Episode 17: A Very Normal Christmas Carol

(Scene 1: Scott Greene’s Ghost.  The scene opens on a girl in front of a roaring fireplace.  She has darker skin and white hair with black streaks in it.  It is the first time we have seen Zecora in the series.  She is a pretty girl around the same age as Norman and Brad.  She holds in her hand a dusty old book which she opens.  She begins to read…)

Zecora: Scott Green was grounded, that much is true/and a ban on video games made the green boy feel blue/And what was it that put him in this sad situation/Was that all games and no homework led to Academic Probation/Yes, Scott was as grounded as a Dodo bird/ Mind, I don’t know why such a comparison was ever heard/But this story about him it is not/So let’s take our leave of the grounded Scott/So sit back, relax, and come on in/And listen to the Christmas Carol of Normal Norman.

(The camera zooms in to the fireplace and then zooms out revealing a Yule Log on Norman and Brad’s TV.  We see Norman in the kitchen while Twilight sits at the dining room table with the two laptops.  It is the middle of finals season.  Norman comes to the table carrying a glass of chocolate milk setting it down near his laptop.  Enter Brad from his room)

Brad: A Merry Christmas, Norman!  Faust Save You!

Norman: Bah!  Humbug! (Laughter)

Brad: Christmas, a humbug?  That’s not very Bradical..(Norman cringes to audience laughter) Surely you don’t mean that?

Norman: I do.  Merry Christmas! What right do you have to be merry?  What reason do you have to be merry?  You have just as much homework due before the end of this semester as I do.

Brad: What right do you have to be so dismal?  At least you are doing yours. (Laughter)

Norman: Bah!  Humbug!  What’s Christmas but a time to be swamped finishing your finals, finding yourself a year older but farther in college loan debt.  If I had it my way, every person saying “Merry Christmas” would be buried with a stake of holly through the heart!

Brad: Norman!

Norman: Brad!

Brad: (coming closer and putting his hand on Norman’s chest, seductively) Norman!

Norman: (Backing away) Bah!  Humbug! (Laughter)  Keep Christmas in your own way and I will keep it in mine.

Brad: You don’t keep it all.

Norman: Exactly! (Laughter)

Brad: But Norman, Christmas is a chance to show goodwill to your fellow man.  A chance to forgive others and live in peace.  A chance to spike the eggnog of girls you otherwise wouldn’t have a chance with. (Laughter)  I may have a ton of homework, but at soon as it is done, Christmas will do me good.  It always has done me good.  I say Faust Bless It!

(Twilight begins clapping involuntarily.  Norman turns on her)

Norman: Don’t encourage him! (Laughter) (to Brad) You are quite the speaker.

Brad: How do you think I got you out of that court case? (Laughter)

Norman: Good Afternoon!

Brad: Come on buddy.

Norman: Good Afternoon!

Brad: Let’s talk this out and get you to settle down.

Norman: Good Afternoon!

Brad: Fine, I’ll talk to you after you finish your final.  Merry Christmas!

Norman: Good Afternoon!

Brad: And a Happy New Year!

Norman: (Forcefully) Good Afternoon! (Laughter)

(Brad leaves Twilight and Norman together)

Norman: I can’t believe he can be so calm this time of year with all the tests and papers we have due. (He starts to sit down and becomes a bit more calm)

Twilight: Back in Equestria, Heart’s Warming Eve is the exact same way.  A time of peace and friendship and tranquility.

Norman: Does Equestria have a corresponding holiday to everything here in the human world?

Twilight: Does Earth have National Random Holiday Party Day….

Norman: I….I think they call it Sweetest Day in Michigan. (Laughter)

(There is a knock at the door.  Norman growls in annoyance and then gets up.)

Norman: I’ll get it.  Keep an eye on my Chocolate milk will you Purple?

Twilight: Sure.

(Norman opens the door to reveal the Flim Flam Brothers holding books and papers)

Flim: Normal and Sentry’s I believe?

Flam: Do we have the pleasure of talking to Mr. Normal or Mr. Sentry?

Norman: Sentry is busy.

Flim: At this festive season of the year, Mr. Normal, we see fit to make a slight provision for the children of the local orphanage to help make their Holidays merry.

Flam: This year we are collecting money to buy them a Playstation 4.

Norman: Are there no Gamestops?

Flim: There are plenty, sir.

Norman: And thrift and pawn shops...are they still in operation?

Flam: Of course, sir.

Norman: So places selling PS ones and twos are still running then?

Both: They are running fine, sir.

Norman: You had me worried there.  Let them have one of those classic gaming consoles then.

Flim: But, you can’t play online with them.

Norman:If they can’t get online, then keep it that way and help decrease PSN’s surplus population. (Laughter as he slams the door on them.  As he turns around we hear the sound of a glass tipping over and see Norman’s eyes go wide)

Twilight: Oops…

Norman: What have you done!

(We see Norman’s laptop covered in chocolate milk and sparking as it shorts out and dies)

Norman: My final! (He runs over trying to turn it on)

Twilight: I am so sorry, Norman!

Norman: Sorry?  Sorry?!  You think sorry is gonna cut it!?  That was my final!  I hadn’t backed it up yet!  I’m screwed now...God Damn It Purple!  You ruin everything.

Twilight: (Tears in her eyes) I said I’m sorry…

Norman: Just get the hell out of here Purple...leave me alone!  All you do is ruin my life!

(Twilight begins to cry, packs up her laptop, and quickly leaves the apartment slamming the door behind her.  Norman looks at what’s left of his laptop and then at the clock showing 2 AM)

Norman: Welp...I’m a dead man...may as well go to sleep and face the firing squad in the morning…(he heads to his room and pauses at the door, we see how from Norman’s POV, the knocker has gone from a lion to the face of Scott.  Norman gazes at it quietly and reaches out to touching poking it’s nose)

Knocker: (In Scott’s Voice) Ow!  Watch it you freaking pleb! (Laughter)

Norman: (Jumping back)  The hell! (The knocker is back to normal) Right...bed it is then…(He enters his room.  We see see Norman a little later on in his bed clothes...for some reason they are a victorian style dressing gown with a different version of his beanie made to look like a sleeping cap.  It is silent as Norman sits reading a book at his desk.  There is a loud noise from outside his door.  Norman jumps then settles back down.)

Norman: Humbug!

(Another Noise, Norman locks his door)

Norman: (unsure) H...humbug...its all a dream.

Scott: What is, pleb?

Norman: (Turning and screaming) Green!  How!

(We see Scott now.  He is white, perhaps a little blue and almost see through.  He appears as your stereotypical ghost.  He is dressed as normal but he carries multiple lengths of chains all over his body.  Attached to the chains are PC Gaming rigs and school books left unopened)

Scott: Ask me who I was you pleb.

Norman: W...who were you.

Scott: In life, I was your gaming partner, Scott Greene.

Norman: I don’t believe it.

Scott: Of course you don’t...you’re too much of a pleb to get it. (Laughter)

Norman: Surely you are nothing more than a undigested potato chip….perhaps a piece of cheese...or one of Pinkie’s baked bads…(Laughter)

Scott: SILENCE!

Norman: (Shaking) why do you trouble me?

Scott: To save you.

Norman: (Seeing the chains) You are fettered...why?

Scott: I made this chain in my life...link by link and yard by yard.  I played too many games and studied not enough...and now I sit on the outside looking in...failing classes, disappointed parents..and an inability to play games.  You sit so similar.  Why, you should see your chain.

Norman: That bad?

Scott: Ever see a chain made of 360s, beanies, and stuffed ponies that look like Rarity? (Laughter)

Norman: Does such a thing exist?

Scott: It does, and it was nearly as long as mine is now….back when you were in High School.  I want to save you the trouble.

Norman: Save me?

Scott: How I appear before you so that you may see me I can not tell, but I have sat with you for many a day since my grounding.

Norman: (A little freaked out) So….you’ve seen….

Scott: The shrine to Rarity...yeah(Laughter)  Trust me, its not as bad as the one Sophia has to you.

Norman Wait...what? (Laughter)

Scott: (Changing the subject) You must change your ways. Therefore, you will be visited by three spirits.  Expect the first tomorrow when the clock strikes one.

Norman: Eh?  Any chance I can take them all at once...I kind of have this thing and…(Laughter)

Scott: Expect the second the next night at one and the final when the clock tolls the twelfth time on the third night….Adieu, you console pleb. (Laughter as he seemingly disappears.  Norman checks the door...finds it still locked and dives into his bed pulling the covers over him and whimpering. Laughter to end the scene)

 



(Scene 2: The Ghost of Christmas Past.  We open in Norman’s room where he suddenly sits up awake in bed with a start.  He looks at the digital clock next to him which reads “12:00 AM”)

Norman: No way!  I went to bed after two….did I sleep through the day?  Does that mean I missed class?  I mean, its not like I finished the paper for it anyway...thanks to that Purple Humbug! (Laughter)

(He goes to the window where it is still dark)

Norman: Wait...what did Green say?  That I would be visited at one….bah...probably just a bad dream..(gets back into bed) I’ll just go back to sleep.

(Black Screen, White Words: One Hour Later)

(We see Norman in bed, eyes wide open and shaking.  We here the campus clocktower in the distance)

Clock: Ding Dong Ding Dong

Norman: Quarter after.

Clock: Ding Dong Ding Dong

Norman: Half past.

Clock: Ding Dong Ding Dong

Norman: Quarter till…

Clock: Ding Dong Ding Dong

Norman: The faithful hour mentioned….(looks around and see nothing.  Sighing contently he lays back in bed with his eyes closed.  We cut to the blackness of Norman’s POV as we hear a loud BONG to announce the hour. Norman’s eyes open to find Pinkie lying on top of him, her arms on either side of his head holding her up)

Pinkie: Hiya Normie!!!

Norman: AHHHH!

Pinkie: And a good morning to you too! (Laughter)

Norman: Pink!  What are you doing here?

Pinkie: Pinkie?  I’m the Ghost of Christmas Past, silly.

Norman: What...you’re...you’re the first spirit Green mentioned?

Pinkie: yep yep!

Norman: The Ghost of Christmas Past.  Long past?

Pinkie: (Standing up revealing her to be in a white robe and a white cap.  It sparkles as she walks away from him) Your past.  Come, walk with me.

Norman: (Whining) But it’s cold! (Laughter)

Pinkie: Hold my hand and you will stay warm. (She holds it out to Norman and he takes it) Better?

Norman: Better.

(She leads him towards the window)

Norman: Wait….wait.  No...thats a big, tall glass of nope right there.

Pinkie: Hold on to me and I will not let you fall.

(Before Norman can say anything, she throws open the window and jumps out dragging him with her.  Close up of Norman’s face as he opens his eyes only to find himself on solid ground, outside of Canterlot High School.  The leaves on the trees show that it is fall)

Norman: Its….its good old CHS.

Pinkie: It is...it is fall, a few days before that fateful Fall Formal Dance.

Norman: Aye, I remember it well.

(There is a commotion as Twilight and Spike come out of the mirror for the first time.  Twilight looks at Spike, then at her hands and begins to freak out)

Norman: Is this?

Pinkie: When she first came to our world?  Yes.

Norman: Should we lay low?  This is from before we first met.

Pinkie: It’s fine...they can neither see nor hear us.  Let’s see how the rest of her day went.

(We see Twilight as she tries to navigate the halls of the school and nearly gets trampled by the other students)

Norman: (Seeing himself and Scott walking in the background, to Pinkie) Look!  It’s Green and I!  Wait….wait a second.  Why is there a second pair of Scott and I?  How is that possible?

Pinkie: No worries.  It will all be explained in a future episode.

Norman: A future what?

Pinkie: Oh… nothing. (Laughter)

(We see more of Twilight’s struggles during her first day as she sits down at first period)

Norman: She looks so sad.

Pinkie: She was all alone in this world.  No one would even look at her.  No one until….

(Past Norman sits at the desk next to her)

Past Norman: Hi!  I’m Norman Normal...I’m new here...I just moved in.

Twilight: (Smiling, someone has noticed her) H...Hi...I’m Twilight Sparkle!  I’m new here too.

Past Norman: We’re not alone then.

Twilight: Yeah!  I’ve been finding it hard to make friends.

Past Norman: Tell me about it.  Everyone thinks I am a racist here.

Twilight: It’s like when I first moved to Ponyville back in Equestria.

Past Norman: I beg your pardon? (Laughter)

Twilight: Well, see I’m actually a Princess from a land of ponies that can’t through a mirror to this world.

Norman: (To Pinkie) I thought she was crazy.

Pinkie: True, but you were also the first person to talk to her and treat her as an equal.

Norman: As was she for me.  (Realizing what he said to her) Lauren Faust!  My first friend...how could I.

Pinkie: There is more to see. (The area around them dissolves and reforms as the inside of a courtroom.  We see Norman in prison clothes as the defendant.  Brad is on the witness stand)

Norman: This was the trial from when I was accused of raping Miss Christie…

Pinkie: Indeed it was.  This was when Brad proved his loyalty to you.

Brad: Norman wouldn't hurt anyone; he has an appreciation for life that even Gandhi would be jealous of. He came to school every day, insults and pejorative statements hurled in his direction. Does he hide away from the torture? Does he scowl at them, residing himself to cynicism? No. He comes into school every day with a bright smile on his face, braving the storm of hate hanging over his head.

Foreman: We the jury find the defendant, Norman Normal, not guilty.

Norman: (sobbing) He worked so hard to make sure I was freed.

Pinkie: He also framed you to put you there in the first place.

Norman: (stops crying) Oh yeah…(Laughter)

Pinkie: Yet, later on….(The scene changes again to Brad and Norman at Norman’s house near the end of high school playing video games)

Brad: I can’t believe we both got into Canterlot High!

Past Norman: I know...college life, out on our own.

Brad: Out on your own?  You live nearby.

Past Norman: Yeah but my parents said if I got a job I could get my own apartment. What about you?

Brad: We’re moving out to the country soon.  Guess it will be the commuter life for me.

Past Norman: Commute?  Two hours a day and spend all that money?

Brad: I guess.

Past Norman: No you aren’t.  Live with me!  With a two bedroom apartment split between us the rent will be cheaper.

Brad: Y...you mean it?

Past Norman: After all you did for me?  Absolutely!

Brad: Bradical!  (He hugs the cringing Norman) (Laughter)

(Norman and Pinkie look on)

Norman: I meant it, too.  Sure he made my life a living hell, but he got me out of it, too.  While I don’t approve of his lifestyle, he has been the best roommate a guy could ever have.

Pinkie: My time grows short...perhaps one more stop….(The area around them changes again, when they settle they are in a convenience store where a masked Norman fights some thugs as Brad runs by in his underwear)

Norman: I….I don’t remember this.

Pinkie: Oops!  Wrong universe. (Laughter)

Norman: Wait...what?  (The scene change around them to the scene from earlier as Norman sees himself yelling at Brad, Flim & Flam, and Twilight)  Why do you show this to me again...are you taking pleasure in inflicting pain on me?

Pinkie: I am merely showing you your past deeds Normie.

Norman: Return me!  Return me this instant!

(He lets go of Pinkie as they are flying and begins to fall...only to land in his bed and fall into a slumber to end the scene)

 



(Scene 3: The Ghost of Christmas Present.  We open as Norman awakes with a start in the middle of a rather loud snore and looks to his clock to see it is one minute to one.)

Norman: Alright, Norman.  Just remain calm.  Ghost 2 gets here, we see what they have to say and we get out.  Plan, simple, and easy.

(BONG)

(Norman closes and opens his eyes to see nothing, we zoom in to the clock and watch five minutes pass, then ten, until it reads 1:15 AM)

Norman: Fashionably late.  (Then a smile on his face as he jumps up) Perhaps the second ghost is the Aryan Beauty! (Laughter as he runs to the door of his room which has been flooded by an otherworldly light.  He swings the door open)

Norman: Hello my dear, sweet, Aryan Beauty! (He hugs the figure on the other side only to find…)

Big Mac: Nnnope. (Laughter)

Norman: (Quickly letting go, embarrassed) Red!  Is that you?

Mac: NNope.

Norman: The Ghost of Christmas Present, then?

Mac: Eeeyup!

(We get our first look at Mac.  He is as tall as always.  He wears a deep green robe with a fur trim.  A top his head is a crown made of holly.  He wears no shirt showing off the muscles he has developed from hard work on the farm.  The living room has changed too.  The sofa has been replaced with a larger one, more like a throne, made out of turkey, geese, game, poultry, beef, sausages, a single orange, apples, apples, apples, and still more apples.  Holly and mistletoe is strung about all over)

Mac: You seem to have never seen a spirit like me before?

Norman: (mimicking him) Nnnope.(Laughter)  Though you look familiar, have you any relatives.

Mac: Eeyup.

Norman: (Thinking back to his time at the Apple Family Reunion) A lot?

Mac: Eeyup.

Norman: Well, lead on Spirit.  Last night, I took a trip of compulsion whose lesson is, even now, working upon me.  If you are meant to teach me, then please do so.

Mac: Touch my Robe.

(The world around them dissolves only for Norman and Mac to appear on the streets of Canterlot on what appears to be Christmas Morning.  People are hustling and bustling to and fro as they go to church and return home for the Holiday feast.  They stop in front of a familiar house in the country)

Norman: This is Brad’s place.

Mac: Eeyup.

(They are transported inside where Brad, Milky, his mom and dad sit around the table.  A large turkey sits on it...thankfully not alive this time)

Mom: Twilight knew she could come right?

Brad: Yeah, but she said something about not wanting to be in anyone’s way.

Dad: Such a shame considering this turkey was her guest of honor at Thanksgiving. (Laughter)

Milky: It may be better that she didn’t come then. (Laughter) What about Norman?

Brad: He’s had his nose to the grindstone on some final paper.  I don’t know how but he seems to have lost an entire file and had to start from scratch.

Milky: Such a shame.

Dad: (Raising his glass) Well….to Norman and Twilight!  May they still have a Merry Christmas.

All: To Norman and Twilight.

(Mac sprinkles some spices from the horn of plenty he carries over the turkey on their dinner)

Norman: Spirit, is there a peculiar flavor that you sprinkle from your torch?

Mac: Eeyup, my own.

Norman: That sounds kind of disgusting. (Laughter) Does it apply to any Christmas Dinner?

Mac: Eeyup.  To the poor one most.

Norman: Why the poor?

Mac: They need it most.  Come, we have more to see.

(The world around them changes to the interior of an apartment)

Norman: This is Purple’s.

(Sobbing can be heard down the hall, Norman and Mac walk into Twi’s room and find her packing a bag while Spike watches.  She is crying)

Spike: What’s wrong Twi?  Where are we going?

Twi: Back to Equestria Spike.  Norman is right.  All I do is get in the way here.  The mirror will be opening soon.  We can go home.  

Spike: But Twi, what about your friends here in this world?

Twi: They can get along without me.  They were able to do so before so they can do so again.

Spike: But what about Brad?  

Twi: There’s a Flash Sentry back in Equestria I can get with. (Fandom: Dear God No!!!)

Spike: What about Norman?

Twi: I’ve burned all the bridges there.

Spike: So that’s it then?

Twi: Afraid so.

Norman: Spirit?  Will Purple truly head back to Horse World?

Mac: I see a vacant apartment and a library without a librarian.  If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, she will leave.

Norman: No!  No!  Oh kind Spirit, tell me she will stay.

Mac: If these shadows are not altered, then she must leave.  Let her so that xxLittlePrincessxx removes herself from the Surplus XBox Live Population.

Norman: (Embarrassed to hear his own words used against him) Perhaps I can change the future then?

Mac: Perhaps...my time is short.  One more place to visit.

(The world changes to another similar apartment)

Norman: (Realization)  This is the Aryan Beauty’s!

Mac: Eeyup.

(Enter Rarity on the phone)

Rarity: Well I was going to go out with Norman but he has locked himself away from the world while he works on that final.  I just hope he finishes it on time.  What’s that Fluttershy?  No...no I don’t have any chloroform nor do I plan to do it that way. (Laughter) (Knock at the door)  I need to go, there’s someone at the door.  Tata.  

(She opens the door revealing a man with white skin and long blonde hair, it is Prince Blueblood...humanized)

Blueblood: Hello my dear.  I couldn’t help but hear you were alone this Christmas season.

Rarity: (Slamming the door) Nnnope. (Laughter)

Norman: That was awesome.

Mac: Wait…(They go to the other side of the door)

Blueblood: I’ll get you my pretty, and your little cat, too. (Laughter)

Norman: Do you mean to tell me that this douche can outdo me in the love department?

Mac:Mmmmaybe…(Laughter)

Norman: (Cocking back to swing at Mac) I’ll show you!

(Norman swings but Mac has disappeared...he finds himself on the ground.  He notices something under Mac’s robe.)

Norman: Is that a claw?

Mac: It may be.  (He pulls up the robe causing Norman to flinch to some audience Laughter.  Norman looks upon two children, seemingly starved, beneath the robe.  They are Pound and Pumpkin Cake)

Norman: Are they yours?

Mac: They are Man’s.  They cling to me looking for their father.  The boy is Ignorance.  The girl is Want.  Beware them both, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!'

Norman: Have they no refuge?

Mac: Are there no Gamestops...no Thrift stores?

BONG!

 (Norman looks up just in time to see a tall figure in a black robe staring down at him.  Due to its hood, the spirit’s face is unseen. We stare into the abyss to end the scene)

 



(Scene 4: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  We open with Norman staring up at the ghost in fear and amazement)

Norman: I am in the presence of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?

(Silence)

Norman: You are about to show me shadows of that haven’t happened but will, is that right?

(The figure seems to nod at him, that is all however)

Norman: (Standing rather shakily) Ghost of the Future!  I fear you more than any other I have seen, yet, I know you are here to improve me as a man so I will thankfully accompany you.  Lead on!

(No reply.  The figure merely raises its arm as though pointing the way to go)

Norman: Lead on, for the night will soon be done and I’ve much to learn.

(Again, the scenery around them changes to that of a side street in the middle of Canterlot.  Here we see Trixie, Snips and Snails standing together.  The spirit point toward them causing Norman to step closer to listen in)

Snips: No, I don’t know much about it either way except that he is dead.

Snails: When did he die?

Snips: Last night, I believe.

Trixie: Whatever was the matter with him?

Snips: Faust only knows.  

Snails: What of his property?

Snips: Hasn’t left any of it to me, thats all I know.  Reckon it will be a cheap funeral.  No one will probably even go.

Snails: I’ll go if there is a lunch. (Laughter as the three laugh at this)

(The Spirit begins walking again with Norman following it)

Norman: What was that all about?

(They find themselves at the school.  Fluttershy, Dash, AJ, Pinkie and Rarity stand in front of the statue with the mirror in front of the school)

AJ: (To Rarity) Listen Sugarcube, we come here everytime the moon aligns and she never returns.

Rarity: Surely she will come back to us.  She has to!  She just has to!

Fluttershy: But its been three years…

Dash: She’s abandoned us.

Pinkie: (Her hair deflated and down) Both of them have abandoned us now.  We’ll never see either again at this rate.

Rarity: (crying) Perhaps we should go.  I have a date with Blueblood tonight.

Dash: You should leave him, all he does is abuse you.

Rarity: Only because he cares about me.

Norman: (Angry and Confused) Spirit!  What the hell happened?  Why am I not here?  Why do I not care for Twilight being missing?  How did I lose to Blueblood?  Surely someone still cares about me and her, right?

(The spirit merely leads Norman on down the street.  It stops and points toward the newsstand on Main Street.  Norman stops and picks up the paper.  There is a picture of Brad with the Headline: “Serial Rapist Caught!: Bradley “Flash” Sentry Finally Behind Bars”)

Norman: What!  How?  (reading) Claims to have been influenced by disappearance of Girlfriend, Twilight Sparkle, three years ago.  Sentry may become a suspect in that case as it remains unsolved.  Could face life in prison.  Trial set in a few weeks. (To Spirit) That can’t be.  He can’t just get caught.  He’s Brad Sentry, getting caught isn’t possible.  Surely I would have tried to help him...Where am I during all of this spirit. (Norman lowers the paper to find himself in a graveyard at night) Eep! (Laughter)

(The spirit continues moving deeper into the graveyard.  Norman follows it while shaking like a leaf)

Norman: Why are we here?  Seriously?  Answer me?  Brad, is that you under there?  You wouldn’t be planning to take advantage of me in a graveyard, right? (Laughs Nervously) (Laughter)

(The spirit never answers but it does stop in front of a grave.  The stone seems ill-tended and the name is covered with moss.  The figure motions toward it)

Norman: Before I advance toward the stone to which you point, may I ask a question? (Silence) Are these shadows of events To be or merely of events that May be?

(The spirit points again)

Norman: Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead.  But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!

(Still silence.  Norman moves toward the grave stone and with a trembling hand rubs away the moss to reveal the name “NORMAN NORMAL”.  The spirit points from the grave to Norman, then back to the grave)

Norman: No, Spirit!  No! No!

(Silence)

Norman: Spirit!  I am not the man I once was!  Why show me this if I was past hope!?  Surely I can change and live better!?  I will live an altered life!

(The hand of the spirit trembles a bit)

Norman: I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone.  I will apologize to Purple!  I will get my work done on time!  I will take Rarity out to dinner!  Please tell me it can change.

(Norman grabs onto the robe of the spirit and falls to his knees.  As he does so, he pulls the robe off of the spirit revealing…)

Mr. and Mrs. Normal: Surprise!

Norman: Wh….what?!

Mr. Normal: Well, we heard about your little spat with Twilight.

Mrs. Normal: And we didn’t want you two to have a falling out since you have been friends for so long.

Mr. Normal: So your mom, your friends, and I, we decided to show you how life would change if you didn’t show forgiveness and lost touch with all of them.

Norman: B...but, I was flying….and we saw Brad’s family….and there’s even a gravestone for me.

Mrs. Normal: All an elaborate set up.

Mr. Normal: Except the grave, thats your grandfathers.

Norman: Eh? (He rubs off more moss revealing “1927-1999”) Oh. (Laughter)  So then, that scene where Brad and I were fighting crime was part of the hoax?

(Norman’s parents look at each other with confused looks on their faces.  Pinkie comes bounding out still in costume)

Pinkie: Nope!  That actually was us getting transported to the wrong universe?

Norman: How..? Nevermind.

Mr. Normal: I know it is early, but your mom and I want you to have this.  Merry Christmas, son!

(They give him a new laptop)

Mrs. Normal: Don’t you use Google Drive?

Norman: Ye...yeah.

Mr. Normal: Then your paper should be saved there.  You were nearly done after all.

Norman: (Smiling for the first time in a while) So...So there’s still time!  There’s time to make amends!

Mr. and Mrs. Normal: (Confused) Eh?

(Norman runs out of the cemetery and finds Button Mash walking on the sidewalk)

Norman: You there!  Boy!  What day is it?

Button: What?

Norman: What day is it?

Button: uh...a few days before Christmas, why?

Norman: Does the Gamestop still have PS3’s and 360s?

Button: Uh...yeah.  What of it you freaking noob?

Norman: (Aside) What a delightful boy (Laughter) (To Button while pulling out some money)  Buy one of each and give it to the local orphanage.  I might not have the money to give them a PS4 but I’ll be damned if that can’t do some internet gaming!  Now go...go quick and I will give you five bucks.

Button: (Sarcastically) You’re too kind.  (He leaves) (Laughter)

Norman: Purple!  

(Norman runs back to the apartment and begins hammering on Twilight’s door.  She opens it to find an angry looking Norman which she shrinks away from)

Twilight: Oh...h...hello Norman!

Norman: (gruffly) Hello, Purple.

Twilight: I’m so sorry about your compute…

Norman: Silence! (She stops)  I hear tell that someone is thinking about going back to Equestria.

Twilight: Well, it would save you trouble.

Norman: It would only make more trouble.

Twilight: What?

Norman: Why, I’d have to find a new friend to study with and the chocolate milk in the fridge would never be finished.

Twilight: (With tears in her eyes) You...you mean it!

Norman: Of course I do.  Merry Christmas, Purple!

Twilight: (Hugging him) Merry Christmas, Norman! (Aww)

(We look outside the apartment as snow begins to fall over Canterlot, decorated for Christmas to end the scene)

 

(After Credits scene: Inside Fluttershy’s apartment where the snow is falling very hard outside.  Brad has been helping her take care of all the animals and wrap their presents.  There are mugs of cocoa on the coffee table in front of them)

Brad: Welp, thats the last of them.  Reckon I’ll be heading back to my apartment.

Fluttershy: Oh my….but it’s really coming down out there, Brad.

Brad: Yeah but we live in the same building.  I just have to take the elevator to my floor.

Fluttershy: Oh...but it might be dangerous. (Music starts up out of nowhere)

Brad: I really can't stay

Fluttershy: But Brad, it's cold outside.

Brad: I'm three floors away.

Fluttershy: But Brad, it's cold outside.

Brad: I don’t even need, to leave this place.

Fluttershy: You might get frostbite on your face.

Brad: And Norman will start to worry

Fluttershy: Oh but what's your hurry?

Brad: The poor boy will be pacing the floor

Fluttershy: Listen to the fireplace roar

Brad: So really I'd better scurry

Fluttershy: Oh Brad, please don't hurry.

Brad: (Panicking) Think I’ll make a break for the door. (Laughter)

Fluttershy: (At the same time grabbing him) But you haven’t gotten the tour!

Brad:The neighbors might think

Fluttershy: Baby, it's bad out there.

Brad: Say, what's in this drink?

(The music stops as Fluttershy smiled coyly at the now dizzy Brad)

Fluttershy: (Approaching him) Shh...just let it happen.

Brad: Oh Faust No!!! (Laughter)

 

(We go back to Zecora in front of the fireplace as she finishes the book)

Zecora: And so as the final page is turned/An important lesson by Norman is learned.

For though at Twilight he was most mad/A life without her would be far too sad.

With a bit of cheer in their holiday cup/Norman and Twilight did make up.

And for Brad whose own past he could not escape/Instead of coal got a case of Flutterape.

So I hope that you have all had fun/May Faust Bless Us, Everyone!

(Music up with a card saying “Happy Holidays” as we close)