Blood Diamonds

Chapter 8: The Grand Finale

The Princess of the Night slept quietly in her room. It was newly re-furnished, the paint on the walls creating an illusion of the night sky and the furniture still having a bit of that ‘newness smell’ on it. It was an upgrade by a thousand percent compared to the Moon.

She was dreaming about it again; about that cold, bare place of white dust and rocks that she had come to know better than any other. She hated that particular dream so, so much. Every shadow had the shape of a tall mare decked out in dark armour – of Nightmare Moon. Of Luna.

She shed a tear on the dusty ground. Soon, she’ll recover enough to control the dream world again and banish this one into the abyss. Until then, however, she was forced to endure it and relive the memories it brought up.

Some thought that Nightmare Moon was an entity separate from Luna that possessed her somehow. Like a parasite that latches itself onto the host’s body and controls it afterwards. Others claimed that she was the result of dark magic corrupting Luna; that it was some evil wizard who used her emotions as a backdoor into her mind, and thus tried to bring ruin to the realm.

If only.

A third group, one that still resented and feared her, was the only one correct. There was no Nightmare Moon. It was all her and only her, letting dark magic flow through her body willingly and filling her head with thoughts of hatred and pride. While she did get corrupted by that magic – that’s why the Elements could cleanse her, after all – it was she who started using it in the first place. She knew what dark magic could do, and she didn’t care. She was ready to do anything to show the world she wasn’t just Celestia’s weaker sister.

The sad thing was that nothing had really changed from before – ponies still resented her and her night, maybe even more now than before. Celestia was still Princess number one, and to top it off, ponies didn’t even remember any ‘Princess Luna’ even existed before. Even sister’s pupil only knew about the monster she’s become, and not the ruler she used to be.

Today, she knew that hate and revenge weren’t the way to fix that, but it still hurt the same as it did a millennium ago.

She sighed and looked across the vast white plains of her domain. Sooner or later, she’d come across a headpiece of her armour, and then upon a mysterious silver pond that will replay the events of the night she went against her sister. And then she’d get sucked into the next, even worse part of the dream, where she’ll confront all those dark thoughts again... Her dream world powers couldn’t come back soon enough.

Something moved. Luna felt it. She turned around, but the lunar landscape remained just as barren as before. Again – this time she heard it, like the sound of Celestia’s fuzzy slippers stepping onto wooden floor. Luna turned around again, but there was still nothing new. She quickly focused her mind onto the dream’s materia – she hadn’t recovered enough to manipulate it, but she still could at least see it. In front of her eyes appeared a small picture full of symbols – the armour headpiece, the pond, the barren landscape... The movement was there yet again, yet the picture stayed the same – the dream wasn’t the source.

Luna gulped. Somepony was moving around in her room.

———

Broken Prism stood inside the empty throne room along with the other high council members, all gathered in front of the door leading to the new, Lunar wing of the Canterlot palace. “It seems like everything is going according to our plan. Were there any problems with the preparations?”

Viridian Summer shook his head. “No. Princess Celestia is currently on her way to the south, where she’s been called to attend the start a festival of some sort that I conveniently placed on today’s date.” He chuckled. “I was actually surprised at how easy this was to arrange.”

Dusky Pearl smiled. “Yes, our princess has grown rather unwary. I can’t imagine I’d get away with replacing the entire Lunar Guard by our people a few centuries ago. If there was any Lunar Guard at that time, of course.”

“It’s the lack of wars,” Arctic Amber said with a grunt. “All that diplomacy made her soft. And our soldiers along with her. I swear they can’t tell the edge of a sword from the hilt without a written guidebook today!”

Prism nodded. “I’m glad everything went smoothly. With the whole palace empty and all of the Lunar Guard targeting their princess while she’s asleep, I must say it almost sounds like we can’t fail.”

“Now, now.” Ivory Star smiled at him and clicked her tongue. “Do not underestimate the Princess of the Night. Celestia made that mistake once, and it still burns bright in her memory a thousand years after. Of course, you’re too young to have been there that night, but I was. I saw the whole thing from my balcony back then. If anything, we should have prepared more and replaced all of the Royal Guard. I only hope she’s still weakened enough after her stay in the Moon for this plan to work.”

Arctic Amber harrumphed. “I trained those ‘guards’ myself, and a half of them would be enough for one sleeping mare. You’re far too cautious.” When she pierced him with her gaze, he looked away. “But I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

There was the sound of hooves clopping on the stone floor from behind the front door to the hall. Prism furrowed his brow. “Have any of you invited anypony else?”

They all shook their heads. “My servants are all close by, ready to assist us,” Stainless Aurora said. “But they’ve been ordered to stay away from the throne room so that we don’t rouse any unwanted suspicion.”

“All our servants were ordered that,” Ivory replied with a frown. “Perhaps a messenger from Celestia to Luna, or a guard who left his post in the city? Whatever the case, we must not let anypony to the Night Princess’s quarters.”

The door opened and in galloped a white unicorn with curled, purple mane. “You?” She asked, looking at Prism and skidding to a halt.

“You?” Prism replied, his brow shooting upwards. “What are you doing here?” He looked at the others. “I’m sorry, it seems like one of my servants forgot her assignment.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ivory said with another smile. “After all, not all of us are born leaders, capable of handling their underlings. We all understand. If you want to get her off your hooves, however, my offer from back during the trial still stands.”

Prism scowled at her and dragged Rarity behind the door. “What do you think you’re doing here?” he asked in a hushed voice. “I thought I was being clear – investigate Ponyville, not Canterlot!”

“I... I did, and I followed Ivory’s goons here.”

“Really now?” Prism cocked his brow. “And what did you learn? What did they want in Ponyville?”

Rarity bit her lip. “Well, they attacked me on my way there, and then tried to attack my friend. And then... well... then they went here.”

“Did they kill or turn anypony?”

“Not as far as I know.”

Prism sighed. “Wonderful. So you’ve discovered absolutely nothing of substance.”

“I... I don’t understand.” Rarity frowned. “What are you all doing here?”

Prism rolled his eyes. “To think I ordered you to investigate Ivory’s operations... I should just send you back to Ponyville and have you continue surveying the area. There isn’t much for you to do here anyway, we’re just finishing up.”

“I can help.”

Prism smirked. “I doubt your help would be of much value... We are trying to turn Princess Luna.”

Rarity took a step back. “What?”

“Her sister is blinded by her own Sun and doesn’t know the creatures of the Moon. In her efforts to combat the shadows in the corners of the room, she forgot that the darkest one is right under the candle. Luna is different. She’ll find out that we’ve all protected our dreams with spells, and she’ll get suspicious. Not to mention she still has the old times ‘fresh’ in her memory and expects us to have our own intrigues, just like the nobles of her era. With her in play, we’re bound to be discovered sooner or later.”

“But... surely she can’t tell that we’re vamponies from suspicion alone...”

Prism rubbed his eyes, sighing. “There’s a reason why there are only few members over a millennium old, and internal conflicts aren’t the cause. Luna’s been actively crushing our kind as far as our memory goes, and she’s been dangerously efficient at it – she knows all the things to look out for, to check if you aren’t suspiciously long-lived, if your ancestors didn’t look curiously similar for the past several generations, or if there aren’t shady figures moving around the town after dusk – what do you think she’s doing when she’s ‘guarding the night?’ The society itself is mere nine centuries old; before that vamponies were simply too scarce to form one.”

Rarity frowned. “But you still can’t bind her! Who knows if it would even work on somepony as powerful as she is, and even if it did, it’s just... wrong. Princess Celestia has always treated us fair, and I have no reason to think otherwise about Princess Luna, never mind her... excess. The only thing this can bring is chaos and strife!”

“Which is why we won’t bind her.”

She furrowed her brow. “But... in that case...”

“Not only would the ritual be a great risk, but who would she be bound to? That pony would suddenly become one of the most powerful entities in Equestria. Ivory naturally nominated herself as a candidate, but was immediately out-voted by all of us. What if she decided to seize power and become the sole master of all the vamponies? I wouldn’t be surprised. Not to mention the danger should she die – would the immortal alicorn die too? I can’t even begin to imagine the consequences that would have.”

“But won’t she just attack us all once she wakes up after being turned?”

Prism shook his head, his lips bending into a smile. “Everypony still remembers her as a monster bringing the eternal night. If she started attacking the nobility, what would the ponies think? Not to mention she wouldn’t want the information about her new ‘condition’ to spread. For the populace, she’s still Nightmare Moon, and a thing like this would only confirm it to them. Maybe she won’t realise these things right at once, but if we restrain her a bit and carefully explain the situation to her, I believe she’ll calm down. She’ll hate us, there’s no doubt about that, but her reputation won’t allow her to act against us. And as the time goes, maybe she’ll realise we aren’t doing such a bad job, taking care of the land. After all, immortality guarantees stability, as her and her sister both know well.”

“She can tell her. Princess Celestia will surely believe her.”

“Or she won’t and will blast her to the Moon again; nopony knows what her reaction would be. Not even Princess Luna, I’d wager. Nevertheless, should the worst happen, it will still be our word against hers. If we claim that she’s bewitched her sister somehow and is assaulting us to destabilise the realm, a whole lot of ponies will believe it. Maybe even the majority. Ivory would just love that, I bet.”

He couldn’t resist puffing his chest out a bit. Sure, there were many variables and things go wrong on a hundred of occasions, but so far everything had gone well. The hardest part – the turning itself – seemed to be progressing without a hitch, and not much could go wrong after that. Princess Luna wasn’t stupid, after all. That’s what his plan was based on – she’d understand her situation and, given enough time, would come to realise that cooperation will benefit all parties – the Society, Luna, and even Equestria as a whole.

They wouldn’t ask much of her, after all. Just to turn a blind eye to their activities and to step in should anypony get too close to discovering their true nature. In return, the Society would do the same for her. A particularly loud critic, calling for an attack on ‘Nightmare Moon?’ Gone. An arrogant, foolish noble, disputing her authority in favour of Princess Celestia? With the connections the Society had, his name would be dragged through so much dirt he’d be lynched out of the city. They could make the majority of her problems disappear quietly, without anypony asking the wrong kind of questions. Quite a fair deal, in Prism’s opinion.

The best part was, of course, that it was all his idea. It was an enormous drain on his resources and it took months of planning and persuading the others to join him, but it would all pay off severalfold. His position would become unshakeable as he’d always be the one who brought Princess Luna to their side.

Rarity, her brows still furrowed, took a breath and looked at him. “But–“

“Lord Prism!” Ivory called out. “If you’re done boasting about your ‘flawless and genius plan’ to your underling, perhaps you would join us? Your assistance might be necessary!”

Without a word, Prism turned away from Rarity and galloped back to the throne room. There were sounds of shouting, galloping, and, above all, of hard impacts that shook the whole castle from behind the door to Luna’s part of the palace. “What the–“

The door burst open, a pony decked out in the Lunar Guard armour flying out of it with a trail of smoke behind him. His charred remains were soon followed by the Moon Princess herself, her face contorted and eyes bloodshot. Her gaze locked itself onto the six ponies standing in front of her. “Traitors! Monsters! Dost ye think We art powerless? Just punishment ye deserve, and receive one ye shall!”

———

Rarity peeked inside the room through the gap between the door. The fight has been going on for good ten minutes now, with more vamponies filling the room right after Viridian Summer sent out a magical flare out of the window. They jumped Princess Luna from every side, firing one spell after another and landing their punches. The princess, however, proved to be a tough opponent.

She cast a protective barrier around herself, all vamponies’ punches, kicks, and spells bouncing off harmlessly, and shot at them from inside, each successful hit causing either grievous wounds, or killing its target outright.

Further away from the rampaging princess, taking cover behind the massive throne, were the vampony masters themselves. The unicorns were casting spells of such power, that Rarity could feel a small pressure at her horn even this far away. Each time they hit Luna’s barrier, it flickered and she wavered a little. The two pegasi, Arctic Amber and Stainless Aurora, used these moments to try and press their way inside with brute force, always retreating before Luna could target them. Dusky Pearl, the only earth pony in the group, picked up the weapons on the fallen and kept throwing them against the barrier with deadly precision and at tremendous speed. Should the barrier fall, just one hit of such a projectile could cripple Luna long enough for them to swarm her.

Rarity got away from the door and leaned against a nearby wall, slowly sliding to the floor. She considered joining in the fight many times, but in the end had always discarded the thought. She didn’t even know which side she should join! On one hoof, she was a vampony, and should Luna overcome her assailants, it could have dire consequences for both her and Pinkie, as Luna’s retribution was a certainty. Not to mention she still needed to prove her loyalty to Lord Prism, else he could get suspicious.

On the other hoof, however, Princess Luna was an innocent victim of foul intrigues and was only defending herself. Perhaps she indeed was a potential danger, but Rarity experienced first-hoof how being turned can complicate a pony’s life. Especially considering Princess Luna’s thousand year’s banishment. Did she really deserve that? True, Lord Prism said that she was a menace that hunted vamponies with unmatched skills, but wasn’t that, in a way, a part of her ‘job?’ As far as Rarity had seen, vamponies only brought death, suffering, and lies with them. No wonder Princess Luna wanted to protect the realm from such a menace. And now she was to become one of them, right in her own, long-lost home... her rage must have been boundless. And from the more pragmatic point of view, her helping Princess Luna would, in all likeliness, be enough to get a royal pardon. To no longer need to hide.

Rarity sighed. Deep down she knew helping Princess Luna was the right thing to do, but the vamponies there were just too numerous. Without a protective barrier like Luna’s, Rarity wouldn’t last ten seconds against such a horde. Although...

Rarity took another peek. The ground was covered by dead bodies, and the air filled by moaning of the injured, but the battle still raged on. Luna was looking rather tired, her legs trembling and eyes widened, but the vamponies weren’t spared either. There couldn’t have been more than ten still combat-capable servants, and the frequency of assaults from behind the throne lowered considerably.

Perhaps... Perhaps she did have a chance. Helping Princess Luna win this fight would probably solve more or less all of her problems. Ten vamponies were still a formidable force, however, and so were the other six behind the throne. She could even get into the crossfire and be killed by Luna herself. But if she waited for too long, joining at the very end, it could look like she was just trying to save her hide.

Rarity bit her lip. I’ll just wait until there’s a little fewer of them. Just a little... Her legs shook like jelly during an earthquake and her stomach was painfully clenched. She knew she had to get in there, but also that there was a high chance she’d die.

Seven servants remained. She’d step in once there were five.

Six servants... Rarity squeezed her eyes shut. She’d just gallop in there, blast the nearest vampony with all the magic she had, and then just hope she doesn’t get blasted back.

She gulped and stretched her legs, beginning to light up her horn.

“Fools!” Ivory Star exclaimed. “I told you this wasn’t enough! You’re fortunate I have a back-up plan.” A gray flare flew out of a broken window, and soon more vamponies started flooding into the room. There was more of them than at the very beginning, and Luna started cursing.

Rarity used the opportunity and mingled among them, getting closer to the throne.

“...should’ve told us!” Broken Prism said. “Telling the independents about this... It’s like the whole society is here. If just one of them talked, our plan would have failed!”

“Your plan failed anyway! If I didn’t tell them and pay them – from my own coffers no less – we’d have been fried by her magic!”

“I couldn’t have known she’d be this strong...”

“You could, if you had just listened to me for once!”

Prism said nothing after this.

“Let’s go join in the fight,” Ivory said. “Otherwise we’ll earn us the reputation of society’s greatest cowards.”

Rarity retreated from the throne and slowly made her way as far away from the Princess as possible. There really was no way she could help her now. It wasn’t that hard to guess who those ‘independents’ were – other members of the society that didn’t serve any of the high council members. They each dragged their own bound servants with them, so sometimes, when Princess Luna hit the right vampony, several others dropped dead. It didn’t change the situation much, however.

The room was absolutely flooded with them. There must have been dozens, maybe even a hundred of them, inside, yet more were still coming in. Princess Luna’s barrier was already fluctuating, nearly vanishing with every spell that hit it. The princess herself kneeled on the ground, groaning, but still finding enough energy to send out her rays of death somehow. The six vampony masters were closing in.

Luna saw them too and sent one of their spells their way, but they dodged it with ease. “We shall trounce ye no matter what cometh!”

The unicorns each cast their spell, making the barrier barely visible. Then Arctic Amber attacked from above, and was bounced away. Stainless Aurora tried the same tactic, and flew headfirst against the protection spell. Her hoof was just inches away from it, ready to shatter it, but then the barrier suddenly vanished. She started flapping her wings, but her velocity carried her forward, right onto Luna’s horn. Luna smiled and stabbed, using her horn as a pike, and then shot one last bolt of magic into Aurora’s impaled body. Two different vamponies suddenly dropped to the ground.

The rest of the vampony horde, however, wasn’t slowed in the least. They used the chance and practically buried Princess Luna under the mass of their own bodies. Soon, Ivory Star came closer, ordered them to make place, and bit her in the neck to the cheering of the assembled crowd.

Well, there goes my plan. I suppose it’s time to congratulate to my ‘master,’ and to hope he didn’t notice my absence.

She started making her way towards him, but stopped after just a few steps. It seemed like Lady Ivory was about to have a speech.

“Brothers and sisters,” she said, positioning herself in front of the throne. “Today, we celebrate victory. Not only did we just defeat an enemy whose shadow haunted us for millennia, we’ve also became stronger than ever before. Our ranks are rife, our wealth unsurpassed, and now we can even count a mighty alicorn among our members.”

The amassed vamponies mumbled in agreement, and there was even a little applause from some parts. Rarity, however, saw that Lord Prism had a frown etched on his face, and that his eyes kept darting around the room, like he was expecting something to happen.

“It wasn’t free, unfortunately. There have been sacrifices. The constant struggle between us cost us many members in the past, and so did the occasional ‘hunts’ when some of our members carelessly divulged their true nature. Today has been, however, the most costly by far. Never before have we lost more of our members – servants, masters, Lady Aurora herself, but above all, friends. I think nearly all of us lost one here today, when they sacrificed their life for the common good. I propose a minute of silence in their honour.”

Rarity could see how Prism rolled his eyes all the way from where she stood, and started slowly moving towards him again, careful not to step on any hooves of other, now silent, vamponies. Prism himself started walking to some of them, motioning them to follow him to the corner of the room.

Lady Ivory cleared her throat, breaking the silence. “I’m sure they’d all be proud if they knew what their sacrifice had bought us. On the other hoof, we are, in a way, fortunate. It could have been much, much worse. The overconfidence and inexperience of those who were supposed to lead us nearly cost us this victory. Yes, I’m talking about the other members of the high council. I told them numerous times that the replaced guards and their servants won’t be enough, yet I was scoffed at and called overly cautious! Lady Aurora paid the ultimate price for this arrogance.”

Oh no. I can see where this is going!

The mumbling was louder this time, like the buzzing of a bee swarm which’s hive was just kicked into. The vamponies directed the gaze onto the council members. Those all dropped their eyes to the ground, except for Prism, who showed the rest of the room his back and discussed something with his own group. Rarity wasn’t far behind him.

“I don’t blame them, however.” The vamponies quietened again and looked back at her. “It wasn’t their intention to harm us. They simply didn’t know better. After all, to hear about the power of an alicorn and to see it first-hoof are two completely different things. That brings me to another thing.”

Rarity finally got towards Prism, who just finished speaking with one vampony and moved towards another. “Lord Prism! She’s trying to–!”

“I know.” He turned back towards the vampony. “I want you to take your position over there, and–”

Lady Ivory suddenly raised her voice. “It’s time for a change. The council has served us well over the centuries, but over time the old, experienced members were replaced by young fools. Ambitious and resourceful, yes, but unwise, and thus unfit to guide our glorious race. Today was just the final proof. Remember that if I didn’t break the councils orders about secrecy, Princess Luna might well be organising a punitive campaign right now. I say it’s time for a more unified leadership, where wits and knowledge are more important than connections and intrigue. What do you say?”

The hall echoed with a loud cheer.

“What are you going to do to stop this?” Rarity asked Prism, frowning.

Prism sighed. “Nothing.”

“Wha... but–”

“She’s just won the fight of a millennium – she’s their hero. There’s nothing I can do to prevent her from just having a speech, until she actually makes a move for–”

“As the oldest member of our society, with one thousand three hundred and seventy six years of age, I nominate myself for the honour of leading us. I believe I displayed the required abilities today, and that my qualities shall bring us towards better tomorrows. I shall bring unity to us, and use every tool at my disposal” – she looked at Princess Luna – “to make sure we can all stand tall and strong.”

There was a round of applause, although Rarity noticed that not a single of ‘Prism’s’ vamponies joined it. Lord Prism himself came to the base of the stairs leading towards the throne and waited until everything has quietened. “I don’t dispute your victory today. It’s true that without your actions, we’d all be, in all likeliness, doomed. I apologise for my near-sightedness.”

Ivory smiled at him, nodding and motioning him to continue.

“It’s quite clear where the sympathies of our members lie now. You lording over us all... I’d be lying if I said I’m happy about it, but seeing how things have developed,” – he looked over the mass of vamponies behind him – “I’m willing to submit in order to prevent a civil war.”

What?

Lady Ivory was practically beaming at this point, grinning at him like he just brought her a bouquet of flowers and a heart-shaped bonbonniere.

“I have one condition, however.” He took a deep breath. “You can’t bind Princess Luna.”

The smile on Ivory’s face vanished and was instead replaced with a frown. “She’s our greatest asset and also our greatest enemy. I know you believe we can convince her to support us by having her see things from our perspective, but that’s naive talk. Besides, it would be a terrible waste.”

Prism shook his head and turned towards the assembled vamponies. “I think we all know what this is about, only nopony has had the courage to say it yet. What she proposes is that we bind Princess Luna and use her to attack Princess Celestia. Isn’t that so?”

Lady Ivory stayed silent, staring daggers at him.

“I can’t even begin to describe the foolishness of such a move. It would be a battle like no other, our members, you, would die by the dozen, and the enemy by the hundred. And what for? I ask you who but she has anything to gain out of this? We have wealth, we have titles, we have land. How could the whole ordeal possibly improve our situation even more?”

One of the vamponies stepped forward. “We wouldn’t have to hide anymore! We could walk proud and feed whenever we wanted, without having to do it in secrecy.”

“You’d be vassal under a power-hungry demagogue with limitless power! She’d bind Celestia too, and then what? Does she strike you as a ruler for peace time? The bodies of our fallen wouldn’t even get cold, and we’d already be fighting another war!” He smiled. “That is... if she could actually carry out the coup. Princess Celestia has already defeated Princess Luna once. What makes you think she can’t do it again? Support Lady Ivory to be the leader, yes – she deserves it. But don’t let her drag us down into a conflict we can’t win.”

Before the crowd could react, Lady Ivory smiled and started slowly clapping, walking down towards Prism. “Well said. Yes, I do plan to overthrow Celestia. Yes, it is likely that won’t be the last war we fight, and yes, I’m the one who’d get the most out of it. You are, however, mistaken in a few little details. It’s not true our members have nothing to gain. While you, as a high noble, might find the secrecy easy to maintain – all your guards are fanatically loyal, I’d wager, and you only interact with other vamponies anyway – others of our flock are not so fortunate. After all, there is only a limited amount of land to divide, and there’s just not enough for everypony. Some of our less wealthy members have to interact with regular ponies daily and to keep up their mask at all times. For those, I imagine the opportunity to end that is more valuable than all the titles in the world.”

Rarity, although with a lot of denial, had to give her this point. The secrets she had to hide were eating her from inside, and she was only a vampony for about a month! Having Pinkie and Twilight to talk to helped a lot, but now her other friends felt rather... detached. Like they lived in a different world than her, one much sunnier and happier, and, above all, simpler. She envied them. And the divide between them only grew, day by day, secret by secret.

Prism frowned and looked upon the sea of nodding faces. “Well, if you all want to walk ‘proudly’ through the streets, letting ponies know who and what you are without them pulling our torches and pitchforks, then perhaps you shouldn’t go and bind their beloved rulers! Lady Ivory might make any assaults on us against the law, but that won’t stop ponies from forming a mob and gutting you out, legal or not. We’ll be the ones who brought war to their doorstep, and the ones who humiliated their goddess. They’ll hate us more than anything else!”

“A second mistake.” Ivory’s smile stretched wider. “I don’t need to be in the spotlight. There’s no reason for anypony to know I’m behind the scenes. Princess Celestia will be handled in the same manner as Princess Luna – in secrecy.”

Prism snorted. “Princess Luna was weakened, and we had all her bodyguards under control. Princess Celestia is at her full power, and her guardians are the best fighters in the land who’d never betray her. How do you propose we defeat her, in secret to boot?”

“You’re wrong for the third time, Lord Prism. Princess Celestia isn’t at her full power, as she’s lost her greatest weapon – the Elements of Harmony!” She clapped her hooves, and the main door opened. Inside walked two pegasi, their heads held low.

Rarity gasped. Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy? What...? She scowled at the self-proclaimed leader of vamponies and started making her way towards her. Oh that’s what you were doing in Ponyville! I was never the target, or at least not the only one, was I? You’re going to get it now, lady or not!

The crowd shook with murmurs as it split, making a corridor for the two bearers. Ivory’s eyes were glued to them, and, with a large grin, she motioned them both to come closer.

“I present to you the Elements of Loyalty and Kindness! I haven’t been able to gather all of them, but even two are enough to stop the rest should they target us. We’ll have Princess Luna recuperate and regain her strength, and then we’ll attack. Without the Elements, Celestia won’t stand a chance – remember they were the only reason she’s bested her sister the last time.”

“I... well...” Prism shook his head, his brows furrowed. “How? How would you find them? Princess Celestia protected their identities from being discovered, and she’d notice if you tried to break the spell. It’s more likely you just turned two pegasi at random and are now trying to fool us!”

“You really don’t know?” When Prism stayed silent, Lady Ivory giggled. “My, my, I thought better of you. Your lapdogs disturbed this plan of mine all the time, or was it not you who sent your servants to Ponyville?”

Rarity was already nearing them both, gritting her teeth. First she turns and binds her friends, and now she calls her a lapdog? How dared she? Rarity wasn’t entirely sure about what she was going to do, but whatever it was, it would certainly be very unpleasant for Lady Ivory; she’d make sure of that!

“What does Ponyville have to do with this?” Lord Prism asked, eyeing Rainbow and Fluttershy.

“Everything!” She threw her hooves up. “Figuring out that the bearers were there wasn’t hard – what other town was close enough to the Everfree to allow them to defeat Nightmare Moon in such a short time? Then I just had to create enough interference. Lyra did that masterfully – the residual magic left after her rituals masked my own spells, which lifted Celestia’s magic around Ponyville. I then sent my spies to observe the town, and to see who embodied the Elements the most. Surprisingly, all it took was stumbling upon the Element of Honesty by chance and asking her who the others were – Celestia didn’t even tell them about the spell, or that they shouldn’t flaunt that information around!”

Rarity stopped right before stepping out of the crowd and recoiled. She planned this all that time! It... it wasn’t just some stupid experiment she lost control of. It was a deliberate plot to murder innocent ponies, just because she needed to mask her own intrigues!

It didn’t change the fact those ponies were dead and it wasn’t that much of a surprise, but the ease with which she had said it, the way the words had spewed out of her mouth like she was talking about how she won the Running of the Leaves, the lack of negative reactions from anypony... Rarity began to feel sick. She could understand, and to a certain level even tolerate, arrogance, but this wasn’t just disinterest in regular ponies she took it for earlier. They didn’t view killing ponies as a bad thing, nor were they indifferent about it – they saw it as an opportunity to further their own goals. Did they even understand that it’s wrong?

She even tried to be humorous at the end... And she succeeded, judging from the isolated laughter here and there. She murdered the ponies I knew just because she needed interference! Rarity looked around, at the stoic faces surrounding her. What... What am I doing here? I don’t belong among them, I never will, and I’m glad for it. So how did I get into their midst? Ivory’s boasting about how she did what to get around the spell blurred into the background a bit, as Rarity started taking quick breaths. They’re all evil. Must have murdered all the good ones just to get on top. Or did they all start out as ‘good,’ changing over time? The moment I’m inconvenient, they’ll get rid of me. Should I spend the rest of my eternal life afraid to turn my back to anypony? Or should I surround myself with servants like these... these slavers?

Ivory just dropped a line about what imbeciles the local guards were, and the vampony next to Rarity snickered. Imbeciles? They got slaughtered! They charged Lyra, not knowing what they were up against, and she massacred them! They couldn’t have known... How did this all happen? Lyra was completely insane when they found her, but that was because of the voice that appeared inside her head. None of these vamponies had one, or they’d be branded rogues. So why were they just as merciless? Was this how she’d end up like too?

I can’t let them win. They avoid killing ponies for the most part because they’re afraid they’d get discovered, but if they fear no longer... Many of them would probably go and feed in the open. The pony would naturally try to get away or even fight back, and the vampony would just kill him. Prism was right in this aspect – even if Ivory bound the Princesses in secret, letting vamponies shed their disguise would be disastrous. Ponies wouldn’t suffer it for long, and then they’d fight. Maybe if the vamponies had at least some shred of empathy left in them... but when Rarity looked around, she saw none. Even Prism only argued his case because he could see it wouldn’t benefit him in the long run, not because he actually cared about the lives of innocents. And whatever friendships Ivory was talking about earlier was clearly meant only between vamponies themselves.

Rarity focused back on her. If she wanted to stop this, Prism was her only chance. No matter his motives.

“...then I just put some protection spells on myself, to make my memories safe, cleaned up any traces about what I’ve done, and seamlessly re-cast Celestia’s spell. Nopony as much as noticed anything off.” She frowned. “I’m really surprised you didn’t know about this, however. You have the Element of Generosity bound to yourself, after all.”

“What?” He scowled at her. “What nonsense! I don’t even have any...” He slowly turned towards Rarity.

Here we go...

“I don’t believe you,” he said, looking back at Ivory. “You could’ve just made it all up. Give us some proof.”

“Very well.” She looked at Rainbow and Fluttershy. “Tell us, servants, are you the bearers of the Elements of Harmony? Speak truth.”

“Y...yes,” Fluttershy said, while Rainbow nodded.

“That’s no proof! You could’ve just ordered them to say this before they walked in!”

“Ask your Element, then. Since she’s bound to you, I couldn’t have manipulated her.”

He turned towards Rarity again. “You heard her. Are you the bearer of the Element of Generosity? Speak truth!”

Rarity couldn’t resist grinning. “I have no idea what she’s talking about. I’m not and never was the bearer of any Element, although I’m flattered she thinks me so generous.”

For the first time that day, Ivory’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

“You heard her!” Prism’s voice was echoing with suppressed laughter, and his face was decorated by the widest sneer Rarity had ever seen. “Everypony has heard her! I pronounce you a liar – you don’t have any Elements bound to you, and you can’t defeat Princess Celestia. What? Did you think your goons managed to catch and bind her? So that she could pose as my servant while serving you? Think again!” Prism looked ready to break into a dance. While vamponies might not have had any empathy left in them, they sure seemed to know how to enjoy victory.

“Silence!” Ivory stared at him with a frown. “I don’t know how you did it, but she’s lying. Those two” – she pointed at Rainbow and Fluttershy – “are the Elements.”

Prism grinned at her. “Prove it.”

When Ivory said nothing, the crowd began to mumble again. This time, however, the vamponies weren’t discussing the future with wide smiles on their faces. Now they turned from one to another, whispering things to each other and casting fleeting gazes onto the two speakers.

Rarity silently applauded herself. Good job! This ought to stop her. Now I just need to unbind Rainbow and Fluttershy somehow.

“I don’t have to prove anything!” Ivory exclaimed. “I wanted to give you a chance, Prism, I really did, but you just turned it down on every opportunity. Well, if you’re not with me, then you’re against me. I won’t let you stand in between us and our destiny!” She turned towards what remained of the high council. “You have your orders.”

Lord Prism was suddenly grasped by a tendril of dark green colour. “What the...? Viridian?”

Arctic Amber just began strangling Dusky Pearl when Viridian Summer bowed his head. “I’m sorry. She bound me when I left the trial – I was in a hurry and wasn’t careful enough, and then she and her minions ambushed me.”

No... No, no, no! Rarity watched with her pupils dilated as one vampony turned against another, many of those ‘independents’ not being as free as their class would suggest. Many of them even had tears in their eyes as they struck down their former friends. And then, Rarity saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy charging right at her.

“Stop!” Rarity dodged to the right, bumping into another vampony and sending him right in the way of some spell. Whether it was friend or foe, she had no idea. I have to get out of here! There was an army – or rather two armies – of vamponies between her and the door, and two of her dearest friends were clearly tasked with bringing her down. They were just preparing for another charge.

Rarity galloped towards the entrance, dodging the vamponies to the best of her abilities. They were mostly locked in combat anyway, and seemed to pay her no heed. The two pegasi behind her, however, were catching up fast. “I told you to stop! Just fight somepony else, you have enough candidates here!” They didn’t even slow down.

She turned her head around and shot a few fairly weak spells behind her. It wouldn’t do much more other than push them back a bit, but she didn’t want to hurt them anyway. Besides, putting her still damaged horn under too much stress was a very bad idea at a time like that.

Only a few steps parted her and the relative safety of the door, when something heavy bashed into her side. “Damn it, Rainbow,” she said in a weary voice when she saw the cyan pegasus on top of her. “Why do you have to be so fast?”

Rainbow had tears in her eyes, whitish streaks under them suggesting this wasn’t the first time they were there. She looked at Rarity, and her hooves started to rise. “I... I can’t control my body,” she said in a squeaky voice, shaking with sobs. “There’s always a while when I can, but then she tells me to do something, and I... I... What’s happening to me?”

Rarity’s expression melted. “Oh dear... They haven’t told you anything?”

Rainbow’s hooves prepared to land a hit. “She told me I have to... to knock you out. Sorry...”

Rarity could have just blasted her off with her magic, but Fluttershy caught up in the meantime, her face with the same look as Rainbow’s. Even if Rarity’s horn wasn’t in its weakened state, none of the spells she knew could hinder them both for long enough without injuring them in some way. She just didn’t have the heart to do it, not when they looked at her like they did. What would it change anyway? She had planned to just run away like a coward, not join in the fight. Just like before, the result of this battle didn’t depend on her. She’s fulfilled her role by sparkling it.

Although Rainbow was, judging by her constricted face, trying to stop the hoof from landing, her will seemed to have limited effect. The hoof barely slowed down, and an absurd thought flashed through Rarity’s mind, about how this could ruffle her mane.

Just when the strike was about to land, Rainbow was knocked away by a pink blur. “Get off her, Dashie!”

“Pinkie Pie?” Rarity turned her head towards the door and saw a band of ponies – or vamponies? – galloping in. “Aloe, Daisy, Golden Glory... Mayor Mare?” She looked towards Pinkie. “What the...?”

Pinkie was just tying up Rainbow dash with some rope, while Aloe and Daisy were handling Fluttershy. Rarity stood up from the ground. “Pinkie, what’s going on? What are they doing here? What are you doing here, for that matter?”

Other combatants noticed the visitors and, once seeing their targets, either ignored them or attacked them. Pinkie just dodged a spell from one such vampony. “Can we have this talk later? I’m kinda busy here!”

Rarity nodded and looked over the rest of the ‘battlefield.’ She could see neither Prism nor Ivory over the sea of bodies swirling in front of her, but a dark-blue glow came roughly from the place where Princess Luna was the last time Rarity saw her.

Don’t you dare! She galloped towards the source, the Ponyvillians creating enough distraction for her to slip through without too many problems. Rarity had quite a troubling suspicion concerning how those vamponies came to be, but there’d be time for that later. Assuming they’d win, of course.

Her Majesty Princess Luna lay sprawled on the floor, her body covered by bloody symbols from a nearby corpse and surrounded by a large circle of glyphs and symbols. It was much bigger and several times more complicated than any other Rarity had seen, and there were five unicorns casting the spell. Lady Ivory stood in a considerably smaller circle next to it, focusing her magic on blasting away any intruders rather than on the ritual itself.

Rarity was just about to hit the protective line the bound vamponies made around the ritual grounds, but was stopped by a hoof. “Lord Prism?”

He motioned her to follow him and moved towards the side of the room, his magic throwing away any vamponies foolish enough to attack him like they were pieces of paper. His lips were firmly pressed together, and his eyes only stared towards where he was going. Had he not caught her earlier, she’d doubt he even knew about her. Soon they arrived to a small bunch of vamponies that managed to band up in this chaos somehow. There Prism stopped and looked them all over. “You all attack at the same point, breaking through the line. I will then take care of Ivory myself. Questions?”

Rarity had quite a few, for example what did he imagine under ‘take care,’ but her voice was drowned under the ‘No!’ that they all shouted. Then they ran towards their target like a herd of buffalos. Since Rarity had no better plan anyway, she followed suit.

The line was shattered. Whenever any bound vampony left his post to help his comrade, Prism’s vampony wedged into the freed space and caused havoc. Prism himself ran through one such created gap, flaring up his horn and heading towards Ivory, who her back turned to him. Rarity ran right after him, and when the reality itself seemed to be rippling around his horn, she realised just what kind of spell he was casting.

Her face went pale. “Stop! You can’t kill her – she’s still got the Elements–” The spell left his horn and flew against Ivory in an arc-like trajectory.

“To Tartarus with you!” Rarity galloped forward, pushing her legs to their limit. That clod! He knew that Rainbow and Fluttershy were bound to Ivory, yet he still fired that spell. He was practically trying to kill her friends! Even if he didn’t know them, didn’t he realise what kind of consequences killing a bearer of an Element could have? Equestria would be left defenceless should any kind of evil attack. Or he does realise, but thinks they aren’t the bearers, since I told them all so. She felt like slapping herself.

The orb of deadly magic travelled relatively slow, fortunately, as if it wanted to put its tremendous power on display for the entire world to see. Ivory was just turning around, her lips curled upwards. “Look up!” Rarity shouted at her, fastening her gallop even more. At the same time, the ritual seemed to be finishing. A cloud of bluish gas rising from the Princess seemed to form itself into another orb and travelled towards the smaller circle, which shone brightly under Ivory’s hooves. The unicorns casting it, however, seemed too exhausted to do anything to stop Prism’s spell.

The world slowed itself down for Rarity. She saw Lady Ivory cocking her brow after seeing her, and then saw it drop together with her jaw when Prism’s spell came into Ivory’s view. Tears sparkled in Rarity’s eyes. Even though she was convinced she had never ran this fast before, it wasn’t fast enough. There just wasn’t the time to pull Ivory out of that damned circle, and she didn’t even start casting any protective spells, perhaps too shocked to react. Not like it would matter – a barrier that could stop such a spell would either cost an enormous amount of magical energy, or take too long to create. Not even Princess Luna could handle too many of those.

There weren’t many options left for Rarity. She could either stand by and watch as Lady Ivory dies, taking Rainbow and Fluttershy along with her, or... Tears flew out of her eyes as she squinted, casting a simple protective spell on herself and leaping towards Ivory, pushing her out of the way in the last second. The protective spell was one of the most basic ones, never meant to hold against the magical tsunami that hit it.