And Hell Will Follow Me

Chapters

Prologue
A Pale Horse Named Death
Give Me The Night
Once Sealed in Blood
The Night Reveals
This Threat is Real
The Dreadful Hours
Ascension
The Other Half Of Me
Tomorrow We Die Alive
Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon

Prologue

Pain. All of Twilight's world was pain. Lying in her bed, she screamed for help. ”Celestia! Luna!”

Several days ago, Twilight had found an interesting spell in a book she had found in the restricted section of the royal library. Most of the pages were smudged, but a few mostly harmless spells had survived intact. This one's title was so faded as to be nonexistent, but after reviewing the instructions and energy involved, she believed it would safe to test, if she was careful.

In her daze of research and discovery, she hadn't noticed that the next page, totally illegible, was a continuation of the same spell. She built the spell matrix in her mind, then applied in the precise amount of magical energy the book had specified. The energy poured through the matrix, found it had no proper outlet, and for a bare moment before the explosion she realised that far too much pressure was building.

She had time to cast a quick shield before the world went white, and then black. Spike, who had seen the accident, kept his cool and quickly sent a letter to Canterlot, begging the Princesses for help. Celestia and Luna both had come, and both were horrified at what they found waiting on the floor.

Twilight's beautiful lavender coat was burned and melted away, the skin underneath seared, blackened and cracked. Blood seeped out of her mouth and nostrils, dripping into a slowly spreading pool on the floor. Burst blisters down both of her broken, twisted front legs wept a clear fluid into the pool, making both the alicorns cringe. Worse than that, however, was her face. There was a splinter from the floor buried deep in her face, having ran along her jaw and narrowly missing her left eye. Her right eye hadn't been so lucky. It looked as if a lance of flame had pierced straight through it, leaving it looking like a popped balloon.

Celestia quickly cast a stasis spell to keep her alive, and Luna sent Spike to retrieve Twilight's friends, both to break the news and so he wouldn't have to see what had become of his friend and adoptive sister any more.

As Celestia levitated Twilight off the floor and onto the bed Luna teleported down from the loft, they looked at each other with concern in their eyes. They both knew that saving her with magic would be difficult, dangerous, and time consuming and even then, much of the damage would be permanent. She would be left half crippled physically, and there was no easy way to tell how extensive the damage to her brain was.

Celestia braced herself to accept what she thought to be the inevitable decision, but Luna instead touched her horn to Twilight's and let loose a torrent of angry, dark red energy. The Sun Goddess' eyes widened, and for a moment she considered interfering, but she instead stepped back and waited. After a few seconds, Luna stepped back and sat with a sigh.

“What have you done?” Celestia quietly asked her sister. “That is a power we denied ourselves for good reason.”

“I have saved her,” Luna replied, her voice soft. “You know as well as I she would have never truly lived, even if she had survived. I will not see a good pony with so much potential die so young if I have the power to save her.”

Celestia thought a moment, watching as the worst of Twilight's burns started to fade and the gash in her face started to close. She knew there would be scars, both physical and mental, but it seemed as if she would survive to bear them.

“There will be consequences,” she said after a time. “You have upset the natural order of life. She will survive, but we may wish she had not.”

“Worry more about what she will think,” Luna said. “She may think herself a monster.”

Celestia raised a single eyebrow. “You simply healed her, did you not? Why would that-” Celestia stopped speaking and whipped her head towards her sister. “You turned her.”

“I did. It was the only way to be sure she would survive.”

“Do you think she would want that?”

“She is strong. She will adapt.”

“I hope you're right.”

A short time later, Spike returned with Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash in tow. Luna frowned when she heard the door open. “They should not see Twilight in this condition,” she whispered to her sister.

“That may be true,” Celestia whispered back, glancing at the still nightmarish wounds the unicorn had suffered, “but I think you'll find they can be very insistent. Let them decide, it wouldn't be right otherwise.”

Luna nodded, unhappy but acknowledging the truth of the statement. She walked down the stairs, examining the faces of the five ponies waiting for her below, and her heart tore for the fear and concern she saw there.

“Friends,” she began, speaking softly and calmly, “Twilight has had a very serious accident. She will survive, but her injuries are still grotesque. It may be best if you were stay down here tonight, and see her in the morning when the magic in her has worked its course.”

“Princess,” Applejack said her voice strained, “with all due respect, Twilight is our friend and we'll be seein' her tonight. We've seen some nasty things in our time, seein' a few more aint gonna stop us from bein' there for her.”

“Are you sure?” Luna asked. “She was very badly burned.”

“Princess, would you be content to sit and wait if Celestia was the one injured in a bed?” Rarity asked, her voice tight with suppressed anger.

“So be it,” Luna said. “Brace yourselves, and follow me.”

She gave the small group a moment to do just that, then lead them slowly up the stairs to see their friend.

She opened the door, and after the five friends pushed past her, she saw them all cringe at the sight of Twilight's burned and broken body. Pinkie Pie and Rarity both looked as if they were about to be ill, while Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy's expressions were grim.

While the worst of her cuts and burns had faded away and blood no longer dripped from her mouth, her coat and mane's growth had not been accelerated by the spell. It left her looking like a half melted wax figure, and on her face was a large scar. A thick, jagged line of angry red ran along her jaw, turning up to leave her mouth set in a smirk and her eye slightly open.

The assembled friends looked to each other, realising that while Twilight would survive, she would never be the same again.

A Pale Horse Named Death

Twilight was dreaming. The logical part of her mind assured her that this was the case. It must be the case, it whispered to her, because what she was seeing couldn't be real. Standing in front of her was giant earth pony stallion the colour of a blind eye with a thin, patchy mane. He towered over Twilight, easily twice her height and wider than any pony she'd ever seen, every inch of him dense, hard muscle. He was utterly still, like a statue, not even breathing. However, what truly convinced her that she was dreaming were his eyes. They glowed faintly, the same colour as his coat and mane, and the light seemed to wash away the features of his face. Twilight felt naked under the gaze of those eyes, like they could see through her and learn her deepest secrets with a glance.

“Hello Twilight,” the stallion said without moving his mouth, the deep, resonant voice coming from everywhere at once. “I am The Keeper.”

“Keeper?” Twilight asked, suspicious and afraid. “Keeper of what? What kind of messed up dream is this?”

The Keeper's lips curled minutely into what a kind pony might call a smile. “You think this a dream? You think I am some wisp of your imagination? I am the Keeper of the Void. What you see here is no less real than The World That Is, your realm of life. Welcome to my realm, the land of the dead and the cursed.”

Twilight found herself staring in shock at the stallion before her as she let out a short, nervous laugh. “That can't be right. If this was some sort of afterlife, I'd have to be dead. My subconscious is sick, to make me dream this.”

“Indeed. Yet, here you are. What is the last thing you remember?” he asked, and the question caught Twilight off guard.

“Well,” she answered quickly, “I was experimenting with an old spell I found, but there was an accident...” Twilight's eyes went wide and her ears flattened to her skull. “Sweet Celestia, I am dead, aren't I?” she whispered.

“You are, and yet you are not,” The Keeper answered. “You are between. This is why I could bring you here, and why you will return to your world.”

Twilight shot a sharp glance at The Keeper and raised an eyebrow. “What? I don't understand.”

“I know,” The Keeper said. “Speak to Luna when you wake. She will explain. I would ask a favour, however.”

Twilight frowned, but nodded, unsure of what to believe about the situation.

“Tell your Princesses that as life is their domain, death is mine,” he said, his voice dreadfully quiet and calm. “I will not tolerate their interference again. There are balances that must be maintained, and they will find the price heavier than they can bear.”

Twilight shivered. “I will,” she said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the overwhelming compulsion to turn around and walk away, and though she tried to stand still, it was entirely out of her control. As she walked away, she heard The Keepers voice.

“Remember this, young Twilight. Though you now stand half in death and half in life, one day I will claim you. This is inevitable. Do not fear it.”

With that, a mist descended over her vision and she felt herself fading, leaving The Keeper alone in his Void.

In The World That Is, three days had passed and a third night was beginning. The Princesses had stayed the night before leaving, making sure Spike knew to send them a letter the moment Twilight showed signs of waking, but she was expected to sleep for another four days at least. Applejack and Rarity had both made a habit of checking in several times a day despite their businesses, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both stayed in the library almost constantly, and Pinkie Pie would check in every half hour, day or night. For the moment, however, Spike was alone with Twilight. He had taken to sitting by her bedside and reading aloud when they were alone, and today he had chosen to read a summarized history of the founding and construction of Canterlot. He found it dreadfully boring, but he knew Twilight adored history, so he read on with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He was halfway through a paragraph detailing an odd error in the construction of the palace that had left a hall leading to nowhere when Twilight began to mumble and twitch.

“Twilight!” he yelled, tossing the book away before grabbing a letter he had prepared and sending it as hastily as he could. “Twilight, can you hear me?” he asked, hope in his voice. “Speak to me! Are you alright?”

“...Spike?” came Twilight's quiet reply as her eyes fluttered open. She saw her young assistant standing over her, and she heard his wordless cry before he pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. “It's alright,” she said, returning the hug. “I'm alright Spike. Everything is going to be fine.”

At that moment there were twin flashes of light, one white and one blue, before Luna and Celestia appeared in the room. Twilight shot them both a meaningful look as she tightened her hold on Spike, and the two Princesses waited until the baby dragon let her go before they stepped forward to stand beside the bed.

“Celestia? Luna?” Twilight said, her voice nervous. “What's going on? How long have I been unconscious?”

“Three days and two nights,” Luna answered quietly. “You have woken early.”

Twilight paled slightly as she glanced out the window. “Was it that bad?”

“I've rarely seen worse,” Celestia said, eyeing her sister, “and none of those survived. You're a very lucky mare, Twilight.”

Twilight glanced between the two Princesses and frowned. “Spike,” she said, “I'm starving. Could you run out get me some hay fries?” The little dragon snapped a salute before hurrying out of the room, and Twilight crawled out of her bed. She walked about for a moment, expecting her legs to be shaky after so long in bed, but was pleasantly surprised to find her steps solid and sure. “Did something else happen?” she asked.

Luna raised an eyebrow and Celestia smiled. “I told you she'd have questions,” the elder Princess said. “She's always been very clever.”

“So it would appear,” Luna said. “It will help her in her new life.”

“New life?” Twilight asked, curious.

“Nothing to worry about at the moment,” Celestia said. “First, why don't you tell us what you remember of your accident?”

“There's not much to tell,” Twilight replied, closing her eyes. “I found a spell that I wanted to test and it didn't seem like there would be enough energy involved for it to be dangerous, so I decided I could try it inside the library. Something went wrong, the energy wouldn't release, and by the time I realised what was happening I only had time to contain it.”

“An energy cascade,” Luna said. “Power draws power to itself. The magic in the matrix would have started siphoning energy from wherever it could, most of it likely from your own rather substantial reserves, until the matrix could no longer contain it. Rare for it to happen, however, if the matrix is complete. Where did you find this spell?”

“The book should still be on my desk downstairs,” Twilight said. “Just a moment.” The young unicorn's horn glowed for a moment, and the book popped into existence beside Luna's head.

Celestia smiled. “It's good to see that you aren't afraid to use your magic. Many are after accidents like these.”

“Indeed,” Luna said as she flipped through the book. “Far too many never use their power again.”

“Page three hundred and ninety four,” Twilight supplied, and Luna quickly found the spell. She studied the page for a moment and creased her brow.

“This is a complete matrix,” she said, “but only half the spell.”

“What?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Every book I've read on the subject of dual matrix spells declared them impossible.”

“They are,” Celestia said, “for most unicorns, anyway. Only one in a hundred are skilled enough, and most of those aren't strong enough. The power requirements don't double, like you would expect, but square. I intended to teach you the theory, but never found the time.”

Luna flipped the page and saw the illegible second matrix. Staring at the remains of the page in concentration, she drew upon her own extensive experience with magic, drew connections between what little remained of the second matrix, and blinked in surprise. “This is an extremely powerful spell, Twilight. Where did you find this book?”

Twilight's ears drooped slightly. “Uh, the Canterlot archives, in the restricted section of the Starswirl the Bearded wing.”

Luna glanced to Celestia, who wore a small smile “The palace guards have standing orders to ignore her intrusions.”

“They do?” Twilight asked, surprised.

“You thought I was unaware of your extracurricular activities?” Celestia asked playfully. “I thought it was wonderful that you were willing to learn the darker side of the art. The realisation of how destructive magic can be is important to any unicorn, especially magical talents like yourself.”

Twilight smiled sheepishly at her mentor while Luna frowned. “You could have simply asked me, Twilight,” she said. “Forbidden magic is part of my domain. I would gladly teach you anything you wish to know.”

Twilight's smiled vanished as she remembered something. “Speaking of domains, something weird happened while I was unconscious.”

“Oh?” Luna asked as she returned to flipping through the book.

“Does the title 'Keeper of the Void' mean anything to either of you?”

Luna dropped the book as both Princesses eyes went wide with shock.

“He spoke to you?” Celestia asked after she recovered, her voice cold, hard, and much to Twilight's shock, afraid.

Twilight flinched away from her mentor. “I thought it was some sort of dream.”

“No,” Luna said. “He is very real, and very dangerous. He would only show himself to a mortal if he had some purpose for them. Did he give instructions, a message?”

“Yes,” Twilight answered nervously, her eyes darting between the two angry and fearful gods. “He said that death is his domain, and that you shouldn't interfere again. He said you would find the price too heavy to bear.”

Silence reigned for a moment as Twilight's heart beat a furious rhythm.

“Twilight, there are things you must know, but they can never leave this room,” Celestia said, her voice calmer and her horn igniting with a spell Twilight didn't recognise. “Are you prepared to swear yourself to secrecy? Think carefully before you answer, there will be consequences should you change your mind.”

Twilight frowned a moment as she realised what the spell was. “A binding? Those-”

“Are fully legal when I deem it necessary,” Celestia interrupted calmly.

Twilight was quiet for almost a minute. “Tell me,” she said eventually. “I swear to keep it secret until you release the binding.”

Celestia nodded and her horn grew brighter. Twilight felt something twinge painfully in her head, then the light faded.

“How much do you know of the old times, Twilight?” Luna asked. “Not the history taught in schools, the scrolls you would have found in the restricted section.”

“Not much,” Twilight admitted. “I always thought I couldn't stay there for long, so I mostly grabbed spell books and texts on magical theory. I saw the scrolls, but never read them.”

“What about the black books with no titles?” Celestia asked, and Twilight shook her head. “The next time you visit the Castle, take them. The scrolls are pre-Discordian history as written by scholars, the black books are my personal observations. Both are relevant and you may find them interesting as well.”

Twilight shook her head slowly. Talk of Equestria before Discords reign was unofficially suppressed by every reputable academic institution in the country, and no scholar had ever had access to the personal diaries of either Princess. She couldn't understand how they would connect to the strange stallion she had met, though.

“The Keeper was directly responsible for much of the trouble we faced during those times,” Luna explained, seeing the confusion in Twilight's eyes, “though it must be said that he helped us in equal measure.”

“What is he?” Twilight asked.

“I'm not quite sure,” Celestia admitted. “Luna knew him better than I ever did.”

“The closest cultural analogue I am aware of is the Reaper,” Luna said. “Taker and guider of departed souls. He never revealed the full extent of his powers to me, but he could always best me, in magic or physical contests. He rules the Void with an iron hoof as well, his control over the realm is astonishing.”

“So the Void is real too? He said he'd brought me there.”

“Truly?” Luna asked, surprised. “That is strange indeed. He rarely draws the living to his realm.”

“Well, according to him, I'm actually dead. Sort of,” Twilight said. “He told me I'm 'between' now, 'half in death and half in life.' What does that even mean?”

Luna fidgeted uncomfortably. “In order to save your life, I had to use a very old magic.”

“Not magic,” Celestia said. “Call it what it is, sister. Necromancy.”

Twilight's eyebrows raised so quickly she thought they were trying to achieve escape velocity. “Necromancy?” she asked. “I thought that was a myth!” Twilight started pacing quickly back and forth, hyperventilating slightly and speaking quickly. “After all, when Necromancers were named a key threat against harmony in Equestria six hundred years ago, you claimed that necromancy was invented and spread by the Gryphons to try and turn earth ponies and pegasi against unicorns during the unification of Equestria! But if that was a lie, and necromancy is real, then...” Twilight stopped, tilted her head, and looked at Celestia. “But why lie?”

“It's an unnatural force,” Celestia replied. “I'll not have it in Equestria if I can avoid it.”

“Except when it serves your ends?” Luna asked. “I seem to recall an army, armed with necromancy and immortality, marching under your banner.”

Twilight eyed the two princesses, her eyes curious. “An army of Necromancers? What?”

“Not Necromancers,” Celestia said defensively. “They may have used necromancy, but they were not Necromancers. There is a difference.”

Twilight frowned. “There's nothing about that in any of the histories in the palace library.”

“Indeed not,” Luna said. “My vamponies were erased from all official records after they were murdered.”

Celestia flinched slightly, and Twilight found herself feeling very confused. “Vamponies? They were real too?”

“Not in any form you would recognise,” Luna said calmly. “ They have been demonized by the stories you may have heard. Vamponies were not monsters, nor were they emasculated fairies masquerading as stallions. They were soldiers, strong and proud, ponies that did great services for the crown when no others could. Without them, Equestria would have fallen.”

“I did what I thought best,” Celestia said sadly. “I won't apologise for it.”

“Huh?” Twilight said.

“My vamponies, my children, died at the hooves of my sisters guards,” Luna said, her voice quiet. “They saved a nation, and such was their reward, for they were creatures of my night.”

“No mortal should hold the power they did,” Celestia said. “You know it had to be done.”

“This is all very interesting,” Twilight said, “and I'd love to hear the entire story, but is this relevant to what's going on?” she asked.

“In part,” Luna replied. “Our magic could not have healed you, young Twilight. Not all the magic in Equestria could have restored you this completely, or this quickly.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I don't think I'm going to like where this is going,” she said.

“You have always been most perceptive,” Luna replied, walking over to stand directly in front of Twilight. “You are a creature of the night, now, young Twilight. You are the first vampony Equestria has seen in thousands of years. Welcome to the ranks of the immortals.”

Twilight blinked once, twice. Then she fainted, falling onto her side with a dull thump.

“Tactful as always,” Celestia muttered under her breath.

Then Spike walked through the door, the large plate full of hay fries in hand dropped when he saw Twilight unconscious on the floor. “Oh come on!”

Twilight found herself once more in the Void, The Keeper standing before her, still as stone. Now that she knew who and what he was, his presence left her heart pounding. She wondered for a moment if there was a way to run or hide.

“If you attempted to leave, I would restrain you for the duration of this conversation,” he said as if he could read her thoughts, his voice again seeming like it came from everywhere at once.

“What do you want with me?” she asked, suspicious.

“You are the first mortal I have spoken with in thousands of years,” he said. “Luna is able to prevent me from reaching the living through their dreams, and so I have kept the company of the dead. The dead never change, Twilight Sparkle. I quickly grow tired of them. You are full of life and energy, you fascinate me.”

'Well, that's just grand', Twilight thought. “So I have no choice?” she said aloud.

“You always have a choice,” The Keeper said. “You could convince Luna to allow me access to the dreams of other mortal ponies, thus distracting me from yourself, or learn from her how to prevent me from reaching you. I would not recommend either. You now know what she has made you. Will you trust her to be your only teacher?”

Twilight frowned and took a step back. “What do you know about what I am?”

“More than you,” The Keeper said. “More than Celestia.”

“More than Luna?” Twilight asked.

“More than she will tell you,” he answered.

Twilight drew in a few deep breaths. “Why should I trust you?”

“Ask instead what I would gain through deceit,” The Keeper said. “I wish your company, would it benefit me more to deceive you or to help you to the best of my ability?”

Twilight thought a moment. “That assumes you're being honest about your intentions.” The Keeper inclined his head slightly, but it wasn't an acknowledgement, more a signal to continue with that line of thought. “But, from what Princess Luna told me, you have at least alicorn-level magic, despite being an earth pony, so if you wanted anything that can be taken by force, you could just do that. So, whether you have an ulterior motive or not, right now you really do just want to spend some time with me?”

“Your logic is sound,” The Keeper said. “More so than most. You will need that strength in coming days.”

“What?” Twilight asked, her voice flat.

“It would be improper for me to explain,” The Keeper answered.

Twilight sighed. “Is there a single ancient being out there that doesn't take sadistic glee in being cryptic?”

“Yes,” The Keeper said. “She is not here. Would you like me to tell what I can about your condition?”

Twilight's ears swivelled forward, but she looked worried. “I'm still not sure I should trust you.”

“That is wise. Allow me to suggest a small test. I will educate you as to your condition, so that when you awake you may confirm what I have told you with Luna. Would that prove my honesty to you?”

“It would be a start,” Twilight said after a moment, sitting as she spoke.

The Keeper nodded fractionally, and Twilight wondered why he moved so little. “You are no longer alive,” he began, “though your soul is still trapped inside your body. You will find you have no need to breathe or eat and your body will not tire, though your muscles will still rip and tear if you push past your limits, and you will feel that pain. You will find your senses growing far sharper as you learn to control your new abilities. Eventually, the light of the sun may begin to hurt your eyes, although many of the old vamponies found a way to limit their sensitivity to light. Your physical abilities will be the greatest change by far. Even now, young and unblooded, your strength will be as the strength of many strong stallions.”

Twilight shuddered and raised a hoof. “Unblooded?” she asked. “Does that mean..?”

“Yes,” The Keeper said. “You will require the blood of others to survive. Do you know why?” he asked, and Twilight shook her head. “You are dead. Your soul wishes to leave your body. The blood of others contains the spark of life that anchors their own souls to their bodies. When you feed on them, you are stealing this spark for yourself. The more you drink, the stronger your own anchor will become, and your abilities will grow in turn.”

“Does it hurt the other pony?” Twilight asked, feeling a little silly to be asking whether or not it was harmful to have your blood sucked out.

“It can, or it can not,” The Keeper replied. “The more deeply you drink, the faster your powers will grow. The greatest increase will come if you drink the last heartbeat, but this will obviously kill the pony. For survival, you need very little. A cup of blood a week will keep you alive, two will keep you satiated. I recommend you never force yourself to consume less than two cups a week, the hunger is extremely unpleasant. It will, in due time, drive you insane. Should that happen, you would likely kill many ponies before one of your Princesses could kill you.”

Twilight paled slightly. “Kill me?”

“There is no recovery from that madness,” The Keeper explained. “You would be no more than a violent, starving beast. With your magical talent and physical abilities, only your Princesses could safely kill you. Would you like to know more?”

“Not about that,” Twilight said with a shudder. “Can you tell me anything about necromancy?”

There was silence until Twilight began to worry she had offended The Keeper somehow. “That is a question rarely asked,” his voice said. “What do you wish to know?”

“Anything,” Twilight asked. “I passed out before the Princesses could even tell me what it was.”

“They would not have told you,” The Keeper said. “Celestia feels it is an abuse of the immortal gift. I suspect Luna would be willing to teach you it's use, however, so I will only teach you how it came to be, and how it came to be feared, if that is acceptable.”

Twilight nodded.

“As your Princesses rule of The World That Is and I rule over The Void, there is another who rules over The World That Is To Come. I have little knowledge of this entity, only that she is the mother of all three realms and the one from whom all life flows. Her influence is easily felt by those of us who were born immortal, it is she that allows us to live until such a time as we decide to die. When the spark inside of us grows dim, she replenishes it. I do not know how or why she does this, nor does any being I am aware of.

“Many millennia ago, long before Luna became Nightmare Moon, The Giver appeared to her in a dream and granted her a great power. This was the gift of necromancy, though it had a different name then. Luna experimented with this power, but found she could do little with it. In time, she came to me for aid. Eventually, we unlocked the secret, and we were content to explore out new-found power in peace for several centuries, but questions eventually arose.

“First, we determined the source of necromancy's power. We had thought it an undiscovered branch of magic, but found it was entirely different. Where magic's power comes from magic itself, necromancy draws upon the wielders life. This led use to wonder at the limits of necromancy. We tested them as thoroughly as we could, but answers eluded us. It seemed as though an invisible line was drawn, before it we were limited only by imagination, beyond it we could do nothing.

“Then my mind turned towards experimentation with mortal life. Luna objected to this, strenuously, but she eventually agreed to teach six ponies the secret of necromancy. We watched these six for years, but saw nothing until the day the first one died. We were surprised by this, for he had been healthy and strong, but he simply ceased to live with no apparent cause of death. I tried to draw his soul to my realm, but I found it trapped within the corpse. Luna attempted to recover the body for examination, but it could not be found.

“He lived near a forest, so we assumed an animal had found his body and thought little of the missing corpse until the other five died within days, also leaving no body behind. Luna witnessed the last one die, and claimed that his corpse simply stood up and ran away, faster than she thought a mortal pony could be capable of. These six became the first Necromancers, twisted mockeries of life bent on chaos and destruction, enemies of all that drew breath in the world.

“They spent years wandering the world, slaughtering ponies, gryphons, dragons, and other species now gone. They revelled in senseless death, making an art of murder for their own amusement. The stories survivors told seemed impossible, yet they were always the same. Six stallions, clad from head to hoof in black armour, would circle a settlement as the sun set. They would walk inward, tightening the circle, burning any that tried to run with a fire that turned all it touched to ash. When the circle was closed, they would spends hours tormenting their prey until dawn, when they would kill all who remained alive. Any intact bodies would then rise, and follow their new masters.

“We assumed this was an exaggeration and any missing bodies had simply been consumed by the fire, but we were mistaken. After six months, the Necromancers marched against Equestria in force, an army of empty Husks and lesser Necromancers behind them. This was six thousand years ago, the first Necromancer War, when the first of the vamponies were created by Luna. The Husks were stronger and faster than any mortal pony, the Royal Guard could not stand against them. Luna herself captured one of the Necromancers, and through her experimentations on the beast, she found a way to grant the same powers to a pony without destroying them. This was the first Lunar Guard, one hundred soldiers who traded their souls for the strength to defend their home. Over the course of years, they beat back the Necromancers, and for a time peace reigned.

“Then the Necromancers returned. Three times they built an army, three times the vamponies defeated them. Your Princesses expected a fourth attack, but it never came. Five hundred years after the third war, it was decided the threat had ended. Celestia feared that the vamponies would be tempted to use the power they held against her, and so she had them killed. Many of her own guard died, but within a week of her decision not one vampony still lived. This was the start of Luna's own fall, which is a history you know well.”

Twilight blinked. “I don't understand,” She said. “If the vamponies wanted to depose the Princesses, they would have tried.”

“Indeed, but a wise ruler never suffers a threat to live longer than necessary.”

“Celestia isn't like that,” Twilight said. “She's kind, she's just. She wouldn't kill ponies because of a possibility.”

“No?” The Keeper asked. “Perhaps you should speak to Luna. She will enlighten you.”

Twilight frowned but nodded. “I will. You said the vamponies had the strength to push back the Necromancers? How did they do it?”

“They turned evil against evil,” The Keeper answered. “As brutal as the Necromancers were, the vamponies did worse, and gladly. Never underestimate the strength a pony can find when their homes and loved ones are threatened, let alone a legion of immortals armed with the most destructive power they could possibly wield. Wrath the like of theirs has not been seen in the world since. Not even Nightmare Moon's heart burned so brightly. I once witnessed a kind hearted mare tear the throat from a foal with her teeth and drink his lifeblood, purely because it was the most expedient way to return to battle.”

Twilight shuddered. “That isn't strength.”

“No?” The Keeper asked. “They did whatever was necessary, no matter the cost. Is that not strength?”

“It's barbarism,” Twilight answered. “Strength is finding the best way, not the fastest, or the easiest, or the simplest. Strength is doing what's right, even if it isn't easy.”

“Would it have been right for her to abandon her fellow soldiers? Without her, the line may have faltered. The battle may have been lost, a city destroyed, thousands of lives lost. Is one life worth that destruction?”

“You have it backwards,” Twilight said, standing and cracking her neck. “Not one life is worth any less. Will I be waking up soon?”

“Yes,” The Keeper answered, and The Void began to fade from her vision.

Give Me The Night

Twilight opened her eyes. She looked around the room, seeing her library and realising that at some point somepony had put her back into her bed. A glance out the window told her it was still night, which Twilight couldn't help but feel was appropriate, given the situation. She crawled out of bed as quietly as she could, putting out the lamps around the room with a quiet surge of magic before sitting in the darkness, alone with her thoughts. She did not move until Luna stepped into the room over an hour later.

“I have found that quiet thoughts in dark places are best thrown into the light,” the Princess of the Night said as she relit the lamps, her voice soft. “Otherwise, they will fester and spread their corruption until they consume you.”

“Dark places are where I belong now,” Twilight said. “I'm a creature of the night, right?”

“As am I,” Luna replied. “Does that mean I should remove myself from society, hold myself away from others as I once did? That turned out rather badly, as I'm sure you recall.”

“I'll be fine. I just need some time.”

“Is that so?” Luna asked, sitting next to Twilight. “For what purpose? To internalise your anger and sadness until the day it explodes? You may not be able to cause eternal night, Twilight Sparkle, but I fear you could still bring great tragedy to Equestria, if I allowed you time.”

“What do you want?” Twilight sighed, slumping.

“To listen,” Luna said. “You were there when I needed a friend. Allow me to be here for you. I dare say there is no better pony in Equestria to hear your thoughts. Even downstairs, I could feel them.”

Twilight nodded mutely, but said nothing.

“Shall I guess, then?” Luna asked. “You learned something of what I made you while you slumbered, yes?” Twilight nodded again. “You fear what you are? Nay, you loath it more than fear it.”

“Why shouldn't I? I'm a monster.”

“A monster are you?” Luna asked, placing a hoof over her heart. “Here sits a pony responsible for death and destruction on a scale you cannot comprehend, and you call yourself a monster? What does that make me?”

“You're different,” Twilight said. “You're a Princess.”

“That excuses my actions as Nightmare Moon? That somehow makes it less wrong that I destroyed so much?”

“Well, no,” Twilight began, but Luna cut her off.

“So if you, a saviour of Equestria multiple times over, are a monster, then surely I am worthy of the title as well. We can be monsters together, if nothing else. Shall we spend the night wallowing in self-loathing?”

“What are you trying to do?” Twilight asked.

“I am trying to help you,” Luna said bluntly. “I may not have the same experience with friendship you do, but even I know that friends try their best to help each other. Or am I not your friend?”

“Are you?” Twilight asked, rising to her hooves. “You turned me into... this. I didn't ask for it.”

“I saved your life,” Luna pointed out, content to remain seated. “I apologise if that discomforts you.”

Twilight sighed again, hanging her head. “I don't mean to be ungrateful, I really don't. I'm just... confused. Conflicted.”

“I know,” Luna said, motioning for Twilight to sit again and drawing her close with a wing. “I felt the same way once.”

Twilight fidgeted under the Princesses' embrace, but she didn't pull away. “I saw The Keeper again. He told me about the original vamponies. What happened to them. Did Celestia really...?”

“Yes,” Luna said, sadness apparent in her voice. “She had my children slain. She feared them, what they could do.”

“I'm sorry,” Twilight whispered, and Luna chuckled softly.

“You amaze me, Twilight Sparkle. You sit here drowning in your own troubles, and you still find a place in your heart to feel sorry for another's misfortune. Enough of that, for tonight. I will gladly answer your questions about the past when the sun rises. Until then, let us speak of the future.”

“What's going to happen to me?” Twilight asked, her voice strained “What will Celestia do?”

“Nothing,” Luna said, tightening her wing around the unicorn. “I'll allow no harm to come to you. Even from her, if it comes to that. I promise.”

Twilight sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. “What about the townsponies?”

“The ones whose lives you save several times a year?” Luna asked, incredulous. “No reasonable pony will fear their saviour because of my gift.”

“Because ponies always see reason, of course,” Twilight said, her voice flat.

“Why Twilight, was that a joke?”

The two laughed briefly, but it was tinged with bitterness. “Ponies may fear the night,” Luna said after they stopped, “but such is my burden to bear. Ours, if you do not reject it.”

“Can I?” Twilight asked. “Reject it, I mean.”

“Yes,” Luna said, her tone guarded and her ears drooping. “Some of your predecessors did. Is that your will?”

Twilight looked up at the alicorn for a moment. “I don't think it is,” she said, and Luna smiled.

The sun rose, ignoring the silent pleas of the two tired and somewhat stiff ponies. Luna finally, and regretfully, pulled her wing away from Twilight, who shivered a little before standing and cracking her back with a loud pop. After long hours mostly immobile in conversation with Princess Luna, she felt the need to move and release some of the energy that was buzzing through her body. The two descended the stairs, finding the lower level of the library empty, and after a breakfast that Luna insisted on making despite Twilight's protests, the two left the library and struck a course for the nearest town limit. They eventually arrived at their destination, a small and secluded meadow nestled in a bowl of hills.

“So you desire to embrace the night, Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked, and the unicorn nodded. “Good. First, forget everything my sister has taught you.”

Twilight frowned. “But that would mean losing almost every bit of magic I know. I didn't think I'd have to give up what I already knew.”

“You will surrender nothing,” Luna clarified, “it is only that the matrices and calculations you are familiar with will only hinder you here. You control the power of the night no more than you control me.”

“I'm not sure I'll be able to do that,” Twilight replied. “I've been casting spells the same way since I was five.”

Luna nodded sagely. “Only to be expected, I suppose. Very well. We will begin by teaching you how to feel.” The alicorn's horn shimmered for a moment, and a length of pitch black wood dropped onto the ground in front of Twilight. “Hit me.”

“What?” Twilight asked, tilting her head and blinking.

“Hit me,” Luna replied. “Hard.”

“Princess, I really don't-”

“Twilight Sparkle!” Luna half roared, her mane whipping about her face in agitation, “hit me!”

Responding automatically to the tone of command in Luna's voice, Twilight yanked up the staff with her magic and swung it like a bat at the alicorn. For her part, Luna simply smiled and leaned back a fraction, the staff buzzing in front of her face so closely it ruffled her coat. “I am a Goddess of War, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, her voice openly mocking. “You will have to do better than that.”

Gritting her teeth at Luna's tone, Twilight leapt forward and swung the staff again, missing by inches as Luna jumped over the length of wood. Twilight kept swinging, letting the staff gather momentum with each missed pass until it was practically a blur.

“Fast, that is good, but clumsy,” Luna said, before raising a hoof and stopping the staff cold. “You have potential. Grasp the staff by the centre, not the end. It will rob you of power but give you more control. Now stop trying to hit me and hit me!”

Twilight obediently shifted her grip on the staff, bringing it back to her side with a small flourish while Luna took several steps back. “So you can listen, at least,” Luna purred. Twilight frowned and closed her eyes in thought for a moment, recalling everything she had ever read about the use of a staff and combat in general. “You are letting thought cloud your emotions, Twilight,” Luna said. “That defeats the purpose of the lesson.”

“Does it?” Twilight asked, opening her eyes and launching herself forward again, her staff moving in a textbook perfect attack pattern. Luna smiled and lazily weaved her body through the strikes before trapping the staff under a hoof.

“I invented that pattern,” she said. “Among others. Your studies will not help you.”

Twilight snapped the staff in the centre and sent the free half rocketing towards the alicorn's face. Luna caught that one with a hoof as well, but it was a near thing. “Better,” she said. “Again.”

An hour later, Twilight had failed to land a single strike on Luna. She had left holes in the ground, torn bits of ethereal mane from her targets head, and even managed to hit herself in the face, but Luna simply danced around her attacks and kept up a near constant stream of insults and mockery. Twilight breathed deeply, carefully keeping herself from slipping into a total rage, and resumed swinging away with the two halves of Luna's staff.

Luna ducked and weaved through what felt like the thousandth new pattern, the weapons passing impossibly close to her, all the while wearing the same satisfied, infuriating little smirk. “Are you angry, Twilight?” she asked, skipping back from a powerful but slow scissor strike. “Which stings you more, my words or your failure at such a simple task?” This time she beat her powerful wings once, one part of the staff passing under her and another dodged with a tilt of her head. “I had thought this would be suitable for a beginners lesson. Perhaps I was wrong?”

“Shut. Up.” Twilight growled, shaking her head to clear sweat from her eyes.

“You presume to command me?” Luna asked, this time moving forward and jabbing Twilight harshly in the ribs. “You cannot land a single blow on me, and you presume to order me about? I think not, Twilight Sparkle. If you wish me to be silent, make me.” Luna punctuated her statement with a viscous slap that sent Twilight reeling into the dirt, the taste of blood in her mouth.

“You hit me!” Twilight said as she stood. “What was that for?”

“I thought you might require a demonstration,” Luna said, her voice cold. “Will you cry now, and run to your mother? Celestia is a poor teacher, it seems!”

“That's not true!” Twilight yelled, sending the two half staves swinging wildly about Luna. The Princess still managed to dodge or block every attack, but she constantly moving backward now, focusing almost entirely on the two weapons.

“Good!” the alicorn said. “Now you are feeling, Twilight Sparkle! Embrace your anger! Hit me!”

Twilight tried her hardest to do just that. Her mind, even clouded as it was, raced with new attacks and feints, whole patterns being pulled from nothing as she saw opportunities and weaknesses in Luna's defence, but still she could not strike her. After perhaps a minute of this wild attack, Luna spoke again.

“You are weak, Twilight Sparkle.”

With a scream that tore something in her throat, Twilight struck with both parts of the staff at once, Luna catching each with a hoof, casually balancing on her hind legs. Before her conscious mind even registered that, she threw herself at the alicorn and punched as hard as she could. She was treated to a brief moment of Luna's eyes widening in shock before her hoof connected solidly with Luna's jaw, sending the alicorn sprawling. Snorting in satisfaction, Twilight dropped her weapons and walked away, looking for something else to hit.

'Well,' Luna thought to herself as she watched Twilight walk away. 'There is a fire in her after all.'

Twilight Sparkle was physically and mentally exhausted, but her anger kept her moving. She didn't know where she was or where she would end up, but she didn't care, either. A small part of her felt terrible for punching Luna, but it was a single voice drowned out by a cacophony of angry voices. The loudest of those voices kept repeating Luna's final comment.

“You are weak, Twilight Sparkle.”

She hadn't felt weak since the day she had been become Celestia's personal student. That was the day she had proven to herself that while she wasn't and likely never would be a physically strong pony, she had an ocean of magical power at her command. Later, she had learned that even her magic paled in comparison to her mind. That was what Celestia had taught her, more than anything else.

Today, her mind and magic had both failed her. She hadn't been able to land a single blow on Luna, even after an hour of trying to find a pattern in her defence. It was only after she had stopped listening to her mind and lashed out that she had made any progress.

That made her deeply uncomfortable. Twilight was a pony who prized order and logical thought over emotions. Emotions were unpredictable, chaotic things. Pleasant sometimes, she had to admit, but more often difficult and tiring to deal with.

Snorting in frustration, Twilight began to trot, still letting the road take her where it would. After a moment, she started galloping, hoping it would cool her down. She was still galloping when the cause of her anger casually flew up to her.

“Go away,” Twilight panted, but Luna simply chuckled and flew along, her hooves almost dragging along the ground.

“I think not,” she replied. “I made you feel this way, is it not fair that I help you cope?”

“My hoof is about to cope your face,” Twilight growled.

“Threats are not your strong point,” Luna said, her voice flat.

“It wasn't a threat,” Twilight shot back. “Just a statement.”

“Better.” Luna said, smiling briefly before her expression grew more serious. “Twilight, I understand that I angered you. That was my goal. It was not personal.”

“Yes it was,” Twilight said. “Manipulating emotions is inherently personal.”

“Arguable,” Luna said, “but take care not to lose the message in the method. I commanded you to hit me, and you could not until you surrendered to your anger. Do you understand?”

“I understand you don't want to leave me alone,” Twilight growled, slowing her racing gallop to a quick trot.

Luna snorted, then stuck her hoof in between Twilight legs, tripping her.

“What the hay was that for?” Twilight screamed as she turned the fall into a roll, ending up on her hooves facing Luna horn lit and ready to cast a spell.

“Think twice before you assault me, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said, her voice taking on a aspect Twilight had never heard there before; a smooth, musical, and penetrating undercurrent that immediately drew her complete attention and left her staring deeply into the alicorn's eyes. “Remember. You are now of my night. It would be most unwise to ignore me, and dangerous to provoke me. Seat yourself and listen.”

Enraptured by the siren song on Luna's voice, Twilight obediently stepped off of the road and sat down.

“Can you see my power, Twilight?” Luna asked. “Can you measure and quantify it? Assign a simple value and file it away? Answer.”

“No,” Twilight whispered.

“And yet you can feel it. This is the power I offer you. This is the power within you. I want to help you reach your potential, but you must be willing to learn.”

Luna shook her head, and smiled. “Is a moment of anger worth so much you would ignore my teaching?” she asked, her voice returning to normal.

“How did you do that? I've never seen magic anything like that before.” Twilight asked quietly, her anger gone.

“I spoke,” Luna answered. “I used no magic, not as you know it. I merely felt that you needed to understand, and the night aided me as it saw fit.”

“But magic doesn't work that way!” Twilight protested.

“It has not for over a millennium. Should you continue to be my pupil, you will be the first to know this power since I fell to the Nightmare.”

Twilight blinked slowly. “It would be pretty foolish to throw that chance away, wouldn't it?” she asked sheepishly.

Luna simply smiled.

By the time the pair returned to Twilight's library home, the sun was setting in a blazing halo of orange fire. Luna strode confidently through the door, a satisfied grin resting on her features, trailed by a sore and limping Twilight Sparkle.

“I'm going to hurt for a week,” Twilight groaned, flopping tiredly onto the floor.

“Nonsense,” Luna cheerily replied, walking towards the kitchen. “You will feel fine by morning. A most enjoyable benefit of your new powers. It also means your training will continue in the morning, both physically and magically.”

Twilight thumped her head quietly off the floor. “You're just torturing me,” she accused. “You enjoy watching me suffer.”

“Perhaps,” Luna called, “or perhaps not. You will never know.”

Twilight continued to thump her head for a moment, then stopped. Remembering her second conversation with The Keeper, she asked Luna if what he had told her about her vampirism was true. By the time she finished explaining what she had learned and why she was asking the question, Luna was standing in front of her, looking grim.

“Yes, Twilight,” she answered. “I may find him vastly annoying, but I have never known him to lie. As much as it pains me to say it, you can trust him.”

“That's why you're here then,” Twilight sighed. “To kill me if I go mad. You're my executioner.”

“No,” Luna said firmly. “Banish that thought from your mind. If I wished you dead, I would have no need to excuse my actions in such a way. I am here because I wish you to survive, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight looked up, and she could see the sincerity in Luna's eyes, and no small amount of sadness as well. She held the gaze for several seconds, then looked down and asked “Why did Celestia kill the original vamponies?”

At this, Luna hesitated, but only for a moment. “She feared them,” she answered, her voice carefully measured. “Working together, they could have killed her. She worried that they would assassinate her and elevate me to her throne. She came to me, the night before the order was carried out, explaining her fear and seeking my consent. When I would not give it, she swore an oath to rescind her command and find another solution before asking me to go to Gryphon Empire to renegotiate a border treaty. I was naïve. I believed her. By the time I heard of the massacre, it was too late. I returned to Equestria in time to see the last of my vamponies executed like a dangerous animal at the side of a road. That was five thousand years ago.”

When Twilight glanced up to see if Luna had more to say, she noticed the goddess had tears in her eyes, although none of them fell. With a murmured word and a gesture, she followed Luna into the kitchen, and the two prepared a meal in contemplative silence.

Once Sealed in Blood

The sun was ready to rise, and Twilight was nearly ready to take to her bed for the day. She'd trained with Luna all that night, as she had most nights since her accident, and was sitting beside her bed and remembering some of the memorable moments she'd had over the past two months.

Luna was standing in the pale moonlight, the darkness flowing around her and leaving no doubt that this was her domain. Gone was the friendly Luna that had comforted her through her doubts that first long night, and standing in her place was Luna the Immortal, timeless, ageless, and utterly certain of her purpose. At the moment, that purpose was to help Twilight find her new home in the night.

“Look around you,” she said, her voice soft and subtle. “See the sacred shadow all around us, the welcoming darkness of the empty night. This is the unseen world that is now your home. The silence of the meadow, the peace of the cloudless sky, the stillness of the air, all of these things. How does that make you feel?”

“Afraid,” Twilight answered, her eyes flitting about at every tiny movement and sound.

“Why?”

“Most predators are nocturnal, and we're really close to the Everfree.”

“You are a predator now as well, are you not?” Luna pointed out. “A far more dangerous one than many of the creatues in the forest. You should not fear them.”

Twilight frowned. “I'm afraid of anything that wants to eat me, whether or not I should be doesn't really matter.”

“We will have to change that,” Luna muttered, her horn ignitng.

Twilight flinched at that memory. Luna had called shades of various creatures of the Everfree, imitations of life that were enslaved to her will, and forced Twilight to fight them until the sight of them no longer made her afraid. It had taken almost a week, and by the end, Twilight had needed a night off to recover from a myriad of injuries, mostly minor. It had been painful, but she couldn't deny the effectiveness of the method. That had been something Twilight very quickly realised about Luna, she was a firm believer in the importance of results, and to Tartarus with the consequences. It was annoying, but the speed of her progress both physically and magically was astounding, and so she made no complaints.

Sighing, Twilight delved back into her memories.

Twilight was exhausted. The sun was only an hour away, and Luna had mercilessly manipulated her for hours, her taunts drawing out her anger, her compliments drawing pride, and her stony silence drawing worry.

It was all for a purpose, of course. Luna had already taught Twilight how to feel, now she was teaching her how to harness those emotions and use them to direct her magic. Her anger was now fire and force, her pride and confidence could form the beginnings of a shield, and her worry was a cloak of living shadow, a veil far more subtle and complex than Twilight could have ever hoped to create through the rigid control of Celestia's magical theory.

Now, Luna was doing something far worse. She was barraging Twilight with a thousand mental images of every failure she'd suffered in the past and every horrible possibility for the future, dragging her down into the depths of despair. After a time that Twilight couldn't measure, well after she had moved past crying and curled up into a gently rocking ball on the ground, Luna broke the silence.

“Despair is sometimes called the most dangerous of emotions,” the Princess said, her voice a whisper. “A pony who truly believes they have nothing left to live for is capable of things no other pony would dream of doing. I have seen one such pony tear down cities in his grief. I watched another open her own throat to escape it. Countless times, I have seen such ponies go to fight against hopeless odds to give their friends a few moments more to escape. This is what despair can bring, Twilight Sparkle, so you must be wary of it.”

Luna gently lifted Twilight's face to the sky, which was lit by false dawn.

“However, that is not why despair makes a pony so dangerous. Despair invites hope, and hope is limitless.”

The sun crested the horizon, bathing the world in light and warmth, and with it came a wave of Celestia's magic, banishing hatred, fear, and worry for a short time so that her subjects might be able to wake in peace. As that magic washed over Twilight, she felt a spark inside of her that seemed to catch all of her negative emotions like tinder, turning them in a whirling maelstrom of energy that wanted to be set loose.

“With despair, you will throw yourself, at an army. With hope, you will win. Remember this and you will never die. Forget this, and you will die alone.”

Twilight smiled. That had felt like the longest night of her life, but after Luna had allowed her to use that power hope had granted her, it had turned into one of the best. There was a wild, unrestrained joy to it, something quite unlike anything any other magic she'd ever used, almost as if it was alive, something Celestia's teachings had taught her was impossible.

But then, Luna had given her a lesson about the impossible as well.

“Tell me, Twilight, what is impossible?” Luna asked.

“What?”

“I thought it was a simple enough question,” Luna said, smiling.

Twilight blushed, and after a moment answered. “It's impossible to break the speed of light.”

“Is it?” Luna asked. “Is there truly no way?”

“No,” Twilight said, confident. “It's the universal speed limit.”

“It appears, then, that you routinely do the impossible. How remarkable.”

“What?”

“Teleportation,” Luna explained. “You are one of the relative few capable of that feat. Surely you are aware that it allows you to cover distance instantaneously?”

“That's a loophole though,” Twilight pointed out. “I'm not actually moving through this dimension.”

“You leave here and arrive there. That is movement.”

“Well, yes, but-”

“There is effectively zero elapsed time, while light will take a measurable time to travel the same distance.”

“Yes-”

“How is that not travel beyond the speed of light?”

“...you are vastly irritating,” Twilight sighed.

“Indeed,” Luna replied. “What else would you term impossible?”

Twilight threw up her hooves. “Why bother? You'll tell me why it isn't.”

“Indeed. Why do you suppose that is?”

“You enjoy poking holes in my ego?” Twilight asked, her voice flat.

“That is hardly the only reason.”

“I'm lost,” Twilight said after a few moments. “Explain it to me.”

“Very well. The lesson is this; impossible is merely a word, not a reality. There may be consequences well beyond what you are willing to pay, but all things are possible, if you are both determined and willing to pay the proper price.”

“And now it's time for a practical example?”

“Of course.”

Twilight shook her head and crawled into bed. She still wasn't quite prepared to accept some of the things Luna had asked her to do that night, and so she decided it would be best for her sanity if she went to sleep. Almost as soon as she closed her eyes, she was dead to the world.

Twilight woke in a cold sweat with her muscles cramped and twitching, a thunderous headache, a pain in her jaws, and a horrible emptiness in her stomach. She rolled out of bed, landing on her side with a dull thud, before trying to stand and fumbling off the edge of the loft she used as a bedroom and landing hard on her back. She stayed there for a moment, winded, before Luna walked up her, concern plainly visible in her eyes.

“It is time, Twilight,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “Come with me.”

The Princess helped Twilight of her hooves and, walked slowly out the library, keeping the confused and afraid mare beside her and draped with her wing until they reached the town limits of Ponyville.

“The hunger is upon you,” Luna explained when Twilight gave her a questioning stare. “I have delayed it as long as I dare. You will feed soon, or you risk losing yourself. I will not allow that to happen.”

Twilight's stomach sank, but she said nothing. Luna's horn flashed slightly brighter, and a moment later Twilight found herself staring down a prison hall “We are now in the Canterlot dungeons,” Luna said. “The ponies in this section deserve a worse fate than any the law can give them. They are the ones beyond redemption, unrepentant murderers and worse. Nopony but you and I know you are here. Speak to them. Hear their crimes. Use the magic I have taught you to ensure they speak truth. Find one who you honestly believe should no longer befoul the earth, and feed from them. Do not starve yourself for fear of harming them, you have gone without for too long to risk anything less than a full feeding. If you still hunger, choose another.”

Twilight shivered at the cold tone in Luna's voice.

“I will wait here. Return to me when it is done, and be forewarned that this is the last time you will be able to choose to forsake your new life. This is your last chance to turn away.”

Twilight hesitated a moment, then began to walk through the halls, forcing herself to hold her head high and doing her best to draw a little steel into her will. As she passed barred cells, prisoners called out to her, spouting insults, curses, and comments vulgar enough that she almost believed they truly were all damned. Then she passed a cell smaller than the rest, and the stallion inside was silent. She turned to look at him, and was faced with a rather large unicorn wearing a rusted iron ring around his horn.

“Who are you?” she asked.

The unicorn looked at her a moment. “Wrong question. Who are you?” he retorted, his voice rough and deep.

Twilight arched an eyebrow. “A pony who isn't the mood to play games. Do you have a name?”

“Does a pony need a name?' the unicorn pondered, “or does a name need a pony?”

“Why are you in here?” Twilight asked, shaking her head.

“Why are you out there?” The unicorn asked. “I can see it in your eyes. You're going to kill me. Or one of the others. It doesn't matter, really, we'll all die soon enough.”

Twilight rocked back a little, then, on impulse, put her curiosity about the unicorn into the front of her mind. ”Tell me why you are here,” she said, her voice pulsing with the silky smooth power of the night.

The unicorn's eyes glazed over slightly. “Dark magic,” he said, his voice quiet. “The darkest. I called a demon and traded a living ponies heart for power.”

Twilight took a smart step back from the cell. That explained the iron ring, it was an inhibitor. There would be runes carved on the inside that prevented him from gathering any magic. A demon's gift was nothing to take lightly, even in the bowels of the most secure prison in the country. She marked the unicorn as candidate number one in her mind and started to move on, then stopped and turned back.

”How did you know why I am here? she asked, still lacing her voice with power.

The unicorn smiled then, but it was a twisted thing on his face. “Anypony could see it. You look at me like food, and you've a scent of darkness about you. It's strange, though. Old. What are you?”

Twilight walked away without answering his question, not stopping until she found a cell with a diminutive pegasus chained inside, his wings weighted and a mask on his face. “Why are you here?” she asked.

The pegasus eyed her in silence, then licked his lips and started to whisper. She had to focus to hear him over the calls from the other cells, but eventually she could make out what he was saying.

“...the beautiful ones always tasted the best, yes, but it's been so long, so long since I've had a bite oh why are they bringing the beautiful ones here when I can't even have a bite...”

Twilight blinked, and averted her ears. She looked down the hall again, and a quick count told her there were at least a hundred cells. She doubted any of the occupants would be any more pleasant, so she walked back to Luna.

“You have been here not ten minutes,” Luna said as she drew near, “and you have have yet to feed. Why have you returned?”

“A question I've been meaning to ask.”

Luna nodded.

“How am I supposed to feed if I don't have fangs?” she asked, pointing her perfectly normal teeth with a hoof.

Luna tilted her head slightly. “ You have not earned them yet. Bite the pony you choose, they will come.”

“That easy?” Twilight asked.

“Yes. I apologise, I had thought you knew. Be prepared, it will hurt.”

Twilight turned to walk away, then stopped. “The unicorn that made a deal with a demon. How long has he been here?”

“Eleven years. It was his daughter's heart he offered, Twilight. She was eight weeks old.”

The unicorn's eye twitched, then she set back down the hall until she stood of the cell. ”You,” she said, ”come here.”

He looked like he wanted to resist, but with shaky steps he walked up to the bars. Twilight reached inside with her magic, grabbed onto his horn, and pulled his head far enough through the bars to reach his neck.

She stood there for a long while, staring down at his neck while his breath came in ragged gasps. Eventually, she asked him one more question.

”Why did you choose your daughter?

The stallion turned his head to look at her as best he could, obviously confused. “Why else would I have a foal?” he asked.

Twilight closed her eyes, then fast as lightning she latched her teeth onto his neck and bit down hard. She could feel him try to scream, which she thought should have disturbed her, but mostly she felt a sharp pain in her jaws, then she felt a jolt of pure electric pleasure race through her body as his blood hit her tongue. The prison was forgotten and the unicorns choked screams ignored as her conscious mind was driven back and she drifted away into the sensation of feeding, losing herself in shuddering waves of euphoric ecstasy.

All too soon, she felt the pleasure start to fade away, and with a start she realised her teeth were now stuck in the neck of a dead pony. She stretched her jaws wide enough to extract her fangs and looked hard at the pale, drained corpse, wondering what manner of revulsion she would feel.

She realised, after a moment, that all she felt was cold. She walked back down the hall, which was now silent as a grave, and without a word Luna teleported them both out of the prison.

Back in the clearing outside Ponyville where her training had taken place for the previous months, Twilight stood, licking her new fangs. Luna was standing a few feet away, waiting.

“I didn't feel anything,” Twilight said quietly. “After he died.”

“Was there something you expected to feel?” Luna asked.

“Shock,” Twilight answered. “Sadness. Horror. Something. It isn't right to just end a life and not feel something.”

“Do you believe you chose incorrectly?”

“Did I?” Twilight asked, her voice sober. “He was in prison, and dealing with demons is a life sentence. He couldn't have harmed anypony again.”

“That is incorrect,” Luna said, shaking her head. “He was unlikely to escape, and even less likely to find a way to remove his inhibitor ring, this is true, but he did not need his magic to be dangerous. A stallion with a mind like his can kill with words alone, and he has. Two guards. One committed suicide, another chose voluntary exile and died of dehydration in a desert far to the East, in the Zebrecian lands.”

Twilight blinked. “I never heard about any of that.”

“Few ponies have. Equestria is, normally, a peaceful land. My sister and I decided long ago that we would not disturb the normal folk with such black news if they were in no danger.”

Twilight eyed the alicorn a moment. “Then why wasn't he muzzled?”

Luna sighed bitterly. “Lawyers. Cruel and unusual punishment, they called it. An affront to justice, with no evidence to merit imposing such a harsh punishment. Suffice to say I was most unhappy with that decision. In ages past, we would have cut out his tongue and been done with it.”

That sort of statement might have made Twilight uncomfortable before she had grown used to Luna, but now she didn't react at all. “Do you honestly believe he would have done it again?”

Luna look directly into Twilight's eyes, her face serious. “Some ponies are broken,” she began. “They may appear normal, they may be perfectly polite and cordial, but they are nothing but twisted mockeries of good ponies like you and your friends. They are the invisible evil that permeates our entire society. To kill another gives them a thrill, Twilight. They enjoy the knowledge that a better pony than themselves is dead because of their actions. He was such a pony. He would have killed until he no longer drew breath. By ending his life, you have saved others. Perhaps many, perhaps only a few, but you have saved them nonetheless. You chose wisely. Dismiss your sorrow. There are few in this world that deserved such a fate more.”

“Should that make it better?”

“That is your decision,” Luna said. “No more of how you felt then. You have drank the blood of another, of your own free will, and in doing so you have sealed a pact with the night. How do you feel now?”

Twilight licked her fangs again. “Pointy.”

Luna laughed, a bright, happy, sound. “Humour. This is good. Come, let us take the remainder of the night for rest. I believe you have quite earned that luxury.”

When Twilight opened her eyes, she saw The Void. The Keeper, as always, stood in front of her, only this time he seemed more animated. She could see him breathe, and he swayed slightly, instead of his usual statuesque stillness. She bowed her head slightly in a polite gesture that, according to him, signified acknowledgement of a superior in both knowledge and power without necessarily indicating submission.

The Keeper smiled, a full smile, not just a twitch of the lips. “It always brings me pleasure to see one so young act so polite,” he said, and his lips moved, and his voice came from his mouth.

“That's different,” Twilight noted. “You're looking a lot more... lifelike. Real.”

“That is because I am,” The Keeper explained. “When you drank, you separated yourself further from light and life. My realm is now as much a home to you as The World That Is.”

“What?” Twilight asked, her voice flat.

The Keeper smiled again. “Before, there was a chance that you would deny yourself the power in the darkness. Now you have accepted it. Luna told you that you had joined a pact, did she not?” Twilight nodded, frowning. “This pact is an agreement between three, not two. You have sworn devotion to Luna and her night for the duration of your mortal life, and you have sworn your immortal soul to me.”

“Thank the stars that's not creepy or anything,” Twilight said. “Please tell me it's just symbolic.”

“Not entirely.”

Twilight's ear twitched. “Can you explain?” she asked after a moment.

“Of course. Do you understand the magical significance of a trinity?” The Keeper asked.

“Three points form an equilateral triangle, which is a very strong shape both physically and magically speaking. Commonly used to symbolise the three core attributes of magic; mind, matter, and energy,” Twilight recited from memory.

“Yes, however that is not why it is used here,” The Keeper said. “As there is a trinity of realms, so too is there a trinity of beings involved in this pact. Luna represents The World That Is To Come, as it was her will that imagined you and her power that created you. You represent The World That Is, as you exist between her and I, the mortal manifestation of Luna's might. I represent The Void, as your soul is destined to come to my realm, where it will become an instrument of my will. This trinity is then enchanted, and that enchantment is what has blessed you with vampirism.”

Twilight blinked. “Luna can enchant a metaphysical construct?” Twilight asked, stunned.

“As can Celestia. As can I.”

“How?” Twilight practically shouted. “The practical applications of that are-”

“Irrelevant,” The Keeper interrupted. “Only the Immortals have that power, and we do not use it lightly.”

“Aren't I immortal now too?” Twilight asked.

“You are an imitation,” The Keeper answered. “Though time and sickness are no longer your enemies, you are still inherently mortal, and always will be.”

Twilight sighed, watching her dreams of revolutionising the magical world drift away into the empty Void. “All right. Enough surprises and dashed hopes. You never bring me here without a reason, even if you just want to talk.”

“Ah, yes,” The Keeper said, “of course. I have two things I wish to tell you. Firstly, I wish to offer you congratulations on successfully completing your first trial. Many in the past have failed. It is good to know you have the strength to do what must be done.”

“Thanks,” Twilight began, “but I'd really rather not talk about that. Secondly?”

“When you wake, you must inform Luna that the Necromancers have returned, and they are preparing for war.”

Author's Note

Yes, I know this is really late, I plead that I just started a new job.

*runs and hides*

The Night Reveals

Twilight woke with a start just after sunset, practically flying out of bed in her rush to find Luna. She cleared the stairs to the libraries common level in one leap, landing heavily but not slowing, and she tore through the rooms until she spied Luna, nestled in a corner and reading the modern Equestrian tax code.

“Luna!” she practically shouted, and the alicorn gently placed a bookmark before facing Twilight and raising a single curious eyebrow. “The Keeper spoke to me last night,” she continued, “he told me the Necromancers are back, and they're getting ready to start another war.”

Luna's book dropped with a thump, but her expression remained stoic. “Truly?” she asked. “He told you this clearly, there could be no other interpretation?”

Twilight shook her head mutely.

Luna stood quickly. “I must return to Canterlot, there will be no training tonight. Visit your friends, they must miss you terribly, I will return before dawn.”

“But-” Twilight began, but Luna cut her off with a raised hoof.

“I refuse to risk the safety of this country by not giving this threat the proper resonse. My sister and I will investigate, and your presence is not necessary. I will inform you as soon as I know more. Please, Twilight, take this night and rest. You may need it in the days to come.”

With that, the Princess disappeared in a flash of brilliant blue light, leaving Twilight alone in the library with her thoughts.

Luna arrived in the Canterlot Palace just as the nobles were shuffling out the doors, returning to their homes after a long day of bickering over which of them deserved their station more. She parted the sea of politicians with a withering glare, and heedless of their strange stares she raced through the palace at a full gallop until she found Celestia. A brief whispered conference later, they both tore a hole through reality and arrived in the observatory that represented the single highest point in Equestria. From there, they could survey the entirety of the lands they controlled and more. If there was evidence of the Necromancers return, they would find it.

Twilight knocked gently on Rarity's door, hoping it wasn't too late at night. The door opened quickly, revealing a very surprised Rarity, and she was rushed inside in a whirlwind of excited babble. As soon as there was a moment of silence, Twilight smiled and quietly asked “I don't suppose you have anything with caffeine? I just woke up.”

Rarity returned a wicked grin. “How strong would you like it?”

“Strong as you have,” Twilight replied.

Rarity nodded and bustled off to her kitchen, digging through a cupboard for a moment before producing a tea pot and a small ebony box. Twilight raised a single eyebrow in surprise before saying, “I haven't seen one of those boxes in years. Is that what I think it is?”

“Zebrecian Midnight Tea,” Rarity confirmed. “I have to order it from Canterlot, and it costs a fortune, but when I have an idea in the middle of the night it's only thing that wakes me up.”

The two exchanged various pleasantries while the tea was prepared, then Rarity poured two carefully measured cups and settled at her kitchen table across from Twilight. “Now darling,” she said after a single bracing sip, “enough with the formalities. I haven't seen you in weeks! How are you feeling?”

Twilight drained her cup in a single swallow, hardly even noticing the burn of the near boiling liquid. “I've been better, but at least my coat and mane have grown back in.”

Rarity nodded. “What about your.... erm, the scar?” she asked, gesturing at her own eye.

“Ah,” Twilight said, pouring herself a rather larger cup. “I can keep it hidden if I want, it's a pretty easy glamour, but I don't think it'll ever go away.” Twilight let the simple illusion fall, revealing a angry red line that traced upward from her lip just past her eye, leaving her with a permanent smirk and a casting a slightly deranged look to her features. “It was a piece of a floorboard, I think,” she continued. “I actually got lucky, an inch to the side and instead of glancing off it would have driven right in.”

Rarity blanched slightly, and tilted her head. “Well, that's rather lucky indeed, but whatever happened to your tooth?”

Twilight reached up and tapped her newly grown fang, exposed by her smirk, before realising what Rarity was asking about, then smiled and laughed sheepishly, revealing the second fang.

Several minutes later, Twilight was steadily working at her fourth cup of tea while Rarity sat in the far corner of the room. “It's not that I don't trust you, Twilight,” she called, “but you must admit it is rather suspicious.”

Twilight sighed in annoyance, gently set her teacup down, then she exploded into motion. Moving so quickly that Rarity only saw a blur, she crossed the room and slammed a single hoof against the wall, trapping Rarity. “If I was here to hurt you, I wouldn't need to play nice,” she growled before shaking her head roughly and taking a few steps back.

Rarity, for her part, stayed seated in shocked silence.

“I'll go,” Twilight said sadly, shaking her head again. “I'm sorry if I scared you.”

“No! No,” Rarity said, standing and shooing Twilight back to the table. “Really I'm the one who must apologise, here I am scared out of my wits and you haven't done a thing. Please, sit, sit!”

Twilight slowly sat down again and poured a fifth cup of tea, draining the remnants of the pot. Rarity busied herself preparing a second while she spoke.

“I won't say I know how you feel, but I dare say I have an idea. I can't imagine my reaction was at all helpful, and for that I apologise. Now you stay right here and tell me all about it. It's the least I can do.”

Twilight started cautiously, starting with Luna's revelation of what she had become. She talked about her long nights training her mind and body with Luna, leaving out nothing but her interactions with The Keeper and her trip to the Canterlot dungeons, her speech hollow and strained but growing more confident by the word.

“There's more,” Rarity said while Twilight paused for a moment. “I know there is.”

“It's my head,” Twilight groaned, whacking her forehead harshly enough to make Rarity wince. “The vampirism is doing something to me. I'm angrier than I've ever been, and it feels good to let it out.”

Rarity checked the tea and poured herself a fresh cup. “That only makes sense, darling,” she said, levitating one over to Twilight. “You said the vamponies were soldiers, what use is a soldier that would rather tend a library than strap on armour and fight? Or, for that matter, one that fell to pieces when things got violent?”

“That doesn't explain it all,” Twilight countered. “I wouldn't have lost my temper with you so easily.”

“But you would after being trained to embrace your emotions,” Rarity pointed out. “Really dear, I'm surprised you're as stable as you are, all things considered. Most ponies would be broken by now.”

“I'm not really a pony any more,” Twilighty said sadly. “Ponies can sleep at night, and they don't have these,” she continued, gesturing at her fangs.

“Now you stop that!” Rarity said, reaching over to smack Twilight's hoof down. “You're no less a pony than you were before your accident. You might have changed a little, but that's only natural.”

Twilight barked out a harsh laugh. “Your heart. I can hear it, it's beating too quickly. Your pupils are more dilated than they should be with this much light, and you keep fidgeting when you think I'm not looking. You're still afraid of me. You don't even believe yourself.”

“I'm absolutely terrified,” Rarity confirmed primly, “but a lady must always strive to maintain her composure, no matter what the circumstance. Besides, the more you tell me, the less afraid of you I am. Please, do go on!

Twilight chuckled. “Only you, Rarity, but I've told you just about everything I can.”

Rarity clucked her tongue. “You're like a sister to me Twilight, but you're even worse of a liar than I am. You've given me all the sordid details, but you haven't told me a thing about what you think of it at all. Don't even try to convince me you haven't got some theory.”

Twilight smiled. “And you want to hear it, I suppose?” she asked sarcastically, to which Rarity simply gave her an even look. “Well,” Twilight began again, “You focused on the word solider, but I think that's wrong. Soldiers need to be in control of their emotions, disciplined, able to follow orders and function as a unit even when it goes against their personal interests. A predator, though, needs to be wild to survive, and most predator species are extremely individualistic. I think that's what she made me, more of a wolf than a soldier. It would explain why I lost my temper, I'm the only vampony around, so I naturally assumed the Alpha role, and I get angry when that part of me perceives a threat, leading me to respond with overwhelming force to maintain my position. She certainly beat the fear out me,” Twilight remarked dryly, “so I'm pretty sure she wanted to encourage me not to back down.”

“Not literally, of course?” Rarity asked nervously, and Twilight smiled fondly and rubbed her side, where less than week before she'd had a monstrous bruise.

“'Pain is an excellent motivator,' she told me. I can't argue with the results, that's for sure.”

“By Celestia,” Rarity muttered. “You sound like you're glad she hurt you!”

Twilight hesitated a moment. “I suppose I am, in a way,” she admitted. “I've always had my mind and my magic, but I was never a very strong pony, and I always tried to avoid fighting. I knew I could win a lot of the time, I mean you've seen how I can be when I'm backed in to a corner, but I always backed down if I had the option. I don't think I could ever do that again, even if I wanted to. It just wouldn't feel right. I heal pretty quickly now anyway, so it's not a big deal if I get thrown through a tree.”

Rarity blinked. “I suppose that was literal as well.”

“Three times. Once when she was teaching me shields, twice when she was teaching me how to read movement and dodge. Wasn't what I'd call fun, but not as bad as it sounds.”

“How strong are your bones?” Rarity asked, surprised. “I mean, that should have broken your back!”

“It did,” Twilight grunted.

Rarity nodded, then did a double take.

“It didn't really hurt,” Twilight said with a shrug. “I mean, I wouldn't do it again by choice, but I couldn't really feel much until the next day, and by then it was more like a cramp than anything else. I could walk and everything by then, but she always let me rest until I was back to normal. Usually though I just had sprains and bruises.”

Rarity's face brightened and she made a delighted little sound in the back of her throat. “I think I understand now,” she said, and Twilight motioned her to go on. “Well, in today’s world, all that you've been describing is really very strange. Ponies don't have to fight any more, except for the Royal Guard, and even they're mostly ceremonial, so it wouldn't really do us any good to move like you can or treat a broken back like an annoyance. But, it wasn't ten years ago some of the wilder parts of the West finally started calming down, it's not exactly unheard of for scientists to go missing in the North, and the Gryphons start trouble on that border every five or ten years. Your abilities would be so very useful in places like that, and everywhere was like that once upon a time. If vampirism is as old as you say it is, then it wouldn't make you a soldier or a predator. It would make you a survivor. You'll be able to keep going when the times get tough by the standards of a time before hospitals and markets and all the lovely conveniences that we're used to, because everything about you that would be helpful has been exaggerated and everything harmful has been suppressed.”

“Wow, Rarity,” Twilight said, “that's actually an interesting idea.”

“I'm more than a pretty face, you know,” Rarity said, her tone satisfied.

“I need to play with that for a while,” Twilight muttered. “Do you think you might be up for a little walk? I might as well tell the others about me while I have the time,” Twilight asked, quickly reapplying the veil that hid her teeth and scars.

“Certainly!” Rarity said with a smile. “After all this tea I won't be able to sleep anyway.”

Some time later, Twilight and Rarity had managed to assemble the entirety of their little group despite the late hour, and were gathered near Fluttershy's cottage where nopony would hear them, even if they screamed. “Now,” Rarity told Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow, “I need all four of you to promise me that you won't run.”

Her overly-broad, pasted on smile was greeted with sceptical looks. “Y'all better explain why you drug me outta bed at midnight first,” Applejack drawled.

Rarity nervously clopped her forehooves together a few times. “Well, there may be a slight relation between why you're here and why you'd run.”

“Get on with it,” Rainbow yawned. “We won't run.”

“You know they wouldn't get far anyway, right Rarity?” Twilight whispered in the unicorns ear.

“That's beside the point!” Rarity whispered back.

“What are we whispering about?” Pinkie asked as her head popped up beside the two unicorns.

Rarity yelped and flinched violently backward, but Twilight only laughed. “Thanks Pinkie,” she said. “I needed that. Anyway, moving on... I have some news for all of you, about my accident and my recovery.”

“Oh, you're all right, aren't you?” Fluttershy asked nervously.

“For a certain definition,” Twilight replied nervously, smiling and allowing her veil to fall.

There was a moment of perfect stillness, then hell broke loose.

Rainbow moved first, and Twilight wasn't at all surprised to see the pegasus was heading towards her. Twilight easily tripped the pegasus and slapped a simple binding on her, restraining her in place before moving on to Applejack, who had taken off running towards Fluttershy's cottage. She teleported directly in front of the earth pony, repeated her performance, then glanced around to see Pinkie Pie frantically trying to drag Rarity towards Ponyville. Another teleport, another binding, and only Fluttershy remained, rooted in place with a shocked expression.

Three seconds, three restrained ponies. Twilight grunted in a mixture of satisfaction and frustration, then quietly asked, “What about you, Fluttershy?”

“I'm fine right here, thanks,” the pegasus replied, whispering.

Twilight grunted again. “Sorry about all this, but I really need to explain it all.”

“That's fine,” Fluttershy whispered even more quietly.

Twilight and Rarity dragged the other three ponies back to where they had been, and then Rarity gave them each a stern look. “Now really, I understand a little shock, but that's no cause for an over reaction!”

Twilight snickered quietly in to her hoof. “If it makes any of you feel any better, she nearly bounced off the ceiling.”

Rarity shot her a stricken, accusatory look, but Twilight ignored it. “Okay. The first thing you need to know is that I'm not going to hurt any of you,” Twilight continued. “If you're wondering how you can trust me, I'll release the bindings I put on you, if you promise to hear me out.”

A series of angry, lock-jawed grunts answered her. Twilight payed them no mind as they evolved into annoyed, then pleading, and finally begrudging acceptance. Then she released the bindings, and the three ponies stretched out and groaned. “Ah feel like I've been applebuckin' for a month,” Applejack muttered.

“It'll fade,” Rarity told her.

“Now,” Twilght cut in, “before any of you get any ideas about what happened to me, just know that I didn't have a choice. Literally. I woke up like this, and it's the only reason I'm still alive.”

That drew sober looks. “Ah reckon I understand that,” Applejack admitted. “Gotta do what's gotta be done and all.”

“It is a little creepy though,” Rainbow said. “I mean, fangs. No offence. Do you have to... uh, you know...”

Twilight gave the pegasus an even look. “No, they're decorative,” she snarked, and Rainbow gave her a rueful grin.

“Y'all aint hurt anypony, have you?” Applejack asked, suspicious. The unicorn responded with a guilty silence, and Applejack whistled.

Before the situation could devolve again, Twilight quickly explained everything she knew about her hunger, and what had happened in the dungeons beneath Canterlot, leaving out only that she had killed the stallion. By the time she was finished, the other ponies all looked a little queasy, but they hadn't tried to run.

“I didn't even know Canterlot had dungeons,” Rainbow said.

“They aren't really a tourist attraction,” Twilight replied. “They're not exactly secret, but they aren't open to the public either. You need to petition the Crowns to go in there, and you have to be accompanied by Guards.”

“Well, at least it wasn't an innocent pony,” Rarity pointed out.

“That don't make it right,” Applejack said, stubborn. “Ah aint rightly sure how Ah feel 'bout all this.”

“Neither am I,” Twilight told her. “All I'm asking you for is a chance. Let me figure this all out and decide what I want to do before you tell the townsponies about me.”

“Ah reckon that aint too much to ask,” Applejack replied slowly, “but there aint gonna be missin' ponies 'round here or any such thing, right?”

Twilight paled. “No! Of course not!” she exclaimed. “I'm not a murderer!”

“Well you do kinda drink blood, Twilight,” Pinkie pointed out, her normally bubbly voice subdued.

“No,” Fluttershy said with a surprising firmness. “That's different. That's like a ferret eating fish, it's nature. You can't tell a ferret to starve itself just because it has a different diet than we do.”

“Aint nothin' natural 'bout vamponies,” Applejack muttered, “but I 'spose you've got a point. Twi, can y'all... do your thing without makin' a body?”

“I already told you I only need a few cups a week, Applejack,” Twilight replied. “I might even be able to get that from a hospital if I tell them it's for research. Either way, I can get it without killing anypony.”

“You do that, and Ah'll keep my mouth shut. Anypony else got anythin' to say?” There was a small chorus of negatives, then Applejack nodded. “All right. That's settled.”

“Thanks girls,” Twilight said with a small smile.

“Aw shucks, don't get all sappy on us now,” Applejack said, returning the smile, even if it was a little strained. “We get a lotta weird things in these parts, bein' so close to the Everfree and all. What's one more? Y'aint no timberwolf or nothin'.”

“So, can I go back to bed now?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but a strange sound caught her attention. Whirling towards the forest some twenty yards behind her, she motioned for her friends to be quiet and listened intently, waiting for the night to carry some hint to her ears. The sound came again, and this time it was followed by a faint smell that sent a small jolt of panic through her. “Girls,” she said in a low, urgent tone, “get back to Fluttershy's cottage. Move slowly, be as quiet as possible, and don't make a light.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, afraid.

“I'm not sure,” Twilight said, “but there's something in those trees, and if it is what I think it might be, you aren't safe here.”

“What about you?” Rainbow asked, scanning the trees but seeing nothing in the darkness.

“I should be there soon,” Twilight answered. “Whatever you do, even if I don't show up, stay inside, stay away from the windows, and stay in the dark. If I'm not there by sunrise, go to the library, Luna should be there. She'll know what to do.”

Shapes stirred between the trees, and Twilight growled low in her chest as her suspicions were confirmed. “You need to leave,” she urged her friends. “I can't protect you and fight at the same time. Tell Luna there were husks in the forest, now go!”

She bellowed the last word, and a heartbeat later she was gone, racing towards the trees.

Author's Note

This is where I curl up in my bed and hope nobody nails me to a cross for another months long gap, I think...

This Threat is Real

By the time Twilight was half way to the trees, the group of husks had met her, splitting the silence of the night with hideous, otherworldly shrieks and the sounds of battle. A small part of her desperately hoped that her friends would heed her words and run, but the rest of her mind was consumed entirely by keeping track of three separate targets, all of them showcasing speed and strength that nearly matched her own.

By the time she realised this, she'd already taken a hoof across the face that loosened her teeth in their sockets and nearly lost a leg to one of the creature's vicious bites. Rushing backwards with a slurred blasphemy, she desperately worked to keep herself between the husks and her friends, and with a quick burst of telekinesis snatched up a large stick and broke it in half.

Now armed, her retreat turned in to an attack as she stood implacably against the three husks, the two halves of her stick beating back a husk each even as she fought the third with tooth and hoof.

The husk to her left seemed to be the slowest and smallest, so she focused as much as she could on it, keeping track of its movements and raining relentless blows in to its face with the half of a staff she had delegated and occasionally lashing out with a burst of fire or force if she found herself pointed the correct direction.

The husk in front of her was a behemoth of a thing, easily twice her size and possessed of a raw, brutal strength that rendered her own prodigious physical power moot. This one she barely even bothered attacking, only being aggressive enough to maintain its attention.

The last husk was a pegasus, and this presented a problem. No matter how hard she tried, she could not keep it on the ground without occasionally directing all of her focus toward it, and every time she was forced to ignore the other two, the small one gained ground on her friends, forcing her to move further back from the cover of the trees, and the giant she was facing hammered her with blows that sent shocks of throbbing agony all through her body, each one threatening an injury serious enough to end the fight.

A thought jumped unbidden to her mind, and seeing nothing to lose, Twilight acted on it. With a shout, she reared and slammed her front hooves down against the ground, channelling her magic through the blow and releasing a massive wave of force that distorted the air and sent all three husks tumbling several yards backwards.

Capitalising on this brief opportunity, she launched herself towards the pegasus, and before it could right itself in the air she latched her teeth around the back of its neck and with a wrench of her head severed its spine. The thing crumpled as it hit the ground, and though its eyes continued to track her, it was too crippled to so much as whimper.

That threat dealt with, Twilight bounced back to stand between the behemoth and the weakling, drawing the two halves of her improvised staff together in front of her before whirling it to her side. “Come on,” she growled at them as she spat out a small chunk of the pegasus' neck, “you're not scared of one little filly are you?”

The reaction was immediate, both husks darting in with murder in their lifeless eyes. The small one was closer, so she cracked the staff savagely against its head to stun it for a moment, but before she could turn back towards the gargantuan beast she'd meant to provoke, it slammed against her side with terrible force and bowled her off her hooves with ease.

Throwing herself through space with a thought before she even hit the ground, she apparated with a flash of light directly behind the behemoth and with a yell brought her staff down across its head like a bat.

With a small snapping sound, the staff broke, and Twilight glared at the splintered wood for a split instant. Before she could recover from that moment of shock, the smaller of the husks was on her, its teeth sinking deeply in to the flesh of her unprotected back.

With a shocked howl, Twilight jerked away, and she left a piece of herself behind. Facing that husk now, she called a torrent of white-hot fire fuelled by her anger and drowned the beast in it, a visceral satisfaction pouring through her as she watched it burn to ash.

She neglected, however, to notice the behemoth until its hoof drove in to her ribs like a maul, easily shattering the fragile bones. Hissing and noticing the coppery tang of her own blood in her throat, Twilight tried to bounce away, but her injuries slowed her and she couldn't escape the hail of monstrous blows that drove her to the ground, where the blows continued as Twilight absently attempted to tally her injuries to distract herself from the pain even as she formulated a plan.

Teleporting again, this time Twilight didn't bother to move, she simply rotated herself and materialised on her back, accepted a sledgehammer blow to her face as the price she had to pay to end the fight, and grimly latched on to the hoof and allowed herself to be pulled upwards before wrapping all four of her legs around the husk's body and teleporting again.

She materialised some two hundred feet above the ground, and now the husk was beneath her. With a defiant, feral smile, she levered a leg against the thrashing husks throat as they began to fall, and an interminable moment later she hit the unforgiving ground and gladly accepted the mercy of unconsciousness, her last sight the shattered remnants of the behemoths head.

When Twilight Sparkle next opened her eyes, she was faced not with grass and dirt but the strange, misty emptiness that made up the ground of The Void. “Bravely done,” she heard an echoing bass voice say as she stood, only mildly surprised at the lack of pain she felt.

“Did I survive it?” she asked.

“You will wake again,” The Keeper assured her. “Your battles have hardly begun, you will not yet be permitted to die.”

“Permitted,” Twilight muttered. “I feel like a guard dog.”

“Self pity is beneath you,” The Keeper admonished. “Do you know what it is you fought tonight?”

Twilight blinked at the rapid change in the conversation. “Yes,” she answered, “they were husks.”

“You know their name, do you know what they are?”

“Very annoying,” Twilight answered, deadpan.

“A husk can only be created by a necromancer,” The Keeper informed her, “where you find one, the other is lurking.”

“There's a necromancer in the Everfree?” Twilight asked, her voice sharpening.

“There was a necromancer following your friends,” The Keeper told her, sending a bolt of icy fear through the unicorn's stomach.

“You need to wake me up,” she said urgently. “I've got to help them!”

“In your current state, you would be unable,” The Keeper calmly told her. “Calm your mind, they will not be harmed.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “That doesn't fit with everything I know about necromancers. Why wouldn't he attack them?”

“He did,” The Keeper said, his voice hard and cold. “I killed him. You will be needed whole and sane for the war to come, not weeping in a ditch over lost loved ones.”

Twilight let out a relieved breath. “You could have told me that first!”

“I did. I told you he was following them.”

“Has anypony ever told you that you can be a real pain in the flank?” Twilight asked, but The Keeper didn't react. “So what am I here for this time?”

“I wished to ask you why you fought as you did,” The Keeper replied. “You are powerful and intelligent, yet you fight like a beast. Three mindless corpses were nearly your end. Why?”

“I haven't exactly had a few spare millennia to train, you know,” Twilight answered, vaguely offended. “I think I did pretty good, all things considered. I'm going to wake up, they won't, what else do you want?”

“I want a great many things, Twilight Sparkle, but for tonight let us just say I desire you to train harder. I will not always be able to help you. Would you be able to survive and function with the knowledge that your friends had died because you failed to properly analyse a situation before acting? That is what would have been, if I had not intervened.”

That sobered Twilight. “Thank you,” she said quietly. “I should be a little more grateful.”

“Your gratitude is not required,” The Keeper said, his voice stern. “I did not act for your joy, I acted for the preservation of your realm. What is required is your understanding, you must become the warrior you have the potential to be.”

Twilight tilted her head at the passion in The Keeper's voice, clashing against his stoic posture. “What's your stake in this?” she asked. “You're not telling me something here.”

The Keeper's eye's flashed in anger, and the mist of The Void recoiled from him, but it faded quickly. “It is not your place to question my motivations,” he said, his voice once again dead. “The time may come when I reveal them to you, but it will be a time of my choosing, and mine alone.”

“Okay,” Twilight said quietly. “Touchy subject, got it. Change of subject; how badly am I hurt?”

“Broken bones, damaged organs, a concussion, internal bleeding,” The Keeper listed in a monotone.

Twilight cringed. “I'm not going to like waking up, am I?”

“No,” The Keeper said as he faded from her vision, “But you will endure. Farewell, Twilight Sparkle. We will speak again soon.”

Pain. All of Twilight's world was pain. Lying in her bed, she screamed for help. ”Celestia! Luna!”

“Hush, little one,” a familiar, motherly voice told her. “We're here.”

Twilight stayed perfectly still and gasped for breath, trying desperately to ignore the symphony of agony from her body. Her eyes darted around, spying the morning sun through her window and both the Princesses beside her bed, horns alight with magic and frowns of concentration on their faces.

“Can you do anything for the pain?” she managed to gasp, and Luna nodded fractionally. Slowly, the pain faded away, and she felt her mind cloud with a euphoric warmth. Her breath steadying, she almost giggled at the weightless feeling in her limbs before sighing in relief. “You can stop now,” she said after a few minutes of luxuriating in the feeling, her voice distracted and mellow. “I'll live. The Keeper said so.”

“Pardon my scepticism,” Celestia muttered, but both Princesses relaxed and allowed the spells they had been working to fade.

“You worried us, my faithful student,” Celestia began again. “When we found you, you were barely alive. What hurt you so badly? Husks aren't that strong.”

“I may have possibly teleported one of them a few hundred feet in the air and ridden him down,” Twilight said in her dreamy voice.

Luna winced. “Whatever possessed you to do that?” the Diarch asked, and Twilight giggled sheepishly.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“It was insanity,” Luna said, speaking like she would to a small foal.

“And it worked,” Twilight insisted, gesturing with a hoof and not noticing how her leg dangled loose and limp past the knee.

Luna shook her head and walked out of the room, quietly muttering angry curses and gesticulating wildly at nothing as she went, and Celestia favoured the unicorn with a small, tight smile. “She's terrified of losing you, you know,” she said, quiet. “I've rarely seen her as distraught as she is when you're hurt. Perhaps you should consider that, next time?”

“She worries too much,” Twilight giggled, and Celestia sighed. “So, I guess the necromancer's really are back?” Twilight asked.

“It appears so,” Celestia answered. “I've certainly never seen a husk without a necromancer, so one must be skulking about the Everfree.”

“Paste tense, was skulking,” Twilight said absently.

“You killed it?” Celestia asked, surprised.

“Keeper,” Twilight answered. Celestia paled, then nodded. “You're scared of him,” Twilight said, tilting her head as much as she was able.

“I am,” Celestia admitted. “He is a horrifying figure, if he allows himself to indulge his wrath.”

“So are you,” Twilight pointed out. “I mean, you're The Unconquered Sun in the gryphon lands. The zebra's call you The Blinding Light. Even the dragon's are afraid of you, they call you The Deceiver.”

Celestia fidgeted uncomfortably. “I didn't choose those titles,” she began, and Twilight interrupted.

“No, you earned them,” she said as forcefully as she could manage. “You did something that frightened them so badly they made legends from the history. What was it?”

Celestia frowned. “I prefer not to think of it,” she said. “It's best forgotten. Now, you should rest until you're recovered.”

“No,” Twilight said weakly, but Celestia's horn ignited and she felt sleep creeping in on the edges of her mind.

“Sleep, my faithful student,” she heard her mentor say as she faded, “and let the past remain the past.”

When Twilight woke up, night had fallen again, and Luna had returned to her room. She carefully tested her joints, and while they were stiff and ached terribly, there was none of the grinding agony she associated with a broken bone. She crawled out of bed, assisted by Luna, and slowly popped and cracked her joints until they moved smoothly, then she groaned and rubbed her head.

“I feel like I mined my way through a mountain with my horn,” she muttered.

“I have no doubt,” Luna told her with a smile. “You should still be in bed, it will be at least two days before you're fully recovered.”

“I can walk,” Twilight said stubbornly, “and I spend way too much time asleep these days.”

Luna barked out a laugh. “If that is your choice, I will respect it.”

“Where's Celestia?” Twilight asked. “I had a question for her before I passed out, but it slipped my mind.”

“Canterlot,” Luna replied. “She maintains the bureaucracy that runs the country almost entirely by herself, it leaves her perpetually busy. I have no idea how she does it.”

“Oh well,” Twilight said. "I'm sure it'll come back to me eventually, I'll write her a letter or something. Come on, we've got some things to talk about.”

Twilight walked unsteadily down the stairs, Luna forcing herself not to help her, and the two settled in to the libraries common area and began a discussion that lasted long in to the night.

Author's Note

Well, it's not another cliffhanger at least.

The Dreadful Hours

Twilight Sparkle was in thunderous mood, despite the warm and comfortable surroundings of the isolated little corner of her library she had chosen to hide in with Luna. Her head ached so ferociously she couldn't maintain a veil over her scars and fangs, her legs were only just strong enough to support her weight, and little pockets of stabbing pain throughout her body helpfully told her that thirteen of her organs were either damaged or fighting off failure. All of these feelings were familiar to her after months of Luna's vicious, do-or-die style of education, but she'd never been forced to cope with them simultaneously before.

“Shocking how pain always seems greater than the sum of its parts, I know,” Luna said with a gentle smile, almost as if she'd read Twilight's thoughts.

“How does healing hurt more than getting hurt?” Twilight asked, her voice determined but weak and strained. “It makes no sense.”

“Indeed not,” Luna said, “but it is part of what you are. Whenever you are threatened, most pain will fade, and you will be able to fight, even injured as you are now, if it came to that.”

Twilight grunted. “Wouldn't that just make it all worse?”

“Of course, but you would be alive to suffer later,” Luna answered.

“Doesn't do me much good now though, does it?” Twilight muttered, gently rubbing her temple with a hoof.

“You are dissastisfied with how quickly you heal?” Luna asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Twilight glared at Luna, but there was no force behind it, and she sighed bitterly. “I don't mean to be ungrateful, I really don't.”

Luna laughed, a bright sound. “That is not what I meant,” she said, a sly tone in her voice. “There is a way to accelerate the process, you could be healed before dawn.”

Twilight's ears perked, then drooped as she frowned. “Let me guess, feeding?”

Luna nodded. “It is an effective solution. In the old times, my soldiers would travel with a group of ponies whose only purpose was to be fed upon if they were injured in battle.” Twilight blinked, and Luna raised a hoof to forestall the inevitable question. “They were not slaves or prisoners. They were willing and well paid.”

Twilight nodded. “So, I feed, I'm fine again. Makes sense, I think, but... well, last time I killed a pony.”

“You would not need to drink so deeply this time,” Luna told her. “You will rarely need to seriously harm a pony to sustain yourself, only if you delay feeding too long or are injured near death.”

Twilight frowned. “There's got to be a downside, you told me yourself that nothing vampirism can offer is free.”

“Indeed,” Luna said with a level tone. “It would hurt. Terribly, if only for a short time. A few minutes at most.”

Twilight groaned. “Of course it'll hurt. So, I'd have to hunt somepony down, bite them, hope they didn't recognise me, and then get away from them while in horrible pain. This doesn't seem like a very good idea.”

Luna smiled. “The option is there. You could, of course, choose to feed upon one of your friends, they may be willing.”

“No,” Twilight said, her tone utterly exhausted. “They're already terrified of me, and I've got no idea how much of my fight they saw or what they think about it. I can't just show up and say 'hey! I'm really sore, mind if I drink your blood?'” she finished, gesturing tiredly and injecting a caricature of normality into her voice.

Luna chuckled softly and nodded. “That is fair, I suppose, but you are not speaking of all your friends.” Twilight tilted her head, and Luna resisted the urge to laugh at the puppy-like confusion on the young unicorns face. “You and I are friends, are we not?” the Princess asked in a gently mocking tone. “Am I quaking in fear, sitting here with you? Stars above, maybe my throat will be the next to feel your fangs!”

Twilight laughed, then hissed quietly and cradled her head. “You know, that's not a bad idea,” she said quietly, closing her eyes.

Luna's jaw clapped shut and she blinked furiously for a few moments. “That was... that was meant to be humorous, Twilight.”

“And it's not a bad idea,” Twilight retorted, cracking open one eye. “You said I should consider feeding on a friend. You told me you're my friend. Where's the problem?”

Luna glared at the unicorn, who weathered it with a cheeky grin. “Celestia warned me once that you had tremendous capacity to twist words,” Luna said, the cheerful tone in her voice utterly spoiling her ice cold expression, “and now I know she was right. I must admit, I did not think you would so readily agree to feed again so soon.”

Twilight frowned and closed her eye again. “I hurt. A lot. It's incentive. And apparently it'll make me stronger, so next time I might not get hurt so badly.”

Luna snorted. “My blood would certainly make you stronger,” Luna said. “My power is the closest to eternal you could ever consume. It would have certain... effects.” Twilight gestured for her to continue, but Luna made a soft negative sound. “I cannot explain further with any confidence. You would be the first vampony to taste my blood.”

Twilight's eyes snapped open, filled with an electric excitement that banished all the weariness and pain from them. “You mean we'd be breaking new ground? It would be an entirely unique case?” she asked, a quaver of barely contained glee in her voice.

“Yes,” Luna answered thoughtfully. “It was never considered an option in the old times, there were too many vamponies and I am only one...” she trailed off, her own eyes starting to shine with a curious light.

The two stared at each for a silent moment, then Luna sighed. “Neither of us will be satisfied until we know.”

Twilight nodded, awkwardly drawing herself to her hooves and limping towards Luna. “I'll make it quick.”

“Please.”

Twilight's teeth pierced Luna's throat, and then she lost the world in the euphoria of feeding, shuddering waves of pleasure racking her body, but all too soon she felt something hard crash against her head.

She managed to spit out a shocked little grunt as she fell backwards, then the pain began. It wasn't the sharp pain of a freshly broken bone, the grinding agony of a damaged joint, or the throbbing ache of damaged muslces. It was fire, coursing through her, burning out every injury she had, so intense she didn't even have the breath to scream. She thrashed on the library floor underneath Luna's cold gaze for what felt like an eternity, but in reality was under two minutes.

When she stopped thrashing, she started muttering blasphemies under her breath and stood, relieved to find that her strength had returned, and while some of the inferno that had raged through her lingered, it wasn't even enough for her to realise it was pain.

“I did warn you it would be unpleasant,” Luna said, her voice entirely too reasonable for Twilight's liking.

“Did you punch me in the head?” Twilight asked, a little offended.

“No,” Luna said. “I used this,” she explained, hefting a damaged book that described every monster in Equestria. It was rather excessively thick.

“If you didn't taste so good, I'd be upset right now,” Twilight muttered, then her eyes widened slightly. “I just said that out loud, didn't I?”

“You did,” Luna confirmed with a chuckle and a smile. “We have other things to discuss however. Please, sit.”

Twilight groaned and returned to her cushions. “This is going to be a long night.”

The Unconquered Sun sat alone in her chambers, thinking of the past and the sins it held. Somehow, even after centuries of careful guidance and corrections, history simply refused to bend itself to her will. Gods had once obeyed her commands, and now storytellers denied her. It left her feeling equal parts infuriated and amused.

”And I thought I had problems,” a familiar, gently mocking voice whispered in her ear, making her smile.

“My, I haven't spoken to you in centuries. I thought you didn't approve of what I was doing?” she replied.

”I don't,” the voice bluntly informed her. ”You're less than half as clever as you think you are, and you've already outsmarted yourself.”

“Oh? And how have I done that?”

”If you interfere with my bearer's mind again, I will seal your soul in a pebble,” the voice answered, the mocking tone replaced by a calm certainty. ”Is that answer sufficient?”

“Oh? You're checking in on her? Have you spoken yet?” Celestia asked, ignoring the threat.

”You expect me to answer that?” the voice answered, sounding vaguely surprised.

“I could ask her, you know.”

”Soul, pebble.”

“Still obsessed with that idea, I see.”

”I could bury the pebble. Perhaps throw it in the ocean. The possibilities are almost literally endless.”

Celestia smiled widely. “It's been far too long, my old friend.”

”It has,” the voice agreed with a measure of satisfaction. ”Now, shall we cease bickering and act like reasonable beings?”

“I suppose if I refuse my soul will end up in a pebble?”

”Perhaps.”

Hours had passed, it was near dawn, and still Luna was unsatisfied with Twilight's answers.

“I just don't see how it can be done,” Twilight finally groaned, frustrated. “I'm one mare. Even with you and Celestia both that won't be enough to fight a war against those things.”

“Indeed not,” Luna replied, serious. “What do you propose? Do we ask for volunteers? Turn others against their will? Resort to necromancy ourselves and raise an army of the dead? Our options are both poor and limited, and you have contributed little to them.”

“The Elements?” Twilight asked hopefully.

“Will do nothing,” Luna answered with bitter frown. “Their magic is powerful, yes, but our wars with the necromancers in the past have not appeared to be within their power to prevent.”

“What?” Twilight asked, her voice flat. “They can encase a trickster god in stone, they can send you to the moon for a thousand years, but they can't stop necromancers?”

“They can,” Luna clarified, “but they will not. They never have.”

“That makes no sense!” Twilight practically screamed.

“Perhaps not to you and I, but can either of us claim to speak for a power as old as time?” Luna asked, calm and serene.

“Logically speaking, yes,” Twilight muttered with a weak glare.

Luna laughed, drawing a sharper glare from Twilight. “Perhaps, should I live to see time end, I will agree. I have lived a millennium for every moment of your own life, and even I am but a child compared to the Elements. What can I foresee that they cannot? If they choose to play no part, I trust that there is a reason.”

“I'm a Bearer,” Twilight pointed out. “I'm supposed to choose when to use them.”

“Yes, I bore three Elements myself. My sister once commanded all six. We also devoted quite a number of years to studying the Elements, all that we discovered is that we knew nothing, not even our own purposes as Bearers.”

Twilight groaned and stared dejectedly at the floor. “I can't do it,” she eventually said, quiet and strained. “I can't, the Elements can't, you can't, Celestia can't, the Royal Guard certainly can't...”

Luna frowned, leaned forwards, and firmly smacked Twilight on the horn. “Did my sister and I teach you to accept defeat so readily?” she said, cutting off Twilight's angry stream of expletives with another sharp rap. “Is it a natural failure of yours?” Another rap. “How do you propose we break you of this habit?”

“You could stop hitting me,” Twilight said, deadpan. “Or is beating up smaller ponies a natural failure of yours?”

Another rap followed by a questioning eyebrow.

“Okay!” Twilight conceded. “I get it. Solution time. Let's brainstorm.”

Luna nodded and leaned back, satisfied. “Our first option is to do nothing,” Luna said as she settled herself more comfortably her cushions. “I assume you can see the many problems inherent in that plan.”

Twilight nodded. “Second option is to try and stand as we are now,” the unicorn said, “which is almost as flawed. So, we need to change the circumstances, then we can worry about the specifics of what we need to do.”

Luna gestured for Twilight to continue, and the unicorn thought for a moment. “I still say we need more ponies like me,” she said eventually. “If there were a dozen, maybe we could make it work if you and Celestia fought with us, but it wouldn't be easy. I'd rather have at least double that.”

“Impossible,” Luna muttered. “My sister would never allow it.”

“So we don't ask her,” Twilight said.

Luna couldn't keep a measure of surprise from showing on her face. “What you suggest could be considered rebellion against the Crowns,” the alicorn pointed out, her tone cautious and carefuly neutral. “My sister frowns upon fighting forces not directly loyal to her. It was a month of arguing before she even allowed me to reform a ceremonial Night Guard.”

“At least there'll be Crowns to rebel against,” Twilight argued, a note of passion entering her voice. “Save the country now, justify it later, if we're still here.”

Luna purred deep in her chest, a pleased sound. “I doubt I have ever had a pupil who took to my lessons as well as you, Twilight,” she said, making the unicorn blush faintly. “There is merit in your plan, but I think a dozen vamponies is unrealistic. Half that number, perhaps, with the proper motivation and training. We would not be able to meet the necromancers in open battle, but we could destroy them nonetheless, if we disregarded traditional tactics.”

Twilight frowned. “That's a pretty big gamble,” she said in a thoughtful voice, “but we wouldn't need to destroy them.”

“Oh?” Luna asked.

“Proof of concept,” Twilight elaborated. “A small group to start, completely off the books. If it works, we walk in to Canterlot, barge into Celestia's court, prove it, and then what can she do? Even if she disagrees, you have equal authority, so it would go to a noble vote. They wouldn't dare try to stop us, it would be political suicide.”

“If they disagree anyway?” Luna asked. “Politicians are not always known to be rational.”

Twilight shrugged. “What can they do? Arrest us? If we lose the vote, we do it anyway.”

“Then we are left with no allies and many enemies,” Luna noted. “I posit that, if we followed your plan, Celestia would defy us, the nobles would support Celestia, and that would be the end of our little scheme. We need my sister's support.”

“So how do we get it?” Twilight asked.

“We show her before we show the Court?” Luna asked. “She will never bow to a public challenge, but she can be reasonable in private.”

“That's still a challenge,” Twilight said. “She might not like that.”

“She would be completely enraged,” Luna agreed, “but she may still be reasonable.”

“Wait,” Twilight said, jerking upright. “Necromancers are inherently violent, right?” Luna nodded. “So there will be more attacks.” Luna nodded again, curious. “There's how we get her support. Every time there's an attack we need to be there.”

“We will most assuredly be there,” Luna said. “There are three threats to the necromancers in Equestria at this moment. Two of them are in this room, actively plotting against them. They will seek us out.”

“So we wait,” Twilight said, “and every time a husk or a necromancer tries something, we stop them, and every time we remind Celestia that we're the only ones who can. Make sense?”

Luna nodded. “Sparse, incomplete, but functional. I believe this could work. Shall we sort of the details?”

The two began to do just that.

”War is not the time for ideology,” the voice said for what sounded to Celestia like the thousandth time. ”I will not say your reasoning is unsound, but it will be the ruin of your nation and perhaps your death as well.”

“Action might well be my death, inaction might well be my death,” Celestia said. “As I see it, at least inaction doesn't bring back a second group of ponies who actively want my head on a pike!”

”Oh yes, that,” the voice said, the sarcasm palpable. ”A new army wouldn't be a threat for centuries, if not longer. Necromancers are a threat now.”

“Trading one danger for another is a short term solution,” Celestia argued, “and in this case, it would risk Luna's sanity again. I will not stand for the return of vampirism.”

”Then why is Twilight Sparkle still alive?”

Celestia flinched. “She's an exceptional circumstance, a personal pupil.”

”Yes, Luna's first student since her banishment.”

Celestia fought to control the anger she felt rising in her chest. “She is my student, Luna is simply helping her adjust to her change.”

”If you believe that, you're delusional,” the voice retorted. ”Twilight was always more suited to Luna than she was to you. She's emotional, unstable, neurotic, and blessed with a fantastic amount of power for both causing and solving problems. You spent years making her what you thought she should be, yes, but Luna has taught her to be herself.”

“Has?” Celestia said, her voice sinking as her anger faded. “Past tense? How do you know?”

”I am an Element of Harmony, it is my business to know the mind and will of my Bearer.”

Celestia let out a bitter sigh. “A decade of work, erased. I should have predicted that. I suppose you won't allow me to take her back?”

”She is not yours to take. She is a living mortal being, Celestia, and she has made her decision. You cannot unmake it for her.”

“I can,” Celestia argued, “it wouldn't even be difficult.”

”It would be when I responded in kind,” the voice said in a dreadfully calm tone.

“Threats?” Celestia asked, glaring at the empty air. “I thought we were being reasonable.”

”We were, for a brief, refreshing while. Then you claimed the ability to rule the minds of mortals. Only one being can make a reasonable claim to that power.”

“He is dead,” Celestia shot back. “Billions of years dead, in fact. Why is it so wrong for me to fill the void he left behind?”

”Because he was a God,” the voice explained patiently. ”Jupiter was divine. You are not, and never will be.”

“Oh? You measure divinity now?”

”I always have,” the voice clarified. ”I always will. I would have told you, if you'd thought to ask. But that wouldn't be enough, would it? You always desire to earn more. How strange. I'd have thought you would be content with ruling a nation and having the power to move a star.”

Celestia snorted. “Yes, how great a mare am I, that the nation I rule will be overrun by undead, and all my strength cannot stop it,” she said in a bitter tone, strutting about the room and gesturing grandly. “My student, an undead abomination of a like that tried to kill me, made by the hooves of my very sister,” she continued, her voice raising as she started to slam her hooves against the stone floor of her chambers. “The sister in question, likely to lose all of the progress she's made when she sees another of her precious vamponies killed!” she shrieked, and all the windows in the room shattered simultaneously before she stopped and looked around, a shocked expression on her face. “What a wondrous thing I'm not satisfied...” she trailed off, her voice quiet and sad.

There was silence for a moment, then an electric feeling of satisfaction in the air. ”What if I told you there was a way to solve those problems?” the voice asked, the tone suddenly intense and almost predatory.

“I'd be very curious,” Celestia said quietly, frowning and trying to calm her racing mind. “Explain.”

”Vampirism is deeply flawed, it grants a potentially eternal existence to a creature that is designed to survive a century at the most. If nothing else, time will eventually drive reason from their minds, as happened before. This will not happen to Twilight, she is my Bearer and I will not allow it. The other Elements could do the same for their Bearers, if they were turned. Six vamponies would be a great comfort to Luna, and they would never threaten you. With both our aid and yours, they would even be able to fight the necromancers. It would be a bloody war, and a hard one, but it could be won.”

“You expect me to agree to this?” Celestia asked, dumbfounded. “You think I will willingly release what little control I have over you?”

The voice laughed, simultaneously condescending and celebratory. ”You have no control over me,” it said. ”Besides, the idea isn't mine. I know you better than that. Think, though, it would save thousands of your little ponies lives.”

Celestia winced. “It would, but at what risk?” she asked.

”The greatest risk is that the war is lost and Equestria is destroyed.”

Celestia thought furiously for a moment, then sighed, an altogether too common occurrence of late in her mind. “I'll need certain assurances,” she said, her tone defeated and frustrated.

”You shall have them,” the voice replied, deeply satisfied. ”Now, if you'll excuse me, other matters require my attention.”

“Wait!” Celestia called, but the voice was gone. Cursing softly under her breath, she set about cleaning the broken glass from her floor, wondering if she'd ever manage to match the Element of Magic in one of their little games.

Author's Note

Well, that's one info dump full of inconsistencies and contradictions that surely don't mean anything over with. Next chapter should a be a bit more exciting.

Also, I'm lookin' for pre-readers. Message me if you're interested. Edit- Thanks a bunch, people, I've got five pre-readers now! Oh... now I actually have to keep a schedule.... oh dear.

Ascension

The next night, Twilight had insisted on a return to training, and so she found herself on a roof in Ponyville.

Training tonight, Luna had told her, would be a game. The two were hunting each other, both as a test of what Luna's blood would do to Twilight's already prodigious abilities and to hopefully teach the young unicorn that it was sometimes best to practice avoidance instead of endurance. “Dodge, Twilight,” Luna had told her. “I'd thought you learned, but I was evidently wrong.” Each landed strike marked a point, waking up anypony resulted in losing a point, and it was a race to three.

A faint sound reached her ears, the sound of feathers rustling in a faint wind, and it brought a smile to her lips. She extended a small net of magical senses around herself, and before long, she found the Princess trying to sneak up behind her under a veil.

Twilight waited a scant second longer, then rolled sideways off the peak of the roof, feeling the rush of wind as Luna passed through where she had been a second before. A short burst of magic and a vicious kick later, Twilight had scored her first point and Luna was gasping for breath on the street below.

Not bothering to enjoy the view, Twilight continued along the path her kick had set her on and dropped into an alley, galloping away as quickly as she could without running into a building.

”Neatly done,” a dry voice with a Trottingham accent said from directly behind her left ear.

Twilight whipped her head around in shock, and not looking where she was going, she ran head first into a post. The wood, thought it was strong oak, gave way quite easily under the force of her impact, but it tripped her and she tumbled roughly head over hoof, gathering an impressive collection of scrapes and bruises that were already starting to heal when she found her hooves again and skid to a stop.

“Who's there?” she called quietly into the night.

”An interesting question, but you aren't ready for the answer just yet,” the voice said again, from exactly the same place, freezing Twilight. ”Suffice to say that I am a friend, and that you should duck- now.”

Instinctively, Twilight ducked, and a blast of Luna's silent, lightless combat magic narrowly passed over her head, searing a deep mark in the ground. Twilight spared a single moment to glare the offending mark and wonder what it would have done to her head, then she bounced away again and lost herself in the streets and alleys of Ponyville.

'I've finally gone insane,' she thought as she ran, 'voices and all.'

'Not quite,' the voice replied, this time from within her mind. 'I am quite real, and you are quite sane, if rather damaged.'

Twilight didn't outwardly react this time, instead finding a place to hide and quickly throwing a veil around herself. 'The voice in my head would say that if I was insane,' she thought.

'Oh please. I am not some part of you that is suddenly aware and communicative.'

'Then give me a name!' Twilight thought back harshly, straining her ears to try and catch Luna's inevitable approach.

'It would mean nothing to you. She's above you by the way. Two steps to the left should do.'

Twilight obligingly took two rapid steps to the left, and a heartbeat later Luna crashed down. For a moment, Twilight saw the Princess look utterly confused, as if wondering where her pupil had gone, and then Twilight drove her front hooves like hammers into the alicorns side. A quick stomp to the head, driving her opponent briefly senseless, gave her just enough time to teleport away.

'Okay. So, you can be pretty helpful,' Twilight thought as she materialised, 'but so can lots of things. Even demons usually start out friendly.'

'A demon? I am by no means malevolent. I'm here to help you.'

Twilight threw a rock across a street, where it landed with a dull thud, then she waited. 'A demon would say that, too.'

The voice snorted in vague annoyance. 'Very well then. I'll be here when you come to your senses.'

'Wait!' Twilight thought, but there was no answer. Before she could begin to feel chagrined at the sudden lack of her advisor, she felt herself wrapped in a telekinetic field and thrown across the road.

Breaking Luna's magic with a simple, pointed counter-spell, Twilight allowed herself to slip into the strange dimension she inhabited whenever she teleported, cancelled her momentum, and then materialised softly on her hooves. She was just in time to see Luna bearing down on her, wings swiftly propelling her and a single hoof raised.

Twilight carefully braced herself, then caught the blow with both of her front hooves, giving the Princess a defiant grin even as she was pushed back several inches.

Luna returned the grin, and Twilight immediately regretted the challenge. Luna relaxed briefly, then broke Twilight's block with a horrible, inexorable strength, dashing Twilight's hope for victory and replacing it with a desperate struggle.

Luna attacked again, her movements subtly different, fluid and graceful and full of power. Twilight didn't entertain the thought of blocking these strikes, devoting herself entirely to weaving through them as she scrambled madly backwards, desperately trying to find enough space to act.

Luna steadfastly refused to allow it. She danced faster and faster, all the while wearing an infuriating, superior grin, until her movements were impossibly fast and she hammered a single crushing blow, just barely refraining from breaking bones.

Twilight, in retaliation, released a focused blast of force as suddenly as she could. It was barely enough to knock the Princess of her hooves, but it gave her a bare half-second.

'I need a staff,' she thought, 'can you do that?'

A spell jumped fully formed into her mind, a matrix in Celestia's preferred style, elegant and complex. Twilight fuelled the spell, and when Luna resumed her attack, Twilight was armed with what appeared to be two short lengths of wood, each capped on the ends with a gleaming metal, one cap inset with rubies and the other with amethyst.

'Good luck,' the voice whispered in her mind, and then Twilight met the Princesses attack. Manoeuvring her twin staves well enough to keep Luna off balance and slow her down, Twilight was ecstatic to find that the fight had returned to something resembling evenly matched, and then Luna frowned, snatched one of the staves from mid air with her own magic, and thumped Twilight solidly over the head with it.

Bells firmly rung, Twilight stumbled and fell, but she stayed conscious and used the remaining half of her staff to defend herself while she shook her head and fought back to her hooves. As soon as she managed that, she leapt forward and clumsily struck out at Luna's horn, missing but causing the alicorn to drop the second half of the staff, and Twilight drew both halves together, where the ruby inlaid caps latched with a solid click.

“Impressive,” Luna called while Twilight warily shook her head to clear the ringing from her ears. “A weapon of that calibre is not easily made, much less so quickly. I have one as well.”

Darkness began to congeal around Luna's horn, and a chill began to seep into the air. With a quiet, electric snap, the darkness formed into a slim, crescent shaped blade with no hilt or guard. The outer edge was razor sharp and whistled as Luna twirled it through the air, and the spine was wickedly serrated.

“Noctem,” Luna whispered, pleased and excited. “Night, in the old tongue. This blade is older than mortal kind, Twilight, and has seen no battle in thousands of years. Will you stand against it?”

Twilights mouth was dry. 'Don't suppose...' she thought.

'Try not to get hurt too badly.'

“Horseapples,” Twilight muttered, then Luna was on her. The Princess maintained a steady distance, just far enough to ensure the fight wouldn't devolve back into a brawl, and Twilight found herself forced to concentrate entirely on her weapon.

Luna's blade danced, a frightful thing, hissing and whistling as it sliced through the air, almost impossible to see in the darkness. Twilight's staff, in contrast, was bright and visible but slow, and it moved clumsily compared to the elegant, effortless grace Luna displayed. Almost mockingly, Luna blocked one of Twilight's strikes, rotated her blade around the staff, then delivered a single shrieking slash.

Twilight leaned back as far as she could, but she still felt a bitter chill followed by a sharp sting on her throat. At the same time, she shoved her staff forward, and while Luna tried to duck under it, she managed to land a hard blow against the Princesses cheek.

Luna rather delicately licked her teeth, frowning as one moved in its socket. “We appear to require a tiebreaker,” the Princess said.

“I agree,” Twilight replied, rubbing her throat where blood was slowly seeping through her coat. 'Any ideas?' she thought.

'You won't win any form of direct contest without cheating,' the voice replied, 'so cheat outrageously. She might be impressed enough to allow it. Or, perhaps...'

There was silence for a moment, then she felt a surge of vicious satisfaction. 'I have an idea. Distract her.'

Twilight blinked, and then she did the first thing that came to her mind and attacked the Princess, a reckless charge with no allowance for defence.

Luna, for her part, laughed and whirled her blade around, easily deflecting Twilight's attacks and using her magic to keep the unicorn out of brawling range. “Good!” the Princess called happily. “Your fire is burning well tonight!”

'Fire is a wonderful idea,' Twilight thought before throwing a small ball of white hot flame at the Princess.

'Stop that!' the voice snapped at her irritably. 'Every time you use your magic you throw me off balance, and I'm in the process of some delicate work. I gave you a stick, use it!'

Twilight groaned inwardly as Luna devoured her little fire in a wave of pure darkness. Before that darkness could fade, she leapt through it, accepting the bitter cold as a necessary suffering even as it left a thin layer of ice over her entire body, and she tore out the far side of it with her staff already swinging for Luna.

The Princess wasn't there. Twilight touched her hooves to the ground and skidded to stop, nervously searching for her opponent, but there was no sign.

Then she heard a mocking whistle from above her. Cursing herself for making the same mistake twice, she dove to the side just in time to avoid Luna's plunge. What followed was an exchange of strikes, feints, and parries so fast Twilight couldn't consciously track them. She was running purely on instinct, her mind consumed entirely with a nervous chagrin at the contemptuous ease Luna displayed in combat.

Luna broke away first, a diversionary thrust morphing into a dead sprint, leaving laughter in her wake.

Twilight didn't even bother chasing the alicorn. Instead, she closed her eyes, sat down, and waited, focusing every ounce of her attention on the sound and feel of the night.

She was rewarded with a faint, almost imperceptible sense of warning, and while she sprang to her hooves, her staff intercepted Luna's blade. The Princess delivered an impish grin, then she said, “You continue to amaze me, Twilight.”

'You need five seconds,' the voice in Twilight's mind whispered. 'Do something to get it. Be creative.'

Twilight, purely on impulse, leaned forward and planted a kiss firmly on Luna's lips. She was aware of the voice in her head sputtering with shocked laughter, but a spell formed in her mind all the same, and as Twilight leaned back, she poured everything she had into it.

After furiously blinking for a few moments, Luna regained awareness of her surroundings, and she found herself faced with Twilight Sparkle doing what she had been born to do. Her eyes blazed with a furious stark white power and what little natural light there was seemed to draw itself into her, leaving the area around her darkened and cold. Her horn was nothing but a column of violently raging lavender energy, and while her whole body shivered with the strain of the spell she was attempting to cast, there was a ghost of a smile on her lips.

Luna felt something impossible edge into her awareness, and her jaw dropped as she looked up.

The moon was moving. Slowly, and only by a matter of feet, but it was moving all the same. Luna looked back to Twilight, who was still shimmering with pure magical power, and then she heard a forced, gently mocking whistle come from the unicorns lips before something crashed into the back of her head and the world went dark.

When Luna woke up, the first thing she was aware of was a proud laugh.

“I won!” Twilight exclaimed. “I think that's a first, isn't it?”

Luna turned to glare at the unicorn, and in the process realised she had been teleported, or possibly dragged, back to the small library Twilight called home. “You cheated,” the Princess accused. “Nopony should be able to move my moon but my sister and I. It simply can't be done by a mortal!”

Twilight's eyes went vacant for a moment, which intrigued Luna mightily, and when they focused again Twilight spoke. “Your blood is in my veins now,” she said. “Apparently, that makes me immortal enough.”

Luna blinked. She hadn't even considered that possibility. “And the spell? It has been rather carefully concealed for millennia, how is it that you know it?”

Twilight shrugged. “I don't have an answer for you. It just... well, it seemed like it would work.”

Luna narrowed her eyes as she stood up. “What are you hiding from me, Twilight Sparkle?” she asked. “Please, it is dreadfully impolite to not win gracefully.”

Twilight frowned. “I thought you'd be excited,” she said.

“I am,” Luna said, her face flat and her voice utterly deadpan. “I am also most curious and not a small bit afraid. The moon is more powerful than you know, if this is an ability you will always have, it must be guided and trained.”

“I know more than you might think,” Twilight challenged, and the bold certainty in her voice made Luna pause.

“That may be so,” Luna eventually admitted, “but if you would, as a favour to me, please refrain from moving it again? I am old, and my poor heart might not weather the next shock so well.”

Twilight laughed, a bright, happy, and victorious sound. “Don't like it when the tables get turned? You seemed to like making me jump out of my coat.”

Luna frowned, but it was spoiled by the smile in her eyes. “I may have gone too far with you,” she muttered playfully. “Confidence is a necessary thing for one in your situation, but I am not accustomed to being treated with such little dignity.”

Twilight shrugged again, and her smile was like the sunrise. “I guess you'll just have to live with it. You can't put the genie back in the bottle.”

Luna's eyebrow raised entirely of it's own volition. “That saying would not exist if I had ever tried to disprove it,” she threatened.

Twilight raised her staff meaningfully, and the two collapsed in gales of laughter.

Celestia was not laughing. She was fretting, and long ages of practice had given her tremendous skill in the art. A thousand tiny details were running through her head as she prepared to raise the sun, everything from changes to the tax code to a ruling on a minor conflict between two noble families, and she bore it all with the serene smile that had become the trademark of her immortal rule.

The forthcoming war threatened that smile more than she cared to admit. Endless lists of barbaric titles, every one of them paired with a not entirely inaccurate legend, could never make her enjoy violence. She was skilled in the art of war, certainly, more than perhaps any alive, barring her sister, but she far preferred solutions that came at the end of a quill versus the end of a spear.

At the forefront of that single titanic problem, there was the rather more personal issue of the ponies who would be her champions. She wouldn't call the Bearers her friends, but they were far closer to her than any of her other subjects, and she valued all of them dearly. From long experience, she knew well war's way of stealing everything one considered precious.

And she was going to tear them from their peaceful lives and throw them into that fire, likely against their will and by force. It was hardly the first time necessity had driven her to become something she despised, but that only made it seem more terrible to her.

As the sun rose above the horizon, Celestia heaved a deep sigh and decided she would at least see her sister and discuss it with her first.

Author's Note

This was going to be almost 4000 words longer, but I decided to take a chainsaw to it to maintain something that remotely resembles an update schedule.

Enjoy!

The Other Half Of Me

There was silence in the Everfree Forest. A tall unicorn, his coat the dull grey of unpolished steel with eyes to match, paced slowly before a necromancer that busied itself cowering. “You mean to tell me three husks and your brother all failed?” the grey pony asked, his voice low and silky smooth. “They could not kill one fledging, barely blooded and hardly trained, and five mortals?”

“She fought like a madmare,” the necromancer protested. “She nearly killed herself destroying the last of the husks, with a smile on her face. How am I to fight that?”

The grey pony snorted impatiently. “By dying, if need be. I'd thought I'd taught you to fear failing me more than your own end?”

The necromancer shuddered despite the warm night air. “I thought it better to return to you and inform you of why the mortals survived. The fledgling was not the one who saved them.”

The grey pony quirked a curious eyebrow. “Oh? Is there another?”

“The Blind One,” the necromancer whispered. “As my brother left the forest, The Blind One appeared and tore the soul from him.”

The grey pony stopped pacing and stood still as death. “You made the right choice,” he said after a moment of silence. “This information is more valuable than any other service you could ever provide. You have earned my thanks, and a gift.”

The necromancer looked up, hideous anticipation in his eyes. The grey pony smiled, and with a single blurred motion drove his hoof through the necromancers skull. “Peace is the greatest gift I can provide,” the grey pony chuckled as he cleaned blood and viscera from himself with a flurry of magic.

“A waste,” a huge, resonant voice commented from the shadow of a tree. “Why kill him when he had done well?”

“It was a reward,” the grey pony answered, his tone utterly sincere. “All of us wait for death. Or have you come to enjoy eternity?”

There was a snort that sounded more like rocks being crushed as a titanic earth pony stepped forward to examine the necromancers remains, his massive frame easily dwarfing even the tall grey unicorn he stood near. “I can't remember her name,” he said, his voice a barely audible subterranian rumble. “My wife. I killed her before I learned to control myself. I think of her every day, and yet her name is lost to me. As is her face. I can't even recall if she was an earth pony or one of the other tribes. The day I die will be my happiest day in this world, and if I am for The Pit, then I will tear down that hell reach her in Elysium. I merely think his death could have been more profitably used.”

“The reward for work well done is more work?” the grey pony replied. “Rather defeats the point.”

Riese shrugged the mountains that passed for his shoulders. “That may be so,” he admitted, then he fell silent for a while. “The Blind One,” he muttered as he shook his head. “Even Death stands against us now?”

The grey pony smiled, a feral expression. “If he does, then I suppose it would be the right time.”

Riese's eyes widened in shock. “After six thousand years you would take that beast's bargain?”

“Oh yes, and with the power it earns us, we will tear this realm apart.”

Riese let out a discontented rumble, but he nodded. “Yes, General.”

Twilight was in a rare state. Alone, free of pain, and with very little that needed to be done. Celestia had arrived and asked to speak with Luna alone perhaps twenty minutes earlier, and so, she had decided to take this rare break to practice a skill she'd long since cast aside but that she believed may help her in coming days. Sitting calmly and with deathlike stillness, even taking advantage of her vampiric nature to stop her breathing, she focused on her heartbeat for over an hour, feeling it slowly receede until anypony who found her would have immediately thought her dead. It still beat, but only twice in the span of an hour.

It was a form of meditation she had never mastered, but had practiced during her younger years to aid her magical focus. Now, without the distraction of the majority of her bodily needs, she fell into a deep, mesmeric trance where all that existed to her was her thoughts.

'Hello,' she thought quietly. 'Are you still here?'

'Of course,' her mysterious advisor answered, his own accented voice equally quiet. 'There is no need for this sort of trance to speak with me, you know.'

Twilight calmly cast a spell, the magic flowing around her freely in Luna's style, and then she opened her eyes. They were dimly lit with violet light, and though she was blind to the mundane world, she could see every ebb and flow of power, magical or otherwise, that she cared to gaze upon in a gorgeous whirlpool of colours too varied to name. 'I need it to cast this spell,' she thought. 'I confined it to my vision, and I know you're behind me. I won't try to command you to show yourself, but I will ask.'

'Well,' the voice said, seemingly a little surprised. 'A student of Celestia's who knows to respect what she doesn't understand? How could I refuse such a rare mare's request?' A moment later, a starnge looking thing wandered into her field of view. It seemed, at first, to be a simple unicorn, but the sheer presence of the being made it clear that it was something far older than any mortal race, let alone a single mortal being. Twilight and the being locked eyes, and for a moment Twilight nearly lost her trance, staggered to the core by the depth and weight of the beings gaze, and the timeless power it conveyed. ”Here I am, young one,” the being spoke aloud, and the voice resonated within a deep part of her that she'd only vaguely been aware of before, and Twilight stared in utter shock.

“What was that?” she asked, no small amount of fear threatening her peaceful state. Any being that could be so deeply rooted within her without her explicit permission was a powerful, dangerous entity indeed, and she was not yet certain it was friendly.

”You,” the being replied, “the part of you that is not flesh, or mind, or even soul. Something older than any of those. Do you understand?”

“Nothing is that old,” Twilight answered, her voice calming again and she more firmly set the barriers that kept the world beyond her thoughts at bay. “Especially nothing inside of a mortal.”

”That's true,” the being answered with a gentle smile, ”but then few mortals have ever borne the weight of me or another of my kind. Only six, in fact, in all of eternity and creation.”

Twilight's blood froze, then sang with the realisation of who she was speaking with. Her trance crumbled, forgotten, but as the spell faded her Element remained. “You're alive?!” she practically screamed, leaping to her hooves in excitement. “I knew you had some level of awareness but nothing like this!”

“Alive?” her Element answered, and Twilight realized she could not longer feel the resonance within her. “For your purposes, I suppose that I am, but it would be more accurate to say that I am life. The embodiment of an aspect of the magic that created this realm. The other's are as well, but they have elected me to be the first to speak. The aeons have made them somewhat timid, I'm afraid.”

”Timid?” Twilight sputtered. “What the hay could make an Element of Harmony timid? You've got to be the single most powerful group of beings there is!”

“We are,” her Element answered, his voice deadly serious, “and as you use your own power, you will come to understand how terrible it is to be so great.” Twilight frowned in confusion, and her Element sighed. An instant later, the world had vanished, and Twilight was floating alone in a raging ocean of magical power under the control of a single, inexorable will. ”This is what I truly am, Twilight Sparkle,” her Element's voice thundered, the restrained fury buried in it's calm tone splitting her ear drums and tearing at her mind, leaving her whimpering and terrified beyond reason, the currents of power eddying around her tearing at the mundane parts of her being with a searing flame.

As quickly as the pain and terror came, it was gone, and now the same sea was placid and still, cooling her and rapidly piecing together her sanity. Then, she was back in her library, panting and afraid but whole and in possession of her wits. “Imagine what I could do with that power and that rage, little one,” her Element intoned seriously. “I have no desire to destroy, but if I should lose control, this entire reality would be dust beneath my hooves. Do you understand?”

Twilight jerkily nodded. “That's why you won't fight the necromancers,” she gasped. “It'd be like trying to squash an ant with a fireball. There'll be too much collateral damage.”

“Precisely, there is little we can do to in a battle that would not defeat the purpose of defending your world,” her Element confirmed with a mischievous smile. “We can do much to aid you in less direct means, however, as you have already seen, and I've hardly even begun to show you what we can accomplish together. You will never command me, but be assured, if it is in my power to see you to victory, it will be done.”

Twilight blinked. “Six,” she said quietly. “We can do it with six, if the circumstances are exactly right. You realized that the same time I did, and the implications.”

Her Element nodded. “It will be a hard road. You may die. Other Bearers may die. But it's a chance, perhaps the only one.”

“And if we fail?” Twilight asked quietly.

Her Element's face hardened and a shadow of terrible wrath and ruin filled its timeless eyes.

Twilight gulped. “Not an option. Got it. When do we start?”

“We start now,” her Element answered as it faded from view, 'by changing the circumstances. It's time you learned how things truly are.'

A spell matrix formed in Twilight's mind, and she fuelled it without even thinking before flashing away.

Celestia and Luna strode through the Royal Observatory's lower sections, their accustomed place for private discussions. The doors were sealed, it was remote, and it was a place filled with history old enough to make the twin Immortal sisters feel deeply at peace. It was the lone concession they had made to eternity, a strangely sacrificial spritual acceptance of the losses of endless life, the only ground sacred enough to the sisters to contain them when discussing anything as terrible as war. Even after Nightmare Moon's rampage, the Observatory had remained undamaged, and Celestia had personally transported the entire upper section of the tower that held it to the new capital of Canterlot.

"I haven't been here in a thousand years," Luna said with a small smile, gently running a wing down a stone carving and closing her eyes. "I'm glad it's been preserved."

"Nothing added, nothing removed," Celestia answered, her eyes a little vacant as she scanned the room until they settled on a small device made of intricately hammered gold. "Oh my," she whispered, "I'd forgotten about this. That lovely little pegasus made it for me.... three thousand years ago? Four?"

"Three thousand, eight hundred," Luna said. "She made mine from silver," she said, pointing to a similar looking device with a wing. "What was her name?"

Celestia shook her head sadly. "She was an orphan, she had none."

Luna sighed deeply. "What a waste, a mare like that forgotten. I doubt a single smith alive today could match her work."

Celestia ruffled a wing, and a single light flash of gold shone through. "I know they can't. She made this feather for me after I placed her in the Royal Smithy, it's still tradition for every smith to make one for me as their last work. They've all been beautiful, but there's an art that little pegasus had in her that won't be seen again."

"Why are we here, sister?" Luna asked. "It does my heart good to see this place again, but there must be a reason."

"War," Celestia muttered. "Seems the only reason we've ever come here."

Luna's expression became carefully guarded. "You have a plan?"

"Of course I do," Celestia said, raising a hoof to her chest in mock offense at the question. "I always have a plan."

"Out with it, then," Luna said impatiently. "Time is not on our side."

"First, let me ask you a question," Celestia said. "How has Twilight been? I haven't seen her lucid since her accident."

Luna flashed a defiant, devil-may-care grin. "Necromancers or none, that mare was worth breaking our laws. She's the perfect vampony, aggressive and confident and proud. The world has not seen her like in far too long, and she will be needed now."

Celestia nodded, but the news obviously made her unhappy. "For the best, I suppose, but I'll miss the civilised mare she was terribly."

"She can be perfectly civil," Luna retorted. "Do you remember them, sister?"

"Your old children? Celestia asked. "Of course. Brutes, every one."

Luna's grin only widened. "You would see the savagery and not the nobility. The pride and not the caution. Think of my children as warriors and leaders, not animals or monsters, and you may eventually understand."

Celestia snorted delicately. "Perhaps, perhaps not. Does she make you happy?"

"More than anything," Luna answered, her grin fading into a sombre, steady expression. "I need her, sister. Even if Equestria was safe, I need her. She reminds me of who I am."

Celestia looked equally sombre for a moment, then she nodded. "How would you like five more?"

Luna froze, not even daring to breathe. "What are you asking me sister?" she whispered. "If this is some trick of yours..."

Celestia smiled a delicate little smile. "No trick. I'm prepared to let you turn five others, so long as they are very specific ponies."

Luna blinked. "The other Elements?" She asked, dumbfounded.

Celestia nodded. "It seems the only reasonable option."

Luna nodded and said, "I had the same thought."

Celestia and Luna stared at each other, each equally incredulous as to the situation. “This is a disaster indeed, for you to agree with me,” Luna asked, suspicious. “The last time you suffered anything remotely resembling a threat to your power, the continents had not yet split.”

Celestia sighed bitterly. “Do you truly think me such a tyrant?”

“You are a tyrant,” Luna stated, her voice matter of fact but free of any anger or disgust. “Benevolent as you may be, you are dictatorial, paranoid, and vicious.”

Celestia smiled as her molten anger only barely touched her eyes. “A disagreement for another time. For the moment, vampiric Bearers, yes?”

Luna frowned, but nodded. “You see the potential?”

Celestia nodded. “The necromancers have always been lead by six. Six Bearers to fight them, you and I are a match for any army that could be fielded as quickly as our force. It could be done.”

“Yes it could,” came Twilight's voice, and both Princesses whirled in shock to spy her calmly sitting some ten feet from them.

“How are you here?” Luna asked. “The only way for a mortal to enter is to be brought by my sister or myself.”

“Did you think you were the only one who knew how to make an entrance?” Twilight asked, dropping her veil to reveal her twisted, scarred smirk and a single sharp fang.

Celestia was taken aback. She'd never known Twilight to be so sarcastic, at least to royalty, and the fang was an obvious threat display, the mare perhaps unintentionally declaring herself to be the equal of her rulers. More telling, she'd sidestepped a direct question as if it was something less than insulting to do so, and showed no signs of even considering potential reprisals to her relaxed, self declared ascension.

Twilight's eyes flickered out of focus for a moment, then her gaze snapped to meet Celestia's. “Yes. That's exactly what I just did. I'll apologize when I'm done telling you how to save the country.”

“I told you she was a wild one,” Luna muttered with a cheeky grin. “Even my old Captain didn't take to my teachings so well.”

“You've certainly changed,” Celestia said, “but would it pain you to not flaunt it so much?” she continued. “You are like a daughter to me, you know.”

Twilight snorted. “I am a weapon to you,” she corrected. “Powerful, loyal, and controlled. I just know it now.” Celestia blinked furiously, and even Luna's mouth dropped slightly. “I'm not angry,” Twilight continued with a smug little grin, “I just wanted you to know I figured it out.”

Celestia glanced at Luna, who had recovered and wore a grin that matched Twilight's. “Did I mention that she is most perceptive?"

Celestia ground her teeth. “I'm not one to stand on ceremony, but really she is a bit much.”

“She moved the moon,” Luna stated. “She has earned her confidence.”

Celestia's blood ran cold, and The Unconquered Sun cast a very uncertain gaze at her former student.

“I can do the sun too,” Twilight stated, cold and calm and utterly sure of herself, letting the implied threat hang venomously in the air.

In a flash, Luna stood in front of her pupil, eyes narrowed and a dangerous smile on her lips. “Be careful, Twilight,” she said, jovial but sincere. "This is not the place for your sharp tongue."

Celestia hardly dared breathe as she understood. Her sister and her former student had a very different relationship than she had expected. Twilight stared hard at Luna, but only for a moment. Then she smiled and whacked herself harshly on the head. “It can be a little hard to control sometimes,” she said, obviously referring to the new instincts vampirism had planted in her mind. “I'm sorry.”

The stare she levelled at Celestia, however, made it clear that there was no forgiveness for the Solar Diarch, only a sense that only a pony too weak to do it themselves would have allowed another to draw the line.

Celestia swallowed hard. She spoke that language as well as any, but she'd never expected to need to speak it to her student. Striding over to the unicorn, she levelled a glare that had silenced kings and gods for millenia against the mare and whispered, low and hard, “listen to her, Twilight, I won't stand to be so boldly threatened. Even by you, especially not here.”

Luna held her tongue to allow her sister to prove herself, and Twilight smiled slowly when she noticed. “Why do I feel,” the only mortal in the room asked, her voice strong and confidant again, “like you're the only one in the room that's afraid of what might happen if I keep pushing?”

Celestia flinched and looked away.

Luna's eyed flared with a simmering, insulted rage and she slapped her student, hard enough to toss her to the ground, drawing blood and a shocked hiss. “Enough,” she snapped, dropping the cheer from her tone in favour of impatience and open threat. “Did I teach you this poorly? To threaten and mock? And where in the world has this insufferable attitude come from? I would not like to remind you of your place again.”

”Are you all so sure of victory, to be at each others throats? came a voice from nowhere, and Twilight sighed and drew herself back up to a seated position.

“Well you told me I needed to see for myself.”

”Yes. I did not expect you to provoke two of the very few beings alive that could end you as easily as you blow out a candle. Clearly I need to be more specific in the future.”

Luna frowned, then laughed in sudden comprehension. “Now I see.”

Celestia frowned. “I seem to be the only one here still confused,” she muttered uncomfortably.

“It was a game, a very dangerous game,” Luna said, her grin turning a little manic. “She tested you to prove to you that she really is one of mine now, and show you that you need not fear her. It is an admirable demonstration of both.”

“She threatened me to make me feel safe?” Celestia asked, dumbfounded.

“If she wanted a fight,” Luna began.

“You'd never see me coming,” Twilight finished.

Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “'Did I teach you this poorly?'” she repeated. “You were more upset at how she squandered the element of surprise than how she treated me?”

“Yes,” Luna answered bluntly. “A vampony will only submit to the rule of one stronger than they are, she has the right to force you to prove yourself."

“How reassuring,” Celestia said in a dry, flat voice.

”Enough, Twilight's Element commanded, quiet but serious and intent. ”Twilight, she will never understand how reasonable you have been. Celestia, Twilight will never understand that what she's done is unreasonable."

Twilight nodded grudging acceptance, while Celestia felt slightly ashamed of her behaviour and Luna simply chuckled again. "I see where she learned to control celestial bodies now, and where the power came from," the Luna Diarch said.

"Oh no," the Element of Magic replied, a note of fierce pride in his normally calm voice. "I only showed her the way, and not even all of that. That triumph was her own. Did you think I choose a mortal that was anything less than exceptional?"

Luna whistled low and quiet while Celestia shook her head. Even Twilight quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you gave me the whole spell?" she asked.

"Perhaps half," her Element told her. "I wanted to see if you could complete it. You did, obviously, and without even realising it. Element of Magic, indeed."

Twilight preened slightly at the compliment, then coughed and awkwardly shuffled her hooves. "Right. Necromancers. Being able to act openly will be nice, but how do we ask my friends to do that?" Twilight asked.

"We don't have to ask," Celestia said, a grim look in her eyes. "They'll volunteer soon enough."

Twilight and Luna frowned, then Luna ground her teeth. "You intend to let the necromancers run rampant," she bit out.

"No!" Twilight interjected, leaping to her hooves and glaring accusingly at Celestia. "We are not letting ponies die if we can help it," she stated, emphatic and leaving no room for compromise. "Civilised ponies don't act like that. I won't allow it!"

"Allow?" Celestia asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Neither will I, sister," Luna stated sadly. "I remember the last time we travelled that road, even if you've forgotten. Do you not love our little ponies?"

This time Celestia's rage escaped her eyes and seethed in her tone. "Love, Luna? You ask me about love? I built them the greatest country the world has seen since the days of our father!" she raged, carefully controlled but with searing fire dancing on her words. "Look at what I've done for them and ask yourself if there was a single thing I wouldn't do to save them!"

"Then why are you telling me to let them die?" Twilight fired back before Luna could open her mouth, surprising both Princesses. "Me and Luna can stop it, and we will, with or without your help."

"Yes," Luna agreed, proud of her pupil beyond measure. "If you will not support us, then stay out of our way."

Celestia laughed bitterly. "It's a little late for that. Reports have started arriving from several of the more remote cities of husks being sighted, one city may have already fallen. I expect hundreds are dead."

Twilight and Luna stared at Celestia in shock, and the Solar Diarch nodded grimly. "No matter what we do, there will be death. Death on a scale not seen in hundreds of years. Twilight still needs to be trained, the other Bearers as well. It will be the work of months. Fewer will die if we train them first, then take to battle, and then the living will fawn over me as if I'd truly saved them instead of sacrificing the lives of half my country, revere us all as great heroes, and we will never let them know that the calculus of leadership is all that saved them. Go and stop the tide if you can, but I will not act before the proper time."

"So much anger and hate, for so little cause. The other Elements will speak with their Bearers, I will ensure they are ready to be turned."

"I'm trained enough to follow Luna's lead," Twilight said quickly. "All I really need is some armour."

"I will not let ponies die," Luna stated, implacable. "Stop the tide, you say? I believe I shall."

Celestia's anger started to fade as her eyes darted between the two ponies in front of her. "What are you saying?" she asked, desperate hope starting to displace some of her bitter rage. "You cannot seriously believe they will be ready soon enough to make a difference!"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I, for one, could not forgive myself if I allowed that to stop me."

"Sometimes trying matters more than winning," Twilight said quietly.

"I faced a thousand years alone with a Nightmare. This battle is not so hopeless," Luna said. "Even if it were, I am not you. I could never stand by and watch."

"How soon can the Bearers be assembled?" Celestia asked, her mind whirling.

"Within the hour," Twilight's Element assured her.

"Months before they can truly say they are ready for your plans, but a week before they can fight beside me," Luna stated with utter certainty. "There will be no songs of their prowess, but they will be able."

"Us," Celestia corrected. "They will fight beside us."

Luna's smile was as beautiful as the moon on a clear night. "Come Twilight," she said. "Let us go find your friends."

The two vanished in brilliant fashes of light, leaving Celestia alone. She looked about the room, then walked over to the oldest thing in the room, a simple stone chest. With a brief flurry of magic, she opened it and levitated her ancient armour, elegant golden plate bound with enchantments that made it stronger than any steel, and the great shining steel mace she'd always favoured. Luna, she knew, cast and called her weapons and armour from nothing but shadow, but Celestia had always preferred the solidity of real, strong metal on her back. She chuckled lightly to herself, feeling younger than she had in thousands of years, and began the laborious process of putting on the armour.

Author's Note

The lads are back in town! Laddettes? Fuck it all I've got rum and I'm busy writing the next chapter for Monday or Tuesday, I love you all for hangin' around.

Credits: I wrote it, Alamandir made it worth reading. Seriously. Give him at least half the credit.

Tomorrow We Die Alive

Twilight stepped silently through the lower halls of the Royal Observatory, utterly spellbound by the wealth of ancient texts and artifacts before her, but didn't allow herself to study them as she wished. Instead, she walked ever onwards, towards the Princesses and well away from the only area secluded enough to hide the sound and light of her teleportation spell. A few moments later, she heard the murmur of voices, and casting the most delicate veil she could she crept up and sat some ten feet from the twin Princesses.

She settled in just in time to see Luna frown slightly, and Twilight recognized her Princesses excitement only from her posture. “You see the potential?”

Celestia nodded. “The necromancers have always been lead by six. Six Bearers to fight them, you and I are a match for any army that could be fielded as quickly as our force. It could be done.”

"Yes it could," Twilight interjected as she dropped the veil, and it took quite a bit of effort to not laugh at the shocked and appalled faces the Princesses wore as they noticed her.

“How are you here?” Luna asked her, her tone a war between pride and confusion. “The only way for a mortal to enter is to be brought by my sister or myself.”

“Did you think you were the only one who knew how to make an entrance?” Twilight lightly taunted back as she dropped the veil that hid her scars and fangs, revealing her natural, defiant little smirk. Luna's reaction was instant, a subtle shift in bearing that she knew meant Luna was amused.

'Celestia thinks you've threatened her, now make her know you have,' she heard her Element whisper in her mind.

She snapped her eyes to Celestia and shifted her bearing slightly, making her seem more intensely focused, as if she could lunge at any second. "Yes," she said, "that's exactly what I just did. I'll apologise when I'm done telling you how to save the country."

"I told you she was a wild one," Luna said, and Twilight could see the concern hidden underneath the Princesses grin. She realised that the Princess had no idea what Twilight was up to, and that suited Twilight just fine for the moment.

Celestia, meanwhile, practically radiated terror, which Twilight found rather strange, considering how quickly she would be a stain on the floor if she fought either Princess. “You've certainly changed,” the Solar Diarch said, “but would it pain you to not flaunt it so much? You are like a daughter to me, you know.”

Twilight heard her Element snort softly, and she hardened her voice with the truth she'd learned before replying. "I am a weapon to you. Powerful, loyal, and controlled." Twilight watched Celestia's face morph from shock to dismay, and she exaggerated her smirk a little on impulse. "I'm not angry. I just wanted you to know I figured it out."

Twilight saw both Princesses emotions intensify as Luna said, "Did I mention she is most perceptive?"

Twilight heard Celestia's teeth grind together with effort as the Princess carefully controlled her fear. "I'm not one to stand on ceremony, but really she is a bit much!"

"She moved the moon," Twilight heard Luna say, but she focused entirely on Celestia. "She has earned her confidence."

'Wow,' Twilight thought as she watched Celestia shift from controlled terror to a far more existential fear. 'She really is paranoid.' "I can do the sun too," she said aloud, and the chill in her voice even surprised her.

Twilight barely saw Luna move to stand in front of her. "Be careful Twilight, this is not the place for your sharp tongue," the Lunar Diarch said, and Twilight was utterly certain she was one wrong word away from the painful lesson Luna's grin promised.

Twilight threw up a smile that begged for just a few more moments of tolerance and rapped herself harshly on the head to assure Luna she realised she'd gone too far. "It can be a little hard to control sometimes," she said, knowing Luna would realise she was talking about her newfound temper, "I'm sorry." Then she levelled a carefully calculated glare at Celestia, hoping her old teacher would show her spine and show how wrong her Element was about Celestia's raging cowardice and paranoia.

She was dismayed when Celestia gulped in nervousness before strutting up to level a half-hearted glare at her. “Listen to her, Twilight," Celestia rasped out in a tone that Twilight felt was a rather weak attempt at frighteningly cold. "I won't stand to be so boldly threatened. Even by you, especially not here.”

Twilight hesitated a bare second to see if Luna would grant her the moments she'd begged for, and when silence told her she had her time she smiled. "Why do I feel," she said, lacing contempt and pride through her voice with Luna's wild magic, "like you're the only one in the room that's afraid of what might happen if I keep pushing?”

It nearly broke her heart when Celestia flinched and averted her eyes. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground and she could taste the blood in her mouth, and she hoped Luna hadn't broken her neck with the force of the blow that had so easily broken her jaw. She hissed in pain as her jaw snapped back into place, and she saw equal measures of disgust and rage in Luna's eyes.

"Enough!" Luna snapped, and Twilight fought to keep from shuddering at the murderous finality in that voice. There would be no more games today. "Did I teach you this poorly?" the Princess continued, contempt simmering in her voice, "to threaten and mock? And where in the world has this insufferable attitude come from? I would not like to remind you of your place again..."

Twilight's mind scrambled for an answer before Luna's wrath went from merely abusive to outright lethal, and her relief at hearing her Element's voice call out was palpable enough to make Luna frown in consternation.

Twilight shook her head roughly as her mind returned to her library home. 'Focus now, deal with that later,' she thought to herself as she glanced around at her assembled friends. All five of them looked dejected and frightened, but there was determination and anger there too. Luna had delegated the job of making them more angry than afraid to her, and she had resolved to do it if only to make up for how deeply she had embarassed Luna with her little display in the Observatory.

"You all look very... not confused," Twilight began. "I take it you know what's happening?"

"We all saw those things in the woods that night," Applejack muttered, her voice hollow and rough. "Ah don't claim to know what in the hay they were, 'cept wrong. Ah ain't been that scared since the night Mama Apple died."

"Yeah," Rainbow picked up, her own voice even raspier than normal. "Some voice in my head is nothing compared to those things, and if you say it's really my Element, I won't argue."

"Ponies need something to hold on to when they get scared," Fluttershy whispered. "My Element is real. I know that. It's comfortable."

"Okay!" Twilight said brightly, "that's good! Not much to explain then."

"Ah didn't say that!" Applejack retorted hotly. "Ah ain't seen you since. You'd best start talkin' 'bout what happened and where you've been."

The rest of Twilight's friends nodded slowly, and Twilight felt a faint stab of anguish that they'd lost so much faith in her. "You want answers," she said carefully, "I get that. Really, I do. I'll give them to you, but not until you know that they won't make it any easier to deal with."

"Darling," Rarity said, her voice tight, "we're here because nothing seems easy right now. None of us have the slightest idea what's happening. The truth couldn't possibly make it worse."

A few dark chuckles escaped Twilight before she could stop herself. "Husks. They were husks," she said, and the confusion in her friends faces almost made her smack herself in the head. "Dead ponies," she clarified. "Kind of like zombies, but a lot faster and stronger."

Pinkie burst out laughing and flopped on her back. "Don't be silly, Twilight!" she said through cacophonous explosions of mirth, "zombies aren't real!"

Twilight let her scar and fangs show, and she added a deadly glare to them that silenced Pinkie in a heart beat. "Three days ago, vamponies weren't real to you," she said, her voice uncompromising but calm. "Here I am. Do any of you think I'm lying about that?" She was answered by the sound of five terrified heartbeats. "Didn't think so. What happened? I killed all three of them. As for where I've been, they almost killed me, and this is the first chance I've had to speak with you since I recovered. I'm guessing Rarity told you about how I heal, so I won't explain that."

Her friends looked horrified, and Twilight cursed her temper for what seemed like the millionth time. "Look. Killed is really the wrong word. They were already dead, I just.... helped them realise it."

"That ain't what's got mah goat," Applejack said slowly. "It's you. Killed 'em? Twilight, that ain’t who you were before."

"Not it's not," Twilight answered flatly. "Next question."

"Dangit Twi!" Applejack burst out, her anger getting the best of her. "It ain’t right what yer tellin' me!"

"Indeed not," came Luna's voice as she stepped into the room, her impatient glare making Twilight's earlier effort seem like an adorable kitten's smile. "And yet, she is being perfectly honest with you. Such is the nature of war."

Twilight watched her friends pale slightly, but she saw the spark of fierce determination in all of them flare up at the same time. "War?" Rainbow asked. "It's that bad?"

"Yeah," Twilight said quietly. "It's going to be... bad. The Princesses and I will be fighting."

"Ah reckon fightin' dead ponies is a bit worse than bad," Applejack drawled, eyes narrowed a little. "Why do they need you Twi? Royal Guard is supposed to handle this."

Rainbow snorted rudely. "Come on AJ, you saw how Twilight was fighting. If three of them almost took her down, the Royal Guard can't fight them."

"Vamponies were made to fight husks and the things that create them," Twilight cut in. "It's my purpose, more or less. But.... we need five more ponies like me."

Five roughly simultaneous gasps later, the room exploded into a chaotic din of clashing voices and outraged yells. Twilight folded her ears back from the racket and patient waited for it to go from outraged, to angry, to grim before she cut in. "I wouldn't ask you to do this is there was any other way!" she practically yelled, using Luna's wild magic to make her voice almost painfully loud in the enclosed space, silencing her friends instantly. "I won't try to force you, but please, think about it at least."

"We ain't soldiers Twi," Applejack strained out, "what could we do?"

"Your duty," Luna answered, her voice cold and hard. "Just as you did when you faced me, just as you did when you faced Discord, just as you did when you faced the Changelings."

"Ponies are going to die if we don't," came, much to Twilight's surprise, Fluttershy's voice. The gentle pegasus had been mostly silent during the other's outburst, and her eyes were filled with something fierce now. "What do you need from me?"

"Luna can turn you, then you learn some basics, then we fight," Twilight explained. "The war's already started. Celestia says one city has probably already been wiped out. There's no time to train you better than that."

Fluttershy nodded, then she settled down to look expectantly at the others. "You'll all do what's right," she said in soft, gentle voice. "You know that."

A flash of light cut off any further reply, and it faded to reveal The Unconquered Sun clad in her ancient golden armour, a sight that brought a low whistle from Rainbow Dash and a muttered blasphemy from Applejack. It covered her head to hoof in gleaming metal, even her horn encased. Her mane and tail flowed freely despite there being no apparent hole for them, and a gentle light glittered softly from the eye slits, just barely hiding the Princesses gaze. A tremendous mace was slung around her neck, and Twilight was quite certain she would barely be able to lift it, let alone fight with it. "Hello, my little ponies," she said softly. "Am I interrupting?"

"That was unexpected," Rainbow said quietly, "and that armour is seriously cool. Just sayin'."

"I could have a suit made for you," Celestia said in a serene voice that suggested she was smiling under the metal.

"I'm in," the pegasus said quickly.

"And you, Rarity," Celestia continued. "What of your sister? Would you not fight to protect her? Applejack, your family? Pinkie, the Cakes? Without all of you, I cannot guarantee their safety in the days to come."

"That ain't fair!" Applejack snapped out bitterly.

"I know," Celestia answered sadly, "but it's true."

"Please, girls," Twilight practically begged. "Equestria needs all of us. I need all of us, together."

Applejack's sigh betrayed a depth of rage that made Twilight wonder if she'd pushed too far. "Applebloom is gettin' older now," the farm pony ground out. "Ah reckon she can take over some of the work on the farm. Fine, Ah'll fight, but my family stays safe, you hear me? Safe."

"When do we start?" Rarity asked grimly.

"There won't be very many parties, will there?" Pinkie asked plaintively, but she nodded.

"We start immediately," Luna said. "If you would all come with me..."

Twilight's eyes opened to see The Void. She greeted The Keeper with her customary polite nod, then immediately snorted in annoyance. "A lot happened. I'm tired. I wanted to sleep."

"Unfortunate," The Keeper intoned at her, his face as merciless as ever. "Six to stand against six. I find the symmetry appealing."

Twilight raised a hoof. "About that. Six, the six, original six. There's just a bit of an experience gap between us and them. We can't win that fight."

"If you truly believe that," The Keeper said, a faint note of humour in his corpse-like voice, "then open your throat now and save your enemies the trouble."

Twilight scowled. "That's not what I meant and you know it. You seem to want me to win for some reason, I'm sure you've got something for me right about now."

"Yes," The Keeper answered. "Two lessons, if you are willing."

Twilight promptly sat down and started paying close attention. When The Keeper spoke, she had learned, it was never a bad idea to listen.

"The first is in the power of your blood," The Keeper began. "You are mortal, yes, but Luna has made a gift of her power to you. Even she is unaware of the implications. Are the old stories of Gods and Titans still told?"

Twilight blinked at the non-sequiter before answering. "No, but they've been recorded. I know a little about them. I thought they were just old legends?"

"Some are, some are not," The Keeper explained. "There was indeed a race of Gods long before your kind was concieved, and they were indeed ended by the Titans."

Twilight hummed low in her throat. "Well. That's interesting. The stories I know say that some of the old Gods used the sun and moon as magical batteries that two of them could..." Twilight trailed off as her eyes went wide.

The Keeper nodded in satisfaction. "Yes. The magic of the Gods is in the moon, and in time, you will learn to draw from it. It is not the force it once was, but it is still a tremendous amount of power."

"So that's what Luna meant," Twilight said, breathless.

"I would not tell her you know this," The Keeper advised. "She would be most defensive of another touching the source of her power. Celestia even more so."

"How old are they?" Twilight managed to ask.

"Old enough to measure their age in the passing of geological epochs," The Keeper answered.

"Wow. Okay," Twilight said, giving her a head little shake. "There's no way I could handle that. That kind of magic would rip me to pieces before I had the chance to channel any of it."

The Keeper smiled. "Any other mortal, yes, but The Element of Magic? I think not. When you are capable of accessing that power on your own, you will be powerful enough to remain whole."

"Wow," Twilight repeated, still a little shaken.

"Would you like to hear the story of how that power was used to slay the last Titan?" The Keeper asked.

Twilight nodded enthusiastically.

"Very well," The Keeper said, and after a moment of silence, he began his story. "The Titans were a punishment, sent by The Giver to wipe clean your realm," he said, and at his words, the mist of The Void roiled and twisted around her, congealing in a way that made something in Twilight's brain twinge and blocking The Keeper from view. One shape started to flicker in and out of focus, as if her eyes refused to see it for more than an instant, and it seemed to constantly generate and absorb limbs and mouths and things she had no name for with each flash of detail. This, she gathered, was a Titan. "They were terrible beings, living engines of war, and their step cracked the earth even as their howls split the sky."

The flickering shape shifted and moved, disturbing the mist around it, and Twilight heard a faint echo that reminded her of a chorus of dissonant horns. Quiet as it was, it grated at her ears, and for a second she even thought they were about to start bleeding, but then the sound faded. "At first, the Gods abandoned their great civilisation and became nomadic, always fleeing from the beasts, and wherever a group was caught by one of the foul things, they would die." A city formed from the mist surrounding Twilight, all delicate towers soaring skywards and full of tiny moving shapes that Twilight could barely make out as alicorns. The dissonant chorus of horns came again, and the Titan rampaged through the city of mist, tearing apart buildings and alicorns alike.

The scene shifted several times, from other cities to mountains to forests, and in every scene a Titan was destroying everything, no matter whether the Gods ran or tried to fight. "After hundreds of years, and half their number, had passed, a council was called by the king of the Gods, Jupiter. There, it was decided that what strength remained in them would be thrown against the Titans, a final war of desperate survival. This was when Celestia and Luna first came to be, the creation of Jupiter and his consort, made to be the Gods weapons against the Titans."

The mist that had formed the Titan morphed again, turning into the shape of tall alicorn that glowed with a gentle golden light. This, she assumed, was Jupiter. Mist formed ornate armour around him, as well as a strange weapon that looked, to her, like some ancient predeccesor of a halberd. Even in miniature, she could tell the king of the Gods had been a giant, even by alicorn standards, and just the form of him radiated a steady, calming power.

"He did not make them Gods, for he had seen that divinity was no protection from the Titans, but he did bless them with true immortality. He planted them within his consort, and for the next two and a half thousand years, the Gods moved in force. Even the Titans feared to face the assembled might of so many deities of war and death and battle, and so there were few incidents during this time. Eventually, they were born, and to the Gods eyes, they were small and frail things indeed. In time, however, they grew to be what they are today, though it took some ten thousand years."

Two embryonic little figures appeared beside Jupiter, which rapidly morphed into two figures Twilight knew very well.

"This is when they were bound to the sun and the moon. Through magic I will not speak of, all the Gods offered a tithe of their strength to the celestial bodies, and then they marched to war. They hunted Titans, and though Gods fell by the score, they were winning the war. In time, there came to be a single Titan still alive, and though only a paltry dozen Gods remained, Jupiter knew he could rebuild so long as he survived."

Jupiter and the Princesses exploded, and from the swirling mist two orbs formed, one a blazing star and the other a cold little stone. Beneath them, Twilight saw the tiny alicorn figures she'd first seen in the mist city form again, and two little sparks of light rose up from each figure, one each for the sun and the moon. Then the celestial bodies faded, and the small alicorn figures swelled slightly as they formed into ranks, lead by what she could only assume were representations of Jupiter and his daughters. The shape of a Titan formed again, and Twilight blinked when she saw the difference in scale between the Princesses and the Titans. 'Even the little ones are like mountains,' she thought as she watched the army of the Gods tear down Titan after Titan, ignoring losses that seemed to her to be utterly ruinous. Finally, only twelve remained, facing a single Titan.

The Keeper's voice turned hollow for a moment. "He was the first to fall. His wings were torn from him, his tongue pulled from his mouth, then the beast devoured him." Twilight watched the figures in the mist play out the scene, and when Jupiter's gentle golden light winked out, she felt an inexplicable sense of loss, as if every light in the world had gone out at once. Nine more alicorn figures faded, but the Princesses remained. "Demoralised, the remaining Gods surrendered, and their fate was the same, except for Luna and Celestia. Both their parents dead, they flew into a rage, and drawing upon the sun and moon, they dealt the Titan a blow so great it cracked the foundations of the earth, splitting what was once a single continent into the three you know today."

The celestial bodies formed again, and this time they both seemed like blazing stars. She watched the figures of Luna and Celestia fly up, cross horns, and then there was a flash of light so great it made her cry out and avert her eyes. Cursing herself, she wrenched them open again and turned back towards the display, but it was gone, and The Keeper was visible again. All that remained of the scene was a little map that she recognised as the protocontinent some geologists theorized to have once existed, with great cracks spread through it. Twilight's mind reeled. She'd broken some things in her life, but a continent?

The Keeper's voice regained it's customary strength as even that faded into the mist. "The final battle won, but the war effectively lost, they sealed themselves away for millions of years, until their grief was spent. Such was the end of Gods. Some few lived, who had fled the world entirely, and they live still, but they are rarely seen."

"Who were the survivors?" Twilight asked quietly.

"Lasciel, Goddess of Love. Gabriel, God of Time. Anduriel, God of Power. Polaris, God of Forgotton Things. Ramiel, God of Thunder. Lillith, Goddess of Lust," The Keeper answered.

"Where are they? I could sure use their help!"

The Keeper snorted. "They are cowards. Seek no aid from them them, Twilight, except in dire need. I will speak no more of them."

"Alright," Twilight said, cautious of The Keeper's anger. "Noted. That's lesson one, then?"

"Was it only one?" The Keeper asked her, a small grin beginning to form on his face. "We shall speak again soon."

"Wait!" Twilight called out, leaping to her hooves, but The Void was already fading. She muttered a few choice blasphemies, but she knew there was nothing she could do to remain in The Keeper's realm after he dismissed her. Settling in to wait for herself to wake, she tried desperately to calm her racing mind, but nothing seemed to work.

'Of course,' she thought. 'Of course he distracts me when I have work to do...'

Author's Note

I make no apologies for the density of that exposition or the artsy-fartsiness of that perspective contrast.

I REGRET NOTHING!

Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon

Twilight did not want to be resting, but she'd been awake for over a week and had gone far enough past the limits of her vampiric endurance that it was beginning to be a struggle to keep her eyes open. Despite that, her mind was restless, and sleep evaded her. She tossed and turned on the little cot she had in the ancient barracks deep inside Canterlot's Old City, missing her bed fiercely. Celestia and Luna had insisted, however, due to Canterlot being far more centrally located than Ponyville. Settling in as comfortably as she could, she closed her eyes and thought about how things had changed.

The first two days in Canterlot had been a constant blur. She'd had to keep up her own physical training, teach her friends how to cope with their new urges and instincts, teach them about husks and necromancers, and drill them in basic combat. Through it all, Luna had been conspicuous in her absence, making Twilight the de-facto leader of the little force. Twilight was utterly certain this had been intentional. It was made rather difficult by the revelation that vampirism was most definitely not one size fits all. All of her friends had been changed in unique ways, confusing even Luna, and her Element had all but innocently whistled when she asked if they had interfered.

Rainbow was the hardest. She'd always been fast, but now she could practically teleport. Twilight had watched her dodge a stone Luna had thrown at a speed substantially greater than that of sound without particular effort. Her senses had been magnified to a borderline freakish degree as well, especially her hearing and eyesight. The only respite had been her choice of a weapon, some strange spear-like thing she called a ji. Being a bladed weapon, it was used differently than a staff, but it was similar enough that Twilight had at least understood the basic concepts she was trying to impart in training. She was perfectly suited for scouting and skirmishes, to be sure, but Twilight had no idea how to help Rainbow take advantage of her abilities beyond sparring.

Rarity at least had been simple enough. She'd quickly cottoned on to Luna's style of magic, and the veils and illusions she could weave were so perfect, only the Princesses knew for sure when she was around. In combat, she'd simply shown up one day with a pair of delicate, diamond-bladed daggers, an enchanted bow, and iron arrows tipped with yet more diamond. She was scarily precise with the application of both, even at long range. Twilight had seen Rarity aim at targets so far away they were barely visible, and she'd never seen her friend deliver anything less than a perfect bullseye. Rarity took an almost childish glee in taking on the role of a mysterious assassin, and Twilight was quite content to let her.

Applejack was the only one of her friends that could match Twilight in a fair fight, and it was entirely due to sheer brutal strength. She wore a set of thick, solid armour Luna had given to her, and she was all but invulnerable in it. Even out of it, the best blades Canterlot could offer, from small daggers to mighty claymores, shattered on her hide without drawing blood. For offense, she'd taken a hammer from the Royal Smithy, and Twilight had deeply regretted questioning a forge hammer's use as a weapon after Applejack had rather casually batted her out of the sparring arena with it. There had been profuse apologies over the broken ribs, but Twilight personally thought her friend had taken far too much satisfaction in the deed.

Pinkie was, as ever, a walking enigma. She wore no armour, and fought with a simple sabre, but considering her abilities before she'd been turned, it was nothing too far fetched. However, Twilight couldn't for the life of her decide if it was amazing or terrifying how Pinkie's Pinkie Sense had gone from brief snippets of soon-to-occur events to predicting the not-too-far future with impossible accuracy and unerringness.

Fluttershy, she had no such doubt about. The calm, shy, pegasus could bring Twilight to the edge of a panic attack with her dissonant serenity in the most extreme situations. She was learning the healing arts, but Twilight had the uncomfortable feeling that Fluttershy could just as easily watch a pony be dismembered as she could watch them be put back together, if she thought it was for the greater good. In a fight, she relied on a meteor hammer, a small weight on the end of a long silk rope. It was beautiful beyond words to see, but deadly efficient.

On top of that, Luna had taught them all the very basics of necromancy. Twilight had been rather discomfited to learn the emotional style of magic Luna favoured was essentially the same thing, except fueled by her innate power rather than the essence of her life. As for necromancy itself, Twilight found the power very nearly overwhelming, and using it almost made her pity the necromancers. Even with the protection of her vampiric nature, it was borderline addictive, and seemed to inherently drawn towards destruction and ruin. It was far, far easier to throw a bolt of deadly, midnight black fire than it was to conjure something useful. The power didn't quite feel evil, but it reeked of corruption and defilement, and it was deeply unsettling to smell the brimstone stench of what Luna called nightfire wafting down from her horn.

And, of course, there was more. There was always more. A constant frenzy of activity, frenetic and chaotic and mind-bendingly consistent. Even when everything else failed, her friends required almost constant supervision at first, to prevent them from lashing out at anything they perceived as a threat. Or an annoyance, really. Again, Rainbow was the worst. She'd always been hot-headed and arrogant, but Twilight knew that was all because of how insecure the pegasus really was. Now, Rainbow had no insecurities. She was better than the best, and she was all too aware of it. More than once, Twilight had found herself forced to personally step in and physically enforce a pecking order to keep violence from breaking out.

Frankly, she just thanked her lucky stars that she was still the single most dangerous fighter of the group. She hated how much she revelled in it, but it was necessary, and so she would endure as long as she was required to do so.

Worst had been when Celestia had insisted on displaying the newly fledged vampiric defenders of Equestria to calm the populace's fears...

Celestia was delivering a speech, likely about the Elements and their Bearer's achievements in the field of saving the nation, but Twilight was ignoring every word of fiery oratory and moment of dramatic silence. She was in a small fighting ring, well shielded but open for public viewing beneath the balcony Celestia was preaching from, and what was intended to be three sparring sessions had become a brawl. It had started with a strike that missed its intended target, and now Twilight was pressed just to keep bones, organs, and other important things both internal and intact.

She ducked under Fluttershy's shrieking meteor hammer while simultaneously nudging Rainbow's ji aside with a hoof and snatching one of Rarity's daggers out of her friends telekinetic grip and tossing away with her own magic. Then she struck out with her staff, bashing a few of Applejack's teeth out with one half of it and delivering a blow that would cripple one of Rainbow's wings for a few a minutes with the other. She followed this with a teleport that placed her directly in front of Rarity, and a vicious jab with both forehooves left the fashionista panting and nearly senseless in the dirt. Then Applejack's great forging hammer crashed into the back of her head, and for a moment the world went black.

As for the ponies attending Celestia's speech, they didn't quite know what to make of the display. Some were watching eagerly, excited by the prospect of warriors as ruthless and powerful as these fighting in their defence against a threat they'd never even known existed. Others were sickened, repulsed by what they saw as senseless brutality born from twisted, forbidden magic.

Twilight's eyes flicked open again before she even hit the ground, and she was angry. She let loose a massive blast of telekinetic force, a rapidly expanding dome of raw power that flattened her friends against the shield around the ring. Then she called the simple armour Luna had taught her to form from any shadow, even the faint one she cast in sunlight. Now clad head to hoof in darkness, she snapped her twin staves together and then drew it to her side, her stance openly challenging the other five. She would not tolerate the melee any longer, there would be a purpose to the fight now. Her friends would assault her with everything they had, she knew, and she was ready for it.

Rarity started the dance, a single diamond tipped arrow racing at Twilight's eye almost too quickly to see. Twilight reached out, tossed it into the sidereal dimension she used to teleport, then threw it back out into reality an inch in front of Applejack's chest. It didn't penetrate deeply, but the diamond was hard and sharp enough to drive an inch or so in and draw venomous curses from the earth pony. While her most dangerous opponent was occupied with removing the arrow, Twilight raced towards Rarity, intent on removing the archer from the fight entirely. The other unicorn gamely dropped her bow and drew the one dagger she had left, but Twilight contemptuously smacked it aside with her staff. Then Twilight opened her mouth, barred her fangs and made to drive them into Rarity's throat, but she was interrupted when a slender silk rope wrapped around her throat.

Fluttershy yanked hard on her meteor hammer, and Twilight felt her hooves leave the ground. She teleported away before her pegasus friend could throttle her unconscious, and as soon as she materialised she swung her stuff around her in a wide circle. She was rewarded with a jolt of impact and a grunt of pain from Pinkie, then she gone again. This time, she materialised in the air, suspending herself with her magic and surveying the little ring for a moment. She didn't even notice Rainbow leap thirty feet in the air behind and toss her ji out in front of her. Whirling around, the pegasus struck the weapon squarely on the end of with a rear hoof, and while the blade didn't penetrate Twilight's armour, it struck true at the base of her neck. Gasping in shock and losing hold of the spell the kept her aloft, Twilight crashed to the ground, landing poorly on one leg and collapsing.

She raised a shield as soon as she felt her leg falter, and was rewarded by the hollow boom of a hammer strike against the dome of solid magic. 'This is very bad,' she thought as she brought herself back to her hooves. 'If this keeps up they'll wear me down.'

She decided to remove Rainbow first. She couldn't match her friends speed, and even teleportation only granted her equal mobility in extremely short bursts. Still maintaining the shield, she found the pegasus, then teleported again, materialising directly behind Rainbow. The pegasus reacted instantly, whirling around and flashing an eager grin. A series of blows were traded so quickly that several ponies watching from the outside the ring blinked and missed them entirely, Twilight countering Rainbow's strange, barely-controlled style with ruthless efficiency and judicious application of greater skill and strength. Twilight ended it with a single brutal buck, catching the pegasus on the chin with a single hoof. Rainbow's neck wrenched back, snapped, and the pegasus fell, limp and useless. Knowing her friend would be unable to heal the damage in time to rejoin the fight, Twilight attempted to move on.

Instead, a sharp pain shot through one of her lungs as one of Rarity's diamond tipped arrows tore through her body, sinking so deeply only the fletching was visible. Letting out a pained, burbling hiss, Twilight grabbed the end of the arrow in her teeth and wrenched it out. She leveled a glare at Rarity, who wilted slightly as she prepared another arrow. Twilight charged, moving as fast as she was able, her staff levitating at her side.

Rarity loosed the arrow, and Twilight was saved by Pinkie Pie, who slashed the arrow out of the air at the precise moment Twilight tried to grab it with her magic. Thrown off balance when her telekinetic grip closed on nothing, Twilight nearly stumbled, and that was enough for Pinkie's blade to flash out and lick at her exposed eyes. Snarling, Twilight lashed out with raw bolts of force as she fought to clear the haze of incoherent rage from her mind. Pinkie, nimble as ever, dodged each one before she'd even launched them. Twilight's glare sharpened further, and the next blast of force was a wave, broad and tall enough that Pinkie was caught in it and tossed to the side, where she crumpled half-senseless.

A second arrow struck home, this one piercing her other lung. Gasping and stumbling, Twilight let out a feral scream in Rarity's direction and started tapping the more dangerous combat magic she'd learned. First, she shackled Rarity to the ground with a set of black iron chains. They wouldn't hold the unicorn long, but they didn't need to. Twilight prepared and aimed a spell that would utterly devastate her opponent, knocking her out of the fight in no uncertain terms. Just as she loosed it, however, Applejack dashed into the way.

Taking a hammer-blow of magic that would detonate a bunker like it was a stiff breeze, Applejack stood defiant and raised her hammer. Twilight cursed under her breath, she couldn't fight Applejack until they were the last two standing. The earth pony would require her full attention to disable. As a delaying tactic, she reached out with her magic and ignited her friend's mane and tail.

Ignoring Applejack's shrill cries, Twilight teleported to stand directly in front of Rarity. She was rewarded with nothing, Rarity had vanished. Twilight reared and stamped her hooves, throwing out a delicate little spell that launched dust into the air around her. Almost instantly, the dust settled back down on the ground. "You'll have to do better than that, darling," Rarity's voice came from nowhere.

"I can do that," Twilight answered, and then she whirled and lashed out with her staff, catching the invisible Rarity hard across the mouth. Dazed, Rarity stumbled, and Twilight completed her victory by raining down blows with her staff until Rarity meekly surrendered.

'That was a mistake,' she heard her Element whisper, and a moment later Fluttershy's meteor hammer struck home against her horn, nearly shattering it. Shrieking in agony, Twilight dropped her staff, and her armour shattered as her concentration was lost. She turned to face the source of her agony, she was struck twice more as Fluttershy wound and unwound the beautiful silk weapon around her body, all the while looking as if there was no place in the world she'd rather be. Twilight caught the third strike, wrapping the weighted end around her hoof, and with a titanic heave pulled the pegasus directly into her lowered horn. Not content merely to gore the pegasus, she hefted her staff again, and rapped Fluttershy sharply over the head three times, leaving the mare unconscious and bleeding.

Then she turned to her final opponent. Applejack had torn off her armour and stamped out her flaming hair, but she looked no less defiant than she had before. "Y'all nearly burned mah eyes out," the country pony drawled. "Reckon Ah don't care for that."

Twilight just smiled, not trusting herself to speak. Her body, numbed as it was by adrenaline and her vampiric nature, was a symphony of agony, and she doubted she could speak clearly with a damaged lung.

Applejack snorted. "Thought so." Then the earth pony charged, more a force of nature than anything pony.

Twilight carefully braced herself, physically and magically, and met the charge with a shoulder. It was a near thing, but she managed to avoid getting thrown off her hooves, and there the fight proper began.

Applejack savaged Twilight with headbutts for a moment, but Twilight ignored the thundering blows, focusing instead on maneuvering her staff into just the right place to drive into the back of Applejack's head on the backswing of another strike. The impact nearly cracked the magical staff, but it was barely sufficient to stun Applejack for a bare instant. Twilight latched onto that instant, and took the chance to draw upon her necromancy for the first time in the fight.

If she used her necromancy against her other friends, she was terrified it would be fatal. Applejack, she doubted she could kill if she tried. It was time to give the crowd a real show. Twilight's armour forged itself anew, this time radiating a fierce heat from the nightfire she'd wound around it. She split her staff again, coating one end of each half in more midnight flame. Then, she lowered her horn to Applejack's forehead, drew upon all her anger and pain and loathing, and unleashed a horrific torrent of pure, rampaging pain.

Applejack didn't scream. She grimaced, hissed, grasped Twilight's head in her hooves, and brought all of her terrible strength to bear, mindless of how Twilight's armour seared the forelimbs. This duel of endurance didn't last long, but when the two ponies broke apart, both of them had a shadow in their eyes. They paced circles around each other, cautious and aware of how they were separated by only a few short feet. They traded a few probing blows with their weapons, but no strikes landed. Applejack was unfamiliar with controlling her weapon through the necromantic telekinesis Luna had taught them, and so her blows were just clumsy and awkward enough for Twilight to meet them with half of her staff.

Twilight ended the stalemate with not fire or force, but her third favourite tool. Her horn flashed the dark, angry red of necromancy, and the earth beneath Applejack's hooves began to roil and buck, knocking the earth pony off balance. Then she delved into some of the more arcane of the dark arts, and she bound Applejack's mind with sorrow and misery, further distracting the mare.

Applejack bore it all with stoic resolve, not even frowning as she leapt for Twilight's throat with her fangs. Twilight interceded with a leg, accepting the harsh bite as the price she had to pay for an advantage, and then drove the superheated end of one of her staves into Applejack's right eye.

Applejack didn't scream. Instead, she thrashed her head around, snapping Twilight's limb like a twig before throwing the unicorn into the dirt. Twilight responded by wreathing Applejack in nightfire, turning her nose up at the stench but not relenting until she'd fought her way to standing on three hooves. She limped over to where Applejack thrashed on the ground, and with a cold, clinical calm maintained the heat until she was certain Applejack was defeated.

She hated reveling in violence, but she never felt weak anymore.

Twilight tossed in her cot again, regretting her decision to think about the past. In the heat of the moment, she'd felt powerful. After the fact, seeing Applejack grimace with every move until the burns healed and having to pour blood down Rainbow's throat to allow the pegasus to heal back to mobility, she'd felt sickened. It was always like that when she had to step in with her friends, she hated to hurt them, and she'd been burnt and stabbed and beaten enough to know exactly what every moment of it felt like from the wrong end.

"I sense we are about to repeat a conversation," came Luna's voice, and Twilight jolted out of bed to glare testily at the Lunar Diarch.

"Sneaking up on me when I'm grumpy? That's a low blow," Twilight accused.

"Nonsense," Luna replied with a smile that quickly faded. "I can feel your mind, little one. Do not hide your horror with humour. Speak to me."

Twilight sighed, knowing Luna had the patience to badger her for months if she didn't talk about it now. "I don't know why you're asking. You know what's bothering me."

Luna snorted. "I can feel your thoughts, Twilight. I cannot read them. I only know you are tormenting yourself without cause."

Something twinged harshly in Twilight's brain. "Without cause?" she hissed, stalking up and jabbing Luna lightly in the ribs. "I have got plenty of cause. If I'd done what I did to my friends a week ago, they'd all be dead!"

Luna's smile returned. "Ah. Now I see. Tell me, Twilight, do you resent me for teaching you as I did?"

Twilight blinked, the change in topic delivering a sharp blow to her anger. "Well, no, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Why do you resent yourself for using my methods, then?" Luna asked, false curiosity in her voice. "They disobeyed your command to spar cleanly and calmly as a demonstration to the public. You taught them that disobeying you is foolish. You did no worse to them than I have done to you. I dare say I would do far worse, if you embarrassed me so badly in public."

Twilight chuckled, tight and harsh. "I'm not you. I'm not billions of years old. I can't rationalise it like you can."

Luna quirked an eyebrow as her smile faded into a soft, almost regretful expression. "Indeed, you are not me, Twilight. You have not seen a second for every year I have lived. For this, you should be infinitely grateful. Yet, you are very much like me. If nothing else, you were cursed with my temper." Luna's eyebrow dropped, and her face softened another shade. "Twilight Sparkle, how am I to make you realise how insufferably noble you are?" Twilight's left eye started twitching fiercely, but Luna raised a solemn hoof and continued. "Here you stand, having sacrificed everything you have ever known and loved to attempt to save a nation that will likely never thank you for it, and you are concerned that you inflicted minor damage to friends who willingly subjected themselves to discipline. If it weren't so endearing, it would be sickening."

Twilight sighed bitterly. "I felt powerful when I roasted Applejack. That's not right. I don't want to enjoy hurting ponies, Luna. That's not me."

"Truly?" Luna asked. "You have never enjoyed running rampant with your power? There was no satisfaction when you defeated Nightmare Moon, or imprisoned Discord?"

"Celebrating victory and sadism are not comparable," Twilight said in a flat voice.

"You are hardly a sadist, Twilight Sparkle," Luna assured her. "Yes, you burned your friend, because it was an expedient path to victory. You did so to end the battle, not to make her suffer."

"I could have found another way," Twilight pointed out.

Luna nodded, but stood. "I will not dispute that. I will leave you with a thought, however. An old phrase, long out of use. 'Demons run when a good mare goes to war.' I believe it applies to you. Consider it, learn its meaning, and perhaps it will bring you a measure of peace."

Twilight frowned as Luna walked away. "Hey," she called out, and the Princess stopped. "You forgot the rest. 'Night will fall and drown the sun, when a good mare goes to war.'"

Luna chuckled. "Perhaps not the wisest choice of words, but I was rather angry at the time." Then Luna left, and Twilight went back to her cot, cursing the inevitable sleepless night.

Author's Note

I consistently manage to write fight scenes while listening to happy music. One of these days I'll figure out what that means.