Meanwhile, as the Who’s busily repaired and replaced the damaged decorations courtesy of the Grinch’s destruction at the Whobilation, Cozy Glow herself had been busy. Since the Grinch’s departure, she already made copies of ‘all’ the Grinch’s blueprints for the Benefactor to peruse. With the extra time, she designed and invented some gadgets that might help the Grinch with his ‘Ultimate Grinching’, and of course… making herself familiar with all the Grinch’s currently existing inventions.
Right now, the devilish filly stood at the Grinch’s observation deck, checking both the sound detection and hidden camera systems, which allowed the Grinch to keep an eye on intruders over the years spent living up here. However… as she was observing, she noticed one of the screens (Labeled ‘Dump Cam’) showing the Grinch dropping in from the trash tube… and he did not look happy at all.
“Oh golly… he must be in a bad mood,” She remarked, feigning sadness. “Something awfulmust have happened to him back at the party… what a terrible turn of events…”
Before long, the ‘cute’ filly donned a more ‘sinister’ smirk toward the audience.
“I love a terrible turn of events,” She continued. “Maybe I can do something to cheer him up, now that we can get to the big plan we talked about. Just can’t wait to talk about how we’ll—”
Suddenly, her eyes widened with realization. In the midst of all her other plans, she had completely forgotten the plan for the Grinch’s ‘Ultimate Grinching’.
“Oh, buck me! I knew I forgot something! What do I do? What do I do?! Okay, okay… maybe I can make something up. Ooh, I hope he’s not in too bad a mood to listen to me.”
She fluttered away from the security system and glided towards the front door, opening it and looked out for the Grinch. She soon spotted him, his eyes ablaze like fire, his scowl having reached maximum Grinchiness. His seething breath could be seen through the cold air.
“Evening, Mr. Grinch… was the party that awful?”
The Grinch merely ignored her, as he stomped towards the ledge. His eyes glared toward Whoville in the distance.
“I’ll take that as a… ‘yes’?”
“The Grinch ignored her words with a sour Grinchy frown
As he glared his eyes hatefully down at the Who town
For he knew every Who down in Whoville beneath
Would soon be busy, hanging a holly-Who Wreath…”
“Mr. Grinch? Hello?!” Cozy called out, through the winter winds. “Aren’t you gonna say something?!”
Soon, the Grinch slowly turned around quite menacingly toward the foal, who felt like freezing as she found herself looking into his cold gaze.
“You want me to say something? You wanna know what happened? Fine!!!”
On one foot, he spun himself towards the young filly and walked menacingly towards her.
“I tried to be nice… I tried to be friendly… I tried to be just like every other Who down there who was spoon-fed with Christmas cheer and goodwill since they were drooling brats! As it turned out, no matter what happens, I’ll ‘never’ fit in cockadoodie Whoville! And you wanna know why?”
Cozy was afraid to answer, but the Grinch unfortunately grabbed her head and walked her back over the ledge.
“Christmas is the reason!!!” The Grinch shouted.
To her shock and horror, he held Cozy over the edge of the cliff. It appeared as if he were about to drop her from such a dizzying height.
“Look at them, little horse. All nice and toasty in their little Who-houses, putting gifts under their Who-trees, hanging all their Who-stockings and Who-wreaths… all of them waiting for Santy Clausto come by just to drop off more Christmas junk. And you know what?”
Cozy trembled as she began to fear if those Who’s pushed the guy off his rocker enough to actually kill.
“Um… what?”
He pulled her back, positioning her face very close to his face.
“I’m sick of it all. All the cheap commercialism… all the meaningless materialism… all the endless avarice!”
“You think Christmas Eve is bad now?”
“He snarled with a sneer…”
“Tomorrow’s Christmas. It’s practically here!” He snarled.
He lowered the pony down, but not letting her head go. His fingers roughly drummed against Cozy’s forehead as he rambled.
“Then he growled with his fingers furiously drumming…”
“Grr… we must find some way to keep Christmas from coming!”
Grinch (Spoken):
For, tomorrow, I know all those Who girls and boys
Will wake bright and early and rush for their toys!
And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!
One thing I truly hate! All the NOISE! NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!
As the Grinch spoke each ‘noise’, his drumming against Cozy’s head grew harder and harder to the point her eyes shook from the vibrations sent through her skull. Eventually, his hand dropped her back on the ledge and as she looked up she saw the Grinch switch from rage to crazy.
Grinch (Spoken):
And they'll shriek squeaks and squeals, racing 'round on their wheels.
They'll dance with Jing-Tinglers tied onto their heels!
They'll bang on Tong-Tinglers! They’ll blow their Foo-Flounders!
They'll crash on Jang-Jinglers! They’ll bounce on Boing-Bounders!
They'll blow their Floo-Floobers! They'll bang their Tah-Tinkers!
They'll blow their Who-Hoobers! They'll bang their Gah-Ginkers!
They'll beat their Trum-Tookers! They'll slam their Sloo-Slonkers!
They'll beat their Blum-Blookers! They'll wham their Who-Wonkers!
And they'll play noisy games like “Zoo Zitta Ka Zay”,
A roller-skate type of lacrosse and croquet!
And then they'll make earsplitting noises deluxe
On their great big Electro Who-Cardio Shluxe~!
Cozy continued to tremble to the pony she wouldn’t even think to ask what the Grinch was even rambling about. All these toys and gifts with strange names, a pony her age can’t keep up. The pantomime stopped as the Grinch switched back to anger.
Grinch (Spoken):
Then the Who’s, young and old, will sit down to a feast,
And they'll feast! And they'll feast! And they'll FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!
The Grinch jumped up and down the ground shook over every ‘feast’. Cozy toppled backwards before landing her flanks in a shallow hole. Soon the tiny filly herself found herself struggling to push herself out of.
Grinch (Spoken):
They'll eat their Who-Pudding, and rare Who roast beast!
Which is something I just cannot stand in the least!
Cozy had finally gotten herself out of the hole and was about to fly back towards the door… but not before the Grinch leapt right in front of her and she released a horrified scream. He slowly crept towards the filly as she crawled backwards, his eyes almost with a murderous intent.
Grinch (Spoken):
And then!...They'll do something I hate most of all!
Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
They'll stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing!
They'll stand hand-in-hand, and those Who’s…will start singing!
And they'll sing! And they'll sing! And they'll SING! SING! SING! SING!!!
At each ‘sing’, he could not help but spit in Cozy’s face before he stopped just when Cozy reached the ledge’s edge again. Cozy felt genuinely scared of her Christmas-hateful compatriot as she stared toward his angry face.
“Are… you done?”
The Grinch said nothing at first… before releasing a huge breath as he stood back up, seemingly calming down.
“Yeah… I’m done. Sorry about that. I was in a mood, and I made you take the brunt of it. But… I’m cool. Let’s get back inside.”
“No problem,” Cozy sighed, sitting down. “But if I may say so, that is by far one of the best villain monologues I’ve heard in my life. Had me super scared just now. It didn’t hurt you even made most of it rhyme.”
“Well, when you’ve been Grinching as long as I have, you learn how to—”
Suddenly, the Grinch froze just in front of the door and slowly turned to Cozy in fear.
“What did you say?”
“That was… one of the best monologues I heard?” Cozy answered.
“After that…?”
“It scared me?”
“And after that~?!”
“It… didn’t hurt that it all rhymed?”
The Grinch’s eyes widened more like saucer plates, realizing all the words he combined in his rage.
“Oh no… there’s one thing I hate even more than Christmas… and it’s speaking in RHYME!!!” He blubbered.
The Grinch crawled back toward the ledge, releasing a shout of devastation following a deep breath.
“BLAST YOU, WHO’S!!!”
The Grinch fell forward, his head hanging over the edge as the Grinch continued to blubber in a state of defeat.
“And the more the Grinch thought on what Christmas would bring,
The more the Grinch thought…”
The Grinch lifted his head up and stiffened his back as he declared:
“We must stop this whole thing!”
He stood back up as his anger slowly returned before making his way for the door.
“Why, for year after year, I’ve put up with it now! We must stop this Christmas from coming! But how?”
He gasped with momentary surprise, as he rhymed again before attempting to salvage it.
“I mean, in… what way?”
He looked down toward Cozy Glow, who clearly was not impressed at all.
“Let’s get inside before you end up turning poet on yourself.”
“Yeah…”
The two ne’er-do-wells headed back inside. Of course, as they entered the cave, they were met with loud Christmas rock music, much to the Grinch’s horror! He immediately turned toward the foal with a growl.
*Deploy gif here*
“Don’t look at me!” Cozy argued. “I was busy with stuff today!”
Before he could call her out, his head turned toward his faithful dog Max… dancing to the music on his hindlegs. His doghouse was completely decorated with Christmas lights. However, strangely… instead of getting angry… the Grinch gave a weird yet obviously fake smile, raising his hands together like Max and hopped towards him the way Max was dancing. The partying mutt was surprised by his master’s sudden return, who merely gave a deathly calm air with a toothsome smirk.
“Are you having a holly… jolly… Christmas…?”
<>
“WRONG-O!!!”
The door opened violently before Max’s doghouse was sent out flying, followed by the poor dog himself.
A point of inquiry to note that no actual animals were harmed in the making of this C.A. scene.
The Grinch emerged, with Cozy following from behind, leaning over the rock to see Max’s doghouse half-deep in the snow. Inches away, a hole shaped like Max’s point of impact and a soft whine was heard from that very hole.
“You should have known that was coming, Max!” Cozy called out. “What’d you expect?”
“Quiet~ Time to remind a certain canine who’s the master in this complex relationship,” The Grinch uttered.
He made his way over to the hole, bending out and reached in to pull the dog by the back of his neck, his maw covered with snow.
“Now listen, fleabag! If you’re not gonna help me… then you might as well…”
But before he could continue, his harsh face softened as he gazed upon the snow-covered mutt. As if… he was struck by inspiration.
“Then he got an idea, an ‘awful’ idea…
The Grinch got a wonderful… awful idea…”
He slowly turned toward Cozy before flashing her the classic Grinchy grin.
“I know just what to do…”
Cozy raised an eyebrow as he walked past her, carrying the dog back towards the cave. She quickly followed him back inside.
“What?! What’d you think of?!”
“Why, the ultimate Grinching, my dear…” He explained, facing her. “The biggest payback on those Who’s, and their season of sorrow… instead of ruining their Christmas… this year… we’re gonna STEAL it~!”
As the Grinch made it known, thunder and lightning bellowed behind him… though it was just faulty lighting and his voice echoed in the cavern walls.
“’Steal Christmas’?” Cozy Glow raised a brow. “How do you steal a holiday?”
“By stealing what makes Christmas what it is to the Who’s~”
He dropped Max as he walked down towards the first floor of his cave. He then sharply turned back to face Cozy.
“We take all their trimmings… all their trappings! All their gifts and garlands! Every last holly, mistletoe, wreath, and tree! Down to their last lousy ornament! And then… when they wake and see it all gone… then Christmas, along with all their unearned joy and happiness, will be gone as well! Hah!”
Cozy couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. She had ‘all’ day to come up with something, and the Grinch had his idea on the spot. It made her feel… undermined.
“But that’s just me,” The Grinch shrugged casually. “What was your plan while I was away?”
Snapping out of, Cozy knew she had to think of something quick… before she figured out a way to save face.
“Actually… I kind of came up with a similar idea, sneaking into town and stealing all their stuff so we could push it off the mountain later. I even made some gadgets to help in that, but I thought, ‘What would be the motivation for doing it?’ and kind of put it on the backburner. But after hearing you explain your vision just now… well… now I’m more than convinced that great minds like us think alike! Heh…”
She gave a sheepish grin as the Grinch looked at her suspiciously, his eyes narrowed like pinpoints.
“You really came up with an idea similar to mine?”
Cozy nervously nodded, hoping the Grinch would buy it.
“That… is… quite a lucky coincidence!” The Grinch smiled.
She released a silent sigh of relief.
“You know, you don’t really fit in with those ponies…” The Grinch noted. “But you’d probably make a pretty decent Grinch… well, not better than me, but… in your own way, I suppose~”
Cozy’s eyes widened as if she were receiving a compliment.
“Really? Me? A Grinch?”
“Yeah… say… why not?”
“Why not what?”
“Be an honorary Grinch!”
“Me? An Honorary Grinch?” Cozy asked, surprised.
“Yeah! Here… raise your right hoof and repeat after me the Grinches Oath.”
She raised an eyebrow as the Grinch raised his right hand, but otherwise did as she was told.
“Okay… what’s the Oath?”
“Repeat after me… ‘A Grinch is unhelpful, unfriendly, unkind’.”
“A Grinch is unhelpful, unfriendly, unkind?” She recited.
“’With ungracious thoughts, in an unhealthy mind’.”
“With ungracious thoughts, in an unhealthy mind.”
“’A Grinch is uncheerful, uncouth, and unclean’.”
“A Grinch is uncheerful, uncouth, and unclean.”
“And now, we say this together…”
“’I’m frightfully mean!’” The Grinch and Cozy declared.
The Grinch and Cozy (Spoken):
My eyes are both shifty
My fingers are thrifty
My mouth will not smile –
Not even half an inch
I’m a Grinch…
“I… am a Grinch…” The Grinch spoke.
“I’M A GRINCH! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!” Cozy declared, cackling.
The fault lighting made lightning go around her, the filly’s laughter echoed throughout the entire cave.
“That’s my little monster~” The Grinch remarked proudly.
Cozy Glow rewarded his compliment with the same grin she saw on the Grinch many times. For what’s been said was all true. Truly, deep inside, she was fully… Grinchy.
“Now then… what’d you have in mind for stealing Christmas~?” She asked.
<>
“The Grinch knew just what to do, as he laughed in his throat
And he made a quick Santy Claus hat and a coat
And he chuckled and clucked at this great Grinchy trick…”
“With this coat and this hat, I’ll look just like Saint Nick,” The Grinch spoke. “Ho-ho-ho!”
“Mr. Grinch, you’re so evil, I just can’t stand it!” Cozy Glow said. “In fact, you’re so evil, you should have your own theme song!”
“Well then, mind if I start it off?”
“Be my guest~!”
<>
Shortly after the sleigh was complete, following a rather ‘catchy’ sing along, Cozy Glow presented the Grinch all the gadgets she’d been working on (Or rather ‘re-purposing’ for the goal of ‘stealing Christmas’). The Grinch had to admit that they looked mighty Grinchy considering they were pony-made.
“Now, for your mission, I couldn’t help but craft a few ingeniously insidious devices to help you. First off…”
She paused for a few seconds, as an imaginary drum roll played.
“I give you my De-Decorating Hermit Grabbers!”
All the fanfare built up was decreased when all the Grinch saw… were a line of upside-down buckets.
“This is what I’ve been waiting for?” The Grinch grumbled. “You hardly did ANYTHING with those buckets!”
Cozy gave a calm smirk as she pulled up a remote and pressed the big red button. Suddenly, the buckets instantaneously sprung to life as tiny mechanical legs popped out to uphold them. From each rim popped out two larger appendages, a crab-like claw just for grabbing and a malleable plastic tube, complete with a pair of metal antennae.
This surprising army shocked the Grinch before Cozy pressed another button. At attention, the crustacean-like droids crawled towards Max’s decorate doghouse (Which was dug out and still had some snowy spots). Like clockwork, two of the robots began to use their legs to climb on the doghouse, their claws to loosen the Christmas lights, and their tubes to vacuum the lights inside, slurping the lines of lights like saucy spaghetti.
In a matter of seconds, Max’s doghouse was… well, de-decorated.
“While we steal Christmas from the inside, these babies will steal the Christmas lights and decorations outside every Who home, thereby cutting our stealing time by half,” The foal remarked.
“Nix what I just said. I LOVE ‘em~! What else you got?”
Cozy fluttered toward the next invention: A pile of small metal stars.
“To the naked Who eye, your average tinsel decorations,” She explained. “But in Grinchy hands…”
She proceeded to pick up a couple of the stars before directing herself towards a ‘tree’ made from metal scraps and tossing the stars at it like shuriken. The stars spun around the prop before releasing red ribbon that wrapped around the ‘fronds’ before pulling them together, turning the ‘tree’ into more of an umbrella.
“I figured in case you had a large tree but a tiny chimney, these would resolve the problem.”
“Hmm… I like, I like~ Anything else?”
“Well, I think you’ll be happy with this~”
Cozy pulled out for the Grinch a large, modified T-shirt cannon with a large cannister at the top.
“This baby works like so: Fruitcake, Who-Pudding, cookies, and other sweets go in the canister. Then you pull the trigger, and all those Christmas goodies are ground up and pureed into something really gross, which then comes out through the cannon.
“So basically… along with stealing the Who’s feast, we could use it as ammo for possible vandalizing after?”
“That’ll give those Who’s something to gripe about.”
As Cozy put the cannon down, she pointed toward a sack filled with crudely-wrapped gifts, all signed from ‘Santa Claus’.
“I also figured if we’re taking things from them, in the ‘spirit of the holiday’… we could ‘compensate’ their sadness with even more misery from those bad gifts~”
“Oh? What kind of gifts are we talking here?”
“All the rotten garbage that those Who’s have been dumping here over the years~ What better way to get back at them than with their own holiday garbage? And, for an extra surprise, in one of those gifts, I put into it the biggest, long-range stink bomb ever created using all the rotten food at the dump and in your fridge! I don’t remember which gift has the bomb, but once that’s open… Whoville becomes Spewville! Wha-ha-ha-ha!!!”
“Spewville, home of the Spews!” The Grinch chuckled. “Now that’s a proper name, I tell you what~! We’re just about ready. And right about now… the man in the red suit will be done right about now~”
“Oh! I almost forgot!”
Cozy fluttered towards the sack of prank gifts, reaching inside to rummage for something. Pulling her hooves out, she held before the Grinch what appeared to be a strapped beard of curly white hair.
“I thought I’d make a little something for your outfit, and you can’t be Saint Nick without the proper whiskers~”
“It’s… it’s perfect~!” The Grinch gasped with delight. “How’d you make it?”
Cozy stiffened as her eyes darted side to side.
“Let’s just say those Who’s throw out some pretty weird gifts. Suffice to say, you shouldn’t as what you don’t want an answer to.”
“Eh… good point,” The Grinch appeared, taking the beard.
<>
Way back in Whoville, all the Who’s were getting ready to bed after such a hectic Whobilation. Inside one of these homes, one of many with glowing Christmas decorations, the Lou Who family were all getting ready to turn in for the night. So excited to get to sleep before Christmas, the brothers, Stu and Drew, made a competition just to see who gets to bed first and gets to sleep.
“I go to sleep first!” Stu called out, getting in bed.
“No I do!” Drew retorted.
The boys quickly tossed and turned into bed, digging themselves deep into the sheets. Eventually, the boys did eventually get to sleep with the lamp turned off and anything. And who’d be judging to see which of them made it first, why that was none other than two of the most competitive ponies in Equestria: Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
“Stu fell asleep first!” Applejack remarked.
“Nah-uh! He clearly woke up to check on his brother!” Rainbow argued. “Drew clearly fell asleep first!”
“Well Stu closed his eyes first!”
“That doesn’t mean he was napping by then!”
“Oh you would know a thing or two about napping! You nearly sleep during the middle of the day!”
“I had a very tiring session at the Wonderbolts training course! Not all of us can stand putting in the amount of work all day!”
“You can be so arrogant sometimes!”
“Stubborn mare!”
“Buck you!”
“Buck you!”
“BUCK YOU!”
“BUCK… YOU!”
“Shh!!!!”
The two mares turned seeing the boys had just woken up to the sudden disturbance.
“Would you girls keep it down?” Drew asked. “Some of us are trying to sleep!”
“Sorry…” The girls apologized sheepishly.
The girls kept still as they watched the brothers go back to sleep. They slowly turned toward each other, waiting to see who spoke first.
“Mah room… ten minutes…” Applejack smirked.
“Deal!” Rainbow Dash smiled, raising her brows.
<>
In the garage, Lou Who was hard at work preparing a special swing-set for the family (Specifically for Cindy Lou). Though he had his hands full working with all the gears, he fortunately had a bit of help. Twilight Sparkle and Spike decided to stay up a little late to fix up the set making sure it looked perfect for tomorrow (Even if the Equestrians had to be gone the next day).
“You really didn’t have to stay up on my account Princess,” Lou Who assured.
“Oh it’s no trouble at all Lou,” Twilight replied. “The least we can do is leave Cindy with a nice present before we have to go. Not like we had anything else to look forward to.”
“Although pray-tell, ‘why’ are we building this swing set anyway?” Spike asked.
“Why it’s for little Cindy of course!” Lou replied. “Figured she can invite a few friends from school and give them something to do.”
“I dunno. After that fiasco at the Whobilation, I doubt ‘any’ kids are going to want to play with the girl who invited the Grinch.”
“We have to do what we can Spike,” Twilight replied. “We’re all responsible for what happened; the least we can do is chip in before Christmas.”
“I suppose…” Spike sighed.
<>
Right next door, Martha May had just added her Decorating Contest trophy on the counter. There was no doubt in any Who’s mind that she had the nicest house in all of Whoville. And yet as she got ready for bed, it was plain to see that she was rather lonely. All this stuff that she could own in the world and no one to really share it with. Of course, Augustus May did ‘propose’ to Martha earlier that night… yet she hadn’t committed to a decision on whether she’d say yes or not. So she decided to sleep on it, clapping her hands to turn off the lights hoping that come Christmas morning she’d know how to answer.
<>
Tubby Nugget had been keeping watch with a telescope until the lights turned off at Martha’s house. He handed the telescope back to Pinkie with a nod and the party pony placed the telescope back in her mane. She then turned towards Fluttershy and Rarity nodding her head which cued the girls to take a stroll through the house.
“I truly feel for Martha girls,” Pinkie replied. “She owns so much that Whoville can offer her, yet so little at the same time. If that makes any sense.”
“I try not to think about it, Pinkie,” Fluttershy answered.
“I’m just so worried about Betty,” Rarity spoke up. “She worked so hard decorating her house for all of Whoville to see only to have her moment taken away by Martha. Not that I have any issues with Martha myself, but still~”
“I wonder how Betty’s handling all this anyway,” Pinkie pondered. “You better go check up on her Fluttershy.”
“Well… okay…” Fluttershy spoke softly.
“Yeah! Yeah!” Tubby nodded quickly. “Maybe we can do something to cheer up!”
Fluttershy took a peek around the corner looking inside the living room. She soon spotted Betty herself, wrapping all the gifts for the family. Suffice to say, to even suggest that Betty was upset about losing the contest was being ‘very’ polite. By now she was aggressively slapping stamps on one particular present, channeling her age through her wrapping.
“I was soft!” Betty muttered. “I didn’t want it enough! Next year I train harder! I start earlier! I start the day after Christmas!”
Wide eyed and nervous, Fluttershy squeaked backward and slowly turned toward her friends.
“I… don’t think Betty wants to talk…” Fluttershy whimpered.
“Hmm… quite so,” Rarity nodded in understanding. “Well, I guess we better give her some space. Maybe she’ll be in a better mood in the morning.”
“Who knows? Maybe the Mayor will change his mind about banishing us and at least let us stay for Christmas dinner?” Pinkie suggested.
The two girls merely turned toward Pinkie Pie and Tubby Nugget with a ‘Really?’ expression on their faces. Pinkie and Tubby merely smiled with a chuckle, but deep down they knew the truth: Once the Mayor set his mind to something, he stuck with it.
<>
In her bedroom, Cindy Lou was just getting ready for bed all while she peered out the window toward Mount Crumpit. Sitting next to Cindy, Starlight was reading the paper surrounding the Grinch and she silently stared toward picture with a sad sigh. Eventually she turned back toward Cindy, who’s eyes kept watch over the town.
“I hope you get everything you want for Christmas, Mr. Grinch,” Cindy spoke silently.
Starlight Glimmer stared sympathetically towards Cindy, slowly nodding her head. Despite ‘everything’ the Grinch did, this one Who child still kept faith in a creature so despised by the entire town. It made her think of Cozy Glow as well. How despite all the crimes she’s done over the years, despite how evil she acted, and despite locking her in a magical bubble, this filly was still a ‘child’ and all Starlight wanted to know… was ‘Why?’. Why would Cozy go through so much trouble to spread terror wherever she went? And why against Christmas?
Even Starlight couldn’t understand the motivations behind Cozy Glow’s madness, even as Starlight had ‘her’ share of sinister moments starting with her own childhood. Either way, she decided it was best not to think about it. So as Cindy tucked herself into bed, Starlight Glimmer lifted the glowing candle with her magic and proceeded to snuff out the light so they could share one last sleep before Christmas… before they all have to go away.
<>
Moments after loading the last of the gadgets into the sleigh, all that was left for the Grinch and Cozy Glow to do was wait for Santa Claus to finish his route in Whoville. That way, the Grinch could swoop in and undo all the Christmas cheer that was brought. The Grinch watched as Santa dropped off the last of the gifts, spying on the man through his binoculars. Cozy Glow and Max waited for the cue before proceeding.
“Well, can we go now?” Cozy asked anxiously. “Can we? Can we?”
“In a moment…” The Grinch raised a finger. “Fat Boy should be finishing up any time now…”
“Ugh… you know, that’s one thing I don’t get. Whenever I try sneaking into someone else’s home, they call it ‘breaking and entering’, which is ‘illegal’. And if I leave something in a stranger’s house, I’m called a ‘stalker’. But this Santa guy sneaks into people’s homes every Christmas, leaving unsolicited items for them and people don’t pay any mind? Talk about your double-standard of the season.”
“I know all too well…” The Grinch lowered his binoculars. “Talk about a recluse. He only comes out once a year and he never catches any flackfor it! He probably lives up North just to avoid the taxes…”
He raised his binoculars to keep an eye on the jolly man. As the Grinch watched him take off, with his reindeer and sleigh, wishing all the Who’s a ‘Merry Christmas!’… his binoculars lowered again quite swiftly, revealing his eyes were quite widened with shock.
“Oopsy…”
“What?” Cozy asked, confused.
“I forgot to account for something.”
“What could you forget? We got the suit, the hat, the beard, the sleigh, the gadgets, your ‘sack of gifts’. You even got the belly, and that was ‘before’ you decided to steal Christmas~ What could you be missing?!”
“… I forgot about the reindeer…”
Cozy’s eyes widened just the same as the Grinch’s, the severity of the situation struck her like a ton of bricks.
“Buck me…” She quietly muttered.
“The Grinch and Cozy thought a while as they looked around,
But since Reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found…”
“Hmph!” Cozy crossed her arms. “Not even at least ‘one’ Reindeer who looked as if he ate the other seven!”
As the Grinch and Cozy pondered, both their eyes landed on Max… and a stroke of genius struck them both. They turned toward each other, slowly growing a smirk as they realized they had the same crazy idea.
“But did that stop Cozy or the Grinch?... ‘No’, they simply said…”
“Well… if we can’t find a reindeer…” The Grinch began, slowly reaching for Max.
“We’ll have to… make one instead…” Cozy finished, pulling out a rope.
Of course, Max had a feeling they were up to something. The dog scampered off before the Grinch or Cozy could pounce. This frustrated them both… but the Grinch merely looked up and decided to call his dog back down as sweetly as possible.
“…Oh MaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXXXX!!!” He called out furiously.
<>
In the Grinch’s cave, he decided that enough was enough. Just as he was about to drag Max out, however, Cozy a different idea in mind. Something subtle… something keen… something quite ‘covert’. She stood outside Max’s hidey-hole, marked with a metal door that read ‘Do Not Disturb’ and gently knocked on the door.
“Max? Could you come on out, please?” Cozy asked cutely. “Your master and I are very sorry we tried to make you one of Santa’s reindeer. He’s out right now, trying to find something else to compensate for it. He wished he could tell you himself, but he said apologies make his stomach queasy. Won’t you please come out?”
The dog’s answer was a few barks, which Cozy got right away. Though whether they meant ‘No!’ or in the less-polite terms ‘Drop dead!’ hung in the air.
“Oh, come on, Maxie… would you forgive me if I gave you a wittle doggy tweat? I got a nice hambone just for you~”
The door opened slowly as Max peered out. His eyes saw Cozy Glow waving what resembled a giant bone right in front of him.
“Look at the bone, Max~ So big and fat and… mmm… meaty! Won’t you come out and accept my apology? Pwetty pwease…?”
Max found himself unable to resist the cutest look the little filly could form. Not realizing the danger, he slowly emerged and ventured towards Cozy.
“That’s it, a little closer… little more… NOW!”
The Grinch pounced from above, right behind Max, and scooped the dog in his arms.
“Good work, kiddo!” The Grinch smirked, facing his dog. “As for you… you’re going to be a reindeer, come hell or high water!”
“That’s right dumb dog!” She called out, tossing the bone away. “Can’t outthink two smarties like us, eh Mr. Grinch~?”
Cozy laughed quite heinously at the small victory before the Grinch scooped her up too.
“Hey! What’re you doing?!”
“Ya know… a thought just occurred,” The Grinch replied. “I could always use a little elf minion to do all the work… lucky for me, I found one~”
“AN ELF?! Let me go, you big green palooka! When I get out of here, I’m gonna~”
<>
The Grinch approached a trophy of reindeer antlers, tearing one and stripped it down to make it light enough before approached what resembled a Who-made elf mannequin, stripping all its clothes off (Except some questionable Christmas undergarments). The last thing he grabbed was a spool of red thread. He soon approached Max and Cozy Glow, the pair bound with ribbons, and proceeded to give them a ‘makeover’…
“So, he called his dog Max, and he took some red thread
And he tied a big horn on the top of his head.
And for Cozy, the Grinch slipped her into an elf doll’s attire
Which of course only fueled her ever-growing ire…”
Soon as the Grinch stepped back, Max had a small antler tied atop his head and a red clown nose on his snout. As for Cozy, she was dressed in all green with red pointed shoes on her back hooves, a pointy green hat, and wore what resembled red blush on her cheeks… which she was NOT happy about.
The Grinch, however, was giddy as he switched from his Santa hat to a black director’s cap which read ‘WSS Whoville’ in yellow up front, portraying himself as a director.
“All right. You’re a reindeer and an elf. Here’s your motivations: Your name is Rudolph, you’re a freak with a red nose, and nobody likes ya~”
“Ooh! I’m liking this already…” Cozy nodded, with intrigue.
“And you!” The Grinch pointed at Cozy. “You’re Hermione the Elf. You don’t like making toys; instead, you wanna be a—”
“Wait! Am I an evil elf?” Cozy asked excitedly. “A mean-spirited elf?!”
“No… you’re an elf who wants to be a dentist~”
“A reindeer with a red nose… and an elf that wants to be a dentist?” Cozy asked plainly. “Wow! Sounds like some cheap Christmas buddy comedy pair.”
“Don’t patronize my directing!” The Grinch frowned. “Any who… one day, ‘Rudolph’, Santa picks you and you save Christmas. And you, ‘Hermione’, Santa lets you open your own dental office after Christmas~!”
Cozy and Max faced each other quite strangely, before turning back toward the Grinch.
“No, forget that part. We’ll improvise. Just keep it kind of loosey-goosey… the point to remember is… you both hate Christmas! You’re gonna steal it! Saving Christmas is a lousy ending. Way too commercial.”
The Grinch stood up and walked towards the director’s chair, sitting down. He then picked up a large megaphone, making the call.
“ACTION!”
“This… is… stupid, even for you,” Cozy retorted dryly. “How about you, mutt?”
Max said nothing, merely pushing the false nose off his snout with his paw.
“BRILLIANT!” The Grinch called out, approaching the ‘actors’. “Cozy, you were terrible. Very stiff acting. But you, Max… you were marvelous! You rejected your own nose because it represented the glitter of commercialism! Why didn’t I think of that? Cut, print, check the gate. Moving on.”
The Grinch soon left the ‘set’, leaving the two simply dumbfounded.
“… I need a new agent…” Cozy Glow muttered.