Castlevania: Portrait of Chaos

Chapter 2: What the Hell…?

Falling.

Falling.

From the damn sky. The duo found themselves rapidly shooting towards a vast forest. It was as if the entire plan was a bad idea from the start. Of course, they were also screaming in sheer panic.

“I swear, I did NOT sign up for this!” Charlotte wailed as the ground got closer.

“Neither did I!!” Jonathan replied, unable to control his body at the velocity he was going at.

They got closer to the ground.

And then they collided face-first with a stowaway tree branch, which snapped under the sudden impact.

They fell to the ground and their vision went black instantly.

A pair of songbirds saw the entire mess unfold. They unfurled their wings and took flight, whizzing past tree branches and other such plant material until they reached a nearby cottage. There, tending to the hens in the chicken house was a yellow pegasus mare with a long, light pink mane and eyes of green-blue. On her flank were three butterflies the color of her mane and eyes.

The birds stopped, flitting in front of the mare and chirping like the end of the world was happening at that very moment.

“W-what? T-two ponies...fell from the sky?” Asked the mare, her eyes going wide and her wings quickly spreading.

One of the songbirds nodded before chirping again.

“A...blue unicorn and red….pegasus?” She asked, tears starting to well up in her eyes.

Again, the songbird nodded.

The mare asked the songbirds to show her where the two injured ponies were. They agreed and led her to the alleged crash site and, indeed, there were exactly two ponies on the ground--one a red pegasus and the other a blue unicorn. The unicorn had a moderate brown mane and tail and was clutching a strange, red book in her hooves as if for dear life. Her cutie mark was an open book whose pages detailed a pentagram.

The red pegasus had blond bangs and a tail of medium length, his hooves matching the golden color. His cutie mark was even stranger: a sword and a whip crossed together in the form of a crucifix. He and the unicorn both sustained decent bruises to the face, and, to be frank, neither looked to be in any shape and simply weren’t supposed to be out in the open, much less falling from the sky like stray meteorites.

The pegasus mare looked at the songbirds. “Could you two get me some help, please? If you don’t mind, that is.” She said, softly.

The birds flitted off, and the mare inched her way towards the out-cold ponies to further inspect them. She hadn’t seen this duo before, so it was wise to be cautious. For all she knew, the birds could’ve been lying about them hitting a branch face-first. But had than been the case, then she wouldn’t be here, and nor would the bruises that these ponies sustained from the fall.

The birds returned with two brown bears in two.

“C-could you take these ponies to my cottage? I’d do it myself, but I need to get help from Twilight.” Asked the mare.

The bears nodded, and one carefully inspected the pegasus’s wings before lifting him off of his dirt nap. The other took the unicorn who still clutched her book and they both marched away from the clearing.

The mare took flight and quickly ascended into the sky. She whizzed above a small town until, at last, she came across a big tree with windows on its upper frame. She landed before the door and knocked it with her hoof rather hastily.

The door opened, and behind it stood a lavender alicorn mare with a darker purple mane which bore a fuchsia and royal purple streak just beside the horn. Her wings were folded neatly to her sides, and on her flank was a magenta starburst with smaller white stars surrounding it.

“Hey, Fluttershy.” Said the alicorn with a grin.

“Hey, um...Twilight?” Fluttershy replied, looking in the direction she’d just came from.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, her grin fading quickly.

“I found two ponies in the Everfree forest. Could you come with me to my cottage?” Fluttershy said, unfurling her wings.

Twilight spread her wings and the mares took flight. Again, they passed the small town as ponies below waved their hooves at the lavender alicorn. Twilight waved back, but she had to make it quick.

They stopped their flight and landed in front of the small, humble cottage. They opened the door and trotted inside. The bears had already left, leaving the unconscious ponies on the floor.

Twilight quickly trotted over to the duo and her horn lit up in a soft glow the same color as her coat. She moved her horn just above the body of the unicorn mare. Twilight felt...strange and powerful magic in the blue-coated pony, but couldn’t put her hoof on exactly what magic this mare specialized in. If anything, it was arcane energy with subtle hints of forbidden arts here and there. However, in the red book Twilight could sense that it was really a disguised book of spells.

She moved her horn over to the pegasus stallion. He didn’t contain any magic, of course. If he did, then it simply didn’t show. But his cutie mark confused Twilight a little. She’d never seen anything like it before.

The alicorn moved away from the duo and trotted over to Fluttershy.

“Yeah, I kinda see your point. How’d they end up here?” She asked, raising a brow.

“I was told by birds that they literally fell from the sky. I had bears bring them here while I got you.” Fluttershy answered, being the first of the winged mares to notice subtle movements in the unicorn’s forelegs.

This was followed by a groan of pain. And then, her eyelids began to flutter rapidly, revealing her irises to be a hue of ocean blue.

“Oh, my aching head…” The mare moaned, her shoulders barely twitching.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked, recoiling a bit from shock.

“No…” Answered the mare, her voice sounding weak. She slowly shifted her forelegs to prop herself up, her rear legs seemingly failing to work.

“You should rest. I heard you had taken quite the landing.” Twilight said, stepping forward a bit.

“I feel funny…” Complained the unicorn, her rear legs shifting into a proper sitting position. She rubbed her eyes lazily with a hoof.

Twilight raised a brow at that remark. “Might I ask you something?”

“You already are.” Retorted the unicorn. Her eyes widened and she suddenly swung her head every which-way she could manage. “How did I get into someone’s house?” She quickly asked, looking around still.

The mare took notice of the stallion and her hooves went to her face. She then cast a quick, shocked glance at Twilight and Fluttershy. She took another look at her current surroundings and then onto her own body. Her hooves went to the sides of her head.

“I’m losing my mind. I’m just losing my mind.” She said, shaking her head a bit.

“No, you’re not. It was just the aftershock of when you hit the tree branch.” Twilight replied, trotting to the confused mare.

Then, the stallion began awakening as well. Unlike the unicorn he landed with, he was much quicker in regaining his senses. He glanced at his own body, then the unicorn, and then the other mares.

The stallion looked at Twilight, and was quick to say, “Hey, what is this horned horse doing here?”

“I am not a horse. I am a pony.” Twilight corrected.

The stallion looked at the alicorn with his jaw physically dropping. His eyes went wide.

At once, the unicorn took a deep breath, scrunched her eyes shut, and let off the worst shriek that had ever hit Twilight’s ears. The stallion joined in, and then Fluttershy. Twilight also ended up screaming, and the whole orchestrated cacophony lasted a full minute.

When it ended, all the ponies sat on their haunches trying to catch their breath.

After a bit of panting for air, Twilight looked at Fluttershy. “Could you go ahead and see if any other animals are witness to the freefall?” She asked.

The yellow mare nodded and trotted out the door. Twilight turned a sharp gaze at the duo before her.

“Okay, I have to ask, just who ARE you?” Asked the alicorn, looking at the blue mare.

The mare and stallion exchanged a quick glance, and then the mare returned her gaze to the lavender pony.

“My name is Charlotte. Charlotte Aulin, to be exact.” Spoke the mare, rubbing a hoof on one foreleg.

Twilight turned her gaze to the stallion.

“Jonathan Morris.” He said with haste, rubbing a yellow hoof on the back of his head.

Twilight sighed. “I can certainly tell you two aren’t even from around here.”

There was a sudden display of perked ears.

“A-and what evidence do you have to support that?” Charlotte choked, swallowing hard.

“First off, your names are a dead giveaway. Second off, your cutie marks. Third off, that spellbook you carry.” Twilight answered swiftly and without stall.

The duo exchanged another quick glance, and their eyes went wide.

Charlotte returned her gaze to Twilight. “Had you landed where we came from, I’d say much the same about you.” She retorted.

Twilight raised a brow. “Why say that?” She asked.

Charlotte gave a wry smirk. “We’re actually from the realm of humans.” She answered, ears twitching.

Twilight’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. She shook her head as if unable to believe the exact words Charlotte had spoken.

“C-come again?” Twilight stammered, her wings shaking a bit.

Charlotte’s smile failed to waver. “I said that we’re from the realm of humans.” She repeated with a nod.

The alicorn turned to Jonathan, only to find him nodding in agreement.

“I have been to the human world. And it’s….oh my sweet Celestia, it was chaos!” Twilight said, trotting over to the duo.

Charlotte was quick to blink. “You have? You actually understand what I am currently talking about this VERY MINUTE?!” She asked, disbelief evident in her voice.

Twilight nodded with haste.

“Then did you have to deal with something like we did? Brauner was a nightmare with his enchanted magical paintings--and don’t even mention Death and Dracula.“ Charlotte said, crossing her forelegs.

“No, I didn’t. In fact, I never even heard such things.” Twilight answered.

Jonathan responded, “Well, Brauner was a vampire, while Dracula is the lord of Darkness, and Death….well, literally is Death given form.”

“I’d very much like to keep talking. We might know more about each other and prevent any future altercations.” Twilight said, beaming with a huge smile.

The trio carried on a lengthy discussion and exchanged about things such as lore, hobbies, and many other topics; Dracula being one of the many. Charlotte was careful to not explain too many things all at once and only kept to the current topic at hand--or, rather, hoof. The entire talk took a lengthy three hours, mainly due to Charlotte’s running mouth.

“You guys have it pretty rough. Being vampire hunters sounds particularly harsh.” Twilight said as she and the duo wrapped things up.

“Let’s just say we get bruised on a daily basis. But I am damn sure that landing in a tree branch and breaking it with my face was NOT on my to-do list.” Jonathan said, spinning his hooves in circles to mimic a clock as best as he could.

“Could you do us a big favor and not tell anyone else--” Charlotte paused, covering her mouth with a hoof to take a cough, “--or, rather, anyPONY else about us? We’d sure like to make friends here and all that, but even we have a low profile to keep sometimes.” She finished, putting her hoof onto the floor.

“Well, I’d have to tell Fluttershy your names and to not address you in public unless it was urgent business. Other than that, I’m keeping my lips sealed.” Twilight said with a grin.

Charlotte suddenly got a headache, and Jonathan quickly spread his newfound wings in shock. “Um, Charlotte, horn.” He said, trying not to panic.

The blue mare put a shaky hoof to her forehead. She groaned in pain as her horn began to glow brighter. It quickly disappeared, and so did the intruding headache.

“Um, Charlotte, I think I know why you suddenly had a surge of magic.” Twilight spoke.

The mare shook her head. She looked at the alicorn and saw that where a potted plant was a red crow perched on the clay rims, ice-blue eyes looking back at her. Twilight took notice of the crow as well.

Charlotte raised a hoof. “Come.” She said sternly. The crow spread its wings and quickly took flight, racing to the outstretched appendage. It took its place on the foreleg and scooted over to the shoulder before looking at the alicorn and sounding a caw at her.

“As I was saying before the interruption, I think that the reason for your magic surge is simply because your magic is stabilizing in your new form.” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Translation?” Jonathan asked, folding his wings shut.

“Her magic is going to be haywire for a while. It’s best to avoid using it for at least three days. It should be plenty of time for her to recover.” Twilight said with a bit of a chuckle. The crow put her at a bit of unease, and taking into account that it was not only red but summoned by a unicorn she’d just met earlier that day, made it a little worse than needed.

“And what of this feathered friend right here?” Charlotte asked, pointing a hoof to her familiar. The crow cawed once more before flapping its wings and finding itself perched on her head.

“Just keep him out of the sight of the residents. Red crows are….well, strange.” Twilight answered with a nod.

“I almost forgot!” Charlotte suddenly exclaimed, picking up her spellbook with her hooves. She sifted through the pages and produced a spell scroll.

“We found it in that old house we told you about.” Jonathan explained, “And she can’t read a word of it.”

The scroll was gripped in a lavender aura before flying out of Charlotte’s hooves and hovering before Twilight. She examined it carefully.

The crow cawed again. It began to scratch its head with a talon.

Twilight’s horn flared up further, and in the room appeared a mop and water bucket. The mop dipped itself in the bucket and, after wringing its own ropes a bit, began to cleanse the floor at a rate comparable to that of the local house maids, if any had been present.

“So, THAT’S what it does?” Charlotte asked, a half-frown on her face. “Well...I guess it could be useful for cleaning the house.”

“Especially if a bunch of maids are ill.” Jonathan added, nodding in agreement. The crow cawed once more. This time, it took flight and landed on the rims of a window pane.

Twilight craned her head, seeing that a cyan mare with a rainbow-colored mane peeking into the window. She banged on the window a few times, expecting to chase the red crow away. The crow only cawed in response and didn’t do much else as far as movement was concerned.

“Hang on a second.” Twilight groaned, trotting out the door and pulling the rainbow-maned mare in with her magical grip. Wings were on her back, and her cutie mark was a white cloud with a thunderbolt that had red, yellow, and blue as its main colors.

“Who is this? Why is she rainbow? Am I the only sane one here??” Jonathan asked, his hoof connecting with his face.

“Jonathan, you hang out with me all the time. Therefore, you’re not sane because you put up with an insane individual on a near-daily basis.” Charlotte retorted, motioning for the crow to come back to her. The bird complied, but not before circling the rainbow mare’s head once.

“Rainbow Dash, why were you watching from the window?” Twilight scorned, glaring at the cyan pegasus.

“Fluttershy told me about the hurt ponies, and I came to see what the commotion was about...the crow coming out of nowhere was AWESOME!!!” Rainbow replied with a cheeky grin.

“...” Charlotte was silent, processing what she heard.

“I am NOT giving the rainbow pony an explanation.” Jonathan commented, crossing his forelegs in a rather pouty manner.

Rainbow flew up to Jonathan’s face. “So Chump, are you a spy or just dumb?” She asked, giving a full course of glaring with daggers.

Jonathan turned his head away, forelegs still crossed. “Neither.” He replied.

“Rainbow, leave him alone! If he doesn’t want to talk, then let him be.” Twilight said, yanking the mare away with a flicker of her horn.

Charlotte raised a hoof to her head as another headache showed up. Her horn flared up and dimmed quickly. Jonathan found himself stifling a chuckle with a hoof before he broke out into an outburst of laughter.

The unicorn lowered her hoof again and looked at Rainbow, who now had a green triad of frogs on her head. The frogs croaked and hopped over to Charlotte, but not before one turned around and extended its sticky tongue, which hit the cyan pegasus right between the eyes.

“Apparently, my frogs don’t like a loudmouth pegasus who is much too quick to assume things like the very pony she’d accused of being a dumb spy. Well, then, who’s the dumb spy now?” Charlotte taunted, a sly grin on her muzzle.

Rainbow’s face quickly curled into an angry frown. “What next, bookworm?” She asked, her voice filled to the brim with murderous intent.

“....For a pegasus with the colors of the rainbow, you are already boring me.” Charlotte quickly retorted, going so far as to roll her eyes in a very uncouth manner.

Jonathan regained control of himself, but he was still chuckling a good deal at the unicorn’s rather cold remarks. His hoof was on his muzzle and he was shaking his head.

Jonathan said, still chuckling, “Besides, you haven’t seen evil unless you fight Legion or Medusa heads,” as he accidentally dropped the cross subweapon, which had somehow been held under his right wing all this time.

“Legion..? What the buck is that?” Rainbow asked, raising a brow.

“Once again, I’m not gonna say anything!~” Jonathan sang, putting a rather crude emphasis on ‘anything’ as he took notice of the cross and swiftly clutched it in a hoof. He rolled his eyes and flashed a wide grin at the mare.

The crow cawed once more.

“If I’m gonna get an explanation out of you one way or another, I may as well pound you into the ground to do it!” Rainbow hissed, her voice fueled by fury.

“In that case…” Jonathan paused, moving onto all fours and shifting into a battle stance, “...I have two words for you: No problem.”

Rainbow spread her wings and shot at the stallion with nigh-blinding speed. She had a hoof ready to deliver a punch to the face.

Jonathan wasn’t quite prepared for this burst of speed, and he nearly jumped in surprise. However, he reeled himself together at exactly the right moment and ducked the incoming punch. Quick as lightning he grabbed the mare by her tail and slammed her effortlessly into the floor before moving in and placing a hoof on her throat.

“How did you…?” Rainbow asked, quickly realizing that she made a very big mistake.

“Again, I refuse to answer.” Jonathan hissed, applying more pressure to the mare’s throat.

Twilight was quick to break the two apart, and she pulled Rainbow towards her with another series of flickers from her horn.

“Rainbow Dash, you wouldn’t understand anything he knows! Believe me, he could have killed you!” Twilight scorned, pointing a hoof at the stallion. “He was prepared for your attack, and I won’t scold him for trying to protect himself!”

“B-but…” Rainbow started, more than a bit shaken from what had just transpired.

Twilight shoved her face into Rainbow’s own. “Don’t do that again!” She said before turning to the duo. “I’m very sorry that happened. Rainbow is….”

“Reckless?” Charlotte finished for the alicorn. “Don’t worry Twilight, we were all reckless at some point in time. It’s really not that big of a deal.”