Darkness surrounded the ex-prince as he traversed through the cave, venturing deeper to avoid the stinging rain and bitter cold. Long ago did he give up in the hope of finding some form of wildlife inside, as the only sounds were his own hoof steps and the occasional drip of water near him. Even those faded away in time.
What IS this place? The ex-prince wondered as he kept navigating the mysterious maze, I swear I saw something moving a moment ago, why is everything just stop…? Before he could finish that question, he tripped into a rock and fell forward into an underground lake. The action almost drowned him from the surprise as he desperately struggled to find the surface. To his luck, he was able to see it thanks to a dim light that appeared and showed him the way out.
Swimming as fast as he could, Blueblood gasped for air and put both hooves at the edge of the lake as he tried to calm himself from the scare.
"Come on Albert, one more lap."
The ex-prince’s blood froze the moment he heard the voice of his father behind him. As he slowly turned around, he was met with a sight that both scared and confused him immensely. As a kid and humanoid version of himself was swimming in an Olympic pool while his father coached him from the side of it. Not only that but he soon discovered that he was no longer in the cave and instead was back in what appeared to be a public yet empty pool. His old self and father seemed to not notice him as they continued their training.
"What the…?"
"I’st an adorable image, right?" Startled by a new female voice, the Ronin looked ahead of himself and found a human woman sunbathing near him without a care in the world. Yet this particular woman scared him even more than what he had previously seen as he recognized her immediately. With a swimsuit of two pieces, and her trademark ponytails and light pink hair. The woman lifted her panda styled and shaped sunglasses, smiling at him maniacally. A woman that made waves in the gaming community ever since her first appearance and had since been associated with despair itself, a woman that has simply been know as 'Junko Enoshima.' "A dad teaching despair to his son. Can you imagine something cuter?"
"No! Not you, anyone but you!" Blueblood cried out in terror and tried to swim away from her, only to find himself being hugged from behind by her as she whispers into her ear. "Why so scared your Highness? I'm merely a figment of your imagination, a character from a game you once played. Just someone that never actually existed in the first place." Before he could do anything else. The Ronin found himself sitting in another chair next to Junko as she points at the scene in the pool once more. "But THAT? That, I'm not so sure about."
"What?" Confused, Blueblood looks once more at the image of his younger self as he reaches the edge of the pool and hangs on to recover some breath while his father stops the timer he was wearing. "Hmmm 3 minutes 20 seconds, not bad but I'm sure you can do better."
"Dad…can I have a break? My arms hurt." Albert complained before looking back at his father.
"Come on son, this is exactly what you wanted right? To be a hero, heroes need to be in the best of shape if they want to help others, or am I wrong?"
"No…you are right." Albert nods in agreement.
"Plus, I'm sure that you have it in you to be better than this. So come on son, let's do one more and then call it a day." To the ex-princes surprise, the image of his father even smiled as he encouraged his young persona into doing one more lap.
"What is going on?" He then looks at Junko who wasn't even paying attention anymore. "What the hell is all of this?"
"How should I know?" She looks back at him. "This is your memory, after all, you tell me."
"What are you talking about? This can't possibly be real, my father never once supported me in anything I did. He would never help me like this." The prince stood up and looked at her in anger only to be confused when he found out that he was back to his human self, wearing a pair of swim trunks. Junko for her part only smirked at him and sat on the chair. "Are you sure about that?"
Before he could respond, the ex-prince found himself sitting on a couch in some random room with minimal illumination. Next to him was Junko with a sweater munching on some popcorn, and he was wearing casual clothing that was all white. "Why don't we review the facts, one more time? This time lets think about it carefully?" procuring a remote control, she starts to change the channels on a, TV that suddenly appeared in front of the two, one channel showing his last moment alive. "Pretty nasty way to go am I right? Being crushed to death by a pillar in flames." She laughs before looking at him. "Believe me I know."
"Yeah, I'm familiar with what happens," Blueblood comments with a hint of annoyance.
"Oh, so you know what that, does to your memories?" Junko asked while leaning closer to him, poking his left cheek with her ridiculously long nail. "Are you completely sure that all of your thoughts and memories are real? Or, more likely are they simply fabrications made up to ease your soul?"
Blueblood slapped her hand away and stood. "What are you talking about? My father only cared that I became a business tycoon like him; He only pretended to show interest in any of my dreams to manipulate…" Blueblood eye widened in realization "…wait, that. That is not right I…he never showed any interest at all…did he?" He started to cradle his head in his hands, growing even more confused as to what was going on as Junko smirked.
"Oh time to change the channel? Awesome, let's see what we have now." The tv flickered, this time it showing Albert destroying the old lady’s business once more, only this time he was smirking with malice at her and his father was next to him the whole time. "There you go, the new past is now settled. You have to love how that massive, last bump on the head can really mess up your head in such an irreparable manner that you no longer know what is and isn't real, wouldn't you agree?"
"No" Blueblood watched the scene in horror.
"Oh, so this is the version you wanted to be just like daddy? Well now we know why it took you so long for you to leave the place, don't you think?" Junko laid down on the couch as she continued to flip through the channels and show him more and more of Albert’s sins as he kept on ruining the lives of everyone on display. "If you really were such a saint, as you claim. Why did you never help others? Why didn't you use your power to make a difference? Why did you never stand up to your father? Over and over again you just watched on as so many people cried their eyes out. Begging for mercy, and yet you gave none. Instead, you just kept twisting the knife in the wound. All of this, ALL of this, just so daddy could be proud."
"NO!" Blueblood roars out "That is not me, it's NOT! I refuse to accept it! I never was that monster!" He denies it all as he points to the tv ."And…And e-even if I was, that person is long gone. I will NOT let the past define me. I am my own person! Not someone else's lap-dog!"
"Are you?" Junko inquires as everything around them shifts and changes, this time Blueblood found himself back in the castle as he was sitting in Celestia’s throne and wearing a business suit, a red cape and a crown in his head. "Or are you simply switching owners to serve?" Junko appears next to him, using her normal clothes. "After all, that is why you renounced the title, right?"
"I…I did it to stop Canterlot from splitting in half!" He argues, but Junko only pats his head.
"Sure you did junior, all for the sake of the company right?" She points a different image. One of Celestia wearing a suit and his eyes widen once he sees her acting like his father. Bringing Upper Crust and Jet Set into bankruptcy only to force them to get a job in the castle and work in cubicles. "A kingdom is like a company for you, right? So if the company suffers it's your job to fix it. Even if it means becoming the scapegoat to do so. You had one job, and you did it flawlessly yet again! So congratulations prince, the company is safe once more!"
"Stop it!" The prince ran away with closed eyes, refusing to hear the truth but as he ran, he found himself running through a hallway. With the voice of Junko echoing everywhere around him.
"Don't be sad your highness, if you don't like it, you simply need to wait for a better past, that is what makes your condition so wonderful. You now have the perfect excuse to justify everything you do from this moment onwards. Remembering things one way today, and then another tomorrow. While others have to settle with just one origin story for all their lives, you have the advantage of getting a multiple choice past! Isn't that wonderful?" Junko exclaims before laughing maniacally.
Trying to escape the madness he rushes to one room and closes the door behind him. Stopping all the noise and giving him a moment to breathe, while resting against the door holding his head. "That is not me." He whispers in shame as he closes his eyes.
"Well, of course, it isn't" The voice of Junko mocked, bring him back to reality. When he looks up, the ex-prince discovered that he just entered an oval room with mirrors lining the wall continuously. In each frame, Junko was reflected, even in the shattered remains of the mirrors that were broken. "Your past can't be ALL a lie, you need parts that are fact. Now let see, what part of your past is as clear as day?"
"Please, Junko…I beg you." The ex-prince begged her in desperation refusing to see anything else, yet she seemed to ignore his plea's and continued to muse out loud.
"Well, we know that the old fart was a soulless bastard."
"Stop it."
"We know that for all of your life, your relationship with him was...complicated, to put it lightly."
"Please stop!"
"Oh! And of course the best of the best. He was a master manipulator that made sure to teach you everything he knows. Including how to convince a woman to abandon her child the moment he is born!"
"STOP IT" Blueblood's scream managed to shatter the remaining mirrors and left everything in darkness once more. Finally breaking down into tears, the former prince sobbed and lay down in the ground, curling into a fetal position; Junko only laughing like she was known for.
"All those crazy ideas of a new start. Actually believing yourself capable of escaping your past. Thinking that you could just pretend not to be human anymore, to clean your conscience. Pretending to be something you are not."
She starts to laugh even harder. "More beautiful despair can't be found anywhere!" She starts to pat his back. "Prince, you are without a doubt, the greatest example of what despair can look like. I'm a little jealous, being capable of feeling such wonderful despair. Just imagining what you must be experiencing right now…oh, it makes me…" She moans next to him "…need to change my panties."
The ex-prince, having long since blocked her from his thoughts, recoiled further inwards in his mind as he wept amongst shatter glass scattered around him. Each sliver showing a crooked version of himself screeching out that he was a human and a monster over and over until all of a sudden, one of the voices spoke up. Cutting through the cacophony of noise. The silence that followed after its words was equally deafening.
“So what if that was your past?!” It called out. Surprised and startled, the prince looked up to find an elegant full body mirror in front of him. The frame of which was sculpted expertly to depict figures embodying both human and equine royalty in its reflective surface. Instead of showing his reflection, the ronnie found himself staring not at his own reflection but that of his pony form wearing a boatie and glaring at him. Right away the Ex-prince understood that he wasn’t looking at himself, but rather was looking at the real Blueblood. "Are you really going to let that be all that defines you?" He asked in indignation.
The harsh words of Blueblood fell on the ex-prince hard as he looked down in shame "I'm so sorry…I really tried, I thought I could be a good pony and…"
"Enough!" In shock, the ex-prince looked at his doppelganger, slightly frightened by him raising his voice. "Stop with this charade, stop with this pathetic pity party, and for the love of Celestia stop pretending to be something you are not!" He demands.
"But that is what I'm supposed to be now if I'm not a pony?" The ex-prince looked at his hand "Then what am I? I…I don't want to be that monster once more."
"Just because your soul is human doesn't automatically mean you are one! Oh for pities sake, this is why I hate talking to commoners, they need everything to be spelled out for them." Blueblood complained in exasperation, irking the ex-prince a little with his comment. "I will try to keep this as simple and easy to understand as possible. You are neither pony nor human. What you are, is the harmonic fusion of both of our worlds."
"The fusion?" The ex-prince ask confused by his word choice as Blueblood simple nods, before looking down and continuing. "All my life I was nothing but a burden for my family. I never once thought of anyone else but myself and actually believed myself to be untouchable, and for that, I must now pay the price." Blueblood then looked back to the Ex with determination burning in his eyes. "That is why you were brought here, that is why you must become what I never was. My aunties have already lost a nephew." His expression turn pleading and sad. "Please don't let them lose another one. I can't simply stand the thought of hurting my aunt's even more." He confesses holding tears.
"Blueblood" The ex-prince was touched by Bluebloods words and put his hand against the mirror, but his copy backed away from the glass and cleared his eyes before speaking again. "Listen up and listen well because I'm not going to repeat this! Never be ashamed of what you are. You are the wish of my aunts made manifest, the hope of a better tomorrow and a new start for all of Equestria to see. The things, that...human mare with pink ponytails keeps spewing? They are nothing but tools and stepping stones for you to use and exploit, you hear me? That commoner has nothing on you!"
"Blueblood, no-" The ex-prince smile and shake his head as he stands up "Prince Blueblood…thank you, and…thank you for letting me continue your legacy."
"Oh, you better be thankful human! If you smear my title any more, I will never forgive you!" He threatened him before smiling slightly "Now get out of here, go teach my 'friends' what happens when you enrage a Prince! and I swear human, if you make our aunties cry again I will haunt you for the rest of your life!"
The ex-prince felt a genuine smile creep across his face at that remark as he raised an eyebrow. "Our aunts?"
"I mean my aunts!…your aunts!… YOU GET THE IDEA, now go!" The prince yells at him with a red face, making his twin laugh and nod.
"I get it and don't worry I will" He promised Blueblood as he started to disappear but then thought of something "Blueblood!" He calls for his attention. "The Elysium fields! I…I don't know even if you are real or not but if you are and you really are in Tartarus, then look for that place! Consider it payment for letting me continue your legacy, it not too late for you either, there is still a way for you to obtain peaceful rest!" He shouts to him before disappearing completely. The Ex found himself back to the hall of mirrors where Junko was.
"Well look who came back," She smirks sadistically and changes into her more cheerful self, "I was wondering if you were trying to ignore me" She baby talked to him. She paused her antics in confusion though when she saw that they were no longer affecting him. Instead of the despair she craved, etched into his every expression she watched as he smiled at her.
"You have my thanks."
"...Come again?" Junko took a step back, not expecting that reaction.
"Thanks to you, I managed to face my inner demons. To say that it wasn't easy would be a gross understatement. yet it is thanks to you that I have come to terms with who I'm really am."
"What are you talking…?" Junko gasped when the ex-prince reverted back to his pony form "…no! Don't say it!"
"I'm not a pony. Nor am I a human. I am a promise for a better tomorrow and a new start. A new being who learned from his past mistakes and will now walk forward into a brighter future." he charged his horn and aimed it at her.
"Wait, don't do it! Don't end this beautiful despair!" She cries out to him in desperation.
"No! I have wept and wallowed in my own self-pity for long enough. It's time to say goodbye to despair!" He shoots a blast at her, shattering the woman into pieces as if she was made of glass. The bolt continued along its path. Shattering the darkness around it all the while. Utterly destroying the illusion all around him bringing him back to the cave, and underwater. The ex-prince choked on the water and floundered for a second, before feeling his body being pulled and flung free of the water as if the lake itself had rejected him.
Hacking up water and gasping great lung-fulls of air, the prince massaged his throat for a moment before illuminating the darkness with his horn. Looking around for his savior in confusion, The Ex could only watch as the water gathered and decrease in size until it became a small puddle on the ground.
"Mortals that have found the strength to face themselves will never be welcome in my world of anguish" A deep booming voice from inside the puddle declared to him.
Approaching the puddle, the ex-prince noticed something moving on it before a creature emerges from the water. It body resemble that of an equine stallion, but the newcomer's body was extremely tiny, with thin and long hooves. The miniscule pony also he had what appeared to be transparent butterfly wings and long antennae sprouting from his head, but one of it was missing, and his left wing was broken. His fur a dusky, thunderhead gray and his tail and mane were long and black. The little stallion's body was soaking wet his mane hung lank, covering his face allowing for the ex-prince to only see a single luminous white, left eye. From his lessons with miss Cheerilee, the prince was able to identify his species as a breezie.
"Oh dear god, did my magic hurt…?" Before the prince could voice his concern, the breezie spoke, in the same booming voice.
"Do not pity me, youngling. No mortal weapon or magic will ever be able to pierce my flesh." The breezie answered as he started to amble towards the Ex-prince. Revealing how the end of his four hoofs... weren't. Instead of hooves, they merged seamlessly with the dark water that made up the puddle. Which in turn moved silently along around him. Like some sort of mobile plate.
Wait…that means that that lake, that I was inside…THAT WAS HIS BODY!? The ex-prince's eyes went wide in realization as the breezie kept walking toward him.
"What…are you?" Blueblood inquired in surprise by the display.
"The mortal tongues refer to me as Despero. The ultimate shadow, the true self that lies underneath the heart of all living beings. I am the physical manifestation of despair and anguish. I am the product of all dreams that have been broken." the breezie announced.
"The manifestation of despair and anguish?" The prince repeated in disbelief.
"You rejected my existence even when you had seen my world and have met my siblings?" He asks.
"Siblings?" The ex-prince questioned back with a raised eyebrow. Making Despero sigh and look down dejected.
"Of course they never mention my name, why would the guider of souls or the spirit of chaos ever bother to speak about the sibling who only revels in sadness and darkness."
"Wait, guider of souls and spirit of…DISCORD AND D are your siblings?!" The prince pointed at him and yelled in complete surprise. "Wait…Discord and D ARE siblings?!"
Despero only sighs and turns around "It doesn't matter now if there is no despair left in your heart then leave, there is no place for you in my world," he tells him as he walks away. A white light appears behind the ex-prince, showing him the exit.
He sees the entrance for a moment before looking at Despero again "Wait, I still have questions! Was all of this a test?"
"Make of this whatever you like, little colt. My duty is only to show those that have lost themselves in despair the truth that lies in their hearts. It up to them to drown in their own sorrow or accept their shadows as part of themselves." He stops and looks back at Blueblood "You made your choice, now go keep your promise." He dismissed him before walking until disappearing into the darkness.
The ex-prince continued to watch the tiny retreating figure before it disappeared into the shadows of the cave before smiling and nodding. "Whether it was intentional or not…thank you, Despero. I will never forget what you taught me here." The ex-prince called out before turning around and headed to the exit with new resolve, a clear mind, and a light heart. Determined to face whatever the world has in store for him.
Once the light engulfed him, he found himself with blurry vision as reality came back in to focus only for a pair of green eyes staring back at him to dominate his vision.
Yelping in surprise, the ex-prince tried to back away only to find out that the eyes belonged to a mare with caramel fur and a brown mane, and she was currently pinning him down. The mare lifted her head and smiled before looking to the side "You're awake! Girls, he's awake already!" She yelled, ignoring the protests of the prince and his efforts to move her away, despite her petite form, she was surprisingly heavy.
The prince heard another voice sigh in exasperation as the speaker approached. "Pudding Head, I told you! You didn't need to rest on top of him!" The other voice, sounding more refined, reproached Pudding Head as she finally let go of the prince moved to go see her friend.
"Pudding Head?" The prince asks with widening eyes as in front of him, he beheld the mare in question talking with two other mares. One wearing a spartan set of armor and the other a purple, royal cape. He also discovered that they all were currently in what appeared to be some kind of underground chamber, with royal decorations adorning the walls and furniture and beds to rest. It was slightly old, but it seems to be repair and well taken care of.
"And I told you, there is no better heat source for a stallion, than the good old fashion, mares belly," Pudding Head tells the mare the prince quickly identified as Princess Platinum.
"P-Princess Platinum!" He looked to the side and saw the last mare studying him with a small glare. Before he could ask she beat him to the punch.
"Yeah, and I'm Commander Hurricane, yes we all real, no we are not ghosts, and yes." She shows him the same presentation card Death has previously given him. "Our mutual friend send us to help your sorry ass get your crown back." She quickly stowed the card before continuing "So do us a favor and when you get it back don't lose it again!"
The prince can only nod as he tried, and failed, to figure out what was going on.