> Snowed in on Hearth's Warming Eve
>  by GoneGuy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1: Snowed In
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Well girls, I suppose there isn't much we can do until the weather lets up."
Twilight Sparkle and her friends sat on the ground floor of Golden Oaks library as a deep, snowy blizzard raged through the night. It was around 8:00 p.m. and the moon was unviewable through the large, puffy snow clouds.
"What I don't understand is why Cloudsdale decided to schedule a blizzard on Hearth's Warming Eve." Rainbow Dash wondered aloud.
"Applejack? When can we git home? Big McIntosh and Granny Smith are probably worried sick about us." Apple Bloom said as she sat next to her older sister and next to the other Cutie Mark Crusaders. Their cousin, Babs Seed, was visiting town over the holiday and had been hanging out with the Crusaders as the blizzard began. Applejack and Rarity had scooped up the four fillies before the snow got too deep and brought them to the nearest shelter, Golden Oaks Library.
"Ah know, little sis, but like Twilight said, there's nothing we can do about it. Granny Smith and Big Mac will be fine without us."
"Yes," Rarity interjected, "there's nothing we can do. So, we must merely wait it out."
As the group sat, buried in their own thoughts, they heard a loud knock at the door.
"Spike, could you get that?" Twilight asked her number one assistant as she looked for something on the bookshelves.
Spike answered the door, and the grey pegasus who stood there looked extremely cold.
"Oh, hi Derpy! Uh.... you look really cold."
"Yeah, I am kinda cold," the grey mare said, "mind if I spend the blizzard in here with you guys?"
"Of course not!" Pinkie said with glee, "the more the merrier!"
Derpy walked in and pulled out a small bag from her satchel. She dumped the contents onto the table on the side of the room, revealing a mess of sugar cookies, obviously brought from Sugarcube Corner.
"Ooh! Did Mr. and Mrs. Cake ask you to bring those cookies? They look delicious!" Rainbow Dash asked, eyeing the baked goods.
"Yeah! She said it was a little Hearth's Warming present for you guys."
"Um.... Twilight.... what are you looking for?" Fluttershy asked her friend, avoiding the conversation on the other side of the room.
"I'm looking for a particular book. I thought it might be nice to read it while we are here. It's a Hearth Warming Eve story."
"Oh.... maybe I can help you find it?"
"That's alright, I don't need any help."
"Oh.... okay...."
The group was startled at another knock at the door.
"Spike? Can you get that too?"
Spike answered the door for the second time, and two familiar ponies stepped into the room, with the white unicorn removing her scarf with her magic and the dark grey earth pony pulling her cello case inside.
"Terribly sorry to intrude," Octavia began, "but can we trouble you to stay here while the blizzard is raging?"
"Yeah," Vinyl continued her friend's thought, "It's really hard to see out there."
"Perhaps the cold weather is fogging up your glasses, Vinyl."
"Ha ha,! You may be right, Tavi."
"Does anypony mind if I practice my cello?"
No one minded, and she set up and began to play a familiar tune.
"Aha! Found it!"
Twilight walked back into the room, levitating a book with her magic.
"Everypony, I'm going to read you a story now, a classic from olden pony times that tells a special message of this special day."
"What story is it?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"It's called 'A Hearth's Warming Carol', by Quill Penworthy. He's a famous author from the Crystal Empire.
"Oh.... Ms. Cherilee read us that story last week in class." Scootaloo complained.
"Scootaloo, it never hurts to hear a good book again." Twilight said with a smile.
With the book levitated in front of her face, Twilight began to recite the story.
"It all began long ago, in the city of Trottingham.... but this was before it was called Trottingham, you see.... back then, it was only called 'Village'. It was so unknown, it had no name."
> 2: "A Hearth's Warming Carol" Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Icy Heart sat alone in his office, counting his golden bits eagerly. Now, this was seven years after his partner, Money Hungry, had passed away. The two had formed a money lending business together years before, and definitely had bits to spare.
"Six thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine bits.... Seven Thousand Bits.... Seven Thousand and One bits..."
Two gentlecolts knocked on the door to the Heart & Hungry BitLenders offices, and walked in, levitating a small box with their magic.
"Hello, good sir! We are from the Ponies in Need Foundation, and we were wondering if we could speak to Mr. Icy Heart or Mr. Money Hungry."	
"Mmmm....Money Hungry is no longer with us. Passed away seven years ago."
"Well then, you must be Icy Heart! Would you possibly think about donating a few bits to help the poor this Hearth's Warming Season?"
"Donations? DONATIONS?" Why, I should pound you for merely suggesting that! The poor are the scum of Equestria, so let them die and reduce the census population!"
"But sir.... surely you must have some spare change? Even a few bits could help feed a needy family this season..."
"Get out of my sight, you foalish money-launderers! I will have none of your begging for handouts in my office today or any other day!"
Icy Heart's Sole Employee, Stricken Poverty, sat counting finishing up his own work in his office. It was cold, and the coal in his furnace had just run out. He went into Icy Heart's office to get some more coal. After all, it was Hearth's Warming Eve, and he wanted to get home quick as he could.
"What are you doing, Poverty? You've used all of your coal for the week."
"Well sir.... It thought, since it is Hearth's Warming Eve, I might get a little spare coal to warm me before I head home and celebrate with my family."
"Celebrate? Celebrate what?"
"Hearth's Warming, sir."
"Hearth's Warming? Bah humbug. Every colt with joy in his heart in this cold winter ought to be taken out and buried with mistletoe in his heart."
"Yes, sir."
Stricken Poverty went back to his cold office and finished his work for the day, and prepared to leave.
"I'll see you first thing tomorrow, Poverty."
"But sir.... It's Hearth's Warming, and I thought..."
"Thought what?"
"That I might have the day off, sir."
"The day off? And I suppose you want the whole day off?"
"Yes sir... I must celebrate with my family," he began to mutter, "before it's.... too late."
"Gah, fine. But I'll see you first thing day after Hearth's Warming. And don't expect any coal then either."
"Yes sir. Happy Hearth's Warming," he said as he walked out the door.
"Hearth's Warming...bah humbug." Icy Heart said as he too walked outside, locked the door and started for his home.
> 3: "A Hearth's Warming Carol" Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Icy Heart grumbled miserably as he walked home to his manor on the southern side of the town known only as "Village." The air was cold and brisk, with each moment getting colder and brisker. He walked past several foals singing Hearth's Warming Songs, and seeing the happiness on their faces, scared them off the streets and back into their homes.
He arrived at his manor and began to pull out the key to his door. Unbeknownst to him, his door knocker briefly morphed into the face of his old partner, Money Hungy, and it howled a whispered howl. It was gone quick as it was here, and Icy Heart went inside to fetch himself some gruel before heading off to bed.
He sat in his chair, gruel still sitting on the table, sleeping silently. In the dark manor, a thumping of iron against a wooden floor was heard, waking the miser and startling him as the thumping grew closer and closer. He turne his chair away from the fireplace and sat upon it, ready to face the potential attacker. But the door did not open, and the thumping stopped.
He turned his chair around, and as he sat, a sight he never thought he would behold again floated down manifesting right in front of him. It was agrim spectre, staring at him intently. He had a handkerchief tied around his face, as he did when they had buried him. He was transparent, so that when Icy Heart looked through him, he could see through to his own barely living fire. He wore chains made of padlocks and money-boxes, and deeds, and keys and ledgers, and of heavy pursues, which formed round about him, entangling him all around.
He stared at the phantom for a moment, and asked, "What do you want with me?"
"I have business with you, Icy Heart."
"Who are you?"
"Ask me who I was."
"Who were you, then?"
"In life, I was your partner, Money Hungry."
"Bah!" Icy Heart scoffed, "you are no phantom! Just a hallucination brought about by a bit of indegestion! You may be nothing more than a bit of overdone grass, or some moldy hay, or perhaps and undercooked potato! There's more gravy than grave to you!"
"Is that so?" the spectre asked, then removing the handkerchief round about his face, with his jaw dropping down farther than any living pony's could, letting out a bone-chilling howl.
"Have mercy, O dreaful apparition!" Icy Heart said as he pleaded, "Why do you trouble me, O spirit?"
"I am here to warn you, Icy Heart." the being said as he returned his handkerchief to it's position.
"But why, pray tell, are there chains round about you?"
"These are the chains I unknowingly forged in life," the spectre said, "those of greed and hatred toward ponykind... as I took from the weak and helpless, my chain grew longer still... and I am now doomed to wander the earth forever... I'm captive bound and double-ironed, exhausted by the weight.... but don't you know, your chains were just as great seven Hearth's Warming Ago. And yet you have lingered here longer than I, so that your chain is even the more heavy. These chains are forged by what you say and do....."
"You must wander the land always?"
"Yes. It is a deep and unending torment. It is this time of year where my torment grows unbearable. But hear me now, Icy Heart! My time here grows short, for I am here to warn that there is a way to escape this cruel fate. Tonight you shall be visited by three spirits. There is no light of my penance, for I have sat invisible with you many a day. Take heed of the three spirit's lessons."
"Could I not have all three at once, to get it over with?"
"Expect the first on the first hour. The second, on the second, and the third on the third hour. Without their lessons, you shall be brought into the same fate as me in the afterlife. Goodbye, Icy Heart."
Money Hungry left out the window, and Icy Heart dashed after him, and saw the air filled with spirits, all bound with chains desperately trying to interfere for good in the lives of the living. But none came to fruition, and they all continued their endless struggle.
He closed the window and went straight to his bed, muttering humbug for the last time before drifting to sleep.
> 4: Intermission 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Spike! Spike! Is the hot cocoa for everypony ready yet?"
"I'm working on it, Twilight!" 
"If it help,s I shan't be needing any hot cocoa." Octavia said to Twilight.
"Nonsense, Octavia! I insist."
"If you say so, dear...."
On the other side of the room, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were looking bored, except for Babs Seed, who seemed to be soaking up every juicy detail of the story. The group had decided to take a quick break and have some snacks before Twilight continued the story. Octavia continued practicing her cello, Applejack was tending to the fireplace, Rarity was gathering blankets for everyone, while Twilight was getting everything organized. Vinyl and Derpy sat with each other, eager to hear the next chapter of the story, while the Crusaders sat playing quietly in the corner (so long as Fluttershy gave them a look every once in a while.)
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie sat by a seemingly-bored Rainbow Dash, who had been complaining about listening to "a dusty old book" and that they should be reading a Daring Do book right now instead.
It was then that they heard another knock at the door.
"Spike, could you get that?"
"I'm making the hot chocolate, Twilight!"
"Oh, right."
"I'll get it!" Pinkie said, bouncing to the door and thrusting it open, as a familiar pair of ponies stumbled inside by the force of the wind.
"Lyra! Bon Bon! It's great to see you guys! Care to join us?"
"Do we have much of a choice?" Lyra said jokingly.
"It's snowing in waves out there. We could barely make it to the library without freezing."
"What has everypony been doing?"
"We've all been listenin' ta Twilight read us 'A Hearth's Warming Carol."
"Oh! That's my favorite!" Bon Bon said.
"Well, feel free to sit down and listen! We have Sugar Cookies on the table, and Pinkie Pie is getting some marshmallow roasting sticks ready! Spike will be bringing in cups of hot cocoa in a minute!" Twilight said joyfully.
"Here we go! Enough hot cocoa for everypony!" Spike said triumphantly as he entered the main room.
"Uh... Spike. We'll need a few more cups." Twilight said as she began to levitate the book again.
"Ugh!" Spike said as he walked back into the kitchen.
"Now, where was I? Oh, yes."
> 5: "A Hearth's Warming Carol" Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Icy Heart lay alone in bed, shivering in the cold. His window shot open, and he hastily got out and closed the shutters. As he returned to his bed, he glanced at the clock. It was 1:00 a.m. The first hour.
"Lousy spirit...I knew he was bluffing. The first tormentor is late."
"Am I?"
Icy Heart turned to see a small foal, brown and with a black mane, and a small mistletoe leaf as his cutie mark.
"You? A young foal? You are the first spirit, coming at the first hour? Get out of my sight, and return home, young foal, lest I beat you with a rod."
"I am the Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past. Come, to the window."
Icy Heart trotted over to the window with the spirit in tow, and the spirit jumped upon the window.
"It is time for us to go."
"Go....where? If I leave through the window I'll fall to my death!"
"Take my hoof."
Icy Heart decided to humor the young foal, and took his hoof, and off they began to fly over the town called "Village".
"I-I'm flying!"
"Yes."
"But where are we going, spirit?"
"You shall see."
The two found themselves flying over a boarding school on the outskirts of Manehattan.
"Do you recognize this place?"
"Y-yes! This is the boarding school where I lived during my childhood... my father... he didn't want me. So I stayed here with my books over the Hearth's Warming Holiday. But.... this.... this is the day she came! My sister, Caring Heart!"
The mare he saw walked into the boarding schoolhouse, and the spirit and Icy Heart followed.
"C-Caring?" the young Icy Heart said.
"Icy! I have joyous news!"
"What is it, dear sister?"
"Father, he has become kind again! He wants you to come home for the holiday!"
"No....it can't be!"
"But it is, dear brother! Let us go, and be merry with father!"
The brother and sister left the school singing Hearth's Warming Carols and holding hands.
"Spirit....why are you showing me this?"
"You will find out soon enough."
Suddenly, the two were in a large room, with a tree in the center and tons of ponies sitting there.
"I....I recognize this place!"
"You should. After all, it is the office of your old mentor."
"My....m-mentor.... you mean... Jolly Holiday?"
> 6: "A Hearth's Warming Carol" Part 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"I remember this day.... Hearth's Warming Eve.... many years before Money Hungry and I formed our business."	
"Yes, Icy Heart. This is the day in which you found about your love."
"Mr. Jolly Holiday! Sir!"
"No one can see or hear us, Icy Heart."
The spirit and Icy Heart sat watching the eve from the miser's past.
"Icy Heart.... can I speak to you alone?"
"Of course, sir."
Icy Heart and Jolly Holiday walked over to the corner where the two from the future stood.
"Icy, my lad. I fear my time here in Equestria grows short. The doctors tell me I have no more than two to three more months before I shall pass on."
"S-sir.... I don't know how we will live without you. You've been our mentor, our friend. There is nothing we could have done had it not been for you."
"Be that as it may, there is nothing I can do. Come spring, I will be dead. But, we must not speak of such things now. It is Hearth's Warming Eve. What I called you over here is something to tell you. Lad, you and Money Hungry have always been like sons to me. It is for this reason that I leave you both one final Hearth's Warming Gift. I am renaming the business to 'Heart & Hungry BitLenders' and leaving it to you both."
"S-sir... I....I..."
"Just promise me you will remember your roots. Not those of your childhood, but rather those you've learned under me. Always be generous and never greedy."
"I will sir."
"Good. Now, get back to having your holiday. I will tell the same to Money Hungry."
"Th-this is also the night I met her....my true love." the future Icy Heart said.
A beautiful young mare walked up to the young Icy Heart.
"Hello. Happy Hearth's Warming," she said, "my name is Natural Beauty."
"Happy Hearth's Warming. Would you care to dance?"
The two danced the night away, and Money Hungry left without saying a word.
"A few years later, we got married. Then.... years later....she left me."
"Yes. On Hearth's Warming no less. She said you were not the pony she married."
"It...it is painful to remember this. T-take me home spirit."
"As you wish."
Icy Heart woke up in his bed, cold, with the window opened. He got up to close it, muttering that it was all but a dream.

> 7: Intermission 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Wow...."
Everypony was sitting around the fire, even the ones who had previously been bored with the story.
"It's so sad..." Lyra said.
"It is indeed..." Octavia said, bearely holding back a tear.
"Why are there ghosts? This isn't Nightmare Night." Derpy added.
Everypony burst into laughter and sat, suddenly realizing there was one extra voice of laughter. One large draconequis appeared in their midst, and sat down next to Fluttershy.
"Discord? What are you doing here?" Rainbow Dash asked him.
"I'm here to spend Hearth's Warming Eve with Fluttershy. And listen in on this fascinating story. You know, I remember one time when I was in a play of this story..."
"You were in a play?"
"Who did you play?"
"When was this?"
"Why, it was last year, in Canterlot. Princess Celestia's personal play. I played Money Hungry."
"How? You don't look anything like a pony." Applejack remarked.
"I'm Discord, remember," he said, transforming into a ghostly image of the character from the story, bound in chains, "I have many abilities. But, shouldn't we get back to the story?"
"Oh, of course.... where was I again?"
"Right after the first ghost," Discord reminded her.
"Ah, yes. Let's continue."
> 8: "A Hearth's Warming Carol" Part 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Icy Heart awoke once again as the bell of his clock tolled 2:00 a.m.
"No spirit. Perhaps lady luck is on my side now."
Then, he heard a crashing noise downstairs. He carefully maneuvered downstairs, clutching the candlestick stand in his teeth, to see a shocking sight. A tall, burly alicorn male stood in his dining room, with a large feast about him, eating many things. He wore a wreath of holly around his head, and had a long, brown, curly mane.
"W-Who might you be, giant?"
"Ah, Icy Heart. I've been waiting for you. I am the Ghost of Hearth's Warming Present," the alicorn lifted the miser with his magic and transported them both to the next day and began to walk with him around town.
"Where are we going?"
"We are going to see the joy in today's holiday."
"Fine. But may I ask why your scabbard has no blade to fill it?"
"My scabbard represents peace in Equestria and good will towards ponies. Here, look inside."
The miser stared into the window to see his own nephew, Joyful Heart.
"It's my dear departed brother's son, Joyful Heart."
"Yes, and behold what he does on this most joyful of days."
Joyful Heart began to carve his family's dinner, a large oat and hay sculpture, serving it to all of his children and his wife before seating himself and his own dinner.
"Let us give thanks for Uncle Icy Heart, for whom we have family to love this holiday." he said.
"The dear boy.... I didn't think he cared...."
"He is your own blood! Of course he cares! Now come, there is more to see."
"What poor soul's home is this we are visiting now?"
"This is the home of your clerk, Stricken Poverty."
"P-Poverty.... I had no idea he lived in such a poor home."
"He does. And look, he has a wife and four foals."
"Who is the dear young colt with the crutch?"
"That is Tiny Tim, otherwise known as 'Timid Poverty.' He is a poor lad, sick and in pain. But, as you say, he must be scum of Equestria, is he not?"
Icy Heart's own face began to well up with tears as he looked at the poor lad."
"Now, I show you a vision of the future, a few months from now."
The vision was the same, but Tiny Tim was nowhere to be found. A lonesome crutch, carefully preserved by the fireplace, sat empty, as did the chair it was held up by.
"Will....will the poor lad.... die?"
"If something does not change the shadows of the future, then yes, the lad will die. But, he better do it quickly, as you say, and decrease the census population."
The spirit began to fade away as the two returned to Icy Heart's bed room.
"Spirit! Please! Help the poor lad!"
"There is nothing I can do, Icy Heart. I leave you, as my time grows short. Good-bye, Icy Heart."
"No! Spirit!"
Icy Heart awoke once more, and decided to take a trot around the village to clear his thoughts.
Soon enough, the city's bells rung thrice, and a deep mist began to descend around him.
> 9: "A Hearth's Warming Carol" Part 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Icy Heart fell down into a bow as the final spirit approached him. It was dressed all in a black cloak. All you could see of it was a single spectral hoof and two glowing eyes underneath it's hood.
"Are you the Ghost of Hearth's Warming Yet to Come?"
The spirit nodded his head once, and beckoned with it's hoof to follow him.
Icy Heart did as he was told and followed him into a funeral home on the street's corner. 
"It will be a cheap funeral, if anypony comes at all."
"I will come, assuming a lunch is provided to me."
"I'm sorry, our funeral home does not offer lunch. Only the final part of life to any pony and to his or her mourners."
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, as is my stomach. But, seeing as there seem to be nopony mourning his loss anyway, I suppose it is for the best."
Icy Heart stood in shock staring at the casket before him. The body of the pony in the casket was covered in a cloth so that nopony could see him.
"Spirit, who is this poor pony who has nopony to mourn him?"
The spirit began to reach for the cloth, but Icy Heart implored him not to remove it.
The spirit beckoned again to another building across the street, and showed him the same dead pony's belongings being sold at auction for sheer change. No one wanted to buy this pony's belongings.
"Spirit, can you show me anypony showing emotion of this poor soul's death?"
The spirit and Icy Heart appeared in a misty graveyard, and saw a couple of ponies.
"Well, my dear. We are no longer indebted to the demon in pony form."
"Thank Celestia."
"No...this is not what I wished to see... please, show me some tenderness with death."
The spirit pointed across the graveyard, and Icy Heart went to see the five ponies standing near a grave.
"No....it is....it is... Stricken Poverty.... no.... has Tiny Tim...."
The spirit nodded.
"No......"
The spirit pointed it's hoof once more, across the graveyard back to the first grave. The miser looked at the grave and read the inscription aloud.
"Icy Heart....Unloved by All....No spirit! Please, give me another chance! You must! Let us assume I may change myself, to live an altered life!"
The spirit removed it's hood, revealing naught but a skull of a pony, and startled the miser, falling back into his own grave.
"No!" Icy Heart sat up in bed.
He trotted to the window and threw up the sash, and seeing a young colt, shouted to him.
"Young lad! What day is it?"
"Why, it's Hearth's Warming Day, sir!"
"Then I still have time.... Oh thank you spirits! Thank you for another chance!"
	
> 10: "A Hearth's Warming Carol" Part 7/The End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"The spirits have done it all in one night. I must go and make peace. Today, I start my life as a new pony! May Celestia be my witness!"
Icy Heart went down to the market and asked for the largest, plumpest oat and hay sculpture and had it sent to Stricken Poverty's house.
"And remember, do not tell them I sent it."
"Yes sir!"
He ran to his nephew's house and spent a few hours with them, laughing and celebrating before promptly leaving and heading to the home of Stricken Poverty.
He knocked on the door, and was greeted by the face of his employee.
He attempted to imitate his old , heartless voice best as he could.
"Poverty, what are you doing here? Why aren't you at the office?"
"But sir-I...."
"I will tell you why, Stricken. because it is Hearth's Warming Day, and because with all the hard work you do year round, you deserve this day to spend with your family, as well as other days. As of today, I am raising your salary and giving you more time off."
"S-Sir, are you alright?"
"I am better than alright, my good lad! I am filled with Hearth's Warming Joy! Happy Hearth's Warming to all!"
"Happy Hearth's Warming to you too, sir."
And Icy Heart was as good as his word. He rose Stricken Poverty's salary, and gave to charity, and filled others with the joy of the season. And to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was like a second father. He became as good a friend than anypony could have thought. He shared honesty, and generosity, and kindness, and laughter, and loyalty. And the Magic of the Hearth's Warming Season turned in their hearts.

"The End," read Twilight, finally finishing the tale. 
"What a good story!" AppleBloom exclaimed!
"Yeah, it was really cool!" Sweetie Belle said.
"It was alright," Rainbow Dash added, barely able to suppress her true feelings.
"And look everypony! The storm's clear, we can all go home now!"
Everypony looked around, and no one left, and Octavia took a chance to speak.
"Perhaps we should all celebrate Hearth's Warming Eve together, here."
"You know what that means?" Pinkie asked, "It means it's time for a Hearth's Warming Party!"
"Happy Hearth's Warming everypony!" Twilight exclaimed as she returned the book to the shelf and everyone sat down to cookies and hot cocoa.

"And Merry Christmas to all our readers!" Pinkie exclaimed, prompting several looks, all being shrugged off to 'she's just being Pinkie Pie.'