A Hearth's Warming Carol

by Professor_Blue

Afterword

AFTERWORD

Firstly, thank you for your endeavor to take it upon yourself to read this work of fiction. I am grateful my efforts were worth your glance or peruse.

This fiction was undertaken in a conjunct decision to read the original Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol for personal intrigue as well as to see how well I could adapt myself to writing in a manner that was similar to Dickens' work and if I could match the pace at which it seemed he wrote. I impressed myself in being able to type over 20,000 words in less than five days. Originally the chapters were named Staves, in order to fit in with the titular motif of a Carol, or song.

The original book was written over the course of two months and released on December 17th, 1843. All copies of the first print sold out before Christmas Eve and the book has been popular ever since. The book now falls under the realm of Public Domain works and can be downloaded and distributed for free at the Gutenberg organization website. gutenberg dot org/ebooks/46

At many points in the story it can be observed that actions, scenes or dialogue was mixed from the original work with inspiration from Brian Henson's The Muppets Christmas Carol (1992) starring Michael Caine, and from what I could remember from Brian Desmond Hurst's Scrooge (1951) starring Alistair Sim.

In chapter 1 it is established that "Derpe Hoovton" is the name that replaces the original Jacob Marley. Originally this was to be Ditzy Doo and the ghost being the Ghost of Doo. However chapter 1 was written before the release of the My Little Pony season 2 episode 11 (Hearth's Warming Eve), which made canon the name Derpy, therefore necessitating change. Derpy is called Derpe because I did not think the story could be taken seriously if the name was retained in its original form.

In chapter 1 "Who-hooing" is mentioned because the collective noun for owls is a "Parliament".

In chapter 1 and 5, ponies described wearing the red scarves is a reference to the charity organization The Salvation Army. While in the book the donation character (the "portly gentlepony") is only one figure, in the book there are two but one never speaks. This amalgamation was to compensate for the fact that the character Fezziwig in chapter 2 became two characters in this version. (Fezzdale & Clydeswig).

In chapter 1 McCrooge wears two hats stacked on top of each other "like a pillar". This is a reference to the Towering Pillar of Hats hat in Team Fortress 2.

In chapter 2 McCrooge's young self is observed reading Treasure Island. In the original book he read Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves but this was changed to make it more recognizable. Robert Lewis Stephenson wrote his book more than forty years after Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol.

In chapter 2, the character Limback was named as the replacement of the character from the original, Richard 'Dick' Wilkins. Limback is a reference to the American idiom for money 'greenbacks'. (Lime-back)

In chapter 2, Limback pushing McCrooge into the dance is a reference to a similar action done by Frodo to Samwise in the film adaptation by Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

In chapter 3, the Ghost of Hearth's Warming Present saying "Alrighty then!" is a reference to the behaviourism of Jim Carrey, a Canadian actor who voiced and acted the role of Scrooge in the 2009 motion-capture animated movie adaptation of Dickens' novel. "Grab my robe!" is a reference to the DeviantArt comic meme "Grab my X" followed by being catapulted into the sky.

In chapter 3 the factories scene is a reference to the small discourse given by Scrooge and The Ghost of Christmas Present where they talk of Sabbatarianism (the political concern of whether or not the observance of the Sabbath should be tolerated) in the original book. The possible concern, having entirely moved on in modern culture, is dismissed as "ancient matters".

In chapter 4 there is mention of a character named Caroline. This is in the original book, and not an intentional redirection to Portal 2. However, the mention of an obelisk in the square is a reference to the Train-station square in Half Life 2.

In chapter 4 originally the characters that meet the peddler Joe are "Mrs. Dilber" and two other unnamed people, another housekeeper and a coroner. In this version they are made into two characters, Ms. Wilber and Ms. Force, a reference to the British politician William Wilberforce, who abolished slavery in the British Empire in 1833.

In chapter 5 the bakery which is referred to as "Torteys" replaces the Poulterers in the book, since we don't see meat being eaten in My Little Pony except for the minor implication of eggs occasionally (in baked goods). Torteys is a reference to Torte, a very rich cake style that comes from the German word for cake.

In chapter 5 "Liable to crack a self [verb]ing thusly" is a quotation from the character Huff in Evan Dahm's Rice-Boy. rice-boy dot com /see/index dot php?c=304

In chapter 5 "bowl of smoking bishop" is changed to "turkish delight and cocoa" to be something more agreeable to ponies, but also because I don't know what smoking bishop is. This is also a reference to the interaction of two characters in the book by C.S. Lewis' The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this fan-fiction as much as I enjoyed writing it, perhaps even more so. Merry Christmas and God Bless.

-Professor Blue

December, 2011

Comments

[Hivemind]

Fluttershy is best spirit :3

[Vespi]

Of the 15 Christmas Charol storys i have heard this is one of my favorite

[The Rogue Wolf]

Okay, so there's a few mistakes I could point out here. A few misspellings, a couple of mischaracterizations (why would Rarity use a hoof to sew?) and a couple of missed items in conversion from human to pony (such as the Ghost of Hearth's Warming Future pointing with a finger).

But you know what? That's nitpicking. Not only have you carried over Charles Dickens's seminal work to the world of Equestria, but you've done an exceptional job of it, keeping not only the writing style and spelling but also the spirit of the whole thing. So for that, left beneath your virtual Christmas tree tonight, you shall find a sum of no less than five (5) gold stars. Thank you, and Merry Christmas.

[Professor_Blue]

85816 Fixed the finger bit. What spelling errors?

[flame phoenix]

I havent read it all yet, but its quite "C.S Lewis" style!
me like it

[The Rogue Wolf]

85856 There were only two that stood out on a second read-through: In chapter 1, you used "cheerlier" (should be "cheerier"?) and in chapter 5, there's the line ""Today is Hearth's Warming! Where've you been at!" it said in a facetious hark." which should have "he" (the colt) as the pronoun.

Like I said, these are piddling complaints. Would that I had these few mistakes in my writing.

[Slippy]

I liked the story. However, in Chapter 1 I could've sworn a few bits were copied and pasted. Also I couldn't really imagine McCrooge talking like Macintosh. But still it's a good story. I give it three and a half trains.

Woooo!
Woooo!
Woooo!
Wop!

[Cherry Noble]