Blood Diamonds

Chapter 7: Magic

The door flew open as Rarity barged into the library, briskly swiveling her head left and right. “Where? Where did it happen?”

Twilight stepped inside right behind her and locked the door. “Over there.” She pointed towards the bookshelves.

Rarity trotted forward. “Why would anypo–“

“Now, Pinkie!”

Something heavy landed directly on top of Rarity, knocking the air out of her lungs and pinning her to the ground. “Got her!”

Rarity turned her head towards the voice, but a pair of pink hooves pressed it back to the ground. “What in Celestia’s name are you doing?” she asked, thrashing around.

“Don’t worry, Rarity,” Twilight said, “it’ll be over soon.” She then pulled out a piece of chalk and started drawing some symbols on the floor around her.

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Oh no... Pinkie, I demand you let me go this instant!”

“Can’t do, Rarity; it’s for your own good. And sorry for shouting at you earlier – I know it wasn’t your fault now.”

Rarity tried squirming out of Pinkie’s grip again, but to no avail. She could still use her horn, true, but the pressure she put it under lately meant it’d overexert itself after the first larger spell – there was no way she could beat Pinkie and Twilight with just that. With a sigh, she relaxed her muscles. “How long have you known?”

“I’ve had my suspicions since you’ve had that weird speech in Pinkie’s basement – ‘be careful even around ponies we know,’ remember?” Twilight smiled. “I thought it might have been a little call for help you managed to slip under the curse’s control, and I was right!”

No, you were not. You were just overanalysing!

“But if you knew back then already–”

“She didn’t know for sure,” Pinkie said, her voice sweet like marzipan. “But when you let that vampony escape, it all made sense to her. It would have been clear to me too, but I was just so angry...” Pinkie let Rarity’s head free, her ears drooping. “I shouldn’t have been so mean to you; you didn’t deserve that. I’m sorry for not noticing you were acting differently.”

“It’s alright, Darling, really.” At least something works out in my favour for once. “But why not do this there and then, in that case? I was asleep.”

Twilight blushed. “I might have been a little bit afraid to talk to Pinkie when she was in that mood...”

“...so you lured me here now, making me believe Sweetie’s in danger. Where is she, by the way?”

Twilight’s smile, along with the blushing, vanished. “I wasn’t lying about that. We planned to wait for tonight with the ritual, to do it while you’re asleep, but this forced us to act sooner.”

Rarity turned her head right, towards the bookshelves, and saw a small streak of blood on the floor, just like Twilight had said earlier. “You mean Sweetie is gone and possibly injured, and you’re wasting our time with this?”

Twilight shook her head. “For all I know, you might be the one who took her.”

“What?” Rarity scowled at her. “Nonsense!”

Pinkie tightened her grip and pushed Rarity’s head down again. “Lyra said it clearly – it can make you do anything.”

Twilight’s drawing was about half-way complete, and Rarity could already feel the tingling in her body as the bond’s defences began to wake up. I better hurry up.

“The problem is,” Rarity said, “I don’t want you to unbind me.”

Twilight stopped drawing and stared at her for a second, before smiling and getting back to it. “I see the magic had started to act already. Hold her tight, Pinkie!”

“You don’t understand!” Rarity exclaimed. “This is not some lone vampony binding me, this is bigger. Much bigger! If they find out what you did – and they will find out – you’ll be killed!”

“Who’s ‘they?’” Pinkie asked.

“Why are you asking me questions you know I can’t answer? The point is you don’t want to anger them!”

Twilight frowned. “Well, they already attacked Pinkie, so–”

“That wasn’t them! I mean it was in part, but not entirely.” When Twilight cocked her brow, Rarity sighed. “I’m not with the vampony that attacked Pinkie.”

“Oh really now?” Pinkie asked. “Why did you let him go then?”

“For the same reason – I didn’t want you to bind him. I didn’t want to release him either, but... well, you saw it yourselves.”

“How do we know you aren’t lying?” Twilight asked, furrowing her brow. “The curse, or ‘binding,’ as you call it, can make you say anything. Maybe you are under that vampony’s control and there are no ‘they.’”

Rarity bit her lip. She was telling the truth, but how to prove it? Any oaths, pledges, or promises were useless and so was anything she said that she couldn’t support with hard evidence. “I... I have this clothing I tore off Graybond when we fought.”

“And how do we know it’s his? Or, for that matter, that this ‘Graybond’ isn’t just somepony you and your vampony friends made up as a red herring? I read through so many family trees that I could well pass a heraldry exam, but there was no mention of his name anywhere.”

But there’s also the letter from lady Ivory Star mentioning him! She wanted to say that. She wanted to personally show it to them. Yet the already familiar tingling increased in intensity. ‘You will keep the existence of our society secret and won’t reveal your or our member’s true nature to any non-vampony.’ And lady Ivory is still, despite it all, a member, isn’t she? This is ridiculous! But... Pinkie is a vampony, no?

“Twilight, Darling, do you think I could have a few words in private with Pinkie Pie?”

“Absolutely not.” Twilight shook her head along with Pinkie. “You’d just try to overpower her.”

“No, I really just want to speak to her!”

Twilight smiled. “You’ll have plenty of time for that later.” She dropped the chalk and poured a bit of some blue liquid around Rarity. “It’s finished. Get ready Pinkie.”

Rarity’s body started struggling and thrashing on its own, the magic of the binding going into full effect.

Twilight moved closer, lowering her head to Rarity’s. “I’m sorry I have to do this, but I really need you calm. Sweet dreams.” Her horn lit up and the world blurred out into darkness.

———

Rarity’s eyelids slowly parted as their owner came back among the conscious. She was still inside library, at the exact same place as before, the symbols around her glowing with a mild, bluish light. Just a few steps ahead of her sat Twilight, her hooves flipping pages in some old tome and her eyes glued to their contents.

Rarity started slowly getting up, her head feeling like somepony hit it with a large hammer.

“You awake?” Twilight put the book aside and walked over, offering Rarity a hoof.

“Yes, thank you.” Rarity grasped the hoof and pulled herself up, wincing as the headache got worse. “How long was I asleep?”

“Not too long; just a few hours. You missed lunch.”

Rarity shook her head. “I don’t care about lunch. Where’s Sweetie?”

“Oh.” Twilight’s smile turned upside down. “Pinkie went looking for her right once we were done and still hasn’t returned.”

“What are we waiting for then?” Rarity started striding quickly, albeit a bit shakily, towards the door.

“But you can now tell me everything! And you should rest.”

“I won’t rest while my sister is kidnapped! I’ll brief you and Pinkie as we go.”

“Wait.” Twilight grasped Rarity’s hoof. “There’s one more thing.”

“Yes, you put yourselves in danger by releasing me, I know.” She freed her hoof and took another step towards the door. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you the whole time!”

“So you were really telling the truth... But that’s not what I had in mind.” Twilight took a deep breath and looked away from Rarity. “We kind of... sort of knew how to bind you, but... well... not how to free you afterwards, so...”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Twilight, no. No! Don’t you even joke about this!”

Twilight bit her lip. “Come on... It can’t be that bad, no? Pinkie wouldn’t make you do anything you wouldn’t want to. Right?”

Rarity scowled at her. “Unbelievable. Let’s just go track her and my sister down.”

———

The forest path was overgrown with grass and vines, and the dark bushes and trees surrounding it rustled threateningly every time even a small gust of wind blew through them. It was no wonder then that many a traveller described the trip through the Everfree as utterly stressful and seemingly endless. Rarity felt the same way, but for a different reason.

“Rarity, would you please... start hopping instead of walking?” Pinkie snorted and hid her grin behind her hooves.

Rarity threw her a cold, murderous stare and did as she was told.

“Come on, Pinkie,” Twilight said with a small, shaky smile. “You shouldn’t tease her like that.”

“But it’s so funny! I bet she’s having fun too. Come on, Rarity, smile!”

Despite Rarity’s best efforts, an unnatural force curved her lips upwards. “I’m certainly not happy about this!”

Twilight looked at her for a while, at her hopping and forced smile, and turned to Pinkie again. “I admit it is somewhat funny...”

“What?” Rarity asked, grinning.

“...but you still shouldn’t do this to her.”

Pinkie sighed. “Fiiine. You can stop.”

The smile on Rarity’s face was instantly replaced by a scowl and the hopping stopped. “Thank you, Twilight. I’m so much better off than before, being bound to Pinkie and all!”

Twilight stayed silent, directing her gaze to the ground.

They had been stuck in that dreadful part of the Everfree forest for hours now, turning over every pebble in search of any clue whatsoever leading to Sweetie Belle. No luck so far. They knew she had to be somewhere in there, as they found the hoofprints of a filly etched in the mud by the forest’s border – the chances of a different filly stumbling all the way over there were slim at best – but the ground grew dry soon and they’d just been stumbling around aimlessly ever since, until they came upon this path.

At least the forest critters weren’t a problem. In the rare cases something actually tried to attack them, it was dealt with quickly and efficiently. Rarity only welcomed the chance to vent some of her growing frustration, and Pinkie... well, Pinkie enjoyed ‘playing’ with Rarity, ordering her to do various ‘combos’ and such.

“Don’t worry, Rarity,” Pinkie said. “We’ll just find Sweetie and your friends from that society of yours, and ask them how to unbind you. I’m sure we’ll find them soon – I mean this road has to lead somewhere.”

It better! One more hour in this accursed forest and I swear I’ll start cutting down the trees just to narrow it down!

“I very much doubt they’ll tell us if we just ask nicely. It’s more likely they’ll just attack us on sight.”

Twilight loudly gulped.

“Don’t be afraid, Darling, I’ll protect you. Assuming somepony won’t order me to do those stupid ‘combos’ again, of course!” She glared at Pinkie.

“Hey, I promised you I wouldn’t right after the fourth one. But you’ve got to admit you looked great while doing them.”

“I nearly broke two of my legs!”

“Not my fault you can’t pull off a kick in mid-air!”

“Listen here, you–“

“Girls!” Twilight exclaimed. “Stop it! I think I see something.”

The road came into a small clearing, one of the few in the forest, in which stood a small building. It was covered in moss and the roof had a fair share of holes, but there was light in the windows.

“Do you think it’s them?” Pinkie asked in a whisper.

“We won’t know until we look,” Rarity replied, moving closer. Just as she was about to enter the clearing, she heard rustling in the tree above her. She looked up. “Sweetie?”

The little filly was cradled among the branches, apparently taking a nap. “Sweetie, come down this instant!” Rarity said in a hushed voice. Sweetie just yawned and slept on.

Typical!

Rarity sighed and levitated her down, nudging her. “Wha... sis?” Sweetie rubbed her eyes and smiled. “Sis! You found me!”

“Yes, I did. Now would you please explain to me how you got there? We thought you were kidnapped and injured!”

Sweetie blinked. “Injured?”

Twilight and Pinkie caught up, staring at her. “There was blood on the floor in the library,” Twilight said, observing her up close. Then she leaned towards Rarity and whispered, “Do you think she’s a...”

“That wasn’t mine.”

“Then whose?” Rarity asked, frowning. “You couldn’t have possibly hurt the kidnapper so much.”

Sweetie giggled. “Of course I didn’t. But that other guy did.”

“What other guy?”

“Well, this mad pony you had locked in your basement got in through the balcony and started looking for something. I don’t know what because he didn’t find it and I hid in the bathroom. Then this pegasus flew in – I think I saw him around the town a few times – and got into a fight with him. They both got beaten up and then the earth pony gave up and ran away through the door, while the pegasus left through the balcony again and went elsewhere. I then followed the crazy pony.”

Rarity scowled at her. “Why in the world would you do that? I told you he’s dangerous!”

“I wanted to find out where he lives so that I could report him.” She bowed her head. “Cutie Mark Crusaders criminal catchers. Hooray...”

“Great.” Rarity rolled her eyes. “Should I start looking for Applebloom and Scootaloo too?”

“No, there wasn’t time to get them; I’d lose him.”

“Why were you here for so long?” Twilight asked. “I mean the road is nearly overgrown, but still visible. You’d find your way back to Ponyville.”

“Twilight!” Rarity turned to her. “You’re forgetting all the monsters in this forest. She did good she stayed put!”

“Actually,” Sweetie said, “I stayed here because I was afraid I’d get caught. There were many ponies here, some coming, some leaving, so I just climbed up and... fell asleep, I guess.”

“Sounds like he’s not alone in there then.” Rarity levitated Sweetie back onto the tree. “You stay right here while we go deal with him. And I mean it! If we come back and you’re not on this tree, you’ll be grounded for a month.”

“Are you going to fight?” Sweetie’s eyes started shining like two little stars. “I’d like to see you fight; I could help!”

“No.”

“I could be a distraction, or–”

“No.”

“Plea–“

“No. Just stay on that tree.”

“Fine.” Sweetie slouched onto a branch, staring at the building with a frown on her face.

Rarity huffed and turned to her friends. “Now that we have this resolved, I suggest we continue where we left off.”

Twilight nodded. “I think we should figure out what we’re up against first. Pinkie could sneak towards that window over there and look what’s inside.”

“It’ll be done faster than you can say pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis!” Pinkie dropped on the ground and started crawling towards the window, her movements overly dramatic and theatrical.

Rarity blinked. “What are we supposed to say again?”

“Oh, I know!” Sweetie called from above. “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsi–”

“I meant it as a rhetorical question!”

“Actually,” Twilight said, raising her hoof, “this wasn’t really a rhetorical question, since–”

“Cut it out! Both of you!” Rarity pierced each of them with her gaze before turning back towards Pinkie. “Look, she’s signalling us to come closer.”

After a while of considerably less overplayed sneaking, Rarity and Twilight took a peek inside the window themselves. Right in front of them stood a brown earth pony, his back turned towards them, fiddling with something they couldn’t see.

“I see the vampony from earlier, but where’s the rest?” Twilight asked in a hushed voice.

“I don’t know,” Pinkie replied. “It’s just him as far as I can tell. I think he’s packing.”

“He’s still a bit bruised,” Rarity whispered. “Do we jump him?”

Pinkie smiled. “On Three. One... Two...”

“Why don’t you all just come in?” The vampony asked, not even turning around. “The door’s unlocked. Or do you prefer the window?”

The trio exchanged quick glances and slowly climbed in over the window sill, not letting their eyes off the stallion for a second. “What are you doing here?” Rarity asked.

“Me?” He chuckled, his back still turned towards them. “I live here. For now, at least.”

“No, I mean what are you and your friends doing in and around Ponyville? What do you want with this town?”

“Why do you ask me things you know I can’t answer? It’s not even that hard, though. I’m kinda surprised you didn’t put it all together yet.”

Pinkie took a step forward. “Where are your friends?”

“Friends? Bah! A pack of Timberwolves would make better! They have all already left, since they can’t be bothered to wait for me. No matter, I’ll catch up to them soon.”

“Where did they go?”

“I’m not telling you.”

Pinkie groaned and took another step forward, but Twilight quickly pushed her back with her hoof. “How can one cancel a binding?”

“Well, you’d need to get the master to agree with it; that’s pretty much all there is to it.”

Twilight nodded. “Done.”

“Oh?” His back shook as he laughed. “You stole her? Really?”

Twilight frowned. “She didn’t belong to anypony in the first place! She’s a sentient being, not some object one can buy and sell!”

“Our law says we can. Speaking of it, do you know what the punishment is for such a theft?”

“Immediate execution,” Rarity said, her muscles tensioning.

“Exactly. And who am I to defy the law?” He suddenly turned around, throwing a knife at Pinkie and lunging at Twilight.

There was a thud as the knife hit its target in the chest. Pinkie looked down on it and wordlessly stumbled backwards, hitting the nearest wall, and collapsed. Meanwhile, the vampony tackled Twilight to the ground and wrapped his front leg around her neck, getting underneath her. Rarity dashed towards them and pulled at the leg, but the grip was strong and unyielding.

“I... I can’t...” Twilight said, gasping as the vampony’s leg pressed itself onto her flesh. Her horn lit up and tugged at the leg too, but was immediately hit by the stallion’s free hoof, its glow extinguished.

“Help us, Pinkie!” Rarity shouted, as her blows were all deflected by his hoof and Twilight’s face began gaining a bluish hue.

Pinkie pulled out the knife and leaned forward. She appeared as if trying to say something, but all the words were drowned in violent cough that sent droplets of blood onto the floor.

Rarity stood up from Twilight and kicked him as hard as she could, but he blocked her with his hoof again and only flinched a bit, sneering at her. “Pinkie. help me or Twilight’s going to suffocate!”

Pinkie continued coughing, blood coming out of her mouth at an alarming rate, and kicked the knife towards them. “K... Ki... Kill him!”

The sneer on the stallion’s face vanished as Rarity took the knife. He jerked, as if trying to do a barrel roll, but Twilight’s weight prevented any such attempts. “No!”

She stabbed him in the leg that held Twilight by the throat, carving along the muscle until it finally let go. She then pulled the now-coughing Twilight aside and positioned herself above the vampony.

His face paled. “Please, please don’t do it! I give up; I surrender!” Rarity lifted the knife above her head and the stallion began squirming. “No! Remember you can steal me too – I’ll tell you everything you want to know!”

Perhaps Rarity would have listened and lowered her weapon, but she was no longer in charge. The tingling sensation returned, taking command of her limbs, and sent the knife down into his body. And then several more times, until he stopped moving and breathing.

The knife hit the floor with a clang as the magic stopped controlling Rarity’s body. She sprawled on the floor next to the dead pony, taking deep breaths and staring at the ceiling.

After a while, her view was filled by a purple blur. “Rarity? Are you alright?”

Rarity reached to her eyes, rubbing them, and found wetness. “It happened again. I killed a pony.”

“Come on.” Twilight helped her to sit up. “It’s not your fault.”

“I... Yes... Yes. Yes, you’re right!” Rarity narrowed her eyes, and stared at Twilight. “It’s your fault! Your and Pinkie’s! I told you the binding was a bad idea, but you didn’t listen!”

Twilight took a step back. “We couldn’t have known.”

“You didn’t even try to release me!”

“Well it was you who ran off into the forest!” Twilight frowned at her. “If you waited for a little longer, I could have found something in my books. Do you have any idea how complex rituals are? One wrong glyph and you might find yourself teleported to Tartarus! We couldn’t have just tried one!”

“This pony here” – Rarity pointed at the stallion’s remains – “didn’t mention any ritual. He said that an approvement from Pinkie would be enough.” She turned towards Pinkie. “Why don’t we try that now?”

Pinkie was still coughing, although not as fervently as before, and lay on her side. “He got... my lung.”

“And your stupid order got his life!”

“Rarity!” Twilight hissed. “Can’t you see she’s hurt?”

“Yes, but I also saw how quickly she can heal – she’ll be fine by tomorrow. The same can’t be said for him, however.”

“I’m s... sorry, Rar...ity. I wasn’t... wasn’t thinking.”

Rarity loudly sighed, massaging her temples. After about ten seconds, she spoke, “Try doing what he said, Pinkie. Say that I’m released.”

“You are... released. You don’t have to... do what I tell you... anymore.”

They all looked at one another, looking for any signs of something. Nothing.

“Felt anything?” Twilight asked.

“No.”

“See?” A smug grin appeared on her face. “I told you we’ll need a ritual. I’ll go fetch my books, and chalk, and–“

Rarity shook her head. “No, we’ll try if it worked first. Pinkie, tell me to go over there.”

“Go over there.”

Rarity kept sitting and felt no urge to move whatsoever. “Well, this is settled, at least.”

“Wait, this is all it took?” Twilight looked at each of them, eyes wide. “That ritual was one of the most magic-demanding things I’ve ever seen, let alone performed, and you’re telling me it can be cancelled by a few words? No magical discharge? No purple lightning filling the room?”

“Something wrong about that?”

“I... I guess not, it’s just... it’s kind of unusual and... anticlimactic.”

“Anticlimactic?” Rarity cocked her brow. “Well, I suppose I too have expected at least something, but I’m not complaining. It’s not important, after all. What’s important is where he was headed.” She looked at the table the stallion was standing by before, and saw an opened saddlebag. “I suppose that’s where the knife came from.”

She moved towards it and started pulling out the things inside. “A coat, some bits, a vial of...” – she sniffed to the contents – “blood, the latest Daring Do book, and... a train ticket to Canterlot?” She turned towards the girls. “What do they want in Canterlot? The Guard there would make short work of them if they attempted anything. Not to mention the Princesses would be bound to notice.”

Twilight shrugged. “Don’t look at me; I have no idea. Maybe we should tell the Princess?”

Pinkie scowled at her. “This again? How many times...” She probably wanted to say more, but it drowned amidst the coughing.

“I agree with Pinkie,” Rarity said. “It wouldn’t be hard to trace it back to us, and I don’t want to find out what would her Highness’s reaction be to me being a vampony. Nor do you, considering what kind of ritual you performed few hours ago.”

“I’m sure she’d understand.”

Rarity shook her head. “Not after Nightmare Moon. This is very dark magic we’re talking about, and I doubt she’d want to risk something similar happening to you. At best, she’d take you back to Canterlot to have you under better supervision.”

Twilight sighed. “I know; I just... dislike the idea of them hurting more ponies there.”

“That’s why I’m going there too.”

Pinkie and Twilight both turned towards her. “You are?” Pinkie asked.

“You don’t have to,” Twilight said. “You’re no longer bound, you can just stay here with us. You said it yourself – the guards there will probably deal with them.”

“No, Twilight, I must.” Rarity’s ears drooped and a frown appeared on her face. “They must believe I’m still bound, otherwise they’ll come here and punish you. And to convince them of that, I have to continue with my assignment – find out what’s going on.”

Twilight, albeit frowning too, nodded. “Alright, but... be careful. And if anything happens, tell the Princess. I’d rather move back to Canterlot than have you injured, or... or worse.”

“I promise.” Rarity smiled at her and looked at the ticket. “Now, I should really hurry up. It’s a night train, but the trip from here to the station will take a few hours... will you take care of Sweetie for me?”

“Sure!” Twilight said, although her smile was crooked and her voice shaky. “It’s not a problem!”

“Thanks you. And Pinkie, I hope you get well soon.”

Pinkie cracked a smile too. “Good luck.”

Rarity nodded and left the building.