Vampires, Punk Rock, and other Equestrian secrets

Chapters

The call
The tome
The cavern
The dream
The beginning and end of a battle
The showdown- part 1
The showdown-part 2

The call

Luna leapt up from her bed with a soft yelp of shock. She wasn't one to awake screaming, or even one to do anything aside from expect nightmares. But this one was different. This time, Luna had a vision.
It wasn't normal for her. Her sister, of course, had visions and prophetic dreams often. Usually Luna's sleep was occupied with nightmares or visiting others. But she knew why this vision had come to her. It was no sight that her own magic had brought to warn her. This was an intrusion. Somepony was bragging that they would be coming along soon, and it wasn't a good somepony.
Luna began to pace- slowly and clumsily, on account of tiredness. How did she know if it was true? Perhaps it was a false alarm? Did she really have to...? Soft afternoon light poured into her room through her round windows. The hour was rather early for her, on account of her odd sleep schedule.
She sighed. Of course she did. Since her return, this was her duty as much as raising the moon and stars.
Quietly Luna made her way to her workable and took a note, then proceeded to roll it up and pass it to a barn owl perched near her bed. With an annoyed screech at its early awakening, the bird deftly took it nonetheless and flew out the window. Luna sighed, feeling the sentiments of the annoyed screech would soon be mirrored by the guard who had to receive the note.
"I only hope it may be received early enough", she whispered, a soft prayer to the wind.
-/-------------
“Harken, my fair subject, for I fear there is another threat. The malicious and powerful sandmare seeks hold upon our city. Thou must make immense haste to ready thyself, and meet me in my chamber. Bring the fellows of thy watch, to assist in the apprehension before the time comes too late, which could be soon as the sunset. “
~ Luna, Princess of the night
------------/--------
The receiver, a white batpony by the name of Sapphire Song, repeated none of the sleepy annoyance of Luna's messenger. She was already wide awake, pacing as the princess had been. She scarcely slept well, anyway. Especially these days...
Her small, simple quarters (not much more than a bed with a trunk at the foot and a small dresser, with hardly a pony's length between) provided so little room for pacing that she quickly noticed the owl at her window and let it in. The owl perched on the edge of her bed and handed her the note dutifully before going back to sleep. She smiled at the bird's determination to return to rest before moving to look over the note in her hooves.
Sapphire carefully unfurled the letter and read it, her eyes widening as she processed the contents. She quickly brushed through her blue-and-black streaked mane to appear presentable, woke the owl, and opened the window wide enough that she could leap out into the wind. She winced at the brightness of the sunlight, so abrasive to her delicate bat senses, but otherwise did not hesitate. There was no time to waste.

The owl and pony then flew off on their separate paths, bound to meet again soon in the bedchamber of the moon princess.

11 residences. 11. That was how many guard homes Sapphire had to desperately knock on and attempt to enter before she found one who was awake (or even movable for that matter)- a light blue Pegasus with an ink-blue and teal mane- and she was a rookie.
Luna would certainly not be pleased... But truly there was little Sapphire could have done. Many bat ponies go to ridiculous measures to keep out the bright and noisy daytime world. When they go to sleep... For most, they stay asleep. The only reason she'd been able to round up this one pony was because she was a normal pegasus. There were only 2 non-bat pegasi on the specialized night guard for obvious reasons, and realizing this Sapphire changed her course for the home of the other. Time was of the essence, and Sapphire wasn't willing to waste more attempting to wake the nocturnal members of the guard.
"Nice weather today, huh?" The rookie asked somewhat uncomfortably.
Among pegasi, this was less of an awkward question seeing as they took so much pride in their work. This particular rookie was indeed part of the weather team in Canterlot, and Sapphire guessed that she'd assisted in today's cloudless beauty.
"Beautiful indeed ", Sapphire remarked. It was a lie, though. As a batpony it was hard for her to appreciate sunny days. "Some pegasi did some lovely work today"
" Yeah, my team sure is somethin' special. You should've seen the way Sketch cleared the Cumulus clouds, he was a beast - hey, there's his house now!"
Sapphire carefully alighted down next to the home of her fellow guard, knocking carefully on the door. A light cream-colored Pegasus stallion with a wildly spiked black-and-white mane answered and agreed to join their quest promptly, and they were soon flying again. This was Rough Sketch, or Sketch as most called him. He was a good fighter and a fast flier, and he had been on the night guard for almost as long as Sapphire.
"I was just talking about you!" The rookie piped up. "You know, you did a real good job with the cloud busting this morning!"
"I was hoping that would be the last job I had to do before dark", came the grumbled reply. Apparently he hadn't taken the early summons as well.

They chatted a bit more about the morning weather set-up, but the conversation quickly simmered away with the heat of Sketch's tired anger. It was almost surreal to see him this way- he was typically very lighthearted in nature. This caused the rookie to fix her gaze on the ground, trying to find enough below to distract her from the awkward flight. Thusly, it was silent for the rest of the trip as the ponies made their way to Luna's room in the castle.

On the distant horizon of Canterlot, enjoying the sunny weather and a peaceful afternoon meal on the cool green grass, their threat waited for them... And she was not to wait long.
Soon she would strike, and this would be the last day those fools would roam freely in the sun.....

The tome

" IS THIS TRULY- er... Is this... Truly all who thou could find awake?"
Luna was in a state of panic that had only been magnified by Sapphire's- or rather, the entire guard's- failure to gather . "This is a serious threat! We... Really need to work on our alert system, I suppose. This cannot happen again."
"I am sorry, Princess. Truly I did the best that I could." Sapphire slumped with a sigh, her ears tilted downwards.
"It is alright, 'twas no fault of yours. However, this is still very serious. At least you managed to get these two" Luna remarked, looking over the pegasi that Sapphire rounded up. The rookie shifted nervously under the gaze, but smiled a little. Sketch had no such reaction as he was used to the presence of royalty.
" We can not waste much more time; I ought to disclose the matter I called you for." Luna turned and, using her magic, made a large book appear in front of her.
"The moonlit tome...." The rookie whispered in wonder, but shut up when she realized that she'd drawn attention to herself.
Luna chuckled lightly and turned to the one who had spoken. "Yes. This book contains information on numerous terrible and powerful things that we have seen in the past, all written down so that we may remember their powers and weaknesses." her look became grave. "It is not a good time when I have to bring this out." She opened the book and turned to an old weathered page, so long forgotten that she had to blow a large cloud of dust off of it. The Pegasus by her side coughed a little as a result. "Sorry." Luna cleared her throat and then continued to speak. "The threat I believe we face now is one known as the Sandmare. Her powers may not seem deadly, but... If she is not caught she can be the end of us all."
The rookie Pegasus read through the page, holding a hoof to her chin in contemplation. "But I don't understand," she murmured. "She just puts ponies to sleep?"
Sapphire, too, looked over the page and seemed puzzled.
It was Sketch who spoke what the princess was going to. " If she can make anypony fall asleep or even stay asleep, nobody will be able to oppose her at all ."
Luna continued from there. "It would be one thing if all she sought was control of Canterlot. But... Her magic is powered by ponies' dreams that she creates. The more ponies she gets under her spell, the more power she has... and the more she can imprison in everlasting rest, or hypnotize to her will. My power is not enough to change the dreams of all of Canterlot, or to wake the ponies having them all at once. We must stop her before she has even one pony under her power."
"Well... Do you know where she is now?" Sapphire asked. "Why don't we apprehend her immediately?"
"There is no way of knowing where she is as of now. We must wait until she seeks her first victim- so I must watch for the dreams of every citizen. I know how she crafts them- " she paused and turned to Sapphire Song. " However, I must have complete focus. I can do nothing else during this time, and while I search dreams you must search the streets."
Sapphire nodded solemnly "I understand. Sketch, you should stay here and guard the princess so she can stay focused. I shall search with...." Sapphire trailed off.
"My name is Inkheart." The rookie provided. "You can call me Ink if you want."
"Yes, I shall search the streets with Inkheart." Sapphire looked to Luna for her approval.
"It shall be so. " Luna agreed.
"But remember- take great care. She can be very deceptive."
Sapphire turned to the window, awaiting Inkheart to stand beside her. Ink joined her, a small piece of paper in her hooves.
"What might that be?" Sapphire asked.
" I drew the sandmare, so we'll know when we see her." Ink replied enthusiastically.
Sapphire nodded in light acknowledgement of the good idea, and without another word the two departed for their search.
As soon as they had left, Luna began preparing her monitoring spell. To focus on all of the ponies in Canterlot would be too complicated- she narrowed it down carefully to all who were dreaming. It was still only the afternoon, so it wasn't too hard- most ponies were, of course, awake at this time. Nonetheless, it was almost hard for Rough Sketch to watch as her strain was clearly visible, and the light of the magic was blinding.

"Let's hope Ink is better at finding ponies than she is at keeping quiet." Sketch murmured. It was initially meant as a joke, but as he looked on at the princess struggling, it became a legitimate prayer.

Sapphire and Inkheart's flight, meanwhile, was almost as strenuous. Despite how calm she'd seemed at first, Sapphire was now swooping down and investigating almost every unicorn she saw. (even if from a distance, to avoid suspicion ) It was becoming a rhythmic pattern that Inkheart was noting in her brain. Fly for eight seconds. Swoop quickly for two. Look at pony in question for three, four seconds. Check drawing that was made to match book illustration. Go up, taking three seconds while Sapphire is still looking back suspiciously. Fly for eight seconds....
Because of the pattern establishment, Inkheart was rather jolted when she began to swoop after eight seconds without any prompting from Sapphire and found that she was not flying with her.
"This is not working, Inkheart."
"Ya think?"
Sapphire sighed. "What are we going to do? There are so many ponies out today... It shall be nigh impossible to look at every single one!"
"That didn't stop you earlier. " Inkheart pointed out bluntly. " I don't know what else to do, I'm kinda new to the job"
"Yes, I had surmised that much... No offense, I just- "
"Oh, none taken!" Ink frowned a little. "It really takes time to get used to all this stuff, y'know? I know I'm no good at it yet."
"Returning to the matter at hoof... Perhaps we ought to consider the kinds of places she is more likely to be roaming"
"But where? Luna said she could be attacking at any moment, but she wouldn't have had to be close to make that threat." Inkheart reasoned. "She could be on the outskirts, where she's safer, or downtown where she could blend in and find more ponies..."
Sapphire considered it momentarily. "Inspecting every single unicorn will not work. We do not know how she has disguised herself, but she will be looking for-" Sapphire stopped, horrified. The realization dawned on Inkheart at the same time.
"She's looking for ponies who're already asleep! Like the NIGHT GUARD!"

The two raced off immediately, desperate to stop the problem that had already been right under their hooves an hour ago.

The sandmare stood over her latest victim, giggling with wicked glee. The princess would never guess that her guard's special sleep schedules would be the undoing of all of Equestria. It was almost a joke to send the dream, even- on prior occasions she had made the mistake of threatening and stirring things up long before her attack, and thus there was no doubt that Luna only worried for her daywalking citizens. She was probably sitting in her castle, waiting for them to fall asleep.
The Sandmare laughed to herself once more as she took to the streets, to most simply a normal unicorn walking on a lovely afternoon.

Author's Note

Added an illustration! This will be a continuing pattern as I go on. For now, one per chapter. Later I hope to add more!

The cavern

Sapphire Song and Inkheart galloped through the streets, searching desperately for any unicorn passerby. The Sandmare must've started by now, and most of the guard’s homes were in this neighborhood- so where was she?
Nearby, a white unicorn was watching them. It was Vinyl Scratch, who had come to town for a monthly show she liked to do at a special venue.
What was their hurry about? They looked like they’d seen a ghost- or maybe like they were searching for one? She didn't have much more time to think about it, as one of them soon rammed into her. Vinyl fell to the ground like a row of bowling pins, too surprised to get up or resist being ran into.
“S-sorry! Oh, Celestia…. Are you okay? Shoot, we’ve gotten too caught up in this search…” Inkheart sighed. “Have you seen… This pony around?” She held up her drawing of the Sandmare for Vinyl to see.
Vinyl looked over the drawing for a moment. She liked to help people out, and even though she’d been bumped into she wasn't going to be rude….. A memory popped into her head and she nodded vigorously. She’d seen her in passing only minutes ago.
Sapphire and Inkheart gasped and then spoke in unison “WHERE?”
Vinyl motioned for the two to follow her and headed back the direction she came. She didn't have anything else to be doing anytime soon, anyway.
Sapphire and Ink followed the unicorn, wishing that she would speed up. Inkheart noticed there was a rhythm to Vinyl’s walk. Smooth, steady, and calculated. The manner of movement almost made her want to dance, and she adjusted her walk to match it.
One, two, three, one two, one , two, three..
Sapphire looked on and wondered at the way her fellow guard matched step. What is she doing?
Finally, the oddly-matched group halted in a very odd place. Vinyl Scratch stood in front of a black phonebooth-like structure and gestured to it. “Go on in” she seemed to say.
Sapphire hesitated and analyzed the situation. On one hoof, they didn't know this pony or this place. On the other, she was the only one who had presented information….
Inkheart walked past her and opened the door, walking right in.
“Inkheart! What are you doing?”
“My job, how about you?”
Sapphire opened her mouth to object, but, seeing the validity of Ink’s point, she decided not to. She followed Inkheart and the mysterious pony into the booth, swallowing hard.
Suddenly, the tiny booth jolted and began to go down.
Inkheart fell hard on her face.
Sapphire squeaked and fluttered upwards, glancing incredulously at Vinyl.
Vinyl scratch was laughing her flank off
As the now-revealed elevator moved down slowly, Sapphire returned to ground level, approaching Inkheart and lightly prodding her head. “Are you alright?” , she asked.
“I am ready for death.” Inkheart replied, her voice muffled by the ground. Sapphire decided to leave her be for the moment.
SLAM!
The elevator hit the ground hard, knocking Inkheart off the ground. She caught herself on her wings.
The door slowly creaked open and the shaken ponies stumbled out. A pony on the outside hastily apologized.
“I'm sorry! I'm absolutely terrible at operating the elevator….”
She was disregarded with a simple “It is fine.” from Sapphire as they continued forward with their search.
The area they had entered almost made them stop again.
The elevator had taken them to another world. Everything glowed a deep purple as a result of numerous crystals in blue and purple colors lining the long cavern. Houses and tall buildings were built into the walls and rocks. Not many ponies were about, but none of them looked anything like a Canterlot resident- Ponies wearing long, colorful socks, ponies wearing spiked accessories with wild spiked manes to match, zebras, bat ponies, ponies covered from head to hoof in black clothes and makeup….. It was like they’d reached an odd, backwards dimension where Canterlot was the complete opposite of how it had been before.
Sapphire walked on despite astonishment, but Inkheart had a hard time not letting things catch her eye- the beautiful crystals, the interesting ponies, and the presence of a whole other town was almost too much to take in.
Vinyl, still taking the lead, grinned as she looked back at her new companions. The blue one was having exactly the reaction she’d hoped for- that look that this place was everything they could've dreamed, yet never expected. She loved showing around newcomers almost as much as she loved helping ponies in general.
“What is this place?” Inkheart finally asked Vinyl Scratch.
Vinyl looked at her, still smiling broadly, and replied. “Welcome to the underground.”

“It cannot…. Cannot be…. “ Luna had been muttering such things to herself feverishly since minutes after she started the spell. Sketch had tried to respond but, in the world of her own magic, she had been unable to respond. Rough Sketch had even brought in a glass of water and a little sandwich in case Luna at some point broke out and wanted something. It had, after all, been hours.
Sketch sat on Luna’s bed, still watching over the princess carefully. He certainly hoped nothing had gone wrong- as a Pegasus and not a unicorn, it was hard for him to tell. Sketch sighed and tilted his ears to listen more carefully to what the princess was saying in hopes of more insight.
“You can not have found them. I was ready! It was not the time… You cannot have already… “ Luna drifted off into incomprehensible slurring. A little bit of drool leaked out the corner of her mouth.
Sketch scrunched up his face. Ew. He could handle all the clouds and mud and blood splatters Equestria had to throw at him, but saliva was just… Too disgusting. His face still contorted with disgust, Sketch grabbed a handkerchief and dabbed it away. Afterwards he threw the hankie out the window, saying “Ewewew eww” on endless loop.
Princess Luna wasn't the luckiest princess, but she was sure lucky Sketch was that loyal.
Shaking off the experience, sketch made his way to the bed again. He had barely made it there when Luna's magic began glowing with far greater intensity and she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

The Sandmare winced with the effort it had taken to not be blown away instantly. Even entering a dream with Luna in it was intense. Still, she was here, and it was clear that Luna had been more proactive than the last few times they had fought. She was indeed already monitoring the dreams.
The Sandmare got up and began searching for Luna, who she now considered her prey just as much as the host of the dream they were in.
Luna was too late, and now she would see who the real princess of dreams was.

The dream

Sapphire and Inkheart had been searching for a long while, and though they hadn't found their target yet, they had found out a lot more about this place.
It was called the Underground, and it was a place where those who didn't fit in in Canterlot- no, those who didn't fit in in Equestria - could live happily. Bat ponies could be up and about any time of day without the sun hurting their eyes and delicate skin. Zebras could live peacefully and make their unique magic without dealing with the crowds, noise, and questioning of the Canterlot ponies who didn't disguise their thinking of them being an odd novelty. Social deviants like “rock stars”,“goths”, and “nerds” that Vinyl told them about wouldn't be judged or given too much attention for dressing, appearing, and acting however they pleased. There were all kinds of things- from concert halls to dance clubs, weapon shops and game stores, homes of hippogriffs and zebras, bat ponies, deer, and rockers. There was even a sort of “black market” that Sapphire made note to investigate later.
All of this was made more impressive by the wealth of crystals that provided gentle lighting to the tunnels. Some had been carved into intricate sculptures and fountains. Many of the smaller crystals had been moved to line the streets in front of the buildings so they could be seen without the bat ponies’ night vision. Most of the crystals had been left in their original position, lining the walls and sparkling brilliantly.
“Why hasn't this place been found?” Inkheart asked. “Aren't there ponies who could use their magic to find crystals and end up here?”
Vinyl shrugged. “There's more under the castle too. Most peeps guess that it's magically hidden.”
“This is… Impossible! How long has it been here?” Sapphire asked.
Vinyl shrugged again and they kept walking. At this point, Sapphire and Inkheart were more comfortable with the environment and were able to walk faster. They'd come across some guard homes, marked with a special insignia; a black moon with a sword over it. Nobody pony had responded, and Sapphire had suggested that they start trying forced entry soon.
However, they wouldn't have to, because Vinyl prodded them and pointed over at a pony who, in a place like this, stood out far more than in the streets of Canterlot. The Sandmare had just exited a guard’s house and was trying to casually make her way to another elevator. She didn’t make it far- Sapphire flew towards her with speed that Inkheart had never guessed was possible, bowling her over and sending both ponies into a wild tangle of limbs and screaming.
“What are you doing?!” She asked incredulously, clearly not catching on to the fact that Sapphire knew who she was.
“I am apprehending you, of course. You are under arrest for threaten-” Sapphire didn’t get to finish, as she was swiftly kicked in the face as the Sandmare realized her blunder.
“Damn, why aren’t you asleep, you blasphemous freak of nature!” The ponies switched positions, wrestling out from underneath eachother a few times.
“ I cannot sleep when my lady calls, for that would be the blasphemy.”
The Sandmare looked her over and chuckled. “Wait, I know which one you are… More of an abomination than the rest of your kind, you filthy-”
A voice called out from within Sapphire, and she punched the Sandmare in the face, the first blow she had fully returned. This only caused her enemy to laugh manically before a powerful burst of magic caused her to vanish. Sapphire fell back, holding her head in her hooves.
Ink appeared beside Sapphire, gasping for breath from the dash over. “Are…*huff*...You…*cough* Alright?” she sputtered out.
“No…. She escaped… I… OW!” Sapphire went silent and held her head again, her eyes shutting tight. “No, no, no….”
Good job! I wouldn’t have thought you had it in you to fight back that violently
“What is it?” Inkheart asked. “Do you have a concussion or something? I can get you to a-”
“NO!” Sapphire shouted suddenly. “STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Her eyes flashed an odd color and she closed them tight, forcing herself to the ground
Ink shrunk back, surprised and a little hurt at the sudden loud reprimand.
“But you... “ Inkheart spoke more hesitantly “You s-seem hurt, you ought to take care of yourself…”
Even so, you know you can’t do this on your own
“ I… Am… F-fine…” Sapphire wobbled and fell upon attempting to get up.
“Sapphire!”
“Just… fine….” Sapphire closed her eyes and fell silent upon the ground.
Inkheart frantically attempted to lift Sapphire, looking at her face and shaking her a little. She was completely passed out.

“Sapphire….. What am I gonna do?’ Inkheart set her down and looked to Vinyl Scratch, who was standing awestruck on the sidelines with a gaping mouth. “Can you… Can you keep an eye on her? I need to follow that unicorn.”
Vinyl Scratch nodded dutifully, making her way to Sapphire’s side. Inkheart, understanding that Vinyl had a handle on the situation, thanked her and set off running.
She had to tell the princess, and fast. She had to stop this madness while she still had any power to… Her adrenaline sped her course, and she made it to the elevator many times faster than she had made her way away from it.

Far behind her now, there was a battle going on within the bat pony she had left behind…

It was hard to amaze Rough Sketch. He had really seen a lot, and he’d only served the watch for two years. He’d seen so much peril that he would hardly blink an eye at a host of zombies or a haunted room in the castle. But Luna’s behaviour had grown completely and utterly terrifying to him.

Luna was now writhing and yelling like a pony possessed. She’d knocked over her desk, spilling ink and papers all about and causing the owl to flutter into the air and screech. Afterwards, she’d thrown her bed into disorder, forcing Sketch to flee from it. Luna had paused briefly a few minutes ago, and Sketch had almost had time to process relief, but she soon started again just as intensely.

Rough Sketch wouldn’t have minded as much, he was sure, if he didn’t care so much about the princess and the situation. “What am I s’posed to do...? I wish you could tell me…” Sketch muttered.

Soon, in the oddest of ways, he got his wish. Luna’s magic appeared before him in a thin white line. He tilted his head in confusion and watched as it contorted to form words, which he read along with aloud.

“G-E-T… Get… Help… Too Late… Fly…” His heartbeat sped up with each word, prompting him to complete the task. With the speed of a bullet, he shot out the window. “Don’t worry, Luna!” He shouted back to her, hoping she could hear. “I’ll get them, before it’s too late..”

The owl, assuming he was fleeing for his life, flew after him without hesitation.

Sketch flew like he’d scarcely flown before, fueled by panic and desperation. He took little notice of the owl, or the city below, or anything. Sketch was focused on his intention to stop the danger and to save the Princess. Ponies below stopped and stared in shock at his incredible speed, asking each other if they’d heard that there was going to be a Wonderbolts performance today. No wind or leftover cloud could slow his progress, he was now a machine of flight.

Nothing, of course, save for a proportionately panicked pegasus. Inkheart was flying in the same direction, unaware that she too was being sought out.

The two alarmed and desperate pegasi slammed into each other full-force, almost falling all the way to the ground when coming away from the impact. After falling and catching themselves, they both began to sputter desperately their separate bad news.

“Sapphire has-”

“Luna needs-”

“The sandmare!”

“It’s-”

“Too late!” They shouted in alarmed unison. The two looked over each other, still gasping for air, and processed what the other had been trying to say.

“No, she cant’ve…”

“Already? How…?”

They both stopped in flight and lowered to the ground slowly.

“What are we going to do?” Inkheart asked. “We can’t track her easy enough, and none of us can do dream magic…”

“Let’s just get back to Luna for now”, Sketch reasoned. “She said she needed your help, maybe everything will be fine if we just get back to her fast enough. “

Inkheart hesitated. If they wasted too much time trying to help Luna and couldn’t, it would put them at a greater risk for not finding the Sandmare. If they didn’t help Luna, though, there was still a chance that things could get a lot worse…… Inkheart sighed heavily, looking back at Sketch. “Let’s get back to the princess.”

Now a team, they flew back the way Sketch had flown, worry and despair weighing down their wings.

Sapphire stood alone on the dream plane, the voice that had been fighting her briefly quieted. She knew, however, that it would not remain that way for long.The dream world was presently appearing to her as a grassy valley, with a clear and starry night sky above. “Where are you?” Sapphire called out into the plane. “What do you want?” As her hooves moved further through the crisp grass, she wondered at the persistent silence. She walked and walked, and there was still nopony around.
How odd, she thought. Usually she would’ve shown by now
A gentle breeze stirred the grass. Sapphire continued walking, searching for any sign of the voice’s owner. The silence was becoming rather eerie, and Sapphire felt as though ice was running down her spine. A light mist sprayed up from the ground as a result of the wind, but didn’t stop Sapphire’s walking. As Sapphire walked on through her dream, she began to notice the ground becoming soft and moist beneath her hooves.It seemed she had reached a marshland. After a while, she noticed her hooves had become downright sodden and stopped to shake them off.
Glancing at her hoof in the moonlight, she let out a caterwaul of terror.
Her hoof was soaked and dripping with warm, sticky blood.
Oh, what’s the matter? You know you like the stuff. It’s only natural. The voice finally appeared again.
“I-I…” Sapphire was shaking with fear. She looked around herself, the scene around her transforming before her eyes. The ground, formerly clean, became covered in flowing rivers of blood. The sky became pitch black, the stars all vanishing one by one. The moon still shone, but it had turned completely red. The grass began dying, and the smell of the blood became inescapable as the air became thick and warm with the scent.

An apparition appeared before Sapphire… No, not an apparition. This pony was just as real as Sapphire was, and she feared her. It had been so long, but it had been too much to hope for that she might have vanished completely.
“I knew you had been quiet for far too long….” Sapphire said, still shaking as she looked before her.
The pony in front of her simply laughed, her eyes glowing a sinister red. “You've had your peace, now it's time for me to take over and handle this.”
“No, I shan't let you!” Sapphire shouted.
The pony growled, her eyes still aglow. “Not even now, when ya need me? Geez, you really are a dumbass. “ she smiled and stepped towards Sapphire. “Still, though, there's no way you can fight me after leavin’ me to build up strength for so long.”
Sapphire stepped back, but wasn't ready when the other pony leapt upon her and attacked.
It was all over now.

Author's Note

So... This is a big chapter! Well, bigger than the others anyway. (Which I would've liked to be longer wordwise. Be prepared for a steady increase) I didn't mean for three to be so many illustrations in this one either, it's mostly because I'm trying to get all the characters shown and turn up the atmosphere a little. Hope you guys enjoy it!

The beginning and end of a battle

Luna gasped heavily, panting for
breath. It had been a long time since she’d fought this hard. Not since- a familiar twinge of guilt struck her. Not since I fought my sister. She struggled a bit to rise, flinching at the unfamiliar sensation of pain.

She had fought the Sandmare before, but that was long ago, and now they had both grown stronger. The fight was made all the more difficult by the fact that the Sandmare could now hop dreams more freely while still holding control of others. The battle had to pause momentarily so that Luna could heal one pony’s dream while trying to find the next that the Sandmare had leapt to.

Now, they had landed in a dream of one of Luna’s elite guard, one who had been serving since before she had even returned. The dreamer was General Nightwind, and it was easy to see why he was a target- he was easily lulled into the Sandmare’s beautiful and perfect dream since he was aiming to escape his real life in the wake of his wife Moonflower’s recent death. This would be a hard and heartbreaking fight, and Luna hoped Sapphire would be there soon.

Luna wandered through the dream. It was a beautiful, perfect night. All of the stars were visible and the moon was full and glowing. She was in a beautiful field, clearly not too far from the castle but just outside of town. As she walked, she came upon a scene that nearly made her cry.

Nightwind lay on the tender, soft grass with a beautiful mare beside him- a batpony with a long, beautiful black mane and glittering purple eyes. This was Moonflower. Luna hadn't known her as long as the rest of her guard, or event as well as her sister had, but she knew her well enough by the few moments she had with her and how Nightwind spoke of her. Nightwind and Moonflower were cuddling and whispering softly to one another, and Luna almost didn't see what was between them….

A tiny little filly lay sleeping on her side between the two- a filly Luna would have thought of as unusual if she hadn't seen her before. Moonflower was stroking the filly’s tiny mane with her hoof, and the couple would occasionally look at her fondly.

This is cruel! Luna spoke directly to the mare behind the dream using her mind magic. Feeding off of his loss like this!

“I do what I must. This is the dream that he wants, you can't blame me. You know as well as I do of his plague of nightmares.” The Sandmare finally stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself to Luna. The dreamer couldn't hear their conversation, as she blocked the visible part of the dream away. “Why haven't you given him this already? I would say you are the cruel one here.”

“It is not what he needed! He shall only be able to wallow in his past now. Ponies must move on.”

“Why do that when he could stay with his love and his child forever? Look how happy he is! This is where he wants to be.” The Sandmare laughed. “It will be impossible to make him want to leave, you know that right?" She smiled. "You may have noticed some astonishing improvement. I'm rather proud of my new strategy. I just can't believe you didn't catch on sooner!"

“‘’Twas a clever move, going for my guard. But thou shalt pay for it dearly.” Luna lifted herself with her wings, preparing a powerful beam of magic that she shot at the Sandmare from the air.

“Oh come on, I was enjoying that little talk! All violence and no diplomacy, as always-” the Sandmare was silenced by having to reciprocate the magical attack, and the two beams ran into each other. Magical sparks shot everywhere as the ponies battled for supremacy, the beams crackling loudly with the force of both of their power. The Sandmare was pushed back, and her beam faltered a little. Luna pushed with all her might, in disbelief at how hard she already had to struggle. Still, Luna’s rage had been sparked by how her opponent had used her guard, and her cruel trickery…She let out a powerful, guttural cry and forced her magic harder against the other’s beam.

The sheer energy and force from both beams soon caused a magical reaction and the beams exploded in the center, blowing both ponies backwards. The Sandmare tumbled across the ground, but quickly pulled herself up. Luna was knocked from the air and managed to land on all four hooves.

The two ponies got up and charged towards each other once again, but the Sandmare vanished into another dream just as Luna ran into her. Luna cursed as the Sandmare vanished, leaving only her dream illusion and echoing laughter.

“You shall pay!” Luna shouted to the darkness, stomping her hoof so hard that the dream cracked. Blazing with rage, she flew away to pursue her foe in the next dream.

In her anger and the heat of battle, she left the dream behind her as it was, her guard lost in the fantasy of the life he had once lived, of a world he would never see again after this night. The filly beside Nightwind stirred, but the gentle stroke of his wife’s hoof continued and prevented her awakening.

In the real world, she was to wake soon.

In another dream, yet another battle took place- between Sapphire and the other pony within her- known to her and few others as Scarlet. Sapphire was thrown hard at the single tree on the hill, coughing as the wind was knocked out of her and her wings were rendered useless. Undeterred, she got up and charged back towards her opponent. The charge was unsuccessful, and she was thrown down again like a useless rag doll.

Sapphire was held hard against the ground, struggling for her escape. “I do not need you! You cannot make me… You cannot make me give in!”

“You don't understand! This isn't about us anymore!” The pony that held her kicked her in the face and got off, giving Sapphire a small window of opportunity.

“Is it not? You are making it about you getting control! “ Sapphire got up and coughed blood onto the ground. It was hardly even visible there, blending in with the bloody terrain her opponent had made.

“But I gotta do it sometimes! You of all ponies should get that….” Scarlet said, then in a flash she knocked Sapphire off her hooves once more. Sapphire gasped and sputtered on the ground.” Someday you might understand.” She concluded.

“There is…. Naught to understand… you are wrong… “ Sapphire replied, still quivering.

Scarlet sighed, shaking her head. “I can't believe it… Even after all this time.. I gotta tell ya, you're really the stubborn and selfish one.” She knocked Sapphire back, as she had almost risen again. “You'll feel better after this… You don't feed or let go enough, you know.” She paused and chuckled at Sapphire’s feeble efforts to fight and escape. “.. I'll seeya later, dumbass. I got business to take care of. MY WAY. “ she gave Sapphire another swift kick Before turning away.

“No….” Sapphire pulled herself across the ground a little, but was no longer strong enough to stop the other from taking over. “Scarlet….”

In a simple doctor’s office in the underground, Sapphire arose….. and wasn't Sapphire anymore. As she opened her eyes, they flashed and turned red. The spark of the same transformative magic ran down her mane and tail, the blue stripes turning red as her eyes had. Her cutie mark shone and changed shape to match her new appearance, the heart in the center turning red and breaking in half as a sword appeared behind it.

She got up and broke straight through the door, vanishing in an instant. The nurse, knocked down in her wake, stood agape with shock as she vanished into the underground, and then to the world above.

This pony was out for blood now, and conscience would no longer halt her path- as she wasn't Sapphire any longer. No… it was Scarlet’s turn to take control.

Scarlet smiled to herself as she caught a scent on the wind. Her enemy was not too far off at all. She could already taste her blood….

Sketch and Inkheart arrived at the palace, panting from the intense flight. They almost didn't make it through the window, as exhaustion weighed down their flight. They paused briefly and regained their strength and footing. Afterwards Sketch hurriedly made his way to Luna, who was laying on the bed, and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Luna? I'm back. Sapphire was taken down, if you can hear me. I brought Inkheart, though. Do I need to get more of the-” Sketch had to stop speaking, as the princess thrashed again in her magic trance. Sketch was smacked in the face with a wayward hoof and knocked from the bed, to be caught by an alarmed Inkheart. They exchanged a glance- it was clear to both that the princess’ condition was indicative of a need for help.

After this latest bout of thrashing, Luna managed to finally write another message with her magic.

Find...Sandmare… Get all thou can…More guards.. Wake..

Luna shuddered and the message vanished. She could no longer hold it, as she had to focus her magic on the battle in her dreams.

“So we came here just to… Leave again?” Inkheart asked.

“I don't know…. Maybe something has… Has changed since she sent me for you.” Sketch replied. “It doesn't seem much more urgent-”

Luna began to yell again, holding her head in her hooves and tossing on the bed. Inkheart stepped back, frightened by the display.

“I don't think we have time to consider this.” Inkheart said, already preparing her wings to fly away. “We need to gather as much as the guard as possible. If we don't find the Sandmare soon, Luna might not be able to fight her off anymore.”

Sketch nodded in agreement, then paused. “Do you know where they live?”

“Just follow me. I know now.”

“If you say so, newbie” Sketch grinned as the remark earned him a sharp glare from Inkheart, who gave him a quick and mildly painful tap on the head. “Kidding, kidding!” He said in his defense before she could do more.

“Not the time! Come on!” Inkheart snipped, unamused.

And with that, the two pegasi flew off to the underground, just as the room behind them lit up with a powerful burst of magic.

Rough sketch looked back, his heart quivering with foreboding. Perhaps it was already too late….

The showdown- part 1

Scarlet surveyed her surroundings, inhaling the scents around her deeply as she hovered above the city in the vibrant sunset. She had been so close she could taste it, and her prey had been distracted, but it had suddenly teleported away. Stupid Unicorns. Her sense of smell was good, but she was capable of smelling blood, not magic trails

It was a rather confusing situation to Scarlet. She knew her prey had been pursuing prey of its own, why had it stopped so suddenly? Excitable, cowardly piece of shit. What could have been any legitimate threat aside from her, who was unknown to her victim anyway? Prissy little thing had no resolve or dedication to her form of destruction. Unlike Scarlet.

No damn time to grumble about it ,I guess. Scarlet thought to herself bitterly. The wind quickened a bit, and she sniffed the air once more in hopes of rediscovering the scent. There it was! It was distant, but at last detectable. Scarlet tilted her large ears in the direction of it, hoping to pick up some hint as to the mare’s current state as she flew in her direction. She hated hunting and flying by daylight, but luckily it was almost gone. A creature of the night and of instinct, it was hard for her to focus even with very little daylight.
It was going to be a cold night. The cloud cover had been cleared away that morning, and even in summer the elevation made cloudless nights in Canterlot bitterly cold. Scarlet enjoyed the awakening sting, a glorious reminder that she was no longer in Sapphire’s mind-prison. As her bat wings tore through the air, they greedily devoured the sensation of the frigid air, so powerful without feathers to keep them warm. Every inch of her body was excited and hungry, and any pony who dared to look close enough could see it in Scarlet’s blazing eyes. She laughed wickedly out loud, not currently caring who gazed up with concern. Usually she liked to be discreet, but she felt so much more awake than ever before. She didn’t care this time. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she was going in for a kill.
Scarlet landed gently outside of a homely guard residence, grinning with flashing fangs. This was the place! The Sandmare was just downstairs. Her hooves itched for impact with her enemy’s delicate bones, her teeth prepared to pierce tender flesh. Scarlet drooled a little, savoring the very anticipation of it, and then leapt forward and broke the door down.
“Honey, I’m home!”, Scarlet called mockingly. She knew the mare she was hunting was too distracted to hear her, battling a pointless enemy in her dreams. What a pitiful fool, what a stupid little thing. The Sandmare currently had no fear-scent, but before she was dead Scarlet would change that. Hopefully, she had timed it well and would be the one to wake her. She slunk down the stairs quietly, low and catlike. Each step increased the rate of her heart and the burning desire in her bones. Every stair behind her was another closer to that perfect moment.
Scarlet came upon the Sandmare at last, resting alongside a sleeping guard as her magical aura built. Darn, she’d been at it a while. But even the power she had built already did not discourage Scarlet.
It was simply a pleasant challenge.
With a delicate smile, Scarlet sprang for her prey, just as it awakened.

However, she had slightly miscalculated, as her victim stood strong and glared confidently, prepared for the blow. As their eyes met, the house was set alight with a powerful burst of magic, visible more clearly in the fresh darkness of the night.

Luna ran through the dream plane now. Her wings had briefly given out under the force of a magical attack, and her exhaustion was wearing on her quickly. Her adversary had been teleporting through dreams over and over, becoming more mobile as her power increased. Luna shuddered even as she ran. How could this have happened so quickly?
Luna wasn't even keeping track of whose dream they entered. The one they were in now was very loud, however. The ground shook with the force of a powerful rhythm, and a loud melody drowned out any hope of detecting the Sandmare by ear. She spotted a white unicorn dancing on a high spinning platform, singing her heart out. If this dream was the unicorn’s own creation, Luna would have smiled at the beauty of it, but it was simply part of her enemy’s trap. Luna continued scanning the area, finally spotting the Sandmare hiding behind a speaker as her waves of magic overtook the world of the dreams. The speaker was simply a clever disguise for the transmission of her magical energy, Luna suddenly realized. She blasted at the Sandmare with a beam of magic, and it hit the target precisely. Her enemy fell backwards, her body skidding across the ground.
“You're pretty relentless, Luna” The Sandmare said, pulling herself up slowly as the crash backward had jolted her. “Unluckily for you, so am I. And I have the upper hoof already!” She got up and, in a cloud of stinging hot sand, vanished into the next dream.
Luna pursued, unwavering as the Sandmare had pointed out. This time she caught her immediately on entry, and pinned her down. The mare below her squirmed and snarled, not yet having gotten her bearings in this new dream.
But it didn't matter. She had a strong grip on many others; better yet, the Sandmare was nearly certain the princess had no idea, based on her persisting confidence.
Luna prepared a blast that nearly missed as the Sandmare scrambled to her hooves, and it caught her on her retreating hind legs. Sandmare fell forward, but rose quickly in her determination, firing a blast at Luna in return. The magic was burning hot as it hit Luna in the shoulder, and she cried out sharply in pain. Her enemy smiled, now having a better advantage in this moment of weakness, and fled in search of the pony who owned this dream. Luna trailed her and, remembering her wings and testing to see if their power had returned, flew ahead.
The dreamer had a large imagination, as the area was wide and spacious. A desert in the nighttime, surrounded by tall and sharp canyons, cragged dark silhouettes in the darkness of night. The Sandmare was in her element here in a way. She smiled to herself as her steady trot kicked up dust around her. This wouldn't be too hard at all.
At last the two battling mares came upon the dreaming pony, matching pace and slamming into each other as they reached them. A sharp pain burned Luna’s ribs as the Sandmare’s horn collided with them, causing her body to jolt, and the Sandmare let out a shout as Luna’s rear hooves slammed her in the face. The two struggled for supremacy in an absurd pile for a moment before the Sandmare squeezed out. Luna tried to shout after her but only a squeak came out, causing her to wrap a hoof around her ribs as pain convulsed through her chest from the attempt.
The Sandmare grinned and chuckled to herself, focusing on her target. As her magic flowed over the dreamer, their surroundings changed completely. The environment was still dark, but shifted from a desert to a deep and lush forest. The scent of pine flooded Luna’s nostrils and she heard the sound of a stream flowing nearby.

Luna sat up slowly, shaking as she rose from the pain in her side. Undeterred, Luna charged at the Sandmare, only for her target to vanish. Tears had begun to flood from her eyes from her pain and increasing failure, but she nonetheless pursued the villain.- only to find she had left the dream realm.

Inkheart and Rough Sketch were at a gateway to the underground, ready to board the elevator. Sketch had been quite skeptical of the existence of it, and was still wondering if this was simply a drawn out and poorly timed joke. How could something so huge and so strange be hidden here in Canterlot? Anypony on the surface that didn’t fit the prissy, classy status quo was given so much attention (the negative kind, of course) when on the surface- how could the capitol of the odd and unknown be just beneath it? How had it not slipped? Then again, the activities of the night guard had managed to remain under lock and key as well, and that was perhaps even more absurd seeing as there were often lives on the line. In the end, Sketch had decided that nobody would joke like this when they were so terrified and had followed Inkheart to the nearest gateway.

But just as the elevator opened they saw the light, heard the screams.

As the sun had set and Luna had battled the Sandmare in the dreams of the guard, Canterlot had been going to bed. The Sandmare had managed to gain quite a bit of power in the dreams before she had been tracked down, and now she could reach into the dreams of more than one pony at once. Her power was only growing now and, as the city lay down to rest, it was able to rise to a sharp peak from all the fresh dreams. More and more dreams had been added to the ones she now manipulated with her spell, and she could now be awake even while controlling them. Of course, when she awoke, she had turned her attention from Luna to her other attacker. She had blown the threat away with a powerful burst of magic as quickly as she could, but she knew it wasn’t over.

Sketch and Inkheart exchanged a glance, their hearts both hammering hard with fear.

What now?

The two turned slowly from the elevator just as it rose to meet them, nearly too frightened to dare and look upon what had just occurred. However, they both knew that this slowness and fear could not last. Both pegasi unfurled their wings and stood tall and firm in preparation. Their gazes hardened into steely glares tempered with determination. This was their duty, and now the time to fight.

Facing the unknown, Rough Sketch and Inkheart lifted their wings together and flew to confront the chaos. It was not too long of a flight before they came upon the scene, observing it with a silent grimness.

Inkheart surveyed the surroundings carefully. There really weren’t many ponies out and about, and not much damage had been done yet, so it was easy to spot the source.
And then there She was.
There was the Sandmare, looking almost perfectly identical to her book illustration- only stronger, more confident, and maybe even taller? Something about the pony’s aura made her far more frightening in person, even from a distance. Sketch shuddered, and Inkheart guessed that he felt the same. That piercing gaze, the wicked grin….

There wasn’t much more time for thought or observation, as a blur of red appeared and clashed with the Sandmare. As if it were a cue for them to come onto the stage, Sketch and Inkheart descended afterward. They could only wonder briefly who the red pony was.

Inkheart flapped her wings with all her might, struggling for the most speed she could muster. She had to pick up enough to be unstoppable, for her speed to protect her and her momentum to assist in her attack. Sketch banked left, less reliant on speed but more so on the distraction of multiple attackers- he would come in from the side, where his enemy least expected it and where the Sandmare would be unable to prepare herself.

From the front, Scarlet had flown backward from her last attack, giving herself a brief respite from the assault to gather her thoughts. Wait- Who the hell were these ponies, descending upon HER prey? Oh, well. At least she knew that ponies like these wouldn’t rob her of her killing moment. They were just allowing her rest, and with her prey’s high power, she was grateful for this to a degree.

Inkheart’s front hooves came down on the Sandmare, knocking her down as she had not anticipated the blow. The Sandmare got up and prepared to lunge at her new assailant, but was hit from the side by Sketch at that very moment. The Sandmare was thrown hard into a wall, collapsing with a dull thud.

Inkheart charged towards the Sandmare, who barely had time to pull herself up and dodge. Inkheart turned as the Sandmare leapt out of the way and struck her hard in the face, knocking her down again. Sketch tackled the Sandmare at that moment as if on cue, holding her down for arrest. However, this hardly held the Sandmare back, and without even getting up she threw the two ponies backwards in return using her magic.

Sketch righted himself in the air, catching Inkheart by grabbing her hooves just before she hit another wall. Sketch set down his partner carefully and then flew back for another attack. The Sandmare lifted herself up and caught Sketch in a magic beam. With a slight smile, the Sandmare altered the nature of the magic and it electrocuted her opponent. The Sandmare released her magical grip after a moment, and Rough Sketch fell to the ground.

"Sketch!" Inkheart cried out, rushing to his side and glaring at the Sandmare. Inkheart looked over her companion carefully. If a pony as strong as him had been rendered useless so quickly, what chance did any of them stand? Sketch was motionless, his pelt dotted with singe marks from the hot electricity.

The red blur returned just as sketch was thrown to the ground. Scarlet slammed into the Sandmare but this time held her strongly, bringing her along in her flight. As she flew, the Sandmare squirmed, kicked, and cut at her with swirling sand.
“Release me!” The Sandmare demanded. “I didn't want to kill, but I'm warning you, I can-”

“As you wish” Scarlet said, mischief seeping into her tone.

With that, Scarlet stopped high in the air above a large park on the outskirts of the city and released the mare into the sky.

Back where she had been left, Inkheart prodded carefully at Sketch, tears filling her eyes. "Please..... Wake up..."

The showdown-part 2

As the Sandmare fell below her, Scarlet beamed and gave herself a small nod. It was done- that fall ought to kill her easily enough. Scarlet turned and began to descend, ready to pick up her finished prey.
However, she was soon proven wrong as she heard the distinctive glittery sound of magical levitation behind her. Stopping short and hovering midair, Scarlet looked behind her and let out a groan of frustration- the damn mare was floating. Scarlet hadn't known if the unicorn would be able to use magic this way; it was very rare. Too late Scarlet realized she should've planned for this.

I FUCKING HATE UNICORNS

Scarlet glared down at the Sandmare as her levitation brought her upward, waiting to just get it over with. The least she could do was float faster...

At last the Sandmare floated up to Scarlet’s level, a smug grin on her face as if she were asking “you didn't plan for THAT, did you?”. Scarlet gritted her teeth, her fangs bared threateningly as she seethed with pure unfiltered spite. “Oh, go fuck yourself!” Scarlet spat, flying right at the Sandmare and delivering a punch to her face. The Sandmare was just as unprepared for the punch as Scarlet had been for her magic, and was sent reeling backwards.

The Sandmare righted herself and faced Scarlet. The two mares simply hovered in the air and glared at one another for nearly a solid minute. Both had proven themselves to be a formidable foe to the other. Strategies, thoughts of the battle and getting the upper hoof rushed through their minds as their blood grew hot, the will to fight building to a boiling point.

Stupid, stupid little wimpy pretentious unicorns… , Scarlet thought.

Foolish simple pegasus, daring to challenge ME! The Sandmare thought.

The sacred silence and deep thought of the glare was broken by the Sandmare preparing a magical attack, which Scarlet had just enough time to dodge. Just like that, the battle was back in full swing. The Sandmare shot beam after beam at Scarlet as she maneuvered through the air and Scarlet repeatedly clashed with her in return.

Three clashes. Scarlet growled and got another hit in on the Sandmare’s face. Five clashes. Scarlet’s fur was darkened on her flank from a beam that hit its mark. At the tenth midair clash, Scarlet kicked the Sandmare full in the belly with both hind hooves but got punched in the face. Each successful attack caused more building fury, but failed to injure either pony enough to bring them to a halt- and so the battle raged on and on in the same repetitive fashion, appearing to be a perfect match of power. Facing each other full of rage and equally worn, it would be a while before they could take one another by surprise. With every clash and every beam of magic, they were still hardly deterred. It was in these conditions that Scarlet most easily grew weary- boredom was the thing that could be called her truest weakness. Scarlet was nearly tempted to just let the Sandmare hit her head-on - it would be more interesting that way at least. Growing progressively more annoyed, she at last broke the pattern and began to fly away.

The Sandmare paused, her face scrunched quizzically. What was this mare playing at? Intrigued and not nearly finished with her opponent, she had practically no choice but to pursue the fleeing batpony. Scarlet’s face, unseen by the Sandmare, lifted into a sly grin.

Meanwhile, to the audience of the battle, it wasn’t nearly as dull as it had seemed to Scarlet. Luna and Inkheart were now together at Rough Sketch’s side, watching as the vicious and powerful fighters raged on. Luna had left the dream realm to fight where she had a team to work with and could call upon more help, as it had become clear that the Sandmare had become too powerful in the dream world.

“ I suppose She has less power in the waking world as of now, but this is still rather impressive.” Luna commented. “Regardless, her opponent’s fighting capabilities are impressive. We could use her in the guard. I must go to join the fray and I suggest, Inkheart, that you do as well. You ought to leave Rough Sketch with a qualified nurse, and then I shall expect you by my side.” With that, Luna lifted off to join the battle, leaving Inkheart alone.

As Luna flew, there was really something entirely different on her mind.
A white batpony with black stripes in her mane…. Just like Sapphire.. But could it be?
Luna had played dumb, but she had her suspicions about the connection between Sapphire and this red-maned batpony. The two ponies were oddly alike, and she’d seen something like this before…. Of course, that was over a thousand years ago now. And it had been an entirely unique situation. The pony she had known before with such a condition had been a unicorn anyway- they weren’t the same pony even if they were similar. In fact, Luna thought, the two before her were probably just twins anyway. However…If they were not... The repetition of such a thing as two souls, one represented by red and one by blue, in the same body… Sapphire and her violent counterpart, Scarlet… Luna sighed to herself as the thoughts buzzed around in her mind. This was not the time to consider such things. It was foolish, absolutely foolish.

As Luna went into battle, Inkheart got to work pulling Sketch onto her back to bring him to the nurse. Inkheart grunted with the effort, marveling at his surprising weight. Damn… Sketch may look lean, but the weight of his impressive wingspan and finely-toned muscles makes lifting him a bit of a hassle…. Inkheart cut herself off in her mind. Ugh. She’d merely been admiring his strength, but now sounded like one of his stupid fangirly boyfriends. Glad she hadn’t said something that dumb out loud, Inkheart began to fly, low and gently, in search of a hospital. She was flying for a while before she spotted anything and Sketch’s weight began to drag on her. Maybe I ought to get more used to flying longer with weight on me, Inkheart mused. Inkheart finally spotted a sign for the hospital and sighed with relief. It was perfect timing. Encouraged by the closeness of her goal, it was almost as if Sketch’s weight was diminished by her determination as she sped forward and straight into the hospital.

“I’ve got a patient here!”, Inkheart shouted as soon as she entered. A couple of doctors looked over at her, surprised, but went back to their business. A white unicorn with a brown mane at the front desk kept her gaze on her, appearing bored.

“Waiting room’s right here. Take a seat please, ma’am.” The bored pony at the desk drawled as she pointed at a row of chairs.

“But he needs help right away! He’s been-” Inkheart started, but was cut off.
The unicorn was letting her hair down, then returning it to a messy bun with her magic “Look, he’s breathing, his limbs are intact, there’s no blood…”
Inkheart glared and stomped her hoof down with anger. This could end up a battle all in itself.

Meanwhile, Luna had gotten a lot closer to the fight. The pony fighting the sandmare really did look quite a lot like Sapphire. They must at least be related. The battle was hard to join, as the two ponies kept moving as if they were both fleeing from each other.
Scarlet slammed back into the Sandmare and this time gripped her again, this time with her hooves and wings together. The Sandmare gasped with surprise and struggled against her opponent’s strange move as they both began to fall very slowly. The Sandmare was forced to focus what remained of her magic on keeping them afloat instead of fighting back until she could shake Scarlet off. Scarlet grinned and giggled, and then made a move the Sandmare would never have expected- she bit into her neck.

The Sandmare screamed in surprise as Scarlet’s fangs broke through her skin, spilling her blood. The fear caused just enough of a spike in adrenaline that the Sandmare was able to break free. The Sandmare floated some distance away from Scarlet as she fell, reaching with a tentative hoof to check her neck. She brought it before her eyes covered in blood. Her own blood.The blood she hadn’t seen in hundreds of years… She hit the ground hard, still gasping in shock but having the wind further knocked out of her.
Behind her, Scarlet had already nearly caught up already. Scarlet crept up slowly on her prey to give it one last chance, her fangs gleaming brilliantly in the moonlight and her glowing red eyes at last noticed by her victim.

“M-monster! You… You can’t be real! Whose twisted dream is this?” the Sandmare scrambled to her hooves and backpedaled as fast as she could, her eyes wide with fear. “Who are you? What do you want? Surely Luna is catching up by now-” she tripped backwards and hit the ground, then, as if falling again had awakened her, she finally went back to floating with her magic.

“Who am I… Well, if you consider this a dream… Consider me a nightmare.” Scarlet replied, chuckling. As she said this, the Sandmare sped away through the air, making her give chase. NOW the battle was interesting… Her opponent finally understood the stakes.
The Sandmare didn’t get too far before Luna caught up with the both of them and promptly blasted her with her magic. Unprepared for the attack, the Sandmare was nearly knocked down again but managed to right herself.

“You don't understand!” The Sandmare shouted at Luna. “Your real enemy is behind me! It's a crazed monster!”

“The only monster I see is you!” Luna spat back, blasting her again.

“I had not wished to do this so early in the game, but you leave me no choice..” The Sandmare stopped and began charging her power. Luna looked on, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
Back at the hospital, Inkheart desperately struggled to regain the unicorn deskpony’s attention.

“Please, can I just bring him into a room or something? I've gotta get back out there and-”

“We've all got places to be, ma'am. I'm sure everypony else feels the same” the unicorn responded dismissively.

Inkheart sighed and started to slowly shuffle back to her waiting seat, Sketch’s weight on her back making her exhausted.

Back at the battle, the Sandmare released her magic and an enormous wave of power swept from her horn across Canterlot. Luna gasped and managed to block herself and Scarlet just in time, looking around to observe the effects. Ponies nearby that were on an evening stroll were hit by the wave and instantly collapsed, asleep. Small threads of magic reached towards the now sleeping ponies, changing their dreams and increasing the Sandmare’s power.

Back at the hospital, Inkheart paused and twitched her ears at the sound of powerful magic. Nearby ponies were gasping and looking out windows as it approached, some bracing themselves or putting up small barriers. Inkheart hid her head in her hooves and curled up with Sketch under her wings out of mere instinct, preparing for the spell’s impact.

She waited and counted. One…. Two… Three…

She kept her eyes closed tight. Four… Five….Six..?

Inkheart opened her eyes a little. A light green veil modified her view of her surroundings. Everypony around her had fallen asleep where they stood, except….

She dared to get up and turn around, searching for the source of what she identified as a green magical barrier. A tall grey unicorn mare with glasses and a black-and-green mane stood behind her, using her magic just to protect Inkheart and Sketch. By her uniform, Inkheart guessed that this unicorn was a nurse here.

The nurse stood still and expressionless, but not asleep despite undoubtedly getting hit by the magic wave. After a moment, the nurse shook her head, breaking her gaze into space. “You have an urgent patient, you said?”

Inkheart stared, still quivering with shock. “Y-yeah. He's right here.” Inkheart lifted her wings, revealing the pony underneath. “ He got electrocuted, he needs to be looked over and he needs a bed to rest in.”

The unicorn nurse’s horn glowed and she lifted Sketch onto her own back. Her light green magic field reminded Inkheart of what had just occurred- she hadn’t been protecting herself at all, and yet she was uneffected. “How did you… How did you stay awake?”

The nurse shrugged, almost an impressive feat with the weight on her back. She took off her glasses and carefully rubbed a smudge off of them before putting them back on. Her eyes were a brilliant blue-green when unconcealed by the glare of the glasses, a shade not too far from Inkheart’s own eyes. “Hard to explain.” She said dismissively after what appeared to be a lot of thought. She was acting so plain and casual despite the circumstances, and the true answer was impossible to find in her unexpressive gaze. “Would you like to come with me to get this pony an exam room?”

Inkheart sighed heavily. “Can you… Can you take care of him? I hate to leave you or him like this, but... there’s something I’ve gotta do right away.”

“It’s my job. Paperweight forgot, obviously.” She gestured to the unicorn at the front desk. “Good thing she’s not awake to yell at me for taking a patient without paperwork…”
Inkheart smiled broadly. “Oh, thank you! You’re the best!” She had an overwhelming urge to hug her savior. She was really cute. With a hasty goodbye, she lifted her wings and took off towards the battle once more.

At the battlefield, beams of magic were now clashing between Luna and the Sandmare- and, every second, the Sandmare’s beams were growing more triumphant with the power of new dreams. Now surrounded by a powerful forcefield, the Sandmare was regaining her confidence from her earlier fear. The vampire pony had vanished after her spell, and the Sandmare had no idea where she’d gone- but she didn’t care. She was back on top now, and the only pony who could stop her was now barely matching her blows. Finally, things will be as they should be... she thought to herself. Now she would claim her place as the princess of the night, as she was meant to.

Luna panted heavily, growing weary of the fight. Her opponent was growing stronger still, and yet she was completely alone. She didn’t know where her red-maned ally had gone, but she desperately hoped for her return. At that moment, however, she spotted something unbelievable out of the corner of her eye- The rookie pegasus who had been helping them earlier was back now, and headed straight towards the Sandmare! Luna couldn’t guess how she had escaped the spell, but she had another loyal ally at last. Her relief was only there for a moment before being replaced with terror as she thought further.The Sandmare was too strong for any of her guards to be any help now- at least, not safely, Luna realized.

Inkheart flew straight towards the yellow magic orb that was the Sandmare, full of determination. She’d had to leave combat, but now she wouldn't let Luna down. Nothing could stop her-

“No, stop! Inkheart, you cannot defeat her! You must run!” Luna shouted.

Inkheart stopped mid-flight, mere feet from the Sandmare. The suddenness of her stopping jolted her a bit. She spotted Luna, clearly struggling against the power of her adversary- and then, the villain was staring right at her, and had gotten even closer.

“Fly, young one!” Luna shouted, though her voice began to decline as she finished. It was too late. The Sandmare looked back at her with a wicked grin, knowing she had caught Luna now that her subject was at her mercy. “Do not hurt her…” Luna said at a mere desperate whisper.
The Sandmare grasped Inkheart in her magic. Inkheart stiffened with fear. It felt strong, and tingly, and like she had no more control. Ink struggled to escape, grunting with effort to so much as move a hoof. It was like trying to move through hardening concrete.

“Release her!” Luna shouted as her horn glowed threateningly.

“Surrender!” The Sandmare retorted.

“I shan’t!”

“Then she shall suffer for it”

Luna flinched as the Sandmare cast the spell on Inkheart, blasting her to try and take the magical focus off her subject. It was no use. She couldn't risk the safety of the whole kingdom for just one mare, no matter how she tried to rationalize it. The Sandmare's barrier protected her as she performed her spell, but was taken down slightly by Luna’s attack.

Inkheart screamed in agony. The magic had changed, and now it felt like a thousand needles stabbing her from all sides. It went on for nearly a whole minute, growing stronger every second. She was released for only a moment as the Sandmare had to briefly return her attention to Luna. Inkheart barely had the strength to levitate herself for a moment, looking back at her attacker. Inkheart was hardly conscious, she was in so much pain. Barely able to think, Inkheart was still overcome with rage. Inkheart lifted her hoof and struck the overextended Sandmare in the face with all the power she could muster.

The Sandmare stopped mid-spell, dodging the remains of Luna’s beam. Her shield had been down, and Inkheart’s hoof had struck her full-force. Howling with rage, she grabbed the Pegasus with her magic and threw her hard. Inkheart slammed against the trunk of a distant tree, falling unconscious.

“How dare you!” Luna screamed in rage and charged at the Sandmare with newfound fury.The Sandmare was taken by surprise, distracted by the opponent she’d just finished throwing. The two collided and fought hoof-to hoof.

Neither of them saw the batpony approaching from the shadows. As Scarlet got closer, she chuckled to herself. Two ponies, so powerful and refined, brought to trading blows like weak little fillies. It was hilarious. Sadly, it was time for this show to come to an end.

As the Sandmare threw a punch at Luna’s face much like the one she’d earlier received, she shrieked. A strong clamping sensation came down on her neck. Luna paused mid-combat, staring at the Sandmare with terror as blood spurted from her neck.

Luna quivered, her breath shaking. She watched transfixed as the pony behind the Sandmare revealed herself and got a better grip on her prey. The blood ran down Scarlet’s muzzle, standing out on her white fur like it would on snow. Luna’s eyes twitched between her, the wound, the glistening fangs- and then to the chaos caused by the bleeding pony, the innocent Pegasus flung against the tree on the ground…

Scarlet met Luna’s eyes as the last bit of life escaped the Sandmare. Not breaking the gaze, Scarlet ripped the Sandmare’s neck open, and blood spurted and flowed down the bodies of both ponies.

A little bit of blood splattered Luna's muzzle, but she didn't flinch.

“You didn't stop me.” Scarlet observed, smiling mischievously.

“I found it unnecessary ." Luna replied.

“Oh?” Scarlet raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

“You are a vile beast. And you will find yourself brought to justice, one day. But her life was ready to end.” Luna said simply.

“Is that how you feel? How interesting, thinking you're the only one worthy to judge life. But I guess I've got no complaints.”

And with that, Scarlet and her prey vanished. Ponies around began waking, the spell vanishing with the death of the caster. Luna wiped the splattered blood from her face. It truly must be her…, Luna thought. Exhausted, she flew down and walked to pick up her subject from the tree where she lay. Luna prodded Inkheart with a gentle hoof. The Pegasus twitched slightly, and Luna sighed with relief. She was alive.

Luna lifted Inkheart onto her back, careful to not jostle any broken bones, and nonchalantly began using her magic to sweep up tree branches.

“We have fought well, my subject.”

It was time to clean up, and the next day nopony would know.