Chapter 18

It’s been…

I looked at the clock to see how much time had passed.

…six hours since I banished Nightmare Moon. After Luna gave me her “reward” I went home and tried to sleep off my inner turmoil. It took me forever to fall asleep, only for me to wake up after only about four hours of sleep and I’m still thinking about it.

Is it just me? Is it weird for me to still be thinking about a kiss from a six foot tall navy blue alicorn? Actually…when I put it like that it does sound a bit strange.

I was just lying in my bed looking up at the ceiling, my brain going at a million miles an hour. I could still feel it though; the cool night air blowing, the sensation of her lips on me, and the warmth in cheeks from the pure shock of it all. It was… exciting sure, but it also left me… confused.

You don’t just kiss one of your friends out of nowhere, unless it meant something. But that’s insane, Luna couldn’t mean anything by it; I’m an animal Frankenstein with demigod powers masquerading as a human to keep some sense of who he once was and she’s a six foot tall pastel alicorn with the duty of raising/lowering the moon.
It’s like Texas allowing foreigners to cross their borders; it just doesn’t make sense…man I’m glad no other humans are here, I’m fairly certain quite a few would be very offended.

I sat up slowly, decided “screw it”, and got up. If I’m not going to sleep than I might as well do something constructive with my time, especially since the rest of my clique wouldn’t be up for a few more hours.

11:00 AM- Outside my house

Twilight knocked on my front door.

“Will, you up? I wanted to talk a bit about last night.”

She knocked again and the door just randomly opened slowly, making a creaking noise as it slid of its own accord.

“Well... that’s not creepy at all.” Twilight said to herself.

She walked into my home and saw that the room was empty.

“Hello?” She called out again.

She didn’t see anyone but she could hear noise, it was quiet but still present. It sounded like…grunting; following the sound she moved down the hallway and the noise got louder and louder. Finally she came upon a white door where the sound was its loudest; the noise was definitely coming from there.

She opened it up and was greeted to quite a sight; it was me fighting with… a thing. She couldn’t quite describe it: it had the same build as a stallion with a purple coat, however once you reached the point where the legs met the body he had bone pauldrons and his skull was surrounded by a bone helmet with three small eyes on the forehead and a large one in the center of his face. Perhaps what was most disturbing was that he had several tentacles jutting out of his back where pegasi would have their wings and his cutie mark was a purple fireball.

As for me, I was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and black sweatpants and I was covered in sweat from the battle that we were having. I was attacking him with several quick jabs, bigger hooks, and spinning roundhouses. It took a few seconds for me to even realize that Twilight had entered the room; once I had steadied my breathing I turned around and waved at her.

“Hey Twilight.” I turned back around to my creation. “End session and mark data.”

“Yes sir.” The creature replied in a creepy and almost otherworldly tone.

I got a towel and started rubbing myself to cool off and get all the sweat off me. As I did this Twilight walked up to me.

“I have to admit, I expected you to still be asleep.” Twilight said

I groaned. “I wish I was, but I couldn’t sleep so I decided to do a little training instead.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, you did sustain some serious injuries last night, perhaps you should wait a bit before you start fighting again.”

I understood that she was concerned about me but I looked at her with disinterest “Twilight, if I don’t practice my skills will get rusty, and as last night showed me not only can strong enemies come out of nowhere, but I need to be better prepared to fight them.”

She nodded her head, following my reason. ”Okay, follow up question…” She pointed at the creature I made. “What in Celestia’s name is that thing?”

“I’m glad you asked.” I walked over and patted him in the back. “This is Vel’koz, an extra dimensional being.”

Twilight’s expression was confused and scared. “Okay…what’s he doing here?’

“He specializes in analyzing and replicating data so I thought he’d be the best person to help me improve my technique. Speaking of which, what are my results Vel?”

He stood there and thought about it for a moment. “You show improvement sir. Body damaged by 32% in 18 hits, most destructive hit was the roundhouse kick ranging at 8.27% percent damage done. I suggest switching up your style in the middle of your combos so as to make your attacks less predictable.”

I nodded. “Thank you very much. You are dismissed for the day.”

He nodded. “Thank you sir.”

He extended his tentacles and created a purple portal under himself, and then he vanished into it. Now it was just me and Twilight in the room.

“Well…he sounds as creepy as he looks.”

I looked at her with slight disappointment. “You know if he was here right now he would take offense to that.”

“Well he is! I’m sorry if I say what I’m thinking.”

“Well if he hears you talking about him like that he’ll have three choice words for you.”

“And what would those be?” She asked

“Life-form disintegration ray.”

That got a real shock out of her. “What?”

“But that’s not important, come we’ll finish this conversation in my living room.”

We exited my training room and went into the living room; it was nothing special just two couches and a rug in the middle, I was thinking of putting in a TV but Equestria doesn’t have television so I don’t know what I’d watch.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Well, I had a question but first I wanted to ask: What happened? Last night you were beaten up and bruised with injuries that would take days to heal properly but now you’re up and about without a hair out of place.”

I sighed. “Twilight you need a better memory. Remember a week or two ago when you girls came over to my house? I had that wound on my stomach which looked really bad then you got me that medicine and I was up kicking ass not ten minutes later.”

Twilight scowled. “Still, potions sometimes have side effects; you should wait a little bit before exerting yourself.”

This time I groaned. “Yes mom. Anything else you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, originally I came to ask you how everything went after we left.”

I shrugged. “It was fine. I sat with Luna after she rejected her darkness and waited for her to get up.”

“Anything else?” She asked.

“Nope, she woke up, thanked me for helping her and… that…was it.”

Crap, why’d she have to do this to me? I had finally managed to get Luna out of my mind with fighting and now she brings it up and all the emotions come rushing back to me. I can feel myself getting more and more flush by the second.

“Are you okay Will? You seem a bit warm.”

Damn her observational skills. “Uh yeah, I’m fine; it’s probably just from the workout.” I got up off of my couch and motioned Twilight to do the same. She stood up and I began pushing her towards the door, her hooves scraping across the ground. “Why don’t you leave so that I can cool off for a little bit?”

Twilight seemed shocked and slightly upset by my actions. “O-okay, I was just worried about…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy for a couple of days and I’ll check on Luna and make sure she’s okay as well.”

“Alright then.” She said reluctantly.

We made it to the front door and I opened it up. Twilight walked out of her own accord and I waved her goodbye.

“See you this afternoon Twilight; tell the rest of the girls I said hi.”

I quickly slammed the door shut and exhaled a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. Now that may have been a bit rude to force her out of my house like that but my reasons were the indirect truth, I needed to cool off and I needed to go make sure Luna was okay.

I snapped my finger and my outfit changed to my usual black pants and sweatshirt with a red short sleeve shirt underneath.

“Time for a little unannounced visit.”

Suddenly I whiffed something foul in the air, after another sniff I realized the smell was coming from me and it was disgusting. I pulled out a rubber duck and put on the frilliest pink shower cap I had.

“But first, a shower.”

Canterlot castle, later that day…

The door to the throne room opened and I extended my arms with showman like flair.

“Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!” I said.

Both Celestia and the two guards at her throne remained stoic.

“Wow, tough crowd.” I began walking towards Celestia. “Celestia, I wanted to talk to you about-“

The minute I got even relatively close to her the two guards raised their spears at me.

“Guys, I’ve been here before, there’s no need to consider me hostile.”

“They did not raise their weapons because they were suspicious.” Celestia said.

I was curious what she meant, I looked upward to look at her face to face but she was emotionless and her eyes looked dead.

“I asked them to raise arms against you.”

This shocked me. “What? Why would you do that?”

Suddenly her expression changed to one of anger, her eyebrows furrowed and I saw a spark in her eyes. That was good, that meant I was getting somewhere.
“I’ll tell you why.”

She stood up off her throne and extended her wings, I swear this very action seemed to make the light pour into the room.

“You coax my sister into going out to enjoy a holiday based around her evil past. However, it is different than it used to be and I trusted you to make sure she had fun and keep her safe. Not only does she return hours after I expected her to, but she is collapsed on her bed and covered in scrapes and bruises.”

Celestia inhales and retracts her wings, I could tell for a moment there she was really passionate about what she was saying, but now she’s dialing it back.
“Now…are you going to tell me the culprit of these actions? Or am I in his presence?”

…

Wow…she did not just accuse me of hurting Luna. That sentence made me angry, very angry. How angry you might ask?

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

I grew about 6 more feet, my muscles began to bulge out, my hair turned a dirty blonde, and my outfit turned into a white jumpsuit with a black cross on it and spiky sliver pauldrons. Apparently I was mad enough to turn into Ira Gamagori from Kill la kill.

“THERE ARE TWO THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME!”

I held up one finger.

“FIRST! I WOULD NOT DREAM OF HARMING ANY OF MY FRIENDS, INCLUDING AND ESPECIALLY YOUR SISTER.”

I held up a second finger.

“TWO! THE ONLY TIME I WOULD PUT MY HANDS ON AN INNOCENT PONY IS IF I WAS GIVING THEM A HIGH HOOF, HEAD RUB, OR SOMETHING SIMILAR! OBSERVE!”

I reached my hand forward and put it on Celestia’s head, then using my index finger I began scratching behind her right ear.

“Why are you yelling so loudly? Is it necessary to-oh…oh my, that’s quite nice.”

I nodded. “THANK YOU!”

With the situation defused I shrunk back to my normal form but now I was standing in front of Celesta, scratching behind her mane. After a few more seconds of this I pulled my hand back and Celestia’s expression was much more calm and happy.

“Feel better?” I asked.

“Much. I have not been able to properly reach that spot for many decades, your digits are quite handy.”

“I am aware. Now, are you ready to talk about you problems?”

Celestia sighed. “Yes. Forgive me, I may have overreacted to this situation; I’ve been told by others that i’m very…protective of Luna since she came back, and given your powers and how you came to gain them it seemed easy to blame you for this. I’m sorry.”

Celestia was only looking out for Luna, so I suppose I couldn’t get too mad at her. “It’s okay, were I in your position I would be worried for my sibling's safety as well. Although judging by your reactions I can guess that Luna hasn’t told you what did happen.”

Celestia shook her head. “She hasn’t left her room and when I tried to enter earlier she locked me out.”

“That makes sense.”

“Will you tell me what happened?” She asked.

I shook my head. “No, that’s not my place to act. Last night was…intense for Luna and I think she’s the one who has to get herself out of this funk.”

“Will you at least talk to her for me?” Celestia asked.

I smiled. “Of course, what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t help?” I stepped away preparing to teleport to Luna’s room but I figured she wouldn’t appreciate the surprise. “Um, could you actually show me where her room is? I don’t want to disturb her.”

Celestia slowly nodded her head. “That’s fair.” She looked at one of the guards next to her. “Sharp Edge, please escort him to my sisters chambers.”
He nodded and began walking in a direction; I followed behind him at a brisk pace.

As we walked through the castles halls I really got a chance to take in their beauty, the walls were a clean cut stone filled with suits of pristine steel armor and giant glass windows that reached to the ceiling. I suppose this was an advantage of taking the path walked by all.

Soon we reached a large ornate door with a crescent moon in the center of it.

“The chambers of Princess Luna.” Sharp Edge said very professionally.

“Thank you Sharp.” I reached for the door but before I opened it all the way I had a thought. “Um, this may take a while; you don’t need to stand outside the door the whole time.”

He shook his head. “No sir, while you’re a guest here I need to keep my eyes on you. Guard’s code.”

I sighed internally, I was hoping for some privacy but I guess that wasn’t happening.

“Very well.” I knocked on Luna’s door. “Luna? It’s me.”

I put my ear to the door but I couldn’t hear a sound, not even a grumble or a ‘go away’.

“I’m opening the door now, if that’s okay with you say nothing.”

I only heard silence so I opened the door and walked inside. The room was…dark, and not in the sense of poorly lit, I’d been here before and I knew that it could be very bright. This was something else, the air around me was still like the room was stuck in a moment of time; the only thing that gave even a small sign of life was the mass of dark blue fur on Luna’s bed.

I walked towards her slowly, not wanting to disturb her. It was only when I was at the foot of her bed that I dared to make noise.

“Luna, are you okay?” I asked in a whisper.

Slowly her head rose from the pillow and she turned around to face me, her eyes were a light pink and the fur around her eyes was matted to her face. To cement my theory I saw two large wet spots on her pillow not far from each other.

“You’ve been crying.” I said, not trying to go around the subject

She sniffled. “No I haven’t. Someone…just put tears on my pillow, that’s what I’m sad about.”

I sat down next to her on the bed and tried to talk to her.

“Luna, I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

She sniffled again and put her head down in her pillow, facing away from me.

“It’s just…after last night-“

“Luna how many times do I have to tell you? It wasn’t your fault it-“

“YES IT WAS!” She shouted at me. I could tell from her forcefulness that she really believed that.

“You know Nightmare did all that stuff right?”

“And where did she come from? From what black pit did her evilness crawl out of and aspire for control of everypony and everything? Me.”

I sighed; I had to figure out how to get her to see it wasn’t her fault.

“You’re kidding right? Nightmare was a completely different entity from you.”

“She was born from my hate and dark emotions; she is just as much me as I am.”

“But you could never turn into her.” I scooted a bit closer to her. “Can I tell you something? When you were taken over I never once referred to you as Luna, I only thought of her as Nightmare Moon and I said to myself ‘I’m going to fight this monster so that I can get Luna back’” I put my hand on her side. “My Luna, the one who’s become my friend.”

“But that’s just the thing.” She said.

Man, she needs to learn the definition of the word context. “What?”

She rose up and looked at me again. “That’s my biggest problem with all this; I’ve fought that consciousness for over a millennium, I thought that after the Elements of Harmony destroyed it I would finally be rid of my darkness. Yet, the minute I come back in contact with it it attaches itself to me and takes me over once again and it was even stronger than before.”

I cracked a small smile. “But I was there to save you.”

Her expression remained dark. “And what would have happened if you weren’t there? Could Twilight and her friends have defeated Nightmare without their elements? Would I have been trapped in an empty shell of myself, forced to watch all her malicious action unable to do anything?”

I could see that Luna was about to start crying again and I didn’t want that. I wanted to help her, I wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay but my brain couldn’t find the words. But in my heart, I could feel it, my heart was beating in rhythm with her soul and from it a song would be born. The beat grew louder and became the thumping of a rhythm, and when the song and I were one I began to sing.

Will: Hey… everybody loses it,
Everybody wants to throw it all away sometimes.
Luna turned her attention to me and I started standing up.
And hey… I know what you're going through
Don't let it get the best of you, you'll make it out alive
Oh.

I pulled out a microphone and began singing into it.

People like us, we've gotta stick together
Keep your head up, nothing lasts forever
Here's to the damned, to the lost and forgotten
It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom.

I did a back flip and suddenly a stage appeared underneath me.

Oh whoa oh oh whoa oh
We are all misfits living in a world on fire.
Oh whoa oh oh whoa oh
Sing it for the people like us, the people like us.

Luna now looked at me with more energy in her eyes; I could see her sadness beginning to disappear.

Hey, this is not a funeral
It's a revolution, after all your tears have turned to rage
Just wait, everything will be okay
Even when you're feeling like it's going down in flames
Oh.

People like us, we've gotta stick together
Keep your head up nothing lasts forever
Here's to the damned, to the lost and forgotten
It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom!

Suddenly the room became much more vibrant; there were lights shining from who knows where, my sound was amplified, and I could feel my excitement rising.

Oh whoa oh oh whoa oh
We are all misfits living in a world on fire
Oh whoa oh oh whoa oh
Sing it for the people like us, the people like us

Oh whoa oh oh whoa oh
You've just gotta turn it up loud when the flames get higher
Oh whoa oh oh whoa oh
Sing it for the people like us, the people like us.

Once I had finished singing I hear Luna clapping her hooves together, I’m glad she enjoyed it. I dropped the microphone and slowly began to walk off the stage I created. As I walked towards her the stage began to deconstruct itself until I reached her bed and the stage was completely gone.

“Glad you enjoyed that little show.” I said.

“It was…nice.” She said, although I was unclear what she was feeing behind her words.

“Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

“I think so. Both your words and your performance point to one lesson: At times we will feel darkness in our hearts, but that darkness does not encompass us, it is merely part of us. It is our job to find a way to rise higher than that darkness and we will become stronger because of it.”

I nodded. “You know it, but do you believe it?”

She thought about it for a moment. “It is…hard to forget all my missteps, but I can safely say that I am better now than I was then. I believe that if I have ponies like my sister and friends like you I will be okay.”

I smiled at her. “That’s my Luna.”

I walked over towards the bed and sat down on the edge next to her. “I’m proud of you for getting yourself out of that sour mood.”

Luna giggled a bit to herself. “Good…” She began to put her head down. “Now that this existential crisis has been dealt with I shall sleep, all day if possible.”

Her attitude made me happy, I can’t really explain it but there was something about her that made me glad to just be around her. I sat on her bed and she laid only a few inches from me, her long horn poking one of my legs. I reached a hand over and began scratching the top of her head, she was just so… her, I couldn’t not do it.

She seemed to like it. “Mmph, that is very nice.”

“I’ve been told as much.”

I stopped after about a minute or so and we just sat in silence.

I wanted to talk, I really did, but with what’s happened to both of us I couldn’t find a way to talk of her without bringing it up and I didn’t want to bring it up in the first place because I was afraid it was going to make things awkward… at least more than they were now.

“Well… I’d better get going.”

I got up and started walking towards the door. This seemed like the best idea, just ignore the problem entirely, that made sense.

“Wait a moment Will.”

Unless of course Luna wanted to talk about it, then that plan is kinda shot. I turned back around and faced her.

“Yes?” I asked.

“There is something I wanted to talk to you about, something that happened last night.”

Okay, we’re doing this. I exhaled and tried to keep my cool.

“What is it?”

“It’s about the shadow ponies we encountered last night.

…Or something completely out of left field, that works to.

“What about them? They were servants of Nightmare Moon, what more is there to it?”

Now Luna stood up off her bed to talk to me better. “I thought there was something peculiar about them, some reason why there were so many of them there. And why they seemed a bit familiar.”

I thought about it for a moment. “I would assume that they were ponies who wondered into the Everfree Forest too close to Nightmare’s domain, she said she was absorbing their energy and turning them into her slaves.”

Luna pointed her hoof at me. “Exactly, which means that ponies who have gone missing recently were probably taken there.”

“Um, no offense but when I was fighting those guys they were barely shadows, I don’t think there was any chance of saving them.”

Luna’s look hardened to a glare. “Never the less, the families of those ponies must be informed if they’ve been found. So I sent a thestral group to investigate the place.”

“Did they find anything of use?”

“There was a…pile of corpses in the basement.”

That image made me a bit disgusted. “My word.”

“My thoughts exactly, Nightmare made her shadows with their souls but their bodies were trash to her.” Luna exhaled. “I had my thestrals identify the bodies and found that most of them were ponies who went missing.”

“Missing?”

“Ponies walk into the Everfree forest from time to time, whether to pass through it or out of sheer curiosity, some…do not return.”

That was a grim thought, I knew that the Everfree was dangerous but I didn’t think anypony would die, it just didn’t seem right. Wait, I followed Snake Eyes’ dad into the forest that means… oh God.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I would like you to search the forest and see if there are any more who fell under Nightmare’s spell. If they are alive please escort them home, if they are dead… bring the bodies back here and I will have them sent to their appropriate homes.”

I sighed, not wanting to do this. “Doing the work of the crows, searching for dead bodies. Not my idea of a fun afternoon.”

“You are not obligated to do this; I only ask this of you as a favor.”

I decided to suck it up. “Well if it’s you asking this favor than I really can’t refuse can I?”

Luna gave a small smile, I think she appreciated that.

I turned towards the balcony and prepared to venture into the Everfree. Because it was a grim occasion I put on appropriate attire, a long black cloak that extended to my legs and whipped in the wind.

“I will report anything that I find.” I said flatly.

“I will see you later…maybe…tonight?” Luna asked.

I smiled. “I’d like that, I could use a little break after working so hard recently.”

I stepped upon the railing of the balcony and balanced myself on it, overlooking the entire city of Canterlot.

“Luna…”

“Yes?” She asked.

I had prepared to talk to her about this but in that moment I just froze.

“You can do this, you can do this.” I thought to myself.

“Just…have a great day.”

“And you chickened out.”

She smiled and nodded. “You as well.”

Not wanting to drag this on any longer than it already has I jumped off and made my way to the Everfree.

Inside the Everfree…

I had been walking around for about an hour and couldn’t find a single pony, not even the monsters were trying to mess with me.

“It’s too quiet, I should probably take that as an omen that something bad is about to happen. Eh, I’m sure I’ll be…”

“AAAAAH!” I heard a blood curdling scream coming from off in the distance.

“Well, so much for being optimistic.”

I rushed towards where I heard the sound coming from, running through bushes and brush so I could catch the culprit in the act. But I was too late; I arrived at the clearing where the sound came from but all there was to show for it was a mare lying on the ground, bleeding out.

“Oh gods, please don’t let me be too late.” I said aloud.

I picked her up in my arms and teleported us back to Ponyville, in front of the large hospital. I ran inside as quickly as I could.

“I need a doctor!” I cried out.

The nurse saw the state the mare was in and quickly brought a transport bed for her. She put her on it and wheeled her away.

I stayed at the hospital for half an hour, waiting to see if she was okay or if she’d wake up again. I waited in the lobby until a doctor came up, I went to approach him.

“Are you one who brought in that bleeding mare?” He asked.

I nodded. “I am. How is she doing?”

“She’s stable for the moment. Would you like to see her?”

“I barely know her but…yes.”

He led me down the hall to her room, I figured if there were any wounds on her I could look at them and then maybe hazard a guess as to who or what did this. He showed me her room and she didn’t look too bad, her heartbeat was regular and she didn't have any large casts or bandages on but she was unconscious.

“You were lucky, if you brought her in here a few minutes later she would have died from blood loss.”

“Any idea what could have done this?” I asked.

He put his hoof to his chin. “Well the only noticeable wound she has is right here.”

He walked towards the mare, gently grabbed her head and tilted it to the side, revealing two small holes on the sides of her neck.

“These little marks were made right over her jugular, which is why she bled out as quickly as she did. But they’re so small that I can’t think of anything that could make that mark.”

He couldn’t, but I could.

A vampire.

A creature hiding in the dense dark foliage of the Everfree forest, killing lost victims who pass through, the small bite marks on her neck and her bleeding out, it all makes sense. This particular vampire must have been trying to feed on her but when she screamed he ran, causing her to bleed out.

“Well, I have other things that need to get done today.” I nodded my head to him. “Good day sir.”

“You as well.”

“Also, thank you for not recoiling at my appearance.”

“I have a serious job son, were I shocked by everything that passed through here my hooves would be shaking like gelatin.”

That… is actually very professional. “Well put.”

I walked out of the hospital and teleported back home. If I was going to go after a vampire I’d need equipment, both for offense and defense. I walked towards a room with a symbol of two crossed swords on it, asides from my training room this was one of my favorite rooms in the house.

It was filled with machines, bars of minerals, melting pots that glow with red fire, and tons of other types of wood and materials. This was my forge; because every weapon was made in a forge it only makes sense that I would have a forge to make mine.

In the middle of this room was a book as thick as 20 textbooks and as tall as two NBA basketball players, it was my extensive collection of weapons and armor that I knew about and the recipes for how to make them. I flipped through its contents looking for something to fit my needs, something cool but functional and lightweight.

“Oh! That’s a good one.”

I marked the page and began getting the supplies to make it; the night would be upon me soon and I wanted all the time I could to find him.

That night- 7:00 PM

A young blue mare walks through the Everfree forest alone at night; there is a light mist low to the ground. She seems scared at the darkness surrounding her which is only intensified by the sounds of animals all around her.

“Hello?” She said, meekly.

Suddenly through the darkness you can see a pair of blood red eyes.

“Is someone there? This isn’t funny.”

Within a second the eyes disappear and she thinks she’s safe, she continues along her path until…

“Hisssss!”

She heard a hissing sound, and when she turned around to see what it was a stallion jumped out of the shadows and tackled her to the ground.

“Hey! Get off me!” She thrashed around underneath him.

“Be still and I promise this will be over quickly.”

He bared his fangs and prepared to bite down on her but before he could reach her supple neck his head was between her hooves.

“You might want to pick a better choice of words, that last sentence can be interpreted in…other ways.”

While his head was still stuck she head-butted him and the force knocked him off her.

“What?”

She quickly jumped up on top of him and revealed that the she was actually a he.

More specifically, that she was me.

In a flash I transformed back into human form except this time I was wearing the armor of the demon hunter from Diablo 3. It was hard leather, animal skins, and two mini crossbows I held in my hands now pointed at him.

“Gotcha.”

But this vamp was a sly one, he kicked me in my knees so I buckled a bit under my own weight, he used this moment to get up and run from me.

“I’m not done with you just yet dracy!” I cried.

I started running after him, but his vampiric abilities seemed to make him faster than me. Instead I jumped up onto a tree branch and started hopping from tree to tree to keep up with him. I could see him underneath me so I tried to jump on top of him but he dodged and I tumbled to the ground. I got up as quickly as I could and he turned a corner, I restarted my chase but when I turned the corner he was gone.

“Damn it!” I said aloud. “I can’t let him get away or I may never find him again.”

I stood there, disappointed in myself, thinking of some way to pick up on his trail again. Then I looked at the ground; either the ground was wet or his hooves were heavy because I could see hoof marks on the ground. I decided to follow them in the direction I was chasing him and see where they led me. After traveling a few feet I ran out of tracks.

“The trail ends here. But he didn’t have wings so how could he…”

Then something caught my eye, about three feet from me was an old decrepit well.

“No tracks, a disappearing pony-“ I moved towards the well to get a better look at it. It looked like no one had used in quite some time. “And an old well in the middle of the forest.”
I smirked, impressed by the cleverness this pony was displaying. “You're a clever dog, but not clever enough.”

I grabbed onto the rope that was still attached to the well and jumped inside. I slid down pretty quickly, using the rope to stop me from falling completely. I reached the bottom of the well and it was pretty dark, so much so that I couldn’t see my hands in front of my face.

“And this is why a good hunter is always prepared.”

I reached into my satchel and pulled out a small potion, really more of a shot of liquid. I unscrewed the cap and ingested it, then I closed my eyes; when I opened them again I could see perfectly clear and my irises had turned to that of a cat’s, which is why I named this potion Cat.

With my new low light vision I could see that not only was this well dry but there was also a large tunnel that led deeper underground, I followed it hoping to find my vampire friend.
After traveling for a little bit I reached the end of the tunnel and prepared to greet him.

“Alright you vampiric pony you, you’d better be prepared to…to…”

See, I was only expecting to find one vampire pony, I was not expecting to find a colony of at least 60 or 70 vampires.

“Well…shit.”

Seeing me made quite a few of them growl and at least a dozen began to rush towards me. Seeing that I couldn’t back out of this situation I drew my two hand crossbows and prepared to fight, I took aim and…

“Wait!” I heard someone yell.

All the vampires stopped where they stood. Then, one stallion pushed through the crowd: He had a white coat but wore a deep red jacket with the same color in his irises while his mane was a short jet black color. The minute he came to the front of the crowd he smacked one of the other stallions upside the head.

“Fore shame Plasma, attacking unprovoked.”

“But father Sanguine, he found out hiding place, and there was no way he could have taken all of us.”

“But he would have been able to kill some of you, maybe even most, before he fell. I will not have my kin dying before it’s their time.”

He faced me and I holstered my weapons.

“Forgive my children, they are eager to defend their home and it sometimes blinds them.”

I nodded slowly, worried that the slightest move would get me killed. What he said was true; I might not be able to take them all before I myself am killed.

He put one of his hooves to his chest and bowed. “I am Sanguine Rose, father of this small enclave of vampires.”

I mimicked his actions. “Bedlam, chaotic demigod reborn.”

He lightly smiled at this. “Ah, so the rumors are true, Discord has broken free and shifted alignment. It is a pleasure to meet in the flesh.”

“Thank you sir. I am almost surprised you’re acting as calm as you are.”

Now his smile became toothy. “I do have the upper hoof, if you had intended any ill towards me or my kin you would not be standing at this moment.”

“Fair.” I sighed, I didn’t want to tell him why I was here right away, perhaps a little talk might ease things over.

“So tell me, you call these ponies your kin but there are so many of them. Surely you can’t be related to all of them.”

He nodded back. “In truth I am not related to these ponies in the normal sense but we do share blood.” He began pacing slowly. “The curse of vampirism is ancient, dating back to before the Lunar sister’s banishment. Originally it was a punishment given to a pony, Dracul, after he committed a form of atrocity. He was given a disease that would forbid him from ever entering sunlight again lest he be met with incineration.”

Sanguine turned back to the group of vampires. “However, this was old and ancient magic, unrestricted power which combined with his unicorn genes had more than a few side effects: For one thing he became more like an animal, needing the meat of other animals to keep him healthy. He found the action repulsing so he trained himself to get all of the nutrition he needed only from a pony’s blood, later sharp fangs became the dominant trait making this much easier to accomplish.”

“He also discovered that the magic took root in his blood, which is why it could not be removed, because it was literally bound to his body. Whenever he fed on another he introduced some blood into that victim, and slowly but surely the number of vamponies began to grow.”

Then a small smile grew on his face. “With time he did not see it as a curse, but as a new stage of life. Using his increased lifespan he began mentoring the children he created, teaching them how to use their new abilities properly and effectively, and helping us create a society where we could live and not feel like outcasts. The rest, as they say, is history.”

I clapped after his story was finished, but in the impressed sense not sarcastic. “That was very interesting Rose, you tell that story very well.”

“I should, I am his great grandson after all, his true genetic offspring.”

Now this surprised me. “No wonder you’re the leader of this enclave, you have some of his original power.”

“Indeed. Now then, you have listened to the babblings of an old man without any hesitation, you did not mean any harm from the beginning and I wish to hear the intent of your visit.”

“How did-“

He pointed to his ears, which twitched a little, and his eyes, who’s irises seemed to slightly grow. “Enhanced senses, yet another of his gifts. I can hear the beat of your heart and you have calmed down much since my children attempted to kill you; it was erratic, as it should have been, then as we talked it grew slower and slower, showing comfort.”

I merely looked at him impressed at his skills of deduction. “I have come seeking one of your children; many ponies have died who entered the forest and I believe one of them is responsible.”

Sanguine thought about it for a moment. “That cannot be correct, we do not kill our prey, we only seek to drain them. I have educated all of my kin so that they may take what they need without murder.”

“Well quite a few dead bodies have come up, bodies from ponies who entered the forest and never came out.”

“I’m sorry, I do not-“

“Wait!” I heard somepony shout…again.

This time two ponies came up, one was an earth stallion with a moss green coat and an oak brown mane. The other was a white pegasus mare with a golden yellow mane.

“I need to speak with you Sir Bedlam.”

Sanguine looked surprised. “Bog! I know you came back recently, but I did not believe that you-“

“It isn’t me! But I… look I’ll explain what’s going on but I need you to help me first.”

I crossed my arms and looked at this Bog as a parent would look at a child, demanding an explanation. “Talk first, then I’ll see what I should do.”
He sighed, trying to calm himself. “My name is Black Bog, I passed through this forest decades ago trying to get to the other side when one of the vampire ponies bit me and recruited me to their family. They taught me and I grew to appreciate them.”

“One night, about a decade ago, I was on the prowl looking for a meal. When I came across her-“

He put his hoof on the mare next to him.

“Swift Gale, my wife. Though at the time she was just a mare I was stalking, but I was so…enchanted by her beauty that I could not bite her. Instead I talked to her, and night after night I came to visit her, growing fonder of her.”

Now Gale spoke up. “After about two weeks I realized that I really liked him and asked him to be my special somepony, but I never saw him during the day. It took three months for him to tell me what he truly was, but I said I didn’t care, that I loved him for what he was.”

“After that I introduced her to the rest of the colony, and a few months after that…I proposed.”

I acted surprised. “Oh my gosh, what did you say?”

She laughed at my joke. “I said yes and I began living with him full time. About a year into our marriage I had a…surprise for him.”

“She was pregnant; I was so happy that I would get the chance to be a dad. But as weeks and weeks went by she began to feel worse and worse; we went to the town’s doctor and the news wasn’t good. Basically, because I was a vampony and she wasn’t there was a genetic difference that would not only hurt her but may also severely hurt the child.”

“He only had one option, turn me and I would be able to have the child without facing any serious harm, and so he did. I became vampony, which was kind of weird to get used to at first but with him I was able to get through it. Eight months later I had our child, a beautiful little pegasus who we named Blood Pact after the bond we shared.”

“The first three years were normal; she laughed, she cried, and we loved her more than life itself. But things got complicated; she became violent, unstable. We took her to the doctor and the news only got worse, apparently because my wife turned midway through the pregnancy the vampire genes couldn’t completely bond with her DNA.”

Although I could see a sort of problem I didn’t exactly understand the problem completely. “In laymen’s terms?”

“…she’s dying.”

Well, that cleared things up right quick.

“Her body is treating the vampiric genes like a virus, trying to expel it, and it’s killing her in the process.”

“How long does she have?”

They looked down at the ground, solemnly. “They couldn’t be certain, they said a few months at best.”

Now all the pieces fit together. “You’ve been out looking for her haven’t you?”

He started to tear up. “She ran away…three days ago, I search for her all I can but I’m afraid she’s already-“ He tried his hardest to hold back his crying.

I put my hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, I’m sure she’s just fine.”

“I just-I don’t know why she left. We played with her, she did well in school, I just…don’t-“

“I’ll help you.”

He looked up at me with hope in his eyes. “Really?”

“Yes. I’ll find your daughter for you and make sure to return her to you safely.”

He put his arms around me. “Oh thank you! Tank you!”

Gale made a coughing noise, signaling him to pull away.

He stepped back in embarrassment. “Sorry, that’s the first bit of good new I’ve had in a while.”

“It won’t be the last, because you’re going to hear that your daughter is back safe and sound soon. I promise you.”

“Now do you have anything with her scent on it? Something I could use to track her?”

“Um…yes!” Bog said

He ran off away from the crowd and I stood there, wondering what he was getting. A minute later he returned with a blanket in his mouth.

“This was her baby blanket, she still sleeps with it so it should be enough.”

I took it from him. “Thank you.”

I took a quick sniff of the blanket and let that smell wander in my mind.

You wanna know something cool about being a draconequus? Since I’m basically a hodgepodge of different animals I have access to their selective animal powers; luckily one of them is the sense of smell of a wolf. I wanted to experiment to see what I could do, but no time like the present to figure it out.

I extended my arms and changed back to my long black robe, then I turned around and headed for the door. “I’ll return when I’ve found her.”

I snapped my fingers and teleported back to the entrance of the well.

Outside I began sniffing again, to see if I could pick up her trail.

“Now where have you gone little one?”

In my mind I could see trails of colors all around me, denoting different smells. The blanket had a bright orange scent but I couldn’t see any trace of it around me.

“I need to keep looking.”

I wandered around the forest seeing dozens of different colors but not the one I was looking for.After about twenty minutes of searching I finally came across something, a small hovel that was covered in her scent.

“I guess she was staying here for the night.” I took a big sniff to try and track the scent. “There’s a lot of it here so it’s probably fresh.”

From that hovel I found a trail that led away from the forest, I followed the trail until I was at the edge of the forest. When I looked out to see where I was I found myself back in Ponyville, behind the schoolhouse.

The trail ended and I found its source; on the swing set there was a small grey pegasus with raven black hair, swinging at a very slow pace. I watched her for a few moments; she looked totally normal, content even, why was she here?

“You can come out now. I can hear you in the bushes.” She said aloud.

Damn, their vampire hearing is more powerful than I thought.

Slowly I walked over to her, reaching into my bag to get something ready.

“You’re not going to hurt me are you?” She asked, not afraid but curious.

“No.”

I pressed the button on a device in my bag.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“My name’s Blood Pact.”

I smiled. “Nice to meet you Blood Pact.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“I came looking for you, your parents are-“

She interrupted me with a scoff. “Worried about me? Yeah right.”

“I’m serious, they sent me looking for you. They want you back.”

“Why would they want me back? They don’t care.”

I was starting to get frustrated, why was she like this? “What makes you think for one second that your parents don’t care about you?”

She looked down at the ground. “They didn’t tell me the truth.”

Oh…they kept her condition a secret from her, I suppose any parent would. “How did you find out?”

“The walls in our house are thin, I could hear them talking at night when they think I’m asleep. They say there’s something wrong with me.”

“They don’t mean it like that.”

She got up off the swing and looked at me with angry eyes. “Yes they do! Everybody treats me differently!”

“All the kids at school know that I’m not a full vampire, they make fun of me because of it, they say mean things to me. They said…my parents knew I was gonna be different and…they only kept me because they feel sorry for me.”

“And what do you do about this?”

“I bite them.” She said angrily.

“That’s…a good start, but did you tell anypony about this? Did you see if maybe they could help you?”

“N…no.”

“Well there’s your problem, you need to tell people about your problems. You know when I was your age I got picked on a lot to.”

She looked at me surprised. “You did?”

“Do you see anypony else like me? I got teased a lot for being different to, and I thought fighting would make things better.”

“Did it?”

I shook my head. “No. Sometimes I wasn’t strong enough to beat them, and even when I did win they would just come back even stronger than before. But you know what was always constant?”

She shook her head.

“If I ever came home, covered in marks, my mom would make sure that I was okay. She would kiss me, clean my wounds, and put bandages where it hurt.” I chuckled a bit to myself. “Then my dad would yell at me for getting into a fight in the first place, but he always asked who won.”

She had a small smile on her face; I could tell her mood was raised a little bit. Now to bring it on home.

“Let me ask you something: What happens after you come home?”

She thought about it for a second. “Um, mom and dad asked me how my day was and if I wanna play a game.”

“Do you like games?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I like them a lot.”

“And how do you feel when you get home?”

She looked down. “Upset, sad, sometimes angry.”

“And you feel that because the kids pick on you?”

“Yes.”

“Do your parents ask you to play a game on these days?”

“Almost always.”

“See? They aren’t doing it because they feel bad for you, they’re doing it because they can see in your eyes that you’ve had a hard day and they want you to feel better.”

“I-I…” It was like thinking about this broke some sort of dam inside her, her eyes began to well up with tears. “I’m so stupid! All this time I thought they didn’t like me! Not telling me what’s wrong with me. They wanted to protect me. I feel so stupid!”

Now she sat back down on the swing, burying her head in her hooves. “And now I’ll never get to tell them I’m sorry.”

“Yes you will, come on I’ll take you back to them.”

I tried to reach for her but she swatted my hand away. “No.”

“Why not?”

“There’s a reason why I ran away, I…I could feel something inside. Like…a feeling that you can’t describe.”

I nodded, understanding what she meant.

“I felt like I was going to die soon, so I ran away, to maybe see a glimpse of the world outside of my home. And because...I didn't want to sit there and have them watch me die, it'd be too sad.”

I honestly didn’t know what to say, she was acting very mature about reaching the end of her life and I couldn’t think of anything comforting to say.

“I…I’m sorry.”

She wiped her eyes and then looked up to me, pleading. “Will you stay with me? I’m really scared.”

I wordlessly sat next to her and extended my hand, asking for her hoof. She put it in and I held onto it, not tightly but with great care, as one would hold on to a small pet.

“I wish I could tell my parents how sorry I am.” She said, sorrowful.

“Well why don’t you tell me? Maybe that’ll make you feel better.”

“Okay.”

And so I sat in silence, listening to Blood speaking the praise of her parents. She went on for quite a few minutes after that but soon she just…stopped; she died with positive memories in her mind and a peaceful look on her face, I suppose that’s all I could have asked for.

I returned to the cove, just like I said I would, though not under the conditions I wanted. I held the little filly in my arms and carried her inside, I was met with gasps and the two parents rushing towards me.

“No!” Bog took her from me and shook her lightly. “Blood, Blodd speak to me honey!”

“I’m sorry sir I…I was too late.”

Now both the grieving parents surrounded her, openly weeping for their loss.

I couldn’t stand to watch this, I let my emotions go and tears began to form in my eyes as well.

Sanguine had somehow appeared behind me and he took notice of my feelings.. “You weep for them, why?”

I sniffled and rubbed the tears from my eyes. “To watch two parents lose their child is a heart wrenching sight in it of itself, to sit with the child and stay with her until her time came only makes things worse. Their plight has touched my heart and I feel sorry for their loss.”

He looked at me with his wise old eyes and contemplated. “What you speak of is true; I don’t feel that you are lying to me. You are a good pony like my kinsman, I respect you.”

I smiled at his approval; I still had one last piece of business to take care of though. I walked towards the two parents who held the child in their hooves.

“Gale, Bog, I have something for you.”

I pulled out a small box from my back pocket and gave it to them.

“What is it?” Gale asked

“Push the small button with the arrow.” I instructed.

She pressed the small button with her muzzle and a sound was heard.

“Who are you?”

“My name’s Blood Pact.”

They both gasped.

“Our daughter? But-but…”

“It’s called a recording device; it can record sounds and allows you to play them afterwards over and over again. I stayed with her until she died and these were her last words; I know they may not be much but it’s all I can do.”

Gale looked at me. “This more than enough, it will be tough for some time but at least now I will never forget the sound of her voice nor the good I saw in her.” She hugged me. “Thank you very much.”

I smiled back at her and began to walk back to the entrance of the cave, as I did I saw Sanguine Rose and bowed to him. “Thank you sir.”

“No, thank you child. You have helped my kin resolve their problems and put doubt to rest; you will always be welcome back here if you wish.”

I smiled at his kindness. “I understand.”

With that I spread my black wings and flew up and out of the cave.

11:00 PM – Bedlam’s home

It was late when I finally touched down back home, I quietly opened the door and slipped inside. I crept down the halls and I passed by Screwball’s room, wanting to check on her I opened the door and peeked inside. She was sleeping soundly but her bed was a total mess with pillows and sheets everywhere, she was a toss & turner just like her dad.
I moved to the side of the bad and swiped my fingers in the air, then everything flew up into the air and rearranged itself so she would be comfy. Satisfied with my work I leaned down and kissed her cheek.

I walked away but before I could leave I heard a groan.

“Dad?” Screwball asked in a low, sleepy tone.

“Hey sweetie.”

“Dad it’s really late, what’s up?”

“I was just…checking up on you, wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Mhmph.” She replied, not able to find words.

“Um…you know if you have any problems you can come talk to me right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay…good night Screwball.”

“Good night daddy.”

I quietly closed the door and smiled to myself. “She’s a good kid.”

I walked into my room and prepared to go to sleep after a long and tiring day. But something stuck out in the back of my mind, a large idea that somepony would like to hear.

Luckily I had a desk in my room for writing things down so I took out a sheet of paper, an inkwell, and a quill. I dipped the quill and began with three simple words.

“Dear Princess Celestia…”

“…today I learned that everypony has darkness inside of them, from the most noble of princesses to the smallest of children. This darkness is hungry and wants to devour us, but it cannot; when we have friends who care about us and family who love us we can find the strength to fight it and beat it. I’ve seen two cases where this is true and I suspect I will see many more. But for now, I end this letter with a lesson: Either we master our emotions or let them beat us they become our masters. With friends we can always find the strength to overcome our emotions.”

“Your faithful subject,
Bedlam”

I rolled up this scroll and put it in my hand. I opened up the window held onto my letter tighter, soon it became energy and then I threw it like a throwing knife in the direction of Canterlot Castle, it was the fastest way to get it there.

With all that said and done I lied down in my bed and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Author's Note

Holy...crap. I am never writing this much again unless I really get into it or I absolutely have to. Honestly, this chapter was hard to write, it went through several different edits to make the scenes just right and even now i'm not sure if it's as good as it could be but i've left you guys waiting for long enough.

The next chapter will come out much sooner, but it's going to be shorter because...well you'll find that out later.