A Heart Warming Eve Carol

by Lighting Ace

Ghost Of The Heart Warming Yet To Come (Grammarly Check)

While hugging himself and rubbing his arms around the Prince try to gather as much heat as possible from the ever so increasingly cold as he looks around the place for the final ghost to appear with the ticking of the clock and the visual of his breath as his only companion.

Suddenly something caught his eyes and when he turned to look down he notices his own shadow beginning to extend and morph until it was big enough from an imposingly tall and extremely thin alicorn to the point he almost thought he was looking at a skeleton with skin and fur attach emerge from the abyss that was his shadow. His fur was white as ashes, and a flowing black mane and tail dark as coal, wearing a gray and ragged cloak

“S-Spirit, are you the ghost of the Hearth's Warming Eve yet to come?” Blueblood asks with a shaky voice as the pony merely nods briefly.

“Oh, Spirit of all you are certainly the one I fear the most b-but I know you intend to help me on this journey into a world of shadows and echoes of the things that will or might come to pass, so please let us just be on our way. Show me what departs me on the future”

Blueblood start to walk but the spirit just remain still in his place never losing sight of him always glaring with his piercing gaze

“W-Well? L-let go, we are wasting time aren’t we?”

After some awkward silence, the spirit finally react as he rises his bony wings, before all of the sudden rushings at him at top speed turning into crows that scare him and make him lose his balance as the floorboards beneath him crack and crumble under his weight and tumble him into oblivion hitting a set of stone stairs until he reaches the base of them, finding himself on an unknown location in the middle of Canterlot where a group of nobles was happily discussing in front of the ghostly prince

“The old brat finally crock” One of the nobles, a much older Jet Set comments with a laugh to his peers.

“Ha, who would have thought, I was under the impression that cockroaches would outlive us all. Do you know what caused it in the end?”

Jet only shrug “Who cares, the important thing is that he is gone and Canterlot finally got rid of his biggest headache”

"Not to mention the biggest obstacle for our agenda, it's open season again boys!"

“Here, here” They all cheer while laughing as the Prince continues to look at them with curiosity as the spirit appears next to him.

“Something is for sure, that would be the cheapest funeral ever, do you think there would be anyone that would assist?”

“I bet half of Canterlot if the option of spitting on his face is on the table” they all laugh before leaving

“Such cruel cold words, spirit please tell me it isn’t me, tell me at the very least I mean something more than vile for even one pony” Blueblood plead to the spirit who extend his massive wings and cover him on it changing the view to a church where a silent Celestia keep her head down on an empty room with a coffin in front of her until the sounds of clops alert her and looking back saw her sister looking at them once ex-ruler of Equestria in pity.

“Luna you came” She offered her weak smile to her sibling as she stood up.

“For you sister and nothing more” She stopped in front of her “It's over Tia. You are only wasting time now, and this has just turned ridiculous, see reason already Tia not a single pony will come for him” She points at the coffin making her sign and keeping her head low.

“You are right sister, by the heaves I beg I plead that at the very least there would be one pony else” She choke and sniff holding back tears “I suppose in the end this was just wishful thinking”

“Let us depart this gloomy place sister you already made your peace”

“Not yet” She shake her head as she approach the podium, "Some pony should share some words it the least I could do for him now” She turn back “Would you listen to this final worlds sister”

Signing Luna approach a bench and sit down “If it brings you peace of mind, then go ahead sister speak your peace”

“Thank you” Clearing her throat the ex-royal addressed the empty room pretending that there was an audience to hear him out. “As you all know Blueblood was my dearest nephew, I know how loving him could have been difficult but deep inside he always was a good pony looking after the well-being of Canterlot. Working behind the scenes he always kept vigilant and tried his utmost to lighten the weight of my job as the ruler of Equestria. Never expecting recognition, and only asking for some attention in return”

Stopping with a trembling lip she had difficulty continue “Now that he is gone I finally realized what his plead were, how blind I end up becoming in the search of my successor, and no matter our difference I will…I will miss him so much…now my only plea is…is that he…he can rest in peace with the rest of his family”

Unable to watch idly, Luna approaches Celestia and starts consoling her as Celestia openly weeps on her shoulder embracing her sibling for dear life.

“I see enough spirit, just take me away from this” Blueblood turns away and starts to throat away from the church trying to ignore the cries of her aunt behind him and holding back tears on how heartbreaking the whole scene was until he hit a wall and rubbing his nose he looks up to see the castle in disarray, the spirit appear behind him once more.

“The castle! What happened? What did Sparkle do to my home!?”

The spirit turns to his left and point at the distance where the image of a much older Twilight talking with nobles with shadow faces and malevolent grins on them as she sighs some documents, blindly

“W-What is she doing!? No you idiot, they are tricking you, they are just pretending to look after friendship to fill their pockets!” He yells at Twilight after reading some of the most outrageous documents but it was to no avail as they keep laughing until the image is gone.

“Why can’t she see?! Nobles are cobras experts on pretense and lies, master of persuasion and sealing deals, just because someone claims it has good intention doesn’t mean they have them” He grab the spirit robe but he turns to crows and block his view as more images of deals like this keep happening, not only local but international as more and more individuals start to find ways to fool the princess and her friends over and over again.

Finding important documents in Blueblood room he keeps safe and secured in the event of any emergency, toss and burn away by a disinterest Twilight who lost any interest in knowing anything about him and only wanted to get rid of all of his stuff.

“There are a million and one ways to sweeten a horrible deal, isn't there no one that taught her the dangers of nobility? How does the crown hold the weight that she must be prepared to take hard decisions?!”

The terrorized prince ask once the sequence of events stop and the spirit re-appear in front of him as he merely shook his head and show him the memory they have early that day

“...By all the stars the nobles will eat you alive!" He smirks as he marches away "Well maybe that could be for the better, watching you crash and burn might be some poetic justice…”

“My wish” In shock Blueblood can only kneel at the revelation “It became a reality, I saw the dangers, how she needed my help to teach him the world she will rule, but my anger, my resentment. It blind me to the reality she was heading”

He keeps his gaze down “I could have helped, I could have prevented this horror” The spirit appears in front of him with neutrality as he grabs his robe once more

“Please tell me spirit, tell me they can overcome this trial, and learn” His horn shone and everything swirled around the two until they were on top of a hill of a cemetery next to his tombstone in the distance, words leaving his body as his blood froze.

Equestria lies in misery with the rich and poor division more than pronounce with a hill with lights was seen in glamour while the rest of the place was reduced to poverty
“No, NO! She couldn’t! Twilight would never let things become this bad, she wouldn’t!” He remains stoic and unresponsive, pointing at a banner of a food chain with her as the mascot giving him all the answers he needed.

“No” He weep holding his head “Without someone to guide her, nobles just keep chip away power from her, until she lost all control until the crown lost all meaning, she has been reduced to nothing more than a puppet”

The spirit nods and starts to walk away “Please tell me this isn’t real spirit. Tell me that what you are showing me is the things that can happen and not the things that will happen. Tell me is not too late that there is still time for me to teach her how to tight her hold when needs to be” He plead grabbing tight on his robe

The wind around him starts to pick force as the spirit shoves him away and points at him.

“Wh-What is its spirit?” He pleads only to find a chain on his hooves extending until it envelops his body and attaches him into a ground full of broken glasses where he could see ponies talking but no sounds were heard. In the distance, the crack of a whip and yells of pain fill him with terror as he watches silhouettes of ponies in chains like his marching endlessly carrying a heavy carriage with an unrecognizable cloaked bipedal figure hitting them with a whip with thorns on its body

“Is this what departs me at the very end? Hold down by the chains I forge in the past seeing others lived on while I’m unable to hear a single thing?” He looks up in resignation as the Spirit nods and walks away

“No spirit, please don’t leave me here. I swear I will change please give me a chance, please let me prove to you that I can be better”

He pleads on deft ears as the spirit leaves with the wind, as he could not do anything else but kneel and weep under the punishment of his past misdeeds.

“…blood “

“Huh?”

“Blue…blood” Looking up the Prince saw a dim golden light covered by all the wind calling for him as he stood up and start rushing to it as best as he could under the weight of his chains who he had no choice but drag with him

Moments Earlier

“Come on Twilight, isn't there anything here we can use?” Pinkie tells her with urgency, showing her the book with the story, on the pages of the final ghost.

“I’m sorry Pinkie but this is no longer the story we know. None of the ghosts have been acting as the original book says, and they seem far scarier. For all, we know there might not even be Windigos to where the final ghost is taking Blueblood”

“Plus wasn’t in the end kind of implying everything was a dream or the ghost made it look like one?” Applejack points out “Something that is no longer the case consider well…we kind of hitch a ride into this too”

“But there must be something we can do, they…they could take him away for realsies this time” Pinkie continue

“They wouldn’t go to that extreme…right?” Fluttershy asks for confirmation from Twilight but she was so deep in thought to notices

“Come on everypony if anything else we can always use the elements right? Yeah I mean the door is still there, let's just summon them, blast a hole and yank back Blueblood back” Rainbow suggested.

“That could be it” Twilight nodded and was preparing her horn when a thud startled the group and looked ahead they saw the ghost of the past smiling at them “You wish to aid that lost soul?”

“Yes, please mister ghost help us” Fluttershy plead as he nods

“There might be something you can do, but the decision must be unanimous” Everyone turn to look at Rarity as she looks at them

“What?” She keeps exchanging glances between the group

“Rarity, you want to help him too…right?” Pinkie grinned at her with pleading eyes, as she sighs.

“While I’m still angry at him for that dreadful evening!” She stops her hoof before stepping up “I’m not without part of the fault there, in part he was right, I was just chasing a simply fillies dream of dating a prince and no pony should endure witnessing their demise like that” She nods and smile at the ghost “It unanimous Mr. Ghost of the Past, we wish to help”

“An act of kindness toward one who has strayed from the path. Such warmness is enough to melt what once was cold” He pass them the book “Used that, and this beacon spell to form a light so your friend might find his way back home” He disappear in time for Twilight to finish memorizing the spell and they form a circle

“You heard him girls just focus on wishing to bring him back and call for him. I will guide the spell”

They all nod and close their eyes as they hold hooves while Twilight charges her horn. A golden aura soon envelops their body and shoot a bean of gold light that blast throws the door and into a raging blizzard

“Blueblood!”

“Bluey”

“Hey partner, are you there?!”

“Blueblood we are here if you hear us say something!”

All of them start to yell in search of the elusive Prince until they start to hear the faint sounds of chains in the distance.

“Here…, please…help” He weakly calls as he drags himself toward them with the chains growing in size and length turning his escape into a struggle to move.

Happy they try to rush toward him but the wind starts to pick up speed and push them back, preventing them from moving too much.

“Everypony straight line!” Applejack commands and they place themselves behind Twilight fighting the wind as she extends her hoof toward him “Blueblood quick! Grab my hoof”

“Twilight I’m so sorry I should have known better, it was not your fault, it wasn’t anyone fault I shouldn’t have called you a thief” He apologies as the ice started to form all over his body

“There will be time for that later now grab my hoof!”

He reaches out trying to grab hold of her but the spirit once more appears behind the prince as magic is used to pull him back the chain retracting toward a spectral chariot where more condemned souls were waiting.

“No! It…it still not my time, please spare my spirit, let me prove to you. I can change” The chains keep yanking at him trying to rip his skin yet he continues his endeavor as the Spirit grows to the side of a giant and his looming eye approaches the prince as he finally opens his mouth, his skin melting and leaving only his eyes and ah scary skeleton.

“Are you truly determined?”

“Yes! Yes I will be better, I will work hard to be like my mom, kind and understandable patience and caring just please don’t take me away, spirit please give me a chance, please!”

The moment he finally reaches Twilight hoof and grabs firmly on it there is an intense flash to white the blind everypony present and mute the wind as everything is swallowed by darkness.

Gasping from the air, everyone stood up with a startle and blinked in surprise as the group realized how they were back at the library with thousands of books scattered all around them.

“What…just happened?” Rarity is the first to ask

“Was everything…a dream?” Fluttershy is next to speak.

“We all fall asleep without realizing at the same time? Wake up simultaneously from a nightmare and most likely have the same dream?” AJ question in perplexion as Twilight raised the book that started it all.

“It's just like at the end of the story but…that was supposed to keep things ambiguous if this thing actually happens, then how? When?” The princess continues to process the whole ordeal.

“Wait, did we go back in time?” Dash point at a grandpa clock “I didn’t check before but I’m pretty sure barely any time has passed since we began”

They keep questioning until a laugh catches their attention and looking back they see the prince holding his head as he laughs earnestly “Who cares what happened?! We are alive” he grinned at them “And more importantly we are just in time to celebrate Heartwarming Eve!” He rises to his hoof and rushes to Twilight.

“Princess words aren’t enough to tell you how sorry I’m for all these years. I should have had more faith in my aunt decision and now I see how right was her decision” He kneel in front of her “No one is worthier of holding the crown than you, your majesty”

“O-Ok no need for dramatics either” Twilight chuckled nervously with some blush of embarrassment as she patted his head. “But thank you for that Blueblood if you still wish I would love for us to start again”

“Nothing would make you happier your…”

“Ah!…” Twilight raised a hoof “…we can start by dropping the honorifics, it makes me kind of uncomfortable when my friend used them on me”

He blinked a couple of times “We can be friends?”

“Yeah! Why not!” Pinkie surprises him by bringing him into a hug using one of her hoofs “You can never have too many friends! Oh, we are making so many cookies now!”

"Pinkie I…would love that yeah, but before there is another thing I most do more of before the party starts"

The rest laugh and nod having an idea of what he means.