mouth he opened the bag and left a few bits. When he walked towards the school, he saw the two Pegasi from the day before.
"Hello, there. First off, I'd like to say sorry for what I said yesterday. I hope that you can forgive me," Shadow Gear said sorrowfully and gave them the rest of the bag of bits.
"Thank you for your generosity," said Wing Claw, shocked, an expression that was mirrored by his partner. Shadow Gear walked away with a smile on his face and went to his shop, seeing his partner as he walked in.
"Good day, Mr. Fixit. How about you take the rest of the day off? You're getting a raise, as well, and if you need help with debt, I'm here to help whenever you need," Shadow Gear said happily.
"Umm… Thank you, sir, but are you feeling all right?" String Fixit asked worriedly.
"No, I'm doing all right. Go on. Spend time with your family," Shadow Gear said with joy.
"As Shadow Gear's heart was kind once again, he even reopened the barn for Christmas parties. I'm Shadow Change, wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."
Until next time. Please review or PM.