Chapters Nosferatu: A Blood Pact
A quiet pony stood perfectly still watching a flask of liquid. It began to change colors from teal to orange and from orange to silver and finally from silver to a semi-translucent purple color. The alicorn scribbled hastily on a piece of parchment making a thorough record of the results of her experiment.
Towers of books surrounded her private quarters in all directions as if it were an impenetrable fortress of knowledge that no siege could topple or pierce through. A candle slowly flickered out of light as the wax pooled around it began to consume the remnants of the chard wick which crumbled into dust as a light gust of wind blew it out of existence.
The pony sighed as the whole room was now filled in darkness. Her horn radiated with magic as the purple aura around her horn soon spawned a small ball of white light that levitated effortlessly above her head illuminating the entire room.
She resumed her previous task watching her quill whisk through the air so gracefully as her cursive writing appeared on the yellowish tinged parchment. The ink soaked into the fibrous material forming lines and loops that filled the page. The words formed fast and fluid-like with every flick of the feathered quill. Her brow furrowed with intensity. A look of pure seriousness sat upon her face.
She looked up at the flask once more noticing the changes in the texture. It no longer looked like a liquid, but more of a gas that sparked with electricity. Wisps of purple vapor slowly arose from the tincture. A look of excited and anticipation was plastered on the mare’s face. Something phenomenal was happening before her very eyes.
The once purple cloud of electricity that formed some sort of life form began to change rapidly. It turned ink black and the flask began to shake violently. A crack in the flask was all that was needed to send a thick syrupy black sludge across the room hitting the mare and covering the room. Her face grimaced with anger as she slammed her hooves on the floor.
The alicorn ground her teeth furiously as she exited her private study and walked into her bathroom. She looked in the mirror seeing the horrid sludge plastered across her beautiful mane. She rolled her eyes in contempt for the sludge on her hair. She stepped into her shower and with a mere thought her horn lit up twisting the knobs of the hot and cold water until a perfect temperature was achieved. She held her head under the hot water as it washed across her face. The syrupy sludge dripped off her mane. A personalized lavender shampoo custom made for Twilight’s hair lathered in her mane scrubbing away all the dirt and impurities while giving her a silky smooth shine to her coat. Thanks to her scientific ingenuity and Applejack’s knowledge of how to make homemade soaps and shampoos she was able to custom make each one of her friends their own personal shampoo based on a thorough and lengthy evaluation of their hair structure and diet. As well as environmental hazards and work occupational hazards.
The pony stood under the soothing hot water that ran down her body from snout to tail. She worked in the thick, sudsy shampoo into her coat with a yellow sponge. Its pores soaked up the water and shampoo mixture delivering it to all parts of the mare’s sleek body. Twilight’s face became a portrait of pleasure as the sponge worked its way between her hind legs brushing gently against her clit hood. She moaned quietly to herself as she removed the sponge and slid her hoof down between her legs rubbing and stroking her hot and excited marehood.
Now done with her much needed break. She rinsed off the thick coating of foam and bubbles revealing a shine and gleam from Twilight’s horn to her tail. A cotton violet towel floated gracefully to her as she patted herself down absorbing all the water from her body. She stepped out of her shower and wiped down the thick layer of condensed water that formed upon her mirror. She smiled as her brush glided with ease through her hair. She walked out of her shower exiting and spreading her wings to dry out the feathers. It was an all new task for the alicorn. She never had to deal with wings until recently.
It piqued her interest and diverted her from her usual route around Ponyville. It became quite typical of Twilight to go on this midnight excursions with her new found love of flying. Rainbow Dash was too fixated on racing and performing acrobatic maneuvers. Twilight preferred Fluttershy’s company when it came to leisurely flights to enjoy the scenery and get some much needed exercise for this bookworm. She would suffer from muscle atrophy if she locked herself away doing research and she would have if it wasn’t for Princess Celestia sending her to Ponyville to make some friends.
She circled around against to see what caused a light to escape from the void of the Everfree forest. It twinkled once more giving the alicorn a good idea of where the object was. She descended through the sky. The cool night air sending a small shiver down her spine as she gained some speed hoping not to lose track of metallic object.
What she saw was something that took her breath away. An awe inspiring statue of a unicorn standing boldly with her hooves spread bracing the stone as if it were about to lunge into combat. Her marble hair looked so realistic and vibrant in the magical light that illuminated the forest around her. Her face looked serious and intense. Her pose was dignifying as if she were a great leader or famous warrior.
Looking around Twilight noticed she was in the ruins of an ancient sanctum. Cobblestone covered in moss and aged by the elements stood motionless around her. Vines covered all available space searching for the light of the sun that the trees vigorously block out. Except for the statue, it remained untouched by time and nature as if it were in its own dimension separate from theirs. Writing was carved into the statue. A single word displayed itself in elegance, Nazara.
She looked up at the statue once more seeing what caught her eye in the beginning. The unicorn statue’s horn was made of silver and tipped with a diamond. Her personal candlelight the illuminated above her head moved with her as she circled the statue. No other identifiable markings could be found on the derelict statue.
The statue began to shake the ground making a roaring noise and it started to crumble before her very eyes. The white marble stone that once displayed the majestic unicorn was now but pebbles and dust. The alicorn coughed from the dust in the air flapping her wings to push it away from her. Beneath rubble something dark peeked out. A wooden casket that looked old and decrepit like it could disintegrate with a single touch. The alicorn approached it cautiously pushing off the remnants of the stone that covered the coffin. She touched the crypt feeling a sense of fear, dread, and an unbearable coldness wash over her. She took her hoof off wondering what she should do next. If it was safe to proceed with the exhumation or to leave the place and not return.
His eyes were sunken in but still looked like they could open at any moment. The corpse’s skin looked pale and smooth not decayed and leathery as one would expect. The corpse lied on her back with her forehooves crossed over a book hugging it tightly against her chest. Twilight touched the book wiping away a thin layer of dust. The book’s bindings felt like the tanned skin of an animal. Trying to push back her reluctance Twilight read the title just barely legible with the dead mare’s hooves in the way. It read in the same intricate looking font as the name for the statue, Nosferatu: A Blood Pact.My soul bonded to thee. Now I live for eternity.
The rustling of leaves and the sound of dried fallen branches being broken alerted the alicorn to a presence behind her. She spun around pointing her horn in the direction of the noise anticipating a predator of the forest to lunge out at any moment. After a minute of bracing as still as the cobblestone ruins behind her she lowered her guard believing whatever caused the disturbance was gone.
Not wanting to find out what was stalking her the alicorn ascended into the night sky clutching the book in her forehooves as she flew back towards ponyville. She couldn’t wait to read this book she had found. If it had any validity to the inscription it would be a scientific discovery of epic proportions. Immortality has only been ascertained by the alicorns and a few select entities such as Discord and Queen Chrysalis.
The purple alicorn landed gracefully onto the balcony of the library entering quietly to not disturb her sleeping dragon companion. With the book she found held tightly in her wing she climbed the steps into her study and lied on her bed opening the book with her magical aura. There were only dates on every few pages indicating this book was more like a journal or diary rather than a scientific text. Her eyes scanned every sentence reading each word in her mind.
Day 1 of Exile
Porphyric Hemophilia, a disease thought to be extinct has come back. I have become infected and I fear that this curse will destroy me. This wouldn’t have happened if I would have just listened to Starswirl, dammit. He was right. He was always right and my foolishness will become my downfall. Of that I am sure. He's dead and now I can't even talk to him or Soul Swallower to see what they can do to help me. The cave northwest of Canterlot Castle has been destroyed leaving me without any clues as to how I can cure myself. After Celestia got word from Night Shade that I made the Blood Pact she personally destroyed the Sanguine Sanctuary. Now I have nothing left. I am being hunted by mercenaries whose only motive is money. Damn that Celestia bitch. What have I done so wrong to deserve this? It’s not like I killed anypony, but now she is going to great lengths to kill me. I bet she’s still just pissed about Luna trying to make Equestria eternally dark and I’m the only avenue to channel her frustration. Damn I wish Soul Swallower was still alive. He'd know what to do.
With nowhere to go and no place to call home I guess I’m left to wander the Everfree forest till my demise. I guess I should have expected this to happen. Starswirl warned me about the nature of that cave. My brazen stupidity has now cost me everything I have. My college is probably going to be destroyed and my life’s work will be burned. My family… I have failed them. Mother and father will be vilified and ostracized because of what I’ve done. I suppose all is not lost though. Starswirl was wrong on one account. I did find the path to immortality or at least to a longevity past normal limits of most ponykind. Porphyric Hemophilia or as Starswirl would say, ‘The Dark Curse’ has greatly increased my strength, perception, endurance, and magical powers beyond that of any unicorn. It is possible that I may possess power greater than that of the alicorns, but I might just be getting ahead of myself. Further research will need to be done to see exactly what the effects of this disease are. For now, I need to find a shelter. It looks like it’s going to rain soon.
Day 3 of Exile
I found an old ruin of some sort. I’m not sure what this place served as but it provides good shelter from the elements. I’ve noticed I no longer have any hunger which is very odd. Most ponies that went without food for three days would be famished and be looking for anything to fill their stomachs. I can’t complain though. I’m lucky to still be alive with hunters looking for me. I imagine they’ll be looking for me on the outskirts of Canterlot’s forest hoping to come back for food and shelter. At least, I hope so. I don’t want to kill anypony, but I certainly won’t lay down my life without a fight. I better go scavenge for some fire wood. This place holds in heat will and I need to prepare for winter. Fall has already started. Looks like I was wrong about the hunters. They came out here pretty deep looking for me. I hope they don’t find the ruins or I’ll be forced to fight them off. The warm fire is comforting at least. I didn’t sleep well the past two nights. It must be the stress, but the nightmares I’ve been having seemed so realistic it was terrifying. I’m reluctant to lie down with the thought of hunters on my trail and the horrifying visions in my sleep. I guess there’s nothing left for me to do other than pick up where I left off. I’ll need to somehow find supplies and find a contact into Canterlot to get lab supplies. I’ll think of something by tomorrow. It’s getting dark out so the hunters will retreat back to their camp. They would be easy prey for a manticore around here. I wonder why I haven’t seen any of the forest’s creatures yet. After exploring these ancient halls further I’ve come across an interesting find. Whoever was here before me had an interest in the arcane arts. I found a treasure trove of books. Very old ones at that I’m not sure if they even cover up-to-date magic in Equestria. One of them caught my eye from the moment I saw it. It has a lock on it. By natural curiosity, and reasonable deduction, something interesting is held within the pages of this book and I will find out what it is. It doesn’t seem to react to magical forces. Or it resists them is probably more appropriate to say. I don’t get it. I’ve tried spells, brute force, I guess the only thing left is to find the key for it. Shit, I wonder if the key is even in the confines of this fort. I haven’t seen any people or corpses, but this place hasn’t been used in decades. I’ve got nothing better to do but search I suppose. Well, I must say, whoever lived here was very cunning and creative. I never would have expected this. After yielding nothing from searching the various rooms, bookshelves, and even the cellar I found it in the last place possible. The books themselves, inside of the spine I noticed a bulge. A strange bulge in the shape of a key. Low and behold it was. This book it is so strange. I’ve never read something that captivated me so much. This journal is so sad though. The story and life of a pony that’s ambitions got ahead of him. I feel sorry for him. He must have been very wise and educated to have performed such a terrible act. He created the first Chimera. How sickening. To fuse together two different species is abhorring. Not only that but he has the audacity to proclaim himself a ‘God’ throughout his rants. I guess he lived out the rest of his days here after being exiled from Equestria. Shit, Celestia was a lot more kind back then it seemed. He got exiled and I’m getting fucking hunted. I need to get some sleep. My eyes are killing me.
Day 4 Exile
Well, I’ve done it once more. My genius paid off after a minor altercation with those mercenary brutes. I convinced them to work for me instead. All I had to do was put them under a heavy hypnotic state and give them their orders. Now it’s all a matter of time as to when they’ll arrive with my supplies and I’ll have to dispatch them unfortunately. I have to send Celestia a message that either I killed them or the forest took them which will put a halt towards anymore hunters. At least, I hope so. With the lab all set up now thanks to my strong workers it has come time for their execution. It’s amazing how devoted they are digging their own graves, literally. I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be under such a powerful spell. Do they have free will? Is their mind gone into the subconscious like a survival mode instinct? Or is it actively fighting the influences of my spell? I guess I might never find out. But soon enough it won't matter. I will perfect the art of the Soul-Split and smite down that accursed Celestia once and for all and become the TRUE ruler of Equestria. I’ve never found the taste and smell of blood so delicious in all my life. The warm, syrup like liquid that covers my tongue sends a sensation like sex coursing through my body. I crave it more. Starswirl couldn’t have been more right. The lust for blood is unquenchable for a Nosferatu. This feast I have enjoyed will be my last for a while. I can’t prey on the ponies or I may be discovered and I will not have my precious lab destroyed again. Tomorrow’s going to be a great day I can tell. I’ll just need some test subjects. Looks like the forest will have to provide.
Day 5 Exile
Another night of dreams that make me wish death so the horrors would stop. This time I imagined myself lying down in a soft meadow of pansies. It felt so real as I opened my eyes staring at the sky watching as my vision blurred into white then appearing in an operating room. An earth pony surgeon leaned over me. My eyes were open and his scalpel began to cut through my flesh from my head circling around my jawline I felt every bit until he pealed my face off completely. A mirror pictured myself back to me as I screamed in agony crying profusely. A sensation of coldness like a grip of death pulled me into a void of darkness. The sun is blinding and it hurts my skin when it comes in contact with its rays. This must be a new symptom from the disease. I’ve set multiple traps in hopes of catch some volunteers for my research. Now begins the waiting game. There’s not much else to do than write down my thoughts in this diary of sorts. I never imagined how lonely it would be without another pony to talk to. I suppose this is the price I must pay for wanting progress in magic. No matter. My resolve is high and my convictions keep my passion burning like the fires of Celestia’s sun. If Soul Swallower could see me right now he would be so proud of what I'm doing. I only wish he didn't take on Starswirl head on. Now they're both dead.
A knock on the door startled the alicorn as she looked up from the book her focus was so fixated upon. Her assistant walked in rubbing his eyes yawning like a bear waking from hibernation.
A low rumbling sound sent a flock of crows soaring into the air departing from the branches they rested upon. The rubble around the casket began to shake violently before bursting in all directions away from the corpse that rested on its wooden bed. A chilling wind condensed the water vapors surrounding the dead pony freezing almost instantly upon contact with its flesh and wooden tomb. Its deep sunken eyes slowly cracked open revealing open sockets with no eyes and just a low pulsating glow of red light.
An ear-piercing shriek of deep anger and pain erupted from its dusty and decayed mouth that would send any banshee scurrying away in trepidation. Its old bones creaked with each joint it began to articulate releasing the centuries of atrophy from being buried. The corpse rose slowly from its tomb noticing quickly that the treasure it was buried with was taken. Its brows furrowed with frustration as it looked around seeing that its outburst had attracted timber wolves that surrounded it.
The menacing looking wolves crouched low to the ground sending their glares of malicious intent straight towards the living corpse. A devilish grin grew upon the dead pony's face as with sheer though a blackness formed around its horn and shot up dispersing into sever arcs that hit each of the wolves turning them into dust instantaneously.
A growling voice echoed through the forest as the corpse spoke in venom dripping in its words, "Starswirl! Celestia! I have awoken from my slumber and now I come for thee!" As that was said the unicorn levitated into the air and with a black aura that filled the tip of its horn the pony was gone with the sound of a pop.
..........
The sun alicorn awoke from her slumber with a chilling presence that sent a shiver down her whole body causing the benevolent creature to jolt upwards. She looked around her room searching for whatever could have caused the chill fruitlessly. No windows were open and her door was shut tightly. Not a single sound could be heard. It was quite enough for the mare to hear her own heart beat inside her chest.
She arose from her bed placing her pure white hooves upon the ground making little noise. She held up a foreleg to her mouth as she yawned deeply. A hairbrush levitated to her and began its purpose sliding down the silky pastel colored mane of the princess. Her hair flowed effortlessly in the same lingering magical aura that encompassed each strand from when she had to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon sending her to the moon and changing her once soft fuchsia pink mane and tail into what it is now.
She sighed realizing today like most days was another one filled with the unpleasantness of the nobles and their overall sense of superiority just because of a title and inherited wealth from previous generations. How she longed for her subjects in Canterlot to act more like those in Ponyville who were humble and kind to all. She stretched her limbs and looked out the window. The moon had began to sink below the horizon leaving all but her work now to be done.
She left her room passing by the two guards that stood by ever watchful of any intruders or dangers. They never moved or talked only when addressed or relieved from duty did they ever move. The princess walked down the long corridor leading to an open courtyard where her sister stood. The maiden of the night was all but finished lowering the moon and preparing to sleep the day away. She was content with this not wanting to deal with the posh, stuck-up nobles that she detested.
The sun goddess raised the sun effortlessly into the sky. The bright glowing orb cast shadows behind the objects it bathed in its warm light. It send a calming sensation through Celestia as she closed her eyes and exhaled slowly only to be caught before she could daydream into wonderland by her sister.
"'Tia," she said, "good to see you this morning." With a smile upon her face.
The princess smiled, "it's good to see you too Luna. Would you care to join me for breakfast?"
"I'd love to." Said the maiden of the moon.
The two began their journey towards the royal kitchen to procure themselves some food before Celestia started her day and Luna started to drift off into dream land. They spoke very little on the long walk to the kitchen except for small chat asking how the weather was and if there were any events coming to the palace.
The hallways echoed each step they made as the sounds bounced off the walls and stained glass portraits of the heroes of Equestria. Royal guards stood still like petrified stone in front of the various doorways and entrances to parts of the castle only accessible by the princesses themselves.
The two princess took seats in front of each other at he massive table. Within moments of their rumps touching the marble and golden trimmed seats a waiter arrived bearing the cutie mark of a martini glass and his head held up high. His hair was slicked backwards and his goatee was perfectly black and trimmed. He wore a black vest and a white undershirt and levitated a tray with two glasses of water.
Luna watched as the water floated in front of her taking in a small amount of distaste for the overly extravagance of a simple meal such as breakfast.
"Your highnesses," he said addresses them both in a matter of respect, "what shall I bring you today?"
The white alicorn thought for a moment before speaking, "one daisy sandwich, mustard, and a glass of of your finest orange juice, please.
"Yes, ma'am!" Said the waiter before turning his head towards Luna, "and for you princess?"
"Cold gazpacho, and make it spicy, oh, and I'll have orange juice as well." Said Luna.
"At once!" Said the waiter making a beeline for the back kitchen to alert the chefs.
The pair of princesses sat quietly until their orange juices arrived. They both sipped on their fruit beverages before Luna spoke up.
"Honestly sister, how do you put up with the nobles? I know I've asked this question before, but I can't understand how you deal with their snobbish attitudes and disdain for anyone who isn't walking around with Bit purse bigger than their own ego. It truly perplexes me as to why you even allow them to keep titles such as 'Nobles'. There is nothing truly 'Noble' about them. If I had my way I'd send them to the rock farms-" Celestia interrupted her mid speech
"Now, now, Luna, there is no need to be so harsh upon them. You have a point, yes, they are very difficult to deal with if you don't have a lot of Bits. But there is still hope for them. They Nobles at one point were 'Noble' as they represented the factions with their interests true at heart. Now they are no longer necessary to speak for them and that is why I stripped away their powers long ago. Each pony can voice their own opinion. It no longer has to be a speaker for each species. I cannot, however, strip them of their lack of empathy or compassion for those who don't hold the same clout or ego as them. That will take time. Plus, if I just stripped them of their wealth and power and threw them into a rock farm I truly doubt they would change their attitudes. In fact, I imagine they would blame the less wealthy ponies for their predicament instead of blaming me. The rock farms are only meant for those who truly wish to farm them and our prisons for some ponies who just won't abide by our societal rules and must be punished for their wrongdoings."
"Like Blueblood." Lune blurted out.
Celestia signed and put her glass down before she could take another sip, "Blueblood, may be my nephew, but that does not excuse him from assaulting other ponies and using his personal guard detail to extort Bits from shopkeepers to fuel his addiction to opium. I certainly couldn't go easy on him just because he is family and he is a Noble. Justice must be served equally to anypony and everypony."
Luna smiled, "and that's what I love about you the most 'Tia, you try to be as fair as possible."
Celestia looked up into the air staring blankly at the ceiling that towered over their heads, "at least... I try to be fair."
The waiter blitz out of what seemed thin air delivering fresh glasses of orange juice and placing the meals in front of each princess. A perfectly plated daisy sandwich with just enough mustard to drip ever so little from the sides just as Celestia liked it and a large bowl of cold and spicy gazpacho topped with freshly cut fruits for Luna.
"Your breakfast, Princesses." Said the waiter keeping his head up high almost in permanent fixation, "can I get your highnesses anything else?" asked the unicorn.
"No that will be all thank you." Said Celestia. And with that said he zipped away from sight leaving the pair of princesses to enjoy their meal.
......
I'm late, I'm late, I'm late said the lavender unicorn insider her head rushing through ponyville as fast as she could. I hope they haven't started without me. She slowed down reaching the center of ponyville seeing her four of her five friends in a crowd waiting for her. Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down trying to spot the alicorn and to her luck she most certainly did.
"There she is!" Blurted the pink earth pony galloping over to the alicorn and embracing her in a tight hug.
"It's good to see you too Pinkie," giggled Twilight as the rest of her friends gathered around.
"How'ya been, hun? Haven't seen ya' in a bit, wonderin' if you were going 'ta come on out of that library sometime this century." Said the cowpony
"The gangs all here now!" Shouted a cyan pegasi with a rainbow streaked mane and tail.
"Darling! You look absolutely dreadful!" exclaimed rarity, "just look at you! Your eyes look more sunken in than a corpse and your hooves!" She picked up a foreleg of the alicorn, "haven't you been to a spa yet! They look like Applejack's all wore own and crack and... not pretty."
"Hey, quit talkin' 'bout my feet, ok!" retorted the orange mare.
"Hey where's Fluttershy?" Asked Twilight looking around.
"Oh she can't make it today Angel has the flu and she won't leave his side for even a second." Said the cyan pegasi landing somewhat gracefully on dirt road.
"Ok then. So what do you girls want to do today?" Asked the alicorn.
"Eat cupcakes!" Shouted Pinkie Pie.
"Go to the Spa!" Yelled Rarity.
"A leisurely stroll through Ponyville's park." Said Applejack
"I don't know." Said Rainbow Dash shrugging her shoulders.
"Ok, well, I suppose we can start off with eating some cupcakes because I haven't even had breakfast yet, then we can go to the Spa and finish off with a stroll through the park." Twilight said.
They all nodded their heads in agreement.
"Alright, let's get started then! My first day off in a month!" Exclaimed the alicorn as they headed in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
"Where is it! Where is my journal! Where the fuck is it!" Screamed the deathly walking corpse as it squeezed the filly's neck holding it tightly against the wooden tree. The little pony tried to cry out but to no avail as the corpse's grip was too tight to yell. Its cold icy grip send sheer terror running down the little mare's spine as the tears that welled from her eyes began to condense to ice as the breath of the monster was closer to her face than she would have ever wanted.
"Either you tell me where my journal is filly or you will join your friend over there," said the raging vampire pointing towards the mutilated mess of organs and flesh. It looked as if a bomb exploded from the inside out of the small filly. There were no distinguishable characteristics that could identify it other than small patches of fur smothered in blood.
"I-I don't know w-what you're talking about." Said the filly squeezing the words painfully from her mouth.
"Don't you fucking lie to me worm!" Roared the vampire
The vampire's grip tightened just enough to hear the crack before the pony went limp without life. He tossed the filly against a nearby tree and approached it with a vicious look in its eyes. The corpse bent down opening its dry mouth revealing fangs sharper than a dragon's scale. The filly could only watch in terror and agony completely paralyzed from its broken neck as the monster bit into it's neck draining the blood from its body. Within seconds the filly looked as if it was a mummy from the drained and lifeless look. The vampire licked its now thirst-quenched lips looking dramatically younger and alive. It no longer looked as if it had emerged from a grave. Instead it had the youthful and radiant appearance of most stallions in their prime.
"Delicious," said the vampire looking at the dead filly, "virgin's blood has always been my favorite." With that said the vampire disappeared in a brilliant flash of black light.
The corpse reappeared at the edge of a small town. He could see foals playing with their friends and a busy market of mares and stallions purchasing and selling goods and services. He grimaced with hate disgust for these were the same ponies he believed that chastised him so long ago. Rage boiling in his veins that have long since pumped blood through him.
"Soon," he said. His words dripping with hate, "soon you will all be but minions to me."
........
The five ponies sat inside of the jacuzzi. The warm bubbling jets relaxed them all as they washed away all the stresses and worries they had for the time being. Pinkie Pie, being as random as she is decided to bring along gummy for the ride scaring Rarity to near death as the scaly reptile slid along her slender body. The cupcakes sat in the bellies full and pleased with the delightful confections Pinkie Pie was so good at creating.
"Seriously darling, why must you bring your pet here? I couldn't bring Opalescence even if I begged her." Quizzed the mare
"Because Gummy loves the bubbles, silly!" She said smiling widely and giggling as her pet alligator tried to bite her face multiple times leaving not a scratch but a thin reside of saliva that quickly washed off as she dunked her head once more under the water.
Applejack chuckled slightly before speaking, "so, Twilight, ready any good books lately?"
Twilight was caught off guard by the question. She had been daydreaming about the book she found in the Everfree forest debating on whether or not to go back and explore some more. It had mentioned an ancient labyrinth the pony in the journal used for experimentation and she was very curious as to what she may find there.
"Yes. Yes I have Applejack," she said looking somewhat prideful in her scholarly abilities. "I found an interesting journal of sorts-" she was cut off before she could continue by Pinkie Pie.
"You know Twilight, you really shouldn't be reading other pony's diaries." Piped the pink pony.
"Well, seeing as how this pony is long since dead I don't think he'll mind that much." Retorted the alicorn.
"So who wrote this journal anyway?" Asked the cyan pegasus looking rather curious.
"A pony by the name of Nazara." Twilight started, "it appears that he was an apprentice of Starswirl the Bearded but he had a falling out with Starswirl on the topic of Necromancy."
Everyone grew quiet quickly after hearing that dreaded word.
"Darling, where ever did you find this 'journal'?" Quizzed the alabaster unicorn.
"Within the Everfree forest after a midnight flight I found a shrine or grave I suppose and in the coffin I found the journal." Said Twilight.
Her friends looked at each other than back to Twilight.
"Ah' don't know Sugarcube. You sure 'bout takin' books that don't belong to you. Ah' mean, ya' that pony is dead, but could the book be cursed? That's more than likely really ancient magic we don't know anythin' 'bout." Said Applejack with a worried look upon her face.
"Oh please," the alicorn said, "there are no such things as curses. Everything can be attributed to a causation that leads to an effect. And as far as I can tell, there have been no negative effects that I can notice."
"But Twilight, you and I both know there are some very powerful enchantments that can harm whoever uses the item that has been enchanted." Rarity started, "are you sure you didn't awake some long dead evil spirit? Soul Swallower lived but three hundred years ago and he was an expert on dark enchantments. Plus, he was in the timeline of Starswirl the Bearded. It was he that vanquished Soul Swallower."
"You're absolutely right Rarity, I'm surprised you know of Soul Swallower. But all of his research has been locked away in the royal library far away from any pony that might wish ill will. Besides, I would have felt whatever enchantment, if there was one by now." Twilight responded.
The rainbow maned pony looked confused at what they were discussing, "so... who exactly was Soul Swallower? I'm not much of a non-fiction kind of pony."
Twilight cleared her throat, "Soul Swallower was one of the greatest minds of the arcane arts along with Starswirl the Bearded. In fact, some scholars believed that Soul Swallower may have been even more powerful than princess Celestia. He was the first and foremost lead mind when it came to theoretical and practical applications of bio-altering magic. He developed the first 'Soul Gem' which could be used to split apart a pony's very soul into fragments that would allow the pony to be quite literally, immortal. However, it was not to be used by ponykind by any means and for the very reason of insanity. When he fragmented his soul he also spit apart his emotions. He spit apart his emotions so much there was nothing left of him but a husk that believed it was truly a perfect being as he was incapable of feeling anything."
"Wow." Said Rainbow Dash.
"Wow, indeed," Twilight resumed her speech, "though it is said to be theoretically possible to split your soul from your body completely without fragmenting it. However, this is just theory. You would need a gem so pure it could hold a true soul and those are near impossible to find. The only ones on historical record are the Elements of Harmony. There has been no attempt at Soul-Splitting for three hundred years. It's very dangerous and detrimental to the user's health."
"Wait, so how did Starswirl stop Soul Swallower if he fragmented his soul into various gems?" Asked the cyan mare.
"Well, he had to do it the only way possible. He smashed every piece of his soul until there was nothing left." Said Twilight.
"Like 'literally' smashed his soul or is this a metaphorical representation?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Literally." Twilight said, "he had to find all the pieces of the soul gems he put his soul into and forcibly destroyed them. Unfortunately this also killed Starswirl. Little did he or Soul Swallower know that when a soul gem is destroyed it can only be destroyed by using part of one's own soul. It's not something that can be prevented either. Whether by brute force or magic when a soul gem is destroyed it takes with it part of the attacker's soul."
"Wait. So, why exactly does the soul gem take part of the attacker's soul?" Applejack asked.
"I'm not sure really. I have a theory as to why. It may be because the soul fragments are emotions which are part of the pony's very consciousness. When it feels it is in true danger of being destroyed it retaliates to the aggressor. Much like how any of us would react to an impending evil force like Discord or Nightmare Moon that wanted to harm Equestria." Twilight replied.
"I don't know about you girls," Pinkie Pie said hopping out of the jacuzzi, "but I'm turning into a prune."
The four other ponies looked at their pinkie earth pony friend seeing a shriveled up mare's body with a youthful radiant face.
Twilight giggled with the rest of her friends, "okay girls, let's get going."
......
The alicorn of the sun sat in her throne daydreaming away as she yawned at the petty squabbles of the nobles that came to bicker to her.
"Your highness... Your highness!" Shouted the vexed noble looking disgruntled by the princess ignoring him.
She shook her head awake looking around and seeing the pony before her that was causing her to break out of her subconscious dreaming.
"Have you even heard a word I said?" He asked the princess.
The alicorn sighed, "look, I understand you don't like the new tariff, but you'll just have to bear with it. We need the funds if you would like to continue to have banquets and large political/social gatherings here at the palace. Besides, you make plenty of Bits to support you and your family substantially."
The pony grimaced at the princess, "but we have the highest tax rate in Equestria! This simply isn't fair."
Celestia's face grew with the tinge of disdain and she spoke clearly and sternly, "now listen, Golden Hooves, Canterlot is the richest city in my kingdom. You can afford a higher tax rate than the rest of the ponies. While you live in the lap of luxury my personal student lives in a library in Ponyville a quiet and quaint little town that survives modestly without marble roads and fine wines. I don't want to hear anymore bickering about the new tariff. Do I make myself clear?" Said the princess sending a gaze that if she truly wanted to could evaporate the pony before her into a cloud of dust.
"Y-yes, your highness," said the pony meekly backing down from the alicorn and walking out of the castle utterly defeated because of his own greed.
The princess gave a loud sigh, "UGH! I swear these ponies are getting too greedy." She shifted her gaze to her right looking at the guard that stood ramrod still.
"What do you think?" She said looking at the guard.
He looked nervous but gained confidence before speaking as to not look trepidatious in front of the ruler, "I think you know what your doing, Princess. I have a sister, Carrot Top, in Ponyville. She loves it there. I've only visited once. I see why she likes it there. It's a town full of ponies that don't care about class, clout, or wealth."
The princess smiled and chuckled quietly to herself, "thanks for your input Steel Wings."
An earth pony breathing heavily burst into the courtroom sending the guards into a frenzy. Within mere seconds the earth pony had spears and axes alike surrounding him on all sides.
"Let me through, I need to talk to the princess! This is important!." He exclaimed
"Let him pass." She said calmly.
"T-thank you, your highness." He said catching his breath.
"So what is it? What's so important?" She asked
"V-vampire." He said breathing heavily.
Celestia eyes widened and her face grew near ghost-like.
"K-killed two fillies near P-ponyville. Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon were found at the edge of the forest. Silver Spoon looked like a bomb went off inside her and Diamond Tiara was drained of all her blood." He said looking up at the Diarchress before him.
"Did anypony get a description of the vampire?" She said sternly looking down at the earth pony.
"N-no, they were only found when the school teacher Cheerilee noticed they were missing and went to search for them." Replied the earth pony messenger.
Celestia looked more irritated than before with the greedy noble. She rubbed her furrowing brow with one foreleg, "Get Shining Armor to deploy the Inquisitors. I want that vampire dead as soon as possible!" She said with a stern voice that shook the very castle.
The guards went spastic in all directions leaving the courtroom except for her two personal escorts and the earth pony who notified her.
"As for you," she said looking down at the earth pony. His heart sunk waiting for her next words, "not a word of this to anypony. The last thing we need is a damn riot." He nodded and ran out the courtroom as fast as he legs could propel him.
"Permission to speak, your highness." Said on of her personal guards,
"Yes, Steel Wing?" She said looking over at him.
"Princess, I thought the last vampire was killed three hundred years ago by Starswirl. The Sangui-" He was stopped mid sentence by the princess's hoof in in front of his snout.
"I don't want to admit it, but we never truly did kill Nazara, only Soul Swallower was vanquished. Never his apprentice. I thought he would have stayed in hiding after I order his execution on sight if found in the borders of my kingdom." Said the peeved princess.
"P-princess, you don't mean HE is still alive? There's no way. It's been three hundred years." Said the guard looking rather frightened.
"I fear he may truly have come back. But why? Why now? What brought him back to Equestria? He couldn't have perfected Soul-Splitting. It's not possible." She said aloud. Or is it? Did he finally come back for his revenge?
Heresy and Hearsay
Shining Armor stood bold and proud as he should be being the captain of the Royal Guard. He walked back and forth observing the various unicorns in front of him. All dressed in jet black cloaks with lightweight magical resistance armor underneath bearing the cutie marks of the two Princesses, Luna and Celestia. Their gazes never shifted from looking forward and their faces left only enigmatic thoughts to most who approached them. They had poker faces that would make even the most skilled players sweat and shake. And most interestingly, they were all mares. Not one stallion ever made it through the qualification tests of an Inquisitor.
"Inquistiors," Shining Armor said boldly, "there is a vampire stalking ponies in Ponyville. Your orders are to kill it with extreme prejudice. Leave nothing left of the beast when you find it. And," he took a pause before forming his next words looking intently at the unicorns, "if there are any victims that have been bitten by the vampire they are to be liquidated as well. Even if that means one of you is bitten. We cannot allow this heretic to feast upon us. You leave in one hour so be ready. You are dismissed." Shining Armor finished leaving the unicorns to their devices and allowing them to prepare for this incursion,
The Inquisitors were Celestia's and Luna's hoof-picked special forces. Known for their magical prowess as well as physical strength. They were the most well trained, well funded, and well armed ponies in Equestria. They did the jobs no pony could ever do. Slaying Ursa Majors, Manticores, even Hydras was their field of expertise. As well as their most resented and hated foes of all, necromancers. That was one of the reasons these ponies were picked. Their profound hatred of the most horrendous crimes against nature. It wasn't all that often the Inquisitors were dispatched to take care of problems like vampires.
The princesses mostly used them for retrieving artifacts deep within the Everfree forest, and even beyond sometimes these days, but centuries ago they were the ponies most on the front lines fighting the heretical acts against the Celestial Empire. However, little has ever been recorded of their deeds. Most ponies who tried to interview them or even write books about them were heavily bribed or coerced into silence. This was Celestia's trump card only to be used in the most serious of cases and she didn't want the Inquisitors just to be open knowledge. The Gryphon kingdom was still on rocky terms with the ponies and the maiden of the Sun couldn't allow them to gain such knowledge of their military forces so easily.
The five unicorns looked at each other without saying a word as Shining Armor left their presence leaving an uneasy feeling in the air of fear, anger, and justice that must be served to the abomination that now walks Equestria's grounds.
The first to speak was Silver Streak, colloquially name for the streak of silver hair the ran down her purple mane. Her coat was a pale blue soft and silky from much maintenance, but her face was another matter. Her eyes were cold and and distant from the years of battle and killing. A prominent scar across her right cheek stood out as one noticeable feature. "Any ideas how a vampire got so close to the borders of Ponyville? I thought the last one was killed three hundred years ago."
A familiar voice that would have thrown Twilight and her friends into a frenzy spoke up next. It was truly a surprise to Celestia and the rest of the Inquisitors that The Great and Powerful Trixie made it through selection. Or as she was now known as, Trix, "probably because Celestia's little protege woke up some ancient evil or something. Who knows, who cares, let's just make this quick."
"You could at least try to act a little more professional Trix. We better not have another incident like Manehattan again or-" The mare was cut off too quickly to form her next words dealing now with a rebuttal from Trixie.
"Shut the fuck up Rapier! You know damn fucking I had no choice! It was either kill the wraith and its vessel or let it massacre the entire town. Don't you ever fucking question my judgement again!" A look of pure rage overtook the unicorn but she soon settled down before things got physical when their captain Diamond Star finally spoke. She was an albino pony. Bleach white fur and mane with light pink eyes. "Settle down, both of you. Rapier, quick pressing Trix's buttons. Trix, no need to be vulgar."
The respect and admiration they had for their captain was phenomenal. There were no words exchanged after that just closed mouths and a gently nod towards their captain. There was one point in which their captain did have to get rough with them. When Trixie first joined she was arrogant, rude, and disrespectful, but after one fight going hoof-to-hoof with Diamond Star she learned quickly that another fight with her would most likely end with her death.
The only one who had yet to speak was a quiet pony named Zezima. The youngest mare to ever join the Inquisitors. As well as the only pony/zebra hybrid that was known of in Equestria. She had the same fur pattern as a zebra with the exception of her mane, tail, and most obviously her horn that sat upon her head. Her mane and tail were soft like pony fur with a light blonde color that enveloped every strand of hair. Much similar to that of Applejack's.
Rapier piped up this time once more, but not to pick a fight, "hey Zezima, what's up you haven't spoken since we got back from Primus. What's on your mind?" She asked inquisitively.
"N-nothing, Rapier. Just fatigued a little." She said meekly. But the others could tell it was something different. Diamond Star particularly noticed a change in behavior in the young mare. After the attack on Primus something changed about the zebra hybrid. Then again most of their time together was searching for rare artifacts the princesses would be interested in and not wiping out entire towns of changeling ponies. Zezima was still innocent and hadn't taken in fully the extent of which being an Inquisitor would be. It was her first combat-based mission she had to do with the others.
Diamond Star contemplated sending Zezima to the infirmity for a psych evaluation but soon talked herself out of it. She had just forty minutes to get ready to head to Ponyville. She couldn't wait around for Zezima to get back and they needed her if they were going to take on a vampire. Vampires were only a threat level below an elder dragon. Only Diamond Star had to face down an elder dragon and not even she could vanquish such an impossible monster.
"Okay ladies, we meet in Ponyville's Sugarcube Corner. Spread out and don't make contact with anyone until we reach the insertion point. The sooner we kill this thing the sooner I'll be buying you all drinks down at The Apple Tap." Diamond Star said with a stern tone, but with a smile on her face and a fierce passion burning within her eyes.
"Yes ma'am!" Retorted the four mares before her.
......
Twilight and her friends strolled through the park as leisurely as they could taking in all the sights and sounds. The crisp air touched their faces delicately sending a slight shiver down their spines. The sky was clear and as blue as the ocean. Foals played innocently together running around outside in the beautiful weather that was made possible by the weather team and their head captain, Rainbow Dash. Who, at the time was napping in a cloud just above the trees.
Pinkie Pie was entertaining some fillies with her mystical ability to pull party favors and sugary confections out of thin air. She laughed along with the little ponies ever enjoying their smiles plastered to their faces.
"Pinkie my face hurts from smiling!" Shouted on the the fillies.
The pink pony laughed even more, "isn't it great! The best kind of pain! LAUGHING PAIN!" She exclaimed rolling over onto her back as tears welled within her eyes laughing more and more.
Twilight giggled to herself seeing how much fun Pinkie and those foals were having. Applejack had made a quick pit stop by the apple farm to make a quick picnic lunch for her and her friends which she now carried on her back. Rarity was humming a tune from Sapphire Shores unable to get the pop dancing pony out of her head who had made a more than generous offer to invest into the Carousel Boutique after all the wonderful outfits she made for her.
The warm rays of the sun filtered through the leaves lightly caressing Twilight's back with warmth. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in smelling all the scents of summer.
"Heh, Twi' you look like you just walked outside the first time in your life." Said the cowpony with a slight chuckle.
"Yeah," Twilight said with a smile, "it has been a while. At least it feels like it. I've been so fixated on studying I forget about the joys of being outside. And most importantly, being with my friends."
Applejack brimmed with happiness, "well it's nice ta' have you around Twi'. Can't say I know a better ponies to spend the day with other than you girls."
Rarity blushed a little, "I couldn't agree more. You girls are the best ponies a mare could have. I just wish Fluttershy could have joined us."
Twilight's stomach grumbled loudly for her two friends next to her to hear it. Instictively Applejack walked off the path to a nice shady spot under an old maple tree. It's aged bark and wide trunk set it apart from the rest of the trees. Namely because it was the only one in the entire park that was over a century old. All the others were just saplings compared to the maple tree. It's branches peaked out in all directions covering a vast area and allowing a cool spot for the mares to sit down and enjoy a meal together.
"I'll go wake up Rainbow Dash, if you can get Pinkie." Twilight said looking at Rarity.
"Of course, darling, not a problem." She said trotting ever gracefully towards the sounds of laughter.
Twilight spread her wings out and took to the skies lifting up gracefully to Rainbow Dash's level and nudged her gently.
"Wake up Dashie," she said in a motherly cooing voice.
"Ugh, five more minutes mom." Replied to sleeping pegasus.
Twilight took little time to develop a mischievous plan of pranking for Rainbow Dash and without warning she popped the cloud sending Rainbow Dash plummeting to the ground landing directly on her rump jolting her awake and bracing herself for a fight only to find a very cheerful Twilight giggling as she descended down to the ground.
"Haha, very funny Twilight." Said Rainbow Dash in a sore tone.
"Oh don't be like that Rainbow. It was just a friendly prank just like you do to us all the time. Now come on, Applejack as lunch ready." Twilight replied waving her pegasus friend on with one foreleg.
Grumbling and begrudgingly the pegasus followed Twilight still a bit cantankerous for being awoken so suddenly without warning, but these feelings blew away in the wind as soon as she saw the feast before her that Applejack brought. She was astounded she could fit so much food just into one little picnic basket.
Pinkie had already found her seat and was stuffing her face with the apple-based foods in front of her. Rarity was delicately and daintily eating an apple fritter trying to hold back the urge in her eyes to gorge herself. The food truly was delicious but Rarity could not allow her slender figure or her canterlot-like manners go to waste.
Applejack had just finished off an apple pie as Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat down ready to consume the delicious food in front of them.
"Help yourselves," said Applejack in between a mouthful of an apple turnover.
And with that said Twilight and Rainbow Dash both picked up an apple treat looking at each other and smiling before devouring the fruity pastries.
...........
Nazara paced back and forth in the hollow halls of the Canterlot dungeon stepping in the still wet and warm blood of the two guards he quickly dispatched. He looked up at the unicorn in the iron cage with a look of both anger and confusion.
"So, are you going to kill me like the guards or just stand there looking pissy." Snapped the unicorn behind bars.
The old vampire grimaced at him, "you would be wise to watch your tongue, lest I take it from your mouth."
"Ooh, scary." Retorted the unicorn in sarcasm.
Nazara sent a jolt of electricity through his body sending the pony into a world of unbelievable pain.
"Shut your damn mouth worm. Now, you say that Princess Luna is back. How do I know that's true?" Ask Nazara looking as impatient as ever.
"I'm suppose to shut my mouth and tell you if she's dead? How the fuck am I-" The unicorn jolted again in agony clenching his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed.
"Quit wasting my time. If you tell me what I want to know, you get to go free." Said Nazara.
"And what if I don't want to tell you shit?" Spat the unicorn.
Nazara approached his cell closely nearly getting into full physical contact with the unicorn, "then I'll tear your skin off and wear it like a coat, how's that sound?"
The unicorn gulped not wanting to call his next actions a bluff.
"Okay, you win, I'd like to keep my skin. Luna came back about a year ago after some pony named Twi-Twilight, I think, managed to dispel Nightmare Moon from the princess." He said in a slightly fearful and shaking voice.
"Next question," Nazara said gruffly, "Where would I go about finding Soul Swallower's dissertation on Soul-Splitting?"
"How the fuck should I know?" Retorted the unicorn.
Nazara pointed his horn towards the unicorn and with the flash of a black bolt of lightning the unicorn stood without pain or injury. He quickly questioned what his torturer was doing but soon realized he was much more clever than he thought.
"Because, the only way you are still standing is because you lost part of your soul. If you had your soul still completely inside you it would have killed you instantly. You used the Soul-Split and fragmented part of it into that necklace you have." Nazara said with a slight smile
"How did you-" stuttered the unicorn.
"A spell I created myself called Soul Detect. I can detect anypony's soul that has fragmented from them. Granted it doesn't give me the location of the Soul Gem, but with some refinement I'm sure it could. It was just a lucky guess and intuition that the necklace you have is your Soul Gem." Said Nazara taking a deep breath, "tell me where the research notes are and you'll be free to go. The enchantment on this cage will be foals play for me to break."
........
Author's Note
Next time! Trixie and Twilight meet again!
Intuition and Inquisitation
Trixie walked through the quaint town of Ponyville bringing back painful memories of nostalgia and a burning desire to gloat and boast to the new Princess Twilight of her new found position. A smug smirk crossed her face thinking of how the scenario would play out. The look of astonishment upon Twilight's face would bring ecstasy to the mirthful mare. No doubt her posse of pony friends would be sure to surround her ready for a fight as they would expect Trixie to return there for.
She had yet to spot any vampire-like ponies stalking the streets in open daylight, but then again, that wasn't their usual behavior. Seducing ponies from a secluded area and preying upon them in the shadows was what she expect as well as the rest of her team. She kept a keen eye out for suspicious behavior that would warrant her immediate action, but nothing caught her eye.
No pony had noticed she had returned. Despite her new attire she was hoping for some recognition from the citizens of Ponyville. It wasn't too long ago that she was told to leave for the second time after her humiliating defeat from Twilight. The thought of losing yet again to that pony made her swell with a lust for vengeance.
Her daydreaming came to a close as she collided with another pony in front of her. Instinctively she recoiled in anger about the obstruction in her way, "hey watch where you're stand-" she was caught off guard completely as the pony turned around. Her eyes widened as she saw the group surrounding her missing but one of the ponies she remembered last time with her encounter.
"Oh shit." Trixie said as the purple alicorn turned around looking for whoever said that to her.
"Trixie?" She said cocking her head slightly in disbelief that it was her.
A grin grew across her face as she held her head down momentarily before raising it to the princesses' level.
"That's me," she replied throwing her hood back and revealing her face to the princess and her friends accompanying her.
"What the fuck are you doing here!" Shouted a cyan pegasus landing to the ground kicking up dirt in the process and pointing a foreleg at her.
Applejack braced the ground with her head low, "if yer lookin' for a fight, you're 'bout ta' get one."
Rarity stood there in astonishment still surprised the unicorn had the gall to show her face in Ponyville again.
Pinkie Pie hopped around Trixie giggling to herself, "You're back Trixie! I hope you came to try to be friends with us instead of trying to run Twilight out of town like you did last time!"
Now that Trixie had her chance to show off she opened her cloak revealing a gilded armor trimmed with gold around the edges and a pure white breastplate with the cutie marks of both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, "I'm here on official business for the princesses." She said smiling devilishly.
Rarity covered her mouth with a foreleg in awe of the perfectly sculpted metal and equally elegant decals.
"Ah' don't believe it. No way the princesses' would ever hire you." Applejack said, snorting a hot breath of air from her nostrils.
"Yeah, they wouldn't use you after you tried to run Twilight out of town!" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
Twilight put out a foreleg in expression to hold her friends back from an attack.
"I've seen that armor before. And I must say, it's hard to believe, you of all ponies would become an Inquisitor." Said Twilight looking sternly.
"A what?" Questioned Pinkie Pie looking confused.
"An Inquisitor is a hoof-picked pony designated by either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna to conduct the most dangerous and deadly missions for the Equestrian Empire. They hold rank higher than the Royal Guards and answer only to the Princesses." Twilight said narrowing her vision and fixating on Trixie, "they're rumored to have been the one's who killed Glarius the Eviscerator. Also known as the Griffon Emperor." Twilight grit her teeth, "so it brings me to question, why the fuck is an Inquisitor here in Ponyville."
"I'm not telling." Said Trixie intentionally trying to infuriate Twilight.
Twilight's eyes narrowed with a look that if it was lethal would vaporize Trixie on the spot, "if you hurt one pony in this town, so help me Celestia I will bury you."
Trixie rolled her eyes, "whatever Twilight, I didn't come here for a fight so don't get your hopes up." She said mockingly strolling past the mares without fear or worry of unprovoked violence.
Twilight stared long and hard at the mare until she was no longer in eyesight.
"Girls, I have to get back to the library. I need to ask Celestia a few questions." Twilight said.
"All right, Twi, but keep us informed would'ya?" Asked Applejack looking a bit concerned.
Twilight nodded back, "will do."
.....
Diamond Star sat upon a wooden stool slouching forward and taking a long drawn sip of her apple cider. Sugar Cube corner was quiet and relaxed at this time of day. She preferred it to the large crowds that would form of certain holidays, and of course, parties. She levitated her cherry cheese danish to her mouth taking a bite and savoring the sweet flavors of the sugary confection. The bakeries back in Canterlot only had mere bite sized dishes. While here in Ponyville it really felt you were getting your Bits worth and not blowing it all away because some renowned pony Chef made a desert even smaller than the previous ones. Yet, she could not deny their elegance was impressive, but it mattered little to her.
Pony Joe put down the mug he was polishing to a mirror shine and trotted over to the cloaked mare, "can I get you anything else, Ms.-" He paused waiting for the albino pony to answer him.
"Star. And no." She said looking up letting her hood fall down, "that will be all. Thank you very much for your hospitality."
"Okay!" He said chipperly turning around to tend to his other guests.
He had never seen this mare in the town before meaning Pinkie Pie will be ecstatic to make a new friend. He chuckled to himself imagining the pink cotton-candy maned pony bouncing up and down in glee. It brought him a smile on his face every day seeing Pinkie Pie. Naturally due to her contagious ability to making everypony no matter what mood their in want to smile and laugh.
Another pony strolled into the bakery setting off the bell bolted to the top of the door alerting everypony of another guest.
"I'll be right with'ya," shouted Pony Joe only glancing upward for a second to see who the pony was. Another cloaked figure drew back her hood revealing a wavy maned unicorn with a grayish silver coat that gleamed in light. Long black wavy hair flowed from her head and tail. A cutie mark depicting a rapier sword sat upon her flank. Diamond Star turned her head slightly noticing one of her squad had arrived.
Rapier took a seat next to the albino pony, "Silver Streak is almost here. Saw Trix chatting it up with Princess Twilight. Looked like it was about to get serious but the girl does have a bit of restraint and walked away. Haven't seen Zezima."
"Thanks for keeping an eye on her." Said Diamond Star.
"Yeah, no problem. I just wish she wasn't so damn abrasive." Replied Rapier watching from her peripheral as Pony Joe walked up in front of her.
"What'll ya' have today?" He asked bring up a pencil and a pad of paper with his telekinesis.
"Lemonade. Iced." Rapier said quickly.
Pony Joe returned with a glass of fresh lemonade with several clear ice cubes floating inside the drink chilling it down as condensation formed around the glass.
"How long have you been here?" Rapier asked looking over at her bleach white commander.
"About ten minutes." She replied taking another sip of her cider, "we'll head out at closing and remain here until then. I need to talk to somepony here."
Rapier raised an eyebrow. He didn't think her commander knew anypony out here. Maybe she had an informant or a scout survey the area, "oh yeah? Who?"
"Pinkie Pie. That pony knows every pony in this town. Literally, every pony. If she has seen anyone else besides us new in this town they'll be our first leads as to finding out who this vampire is. And maybe where to find them." Said Diamond Star.
Silver Streak was the next to walk inside Sugarcube Corner with Zezima falling in right behind her. A row of cloaked figured now sat upon the main bar awaiting their final companion, Trixie. Before anypony could get comfortable a flash of pink blew past them from behind and appeared now inches from Diamond Star's face smiling widely as she could with eyes bigger than grapefruits.
"Hi I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?" She said systematically shaking everyponies hooves in a row.
Diamond Star cleared her throat, "I'm Diamond Star, and these are my friends," she said point a foreleg to the cloaked ponies.
"I'm Rapier."
"Silver Streak."
"Zezima."
"Ooh! I've only met one other Zebra before but you don't really look like a Zebra. You look like a Zebra and a unicorn! That's so cool!" Pinkie Pie blurted.
Zezima blushed and shied away from the overly enthusiastic pony.
"Ms Pie," Diamond Star started, "is it true you know every pony in this town?"
"Yep, absolutely." She said.
"Have you by chance seen any new ponies in town?"
"We there's you mares right here."
"Besides us."
"Nope."
"No pony at all?"
"Nope. No pony at all."
"Thank you." Diamond Star furrowed her brow. This was going to be harder than she thought.
A tap on Diamond Star's shoulder broke her concentration. She turned around seeing a blue unicorn smiling at her and taking a seat next to her.
"Hi Trix. Looks like we're all here. Try not to get to drunk now Trix we do have work to do." Diamond Star said.
"Yeah, yeah," she said back waving her off with a foreleg.
........
Twilight slammed open the library door and closed it just as hard. A worried dragon ran down the stairs to see what the commotion was. He noticed Twilight in a particularly pissed off mood as of present and began to wonder how he would approach the dreaded question, 'how was your day?'.
"Hey T-twilight, what's up?" He asked.
Twilight looked over at him with a scowl, "Trixie is back."
His jaw dropped, "what! I thought she was gone for good this time."
"It's worse Spike. She's working for the Princesses." She said.
"No way." He replied in complete disbelief.
"Spike, take a letter," she said clearing her throat and awaiting her dragon companion to begin his dictation to Princess Celestia.
Spike nodded to Twilight that he was ready with a quill in hand and a fresh sheet of parchment.
"Dear Princess Celestia, it is come to my knowledge that Trixie is back in Ponyville. And is on official business on your behalf. I am concerned that you would allow her to come back to Ponyville given her past reputation here for destruction. I would also like to know why you sent the 'Inquisitors' here. If there is some danger to Equestria shouldn't my friends and I as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony be the first responders and not the Equestrian Special Forces? Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight coughed a little clearing her throat of the dryness that was taking over.
Spike finished the last sentenced and rolled up the the parchment into a scroll and breathed his magical green fire sending the message to the Princess.
"Who're the Inquisitors Twilight?" Spike asked.
"They're the most deadly ponies in Equestria. Hoof-picked by the Princesses for less-than-legal operations for the security of Equestrian Citizens and their interests." She replied, "and I have no idea why they're here."
Twilight walked up the stairs towards her room, "I'm going to study Spike, keep the noise down please." She said looking down at her draconian assistant.
Spike saluted her in return acknowledging her request.
Twilight lied down on her bed levitating the decrepit and morbid book in front of her. She touched the cover still feeling a chill run through her. She opened the book flipping the pages until she reached the next entry she had not yet read.
Day 6 Exile
Still inconclusive results but time will tell if this will work. Most of the test subjects are either dead or zombified beyond use and have become my food source for now. Vampirism takes a toll on one's complexion as well. My skin is whiter than a ghost and my eyes now look like they're permanently bloodshot. Not to mention I've bitten my tongue with these fangs already. I suppose another day goes by again. I haven't really been paying attention to how much time has passed. Every time I write a new entry in this journal I think it's another day, but it could have been weeks, months even.
The worst part about this is missing my parents. How I wish I could see them again. I don't know if they would say how proud they are that I'm an immortal vampire that feasts upon the blood of the innocent, but I don't think they would hate me like the rest of the population most likely would. This nostalgia makes me wonder about the outside world. Has everyone forgotten about ol' Nazara the Vampire? Or are they still on the hunt for me. I haven't spotted any of Celestia's goons as of yet.
Soon enough it won't even matter. I will strike dow-
A knock on her door broke her from the journal. A voice outside caught her attention right away.
"Hey Twilight, got a letter back from Celestia if you want to read it." The dragon said opening the door and walking over to Twilight tossing her the wrapped up parchment paper. It bore a red wax seal embellished with Celestia's cutie mark. No doubt this was a letter from the princess.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I know this may come a surprise to you that Trixie has returned but she will not cause the problems for you like she did before. She is there on my behalf to deal with a serious problem that cannot be solved with the Elements of Harmony, regrettably. A powerful vampire has returned and if my suspicions are correct. It is none other than Nazara. I'm sure you know of him as Soul Swallower's pupil. Your dissertation on necromancy should have you already up to date as much as I know about the dark arcane arts as well as the notable characters that pursued such forbidden magic. The Inquisitors are there to destroy the vampire as it has already taken two fillies lives from a report I received earlier today.
Please, be careful Twilight. Nazara is a Nosferatu. He is an original vampire that cannot be slain easily. And, if he has fragmented his soul like his most likely has, this may be much harder than I expect. I urge you to work alongside the Inquisitors to vanquish this foul beast. Diamond Star is their leader. Look for her. She is an albino pony. So she shouldn't be hard to find.
Your loving Princess,
Celestia.
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.
Celestia stood her ground staring down Nazara with an intent to kill. It had been a long three hundred years since their last encounter and this time she wanted to make sure she'd kill him for good.
"Haha! Celestia! So glad you could make it to die with your pathetic guards." He snarled.
"It is you who will perish." She said.
A bolt of blue lightning struck Nazara from the side sending him against the wall cracking the heavy marble stone to where chucks had fallen down onto Nazara as he hit the floor. Princess Luna stood tall and proud of her ambush tactics her and her sister used. The Princess of the Night used her Royal Canterlot voice to speak to the abomination, "we shall vanquish ye' o' foul beast of blood and death!"
Princess Celestia approached her sister and they focused both their magical forces upon Nazara casting a gravity spell so dense it caused the vampire to collapse into nothingness but a infinitely small singularity. Feeling accomplished the sisters smiled at each other thinking they had defeated the vampire once and for all but before they could begin the celebrations Nazara's remains blasted across the room in all direction covering the alicorns head to hoof in blood and flesh pulverized to a fine mist.
The liquid that was now all that remained of Nazara formed once again into the undead vampire. A smug grin covered his face.
"Is that all you got?" He asked rhetorically sending out black fire that consumed both the mares. He chuckled to himself believing he was torching the alicorns in flames only to be shot down by that serendipitous thought with Celestia's white hot magic piercing through the flames with ease. The two stood now staring down each other, but something was off. Luna was gone.
Just as he realized this a translucent axe fell down cleaving his head off followed by several more slicing his body into thin pieces followed by a scorching flame erupting from Celestia's horn sending him severed head screaming in agony. His body morphed back into position again but before he could recover Luna bucked him in the side sending his crumpled body still reconstructing itself hurling across the floor leaving a stream of red liquid in it's path. Celestia took to the sky and angled in for a strike on the stallion's body shooting downward with a one hoof out preparing for a strike. She collided as predicted snapping the unicorn's horn straight from his head. She smashed her hooves into his face repeatedly over and over again until it was but a pulp. And once again the unicorn regenerated itself.
Before the princess' could land another strike Nazara teleported away unable to secure his soul gem but certain the princess' wouldn't find it or they would have destroyed it by now.
"Sister, what was that monster?" Luna asked.
"A vampire. A very powerful one." Celestia replied.
"Why would a vampire risk such a brazen and stupid assault on the palace? It brings us with questions of his motive." Luna asked.
"I'm not sure, Luna, but whatever brought him here. It can't be good." Celestia said in response, walking towards Shining Armor and checking his pulse. He was still breathing which caught her by surprise. She placed her horn onto his would and it illuminated with a radiant green glow as his wounds began to mend closed.
Shining Armor awoke from his blood loss and sat up quickly saluting the princess', "my deepest apologies Princess' I failed to kill the intruder and I lost four good stallions. I accept whatever fate you give me."
Celestia sighed, "Shining Armor, you did your best. There was no way you could have beaten him. Even we were unable to. Thank you for surviving though. At least one pony made it out alive." She looked up into the air trying to hold back the tears, "go secure the perimeter I don't want that thing back here." She said, "I'm going back to bed.
Luna could see it in her sister. She was distraught she just lost four ponies and nearly lost Shining Armor. She couldn't say anything in front of Shining Armor fearing her sister wouldn't speak to her about such matters truthfully. She hated seeing her sister in so much pain. Shining Armor left the room and began shouting to guards to do various tasks to secure the palace from intruders.
"'Tia?" Luna started, "is everything alright?"
"N-no, Luna, everything is going terribly. Nazara is back he's killed two fillies already and now four of my guards as well as severely injured Shining Armor. He needs to be stopped, now.
..........
The Inquisitors lead by Princess Twilight Sparkle now arrived at the Canterlot palace. It was usually heavily guarded tonight sending questions through everyponies minds as to what might have happened to cause this. Twilight Sparkle approached the main gate and was quickly and graciously let it followed by reluctancy for her guests yet they were just as quickly allowed entrance after displaying their armor indicating they held rank higher than the Royal Guards and not to obstruct them in any way.
They traveled through the long palace corridors until reaching the library. Twilight's mouth dropped agape as she entered seeing the mess around her and Princess Luna standing still until she noticed the other alicorn enter.
"What the hell happened here!" Twilight yelled looking at Luna.
"A vampire attacked and lost. He escape us however. Unfortunate it is but it is good that he left or your brother would have died." Luna said.
Twilight's heart sank, "M-my brother. Where is he? Is he alright. I swear to Tartarus I'll boil Nazara in acid if he-" Twilight was cut short of her rant as Shining Armor came in covered from snout to hoof in blood. A long scar brandished itself across his chest. Twilight grabbed onto her brother crying heavily to see him alive and well.
"Hey Twinkle good to see you again." He said with a smile roughing up her mane with his foreleg.
She wiped her eyes and punched him in the chest playfully, "don't call me that in front of my guests." She said blushing in embarrassment.
"What happened to your chest?" She asked touching it gently as if he would be in pain.
"Ah, just got stabbed through and through. Nothing too bad. Princess Celestia saved me though. I was lucky for that." He said nonchalantly.
"You sure know how to break the ice about getting nearly killed pretty easily." Said Diamond Star approaching the two alicorns and the stallion unicorn.
"Hehe, yeah, well, I don't think there's any way to sugar coat it so I just had to tell Twily what happened. Good to see you again Diamond Star." Shining Armor said nodding his head in respect to the mare.
"So what happened here anyway?" She asked.
"Well, after making our usual patrol we found the first casualty the librarian and investigated. Upon finding the restricted sign down we further investigated finding a unicorn stallion searching for something. We attempted to detain him but he-" Shining Armor gulped down some tears remembering what happened to his squad, "killed everyone but me thanks to my shield and reaction time. We attempted to duel and when I thought I killed him by piercing him with my horn and using a demolition charge spell to obliterate his body he regenerated and stabbed me. I went unconscious and when I woke up he was gone and the Princesses were standing over me." He said in one long winded breath. It would have given Pinkie Pie a run for her bits with how long that speech was.
"I see." Diamond Star said, "thank you for the intel."
"No problem," Shining Armor said heading for the door, "I got some more business to do I just had to come and see my sister after hearing you were in the palace. Seeya Twinkle!" He shouted before running back down the hallway.
Twilight blushed a little more still a bit angry with her brother for purposefully calling her that.
"Twinkie!" Trixie shouted aloud, "haha! That's hilarious!"
"I have had about enough of your shit Trixie!" Twilight roared sending blast of magic that send Trixie colliding with the marble wall.
She rose to her hooves, "so, you wanna go Twinkle?" she said spitting out a bit of blood.
Twilight teleported in front of Trixie bucking her in the mouth. Trixie recoiled grabbing the mare's legs and throwing her against the wall. Twilight slid down hitting her head. With a pop of magic she stood on her hooves again bracing the ground and preparing for a charge.
"Trix! Stand down that's an order!" Roared Diamond Star at the insubordinate pony.
"Fuck you Diamond! She picked this fight and I'm going to end it!" Trixie yelled back.
Twilight charged forward and so did Trixie. Just as they were about to collide Twilight popped behind her turning around before Trixie could recoil and blasted her with a pulse of inky blackness. Trixie fell down screaming in agony and clutching her skull.
"Make it stop! Make it fucking stop! Ah! The voices! So many voices!" Cried Trixie rolling in agony. Luna saw what Twilight did and approached with with haste.
"This must stop at once Ms. Sparkle. We do not approve of this method!" Luna roared in her canterlot voice.
Twilight looked up at her in anger and back down to Trixie. She approached the mare and tapped her skull with her horn alleviating the agonizing pain she was in instantly.
She glared down at Trixie, "let this be a lesson, next time I won't listen to Princess Luna and you will suffer for as long as I deem necessary."
"What did she just do?" Ask Rapier looking at Diamond Star.
"T-that was Soul Swallower's master hallucination spell, Voices of the Dead. It's forbidden magic." Replied Silver Streak.
Diamond Star approached Trixie and looked upon her with disgust before hitting her on top of the head, "and that's for insubordination!"
Twilight looked up the long shelf of books and took to flight to find the one she was looking for. Soul Swallower's dissertation on Soul-Splitting. She glided back down to the ground placing it on an undamaged table and opened up the front cover. She drew her foreleg over the page unable to find a bump in the paper. Hoping this was the right book she flipped over to the back cover and felt down the page and to her dismay she found nothing. She closed the book looking defeated until a thought crossed her mind. The spine she thought to herself. It was rather clique, but altogether clever that Nazara would put the Soul Gem with his Fear into the spine of a book indicating in a metaphorical sense he liberated himself from his own spinelessness.
The other ponies drew crowd around her even Princess Luna interested in what she was doing. She unbound the book tugging at the sinew string that bound the pages together until the pages were just in a neat stack held together by no means now. Twilight opened up the book moved the pages from the cover and spine and low and behold she was right in her intuition. Embedded with the spine was a Soul Gem. She prepared herself for what was next. If she touched it she would most likely be knocked out once again talking to another emotion separated from Nazara. And with a the brush of her foreleg she felt the world growing black around her. Frantic voices sounded low pitched until she blissfully fell asleep.
........
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Who sent you? Did HE send you?" Said a voice awaking the alicorn. She rose to her hooves shaking off the headache that she gained from each touch of the gems.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle, I'm here to talk to you. I sent myself." She said, "does that answer your questions?"
"Y-no-maybe. I don't know." Said the frantic voice.
"Why don't you turn around. There's no need to be afraid. I'm not him" She said in a cooing voice.
"Are you sure? I mean, he might come back and when he does I know he'll make me fear again." Said the figure slowly turning around.
"He won't be coming back anytime soon. I'm here to stop him actually." She said.
"S-stop him? No pony can stop him. He's unstoppable. I'm unstoppable and it's scary so terrifyingly scary to know what I can do." Said Nazara. He looked positively paranoid. Shaking and flinching at everything and nothing.
"You're Fear aren't you? Fear the Spineless. I met Sadness the Longing as well. I must say Nazara, or should I say you are very melodramatic and overly clever when it comes to concealment. I mean going to such lengths to preserve one's self is impressive if you're a demented necromancer.
"Shhh!" He said, "don't say his name. He could come back."
"Why are you so scared that he might come back? What are you scared of that he'll do if he does?" She asked.
"Because I'm scared of myself. What I've done and what I'm going to do is the stuff of nightmares and legends. Things that should not be. I'm petrified with fear that it will all come true and I will be left with nothing around me. Nothing but death. Please, you have to stop me from scaring myself. I beg of you Twilight. Stop Fear, stop Nazara." He said pleadingly.
"I will, don't worry I can relate I'm just as scared as you are." She said.
"Y-you are?" He asked.
"Yes, I know that when all is said and done I'll be dead and so will Nazara. I destroyed Sadness. I have to end you too. And when I finish Love. He will die and that will be my end." She said in a shaking voice.
"Y-you'd sacrifice yourself just to save me from my own fear? W-why?" He asked.
"Because I want to save so many other people. And first I have to save you." She said touching Nazara on the shoulder. Her warm touch calmed him down a bit so he wasn't as jittery.
Fear grabbed Twilight in a loving embrace hugging her tightly, "thank you Twilight. You've shown me not to fear myself anymore."
"You're welcome." She replied opening her eyes and realizing she was hugging the air and nothing else.
She lied back down on the ground closing her eyes, "it's just Love now and this will all be over." She said aloud crying quietly to herself.
........
Twilight awoke gasping for air and shot upwards. She was surrounded by the Inquisitors still and Princess Luna looked particularly worried. She stood up on her hooves with her legs feeling like jello wobbling back and forth. She aimed her horn once again at the Soul Gem blasting it with a precise bolt of electricity that shattered it instantly.
The same surge of excruciating pain rocked her head for what seemed a millennia but soon subsided once again leaving the ponies around her very worried about her condition.
"Twilight are you okay?" Asked Diamond Star.
"Never better." She said. She noticed something different about herself. She could barely see out of her left eye anymore. and her limbs on her left side felt numb and lifeless.
"You sure? I mean, it looks like you just got cataracts a lot faster than possible." She said, "and what did you just destroy?"
"A Soul Gem. I destroyed two of them so far. One more to go and Nazara is dead for." She said.
"But what about your eye? Is that a symptom of destroying the soul gems? We need to get that checked out." She said sternly.
"No, we need to finish this. We need to-" Twilight collapsed onto the ground completely unconscious. Her mind began to wander to the dream land once again this time not influenced by the dark forces of a soul gem.
Twilight awoke halfway blinking in and out of consciousness as she stared at pear white ceilings drifting by faster than she could count each tile. She could hear her friends in the distance call her name. Ponies in white masks look at her from time to time call her name but try as she might she couldn't call out back to them.
She found herself in a white room with ponies standing over her. Some shouting numbers other calling out names of medical terms. A mask was placed over her face despite her best efforts to lift her hooves and defend herself from this unknown assailant and his unclear motives. She breathed in heavily tasting a slightly sweet flavor she couldn't quite place on what to call. In seconds she returned to the dream world ready for her imagination to take a hold of.
Author's Note
Next chapter! Twilight has sex with herself.
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Dreams and Delusions, Perversion and Persuation
Twilight awoke lying in a bed of daisies. The sweet smell of summer left a pleasant smile upon her face. She was dreaming and she knew it. She turned around seeing another one of her. Another Twilight. She stood there before speaking and slowly drew her words out, "I've always wondered what it'd be like to have sex with myself." She would have laughed at herself for saying such things in the real world, but this lucid dream was worth it. Why not imagine having sex with yourself if you can do it? It's the ultimate form of love and desire for oneself.
The other Twilight looked at her cocking her head slightly. As if she had telepathy she turn around and with a blink of Twilight's eye they were in a bedroom on a red heart bed larger than the truck of her library. Assorted chains, lubricants, toys, and devices lied on a table levitating in the air just high enough to reach by hoof. Twilight looked at her clone as she would most appropriately say in the real world but here she it was technically her subconscious. Desires and lusts filled her mind as she looked over her image wondering where to begin first.
"Bend over." Twilight said to her dream apparition
The apparition complied. Twilight walked up to her doppelganger and placed her forelegs on her butt cheeks spreading them apart revealing a hot, wet marehood begging to be pleasure. Twilight buried her muzzle into the vaginal walls licking all over covering the area in her own saliva. Strangely and arousingly she could feel the same sensation of cunnilingus between her own legs as if she was feeling what her doppelganger was feeling. She continued her oral sexual assault upon her clone until her climax came close.
She pulled her muzzle out as if she needed to breathe in the dream world, letting an intense orgasm spread throughout her body. She trotted over looking deviantly at the assorted sexual objects before her. Imagining more that she could and watching them appear out of this air. She was truly enjoying this dream.
She grabbed a long strand of purple and green beads stretching a meter long as well as a bottle of lubricant, a green dildo in the shape of a dragon penis, and finally a short black paddle with a heart stitched into it. If Rarity could peer into her dream right now she would be shocked the quiet bookworm was as much as a deviant as her.
She trotted back to her doppelganger smiling with glee. It was a fantasy she could only live out in her dreams. She levitated the lubricant to her clone and spread her butt apart once more. She could feel her own rump part in anticipation. She placed the lube on her quivering butthole pushing it in and squeezing the whole bottle inside. Twilight could feel it on herself though it was not cold as if she would have imagined in reality. Instead it felt warm and inviting.
She levitated the beads to the now lube filled rectum and began to push them in one by one. She felt the slight pain herself as if each sphere was breaching her virgin butt and she loved every moment of it. After successfully pushing all but one ball in her own butt she graciously teased the clitoris with the green dragon dildo. Pressing it up against her labia and slowly penetrating the doppelganger as she groaned herself in pleasure.
She slid the dildo back and forth inside herself moaning with glee with each thrust. Her doppelganger made no movement and no emotion allowing just the original to allow the pleasures of sex with herself. She thrust the dildo inside her roughly this time and levitated the paddle in front of her sex slave. She smacked each cheek hard sending a wave of pain and ecstasy through herself.
She was coming close to her second orgasm looking forward to the surge of serotonin and dopamine to her brain. With one pull on the anal beads she creamed again with only a single ball removed from her rectum.She pushed her clone over onto the red sheets below them climbing on top of herself and kissing herself long and passionately. Twilight continued to twist and pull on the dildo sending chills of pleasure coursing through her whole body.
She kissed her neck nibbling gently down her own neck. She tugged another bead out of her butt and groaned in pain and pleasure. A couple more smacks to her rump sent a wave of masochistic desire inside herself. She tugged bead after bead out of her butt now. Her mouth gaping wider each bead unlike her butthole which stayed tight and firm awaiting its owner's sexual punishment.
Next Twilight levitated a thick red griffon dildo up to the doppelganger's butt and pushed it in slowly feeling her own butthole spread apart. She was breathing heavily now stuffing the thick silicone dick in her butt. She continued massaging the dragon dildo keeping her sexual desires of double penetration alive and kicking. Before she knew it she was oscillating each dildo like a two cylinder motor. Twilight could barely stand using her doppleganger surrogate for herself as sex toy to hold her up while she became flushed with pleasure. She couldn't believe this was actually happening, but it was. Lucid dreaming induced by near death experience.
She came once more screaming in pure pleasure this time. She pulled the dildos from her doppelganger's body feeling a fullness leave her. She want panting heavily surprised that one could become exhausted in the dream world, or maybe this was just her subconscious gauging how long she herself thinks how long it would take to exhaust herself sexually. Whatever it was it could wait for now, now all she wanted to do was explore how deep her holes went and what could she stuff them with.
She had a glorious idea. She imagined her own vagina to taste like her favorite desert, pomegranate sherbet. She went back down on herself licking away at her own vagina and savoring the distinct flavor of pomegranates. Along with the thrills of sensual pleasure that rocked through her legs this was by far the best dream she's ever had. Twilight materialized a dildo with an unusual swirl that looked similar to the conical shape of a unicorn horn and began to penetrate her sphincter once again.
It seemed like hours passed by that she had just stood there fucking her doppelganger and savoring every bit of pleasure there was. But soon she grew tired and somehow sore from the experience. Unable to explain how it was still possible to feel pain in the dream world Twilight Blinked and now she was back to Ponyville. Standing in front of the library. She walked inside seeing the same place she left. She looked around spotting nothing unusual and proceeded to walk upstairs.
Standing in her room was somepony she did not want to see. Somepony she longed to destroy.
She gritted her teeth, "how did you get in here?"
"Easy I used the front door." It said.
"Bullshit don't lie to me." She said with venom in her words.
"I loved your display of affection for yourself. I've never seen somepony so intimately involved with themselves so much they dreamed about fucking themselves. Kind of arrogant don't you think so?" He said.
Twilight blushed, but quickly refocused her attention, "how did you get inside my dream?"
"Starswirl's Astral Projection spell. Right now, we can just have a chat before I kill you. How does that sound?" He said sinisterly.
"Oh please, you kill me? Don't make me laugh. It is I who will kill you." She said back.
"Now, now, no need to be so aggressive. You've made your point clear. You destroyed my Sadness and my Fear. All I have left is my Love and then... we both lose." He said solemnly.
"No I will win because I will stop your rampage of murder." Twilight said with resolve in her words.
Nazara sighed, "and here I just wanted to have a chat and all you want to do is shout nonsensical objections at me. Come on, let's just talk." He said.
"Talk about what?" Twilight asked.
"Let's talk about your future. Neither of us have to die you know. I could use an alicorn like yourself on my side. You would be a powerful force indeed. You could even usurp the throne for yourself. I don't care. As long as I can continue my studies in peace without being disturbed. That was the whole point of this anyway. I want to continue my work and Celestia won't let me." He said in a pouty voice.
"Your work was insane and unethical it killed ponies and creatures alike. You're a madpony and I intend to stop you." She said sternly.
"Now why would you want to do that? Truly am I harming ponies or am I liberating them? Evolution can be artificially accelerated through necromancy prolonging a pony's life to near invincibility and you're telling me you don't want this? You don't want to live forever?" He said in a mocking tone.
"Live forever?" She started, "I'm an alicorn if you haven't noticed yet. I know what it's going to be like to live forever. It's going to be painful watching my friends live and die while I don't age a bit. I'm going to live like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, long painful lives tattered with the joys of memories and the long standing obligation to uphold the civilization of ponykind though sacrifice." She took a breath, "and that would have been optimal if the circumstances allowed it, but instead I had the unfortunate opportunity of disturbing your fucking grave and now... now I'm going to die just to kill you. And you're not even worth it which is the worst part of all." She spat those last words with acid dripping from each one.
Nazara grimaced and lowered his gaze, "I'm giving you the opportunity of a lifetime and you just want to piss it away. Never fails does it huh? Just have to be all high and might and righteous. I could always make your friends live forever too. Everypony would live forever without fear of death no matter what happened to their bodies."
Twilight said her next words in a low and ominous tone, "immortality is a curse not a blessing. Don't be so naive as to believe you have the perfect cure to mortality with sheer necromancy. that's just pompous and immature even for you Nazara."
"And who are you to call me pompous? Ms. I-fuck-myself-in-my-own-dreams. You're just a delusional filly filled with the silly propaganda you so happily ingest that falls straight out of Celestia's asshole." He retorted.
"And you're a megalomaniac bent on the assimilation of undead ponies for a giant necrophiliatic orgy." She said in response.
He smirked a bit, "well you said it not me. I wouldn't say no to a fine alicorn such as yourself."
She rolled her eyes, "I will find Love and when I do, it'll be the end for you and I. And I will win this battle once and for all."
"You will never find Love. You have no idea where it is. I hid it perfectly." He said smuggly.
"I've already found it." She said with confidence, "it didn't take long to figure out a pattern to your method. I mean come on. So easy with keeping Sadness within the back of your book. Close enough to feel but not enough to be together. Cliche if you ask me. Then Fear then Spineless. Hidden inside the spine of your master's research dissertation. Clever, but not that clever. So that only leaves one place left." She stopped no longer speaking.
"Oh really? Where?" He asked.
"I'm not telling, you already know." She said with a smile.
"Haha! I love it. Well, I will see you back where it all began. For now, this is goodbye Ms. Sparkle." He said with a toothy grin bearing fangs of great length.
Twilight smiled to herself. She stood still in her own dream laughing to herself. She had the wit to out lie a vampire and have him give her the exact location of his last soul fragment. "Back where it all began." She said to herself, "what a damn fool."
"We're going to the Sanguine Sanctuary as soon as I wake up." She said aloud.
........
"Give it to us straight doc' what's wrong with her?" Asked the concerned looking earth pony. A stetson hat sat atop her head and a long flowing blond mane lied gently across her orange coat in a single bun at the end. Three red apple bore their mark upon her flanks displaying her cutie mark.
"Well, she's just very exhausted from what I can tell. Magical Exhaustion is common among unicorns, but it is rare that an alicorn would suffer from this. It must have been very strenuous on her body to have sustain such injuries." Said the unicorn. A pair of forceps and a scalpel sat on his flanks uncovered by his long white lab coat.
"What injuries?" Asked the rainbow maned pegasus looking perplexed as Twilight wasn't in any casts at all.
"She's lost sight in her left eye as well as her nervous system has shut down in her left side mostly. She can still walk, but she is unresponsive to pain or touch." He said looking over to the alicorn in the gurney, "whatever she did, she's lucky to still be alive. This much magic depletion would have killed most ponies.
Rarity gasped covering her mouth.
"When will she wake up?" Asked a quiet pegasus in the back. Fluttershy was especially worried for Twilight now that she had lost sight and touch in her left side. She couldn't imagine what she was going through.
"Hard to say. A day. A week. Honestly, I don't know. That all depends on her now." He said looking grim.
The doctor left the room leaving Twilight's five closest friends, Spike, Diamond Star, and Princess Luna. Princess Celestia and Shining Armor were unable to make it having to protect the palace from another assault from the vampire menace.
"How did this happen?" Rainbow snapped staring down Diamond Star.
She took a breath, "after walking in on the aftermath of the assault on the royal palace Twilight here discovered a Soul Gem of the target and destroyed it. After that she went unconscious."
"I think you're lying." Rainbow said.
Diamond Star shot the glare back to Rainbow Dash in return, "do not question my integrity filly or you'll regret it."
"Is that a threat?" Rainbow snarled.
"That's a promise." Said Diamond Star sternly.
"That's enough!" Luna bellowed, "Rainbow Dash, Diamond Star speaks the truth. We have seen these events transpire before our eyes. Hold thy tongue for the true enemy and not our ally."
"I still don't get it. How did destroying some gem harm Twilight? She's an alicorn after all." Said Spike pacing back and forth.
"When a soul gem is destroyed it also effects the one who destroyed it." Said Pinkie Pie
Everyone looked at her in disbelief, "don'tcha remember when Twilight was talking about that journal she found when we were in the jacuzzi? She must have destroyed a Soul Gem and this is what happened." Pinkie Pie said expecting better of the ponies memories.
"Spike grimaced at the idea." That's horrible. He said.
"It is." Diamond Star said, "I commend her for her sacrifice."
"Why didn't Twilight come to us and ask for help?" Rainbow Dash asked to anypony in general, "we could have helped her. We're the Elements of Harmony for fuck sake. We stopped Discord, Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis, we're the 'go to' ponies when Equestria needs saving."
"Those were tough foes, but this one is a much more powerful. I saw what Nazara did to several Royal Guards. Burnt to a crisp. Even their armor melted to their bodies. He nearly killed Shining Armor too. Not to mention from what Luna told me this thing has incredible regenerative powers. Those which put alicorn regeneration on the same level. If you ponies got in the way of Nazara he would have killed you on the spot. And there would have been nothing Twilight could do to save you." Her words were tough to hear as Diamond Star explained the severity of the situation.
"I could totally have put that vampire in the ground!" Rainbow boasted.
"Rainbow!" Applejack shouted reeling in her pegasus friend, "show boatin' ain't gonna make Twi' here any better so quit it. Don't need to start no more fights after what she's been through. Wouldn't be right of us ta' do so. She fought for our safety. We should be grateful for what she did."
Rainbow Dash snorted in contempt of Applejack's words now matter how true they were. As the Element of Loyalty she took a strong sense of responsibility for allowing this to happen to one of her best friends. She felt as if she betrayed Twilight for not being there by her side, but knowing she could do nothing but get in her way was even worse. She would have been a burden to her friend and that hurt the most of all.
Nurse Redheart stopped by smiling to the ponies in the room, "visitor hours are ending in ten minutes."
"Thank you," Fluttershy said courteously. watching the nurse pass by.
"I'll be sticking around for the night." Said Diamond Star.
"Yeah, and so will I." Blurted Rainbow Dash looking to get even with Diamond Star for an unprovoked confrontation.
"No, you will not. I have been assigned to the Princess personally by Princess Celestia. You wouldn't hold up against a fight with Nazara for more than ten seconds, if that." Diamond Star said growing irate with Rainbow Dash's incessant aggression towards her.
"Bullshit!" Shouted Rainbow Dash, "I'm loyal to my friends and I won't leave her side." She said boastfully.
"Rainbow!" Exclaimed Applejack, "Ah've had 'bout enough of your fuckin' attitude. Diamond Star here ain't done shit but protect Twi' and all you've been doing is pickin' fights with her! Cut the shit out or Ah'm gonna have ta' knock the shit out of ya'!" She roared looking very pissed with Rainbow Dash.
Feeling the guilt set on Rainbow Dash lowered herself to the ground and hung her head low, "I- fine." She said walking out of the hospital room.
"Ah'm so sorry 'bout Rainbow, Diamond. She ain't usually like this." Said the cowpony.
"Don't worry about it. I would be just as upset if one of my team got hurt." Diamond said trying to ease the atmosphere.
"Guess we better get movin'. I'll letcha' take care of Twi' now. Keep her safe please, she's all we got." Applejack said.
Diamond Star swallowed down a tear feeling the compassion in the air these ponies had for Twilight, "I'll do my best, Applejack. You have my word."
Applejack tipped her hat in respect to the pony ushering out the rest of her friends. Spike was the last to leave staring at his still and motionless sister figure. He wanted her to wake up as soon as possible. He wanted her back at the library telling him to clean up the place. And most of all, he wanted to hear her voice.
With Spike leaving the room was all but empty counting Diamond Star, and Twilight Sparkle.
"So you gonna sleep all day and night Twilight?" Diamond asked aloud.
"No," Twilight responded lifting up in the bed, "just enough so I don't have to tell the ponies I love the most I'll never be coming back."
"It's not fair to them you know. The little dragon loves you a lot." Diamond said in response.
"It's not fair to tell them either. How do you tell your best friends you have to die to protect them all?" She retorted.
"Get some rest Twilight." Diamond Star said.
"You too, Diamond, you're going to need it."
.......
Love the Lethiferous Lepid Lich
Twilight awoke the next day long into the night. The moon's rays are what woke her up as if Luna herself were beckoning the Princess to rise to her hooves and prepare herself for her final journey. It was no longer fear that overtook her thinking about the inevitable. It was her resolve of character that pushed her forward. Knowing that with her sacrifice Equestria may once again live in peace and harmony and that was worth any price to her.
A deep ravenous hunger growled from he stomach demanding food be put in for her body to continue functioning properly. A certain leucous mare smiled at her as she woke up from her long slumber greeting her with muffins, cupcakes, pies and tarts all complimentary of Pinkie Pie and Applejack. She scarfed down several delicious treats followed by a tall glass of water and breathed heavily trying to catch her breath from the nearly addictive sweets brought to.
"Glad you're awake. Pinkie and Applejack came by to drop these off today. They told me to chow down on them, but I couldn't finish more than a pie and they brought too much." She said rubbing her belly and glancing over at an empty pie die, "Heh, even for a Princess, I say you still have the appetite and table manners just like my family. Which isn't too bad, just not that Canterlot-like."
Twilight blushed realizing she was eating almost like Pinkie Pie not even bother to savor the flavors it seemed and just inhaling all the food she could.
"How are you feeling?" Asked Diamond Star.
"Better than before. I feel like I finally have my strength back minus my left side I guess." Twilight said waving a hoof in front of her left eye. Still she could not see anything out of it. It was a disturbing feeling knowing one could not fully use their eyesight. The lack of peripheral vision could leave her exposed to surprise attacks.
She rose from her gurney pulled out the IV's and powering down the crystal-based medical monitoring equipment. She tore off the patient's gown unwilling to deal with its course texture against her coat. She walked in front of a mirror staring at herself seeing the large bags under her eyes from the stress. Diamond Star came from behind keeping a straight face.
"I won't hold it against you if you don't want to go through with this. My team and I can still take on Nazara and finish him for good." Diamond said straightforwardly.
"This is my problem to deal with." She said combing her hair from its disheveled mess, "I woke him I'm. I'm going to put him down." She spoke with another section of her hair straightened, "I won't hold you down if you try to help. Celestia knows I need it. I won't be strong enough to stop him myself, but if your team can hold him off. I can find the last Soul Gem and finally end this thing once and for all." A look of pure determination sat upon Twilight's face. Nothing could stop her now.
"Are you sure they're no way you can protect yourself from the effects of the Soul Gem's destruction?" Diamond asked.
"None that I know of. It would kill any of you ponies if your team tried to destroy it, but being an alicorn and possessing a large amount of magic vast beyond that of most creatures other than a dragon I'm the only one who can stop this madness from taking over Equestria. I won't let Nazara kill everything in this kingdom." Twilight said with burning passion in her eyes.
"Well then," Diamond started, "anything else we need to before we go? I got my team downstairs waiting for us." She said.
"One," Twilight started, "if I'm going to die, I want to die happy," She approached the leucous mare kissing her on the lips and pushing her onto her gurney.
Diamond Star was both shocked and aroused simultaneously by being so brazenly kissed by a princess. At first she wanted to fight her off as if she wanted to hold her desires back, but succumbed to the charms and acts of this alicorn. Her hot marehood dripped with anticipation as her own tongue and Twilight's became entangled in a warm and wet mess of intimacy.
"Twi-" Diamond started trying to get her attention, but Twilight just held her mouth to hers in a motion to keep her silently pleased with the sexual desires she could not keep locked away as the alicorn on top of her caressed Diamond's marehood gently teasing her labia with flicks of her hoof sending the albino unicorn into convulsive acts of pleasure. Diamond Star didn't usually sleep with mares, but Twilight was an exception. She could only dream about being pleasured this way and now it was truly happening. Being an Inquisitor didn't allow anypony to gain a social life to enjoy intimacy like this.
Twilight smiled a seductive grin at the unicorn as she pulled gently away from her lips and pushed the unicorn back on the sheet spreading her hind legs open revealing a dripping wet vagina.
"Twilight what are you-?" Was all Diamond Star could muster before teeth clenching, hoof bucking pleasure roared through her entire being. Diamond could no longer hold down her moans of ecstasy as she tried to quiet herself biting her bottom lip but to little avail it didn't nothing to stop Twilight's relentless oral assault on Diamond Star's vagina.
Before Diamond Star could realize it herself she was staring down the legs of a princess ready to indulge in some debauchery before their final battle and she truly saw nothing wrong with what she was doing. She buried her snout into the pink flesh surrounded by purple fur sending the alicorn squealing in glee. Twilight threw her head back panting as if she just got done with a marathon run with Rainbow Dash, but instead having a rough session of sex wrestling. No matter who was on bottom or top both would come out as exhausted as the other.
............
Diamond Star's team was growing anxious by the minute especially Trixie who was on her way up the stairs followed by Rapier trying to talk her down from pissing off the captain even more. But she wasn't listening Trixie was always the one to act first and think later. The two approached the room hearing moans of pleasure and cries of happiness.
"What in the hell is going on in-" Trixie stopped as soon as she could see far enough inside the door to witness her captain snout deep in Princess Twilight's marehood making Trixie blush as red as Big Mac's coat. She backed away stuttering and walking back downstairs. Sweat visibly dripping down her head.
"What did ya' see Trix?" Rapier asked. Looking perplexed as to why Trixie was acting this way.
Trixie blushed even more, "N-nothing. Nothing at all! Nothing you'd want to see." She stammered disappearing down the staircase.
Rapier's interests grew and she peaked her head inside gaining the same flushed look on her face as she left speechless.
"Oh my." Rapier said walking back downstairs, "the captain sure is a frisky one. She's sleeping with a princess."
Silver Streak noticing both ponies with the same expression of embarassment decided to finally speak up, "so what did you girls see?" She asked.
"Nothing!" Trixie said.
Rapier giggle, "Diamond and Twilight. Getting to know each other and explore one another."
Zezima's face went red as she hid behind her cloak. She never imagined her captain swinging that way, but she wasn't going to complain. With a population of nine to one with females outnumbering males by a large majority it was expected that mares would find other mares attractive and vice versa. Stallions may find another stallion they grow fond of.
.............
Diamond and Twilight strolled down the stairs together looking visibly exhausted from their sexual escapade. Diamond's mane was a mess shooting off bits of white hair in all directions, but she didn't even seem to notice. All she was focusing on was the alicorn next to her who was trying to relax her breathing by forcing herself to breath through her nose instead of her mouth which was still a slight problem when it came to her body wanting more oxygen then she would allow it to take in at one point.
"Looks like somepony just got laid." Silver Streak said dully.
Diamond Star didn't care if they knew or not, "at least one of us is getting some poontang."
Twilight blushed and Rapier took this opportunity to to pry at the princess, "so who was on who first? Did the captain hold you against your will Twilight? She can be like that sometimes." She said chuckling at her last sentence.
Diamond Star rolled her eyes followed by a response from the Princess, "firstly," she said panting a little less, "it's not really any of your business, but if you must know I pinned her down first." She said grinning over at Diamond.
A couple gasps came from her team and Diamond snorted in contempt for their immaturity. It wasn't like this was anything new for them. They were all sexually aware mares. It wasn't like they were fillies finding out colts were now more than just a little cute.
"Ladies!" Diamond said gathering their attention, "I would appreciate if you would stay out of the affairs of my life as well as Twilight's."
"Yes ma'am!" They all shouted in unison saluting their captain.
"Twilight, where are we going next?" Diamond asked.
"Anypony know where the Sanguine Sanctuary is?" The alicorn asked aloud.
"I do," Silver Streak stood forward, "I did a solo mission back in the days when I was working for Executive Solution of Equestria."
"Isn't that a PPMC?" Twilight asked,
"Yes, the largest Private Pony Military Contractor in Equestria. That was ten years ago." She said.
"What did you do there?" The alicorn asked.
"Reconnaissance and Recovery. The whole place was restored and I was contracted to find out how and who did it. I recovered the body of a minotaur who undoubtedly tried to perform the Blood Pact and was not powerful enough to contain the curse and died. Since then a barrier has been put up. I bet only an alicorn like yourself could break it seeing as how Princess Celestia was the one who constructed it." Silver Streak said.
"Take us there Silver Streak." Twilight said firmly, "we're going to kill a vampire."
..........
"So this is it huh? I wonder how Nazara got through this barrier." Twilight said touching the invisible wall in front of her.
"It's meant to keep out living creatures not the dead." Silver Streak replied.
Twilight pressed her horn against the barrier focusing in on the crystallize barrier nodes she could sense that were buried within the ground. Just need to overcharge the crystals and they'll shut down. Shouldn't be a problem. She thought to herself. A pulse of magic flowed from her horn shattering the barrier and watching as it fell like glass and disappeared into nothingness.
The mares walked inside feeling a deathly presence overtake them followed by a voice they could hear within their own minds. Welcome to the where it all began Twilight and friends. I hope you're prepared for your ultimate end. Said the voice laughing manically. Diamond Star gritted her teeth preparing for the final fight.
"Remember the plan, Diamond?" Twilight asked.
Diamond nodded, "we'll keep him occupied. You take care of his Soul Gem."
The mares soon found themselves in a vast open chamber. Two intricate pentagrams aligned themselves in the middle of the room one on the floor and one on the ceiling a vast chasm away from any reach other than flight. They were adorned with jewels and gold embellishment that would make Rarity jealous of the necromantic art before her.
An inky blackness materialized before them out of smoke it looked like. And there stood a stallion black as night with a single red strand of hair in his mane and tail. He smiled a toothy grin bearing his fangs for all to see. His eyes were but red and black slits that illuminated the dark chasm in a predatory fear that overcame the unicorns. But they stood their ground ready for whatever was about to happen to them.
"Twilight," he said devilishly, "so glad you could make it. And you even brought me food." He said licking his lips at the unicorns behind the alicorn, "how thoughtful of you." He said sadistically.
"Oh you think so?" Twilight said raising and eyebrow and stepping forward, "then eat this!" She shouted aiming her horn and sending a purple light thin and hot through the vampire splitting him from head to tail in half as his body parted in two hitting the ground.
"Go! Keep him busy I'll find the Soul Gem!" She shouted to the unicorns galloping off to the first jewel encrusted pentagram.
Nazara laughed hysterically, "good shot Twilight!" As his body morphed back together only to be pulverized by hooves and spells alike for the Inquisitors buying Twilight some time.
"Twilight touched each and every jewel she though looking for the right one and soon becoming distraught she couldn't find the right one. She was running out of time. She knew the Inquisitors could only hold him off for so long. Before-
A loud explosion sent Zezima flying past Twilight and hitting the wall splattering in a mess of gore and death, "Zezima!" Shouted Twilight about to run to her aid.
"Don't do it! She's dead Twilight! Find the jewel!" Shouted Diamond star leaping away from the black bolt of electricity.
Twilight grimaced at the corpse and flew upwards to the pentagram on the ceiling searching for the Soul Gem but unable to find it. She cursed to herself unable to find the last piece of Nazara's soul. She closed her eyes focusing inward on her magical reserves as the words formed at her mouth she tried to block out the sounds around her.
"Trixie!" Rapier yelled, but Twilight could not hear.
The evil laughter of Nazara she was deaf to. There was nothing but silence until she spoke the words that truly opened her vision to the gem in hiding, "Eyes of the Unseen" Twilight said to herself in a low whisper.
The whole world stopped around her. She could see Nazara ready to kill Trixie and Diamond Star burst forward horn ready to pierce through Nazara's flesh. She looked around the room seeing a small purple gemstone levitating between the pentagrams. It's glowed brightly as she approached feeling a sensation of empathy and compassion wash over her as her hoof finally touched the gem and then as she touched it. Everything went black.
............
"Wake up. Twilight. Twilight wake up dear." Said the voice in a cooing tone.
Twilight rose up realizing she was at her final destination. The inner workings of Nazara's Love. She looked up at the stallion seeing a smile on his face and longing for Twilight as if she was the mare for him. Twilight rose to her hooves. Looking around her. This was it. The greyness in all directions. But it felt strange her it felt inviting. As if Nazara had truly opened up to somepony.
"So you must be Love, huh?" She said looking at the Stallion.
"Yes, I am Love. I am everything I love. I love it all. I even love you." Love said embracing Twilight with a hug.
"Y-you love me?" Twilight stammered.
"Of course. I love you because you hate me. You despise everything I love and I love that. I love death, I love gore, I love debaucherous sex, I love pain, I love pleasure, I love seeing guts spilled and seeing my guts spilled. I love everything there is to love." It said gleefully.
"Y-you're a monster." Twilight said.
"I know, and I love it." Replied the image of Nazara.
"I am Lithiferously Lepidatious Love." Said Love.
"What?" Twilight said looking confused.
Love craned his head to Twilight's level speaking a little softer, "I am deathly charming love."
"You're insane!" Shouted Twilight.
"I know and I love it!" Hopped the stallion around in a circle.
"Is there anything you don't love?" Twilight quizzed.
The stallion stopped in mid hop stagnating there in the air.
"Why yes, there is. I don't love not loving." He said.
"Don't you love Twilight?" He asked cocking his head, "surely you love too. All ponies love. It just depends what and sometimes who."
"I-I..." Twilight stammered.
"You love Diamond Star don't you." Winked the embodiment of Nazara's Love.
Twilight blushed, "well, it was just one night-"
She was interrupted, "and that's all it takes."
"Why does it matter if I love her?" Twilight stomped.
"Don't deny yourself the emotion you feel Twilight." Said Nazara.
"I-I love Diamond Star." Twilight said.
Nazara's eyes grew wide and smile crossed his face, "thank you Twilight." He said, "Now you love what I love most of all, Life."
............
With that said the apparition disappeared and everything seemed to crumbled around her before she found herself being yelled at from across a vast chasm. She coughed some dirt from her mouth spitting onto the ground and seeing the gem in front of her.
"Twilight!" Screamed Diamond Star. Twilight looked over as her heart began to sink. Nazara was preparing the final blow that would extinguish her life. His hoof was morphed into a spear preparing to bore a hole straight through her head. But before the sinister black spear could pierce her skin a crack of a gem stopped Nazara in his tracks.
His eyes widened and he turn his head seeing the alicorn stand there lifting her hoof showing the vampire the black dust that coated the bottom of her hoof. He felt it now. His heart ached. His head spun and soon his vision went to black as he fell down lifeless and limp. Nazara was dead now. His Sadness, Fear, and Love were extinguished along with his life. His body turned to ash on the floor with a slight pomf sending bits of his soot in all directions.
Twilight felt it now. Her pulse stopped her head rocked back onto the concrete. She could hear her name being called out. The last bit of her vision came to fade seeing the teary eyed albino unicorn standing over her. She cracked one last smile feeling the wet droplets of tears patter her face. She closed her eyes feeling a coldness embrace her. She felt the sleepiness of death take her away.
Author's Note
A short shipping between Twilight and Diamond Star, but I won't be tagging it as Romance. Thank you all for reading. The last chapter will be up soon. Next up, Epilogues, Eulogies, Requiems.
Epilogues, Eulogies, Requiems
Epilogue
Twilight Sparkle, Heroine of Equestion.
That was what was engraved upon the statue of Twilight that stood proudly in Ponyville center. It was a day like none another. Truly a day to remember. The princess of magic lied within an extravagant casket. Her body cold and pale sunk into the ground with the funeral tune passing by. All her friends were in attendance. Her family. Even the princesses themselves were present. The Inquisitors paid their respects standing solemnly still.
A single tear ran down Celestia's face as her body was laid inside the earthen tomb. Soil covering her casket. No one could believe it. No one wanted to believe it. It was simple something unheard of for an alicorn to die. Though it happened and no pony could deny it. The skies were clear and blue just as Rainbow Dash would want it for her dearest friend Twilight. Diamond Star tossed a single white rose within the dirt being buried with Twilight in symbolism for their love. She could still see her falling down lifeless trying to revive her unsuccessfully
Pinkie's hair normally curly and fully now lied flat on her head. She cried profusely losing what was once a dear friend to her now only to be laid to rest underneath her soil grave. There was great mourning all over the city even for the zebra that lied next to Twilight. Her own tombstone marking her place as a fellow soldier fallen in battle fighting one of the greatest enemies Equestria had ever faced.
Tears streamed down Diamond's face as she clenched her teeth trying to hold back the screams of agony that plagued her heart. It felt like somepony was physically ripping her heart from her chest. A pain so excruciating she couldn't bare to see the bodies of two of her closest companions. It was more painful than her now scorched over right eye and cheek she lost in the battle with Nazara. He shield wasn't powerful enough and his magic pierced through. She was lucky to walk about with just a severe facial burning and not dead.
Trixie nodded in respect to Twilight. She laid her life down to save hers even. She now sat in a wheel chair. Two broken femurs and severe magic depletion on top of a fractured skull made their appearances clear upon her. She was no match for the vampire. Not a single word of disrespect fell from her lips. Only silence and a longing of regret for saying the unkind words she did.
Silver Streak stood next to Diamond leaning on her for a slight hug as Silver teared up over the loss of Zezima. She didn't know Twilight that well, but Zezima was a dear friend to her. And she lost her thanks to that horrid monster. She cringed at the thought of Nazara wanting to bury him in fire for what he did but unable to as the only thing left of him were ashes that now were locked tightly away in whatever dimension Celestia put them in.
Rapier was unable to say anything still in shock from what had happened coupled with sever brain trauma he lied dormant in a deep comatose state awaiting in his hospital bed to wake up some day, maybe. It was a dismal fate for the once powerful unicorn to succumb to such an injury.
The Eulogies were about to begin. Her friends tried to compose theirs selves as the first one up was Spike the dragon.
Requiem for a Vampire Slayer
Eulogies for the Dear Departed
Spike cleared his throat, "I've know Twilight Sparkle since I was just a baby smaller than a foal. She was like a sister, and a mother to me. She was someone I always admired and loved for her determination for what is right and not what is easy. She was the Element of Magic. The final element needed to destroy Nightmare Moon and free Princess Luna from her grasp. She was a hero from the time she entered Ponyville till the time she left. She was a bookworm and her knowledge allowed her to prevail over everything even the most sinister evil to ever plague Equestria. A vampire. She is truly the finest Nosferatu Slayer Equestria has ever seen." And with that said he hopped down from the podium leaving it empty for the next pony.
Rarity took to the podium, "When I first met Twilight I was unsure of what to think. She was a strange unicorn, but in the quick few hours we had to know each other before facing down Nightmare Moon I knew that she was going to be my best friend for a long time. And now, I've lost my best friend forever." She choked back some tears, "she did the most selfless act of altruism I can think of. She gave her life so ours may be spared." She began to cry, "I love you Twilight!" She cried leaving the podium.
Applejack took stage afterwards, "Ah' know a lot of ponies are gonna' miss Twi'. So will I. She was a great friend. Best one a mare could have if I say so myself. Don't got much ta' say than that. Mah' tears are 'nuff to speak for the pain I feel now that she's gone." Applejack said leaving the stage with tears welling in her eyes.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were too distraught to make it up to the podium to speak on their friend. But Rainbow Dash took their places climbing the wooden stairs to talk to the massive crowd before her. "Twilight," she started, "was the most awesome pony I have ever known. She was everything I imagined princess would be, kind, honest, thoughtful, resilient, and powerful. She was somepony everypony could rely on to help them. She will be in our hearts forever as a memory to never be lost as the magic she spread through us united us as one. This is goodbye for a lifetime Twilight Sparkle." She said lowering her head and stepping down.
Diamond Star took the stage next, "my name is Diamond Star." She started, "I was there with Twilight Sparkle when she defeated Nazara. I have never met a pony so dedicated to the preservation of ponykind other than Twilight. She told me why she would only allow herself to destroy Nazara. She said it was her duty to her country and to her friends to save them at all costs. Even if that meant her own life. And so she did." She said tears streaming down her eyes, "godspeed Twilight, may you have the greatest stable in the sky." She said looking up into the sky.
Princess Celestia came up to the podium, "My little ponies, today we have lost a great soul among us. But I urge you to see past your teary eyes and look to hope as Princess Twilight gave us another day without fear of predatory creatures of darkness to prowl upon our lands. She gave us something we need now more than ever. Peace. Harmony. And Love. We will rebuild from our broken lives and shattered dreams. Our resolve is high just as Princess Twilight would want for us. Hold your heads high my ponies! Princess Twilight's sacrifice was not in vain! And though she is dead, she will be in our hearts and minds for generations to come." She said proudly. Some ponies cheering others still crying. It was a day of bittersweet victory for the ponies of Equestria. And certainly not the last they would endure.