Mega-Pony Trophytershy's Owl [OC, Slice of Life]
Canterlot was much more peaceful than it had right to be during the evenings of winter. Relatively few ponies braved the freezing temperatures at any given time, and those that did weren’t in a hurry. The castle nobles even kept their noses in their own business. In the houses of the outer sections of the city, the ponies that weren’t playing in the snow occupied themselves with various holiday-themed activities. One such activity happened to be helping to fill in a large costume order for the upcoming Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant.
Marion pouted. “How many hats?”
“The whole order is about sixty; my portion is only twelve by the end of the week,” her mother replied.
Marion dramatically collapsed forwards, onto her mother’s work. “But that’s going to take forever.”
“Marion, it won’t go any faster if you tug on my fabric. This is for one of the Elements, you know. My friend, Sassy Saddles, works for Rarity, and she needed more hooves to meet the deadline.”
“Hats are boring. Daaaaad.” Marion made her way towards the sofa that her father had sprawled out on while he read a book. “What can I do?”
Her father cracked a smile and sat up, inserting a bookmark as he did so. “Well, let’s keep away from your mother’s work. I already had stiches as a kid, so I can tell you it’s not fun.”
Marion simply glared at her father. “That’s not very funny.”
“Heh. Tough crowd. How about I tell you a story?”
“About what?”
Her father shook his head and said, “Well you’ve got to sit down and listen to find out.”
Marion dutifully climbed onto the cushion next to her father.
“Every year, when Hearth's Warming Eve draws near, ponies all around tell stories of holiday cheer, or of saints from Equestria’s past who work together to bring good fortune and gifts to all the foals that behaved through the year, but there’s plenty more than that to the holiday. You’ve heard of Windigos, right?”
“Mhm.”
“They might have been part of how Hearth’s Warming Eve started, but in the many years that have passed since the first, the holiday has grown… in both good and bad ways.”
Marion gave a quizzical look in response to her father’s grin.
“Over a thousand years ago – we call that a millennium, by the way – lived the most legendary saint of them all: Saint Nickel Hooves. He grew up in one of the first mining villages, when Equestria was still establishing itself. We call him Saint Nick, for short.”
Marion rolled her eyes dramatically. “I know. The teacher talked about him in school.”
“Well it’s a good thing that this story isn’t just about him, then. I’m just making sure you have all the information to understand the story, is all.”
“Fine.”
“Well… Saint Nick grew to be a very large pony in more than one way. They say his personality alone would fill an entire city with cheer. But not all were happy. One day, a pegasus, one of the last members of the obsolete Pegasopolian army grew upset with Saint Nick, and demanded that he leave town! Saint Nick, who wouldn’t force his cheer on anypony, did without complaint. For that, the villagers grew upset with the soldier, and he with them, until one day he left.
“They say that the pegasus never behaved as a kid, and he didn’t like when the other kids got gifts for being nice when he did not.”
“What was his name?” Marion asked.
“We don’t know what it was at first… but you’ll see. Anyway, he skulked—”
“What’s that mean?” Marion asked.
Har father considered this for a second. “He hid, and pouted. A lot like you do when we tell you to go to your room.”
“Oh.”
“So he pouted for years, growing even grumpier every time Hearth’s Warming Eve came. Saint Nick said that he forgave him, but he never forgave Saint Nick. He let his jealousy grow – perhaps he even wanted it to grow – until he met the Great and Wise White Owl. That’s the same one that helped Saint Nick in the stories they tell you at school, and the one that they put on the awards they give out for good behavior. Anyway, the Owl told him that he should accept how others celebrated the holiday, even if he did not want to participate. He was warned that such jealousy and anger had the power to make monsters out of us if we don’t stop it first, but he refused to listen. They say that he stopped being completely pony that day. Nopony saw him for years after that. Sometimes, travellers said that they heard something unnatural off in the woods.
“When he finally emerged on Hearth’s Warming Eve, he had the teeth of a crocodile, the tongue of a snake, and the horns of a goat! His body had warped into something else, and nopony could recognize him. He vowed before the ponies of the town that he would make Hearth’s Warming Eve a day of punishment and fear, rather than a day of reward and rejoice. That night, he snuck around, stealing toys, or snapping them apart in his jaws and leaving the remains to be mourned.
“Now Saint Nick – who was a much older pony now – heard of this tantrum, he came to the town to talk to this new monster. They say Saint Nick took one look upon him, and saw not a monster, but a pegasus colt who had suffered the consequences of misbehaving all his life. He let out a hearty laugh as he was known to do, and offered a gift like no other. Saint Nick gave him a second chance, in the form of a choice: he could allow his jealousy to control him and be remembered as the monster he was, or he could take up an important role in Hearth’s Warming Eve, and to show the naughty foals the consequences of their ways before they, too, could end up like him.
“Instead of answering, he slunk—”
“What’s that mean?” Marion asked.
“It‘s a lot like the dramatic walk you do when we send you to your room.”
“Oh.”
“So he slunk off without a word, but Saint Nick knew that he had made the right choice. Over the years to come, he and Saint Nick grew quite close, despite their opposite purposes, working to make Hearth’s Warming Eve a very special holiday. The townsponies eventually nicknamed him for the sounds that they said he made. He became known throughout all of Equestria as Crumpus.
“Now remember, Marion, if you misbehave enough, Crumpus might pay you a little visit at night, and if you let your jealousy spoil the holiday, you might even become Crumpus.”
Marion shook her head vigorously. “That’s not true.”
“Oh? What about Nightmare Moon? Was she not the outcome of somepony letting their jealousy guide them for years?”
Marion blinked, and her eyes stopped focusing on anything in particular.
“Can I sleep with you and mom?”
Her father laughed in much the same way Saint Nick supposedly did. “Only if it’s alright with mom.”
“Mom?” Marion tried her best not to let her expression betray her desperation.
Her mother set down the hat that she was working on – a strange looking hat with a buckle on it – and said, “I can’t really say ‘no’ after dad told you that story, can I?”
Marion shook her head.
“Oh, alright.”
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Wow. Nice Crumpus origin-thing!
Explanations for slunked and stuff being tied to "go to your room" is a nice touch!
Wait, so what does the dad do for work? Or is he a househusband?
7789685 Honestly, I dunno. It's possible he's a stay-at-home-dad, but since it's the evening, it's more likely that he's just already home from whatever work he does (assuming it resembles a 9 - 5 job).
I regret nothing about that hat.
Verse counters on converted mana pools sounds intrinsically good, even if I can't work out what the rest of the sentence says.
Also, a 3/3 Enchantment Creature for 1 generic mana? Can you say format-breaker?
Bam!
Excellent use of the creature type, and in using the card as a springboard for an often forgotten part of seasonal folklore.
7789944 Format-breaker.
All of this makes too much sense in every possible way.
This is great. :D
8586074
I don't kid around with the disclaimer that is the story's description.