Silence reigned over the castle as the commotion and hustle of the crowd slowly but surely died down with everyone gone. The guards managed to do a quick job of gathering and restraining any remaining ponies that were corrupted by anger unleashed earlier so that Princess Cadence and Shining Armor could neutralize the threat it posed.
Princess Celestia remained quiet throughout the whole ordeal and just watched as her citizens left the palace, slightly dazed and confused with all that had happened. One part of her was happy everyone was safe, though, in the back of her head, a smoldering, silky voice whispered, tempting the monarch to give in to her rage and seek vengeance. She didn't even know where to aim it. The noble couple that forced her to exile a family member? Or at her own citizens that laughed and jeered while it happened? All throughout this, Fluttershy remained. Always by her side, noticing the princesses distress and refusing to leave, her kindness showing strong.
"Auntie?" Cadence’s voice managed to break her from her blackening thoughts and, with a shake of her head, the solar princess looked to her niece with a small smile. "Yes, Cadence?"
"I said that that was the last one." She points at the pony Shining Armor was finishing curing. The last pony was covered in a blue aura that Shining was emitting not from his horn, but from his body. Manipulating it and spreading it on the victim, killing the fire in the process and calming the enraged noble.
"I see…that is great news. I thank you both." The princess thanked both ponies as the noble was escorted out of the castle. This time Shining also noted how the princess sounded distant and slightly cold, the same with Cadence as she eyed her aunt with a hint of worry.
"Aunty I know how you must be feeling. I'm also worried for Bluey but…"
"Oh do you?" Celestia, all of a sudden, transfixed Cadence with an angry glare. "Do tell me, dearest niece, when was it last, that you were forced to banish a loved one? When? When were you forced to spend a thousand years on the brink of insanity from the isolation of being the last of your kind?" Celestia slowly stalked up to her niece all the while maintaining her glare. "When, did you see all of your family erased from existence by the passage of time?!"
"Princess stop!" Fluttershy called out and tried to intervene by getting in between the two, fearing for Cadence, yet Celestia simply used a levitation spell that lifts her in the air and out of the way with no effort. Barely even altering her stride.
"Auntie, please calm down!" Cadence calls in fear as she slowly backs away, yet Celestia didn’t seem to be listening. Both royals gasp in surprise when they notice a burn mark spreading across her chest as her eyes begin to turn white from her anger. "Auntie you are infected! You need help!"
"Don't tell me what I need to do! I'm sick and tired of everypony thinking they can bend, twist and manipulate MY laws as to suit their whims! Perhaps this is why King Sombra took a different approach...You know what? Maybe he had a point if it means that I can keep my family intact. Maybe I should rule Equestria with an iron…"
The mane of Celestia was starting to ignite, and her teeth were in the process of turning to fangs before a spell hit the back of her head, turning her back to normal as she fell asleep on the ground, and Fluttershy promptly dropped with a thud.
Looking up, everyone found Luna on the entrance with Pinkie by her side and a smoking horn. "Seems like I arrived just in time," She told the group, as Pinkie and Fluttershy rushed to assist Princess Celestia who continued to sleep.
"What happened?" Pinkie queried, confused and worried.
"It seems Aunt Celestia was infected by the same pony that caused all of this mess in the first place." Cadence explained. "Her centuries of controlling her emotions was probably why it took so long for the magic to take effect. Honestly, with everything that happened, I'm rather surprised she managed to remain this calm for this long. Shining? Do you think you could…?"
"Already on it, dear" Shining answered and got to work in purging the rage out of the princess’s system as Cadence approached her other aunt. "Aunt Luna, Blueblood, he…"
Before she can continue, Luna raised her hoof for silence. "I'm aware, fair Cadence, Pinkie filled me in regarding the incidents, and I assure you, measures are being put in place as we speak. More so with a killer still on the loose" Luna explained.
"He escaped?" Pinkie stared at the princess in shock as she simply nodded.
"It appears my tracking skills have dulled more than I anticipated, but do not fret. My best tracker picked up the trail and they are still in hot pursuit. We will catch him. While he remains at large, another platoon will bring my nephew back, and I will grant him sanctuary within the royal palace. Equestria have mercy upon anyone that tries to stop me. For, I will not." Luna threatened quietly before turning her attention to Fluttershy. "But for now, I would like to know exactly what the events leading up to my nephew’s banishment were, and how they happened." Her eyes flashed white as a glare started to form on her face. "I need to be as well informed as I possibly can be, so I might know just how long I will be tormenting the dreams of those that hurt my family."
"I would like to hear that story too," Cadence tells, remaining neutral yet she too was feeling deep anger caused by the whole ordeal.
Fluttershy nodded, and for the first time in probably all of her life, she didn't get worried or scared for the well being of another as she met Luna's gaze with a fierce determination twinkling in her own eyes. "I will tell you, everything princess.”
At the moment in the streets of Canterlot
After practically being kicked out of the castle, both Jet Set and Upper Crust retired for the night to their mansion, grumbling about their bittersweet victory.
"Damn it! We were so close, we had all of Canterlots support behind us. If only Scarlet hadn't opened her mouth!" Jet Set complained before his wife interrupted him.
"Let us not think about what already happened dear, besides I think her interference is a blessing in disguise," Upper argued back, "Perhaps we were starting to bite off more than we could chew anyway." She reasoned with him as they continued walking towards their home. "Besides, this minor set back doesn't change a single thing."
"Really?" The voice of Scarlet Lips catches their attention as they see the mare in question waiting for the two at the front gate to their house glaring at them. "Because from what I see, what you did was anything BUT what we had planned on the first place!" She snarled at the two in anger.
"Ah Scarlet, I was wondering where you went.” Upper Crust addressed her friend before casting a small glare at her in return. "I have to say, it is brave for you to confront the friends you just betrayed."
"Don't you dare try spin this around Upper Crust!" She points at her with an accusing hoof. "You went off script, and you know it! The plan was for you to convince the prince into living among the people TEMPORARILY as he pays his crimes at his own pace, not accuse him of it!"
"Why play as a pawn when you can be a king. Besides the original plan was garbage!" Jet Set cries out in anger at her making Scarlet gasp before looking at him in a fury. "How dare you!"
"NO! How dare YOU! Ruining our plan Scarlet!" Jet continued approaching the mare. "That Buffon has no place being a prince, I'm a better stallion than him, I'm a better magician than him, I can gain the love of all Canterlot faster than he can, I'm more than he would ever be! I should be the prince. not him, I!" He yells at her. "And I could have gotten it all in one swift move by the end of the night if you hadn't interfered!"
Scarlet just look at him with a neutral expression. "Are you done?" She inquires with a bored tone and a raised eyebrow.
Jet only huffed in response. "Don't you see? You could have had anything! Your book could have had the perfect twist! The corrupt prince dethroned and the handsome, better fit and rightful noble becoming the new ruler." He picks up her hoof. "The three of us could have gotten our perfect ending. You could even have your wish of being with a prince, a much better prince that what you originally…"
Scarlet at that moment slaps him. "Don't you DARE rewrite my story, Jet Set! And don't go around spitting nonsense about happy endings, like you know any better. Unlike your pathetic and weak ideas of a "better story." Mine are works of art that respects its target audience and is worth the bits!"
She then turned to regard Upper Crust. "And unlike yours, my plan would have worked."
"My my, aren't we confident?" Upper Crust chuckled dangerously as she approached. "What makes you so sure that our plan will fail dear? The enchanted sword? Any pony will think either you or the crown planted the evidence. The Changelings? We have been spreading rumors about them housing Chrysalis for weeks now. By the time they get the press off their backs, anything they try will be pointless. The Princesses? You would be surprised how many rulers of other countries would love to have a chat with our rulers when they are in distress, and offer their support as they stumble into each other and fill their desks with impossible to refuse meetings. By Tartarus, even if by some miracle the princesses managed to arrest us, we will become martyrs and will be released the same day to avoid escalating the conflict!" She smirked at Scarlet.
"We played our cards in such a matter that the princesses can't touch us, not without betraying the trust of their kingdom at least. Face it, Scarlet, we planned for everything, the pride and honor of all of Equestria are supporting us, dear. We are officially above the law."
"No pony is above the law Upper Crust," Scarlet remarks back before moving to the side and starts to walk away. "And you are not going to get away with this. I'm gonna make sure of that!"
"Oh really? And what are you going to do? Help the princesses?" Upper Crust laughs "Go ahead and try. Let us see how our monarchs react to the mare responsible for all this in the first place when she approached them and asked if she could help. I'd love to see how well that plays out."
Jet Set at that moment gets in front of Scarlet with a worried expression. "Don't do it Scarlet, at best they will put you on a dungeon and at worst no pony will ever find your body" She pleads her "Please, stay with us instead, just think about it. The three of us in a herd. We could be uns…"
"Save it!" Scarlet stopped him by raising her hoof. "That! That right there is the reason that I didn't even take a second a glance at you Jet Set. Perhaps you have a nice face, but you don't know a single THING about what real love is all about, and you hurt my future coltfriend!" She tells him with a hurt expression before hardening, now with eyes that could melt holes in solid steel. Jet Set gulped as the irate mare leaned forward.
"You underestimated what my stallion is really capable of doing. Mark my words, Jet Set. He will return. He will get payback for what you did. And trust me, as soon as he is done scraping you off of his hoof…I will be next in line." She whispered in his ear the last part before marching off.
"F-Fine! Go ahead, leave! See if I care! Enjoy being a garden ornament…or a spending a lifetime in a cell with no windows! Or whatever the princesses will do to you. Just know, you could have had the chance to be with a REAL prince, and you blew it!" Jet Set yells at her, though Scarlet pointedly ignored him as she trotted away.
Once she is gone. The stallion looked back at his wife. "There is nothing to fear, right dear? There is no way that idiot will come back, right?"
"Oh please honey, don't be paranoid. You did a magnificent job breaking the spirit of that brat into a million pieces. Even if someone offers him any kindness, Blueblood will refuse it out of pride and shame before running away. He is probably leaving Canterlot and hiding somewhere as we speak; no one will ever see his face ever again" Upper Crust assures him with all the confidence she could muster.
Meanwhile
Without any direction or place in mind, the former prince kept wandering aimlessly until he found himself in the heart of a dense and dark forest. He didn't know how long he had been walking, nor did he care, as he kept trudging along with his head held low. Reliving the events that brought him into his current situation, getting angrier as the image of Jet Set with that smug smile kept appearing, over and over and over again.
What have I done? I somehow managed to obtain what others could only dream about and had a second chance. A family that loved me, a comfortable life, friendship…even an opportunity to achieve my dream of being a hero. And now, I've lost it again. Once again I'm nothing but a wanderer. AND it is all his fault!
As he shakes his head in anger, the ex-prince trips over his own hoof and fall face first into a pile of mud. Shaking in rage, he slowly lifts his head and found a frog croaking in front of him without a care in the world. The ex-prince sighed and looked at the frog with a neutral expression. "Sure, why not? What else could go wrong?"
As if to answer his question a thunderstorm erupts, drenching him in seconds as rain fell like there was no tomorrow. He remained calm for a bit and took a deep breath before roaring out at the sky in time for a clap of thunder to be heard. Stripping off his clothes, the ex-prince started to punch the puddle of mudd repeatedly, imagining it to be the face of Jet Set.
The ex-prince stops with a startled whinny once he heard a chuckle not too far from him. Looking to his left, he saw an ancient, apparently blind earth pony mare sitting on a log next to a bonfire. Her fur was white, and her mane and tail were complete gray from age. She was using a sheet secured between two trees to protect her from the rain. She also had a simple gray poncho to cover her torso, a cane lay resting next to her in the ground. "I think the mud learned its lesson, sonny."
Blueblood only grumbled and look away. "What do you care?" He angrily replied as he hugged himself in frustration. "Mind your own business grandma."
"My, my such a dangerous wrath you have in you." Blueblood could hear the mare approaching him while still laughing at him. "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to run around with fire?"
Blueblood trembled in rage before turning around, fully intent on lashing out again. "What do you know about my fa…" Before the Ronnie could process what was happening, at breakneck speed, the mare closed and tapped his chest with her cane. Somehow, at that moment, the fiery rage burning within his chest was gone. Ripped out like an old piece of paper from a book. "There, all better now."
"What the…?" The ex-prince watched at how the mare waves her cane a little to extinguish a smoldering flame that clung to its tip before looking at his chest, inspecting himself. He could not find anything wrong, not even burnt fur. Not only that but all the frustration and anger he was feeling was gone. Or at least reduced enough for the prince to recover his reason. "How did you do that?"
"Doesn't matter, it's in the past." She quickly replies as she goes back to her camp. "Plus you feel much better right?"
"Well…yeah, I think... so but how exactly did you…?"
"…Now, now sonny, before anything else, why don't you come over here before you catch a cold?" The mare offers him an empty log on the other side of the bonfire. "Come on lad, I don't bite." She joked and flashed the former royal a grin, showing him a mouth full of gums.
The ex-prince stands up and eyes the mare suspiciously before slowly approaching her and waving his hoof in front of her face until she used her cane to stop him, opening her eyes revealing a pair of discolored pupils. "Yes, dear I'm blind, now would you please stop that, and just sit?" She asks him again slightly annoyed.
Blueblood still looks confused but agrees and sit on the available log. "There you go, now we can talk, properly." The mare smiled and poked at the fire going with her cane. "So tell me, lad, why are you so far from home?" The mare casually asks.
"Because I no longer have a home to return to." The ex-prince answers in shame.
"Really?" She asks raising an eyebrow. "Do tell, how did a colt so young end up losing his home?"
"It a long story, let's just say that the stallion who I used to be, did not care for anything other than myself…and now I'm finally paying for it. I lost my home, my friends, my family…my name. Everything, I treated everypony around me like they were nothing and now that is what I have become…nothing. Just an exiled Ronin."
"Yeah, it sounds like quite the story you have there sonny, one I would love to hear in detail, but I would much rather hear it when you find out how it ends." The mare then stands up and starts to walk away, as a confused ex-prince just follows her with his eyes. "How it ends?"
When she stops, the mare turns around and looks at him. "Tell me, young man, now that everything has been stripped from you. Is this really how you want it all to end? Do you not wish to recover that what you lost? To have back and appreciate all the things you had, now that they were taken from you?"
"Of course I do!" Blueblood tells.
"Then your story is far from over, in fact, I dare to say. Now that there are no distractions in your heart or mind, it is just beginning." The mare smiles cryptically at him.
"What are talking about?" As if to answer his question, lighting strikes near them, and it's light revealed a cave behind the mare that was hidden only moments ago by the shadows. "Like this cave, there is more to you than meets the eye lad. Some secrets you still guard in your heart. Some demons that you have yet to face. If you truly wish to conquer your opponent, you must first conquer yourself."
Drawn to the cave, Blueblood stands up and slowly approaches its entrance. He could distinguish something moving inside but couldn't make a clear image of it.
"Tell me, lad, what do you see?" The mare asks without looking at him.
"I…I'm not sure, it too dark for me to see anything. Do you know what is inside?" The Ronin asks the mare as he keeps staring into the shadows.
"It not my place to know, rather it is yours to discover and confront." The old mare replies as she goes back to the bonfire.
"But…what if I can't defeat my monsters?"
"It up to you lad, you can face your monsters like a man. Or pretend they are in the mud and keep punching it like a baby."
Blueblood nodded at her words before his eyes widened in realization from the terms the mare used. "What did you just…?" Turning around to face her, He only discovered that both the mare and the camp were nowhere to be seen. Not only that but now with his mind clear. The ex-prince could see the type of forest he was in. It looked like some kind of dense, dry wood, with pine trees whose tops were impossible to see. Besides some small vegetation in the form of bushes, there was nothing but dirt and roots in the floor, and there wasn't any fauna to be seen anywhere. But what really caught his attention is that nothing around him seems to have any color. Similar to what happened when he talked with D.
Where the hell am I?
The rain gained more force as the wind started to increase velocity and making him tremble from the cold. Looking back at the cave the ex-prince hugged himself once more to gain even a little bit of heat as he decided to venture inside. If anything, the place could provide him with some shelter.
Due to his rush, he didn't notice how the entrance disappeared like a mirage once inside, and he could see nothing but darkness.
Outside in the clouds, the mysterious old mare watched the ex-prince enter before transforming into the ghost-bandaged alicorn with one eye, who promptly returned the color of everything once more.
"Be brave young prince, your test is just beginning." She whispers to the wind before looking to the distance where the assassin was still being chased by the royal guards and heading for the outskirts of Canterlot.
"Not yet, there is still much for the Prince to learn before facing you." She nods once as she sees him escape, before disappearing in a flash of light.