Redux: Lineage

I was woken with an ice-cold shock surging through my body, water that felt like pure pain splashing over me as my eyes snapped wide, gasping in horror.

"Rise and shine, sweetie," a familiar voice said mere moments before a metal gauntlet socked me straight in the mouth, cutting my cheek open and drawing blood immediately.

My head lashed to the side, neck cracking loudly as pain spiralled right through my damaged skin, hurt bones, and spinal cord.

"That was for what you did to Juniper," he spat.

"Then you better have enjoyed it, because I'm gonna get you four times as badly when I get my hands on you," I threatened, looking up at the meek man who felt he was so tough attacking an opponent tied to a chair.

He, unsurprisingly, hit me again, gashing my face open even more than before and causing another wave of pain to rush through me.

"You shut your mouth!" he roared.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Got a right hook so weak you can't even do it yourself? Why not get mommy to help you? I've heard you can't do anything without her by your side."

He seemed to mentally snap at that comment, booting me in the chest hard enough to send me and the chair flying backwards, knocking the wind out of me and causing my sternum to crack loudly.

"That's enough!" I heard Selana order, looking up to see the blonde Vampire queen striding over to the two of us. "Alistair, he's no good to us dead."

"I won't stand here and let him speak ill of our family," he snarled, balling his fists again.

"Then go somewhere you can't hear him," she ordered. "If your pride is damaged so easily by petty insults, then I've even less hope for you now than I did before. Now, leave us be."

Alistair glared at me hatefully, his temper snapping once more as I winked playfully at him, the armoured Vampire raising his fists once again only for Selana to lay an arm across his chest and move him backwards.

"I won't tell you again, Alistair," she said in a sterner tone. "Leave. Now."

He sighed, lowering his hands and stalking away, cape billowing behind him as he did so. Once he'd left the large room we were in, Selana moved behind me, picking my chair up and seating it properly, then returning to my front and crossing her arms.

"Y'know... I honestly expected you to knock his teeth out there and then," I shrugged as best I could.

"I try to avoid harming my family as much as I can. He may be an idiot, but he's my sister's idiot, and I love him as one of my own," she sighed, looking at the cut on my cheek.

She moved a hand towards my face, fingers glowing with a faint white light as she used her magic to heal my injuries. I looked at her with a surprised expression, unsure of whether or not she was doing this just to set up some horrendously painful torture scheme later on.

"My apologies, Richter," she said. "I had not meant for him to injure you in such a matter."

"Apologies? Hospitality?" I asked in a chuckling tone. "What kind of evil dictator are you with all these manners and kind words."

I could tell that my words struck a nerve with Selana. But instead of causing her temper to flare, they seemed to upset her. Even hurt her in a way I never expected them to. She waved her hand, conjuring up a chair-like construct that she sat down on, her armour rattling quietly as she sat down. She removed her crown, staring at it with distant, red eyes as she drew in a heavy breath.

"Evil dictator," she repeated, whether to me or herself, I couldn't tell. "I guess I must seem like that to you, mustn't I? The mad Vampire Queen desperate to bathe the world in shadows and blood for all eternity."

"Kind of," I said. "Hard to see you as the Queen of Roses and Hugs when you murdered your own niece."

Selana's eyes moved up to me, not showing anger or malice, but instead... regret. She set her crown down on the ground between her feet, resting her elbows on her knees as she interlocked her fingers, lost in thought.

"I taught her to fish..." she said, not really to anyone in particular. "The first time she tried it she ended up hooking the straw hat she wore... thought she was getting attacked from behind my something. Threw the rod aside and jumped headfirst into the lake."

I watched as a smile touched Selana's lips, the clearly happy memories flooding back to her along with the bitter sadness, making no attempt to hide the tears that rolled down her face despite her attempts to keep a straight face. "We went with Verella, who'd known how to bait and hook by herself at that point. She jumped right in after her cousin and pulled her back to 'safety'. Water was three feet deep, barely deep enough to crouch in and get wet. I've honestly never laughed as hard since then, I don't think."

"So why did you kill her?" I asked in a low, soft tone.

"Because I had to," she said, standing up and getting out of her chair, pacing briefly as she crossed her arms. "As a young woman, freshly blooded, I wanted nothing more than to lead my people. I wanted to be the Queen that brought our kind to prosperity. I wanted to do away with the petty in-fighting, get rid of the power squabbles, and make all of my Vampire brothers and sisters unite and prosper. I had it all figured out."

She stopped walking, leaning on the back of the chair and looking at me once more, a cold, drained expression in her face that displayed age and exhaustion beyond what her pale, youthful features could ever dream of showing off.

"As you can see... that plan burned to ashes like an ancient phoenix," she sighed. "My people are at war with one another, my own closest advisers are beginning to doubt my course of action... and I have the blood of the girl I loved as my own daughter staining my hands until the end of time. My own daughter..."

Selana took to pacing once more, hands on her hips as she increased her speed, clearly trying to channel the grief into some kind of movement.

"I turned my own daughter against me. I have always tried to do right by her, tried to explain my reasoning for why she can and cannot do things, tried to instil my own beliefs of what was best for our race into her as she grew," she growled. "I'm more than proud of her for standing up for her own ideals, never backing down or cowering to a larger opponent. She's everything I could have ever wanted her to be. Strong, intelligent, determined... and I hate it more than anything that she has to disagree with my plans."

"If my plans involved slaughtering thousands of people and trying to take over the world, I wouldn't be too shocked if my kids hated me for it too," I said, looking around the red-lit chamber we were in, spotting a similar-looking altar to the one in the Fort.

"Slaughtering thousands... tell me Richter, speak to me as royal to royal," she said, returning to her chair and leaning forwards, looking at me in the eyes. "If a country did nothing more to you than slaughter your kind, murder your brothers and sisters, and treat you as if you were nothing more than a blight on this earth, would you not go to war? Not fight to defend yourself?"

"I'd try to find a peaceful solution first," I commented.

"And what do you do when diplomacy fails, hm?" she asked, leaning back and resting her hands on her thighs. "What other options do you have? How can you hope to speak man to man with an entire planet that hates and despises you solely because of what you are? How can you ever hope to progress diplomatic relationships and progress with a world that burns you and your family at the stake for the crime of existing?"

"You... could avoid conflict," I stammered, not too confident in my own response.

"Could I? How much conflict can I avoid when my kind is constantly hunted, like deer and moose, heads removed and mounted as trophies, written about and classified in the same books as Ghouls and Zombies; mindless, inhumane monsters that do nothing but seek to harm all those around them?" she asked. "How do I avoid a fight with those who come seeking one? Do I live in fear, never stepping out of my hole in the ground for the risk of being stalked, captured, and burned for the fun of another hunter?"

"I... there... you..." I said, knowing full well that the only thing I could do to refute these points was to flat out lie to her, and that was something I couldn't do.

"When diplomacy fails, when hiding fails, when I have walked and bled on every other path, what other choices to protect my people do I have than war, Richter?" she asked me. "You can understand that as an Alicorn, can't you? You and yours were created to protect the people from all forms of injustice. How can you stand besides Celestia and Luna, women that have killed thousands of men and women over their lives defending the weak and downtrodden, yet brand me a monster and strive to stop me because I'm attempting to do the same?"

"You're hurting innocents," I stated.

"I have hurt no innocents," she said with a shake of her head. "Every conflict I have been in, I've always given the other side a chance to remain at peace. To merely step aside and allow me to pursue my goal without the need for unnecessary bloodshed. Yet they refuse. They always refuse... you, yourself were given this offer by me... and you chose to draw steel. Immediately branding me the enemy without a second's thought because your ideals conflicted with mine. Because my goal wasn't the same as yours. And instead of taking the time to hear my woes, to listen to the crimes committed against my people, you saw the fangs and pale skin, the war path we walked... and you sought to kill me where I stood for daring to stand up to injustice."

I had no answer. What the hell could I say to her? No, you never should have stood up for yourself because that would oppress the people who are oppressing you? No, you should've just lay down and allowed yourself to die because superstitious old bastards who don't understand you and your kind said you had to die? How was I supposed to call myself any kind of protector if I stood by those slaughtering men and women merely trying to survive because it was part of the status quo.

"Selana... I..." I mumbled, shaking my head slowly as I looked at the conflicted Vampires Queen.

"Do you finally understand?" she asked, cocking her head slightly. "Now that you've taken a moment to sit there and listen to my story... can you raise your arm against me and still claim to be a hero?"

My father had once told me that, in most instances, there was no good side and bad side in war. Sure, there may be evil dictators or insane people behind the armies, but that didn't mean the vast majority, or even a small minority, of soldiers fighting for that side believed in that cause or, in some cases, even knew what they were fighting for. They were often times young men given chain mail and a sword before being forced into the front lines to die for a leader that didn't care for them.

As much as I hated to say it... maybe I was that young man? The little boy who'd been fed one half of the tale, the propaganda and the slander of the enemy, and had come to believe the stories and tales about the evil 'other side' and why our way of life was better than theirs. But here I sat, face to face with the leader of the forces that were laying siege to the entire world in an attempt to resurrect a Vampire God to kill hundreds of thousands... and I couldn't look at her and tell her she was wrong in her belief that her actions were just.

If this seemed to be about revenge, then maybe I could tell her she was misguided. But this wasn't about revenge. This was a woman, sick and tired of living in fear, taking the only road she had left to protect her people... if this was a person allied with the ideals of Equestria, I'd be fucking applauding them for their bravery and strength of heart to fight for their right to existence...

Why wasn't I applauding Selana?

War to liberate, war to save, and war to conquer... it all spilled blood. People would die no matter what the reason for war was, no matter how noble and pure the meaning behind the banner you had was, it and it's message would be tainted with blood before the trumpets of victory sounded after the final battle.

"Do you understand my plight now?" she asked, seeing in my face that I'd had some kind of epiphany.

"I... I understand... but..." I began before trailing off.

Selana leaned back, exhaling quietly as she looked down at her lap, eyes cold and dead once more as she continued to speak.

"You won't lay aside your weapon, will you?" she asked.

"I can't..." I admitted, guilt streaming through my very being.

"Very well..." she said, getting to her feet and turning her gaze towards the Altar. "I was hoping that you'd be able to welcome Sanguine as a friend and an ally... but if you won't stand by our side... then I cannot promise your safety."

My eyes rocketed open, only now noticing the silver-sealed corpse of the Vampire Goddess on the altar now that Selana had moved out of the way. The Vampire Queen walked over to the body, gliding a hand down the thin, skeletal body before her, her fingers coming to rest of the circlet around Sanguine's head. With a small grunt of exertion, she removed the circlet, casting it aside as it crumbled to dust. With a small sigh, Selana shattered the shackles that bound the corpse's wrists to its chest.

And finally, she raised her hand in the air, her palm glowing with a mix of green and golden magic, a spell that I knew was going to signal doom. With another grunt, she slammed the palm of her hand onto the choker around Sanguine's neck, breaking it off easily and leaving the silver skeleton bare and ready to be released.

Selana held up her hand, her fingers beginning to glow a silvery-red colour as some kind of spell mixed with her own natural aura, creating a loud warping sound as the silver around the skeleton began to bubble and boil, soon reverting to liquid that Selana cast aside easily, splattering it onto the floor and revealing the pristine, white skeleton beneath it. I struggled as hard as I could, desperate to unbind myself from the chair as Selana rested her hands against the Altar, looking down at the skeleton as it began to audibly regenerate tissue.

"I can promise nothing to you... but for your willingness and understanding..." she said, looking back at me with a sombre expression. "I will try as hard as I can to have her spare you. If only as a prisoner, I wish for your life to continue. I owe you that much, dear child."

It took less than a minute for the skeleton to regenerate its entire muscle structure, soon growing alabaster skin to cover the fibres, sprouting thick, red hair, the same colour as Verella's, that would reach down to the small of her back. Her nails grew into sharpened, claw-like constructs, and finally her consciousness seemed to return to her, eyes flying open and a loud gasp of oxygen, the first in however many millennia, sounding out across the hall as she sat up straight, fingers digging into the Altar hard enough to crack it as she looked at, towered over, Selana.

There was a look of confusion on the woman's... on the Goddess' face as she observed her surroundings, knowing full well this was not the chamber she was sealed away in... wherever that was. Her eyes also glanced down to the style of hair Selana had, the armour she wore, and the sword sheathed at her side.

"Gods Above, how long has it been?" she asked in a naturally-sultry, but rough and irritated tone. "Because the last time I had flesh, swords and armour were naught more than iron, string, and rocks."

"It has been quite a long time, Your Holiness," Selana said, bowing low to her Goddess. "Our estimates say that you were defeated and sealed away over fifteen thousand years ago."

"Deafeated?" she asked in a bitter tone. "Betrayed would be a much better term for it. That bastard son of mine and his treacherous wife... are they still among the living?"

"Not to my knowledge," Selana said, stepping back as Sanguine swung her legs over the side of the altar, keeping them wide open and making no attempt to hide her nethers.

"Hm. Serves them right," she said, hopping up off the Altar and, much to my regret for staring at them, causing her enormous breasts to jiggle in a rather hypnotic way.

Her body suddenly began to glow with dark magic, the black smoke it emitted soon forming itself into ragged clothing, an item meant to be an all-covering cloak that was nothing more than a moth-mauled pile of string and patchwork that still left her right thigh, upper left abdomen, neck, and the entirety of her back exposed.

"Blast it all," she cursed, tearing away the ruined cloak and returning to the nude, caring not, or not noticing, my wandering eyes. "Should've known it wouldn't have stood the test of time."

Her eyes glanced over to me, only now letting me notice that she had no visible pupil or iris, just snow white sclera that gave her quite a terrifying appearance.

"Hmph," she commented, briefly exploding into a puff of thick, black smoke that rushed over to me, soon reforming into her usual state, grabbing hold of me by the shirt and lifting my bound form to her face. "What are you?"

"An Alicorn," I answered honestly, seeing no reason to lie about it.

"A what?" she asked. "Is that some rank you humans bestow on each other?"

"No, Your Holiness," Selana said, moving over to Sanguine and placing an arm on hers. "Richter is one of the last few members of a species created by the Goddesses before they departed this world. He and his kind are meant to protect and safeguard over all forms of life."

Sanguine's eyes turned back to me, examining me thoroughly before powering up an energy blast in her hand, clearly intending to vaporise me.

"Your Holiness, please!" Selana exclaimed, getting Sanguine's attention again. "Richter is no threat to us, I assure you."

"You just said he's a servant of the Goddesses," she growled. "That makes him a threat."

"Please, Richter is beyond powerless. I've made every attempt to keep this war as bloodless as possible, and I cannot allow myself to see one who could be made an ally wasted like this," she bargained. "Please?"

"War? she asked, dropping me down to the floor, causing the chair to bounce and fall backwards, knocking the wind out of me again. "What war?"

"Since it has been so long since you last walked this world, many of our kind simply do not believe in your existence," Selana explained. "I've remained faithful ever since remnants of your holy blood cured my sister and I, and that proof has many of our kind on my side... but some others simply do not believe."

"Then I'm sure an appearance would make them believe, do you not?" she chuckled, killing off the energy blast she was charging and grinning playfully.

"I only ask that you harm them not," she said. "They are misguided, not blasphemous."

"After fifteen thousand years off this world, I'd begin to doubt my own existence as well," she smirked, turning back to me. "What are you going to do with the boy?"

"Return him to the cell he was last in..." Selana sighed, crossing her arms. "And then I'd like you to come and speak to my daughter. She'll definitely turn around on her stance if she sees you walk among us again."

"She doubts me?" Sanguine asked. "And stands against her mother?"

"She has a strong heart and a stronger spirit," Selana nodded. "And I love her for it, no matter the rift it causes between us."

"Hm... I can respect that," Sanguine said, placing her hands on her child-birthing hips. "If only I could say the same of my own treacherous child. Now, return this little mite to his cell so we can convert this troublesome daughter of yours."

"At once, Your Holiness," Selana bowed. "But first, we shall pay a visit to the tailor for a more modest appearance."

"Ah, yes. It wouldn't be fitting of my first real appearance in this world to be one remembered for the Godly Rent Girl, would it?"