It didn’t have to be like this they said, it would all work out they said. Well I dare say they were all wrong, nothing has worked and never will as long as those simpletons hesitate. It was blood magic that took her from this world, so it will obviously be blood magic that would bring her back. To make my life whole again I need more blood, I need another sacrifice greater than the common fowl to equate to a ponies life… An innocent life.
All the incantations mean absolutely nothing if I am unable to sustain the magical pressure and that can only be possible with blood seals. It has been painfully apparent that without stronger seals the entirety of my spell will fail with abhorred consequences that I have been lucky enough to avoid. A unicorn of my nature shouldn’t even be tampering with magic of this amplitude or so I have been told. Glancing briefly at what was once my inspiration was now the grounds for dark magic experimentation. In only a short few months I’ve obtained more knowledge on forbidden magic then most would find possible for a pony in my position and still with all that knowledge I can only use or understand a fraction of it for I’m not the most talented of unicorns which frustrated me to no end.
That was however until I understood the full capabilities of my cutie mark. My creativity extended far beyond the common dress, I discovered what I lack in raw power I make up for with flawless control. I trained with sewing needles near the Everfree and at first I was only able to successfully manipulate around thirty needles at once. But over the course of the months my manipulative control expanded to nearly two hundred needles at once while performing complex tasks. Yet even with all my trials, I may not be able to reach my goal… I’ll never be able to willingly take a ponies life, no matter how desperate I get, that’s when the blood magic also becomes extremely unstable despite it's powers. It’s like fire, it’s useful when you're not playing with it, but it could turn deadly with the lightest fan or breeze.
Sitting on my haunches observing my work, there was a slight sense of pride glowing within me. The runes perfectly inscribed on the walls, several enchanted artifacts littered the ground with a few blood markings around them to add to their potency. It would have been any evil wizards dream, however I’m not evil nor am I a wizard.
Knock Knock Knock
Now who could that be, I made it painfully obvious to my friends I was not to be bothered on Sundays and I’m closed so it’s no customer of mines… Unless.
“NO,” Panic immediately involved my regal form. “Theirs no way!”
Turning head to check on one of my more precious artifacts. A clear gem that detects any magical happenings in the area and changes color to the type of magic being cast. Watching the gem closely I noticed it turned a deep green meaning somepony was casting a detection spell outside my door. Can’t afford to be caught, not now, not while I’m so close. Running away wasn't an option, there is just too much here for me to leave behind on such short notice now. I’m going to have to face whatever brutes are outside my door and hope I can convince them to leave, their couldn't be a pony in Equestria who found out what I have been doing. None of my engagement have been missed, no suspicion passed around my friends… My attitude had been flawless.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
The banging was becoming more inpatient now, so I guess there's no sense in keep whoever it is down their waiting. Swallowing the lump in my throat I put on my absolute best face for formal matters. Trotting down the steps to my main room where several mantiques and unfinished designed sat ignored as if they hadn't been touched in days.
Cracking my front door slightly just to get a peek at who it was I was mortified to see at least a dozen lunar guard at my door.
“Miss Rarity Belle, there has been alarmingly high amounts of unusual magic residue in the area and we traced it to your location.” The first dark unicorn guard spoke up as soon as he saw the door crack.
“Well I assure you there has been no such activity happening around here… So good day to you my good sir and I do wish you the best luck.” I tried to make it quick, but before I could shut the door another bat pony guard stuck her hoof in the door.
“Captain, she reeks of bad magic and blood!” the bat pony guard screeched.
In effect all the guards got into defensive positions and begun drawing weapons. That alone caused me to flinch back from the door only by instinct. Could bat ponies smell dark magic, there was no way, I would have learned about it long ago. Unless, upon closer inspection of the strange bat pony mare, I noticed her cutie mark wasn't obscured by armor like the rest of the guard. On her flank was a weird symbol clouded by what looked like a foggy dark mist, it was hard to interpret. But it was made apparent that she had some sense for magical anomalies. Backing away from the advancing guard I was about to deploy my last resort.
“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!” That voice, by Tartarus I might be saved if I play this right.
“Princess!” The captain called out.
“Luna told you I would lead the investigation and I clearly said I didn't want you and your men to go making any arrests without my approval!” The lavender Alicorn sternly said, clearly making good use of her position as princess.
Sheathing their weapons the guard stopped their advance allowing me to finally release the breath I was holding in since that mare stuck her foot in my door. If any pony I have been distant with it had to be Twilight, after all this entire situation is happening because of her negligence. It took me a long time muster up the courage to not lung at her throat when it all happened, all the crying and yelling that day from everypony was something that I’ll never forget. Today though, she is the closest thing to a saving grace right now and I got to keep everything in check.
“Darling, why thank goodness you're here! Could you tell these ruffians to take their investigations elsewhere.” I sounded as innocent as possible. It would have even been hard for Fluttershy to look as innocent… ok maybe not, but I was good none the less.
“Ironsides what’s the meaning of this…” Twilight looked disappointingly towards the captain.
“Princess, we have good reason to believe that the magical residue is emitting from this residency.” The captain stated. “Even seventh sense was easily able to confirm this!”
Said bat pony looked smugly in my direction as if she had me pinned and she probably did. However I wasn't without a back up plan, still I don’t want to waste to much magic. I still need much of it to finish my spell and I’ll be a cow if some foolish filly will take that away from me. As long as Twilight stayed clueless I could control the situation while under her protection. I need not worry about her detecting me because her magical influence isn't attuned to mines, so I should be fine. She might have a magical presence that dwarf my owns, still my core magic is a lot more complex than hers now due to me threading my magic like a fine cloth. Not many unicorns possess that kind of control, it’s a unique ability that some ponies in my family have the knowledge to utilize not that it ever was needed.
My victory was short lived. “Well then, I didn't think that I would have to use this new spell that Celestia taught me… But I guess I have no choice.”
“Umm, what are you talking about darling?” Don’t make me Twilight…
“It’s a simple detection spell amplified by Alicorn magic, it’s painless so don’t worry. It just works on a much deeper level than an ordinary detection spell.”
“Wha…” I sputtered.
“Hold still please, it should only take a second and then WE all can return to our business.” She said, directing most of it towards the annoyed captain.
Oh how wonderful, couldn't go play pretty princess somewhere else. I guess Twilight had always been a double edged sword and the one thing that could always detect blood magic was Alicorn magic. Those standards always miffed me for there are four types of fundamental magic. Earth magic, the most common and it’s the magic that everypony uses regardless of race and it gives everypony their inherent abilities. Then there is dark magic, which only unicorns are capable of and dark magic tends to be not as unstable as most would think but it is far too powerful for most to comprehend. Alicorn magic is obviously exclusive to Alcorns and it’s considered to be light or holy based magic that is a perfect counter to dark magic. After that we have the most complex and unstudied magic… Blood magic which is considered to be a branch of dark magic but it had be refuted multiple times, there aren't many recorded blood magic users in the world and the only one to document any of it was a Pegasus blood mage that went by Red Rain hundreds of years ago. Many ponies confuse blood magic with dark magic, but their are several things that make them vastly different from each other.
However now I shouldn't be internally debating the fundamental magic as more so I should be thinking fast of a way to interrupt Twilight’s spell. With her horn already emitting a deep purple glow I had to disrupt her so I could get behind my door and activate my fail safe.
“I’m sorry Twilight.”
“Huh?” That was all she could utter before I crudely sent my hoof into her muzzle. Not anticipating my blatant assault, Twilight lost control of the spell and back peddled into the arms of a random guard who leap to her rescue. Before anypony could draw a weapon or say another word I was already behind my door, kicking up my door mat, I shot a hidden rune with enough magic to activate it. Within a blink of an eye my entire boutique was cocooned in a crystallized state that could deflect magic and steel alike.
It wouldn't buy me all the time in the world but it would provide me with enough to gather a few essentials and make way to a safe location I marked near the Everfree. I've already had my one time use teleport rune marked and ready to use once I had everything in my saddle bag. Galloping upstairs I could hear the scraping of steel against my home defense and I was far from worried. But what I didn't expect was for a loud popping noise to ring out from downstairs and that only meant one thing.
“RARITY!!!” Twilight…
Not even batting an ear to acknowledge my intruder I just continue to sort through items and collect a few books and papers from my experiment room. It didn't take long for the intelligent mare to figure out where I was at as I could hear her hoof steps coming up the steps and in my direction. I had no intention of fighting Twilight for obvious reason, but I was far from scared. I just knew her to well for anything to turn violent.
As I collect my last book I heard an audible gasp coming from the open doorway to the room. I didn't even bother to look in her direction, she didn't deserve it.
“R-rarity… WHY!”
Silence
“Those runes, those enchantments… T-they are all forbidden spells, no pony should know those!” Twilight stammered, completely unable to believe what she was seeing. “YOU WERE ATTEMPTING TO BREACH THE MAGICAL VEIL!!!”
“Twi-”
“NO, this won’t bring her back… Sweetie Belle wouldn't have wanted this!” She mentioned her name.
“HOW DARE YOU SAY HER NAME! YOU WAS THE PONY TO KILL HER YOU MURDERER!” I screeched in response, whipping around to glare daggers at the unfazed princess.
“Rarity… I wasn't watching her, she didn't know what she was doing! No pony expected that type of backlash… I still haven’t gave up you know, she just slipped through the veil where she will just remain frozen in time… It was exactly the same type of magic Sombra used to make the empire disappear!”
“BE QUITE!” The anger was clearly present in my voice. “You don’t understand how much worse that is, I may never see my sister again and it’s all your FAULT!”
“That’s enough, everypony has been trying to help…” It was obvious the our little chat was over, I wasn't expecting her to adopt an offensive stance. I still need another minute before my rune is charged, so I guess I have no other choice.
Lighting my horn before she even thought about it, I sent a basic blast in her direction to try to stop her from attacking or getting any closer. It was instantly swatted away by the seemingly enraged Alicorn, that alone broke my anger to realize I might be in trouble. After all she is a princess... So why would I expect anything less than extraordinary from her. Taking strong steps in my direction I noticed my trump card… Blood. Her right nostril had just the lightest flow of blood coming out of it and that was enough for me to work with, as long as I had an open wound I could easily perform some of the most basic of blood magic spells. Remembering once more the reason why I was doing this my horn instantly flashed red, one of the indicators of blood magic being used.
Twilight jump backed with out a moment to waste as she erected a small barrier to protect herself, only if she knew it would be completely useless. The spell I was casting was something know as blood burn, it essentially caused blood to feel like it was hot oil and when aimed directly at a pony, it cause insurmountable pain. Even though it wasn't lethal, I still hesitated releasing the spell against a former friend. At lass it was a necessary evil for my sister, releasing the spell, it only took a second for Twilight eyes to grow to the size of dinner plates.
“AAAAAAAAH!!!” Another surprise attack and this one sent the princess straight to the ground writhing in pain while holding her snout. She even bit her tongue drawing blood somewhere in the middle of the process which only lead to more silent screams as she was unable to raise her voice any higher. The burning in her nose must of been one thing, but the burning in her mouth must have been unbearable.
I almost wanted to release the spell because it was even painful to watch her thrash around on the ground unable to think through the hot pain. But I was determined to hold it until she was rendered unconscious, otherwise this would all prove to be fruitless. Yet she was holding out much longer than I anticipated, she even tried to raise back to her hooves a few times. That was until she slipped and cut her foreleg on the edge of the table she was gripping which lead to another point to where the magic would start coursing through.
Her screams were reduced to pathetic crying as she begun to whimper wildly for poor Spikey Wikey to come save her or anypony for that matter. She was just calling out any name as she spasmed in pain. It was almost becoming impossible to hold as I was starting to cry once I realized I would have to part ways with all of my friends and even the family I have left. But won’t be for not as I will return with my sister and they all will see!
Finally her flinching and spasms stopped as she laid as limply on the ground looking like a torture victim which wasn't exactly wrong. Her shallow breaths indicated she was far from dead, but she would need some medical attention. I’ll destroy the barrier once I’m in place to teleport, but first I have to write my good byes. After all no true lady leaves without reason and don’t wish all of my friends to suffer from my absence as they had my sisters…
About an two hours later
“What are ya tryin’ ta say… Our Rarity attacked you and just upped and left?!” A very confused apple farmer said while standing outside of her friends boutique.
“Y-yes Applejack, she was performing some very dark magic to try to bring Sweetie out of the Veil.” Twilight said while leaning her pink friends shoulder, clearly still exhausted from her display of blood magic.
“That’s not ookie dokie lokie…” The pink pony said in an unusually small voice.
“YEA, NO KIDDING PINKIE!” Another pony spoke up, this time from the sky as she arrived with another Pegasus in tow. “Me and Fluttershy hear what happened, there are guard everywhere!”
Twilight looked around at her friends and all of the wore vastly different expressions. Applejack looked absolutely confused as Pinkie seemed somewhat downtrodden. Yet Rainbow was furious for either the accusations being thrown or the fact that Rarity disappeared and Fluttershy was being Fluttershy as she meekly hid behind Rainbows flank.
Two lunar guard trotted heavily out of the house seemingly slightly disappointed for some reason. But Twilight knew why and she was slightly relieved to see them not so successful in there added investigation. For it was common knowledge that their had been strange if not random disappearances around town, a few locals had gone missing in the recent years, along with countless travelers around Ponyville. Yet those incidents were happening long before Rarity could have ever thought about using blood magic.
“Princess, we couldn't find any evidence of any of the missing ponies within her home or anything else that would have indicated that she was involved the the disappearances.” When the guard spoke of the disappearances it almost seemed as if Pinkies grip loosened slightly on Twilight's side, but it wasn't enough for the princess to notice.
“ What would you like us do Princess, you have our command!” The two guards saluted.
“Inform the Princesses of the developments here, but tell them I’ll handle the investigation and search personally from here on out, with hand picked personal.” Twilight knew her friend and she wouldn't kill anypony. Still what she experienced before was beyond anything she ever felt and she knew Rarity was a danger to herself and others.
The guards saluted once more before rushing off, leaving Twilight and her friends with allot on there minds.
“This… This is because of Sweetie Belle isn't it….” Fluttershy softly said, while trailing off a bit at the end.
Applejack lowered her at the mentioning of the poor fillies name as if to pay respect as everypony else looked solemnly to the ground. All except for Rainbow Dash, who instead of sticking around for the sentimental moment decided to fly off without a word, leaving a blazing rainbow trail behind her.
Author's Note
This little thing was directly inspired by this piece of fan art right here....
Ya gotta totally check this dude out, lots of awesome art and stuff! Wild Hound
However I kinda like the idea of this little story and would love some feedback on it because I might make a longer sequel or something to continue the story. I mean I total did just leave absolutely everything unresolved...
