Hearth's Warming is right around the corner - Preview of Escort Flight attached · 4:59am Dec 19th, 2013
Now that Christmas is only a week away, it's time for Georg to publish... another chapter of Diplomacy by Other Means, a rather bloody violent story that has nothing to do with the season.
Well, I had to get it out of the way so I can work on (Draft Gdocs links) Yes Twilight Sparkle, There Is A Santa Hooves and Escort Flight, both of which need to be done by Saturday if I'm going to keep to my schedule. (Just like Santa, I'm behind schedule)
So if you want to postpone the blood and guts, and read about gingerbread and candy canes instead, you need to be a good little filly or colt and wait. And in case you can't stand the wait, here's a draft sample out of Escort Flight
* * *
Nocturne were meant to fly this way. High above the storm, their membranous wings caught the updrafts and soared, carrying them along at a fair clip as they headed north-east. It wasn’t as fast as feathered pegasi could fly, but over long distances, they had no equal. Pumpernickel did not talk with his superior officer during the hours-long flight through the icy air as the sun slowly descended to the horizon. It would have taken away from the rhythm of his regular breathing, and the beautiful tranquility of the sky as it prepared to welcome Luna’s unblinking stars. There were stories of Nocturne flying west and losing track of time, eventually flying out to sea, never to be seen again, but they were only stories, told to foals around the glow of the morning dawn as they were tucked in for a good day’s sleep. Pumpernickel had long outgrown tales of the Tooth Flutterpony and the Winter Wrap-Up Rabbit, put aside for grown-up activities such as a wife and an upcoming family, as well as his career as a Royal Guard. Now as their flight began to edge closer to outskirts of the griffon empire, his senses rose to an alert status and he scanned across the sky diligently, in the hopes that this would be an uneventful flight, unlike his last mission into the frozen north.
“We’re just about at the rendezvous point,” called out Dandelion from his position just off his left wing. “Just circle until our escort gets here. According to the guards who did this last year, they’re almost always late.”
“Last year?” asked Pumpernickel as the two Nocturne swung into a long leisurely circle above the puffy snow clouds below. The brilliance of the setting sun reflected off the back of his sunglasses with every circle, and he was not truly comfortable until the blazing disc had descended beneath the horizon and Luna’s silvery sphere had risen. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world to experience the newborn stars as he tucked his unneeded glasses away, luxuriating in the simple pleasures of flight in an empty sky. They circled for an hour or more before the two guards caught a glimpse of a far-away light, a slow blink of red and green navigation lights on an airborne wagon of some sort. As it drew closer, Pumpernickel could pick out the four griffon escorts by the golden glint of their minimalistic armor and the green glow of the night-vision spells on their helmets. It took a few minutes to soak in, but as they flew to intercept, he finally had to ask his fellow officer, “Dandy, are those Imperial Guards? I thought they only guarded Emperor Ripping Claw himself.”
“They’ve got a rotation, just like us. Now you’ve got protocol duty, so don’t screw this one up. Go ahead, I’ll be right beside you.”
It took a long gentle curve for the two Nocturne to draw near the escorted wagon, but as they completed their turn and closed the range, Pumpernickel was so shocked he nearly quit flapping. The griffon guards were not the cause of his distress, even though they rose up from their paralleling position to form the neatest line-abreast formation above the escorting wagon he had ever seen. No, it was the wagon itself.
There were lumpy bags strapped to the wagon with great abandon, tied on by what seemed to be miles of rope in a massive pile that threatened to topple the whole thing the moment it touched ground on the sled runners that had been strapped on where the wheels should have been. A sense of age seemed to permeate the whole wooden contraption, not showing a speck of decay and rot, but of careful maintenance and paint with silver lettering across both sides and the musical jingle of small bells in the icy slipstream. It was far too large and overloaded for a single pegasus to pull, and as the two Nocturne pulled up alongside, Pumpernickel almost quit flapping in shock for the second time.
It was being pulled by a reindeer.
And not just an ordinary reindeer, but the biggest and fattest reindeer he had ever seen in his life, wearing a furry red and white coat that was tipped with small icicles, and kept from flapping in the wind by a thick black belt. Ponies all over Equestria would dress up in that outfit every Hearth’s Warming season to ring bells for charitable contributions, and to sit in stores to listen to what little colts and fillies wanted for their presents. But instead of the fake antlers on the department store ponies, this reindeer had a huge rack of real horns, glowing a faint silver in the moonlight as he galloped along, pulling the overloaded sled behind him without the slightest sign of wings.
“Santa Hooves?” blurted out Pumpernickel.
Yay, something to read tomorrow!
Yes, Optio, you thought it was a old mare's tale, didn't you? Well, given that Nightmare Moon was real, as was the Sonic Rainboom, Discord, the Elements of Harmony and innumerable other things...? All I can say is that I strongly advise you to keep a watch for a Flutter Pony trying to take your foal's shed teeth and check for suspicious rabbits next Winter Wrap-up.
Here an idea for a Christmas story for next year
A Christmas Canter
Green Grass as Scrooge, either that or this role could also be filled by an anxious about her future Alicorn Twilight
Not sure who could fill the role of Jacob Marley, maybe Spike if you use Twilight, and for GG hmmm maybe Friday
Princess Luna as the Ghost of Hearth Warming Past (since Luna is all about the Past)
Celestia as the Ghost of Hearth Warming Present (she raises the sun on every new day and sets, a daily cycle just like the ghost of Christmas Present)
A silent straight mane Pinkie Pie or maybe Cadence as the Ghost of the Future (she can be shown GG’s grave and that of her friends instead of her own)
I don’t think a version of it’s a wonderful life showing GG what life would be like if he hadn’t been born, because that basically just the TV series
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Nah, A Christmas Carol is a redemption story so it would have to be with a Dark- or Neutral-aligned character like Trixie, Sunset Shimmer or Lightning Dust.
It doesn't necessarily have to be a redemption story, it could be them showing Twilight or Green Grass a bit more of their lovers past, a change up where they see someone else's past. With Green Grass it might help him get over that feeling of not being a good thing for Twilight a bit. For Twilight I would place it after she become an Alicorn, after seeing how Green Grass lived before she met him and the whole future thing could help her with the whole immortal loving a mortal thing that is sure to come up
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1629049 How The Great And Powerful Trixie Stole Hearth's Warming
If I have time, I'll write this based on the transcript of the Grinch
Every pony down in Ponyville, like Hearth's Warming a lot
But there was one pony living just North of Ponyville who did not
Trixie hated Hearth's Warming! The whole holiday season!
"Why?" asked Trixie, crawling out of her bed and looking out the window on her wagon. "Why are you bothering me! All I wanted to do was sleep in this morning! Can't you just go away!"
Look, we'll pay you double scale, since it's a holiday.
"Bah! Humbug! I hate this season," scowled Trixie with a sneer. "Where is that worthless clerk Cratchet, so I can make his life miserable."
Wrong holiday story.
"Whoops. Sorry. Go on, I'll catch up."
Good. Now where were we? Oh yes.
Trixie hated Hearth's Warming! The whole holiday season!
"Except for the presents. Am I getting any presents in this episode?"
Sigh. Yes, if it will keep you quiet.
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
...
perhaps that her heart was two sizes too small
"That, and having to eat pine cones to survive because my agent is a louse."
Set the Trixie story in you Monster universe, I think that would give it the best amusement factor, you could use pre-alicorn Monster as the ghost of Hearth Warming Future