The group of ponies kept walking down a trodden cavern path rather begrudgingly, sometimes stopping occasionally, the sole insectoid of the lot ensuring that her wings were kept shut at all times. She looked at her fellow travelers and, out of all of them, Raki was the most distraught. Her mane was messy, there were bags under her eyes, and she was thinner than the others; but she wasn't so thin she'd die in the next hour.

Her dual-colored eyes looked at Tenmei next. The 'gauze' on his face had contained his wound pretty well, and the stallion was looking every which way as if trying to use that which no longer existed for him. Some strands of mane were out of place, and he was walking a bit awkwardly, but he was otherwise fine. Next, Celestia and Luna were being glanced at, and all they did was sit down on the damp stone floor, the white mare's horn still glowing with a bright light.

Misaki was also sitting down, the wires that made her tails moving on their own as if they were headless snakes. They then connected with the rest of the forlorn wires dotting her body.

"Why haven't you used your talon?" Chrysalis asked, eyes set straight on the partially-metallic mare.

"I fear it may attract one of them." Misaki answered bluntly, her mane clinging to her form.

"You could use it to cut up food." Chrysalis sighed, ears twitching.

"If we found any!" Misaki cut back sharply in a menacing hiss. She then turned away, ears flat on her head and head hanging low. "I'm sorry....but for the past few days, I've been on edge since...it started."

All present froze as eerie laughter that sounded like it came from a deranged mare permeated the caverns. It echoed softly before fading from the world. Then, the sound of hooves beating on the stone came after that.

"Who's there?!" Tenmei cried at last, swiveling his head from side to side as his ears caught the echoes that bounced off the wall.

Silence was what greeted him. It was as if the world had denied him yet another answer to his ever-piling questions.

Misaki rose, and so did Celestia and Luna. "We must move now!" The metallic alicorn wailed as she began to gallop past everypony else. A bright purple flash of lightning landed right in front of what would've been the group's escape route.

"Going somewhere?" Cooed a mare's voice, sounding as if the owner had became insane long ago.

Chrysalis tried going the opposite direction, only to nearly become a lightning rod herself. Again, hooves beating against stone echoed in the dismal darkness, just outside the margins of Celestia's light.

"It doesn't matter where you go; I detected your movements through electrical impulses running amok in your bodies." Cooed the mare's voice once more. "You cannot escape me. Or the others, for that matter."

"I know that voice..." Tenmei murmured, swiveling his head again. "Yuuki, is that you?!"

Silence was present for another couple of fleeting seconds. Then, the unseen pursuer laughed nonchalantly.

"Who else would it be, sweet little Tenmei?" The voice answered as into the light walked a disheveled purple mare, hooves caked in crimson. Faint electrical sparks danced around her body as her dark wings splayed wide in a menacing manner.

"The Attribute of Lightning has been tainted...." Luna murmured, ears flat on her head as she stared at the purple mare.

"Tainted? 'Tis a lie, I'm afraid." Yuuki cut back in a joking manner, smiling just wide enough to reveal red teeth. She shook her head, some parts of her mane that had been defying gravity bobbing up and down as she did.

Celestia stepped towards her. "Then what explains your newfound taste for blood?" She retorted, her magenta eyes staring into the dark purple voids that made Yuuki's own.

Yuuki's face immediately contorted into a scowl. She stared the pure white alicorn menacingly. "I'm not a vampire." She answered quickly. She then looked away rather mockingly, and chuckled to herself as her horn took on a light purple glow. A spot in the air was surrounded by this aura before a strange, ball-like object appeared in it. It had a light grey outside, and deep purple inside.

"What are you planning?!" Raki shrieked at last, catching the purple alicorn's attention.

Yuuki flashed her a stained smile as the ball-like thing levitated next to her head. "Oh, I dunno, perhaps seeing how long you wretched fleas survive my grand and glorious electricity?" Her eyes then moved to the sole stallion in the group. "Ah, and find myself a new male to be my plaything. Once I find Nagare, I'll beat him to a pulp!"

"They've turned on each other as well?" Celestia cursed under her breath, her glare breaking to reveal a hue of surprise.

Yuuki's wings flared out wider. She didn't move an inch otherwise. "Who's first? I thought it would be generous of me to let at least one of you have the first strike." She cooed in a taunting manner.

Everypony was silent. None dared say a single word, for bewilderment had gripped them firmly in its invisible claw.

"Suit yourselves." Yuuki chimed, flashing another grin as she used her magic to thrust the ball towards the group, striking Tenmei square in the muzzle and causing him to land on his back. The ball then returned to the alicorn, who sent it towards Misaki. The cybernetic alicorn dodged it by mere inches as she spread her wings and took flight.

Chrysalis spread her wings and charged at the purple mare, her horn glowing with shimmering green flames. Yuuki did not see this coming, and quickly retaliated by charging up her own horn with deadly electrical currents. Both combatants shrieked as their magical energies flew from their horns and collided, intermingling into a deadly explosion which knocked all back a few feet. Tenmei was sent back further than everypony else, and narrowly avoided hitting a rock wall by utilizing his wings.

Yuuki remained unfazed by the explosion, though there were now scratch marks dotting her legs. She took notice of the flying stallion and began beating her own wings to propel for another flight. Tenmei's own horn lit up, and his crossbow now hovered next to him.

"Fool! Do you honestly think you can hit me with that thing while you cannot see?!" Yuuki shrieked as if in protest, her own weapon floating next to her.

Tenmei didn't answer. He couldn't answer. Instead, he hovered in place as if it had been years since he last used his wings.

Yuuki was getting angry. "So be it!" She yelled, flying towards the stallion with front hooves outstretched before her. Tenmei found another searing pain right in his chest, and was now being pinned against the rocky wall. The purple alicorn held the other ponies of the group in magical bubbles so as to keep them occupied.

"Leave him alone!" Raki shouted, pounding the walls of her new prison with her hooves before getting an electrical current rushing through her body. She convulsed and shrieked for a moment before it stopped entirely, leaving her in a pain-induced daze.

And then that was when the stallion smirked, his crossbow levitating behind the purple mare. His magic pulled the trigger slowly, and Yuuki only turned around fast enough to let the bolt hit her square in the heart. She let go and shrieked in pain, her cry sounding like a thousand souls pleading for mercy. Tenmei's magic then grabbed the bolt and shoved it deeper into her body, causing fresh blood and a hue of black to permeate her coat as she fell to the ground. Her magic dissipated, causing the others in their prisons to be set free. The stallion also fell to the ground, but remained relatively unharmed.

Then, as a bright violet light encased the purple alicorn, something most horrendous happened. Something that caused even hell to quake in fear.

She began to change.

Author's Note

It begins...