Nosferatu: A Blood Pact

Twilight dropped the letter from her grasp. Time seem to stop all around her. The room was eerily quiet leaving her sitting there speechless. She could feel her heart beat each pulse pumping blood through her veins. She turned her head slowly looking at the journal she recovered from the exhumation of Nazara. Somehow, she awoke the sleeping beast and nothing was going to stop it rampage of carnage until it ripped swathe through Equestria.

"No." She said looking down tears welling around her eyes slowly pattering on the scroll she had just read. She looked back at the book that caused this and gripped it in her hooves. Anger flourished through her body as she opened the book feeling down the side of the backing. The old parchment was yellow and faded. Stains of what looked to be blood tattered the bottom corner. A small bump caressed her hoof gently sending a mixed signal to the pony of intuitive exploration. There might be something more bound within these pages. She thought to herself.

A drawer shrouded in Twilight's magic opened as a pair of scissors levitated to her grasp. A tiny incision between the parchment backing was all she need as she peeled the old paper from the leathery hide cover. A tiny glimmer caught her eye. Embedded inside the cover was a small purple jewel. She drew her hoof forward touching it gently. A sensation of arctic winds chilled her to the very bone. Her vision grew black as she hit the floor unconscious.

.........

Twilight rose to her hooves shaking her head trying to whisk away the painful headache. She opened her eyes staring at what she believed was truly a nightmare. It must have been. Nothing else would explain how that thing was in front of her. It was impossible. She looked around her seeing nothing but grey emptiness before her as far as the eye could see.

"This can't be real." She said aloud.

"But it is. It is all real. As real as you and I." Said the figure in front of her.

"No it isn't. This is a dream. It has to be." She said back.

"Twilight, you're just kidding yourself now." It said back smiling a toothy grin.

"H-how do you know my name?" She ask cocking an eyebrow.

"When you touched that Soul Gem you touched me. And for that moment in time. We felt each other. We felt sad." It said in return.

"So, he really did it? He fragmented his soul. And you're his Sadness then? Huh?" Twilight asked.

"You're quite perceptive." It said.

"How do I get out of here?" Twilight asked.

"I have no idea." It said

"Where are we?" Twilight questioned again.

"I don't know." It said.

"Ugh!" She groaned smacking her forehead with her foreleg, "do you know anything?"

"I know many things. Many sad things." It said.

Twilight took a breathe trying to relax herself. This was obviously a dream induced by the Soul Gem and now it was just a matter of time before she woke up. At least, she was hoping that was the case. There was never any research done in this sort of scenario to truly have a estimated gauge of the length of which one will spent in the dream world.

She looked up at the spitting image of Nazara as if he were there before her. Though he looked sad. As if he had wept for years on end without stopping.

"Tell me about yourself Sadness? What have you endured?"

"I have endured that of which no pony should. I have slain countless lives. I have lost all those I loved. I abandoned my country in favor of my perverted dreams. I am a walking abomination. I am so sad yet I can never cry. My heart aches for the sweet, cold embrace of Death so I may leave this world and free it from my homicidal grasp." Sadness exhaled.

"I see. What made you want to split yourself from the rest?" She asked.

"I couldn't take my own sadness. So I pulled myself from my mind and placed it with my thoughts bound on paper to forever keep myself close, but never together." Sadness said.

"Did you split any other parts of yourself?" She asked.

"Yes, I split Love and Fear from myself." Sadness said.

"Do you know where Love is?" She asked.

"No." Sadness said.

"How about Fear?" She asked.

"No." He said.

"I'm going to take a guess and say you already know what's going to happen when I get out of this dream. If you could feel my sadness I don't doubt you read other parts of my mind." Twilight said.

"I know." Sadness said, "you're going to release me from myself." For a split second Twilight could have swore she saw the faintest crack of a smile upon Sadness' face.

"Do you know where your body is?" She asked.

"No." Sadness said.

"Was the Blood Pact worth it?" She asked.

"With this unbearable sadness, no. It was never worth it. Do not breach the Darkness as I have. It is not worth the pain it brings." Sadness said.

"Twilight," Sadness said, "are you sad knowing you'll die when you destroy Love, Fear, and myself?"

Twilight opened her mouth but nothing came out. She knew he was right. It was the only way to defeat Nazara. Tears began to form in her eyes and she collapsed to the ground crying profusely. She was going to die and nothing she could do would prevent it. Sadness walked towards the pony and knelt down to her hugging her in an embrace of mutual sadness.

"I know you're terrified and sad but you're the only one who can save me from myself." Sadness said.

"It's not fair! Inquisitive education should not be the death of me! I was just a little curious and now I'm going to die! Stupid fucking analogy came true! Curiosity killed the cat and the alicorn!" She shouted aloud hot tears still flowing form her eyes.

"If not you, then some other pony may have discovered my resting sight. And then somepony else would be just as plagued as you are. Truly though, Twilight. I am sorry you found me. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be in this mess." Sadness said.

Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes, "I have no choice. I'm a princess. The Princess of Magic. I have an obligation to lay down my life for the protection of Equestria and it seems the time has come for me to do just that." She said shakily trying not to cry again.

"You're so brave." Sadness said, "I bet if I met you before all this I would never have went to the Sanguine Sanctum."

Twilight chuckled trying to shrug off the tears, "yeah, I bet I could even stop Soul Swallower from turning on the Princess and Starswirl."

"Twilight, thank you, I've been so lonely and sad. It was nice to see somepony." Sadness said starting to fade into nothingness.

"Wha-?" Before she could turn and face him he was gone and she was alone. She closed her eyes and lied down on the nothingness around her.

............

Twilight awoke from her dream her head still hurting as she was lying on the floor. She rose to her hooves and looked at the book. The Soul Gem still intact. She pointed her horn at it hesitating ever so slightly choking back a tear as she shot the gem with a bolt of lightning. The gem shattered and turned into pieces letting off a little smoke before fizzling into dust. A sharp pain drilled through her head not a moment later sending her to floor once again clutching her skull and grinding her teeth. She tried to scream unsuccessfully and before she knew it the pain subsided. Sweat dripped down her face as she lay there panting heavily. She gulped down some saliva forming in her mouth and rose to her hooves. She had to go and find the Inquisitors.

She walked past Spike's room checking on him. He was sound asleep. Not wanting to make any noise she teleported outside her home and began her way into town heading to the one place she knew would have information on the possible whereabouts of the Inquisitors as well as descriptions of ponies. She was heading to Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie would know. Pinkie Pie always knows. If she were an information broker she would have cornered the market by now.

The streets were barren and empty as she galloped through them making haste to arrive before closing time which was in just ten minutes. She dashed left and right through empty stalls and over short fences trying to bypass any obstruction for a smoother route to her destination. A few drunken stallions tried catching the mares attention but she was too fast to hear or care about their sexual deviancies of single night procreation practices.

Twilight charged through the doors to Sugarcube Corner and not a moment too soon. Pony Joe was just on his way to turn the sign from opened to closed and would have to ask the cloaked ponies that it was time to go.

"Pinkie Pie!" She shouted as loud as she could and with a flash of fuchsia the pink earth pony stood before her.

"Hi Twily!" She shouted with glee, "did you come to surprise me with a surprise visit because I'm very surprised!" She piped hopping up happily.

"Wha-? Oh, yes, actually I did. I wanted to ask you something." She said.

"Go right ahead." Pinkie replied.

"Have you seen any new ponies around here in town mainly ones that who are accompanying Trixie by any chance?" She asked hoping for the best possible answer.

"Oh yeah! They're right over their!" She said pointing a foreleg into the direction of the cloaked ponies at the bar.

Twilight blinked in disbelief but not wanting to challenge Pinkie's knowledge of who lives in Ponyville. She walked over to the ponies and cleared her throat, "Diamond Star, I'm Princess Twilight, may I have a word with you."

A pony in hopped down from her stool and pulled her hood back revealing an albino pony just as Celestia describe. Bleach white fur and beautiful pink eyes. A pure white horn protruded from her horn and she smiled at the Princess bowing ever so gracefully.

Twilight almost blushed at the sight of her. She was truly a gorgeous mare and Twilight couldn't deny it. If this wasn't official business Twilight would want to take this mare to the bed.

"Good evening Princess Twilight, how can I help you today?" She said smiling radiantly.

"H-hi, you can just call me Twilight though. No need to be formal. Anyway, I'm here to assist you with your mission. Princess Celestia has informed me of the situation at hand." She said

"Alright Twilight, any idea where we should start first?" Diamond Star asked.

"One." She said, "The Canterlot Royal Library. We need to find a book."

"Oh?" The albino pony said cocking her head, "will this book be of use slaying the vampire?"

"Yes, I belie-" Twilight was cut off short.

"Oh for fuck sake, it's a vampire. We burn it to death and then it's gone simple as that. No need for books and shit like that." Blurted Trixie aloud.

Diamond Star shot her a scowl to shut her up.

"Actually," Twilight started glaring at Trixie, "we do need this book. In fact, it is crucial to killing Nazara."

"Who's Nazara?" Asked Diamond Star.

"The vampire's name." Twilight said.

"And how do you know that?" Trixie snorted in arrogant disbelief.

"Because I talked to him. At least, part of him." She retorted.

"What? You talked to the vampire and you lived? And you didn't try to kill it?" Diamond Star asked.

"Yes I talked to the vampire. At least a fragment of him. And yes I did kill him. That part of him." She said.

"What are you talking about?" Trixie shouted, "what do you mean 'part of him' either you killed him or you didn't."

"Have you ponies ever heard of Soul Swallower's dissertation on Soul-Splitting?" Twilight asked.

"I have." Said Silver Streak turning around and facing the noisy ponies.

"So you must know that a pony can fragment their soul." She said.

"Yes." Silver Streak said, "Nazara did too huh?"

"Yep. He fragmented the pieces into Sadness, Love, and Fear. I have already destroyed Sadness." She said.

"Ugh! So we came all the way into Ponyville for nothing! He's not even here." Complained Trixie.

"No we gained a valuable amount of information. We now know how to defeat the vampire thanks to Twilight. If we faced him without this knowledge we would have been killed easily. I thank you Twilight." Diamond Star said.

"So, if it isn't too much to ask, who are the rest of the Inquisitors?" Asked Twilight.

Diamond Star point out from left to right the ponies who sat upon the bar stools, "that's Silver Streak who you talked to about Soul Swallower, next is Rapier and finally is Zezima."

"Zezima?" She said questionably, "that sounds like a Zebra name."

Zezima hopped down from the stool and pulled back her cloak revealing a Zebra with a unicorn horn and the mane and tail of a pony.

Twilight's eyes widened and jaw dropped. She approached the hybrid quickly smiling with joy in her eyes. "Wow! I've never met a unicorn zebra hybrid! That's so cool! I had no idea that ponies could bread with Zebras. There's no known medical knowledge if that is considered inter-species and impossible to impregnate but now I know! This is so cool!"

Zezima looked down blushing intently. He was flattered and embarrassed that a princess was taking so much interest in her. No other pony acted this way towards her. Some even looked at her with anger or even disgust.

"T-thanks" She said tapping the ground with her foreleg still unsure how to act around royalty taking so much interest in an army grunt.

Diamond Star cleared her throat grabbing Twilight attention, "if you wouldn't mind Twilight, I'd like to kill this vampire ASAP."

Twilight giggled to herself, "okay, let's get going."

...........

Nazara clutched his head collapsing to the ground in agonizing pain. He knew what this was. He knew exactly what was happening. Somepony had destroyed part of his soul. He rose from the ground panting heavily with a look of pure savage rage on his face. He would kill whoever dared harm his soul. But not before securing another part of it first. He didn't want to have to go back to carrying around his Soul Gems as it would be too easy to destroy if he were harmed in combat and hiding them in plain sight was such an effective method that it lasted this long.

The unicorn strolled through the library tracking in the blood of the dead librarian be splattered across the wall behind him whistling to himself as he walked towards the back section. A small chain held up a wooden board with the word RESTRICTED on it and casually pushed it aside. He traveled to the farther section of the restricted area looking for a certain book holding his deepest treasure. His very life.

He had finally reached the 'S' section and now his search began as he looked high and low for his master's research notes. Soul Swallower's dissertation on Soul Splitting had to be here. Before he could continue his search he was interrupted by a group of guards bearing all lethal weapons. The middle guard came forward no doubt the leader with his embellished armor elegantly ornate just as Celestia had ordered constructed.

"Stop right there criminal scum!" Shouted Shining Armor bringing forth a magical sword translucent and pink yet still menacingly deadly and ready to cut down the unicorn in front of him.

"Begone mortal pony. And I will let you live another day." Nazara said in defiance.

"Last chance, stand down or die." He said preparing to charge.

"Get fucked." Nazara said shooting out several bolts of black lightning. The guards around him all perished with their metal armor fused to their skin. Their bodies burnt charred beyond recognition and the putrid smell of burnt flesh filling his nostril. He only managed to survive due to his shield that enveloped his entire body.

Nazara grinned, "so the unicorn's got some skill, eh?" He said shooting out another bolt of black lightning.

Shining Armor deflected the blast with ease of his shield before making a lighting fast charge towards the stallion and penetrating his horn deep within Nazara's chest, "Get fucked." He said and with a flash of light Nazara's body blew apart in all ways leaving chucks of flesh splattered across the walls and floors and even ceiling. Sticky wet blood covered Shining Armor from head to toe as he turned around frowning at he loses he just endured. Four dead guards in a second before him and he could do nothing but save himself.

He began to walk out the door but before he could leave a long black spike penetrated him from behind sticking out of his chest. He craned his neck backwards trying to spot whatever could do this and shocked to find the intruder he just dealt with standing before him with his hoof stretching out into a spike that stuck through the Captain of the Royal Guard. Blood pooled in his mouth as she spat it onto the ground. He could see the bits of flesh on the ground left worming their way back to the intruder in a sick morbidity that made him want to vomit.

He tried to yell out for help but to no avail nothing would escape from his mouth but the blood running down onto the floor. The black spike retreated back into the form of a hoof now placed on the ground. Shining Armor collapsed hitting the ground hard trying to keep his consciousness. Nazara approached him looking hungry with the intent on devouring the stallion but before he could a bright flash of light blinded both Shining Armor and Nazara. He could have swore it was Celestia but he didn't know. He now faded into the dream world from blood loss.