There standing in the doorway was a hooded figure. The spirit barely came up to Blueblood's shoulder and he appeared to be bi-pedal. no matter how hard blueblood looked he couldn't see the spirit's face. the cloak he wore seemed to be made of woven smoke for it curled at the edges. Blueblood took a step back and said "Spirit, I admit you frighten me but I know your here for my benefit. Lead on and show me what you will. The spirit raised one hand, which ended in purple claws, and pointed at Blueblood. As soon as he did, the smoke that was around the room grew around Blueblood until it blocked his view, and then it dissipated revealing to blueblood a random hall in Canterlot Castle and two ponies engaged in conversation.
"Dead!?" Feather Duster said to Gauntlet. "Are you sure?"
"Oh yes!" Gauntlet replied. "They carried him away this morning!"
"How did it happen?"
"According to the coroner it was a massive heart attack due to stress."
Feather Duster sighed and continued. "Well I hate to admit it but I'm not going to mourn him.....does that make me a bad mare?"
Gauntlet reassured her. "I doubt anypony will. I don't even think Celestia herself would go to his funeral."
"Who are they going to get to replace him?" Feather duster asked.
Gauntlet just shrugged his shoulders and said "Don't know but they can't be any worse than him, right?"
Blueblood was confused. "How could anypony not mourn somepony who died?" He turned to the spirit who didn't answer him. "Who was the pony they were talking about?" Again the spirit didn't answer him. Instead he just pointed in a random direction. Blueblood then felt the smoke rise again to obscure his view and when it dissipated Blueblood found himself and the spirit in a dirty room in a seedy, run-down part of Canterlot. The spirit pointed to a thin, old, gnarled stallion who was poking a fire with a stair rung.
Hocket continued to poke the fire until he heard somepony enter the room. "Ah, Miss Crabgrass. To what do I owe the pleasure." He said to an equally old mare who just entered while dragging a large bundle behind her.
"Oh Hocket, you old flatterer." Crabgrass said waving a hoof and blushing. "I have a few things of his you might be interested in." She proceeded to open the sack and started naming the things she pulled out. "I have his ink well, seal and collar buttons. How much for these?"
Hocket looked over each item before giving her an amount. "Fifteen bits."
"That's it?!"
"Hey, that's me being generous. What else you got?" He said looking at the sack.
Miss Crabgrass then proceeded to pull out a large folded piece of cloth. "How much for his blanket?"
Hocket stared in wonder at the cloth. "His blanket? Why. Miss Crabgrass. It's still warm! I don't pay extra for the warmth. You know."
Miss Crabgrass chuckled a little. "You should. It's the only warmth he ever had." She said causing the both of them to have a good laugh at the expense of the poor soul Miss Crabgrass stole from.
Finally Hocket gave a price. Thirty bits, and that's including the warmth. Got anything else?"
Miss Crabgrass extracted the final item from the sack and handed it to Hocket. "Ah. you may look through that shirt till your eyes ache; but you won't find a hole in it, nor a threadbare place. It's the best he had, and a fine one too. She said."
Hocket stared at her in amazement. "It is a wonder how you managed to get into the castle and make off with these items my dear. How do you do it?"
Miss Crabgrass just winked at him. "That's my own little secret." she said prodding her hoof against the side of her nose. "So whats the final tally?" Hocket did some quick calculating to himself before handing her a cloth bag full of bits. "It's funny." She said. "He was such a jerk in life and wouldn't lift a hoof to help somepony, and here we are, getting rich off him now that he's dead." Once again the both of them burst into laughter.
Blueblood turned to the spirit with worry on his face. "Spirit, what is this? What kind of future is this where somepony dies and others feel no sorrow? Please show me some sadness connected to death or this scene will haunt me forever."
The spirit raised its arms causing the smoke to once again engulf Blueblood. When the smoke cleared, Blueblood found himself in a hospital room looking at a familiar face as she kept a vigil watch on her only son. "Oh please spirit." Blueblood begged. "Not this."
Spicken Span wiped more tears from her eyes as she looked at Tiny Tim who was lying on the Hospital bed. The steady rhythm of the heat monitor was the only thing that gave her any hope. Tiny Tim, with a little difficulty, placed his tiny hoof on his mother's. "Mama, you're crying." He said weakly.
Spicken sniffed a little and said "I'm okay, I'm just worried about you."
"It's okay mom. It doesn't hurt anymore." He said barely whispering.
Spicken looked at Tiny Tim and gently kissed him on the forehead. "I love you so much Sweetie."
"I love you to mama." He said slowly closing his eyes.
Spicken let another sob escape her before she gently wiped a stray hair from his face. "Everything's going to be okay.
Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine
Little one when you play
Don't you mind what they say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine
From your head to your coat
You're so sweet, goodness knows
You're so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine.
Baby mine, baby mine."
The moment Spicken Span finished a shrill sound pierced through the room like a knife that stabbed her in the heart. The heart monitor had flatlined. "No..NO!!!" Spicken screamed. "NO!! PLEASE NOT MY SON!!"
Two nurses and a doctor ran into the room to try and help but Spicken refused to leave Tiny Tim's side. "Nurse!" The doctor said pointing at Spicken. "Get her out of here!"
One of the nurses tried to restrain Spicken but she fought against her with all her might. "GET OFF ME!!!...I'M NOT LEAVING MY SON!!! NO!!!...PLEASE!!!....NOT TINY TIM!!!....NOT MY BABY!!!!
After a few moments the doctor took off his glasses and hung his head. "I'm so sorry." He simply said.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Spicken screamed as she broke free from the nurse and ran, sobbing, to her son's lifeless body. " NOT MY BABY!!!! PLEASE! " She then fell to the floor in an consolable heap, sobbing and pleading "Please...... Not my son!"
Blueblood watched in utter horror as the scene in front of him unfolded. "Please spirit, show me no more. I know what I need to do. I assure you, I'm changed." The spirit simply looked at him as the smoke rose again to engulf him.
When the smoke cleared Blueblood found himself standing in the middle of the Canterlot Cemetery. The spirit then pointed to a lone snow covered gravestone. Blueblood looked at the stone then back at the spirit. "Is that the grave of the stallion nopony mourned?" The spirit answered him by pointing back at the same marker. Blueblood took a few steps towards it but looked back at the spirit. "Answer me something. Are these the shadows of things that can or cannot be changed?" The spirit just pointed at the same marker. Blueblood approached the marker but before wiping the snow off it he said "A life can be changed spirit". Blueblood shakily lifted his hoof and wiped the snow off the marker revealing the name.
PRINCE BLUEBLOOD
May You
Rest In Peace
Blueblood fell backwards in horror and looked at the spirit. "OH, SPIRIT! PLEASE...I'M NOT THE STALLION I WAS! I'VE CHANGED!!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath Blueblood started to cave in like a sinkhole. Blueblood had just enough time to grab on the the edge of the hole before the ground completely fell. Blueblood looked over his shoulder and to his horror saw that the pit seemed to go on forever, but he could still make out the fiery pit of Tartarus looming on the bottom and he heard the moans and growls of the demon ponies who resided there. Blueblood tried to pull himself up but found he couldn't. Worse yet, he was slipping
"SPIRIT, HELP ME!" He cried.
The spirit simply walked in front of him and stared at him
"I'VE CHANGED SPIRIT!! Blueblood cried. "I'LL BE GOOD, I PROMISE. I WON'T FORGET WHAT I WAS TAUGHT TONIGHT!!"
Suddenly the spirit drew in a breath and blew a jet of magically green fire right at Blueblood. The fire caused Blueblood to loose his grip on the ground, and he fell down into the pit towards the demons who were waiting for him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.....