It took a few moments for Blueblood to realize somepony was gently prodding him in his side. Once he realized this, he sat right up in bed and came nose to nose with a pegasus who was floating over his bed, causing him to yell out. "WHAT THE HAY? How Dare you enter my room! I should call the guards!"
The Pegasus gave a quick "eep", retreated a bit and tried to hide her face in her mane. "Oh, I'm sorry to startle you....but um...I'm here to help you. You see I'm the ghost of Hearth's Warming past!"
Blueblood looked harder at the pegasus and found to his surprise that she was slightly transparent! She had a pale yellow coat and a light pink mane that fluttered around her like there was a gentle breeze around her. She wore a beautiful dress that seemed to be made of pure lace that also fluttered as if caught in the same breeze her hair was in. Around her neck was a necklace from which hung a small branch of holly and on her back was strapped what appeared to be a giant candle snuffer. Blueblood had to slightly shield his eyes for on top of her head radiated a brilliant light like that of a drop of Celestia's sun. Blueblood cowered a little under his blanket. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"
The spirit gently patted his shoulder with his hoof surprising Blueblood that he could actually feel it. "Shh. It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you. Like I said I'm here for your welfare."
Blueblood was still skeptical to the figure in front of him. "How do I know that this Isn't just some form of unicorn magic? This could just be somepony playing a prank on me! Well you can tell them that when I find then I will personally make sure they are banished from Equestria! Now leave my chambers immediately!" Blueblood lay back down and tried to go back to sleep, but he heard the spirit whisper something to herself that sounded like "Don't be shy. Look them in the eye" and then found himself lifted out of bed and again face to face with the spirit who was staring into his eyes with such force that he started the shake!.
"Now listen here mister!" The spirit scolded. "Just because you're a prince doesn't mean you get to yell and be mean to everypony whenever you want! Now I am here to show you some things from your past and you are going to watch them, you got that?" Blueblood cringed and nodded slightly before being gently let down. The spirit's gentle demeanor then returned as she put her hoof into her dress pocket and extracted a small hoofull of glittering dust. After she then proceeded to sprinkle on the chamber's main door, the door started to glow much to Blueblood's surprise.
"There now." She said turning to blueblood and smiling. "Ready?"
Blueblood simply raised an eyebrow. "Why is it glowing?"
"Thats the Lights of Long Ago. The spirit said as she opened the door.
"It’s your lucky night!
Brought you something bright!
Something with
A twinkle and a glow.
To remember
The lights of long ago.
Remember
The lights of long ago.
Glimmers in the dark!
Here and there a spark!
Suddenly a picture starts to grow.
Come remember
The lights of long ago.
Remember
The lights of long ago
A foal!
Is this who you used to be?
A scene! Shining from your past.
The vast vistas of your memory,
The shadows
You cast…
Remember…
And see the light at last.
Remember, Prince Blueblood,
Hold fast…
Onward through the night,
Onward toward the light,
Onward to a place your heart will know.
Come remember
The lights of long ago.
Remember…
The lights of long ago-o-o…
Remember…remember…remember
The lights of long ago."
Once the spirit's song ended, Blueblood walked through the door to find he was not in the hallway that had always been there but instead he was in a room he hadn't been in for many years. As he looked around he noticed a figure. A unicorn mare was sitting in an old overstuffed armchair working on some knitting while she hummed to herself. A mare whose face made him start to tear up.
"M-m-mama? Mama, It's me!" he cried out to her but stopped when he felt the spirit's hoof on his shoulder.
"These are only visions of what has been. They can't see or hear us. I'm sorry." Blueblood then quietly stood there and watched the scene in front of him unfolded.
Lady Tudor had just started working on her knitting when the doorbell rang. She got up from her armchair and opened the door to find the mailmare standing there holding a very official scroll held shut with a royal seal. After taking it and opening it her eyes widened to the size of saucers and she called out to her son.
"Blueblood! Blueblood, come in here sweetie!" She cried.
A young colt came running into the room. "Yes mama? Is something wrong?"
Blueblood's mother was staring at the scroll and beaming. "No! Nothing's wrong. In fact, I have good news for you. You have been accepted into Celestia's Royal Academy!"
Blueblood looked hopefully up at his mother. "Does this mean I'm going to be a prince mama?"
"Maybe. If you do good and do what your supposed to you will. Now we better go get you packed, your leaving for the castle in a few days." Lady Tudor said heading for Blueblood's bedroom.
"Aren't you coming to?" He said looking up at his mother.
His mother stopped and looked at her son sorrowfully. "Sadly...no. Only you can go."
Blueblood stopped and clung to his mother's leg. "But, I don't want to go anywhere without you mama. Why can't you come with me?"
Lady Tudor used her magic to pick up her son and put him on her back. "Now listen to me. It's going to be alright. You're going to go the castle and you're going to do so well that Celestia would be crazy NOT to make you a prince! And don't worry. I'm going to visit so often you won't have time to miss me, okay?
Blueblood wrapped his hooves around his mothers neck and said "okay mama".
Blueblood stared at his former self hugging his mother and he could barely keep from crying. "Please tell me spirit, how is reliving this supposed to help me?"
"To save your future, we have to look at your past, the best place to start is your foalhood. Did she visit you at the castle much?" The spirit asked.
Blueblood wiped a tear from his cheek before telling her "She visited daily for the first couple of weeks but then her visits got more and more infrequent until two years later when she stopped completely."
"I know your sad but we still have more to see." The spirit said before reaching for another hoofull of magic dust and sprinkling it on the door they had come through. "Let us continue to our next destination." She said as she opened the door and let Blueblood pass into the next scene.
Blueblood found himself standing in the snow covered courtyard of Canterlot Castle watching as two familiar foals were playing with each other in the snow. One he recognized as himself who was slightly older than the previous scene and the other foal was...
Cadence threw another snowball at Blueblood who dodged it and threw one right back at her hitting her in the hind leg. "I'm gonna get you for that Blue!" She cried picking up another snowball
"I'd like to see you try Caddie!" Blueblood laughed as he dove behind a snowdrift to avoid the oncoming projectile. Cadence waited for him to come out from behind it but after a few moments she decided to go over there to see if he was okay. Sure enough as she rounded the drift she found that Blueblood had rolled onto a small rock and had skinned his knee.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Do you need help?" She asked reaching in to help him up.
"I'm fine. It's just a small scratch. It doesn't even hurt." he said standing up and smiling.
Cadence still looked concerned. "Are you sure?"
Blueblood simply chuckled before saying "How's this for fine?" and tackling Cadence to the ground. They rolled down the hill with both of them in laughing fits, and when they landed at the bottom they laughed some more before they started making a snow mare.
"Blue." Cadence said once they had finished. "Your my very best friend."
"And your mine too Caddie."
"And we'll always be friends forever...right?" She asked hopefully.
"Yah, forever."
The spirit then turned to Blueblood and asked "Are you still friends with Cadence?".
Blueblood thought back the the fight they had earlier that evening before simply saying "I tried".
"What happened?" The spirit asked.
Blueblood turned away from the two happy foals, wiped a bunch of tears away and said "Things....things got in the way."
The spirit then led him to another door on the side of the castle which she then sprinkled with more of the magic dust. When the door was opened it revealed Blueblood and Cadence's coronation party. The entire hall was decorated with streamers and confetti. Ponies of all sizes and ages were gathered throughout the hall talking and laughing. After walking among them for a bit Blueblood finally found his past self talking with princess Cadence. He had just left foalhood behind and was beginning to look like a fine looking stallion. Blueblood simply smiled as he and the spirit watched the scene in front of him unfold.
"I still can't get over the fact that we're officially royalty! Can you believe it Blue?" Cadence said examining her new tiara before placing it back on her head.
"It's still quite a shock." He said grinning at her. "I tell you the first thing I'm going to do is help rebuild that school that got destroyed last year. You?"
"Well, I have been talking to Auntie Celestia about building a home for single parents who need a roof over their heads. What do you think?"
"I think you would have done that even if you weren't made a princess." He chuckled "You care for everypony so much."
As the party continued Blueblood and Cadence had talked with practically everypony and soon predictably the topics eventually led to romance. "So Caddie, you still got that thing for the Sparkle colt? What's his name, Shiny Armor?" Blueblood teased.
Cadence blushed and gently shoved him. "Blue!!" She exclaimed, slightly embarrassed. "He's only a friend. And his name is Shining Armor." She then rounded on him. "What about you, huh? Is there anypony that you fancy?"
Now it was Blueblood's turn to blush. "Well...there is somepony."
Cadence asked who it was and in response, Blueblood's eyes glanced over until they landed on a thin, beautiful mare, about Blueblood's age, with a white coat and a pink mane. Cadence could barely stop herself from giggling. "Fleur De Lis?! Really?!"
"What's wrong with her?" Blueblood angrily asked. "She's sweet, kind, beautiful and she cares for others."
Cadence held up her hooves defensively. "I never said she wasn't. It's just that she always seems a bit distracted. She's always daydreaming and she's been known to drop everything one moment to work on another thing the next."
Blueblood sighed. "I know. That's what I love about her. Plus, whatever project she's working on is always for the benefit of somepony else."
Cadence gave him a slight shove. "Well why don't you go and say something to her?"
Blueblood backed up a bit. "Oh I'm not her type."
Cadence rolled her eyes and gave Blueblood another shove. "Are you kidding? You just said the first thing you wanted to do as prince was build a school! That's just the kind of project she would love to do. You two are made for each other."
"Are you sure?" He asked to which Cadence nodded. Blueblood then gulped and made up his mind. "Okay.....here I go." He walked over to Fleur and after getting her attention he introduced himself. "H-Hi F-Fleur. You look nice t-tonight."
"Thank you your highness......Are you okay Prince Blueblood? Your shaking and sweating." She answered.
"She was the most beautiful mare I had ever seen." Blueblood said upon seeing his first love again. "Like a flower sprinkled with fresh spring dew. We fell in love that night and the next year I proposed to her." Blueblood had forgot the spirit was there until she spoke to him.
"There was. Of course, another Hearth's Warming Eve, with this young mare some years later." She said reaching for another hooful of dust and heading for the closest door.
Blueblood turned to the spirit with worry on his face. "Oh please Spirit, don't show me that night. I beg you." However, once he entered the next scene he found that to his horror it was indeed the night he dreaded seeing.
Blueblood and Fleur were both sitting on an elegant loveseat. Fleur's eyes were puffy as if she were crying and Blueblood was holding her hoof.
"I just can't keep this up anymore Blueblood. I'm tired of pretending that everything is okay."
"But everything IS okay Fleur." Blueblood assured her.
"No it isn't. You've changed since we first met. You were so full of love, but now your heart has hardened.
"But not for you. It beats for you." He said placing her hoof over his heart. "I would do anything for you."
Fleur took her hoof back and stood up. "What about that school you promised to build back when you were made a prince? You always said you would build it, but you never did."
Blueblood stood up as well. "Is that what this is all about? We can still build it."
Fleur shook her head and turned away from him. "It's not just that. You treat everypony like your more important than them."
"But I'm a prince."
Fleur then turned around and pointed at him. "See! Right there! The stallion I fell in love with would never say something like that! You've changed Prince Blueblood, and you've changed for the worse!" A single tear fell down her cheek which Blueblood wiped away before saying that he loved her. Fleur shook her head and turned from him. "You did once.
There was a time when I was sure
that you and I were truely one,
that our future was forever
and would never come undone,
and we came so close to being close...
and though you cared for me
there's distance in your eyes tonight
so we're not meant to be.
The love is gone,
the love is gone,
the sweetest dream
that you had ever known.
The love is gone,
the love is gone,
I wish you well
but I must leave you now alone.
There comes a moment in your life
like a window, and you see
your future there before you
and how perfect life can be,
but adventure calls with unknown voices
pulling you away...
Be careful or you may regret
the choice you make someday...
When love is gone,
when love is gone,
the sweetest dream
that we had ever known.
When love is gone,
when love is gone,
I wish you well
but I must leave you now alone.
(Blueblood left the spirit's side, walked over to Fleur and sang along with her)
It was almost love,
it was almost always,
it was like a fairytale we'd live out
you and I.
And yes some dreams come true,
and yes some dreams go through...
and yes the time has come
for us to say goodbye.
Yes some dreams come true,
and yes some dreams go through...
and yes the time has come
for us to say goodbye."
Blueblood sobbed as he watched Fleur leave his room and his life. "GO AFTER HER YOU FOOL!!" He yelled at his past self as she closed the door leaving him all alone. Blueblood then turned to the spirit and through his tears he yelled. "YOU! SHOW ME NO MORE! WHY DO YOU DELIGHT IN TORTURING ME WITH THESE PAINFUL MEMORIES?"
The spirit retreated into a corner and through frightened tears of her own she said "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, but I t-told you that these were sh-shadows form that p-past. They are w-what they are, I have no c-control over them."
But Blueblood was still furious. "LEAVE ME SPIRIT! GO AWAY! HAUNT ME NO LONGER!" In his rage he grabbed the spirit's candle snuffer and shoved it over the frightened mare, completely covering her in order to extinguish it's light. But no matter how hard he pressed he could still see the light from within and still hear the spirits sobs until a wave of exhaustion caused him to collapse into a heap.
Blueblood woke some time later and found he was lying on his bed back in his bedroom. After getting his bearings, his thoughts turned to the poem that Princess Celestia had told him earlier that evening and realized that a second spirit was probably on it's way. Blueblood got up from his bed and opened his front door to see if it still was under the influence of the first spirit's magic. After seeing that it had gone back to being a normal door he turned back towards his bed only to find it already occupied by a glowing figure!