Flutter's Night

Castlemania Reprise

Applebloom lead the others ever forward toward the Castle of the Two Sisters, the vast structure filling their respective fields of vision. All the stones of the old fortress seemed to breath darkness and mist, a fog settled over the tall grasses, beyond which was the bridge they'd crossed and the drop to the cavern of the Tree of Harmony. Somehow ethereal breaths could be heard in the minds of each mortal present, in stark contrast to the very real silence that pressed in on them forebodingly. The Sun had been set by Celestia only a few minutes prior, and the darkness of the young Night only served to further mystify and frighten those brave, crazy, or stupid enough to confront the count within the ancient structure. Applebloom reached forward to knock upon the front gate, but Petal reached forward and stopped her just in time. "No, he'll be expecting that. We should try to sneak in through one of the side windows." Just as he finished saying as much, the gate opened of its own accord, creaking eerily in the Night air.

"Too late for that now," Applebloom mused, stepping stoically forth.

"It is far too quiet here,

A trap I now fear."

"That doesn't matter," Babs stated bravely, standing beside her cousin. "There are ponies in there who need our help." Petal and Zecora gave one another a grim nod, trotting in front of the young Apples protectively, the children inching forward behind them. As they entered, the gate slammed shut, startling them.

They continued forth, but Petal could be heard muttering to himself. "I am Petal Vestment, vampire killer."

As they moved deeper into the entrance hall they came closer to a masterfully crafted grand staircase, a pair of balconies attached to it from which Twilight and Spike had once witnessed their friends acting quite foalish. They heard the confident clip-clop of somepony's approach, the many lit candles about the structure giving the scene an orange luminescence as the vampire count finally came within their sight. Jury smirked down at them, putting on a theatrical accent classically heard in vampire films, a butchered interpretation of Trotsylvania. "Welcome to Fright Night…" His tone became much more sinister as he dropped the accent, mists taking the form of wolfish monstrosities in the shadows, glaring at the party with ethereal eyes as the count's next words rumbled through the stones of the castle. "…For real."

Despite his intimidating performance, all Jury got from Sweetie Belle was a smirk as she observed the burn mark on his face. "Why don't you just hoof over our sisters before things get ugly, vampire."

Jury chuckled slightly, stepping a foot down the stairs as he watched the mortals. "Why don't you come up and get them?"

"Don't listen to him, Sweetie!" Rarity's voice carried from a room attached to the rightmost balcony. "Get out of here while you still can!"

"It's a trap, ya'll!" Applebloom flinched as her sister's voice joined Rarity's, practically growling at Jury in her anger. "Don't ya bother with us. Save yerselves!" Applebloom did not heed her sister's words, opting to climb the stairs toward her enemy.

"Back, you beast." Before her she held the same bracelet with which she'd deterred Jury at the library, her fellow Crusaders and Zecora inching forward with her, the others behind them, all of them brandishing stakes in their silver-clad hooves. Jury hissed and backpedaled as they came closer, his fangs lengthening and his hoof-bones extending.

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Suddenly Billet Coal stood between them and his master, his misty aura glowing brighter as his twisted changeling horn sent out a shockwave, toppling the ponies and sending Applebloom over one edge of the stairs and Twist over the other. Only one pony still stood, but his legs shook with fear, the reality he thought he was prepared for much worse than he'd anticipated. As Jury and Billet shared a short laugh at his expense the mortal stallion began to retreat back through the hall, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's not fair. That should have worked."

Billet and Jury leaned forward with wicked grins, speaking in unison. "Boo."

Petal flinched before straightening, giving a harrumph; though, he was still shaking visibly. "That wasn't very frightening." Just as he took a step forward rather than back he bore witness to something that would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Jury Dambridge stared down at Petal Vestment, his face contorting in a grotesque sneer as his jaws extended to the length of a wolf's and all of his teeth became sharp, serrated fangs, more of them sprouting up until his maw was a mass of them. He had a predatory gaze in his eyes as his pupils sharpened like those of a cat, glowing with an eldritch energy from the deepest of horrible shadow realms. Leathery wings sprouted from his sides, sharper and more jagged than those the Crusaders had already seen, claws extending from the joints and strands of slime clinging to the membranes. All four of his legs became those of a large, malformed bat, four finger-like toes growing from each hoof and ending in jagged claws. Jury released an ear-splitting screech as his fur and hair fell out, leaving behind diseased-looking flesh with heavy creases and splotches of some unidentified glowing slag. As the monstrosity began to swoop down toward him, Petal Vestment screamed at the top of his lungs, galloping away as quickly as he could. Jury caught up with him, snatching at him with his fingers, Petal ducking down to avoid being clutched and receiving deep cuts in his back for his trouble.

Finally barreling his way back through the gate, Petal found himself face to face with Fluttershy, fingers that were all too familiar to him sprouting from one of her hooves. Behind her stood an entire pack of timberwolves, a vampiric Rainbow Dash hovering nearby as Fluttershy gripped Petal's neck with her unholy appendages. "How dare you abandon my brave little Crusaders!" His only response was a choked wheeze. "Get back in there and help them, coward!" Petal reached for a stake in his belt, pulling it into his grip just as Fluttershy flung him back into the castle with enough force to send him toppling head over hooves thrice. His back hit the stones hard, Petal coming to his senses just as Jury bore down on him. Petal held the stake forward perpendicularly, Jury's fangs closing around the wood rather than Petal's face. With his unoccupied forelimbs Jury scratched Petal's right cheek, choking him and pressing his claws into his victim's skin.

"Applebloom!" The filly he screamed for came to her senses in the shadow of the staircase, watching the form of a pony move out from the shadows. It was Bon-Bon, sporting vampiric fangs and bright red eyes.

"Hello, little filly. I remember you, so eager to sell a few apples at the stand that day. It's too bad you have to die now." The vampire's tone gave the opposite impression of her language, her voice trembling with the anticipation to kill.

"It's too bad that you have to die now, Bon-Bon. I wish I could have saved you." Applebloom pulled a stake from her jacket, twirling it into a stab-ready position and thrusting it deep into Bon-Bon's heart before the corrupted mare had a chance to blink. The young vampire balked, staggering backward and wheezing horribly. Her eyes went wide as they reverted to their usual color, tears springing forth as she fell to the ground, clutching helplessly at the stake in her chest as she gasped in surprise. She stared up at Applebloom with an accusing gaze, but her expression changed to one of apology and forgiveness as her fangs shrank away, her body slowly ceasing its convulsions. Applebloom had tears in her own eyes, but was pulled from her paralyzed state by Petal's second choked scream for help.

"Applebloom! Spike! Zecora! Anypony!" Jury smirked around the stake in his jaws, reaching a set of fingers toward Petal's eyes. "NOOO!" His tumble back through the gate had lost Petal his rear right horseshoe, but the rear left was still there in all its silver glory, and Petal desperately kicked it into Jury's groin with all his might. The vampire growled angrily around the stake, but was otherwise undeterred. Spike drove a stake through Jury's shoulder just in time to save Petal's eyes, Jury screeching and scrambling backwards. His unnatural fingers gripped the stake, pulling it from himself as it dripped blood onto the stone beneath him.

Billet Coal advanced on the prone form of Zecora, planning to end her before she came to her senses. Standing in his way was Rumble, not but a child brandishing a stake in his teeth. There was an echoing crack, all falling silent as a carcass with a snapped neck was thrown from the stairs to the stones below. Button was the first to grasp what he saw, screaming in terror as he backed into Sweetie Belle's side, the unicorn gaping openly at the death of her friend. Snips and Snails reacted next, screaming as loudly as they could and running away into a side corridor, Jury disappearing down a different one shortly after. Scootaloo, Dinky, and Babs brandished stakes, Zecora facing down Billet with an expression of hatred. Not bothering to develop a rhyme with her current state of mind, the zebra simply roared at the cannibal wraith, flinging powder into his face that caused him to cough and stagger back against the steps he'd stood on, landing on his backside with an enraged zebra standing over him.

Zecora flung her hooves at his face, meaning to pulverize him, but he deftly deflected her strikes with his holed hooves, using his wings to inch backward and bucking the zebra in the stomach. As she tumbled down the steps, Dinky yelled, "Applebloom! We need that shotgun!" Applebloom rounded the edge of the staircase, her frown deepening at the sights which met her eyes. Rumble's ruined corpse, Zecora groaning in pain beside it, Petal hyperventilating across the hall, and she'd had enough. She leveled the shotgun at Billet, aiming it directly at his chest, and she fired without an inkling of hesitation. The pellets bore into his insectoid covering, sending fluorescent green changeling blood splattering over the stairs and throwing his limp body up to the balconies.

"That takes care of one problem." Even as she spoke Applebloom regretted her words, Billet Coal groaning with an unreal timbre as he rose to his hooves once again.

"Load it again!" Scootaloo urged as the cannibal wraith advanced down the stairs toward them. Applebloom complied, shoving shells into the barrels and re-aiming the weapon. She fired, and this time Billet managed to stay on his hooves, merely flinching at the projectiles that made him bleed further. "Again!" Again she shot him, and again he simply continued toward her, raising his hoof as he came within inches of her.

A black robe covered the changeling's face, striped legs constricting his neck as Zecora attempted to choke him. His hole-littered limbs flailed about as his horn began to glow and his aura became brighter, forcing those near him to squint through the fog surrounding him. Scootaloo knew what he was trying to do, resolving to stop him somehow. She let loose a cry of anger, buzzing forward and driving a stake into the wraith's chest. As the wood pierced his flesh, Billet screamed in pain and the light of his aura diminished. Babs and Dinky followed Scootaloo's example, the two new stakes weakening him further. Zecora removed her legs from his neck when she saw Applebloom pull her hoof back, allowing Billet to stumble forward into a strike from Applebloom's silver-clad hoof. He was spun around by the force of the strike, Zecora already positioned to buck the stakes deeper into his chest. The strength in the zebra's back legs sent him careening over the fillies' heads and bouncing off Rumble's corpse.

He ended up flipped over onto his belly, sliding deliriously down the hall, only to be stopped suddenly when Petal slammed his forehooves over Billet's wing joints. Spike quickly straddled the back of the changeling's neck, digging his silver claws into the exoskeleton at the base of Billet's horn, gripping the core of it despite the slickness of the blood surrounding it. With a snarl of bestial effort, the dragon uprooted the glowing horn, preventing Billet from calling upon his wraith magic. Spike proceeded to ignite his breath, burning Billet's face relentlessly. The cannibal wraith screeched and flailed like a pony possessed, his jaws open wide as he roared with the power of an Ursa Major. Petal kept the monster pinned to the floor, but turned his head away, gagging, and unable to watch the disturbing scene any longer. "Hay!" Standing on his back legs inches away from the purgation by fire was Button Mash, brandishing a silver bludgeon. "This is for Rumble, you devil!" Billet's burning flesh was ripped asunder by Button's angered strike, his neck breaking just as Rumble's had.

Still it wasn't over, Spike and Petal screaming in pain as Billet's flesh seemed to melt into them, Spike's ability to resist heat doing nothing for him. Button tackled the young dragon, forcing him away from the source of his pain. "Petal!" Applebloom rushed to the aide of her newest friend, but she wasn't heavy enough to push him away, ending up clinging to his neck instead. Lucky for them both Zecora had been right behind her, and she yanked them both away from the dying wraith. Billet seemed to deflate as spurts of sand and coagulated green blood shot out of holes in his exoskeleton, eventually pouring out around him as his skin dissolved completely, leaving behind fluorescent bones one would expect to find in a mammal. "W-what the hell?"

"Rise my minions! Make these mortals join your ranks!"

Snips and Snails tumbled helplessly into the room below them through the trap door they had triggered, their screams echoing back at them as they hit the stone floor painfully. Snips shook his head roughly while Snails braced against a nearby wall, the door they'd fallen through closing above them. "I can't believe Rumble's gone," Snips muttered to himself, standing in the dark.

Snails struggled to light his horn, managing on the third attempt with a grunt of effort. "The others could be gone too, but we wouldn't know. We shouldn't have run, Snips; there's no way we can help from in here."

"Well, we'll just have to find a way out, then won't we?" Snips gazed about the room, his eyes coming to rest on a hole in one of the walls. He walked up to it, hesitating for a moment before he stuck a hoof through it. After a moment he sighed in defeat and removed his hoof. "Damn. I thought that would work."

Snails studied Snips's short legs, then glanced at his own, much longer ones. "Let me try," he said, feeling around the other side of the wall. Soon his silver horseshoe made contact with another metallic object, and he pulled down on it, triggering a mechanism that spun their world around. When it finished, they were in a long hallway, filled with metal sculpts of pony forelegs, all of them bent at their knees. "Why does this exist?"

"It doesn't matter. We have to get back to the others. I don't think getting split up in this castle is a good… idea…" Standing at one end of the hall was a grey stallion, grey not in fur, but in lack of fur and a surplus of surrounding shadows. As it stepped into the light of Snail's horn, the colts could see that it had no eyes and its flesh was rotten. Somehow, there was a rotting corpse walking toward them, and it was not alone. "These are… guards. These are dead guards."

"Zombies!" Snail's shout served to draw the attention of the undead, and they began to move at a steadily increasing pace. "Run!" The colts were chased down the other end of the corridor, running deep into the unknown.

"Applejack!"

"Rarity!"

"Wait for us, dingbats!" As Sweetie and Applebloom bucked open the door they'd heard their sisters' voices coming from they were met by an unsavory sight. Dinky gasped and backed away, ready to bolt.

"Hay, ya'll." Applejack gave a wide smile, exposing a plethora of serrated fangs, her eyes glowing red with wicked amusement. "Ah told ya it was a trap, Bloom. Ya'll should listen to yer big sister."

"This is a gift, Sweetie." Rarity ran a hoof through her slightly tussled mane, blinking alluringly with her false eyelashes, her hoof bones beginning to extend. "Come and share it with your sister."

The two fillies slammed the double doors shut, Applebloom wedging a silver-trimmed mirror through the door handles in an attempt to keep her and Sweetie's sisters contained. As the vampires on the other side beat against the wood, Applebloom threw her head back and screamed with righteous fury. "JURY DAMBRIDGE‼ Ah will end you!"

"Guys!" Button's alarmed exclamation came from the top of the stairs, Featherweight and Scootaloo buzzing to his side as the others rushed to keep up. "There's more of them!" All throughout the entrance hall were changeling drones, but they didn't buzz around with the life or vigor of their race. Instead, their gaunt faces had looks of terror and pain as they milled about aimlessly, sparing the ponies mournful glances.

"Tortured are these lost souls,

Who once were changeling moles.

Billet was a cannibal wraith.

From his power none were safe."

"These are his victims." Dinky confirmed quietly, watching the congregation with a new sadness.

"The wraith's death has brought them here.

Pain from them we should not fear."

"Vampires are capable of resurrecting such monsters," Petal explained. "It is why they so readily serve vampires. If we can kill his master, these souls will be set free." A particularly harsh beating against the door caused the glass of the mirror to shatter and clatter on the stone floor. "There is also the chance that killing Jury could make those he has turned revert to their true selves, but…"

"But what?" Applebloom asked.

"According to most sources, that only works if the master is killed on the very night his victims are turning, and it is possible Jury turned your sisters last night."

Sweetie Belle looked downcast, staring at the floor, but Applebloom spoke with resolve. "Then we kill him anyway; see what happens. If they don't change back, we kill them too." Sweetie opened her mouth to protest, but Applebloom pressed a horseshoe to her chest, staring her down. "If they get in our way…" Both fillies had tears in their eyes as Applebloom finished her thought. "We kill them early."

"I can't lose my sister, Applebloom… there has to be another way."

"My parents died and Ah never once bitched about it!" A slam from the other side of the double doors punctuated Applebloom's angered declaration, the others snapping back from the viciousness in her tone. "Pull yerself together."

There was a slow clip-clop of applause down the hall, Jury Dambridge stepping forward with a smirk. "Excellent speech, Applebloom. You are truly an inspiration to us all."

"Get up here and die, Jury!" Applebloom commanded furiously.

"I'm going to say… nah." Before Jury could agitate Applebloom any further, the castle was filled with the playing of a pipe organ, the balconies on which the ponies stood shifting about and causing them to tumble down through slanted tunnels. Sweetie was torn away from Applebloom, Scootaloo and Babs falling after her. Applebloom herself had her shoulder cracked against stone, landing on top of Dinky as the two fell in isolation. Petal found himself tangled up in Zecora's robes, Featherweight behind them despite his attempts to fly back up. Button Mash and Spike ended up sliding down their own trap, the colt's yelps echoing back into their ears every time Spike huffed a spark. "That was easy." As Applejack and Rarity finally broke down the doors imprisoning them, the balconies returned to normal and the organ ceased its song.

Jury stepped through the changeling specters as if they weren't there at all, lowering his lips to the remains of his ghoul and slowly breathing life back into him. As his skin manifested once again, the specters dissipated into mist, the sand and blood seeping back into the wraith from the floor. "Rise, my friend. This castle needs us." Standing forgotten in the shadows of the stairs, only having recently come to her senses, Twist watched the resurrection unfold through her glasses, sneaking silently into a tight corridor.

"Hi Snips! Hi Snails! How ya doin'?" The two unicorn colts came to a screeching halt in front the exceptionally pink vampire blocking their path, the armies of the undead nearly upon them with drooling maws. "Oh, I guess you aren't doing so good, huh? Let me help you with that." Pinkie's leathery wings fanned out to her sides as she glided over the colts' heads, barring her fangs at the zombie horde. With a great screech of outrage Pinkie thrust a hoof into the neck of the fastest and nearest walking corpse, its head soaring over those of the others and the rest of it crumpling to the ground. She hissed menacingly at the stilled zombies, the dead slowly slinking back into the shadows submissively. The party pony turned back to the young boys with a soft smile, laying her wings across their backs protectively. "So, was that cool, or was that cool?"

"It was awesome!" Snips declared.

"Yeah!" Snails agreed.

"The other yous looked really neat as incubi, so I bet you'll be wicked cool vampires!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and yet, I still agree with you!" Snips paused, becoming tentative again. "Wait… does it hurt?"

"Just a little." Pinkie surprised the young boy by gently pressing her lips to his, smiling down at him. "But I can make it feel a whole lot better than it normally would."

"Hay, how come I don't get a…" Snails's complaints were cut short by exactly what he wanted. "Sweet…"

"Come on, boys! We've got an ancient bedchamber to visit!"

The Crusaders sans Applebloom found themselves in a circular room filled with glyphs and dark banners the like of which they'd never seen in any other royal structure. There were magic crystals floating in the air of their own accord, lighting the room with a soft and ethereal cerulean glow. Mists were even more prevalent than elsewhere in the castle, and as the fillies examined the truly indescribable depictions of the banners they began to sense that they should not be there. "How are my favorite little fillies doing, huh?" They all turned abruptly at the sudden intrusion, Rainbow Dash smiling warmly down at them from mere inches away. It was obvious from the states of her ears and wings that she'd been turned.

"Stay back!" Sweetie warned, brandishing a Celestial Mark.

"Wow, wow." Rainbow threw her hooves up defensively, but still stubbornly refused to move back. "I'm not looking for a fight, okay?"

"Shut up!" Applebloom's harsh words echoed through Sweetie's mind as she raised a stake beside the Celestial Mark. "After what you creeps did to Rumble you actually expect mercy from us?"

"What do you mean?" Rainbow's expression grew serious, her smile fading. "What did us creeps do to Rumble?"

"You know damn well! That wraith killed him."

"That punk bastard!" Rainbow's unexpected outburst caused the fillies to flinch backward in surprise, Sweetie's weapons slowly lowering. "I'm going to kill that motherbucker!"

"Wait, but…" Scootaloo stammered. "Aren't you…? I don't…"

"I wasn't turned by Jury, Scoots. I serve Mistress Fluttershy. You remember when she told you all to handle your business with Jury and then come fight her?"

"…Yeah." Babs replied tentatively.

"Well, she lied. She sneaked Pinks and I in here to help you." It took a long, drawn out moment, but finally the fillies smiled in relief.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Dinky asked nervously.

"Of course Ah don't," Applebloom replied. "Ah've never been down here before, same as you, but we have to try goin' somewhere and we ain't splittin' up." Also, without your horn lighting this place up I wouldn't be able to see these creepy suits of armor, Applebloom thought to herself. Ironically, Dinky gave a gurgled gasp at that very moment, the only light in the corridor being snuffed. The earth filly spun around in the darkness, facing the sound of blood being extracted from her downed friend. "Show yerself, Jury!"

"I ain't Master Jury, little filly." Granny? There was a whoosh of air as Applebloom stumbled forward into what felt like a slackened jaw. "Now just hold still a minute and Ah'll take care of your, 'bein' alive' problem." Applebloom couldn't believe her ears, running as quickly as she could in total blackness and screaming for help.

"I can't believe you singed my coat so much! It's all sooty now."

"Quite your whining, Button." Spike led the way as the two wormed their way through tight corridors. Spike's night vision was fantastic, but he didn't need it in this case, holding a torch he'd commandeered and lit himself so his pony companion could see as well. "Sweetie likes you for your personality anyway. At least your crush isn't a Faust damned vampire right now."

"You want us to become one of those--"

"I want you to become like me." Rainbow Dash argued. "Just hear me out, okay?" The fillies before her all nodded, but they were frowning with doubt as they did. "Good… Listen, Scoots. If I do this, you'll be able to fly. I'm even faster than I was before. And you, Babs; you can stay with us. You'll never have to deal with those bullies again. As for you, Sweetie." Rainbow stared into the little unicorn's eyes, placing a hoof to her cheek. "You'll be strong enough to save your sister and Applejack. All you have to do is force feed them some of your blood and Mistress Fluttershy can usurp Jury's hold on them."

"…Alright. We'll do this your way."

"It's going to sting, and you'll have to drink some of my blood, too."

Scootaloo stuck out her hoof, smirking at her idle. "Me first, okay?" Rainbow just nodded with a smile, cupping Scootaloo's offered hoof in her own and biting into her wrist carefully. Soon we will fly together.

I know, Squirt.

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"Where the buck is that music coming from?" Spike pondered.

"Sounds awesome!" Button declared, rushing ahead of Spike and bucking open the door to an occupied bedchamber. "Holy Faust…"

The speakers surrounded the room, neon lights and lasers coming out of the walls and ceiling inexplicably. At the epicenter sat Pinkie Pie, awash with blood and moaning ecstatically, surrounded by Snips and Snails. It was hard to tell in the strange light, but she looked to have another fluid coating her fur as well. Snips was in front of her, fangs sprouting from his maw at odd angles and drool of his own meeting Pinkie's saliva at his crotch, Snails popping out of Pinkie's rear and panting in exhaustion. All three of them turned toward Button with bright red eyes, giving him toothy smiles. Suddenly Pinkie was upon him, snarling and dripping viscous fluids; however, she was not snarling at the colt. Button glanced behind him to see nothing short of a walking corpse slink back into a massive horde of those like it. "It's not safe out here, Button. Come on, join the party!" She sunk her fangs deep into his neck, his cry of pain transforming into one of pleasure as she massaged his body with wet hooves and dragged him into the room.

"This is gonna be so cool!"

Watching with horror had been Spike, who stammered as the undead approached him with hungry groans. "Z-Z-ZOMBIES‼" He abandoned Button to his fate, throwing his torch at the horde before turning tail and running as quickly as he could.

"Now, you three just rest while you're turning. I have to go tell Mistress Fluttershy what happened to Rumble, but I'll be back soon." She is not going to be happy about this.

"What did you just say?" Fluttershy asked with a trembling voice.

"Billet Coal, the wraith. He killed one of the children. He killed Rumble."

Fluttershy's enraged screech echoed through the entrance hall as she burst through a priceless stained-glass window, Rainbow Dash soaring past her in the next moment and tackling a surprised Jury to the ground. With the recently resurrected Billet open for attack, Fluttershy stabbed her unnatural fingers into his shoulders and lifted him up past the stairs, bucking him with such force as to cause his body to crack open the stone wall behind him. He spiraled down a familiar trap with blood and sand spurting from a hole in his chest, the other traps still closed off. "Child killer!" Before Fluttershy could pursue him, Applejack and Rarity began to rend apart her wings, the three vampires tumbling down the stairs in a heap while Jury and Rainbow exchanged blows.

"Help me! Somepony!" Applebloom's cries for help echoed down to Petal, Zecora, and Featherweight, who were in a circular room with five layers, each layer having a hidden set of stairs that they could only access if they found the button in the wall to release the stairs. The walls were far too steep for only one pony to climb, and so far they'd released the stairs for four layers.

"I'm going to help her." Before, Featherweight had no reason not to wait for the adults, but a reason had finally presented itself: Applebloom was in trouble. He took to the air and buzzed his way to the only exit.

"They're both going to get killed if we don't get up there soon," Petal stated with worry. "Come here. I'll boost you up." In that moment, Billet Coal fell to the first layer from the hole in the ceiling, a bloody hole in his chest.

"No, I will boost you;

He and I are not through.

You help the Apple's Bloom.

The wraith will now meet his doom."

"At least take some sort of weapon--"

"I know where his weakness dwells.

Wraiths are weakest to living cells."

Without putting up anymore of an argument, Petal allowed Zecora to boost him over the top layer, rushing after Featherweight as the zebra jumped down into the wraith's back. There was a changeling screech and a zebra's grunt, and then Petal was gone into the blackness. He couldn't see a thing, attempting to follow the sound of buzzing wings and a filly's screams. Suddenly the buzzing stopped, replaced by a gurgle and the gasp of an old mare. "Oh, thank you Big McIntosh. Jury wouldn't stop screaming at me."

"Just let Mistress Fluttershy help you, Granny." The voice was deep, filled with bass and strength.

Petal felt some small pony run into his legs before Applebloom whispered to him. "Run, now." He did, and she was not far behind.

"We're mighty sorry, Mistress Fluttershy."

"Thank you for removing Jury from our minds; he had such vicious thoughts."

Rainbow Dash limped her way to the other three, blood pouring out of several gashes in her sides. "I'm sorry, Flutters. He got away."

"Sh, hush now, my sweet. Drink of me until you recover." Rainbow complied eagerly, biting into Fluttershy's thigh. "Rarity, Applejack… when Rainbow is ready, follow her to the Crusaders. Applebloom has yet to be turned, but the others will be happy to see you are alright."

"What of yourself, Fluttershy?"

The countess growled with hatred, her muzzle creasing and her fur growing long, thick, and dark. Her voice sounded with power as she spoke through grit fangs. "I'm going to destroy that wraith."

Zecora's back hit stone and she fell to the floor, coughing up blood. Across from her was the cannibal wraith, panting deeply and nursing a stump that was once his right foreleg. Slowly the zebra rose back to her hooves, looking on the monster with distaste.

"This is the last time you die, beast.

On no other soul shall ye feast!"

Zecora charged her foe, swinging her right forehoof at his chest. The moment his remaining forelimb rose to block the strike, her other hoof beat him over the head repeatedly, green blood escaping his maw. He attempted to light his horn to deflect her as he had before, but she struck it as well, interrupting his spell. He then flung away the hoof pressed against his leg, kicking her chest and stepping into an uppercut. With his supernatural strength he managed to knock her on her back, blood pooling beneath her head. She was finally still.

Billet began to chuckle to himself despite his injuries, but was cut short as something exceptionally heavy slammed into him. He looked up, and he beheld. The horror before him was no mere vampire, a living monolith to darkness, an emissary of the Star Gods. He tried to scream, to beg for mercy, but he was wreathed in darkness which consumed his aura and his being, leaving behind only shadow.

Spike's breathes were ragged, his capacity to focus waning as his legs ached for a break. The zombies were gaining on him rapidly, but he suddenly heard them falling, turning around to see Twist standing on the trigger for a trap door. Unfortunately, only so many corpses could fit in the hole, and the remainder began to walk over their brethren, even as Twist released the button and the door shut on rotted limbs. "Come on, Thpike." When they turned around they saw a pack of timberwolves ready to pounce. Spike felt a tapping on his leg, looking down to see Angel Bunny staring up at him with beady red eyes. Spike in turn tapped Twist on the shoulder, Angel Bunny smiling at them as the timberwolves leaped over their heads and tore into the zombie horde.

Applebloom leaned against a nearby wall, panting heavily as she finally deemed the time right for a short rest. Beside her, Petal Vestment lit a torch he pulled from his vampire killer costume, looking around to find more torches to light all along the walls. As fire began to light the place, the two lone ponies realized they were in a dungeon, and in one of the cells they saw a coffin. "I don't suppose that perhaps--"

"So, you've found my bed." They spun around to face the vampire count, his form just as grotesque and hairless as it had been when he'd attacked Petal in the entrance hall. "Location, location, location. There's no windows down here. Even if you could figure out a way to get rid of my Blueblood Charm, it wouldn't do you any good. Plus, when a vampire is my age we tend to resist death for quite some time. It would be really difficult to keep me from pulling a stake right back out of my heart, and snapping your necks is easy." Jury approached Petal with a sneer, speaking condescendingly. "She has shorter legs, so I think I'll kill you first." Applebloom held her breath as Fluttershy's head appeared beside her, shushing her with a raised hoof.

"My parents died and Ah never once bitched about it!"

As Fluttershy began to creep past her, Applebloom quietly drew a stake.

"If they get in our way, we kill them early."

Jury's head turned toward a pained, feminine gasp, Fluttershy falling to the floor with a stake in her chest. "Leave Petal be. Come to me and die."

"On second thought, you do seem to be more dangerous than he." Applebloom drew another stake as Jury approached, Fluttershy weakly attempting to crawl away. "When did you become so ruthless?"

"When you came into my life. You're going to pay for what you did to my sister, to Fluttershy."

"I did nothing to this timid little pegasus. You, on the other hoof…"

"Shut up!" Jury frowned, Fluttershy sobbing and staring up at Applebloom helplessly. Jury placed a fingered hoof over her neck, choking her as he watched the quivering filly in front of them.

Bon-Bon stared up at Applebloom with an accusing gaze, but her expression changed to one of apology and forgiveness as her fangs shrank away, her body slowly ceasing its convulsions.

Jury kicked behind him, knocking Petal to the floor, the silver bludgeon he'd been carrying clattering against stone. The count finally stepped past Fluttershy, inches from Applebloom. The filly lunged with her stake, but the vampire was faster, knocking the weapon from her hooves and kicking her jaw. Applebloom held her hooves over her bleeding gums, whining pitifully as Jury bit into her neck. As her blood was drawn from her system, Applebloom saw Fluttershy's features slowly returning to normal, the light fading from her eyes. She reached for her belt only to find it now void of stakes. She remembered where the charm was under Jury's skin, slamming a silver-clad hoof into it with a resounding crunch. Jury staggered from the unexpected lose, his fangs scraping their way from Applebloom's neck. He barred them at her, slamming a clawed hoof into her gut. As she fell to her knees she heard an angry voice, Fluttershy clinging desperately to Jury's neck as she tried to restrain him in her dying breath.

Jury kicked the stake deeper into her chest, Fluttershy falling unto her back in exhaustion as blood darkened her soft fur. When Jury turned back around he lost his senses from a blow so powerful it caused Applebloom's leg to lose feeling for a moment. She did not stop, repeating the action thrice more before falling to her knees in front of Fluttershy. "I'm sorry," she whispered, reaching down and pulling the stake from the dying pegasus. Fluttershy's fangs regrew and her hooves re-extended, her eyes becoming slits as her feathers were once again replaced by bat-like membranes. She quickly shielded Applebloom as Jury bucked at them, taking the blow to her back and coughing feebly. "Ah'll cherish you like a friend should." Applebloom hugged Fluttershy's neck, exposing her own. "It's not worth winning if Ah have to kill my friends to do it. Drink, please."

Jury bore down on them, prepared to end them and be rid of the headaches they'd caused him, but he was distracted as he stepped back, coughing and sputtering against the garlic Petal had thrown in his face. The vampire killer threw himself at the count, using his remaining three horseshoes and his bludgeon to their fullest in an attempt to slow the beast down.

As Applebloom felt blood leave her body for the second time in so many minutes she couldn't help but to notice a difference in the way Fluttershy fed. It was a gentler, kinder experience, lulling the filly into a sense of peace despite the chaos around them. She moaned happily as Fluttershy slowly extracted her fangs and whispered into the filly's twitching ears. "I forgive you… and thank you." She gave Applebloom a soft, bloody kiss on her cheek, her demeanor completely reversing as she turned toward Jury. The count was swinging a clawed hoof at Petal's scarred face, but Fluttershy caught the strike and deftly broke Jury's foreleg. "You would kill a child?" Before he could properly react Jury's jaw was unhinged from another blow, which he returned in kind to the best of his ability. Within short order the two vampires were going at each other furiously, but it was obvious that Fluttershy had him as she quickly forced him back toward the entrance hall.

"Follow 'em, quick!"

Luna lowered the Moon and Celestia raised the Sun just as Fluttershy flew Jury into the entrance hall. She made an exceptionally loud, bat-like noise, reminiscent of echolocation, and it shattered all of the windows in the hall. As light came toward her it seemed to die in a shroud of darkness, and for the purpose of exposing Jury to that light she bucked him into the wall. He was wreathed immediately in green flames that consumed his flesh and left only a burning, writhing skeleton flailing on the wall, defying gravity and sense. After a moment of this his convulsions stopped and his grotesque bones exploded into nothingness, shattering the wall behind him and causing a portion of the roof to collapse.

"Finally, my greatest obstacle is removed. Now my army of vampires shall descend upon the Princesses of the Night and of the Day, and we shall once again be reunited with our dear Luna. Very soon our Night will last…

"FOREVER‼"

Behind the shroud of the Shadow Pony a helpless Fluttershy cried at her wasted efforts to save the young.

"Ooh, lookie!" Pinkie proclaimed, pointing toward the front gate. "Applebloom and Petal got away!"

"RRRAH! Creatures of the forest, hear me! Stop those ponies and bring them to me!"

"What are we doing‽" Petal asked as he galloped to keep up with the little filly.

"Sweetie was right! It's not worth it if we can't save everypony, and we can!"

"That's all fine and dandy, but what, by Faust, are we doing‽"

"Whatever Zecora was going to do!"

"And what is that?"

"Ah have no idea!"

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