The World Today

by Dracarion

Holiday Special - Hearth's Warming 2011

Hearth Warming Special – 2011

A tale of… redemption?

By Dracarrion

A lone golden mare stood at the top of a Manehattan skyscraper. She had everything; money, power, fame, the fastest cars and the rarest art. She raised her glass and took another drink as she looked out over the city, her city. And yet, she was alone. Nopony else stood around her, she was at the top, and she’d had to step on a lot of hooves to get there, but it had been worth it.

But then, why are you alone?

“Who’s there?” She asked, turning her head to see nopony else there.

“You forgot about me already? Hrmph, that’s just like you.” A pale blue mare said, heavy chains binding her wings and legs. “Always forgetting those you crushed to get on top.”

The golden mare smirked. “Temps, you never were one to stay down.” She turned back to face her friend, a look of shock flitting across her features as she saw through her. “What happened to you?”

“Car wreck, got an engine block to the muzzle. But enough about me, what’s happened to you?” She asked, her spectral eyes looking into her friends green. “You just ended our friendship, and turned you back on everypony who got you where you are today.”

“And look where it got me!” She said, stepping up to the edge of the roof, a large neon ‘S’ just to her left. She turned to look across the sign. ‘Sweet Apple Inc.’ “I own the whole bucking city! I don’t need anypony!”

Tempest just shook her head, her spectral mane shaking. “Don’t end up like me, Orchard. After you turned your back on me I got upeset, and found myself on the wrong end of one of your trucks.”

“That’s not my fault.”

“Card, he only hit me cause he was overworked by you.” She walked around her friend, standing in mid air. “Don’t end up like me. You chose this path, but it’s not too late to change.” She stepped forward. “You stand here on a special night; Hearth Warming’s Eve is indeed a very special night, for tonight is a night known for second chances. And tonight, you will be visited by three ghosts, each of which will show you a different part of your life.” A clock rang in the background. “Oops, times up. Sorry Card, gotta go.” With that, the bound pony fell into nothing.

Card looked out over the city, her mouth still in a smirk and a defiant look on her face. “Ghosts. Yeah right.” She finished her drink and threw the glass over the edge. “We’ll just see about that.”

- --- -- -

Ten that night

Orchard was having an amazing dream, her and Tempest on their cross Equestria trip they’d always planned. Suddenly a voice like that of a drill sergeant woke her from her dream.

“Alright!” A cyan mare said, stamping a hoof against the floor. “Time to rise!”

“Huh?” Card asked, groggily looking around. “Whazzuh?”

“Out!” The cyan mare said, grabbing Card by her rear hoof and flinging her onto the floor. “Alright, we haven’t got much time so we’re gonna have to go, like, now.”

Card blew her red mane from her face, before looking up at her assailant. “Who are you? How did you get in here?”

“Shut it!” She seemed to be ticked about being there. “You’re too old to be sniveling like that.”

“Wait… I know this story… You’re the spirit of Warmings Past. But won’t…”

“I said SHUT IT!” She said again, cutting Card off mid sentence. “Look,” she put a hoof across her rosy eyes, “I got pulled from a great party with a certain pink pony only because YOU needed somepony who you’d actually LISTEN to.” She looked back down her own body. “That’s also why I look like this, I’m somepony who’s opinion you actually valued…. Or possibly somepony you hate. Eitherway, you’re coming with me.”

“So..”

“Shut it.” She grabbed Card and threw her through the window. “We only got twenty minutes.”

-- -- -- ----

“Where are we?” Card asked, knowing she should recognize this place.

“When is the better question.” The spirit said, looking at the scene before her. “And that would be ’05, Appleloosa, Hearths Warming Eve.” She walked up to the door on the house and bucked it open. “Come on.”

“Lemme guess, they can’t see or hear us.” Card said, entering with the full haughtiness of a showmare.

“Yup. Now GET!” The spirit said, shooing her in with a hoof. Inside, her father had just come in, and had sat down.

“Dang drought, this is gonna be the worst year yet. I mean if it weren’t for Dustrunner, we’d be long out of food.” He said, lamenting his bad fortune of the past few years. “And we ain’t turned a profit at all this year. We barely broke even.” Exhaustion was starting to get the better of him.

“Maybe you ought to take your cousin’s offer to merge our farm with hers.” His wife said, shuffling her wings. “She’s gotten several of the others to pull together, why can’t we join them?”

“I love cousin AJ, but Dreamer.. well, we Apples are proud ponies, and I ain’t about to show any weakness.” He said, his eyes falling on the sleeping filly on the floor, a worn teddy bear in her hooves.

“Do it for her then.” Dreamer said, nodding towards their foal. Her husband sighed, he’d wanted to wait out the drought, but she was right.

“You’re right.” He said, pulling his hat down over his eyes. “I hate it, but you’re right.”

“I never knew that he’d given up his farm for me.” Card said, looking at the golden filly blissfully asleep on the floor. Her accent was closer the Manehattan one that her mother had, than the southern drawl of her father. “And yet, here I own everything.” She laughed, her own diminutive wings shuffling slightly.

The spirit sighed. “You don’t get it. He did what he thought was right. He always did what he thought was right. But we need to keep moving, more to see!” A blue hoof smacked Card upside the head, sending her spinning tail over mane into another scene.

-- -- -- --

“Wait, what was that for?” Card asked, looking around the house confused. The scant few decorations that had been there a mere second ago were now missing as was most the furniture. “What happened?”

“Yeah, temporal travel sometimes requires being…” The spirit started, only to get cut off.

“I know when we are now… Hearth’s Warming of ’10.” Card said, remembering the fact that they’d moved from her home in Appleloosa to Manehattan that Hearth’s Warming.

A young filly ran into the room, grabbing an old teddy bear and tucking it under one of her tiny wings. “Momma, why isn’t Daddy here?” Her voice carried a mix of Manehattan and southern accents.

“Because he is in the north defending us, dear.” Her mother, Day Dreamer, answered.

“Why’s he gotta be there?”

“Well dear,” Dreamer put her wing around the young Orchard, “someponies who aren’t very nice want to come down and hurt us. So he has to go and keep them on their side of the mountains.”

“But why do they wanna hurt us?” The young Card asked.

“I wish I knew.” Dreamer said sadly.

“Are you sure we’re at the right place? I mean it doesn’t look like there’s anypony living here.” A new voice said, carrying brash tones.

“Now, sugar, that ain’t no way to talk about somepony’s house.” This voice made Card freeze; its southern drawl was so distinctive, even in this nowhere southern town. The owner of the voice came into view a few seconds late, an orange earth pony with green eyes and a blonde mane topped by a black Stetson. “Mrs. Dreamer?”

“Well, hello Applejack.” Dreamer said, shaking AJ’s hoof. “Everything’s ready, we’re just waiting for the movers to get here.” The mare that had came with AJ stepped around the corner. She looked a lot like the spirit, multi-chromatic mane and all. Dreamer pulled out a rolled parchment. “Here’s the deed to the place.” She said as she passed the roll to AJ. “I hate having to leave, but without Brea and Dusty, we just can’t make ends meet anymore.”

“Trust me sugar cube, I know exactly whatcha mean.” AJ said, removing the Stetson she wore. “There were many a year in Ponyville where we had the same problem. In fact, if it weren’t for my friends, I’d of had to do this several times over.”

“Ya see?” The spirit said. “Your father never sold out. He only allied with the other farmers. Then when he left, AJ offered you mother a good price for the farm.” She grabbed Card with her hoof. “We still got a few more stops.” She then shoved Card sideways.

-- -- -- -- -

She looked up at the front of the apartment building they’d moved into after leaving their little frontier town. “Why are we here?” Card asked, looking at the spirit.

“Watch.” She said, turning her to face two ponies, one a pale blue pegasus and the other the Card that they’d just seen.

“Uhm, hello.” The little Card said, her small wings neatly folded at her sides and her mane styled more to suit civilized Manehattan than frontier Appleloosa.

“Hey,” the pegasus said, leaning against a fence, “I don’t think I remember seeing you around here before.”

“Yeah…” Card said. “My name’s Orchard, and me and my mom just moved here today.”

“Wow.” The pegasus said, looking at Card over her shades. “On Hearth’s Warming no less. Hmmm.” She tapped her hoof to her chin while she turned something over in her mind. “Orchard just doen’t work. I could call you Orch, but that’s dumb. Chard? No, but close…. Card! Alright. That is, if that’s cool with you.” She said, reaching out a hoof. “Well Card, my name’s Tempest, and I feel like this will turn into a beautiful friendship.”

“She was my closest friend.” Card said, looking at her hooves, then back up as the color seemed to start fading from the scene. “I can’t seem to recall what happened to us.”

“Allow me.” The ghost grinned, grabbing Card and taking off into the air.

- --- ---

They now stood inside her top floor office, shortly after she’d performed her hostile takeover of Sweet Apple Incorporated. Two mares sat in the office, Card behind the desk on the phone and Tempest sprawled on a couch.

“Look, I know it’s Hearth’s Warming Eve, but truthfully? I don’t care. You have a schedule to keep, and I can’t afford for you to be late.” Card’s voice was frustrated and angry.

“Card, ain’t that a bit harsh?” Tempest said, looking at her friend upside down. “I mean, it’ll be Hearth’s Warming in a few hours, and I know he’s got a family….”

“Temps,” Card sighed, rubbing her face with her hoof, “I know he’s got a family. I know he lives on the other side of Equestria from where his deliveries are taking him. And I know that can’t be easy, but then again, he knew that going into this job.”

Tempest sighed. Was this the mare she’d fallen for? The uncaring taskmaster who wouldn’t even give a driver the night off to see his family on Hearth’s Warming Eve. Well, not the taskmaster, but the pony beneath that, the caring pony who she only saw glimpses of now. And tonight, she was going to try to win that pony. “Hey Card,” the golden pony looked up from her desk, Tempest gulped as her courage fell, “how’d you like to have drinks?”

“Why Temps,” Card said, almost laughing, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were asking me out.”

“I am.” Tempest said, rolling to sit upright.

“WHAT!” Card shouted, reaching for the first thing she could grab. “HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT I’M SOME KIND OF FILLY-FOOLER!” She hurled a picture frame at Tempest. “HOW! DARE! YOU!” The phone quickly followed the frame.

“I’m sorry!” Tempest cried, tears streaking down her face as she fled from the room. “I’m so sorry.”

“She loved you.” The spirit said mournfully, shaking her head. “She loved you, and you killed the you she loved that night.”

“Pphhhh.” Card stated, fighting laughing. “Imagine. Me. A… A… Filly-fooler.” She was losing the fight. “I mean…. It’s just… laughable…. I co… couldn’t even… think of a…a mare like that.”

“Then I have to ask,” the spirit started, somberly, “was it worth it?”

“Was it worth what?” Card's laughter was immediately gone.

“In exactly three hours she has a head on collision with a Sweet Apple Delivery Truck, and the official report states that it was because of overwork.” The spirit looked her in the eyes. “But you and me, we know the truth, don’t we?” Card stepped back towards the large windows of the office and the spirit took a step forward. “It’s your fault.” The pair continue to advance. “All of this is of your own doing. It’s your fault. It’s your fault, and you didn’t even care that she was dead! It’s your fault, and you didn’t even go to say goodbye!” Card stepped back through where the glass should be and fell.

- --- -- -

Card lay sprawled on her floor after her adventure with the spirit of Warmings past. She looked up at the clock on her wall. 11:00. A noise in her wardrobe forced her to raise her head to look at the furniture. Suddenly the doors flew open, and in a flurry of streamers, confetti, and balloons, out sprang a pink pony, with various ribbons tied to her mane and tail.

“Hi there!” The pink pony said cheerfully. “I’m here to show you the Hearth Warming Present!”

“And?” Card asked, still shaken by what Past had just shown her. “Why by the Nightmare should I care?”

“Yeah, sorry about Past-y, she can be a bit of a grump, having to show everypony where their life went wrong’s a hard job.” The pink pony before her seemed to deflate slightly. “But,” she poofed back up, “that’s why I’m here!” She reached back and withdrew a box from her tail, a box that was twice her size. “And there’s nothing like the present!”

“How did…”

“Oh, that doesn’t matter,” the spirit said, almost bouncing in anticipation, “all that does is what’s inside!” She pounced up and pulled the paper off the box revealing a large cube with a frame on it and a picture of a rundown neighborhood. “Here we go!” The spirit called out as she pulled Card through the painting.

-- -- -- --

“Where are we now?” Card asked, trying to recognize the rundown street.

“You don’t know where we are? Hmm…. Ah ha!” The spirit pulled a small glowing ball from her fluffy jacket pocket. She then smooshed up against Card and held the ball up to the sky. In an instant, it was early morning, and Card knew exactly where she was. The spirit hopped in through a window, and seeing no point in trying to argue, Card did the same. Inside, a young pegasus was fixing a simple meal for himself.

“Hey, Card, is this your coltfriend?” the spirit asked.

“No, he’s…” Card started before being interrupted by the spirit.

“Your fiancé?”

“No. He’s..

“If he’s neither of those things, then what is he?” The pink spirit asked.

“He’s what you might call a…” Card thought about how to phrase it. “A good time call.”

The spirit gasped. “You can’t string a pony along like that!” She shouted. “Do you know what that does to a pony?? It destroys them! I mean look at him, he’s so alone. And on Hearth’s Warming aswell.”

“Hey, we both knew what this was going into it.” She said, looking at the young stallion before her. “It’s just a good time and nothing else.”

The pink spirit looked at her studiously, and then grinned as if though she knew something Card didn’t. “Okie dokie lokie!” She pulled an empty wooden picture frame out of nowhere. “Next stop!” She slid her hoof across the empty frame and the scene around them spun into a new setting, a winged mare just sitting down to dinner. “Look familiar?”

“Where is he?” Card asked, looking around the small apartment. “Where’s my father?”

“I’m sorry, Orchard, I really am, but he and the rest of his group from the war vanished eleven years ago.” She said, comforting Card with a soothing hoof on her shoulder.

“And how… why didn’t I know about that?”

“Hmmmm… Now that is a riddle. Why wouldn’t you have known?” the pink spirit tapped her hoof against her chin. “Oh! I got it! It’s probably cause you haven’t talked to them since you moved out!”

Card’s ears fell. “Oh, right.” She looked back over her mother. “Has it really been that long?”

“It’s been twelve years since she last heard anything from you. Maybe you should call her tomorrow?”

“Yeah.” Card said, turning back to look at her mother. “Yeah, I will.”

“Alright-y then,” the pink pony said, “One more stop before home.” She pulled a golden frame out of her tail and held it up. The pair found themselves in a grave yard, standing before a lone tombstone. “This is it. Manehattan Garden, Section F, Lot 12, Row 8, Plot 16.”

“Isn’t this the scene the future ghost is supposed to show me?” Card asked, looking at the ghost.

“No you silly filly, look around you.” The ghost said, glancing about the fog. As Card did she noticed that there wasn’t just one tombstone, but thousands, all decorated with wreaths or flowers, save one. The tombstone before her was bare of any Hearth Warming remembrance, no wreath, no flowers, no present, nothing but granite and grass.

Card walked up to the tombstone, noting the simplicity of it. It was little more than a chunk of granite onto which two lines of text were engraved.

Tempest Winds

1000-1025

Card ran a hoof along the smooth speckled surface.

“Who was she?” The spirit asked, her light blue eyes filled with concern.

“She was my best friend.” Card started, moving as so not to stand on the grave. “Growing up we had become inseparable. Looking back, it’s not hard to see why she tried to… to…” She just couldn’t bring herself to use the word she’d used in her head these last few years; the word was pervert. “Change our friendship.” She paused as she ran a hoof down the tombstone again. “When she did, I freaked out, lashed out at my closed friend, all because I was uncomfortable with the idea of….” Tears started to build in her eyes, “the idea of… of… loving her… that much…. and in… that way.”

“She truly loved you.” The pink pony said, looking sadly at the golden mare before her. “But you couldn’t return the feelings.” In the distance a bell rang out. “Ooops, um, that’s my cue to go.” She pulled a framed picture of Card’s bedroom from her mane and held it above her head. “Bye bye Card!” She brought the picture down over Card.

-- --- --- -

Card sat in quiet contemplation. She’d just been shown the affect she had over the ponies who she was truly closest to and who were closest to her. She heard the door open and close behind her. “You’re the final ghost, I presume.” She said, not even turning to look at the grey stallion standing there.

“Come now.” He said; his voice was gentle and sad. “We have a few more things to see.” He extended a hoof to her. She stood and took the offered hoof and with that, they were off.

-- - - -- - -

She stood in her home, looking at her older self, an image of gold and silver. She quickly scanned the room, the normal pictures of her and Tempest adorned the mantle, followed by pictures of her and a foal, and finally her and a mare. The time progression from one side to the other seemed to be over the course of forty years, from her as a young mare to her close to how she was now. The older version of her picked up a ringing phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi mom!” the voice on the other end said. “I just wanted to let you know that I’ve thought about your offer, and I’d love to fill your horseshoes when you step down.”

“Really?” The gold mare said, eyes narrowing on a picture of her daughter standing with a formally dressed stallion. “Remind me, what does Gazer do again?”

“Gazer?” came back the voice. “Well, since we had our foals, he’s been staying home with them since I was making more money.”

“Well then, since you’re the one working, and for me, let’s make you a full partner. Starting immediately. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.”

“But mom, tomorrow’s Hearth’s Warming. I didn’t think you’d gotten senile yet.”

“I haven’t. It’s just that if we get all the paperwork done tomorrow, you’ll be counted as promoted this year.”

“Wait.” The younger Card said, looking at the grey pony who’d brought her here. “How am I hearing all this?”

“It’s because you need to know what’s to happen, so my magic’s allowing you to hear both sides of the conversation.” He said, his black robe shifting ethereally.

Card turned back, to see not herself alone and on the phone, but instead herself with the house decorated. A stallion stood next to her, and two foals ran between her legs. In front of her stood a deep blue pegasus that she hadn’t seen before.

“Star Gazer, so nice to see you again.” She greeted, embracing the young pony.

“You too, Card.” He said, returning the affection. “It seems like so long since we last saw each other.”

“July.” She said, looking at the pictures on the mantle, all of them similar to before, but something was off about the last few. “It’s been since July, when…”

“Yeah.” Gazer said, all three of them looking sadly at each other. “She was such a good pony, always giving anything and everything of herself. I really miss her.”

“Holdup!” Card said, turning to the grey stallion next to her, his robes still shifting in some unfelt wind. “I get that this is two different time lines, but which is which?”

“That’s the thing.” He said, looking back at the scene unfolding before them. “The first was if you keep to your current path. But the latter, well, it’s if you make the so called right decisions.” The scene before them faded out of view and Card found herself standing in her bedroom, alone. “The choice is yours.” The dark pony said, his parting words not pointing her one way or the other.

-- -- - - ---

Card stood on top of her empire, looking out at the rising sun with a drink in her hoof. She walked to the ledge and raised her glass in a toast. “To you Temps, thank you for opening my eyes.” She then drained her glass before looking at contemplatively. She smirked, tossing the glass over her shoulder then turned and headed back inside. “And for showing me I’d made the right choice.”

fin

/* Happy Hearth's Warming Every Pony! I know this is late, but I kept getting sidetracked while putting this together. I hope you've enjoyed it.

And to all the ponies who follow this series. You're awesome.
Also a special thanks to my prereader, Skyclimber. You're also awesome!

-Dracarion
*/