Act 4: Presenting the Present
ACT FOUR
Twilight was soon awoken by the sound of a voice saying, “Wake up, and let’s get to know each other better.”
Twilight sat up, rubbed her eyes, and saw another spirit, which bared a very strong resemblance to Applebloom and even spoke with her southern accent, only she wore a green fuzzy robe and a holly wreath on her head.
“Wake up, and let’s get to know each other better.” the spirit said again.
“Um… I think you already said that.” said Twilight.
“Huh! So I did, it’s just a little I got goin’…
…I am the Ghost of Hearths Warming Current; A spirit whose mind is filled with the Here and the Now; things that just happened recently, and that’s that happen as they do.”
Twilight remembered she was told this would happen, and that her journey for answers wasn’t through.
“Well, come on…” the spirit anxiously said “Get up, and let’s get to know each other better. Oh, I already said that.
Did I tell you I was the Ghost of-- Yes, I said that too.”
Twilight giggled, and decided to get up, “Maybe we should just get going.”
“Great idea.” agreed the spirit “Hold your horses, here we go!”
The room began to magically spin, and bright lights shone. Twilight then found herself standing outside the bank, and Miser was just coming to work.
“Miser Stash…? I thought he was in jail.”
“Well, yeah, currently,” replied the spirit, “I’ve taken you back to Hearths Warming Eve day, Fresh in the mornin’.”
Twilight felt confused, that sounded more like the past than the present, but remembering the spirit said it was showing her most recent things and most imminent things.
“I remember…” said Twilight “Miser Stash hated Hearths Warming, and he stopped celebrating it for decades or wanting much to do with it.”
“How’d you know that?” asked the spirit.
“Applejack told me, and I learned a lot from The Ghost of Hearths Warming Then.”
The spirit was pleased to see she was no longer acting in denial.
Twilight watched as Miser grumpily walked up to the bank, and was greeted by his employees—new employees from over the decades and the current year.
“Good morning, sir.” they all said cheerfully.
“Good Morning.” Miser replied, in a low tone. Then he disappeared into his office, and the employees all talked behind his back.
“What a grump.”
“Just because he hates Hearths Warming doesn’t mean he’s got to ruin it for us.”
Twilight was a mix of emotions, “Hey, don’t talk to him like that!” she growled, but the workers didn’t take notice of her.
“Hello,” warned the spirit “They can’t hear you. I think you were already told this too.”
Twilight felt silly, “But they are right too; Miser doesn’t have to bring other ponies down with them and make them feel miserable.”
The spirit shook her head pitifully at Twilight, “Well, when you’ve been alone as long as Miser has-- no family, hardly any friends-- what do you expect, that he should just put on a big happy face and smile, and pretend everythin’ is alright?
Life doesn’t really work that way, ya know. Some scars take time to heal, they can’t just get better right off the bat, and other scars, they just plain never heal at all, and they hurt you for the rest of your life.”
Twilight had thought of that before, but it was never in her best interest; she preferred to use her powers and friendship to heal such scars, or even prevent them from happening at all.
“Good friendship always leaves things possible. There can always be hope.”
The spirit shook her head at Twilight’s denial, and decided to show her something more.
In a bright flash, they were transported to a soup kitchen, where poor and homeless ponies were being treated to a lovely feast of hot chicken stew and fresh baked bread. Though it wasn’t very much, all the ponies felt they were on top of the world.
“Thank you very much.”
“This is so kind of you.”
“Eat up, everyone.”
Twilight watched as the many homeless ponies consumed what fill they could. Some of the ponies even had families and children who were all dirty and starving and wearing ratty clothes.
“Those poor ponies,” said Twilight.
“Poor or not,” said the spirit “It is Hearths Warming for them as well, and as you can see they haven’t very much at all, yet they can still find some cheer and joy, especially in the kindness that give to them.”
“I know that.” said Twilight “That’s why every year I help gather donations for these ponies, to give them hope, a bright future.”
She suddenly heard the sounds of coughing and wheezing, coming from a very sick little colt.
He was a little Earth Pony colt with a beige coat, covered in bits of soot, and he carried an old crutch. His mother and father comforted him.
“Little Slim, try not to eat so fast.” said his mother “You know it’s not good for you.”
“Yes… mother… I’ll try!” replied Little Slim. He softly pounded his little chest with his hoof to stop hi wheezing, and he took in a few soft breaths.
“He looks so sick!” cried Twilight.
“Worse than that,” said the spirit, “Because his parents are poor and impoverished, they cannot afford to get Little Slim the medication he needs.”
Twilight’s blood turned cold, “You… you mean he’s…!”
“Eeyup, if he doesn’t get the help he needs soon, he’ll be gone like a weathervane in a hurricane gale.”
Twilight felt faint, but suddenly another homeless pony, Little Slim’s father burst into the kitchen with a look of glee in his eyes.
“I’ve just been given a very generous donation!” he held out a cheque for a large sum of money. His wife and son and few other homeless ponies gawked at it.
“Where did you get it, dad?” asked Little, and his father replied “Some pony I have never met donated it. With this, we can pay for your medication, and have much left over for everyone here to feed us all.”
All the ponies in the shelter were overjoyed and cheered to their anonymous donator.
“To the founder of our feast!” cried Little Slim “My saviour, whoever he may be, may he have a joyous Hearths Warming!”
Twilight felt curious and asked the spirit, “Who gave them that money?”
The spirit gave Twilight a strict glare, “I think you already know the answer to that.”
Twilight gawked, and then suddenly the spirit brought her back to the bank where Miser Stash was grumpily working in his office.
“Why would he do that?” asked Twilight “I thought he hated Hearths Warming and wanted nothing to do with it?”
“That may be so,” replied the spirit “But he can still help others, which can be done any time at all, and that’s what Miser Stash has done all his life.”
Twilight gawked at the spirit…
“You see, Miser had a rough childhood, and while his situation doesn’t amount to being poor and homeless, despite his grudge towards Hearths Warming, he still shows a little compassion by making donations to those who need it.
But he hardly gets credited for it, and barely gets noticed for it.
As a matter of fact… didn’t YOU collect a donation from him?”
“Ah…!” Twilight gasped, and surely enough that was exactly what she saw next-- she and Spike met with Miser Shaft and collected that cheque of a very generous sum of money.
Then of course came Miser giving Twilight attitude.
“You have what you came for. Please leave-- I have much work to do.”
Followed by his insulting Hearths Warming and wanting nothing to do with the celebrations and Twilight was forced to leave and tend to her other duties.
“I remember that,” said Twilight “You don’t have to show it to me again. Why I ever planned to invite him to the Hearths Warming gathering, hoping it would help him open up, and not ruin Hearths Warming for everyone.”
“But he hasn’t ruined anything has he?” said the Spirit. “Look around the bank, Twilight. What do you see?”
Twilight did as she was told, and she saw what she hadn’t really noticed before when she visited the bank; Hearths Warming decorations and small decorated trees were up all over the place. The employees even wore red stocking caps in honor of the holidays.
All this, and Miser Stash would surely be blowing his top at everyone, but all he did was work quietly in his office. “He’s not the least bit annoyed?” Twilight wondered.
“Nope,” replied the spirit “Miser may hate Hearths Warmin’, but he wouldn’t want to spoil it for others, just as long as he doesn’t have to celebrate it himself and be far from it as he can, he’s got no reason to lash out at any pony, especially not his loyal employees. They work hard; he pays them well. He even closes the bank earlier this time of year so all his workers can go be with their families on the holidays.
...and all he asks is they keep Hearths Warming to themselves.”
The more Twilight watched, the harder and harder it was for her to remain convinced about Miser Stash being the grouch she saw him as. “I never noticed it like that before.”
“Frankly I’m not surprised.” remarked the spirit, “After all you were so busy preparing all the festivities and working too hard to notice much.”
The spirit further enforced her point by showing Twilight all the many jobs, duties and arrangements she had made, and all she really did was complain, or demand about wanting everything to be perfect for Hearths Warming. She couldn’t possibly realize all the other possibilities of how other ponies were feeling or how they were affected by the holidays.
“Hey, I had a lot to do.” protested Twilight.
“Yes, you did have a lot to do.” agreed the spirit “Including the two electricians you hired?”
Twilight saw the two ponies she had hired to help her wire the electrical lights on the big tree, she remembered them asking her…
“Where do you want this plug, Princess?”
“How many of these wires did you want?”
More and more questions followed, much to Twilight’s building annoyance in getting everything set up in time.
“Never mind, I’ll do it myself.” said Twilight.
The real Twilight watched her actual-self using her magic to levitate the plugs and wires, stringing the lights along the tree.
The electricians tried to protest and warn her, but Twilight wouldn’t listen and continued working, “You two have done enough, you may go.” she practically demanded, due to her stressful state.
“I was running out of time, and I still had so much to do.” said Twilight to the spirit “What’s this got to do with anything anyway?”
“Well,” the spirit said, sounding a little short with her “Look what your impatience lead to, because you wouldn’t let ponies that were actually skilled at their job do what they had to.”
Twilight finally noticed, even though the lights and wires were all strung along the giant tree, because she was in such a hurry then she hadn’t noticed before that all the wires were connected into one power transformer on a lamppost.
“That many plugs in one socket!” cried Twilight.
The spirit said nothing, and merely transported Twilight to when Starlight Glimmer had brought Miser Stash to the party-- practically harassing him into leaving his work when he repeatedly stated he didn’t wish to come.
Then there was the big argument; Miser lashing out at everyone about Hearths Warming, and he tossed the cigar he had been smoking towards the tree before he walked off in a huff.
However, this time, from the angle she was floating on, Twilight had seen where the cigar had actually landed-- not at the tree itself, but in a small snow bank several feet away from the tree, and its fiery light had been extinguished upon hitting the wet snow.
Twilight gasped in horror.
…No one at the party had noticed this at all, as they all had been too angry and glaring and hooting at Miser for his bad attitude.
“Good luck being a horrible pony!”
“You sick old coot!”
“Do the world a favor and drop dead!”
Twilight was quivering with shame, and fear, and then the spirit asked her. “What do you suppose happen afterward?
Twilight gasped and whimpered, as the next thing she saw was she and her relatives on the stand, and ready to press the big switch to light up the big tree, which Twilight now realized was unsafely wired because of HER reckless haste!
“NO!! DON’T!!” she called to the trio of ponies, forgetting they couldn’t hear her.
The flicked the switch and the tree burst into flames due to the wires shorting out from being improperly connected.
Another image shown was Miser, walking his way home, but he stopped along the way when he noticed a few poor and disheveled ponies sitting in the streets and holding out pans for money to get food with.
Miser, still having some moral left in him, graciously gave them a bag of coins, to help them. The trio of ponies couldn’t have been happier and blessed him.
That’s when Miser saw the huge flames from afar where the big tree was, “What’s going on?!” he wondered, and he quickly dashed onto the scene, arriving to find the tree burned to pieces, the gifts destroyed, and he himself was blamed for the crime due to everyone accusing him of throwing his cigar at the tree.
“No…! NO!!!” cried Twilight as she watched him being hauled away by the guards, and the next images she saw was Miser in his lone jail cell at the police station.
The poor pony looked so miserable as he sat on his bed, and to make matters worse, while many ponies had indeed returned home after the horrible incident that evening, others stayed awake and formed an angry mob outside, booing and taunting at Miser’s window.
“GROUCH…!!”
“BLASPHEMER!!”
“YOU SHOULD BE IN TARTARUS!!”
So many taunts and rude slanders, some of the protesters even threw snowballs through the bars hoping to hit Miser from within, and one of the snowballs did in fact strike him hard, knocking off his glasses, and they fell to the floor and shattered.
Twilight felt like crying her little heart out. “But he’s innocent!”
“Sure, you know that now,” said the spirit “Perhaps next time, you’ll investigate the situation more thoroughly instead of wishing a pony to get what is coming to him!”
Twilight felt a big chill strike her in the heart, remembering what she had said earlier that night when Miser was hauled away “I hope you get what’s coming to you, you sick, twisted monster!!”
“No more!” cried Twilight “I can’t take it! I don’t want to see this anymore!”
Heeding Twilight’s pleas, and seeing as they were finished anyway, the spirit warped them back to Twilight’s room.
Twilight felt sick with grief and shame; not only was it really her fault that the party was ruined and the tree and the gifts destroyed, but the hoof of blame was brought on an innocent pony, who already had a horrible life before.
“What will happen to him?” she asked the spirit.
“I can’t answer that.” replied the spirit “My business is the here and now, but I hoped you learned from this.
-Things aren’t always as they seem, and you shouldn’t be quick to judge at first glances.
-You also cannot enforce your beliefs on someone and try to make them follow your ways of thinking.
-Everyone has their own way of thinkin’ and livin’, and while they may not always be of the sunniest routes… sometimes it is their choice, and as long as they are living and well, is there really need to interfere in other ponies privacy?”
Twilight felt every lesson hammer into her, as if they were lessons she herself knew or had learned of before, but had quite forgotten in all the chaos and planning and stress.
“I’ve got to set things right!” she decided “I must get Miser out of jail before things get any worse.”
“Not just yet.” The spirit said to her “There are still few more things you must learn and know, before your journey is complete, and for this task I leave you with the Ghost of Hearths Warming Later.”
“The future…?” Twilight asked.
The spirit nodded and began to fade away “Go forth, and know it better…”
Then the spirit was gone, and Twilight was once again left alone in her room, but still, she felt there was no time to waste; she wanted to get to the station and get Miser out of jail, but as she flew to the doors to her room and tried to open it with her magic… nothing happened!
“My magic is still blocked out!”
She then tried to open the doors herself, but her hooves went right through the door handles. The spirit wasn’t kidding when it said she wasn’t home free; she wasn’t going to get out of this until the spirits would let her out.
Then, things go creepy as a dark and spooky mist seemed to seep through the door, and the windows, and Twilight found herself swirling and moaning in the darkness!
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This story is pretty good, and makes sense. I can get why he was so grumpy on such a holiday, but didn't let it ruin him fully, if he did would been much harsher and a true scrooge.
This reminds me of a Christmas episode of some show watched a long time ago, there was a character who was well a jerk, but around the holidays he really got angry and grouchy.
After a huge fight he was leaving a christmas party, and paused to answer a question.
Why he hated the holidays, every christmas, everything would go wrong and he lose everything, his family survived but barely and always wound up homeless.
And let’s not forget when her anger goes way too far.
Example: in the MLP Movie, she was so angry that she nearly almost blasted Pinkie with her magic.
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I've often been surrounded by characters like Miser Stash-- work so hard, try their best to fit in, and still they are punished and gain nothing from their good deeds (As if a curse is placed upon them so they can never be happy, but just the guy who makes everyone else look good)
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She also freed the 6 pony pillars, and released the pony of shadows (Despite the circumstances, she nearly doomed everyone)