Dark Souls: Story of the Blanks

Chapter Ten

Covenant Of The Stalwart Moon

Alma's eyes slowly opened, and her vision blurred momentarily before quickly returning. She looked around to see where she was. She noticed Mitta and Apple Bloom looking out the window while Celestia and Nightmare Moon were sound asleep, with blankets covering them both. The champion of Ash pulled herself up before letting out a hissing sound from the pain she felt in her right arm. This caused Mitta and Apple Bloom's ears to twitch as they looked over at the bat pony with a sigh.

"Nice to see you're up," Mitta said as she and Apple Bloom approached her. "I figured you would be knocked out for the rest of the night."

"Yeah, especially after what happened with that monster throwing you around like Big Mac tossing a barrel filled with apples around the farm. How are you feeling, by the way?"

"I'm Sore, but I'm fine...at least I think I'm fine," Alma said while slowly pulling herself up from the bed. "Where are we?"

"You're in my home," Zecora said as the bat pony looked to her right to see the zebra girl wearing tribal attire walking over to her. "Nice to see you're okay. I am Zecora. The zebra Apple Bloom mentioned to you before coming here, no?"

"Yeah, she did... I'm sorry, just...how long was I knocked out?"

"A good five hours," Mitta answered. "Which you needed given the fight at the ruined castle...which I'm surprised. A normal pony wouldn't survive a beating like that, nor have a body as durable as you...are you even a pony?"

"Let's just say that having a potion to head you in your mouth can be useful." The bat pony answered.

"Ah, so you secretly drank something and kept the liquid in your mouth just in case of emergencies. Not a bad trick, but also a dangerous one, seeing how you would have choked on it or spat it out if that monster punched you in the stomach."

"I…trained a lot to endure stuff like that," Alma said while stretching her limbs, causing her to make loud cracking sounds from her bones cracking a bit. "I only drank the flasks to replenish my magic and health during the fight, and I don't remember drinking it afterward, seeing how I passed out. Could it be the magic of this world affecting my body... I'll have to test that out later when I can get the chance." She thought before noticing Nightmare Moon and Celestia sleeping against each other unknowingly. "Did you guys set them up like that?"

"That would be your friend Mitta who did that," Zecora answered as the bat pony looked at her with a raised eye.

"Not much room in this place, plus I'm still angry at Celestia for what she did to me and my town," Mitta said as Alma walked over to the two alicorns and lightly tapped their faces.

"Rise and shine, ladies. It's time to get going before the folks in Sunnytown track us here." Alma said as the two alicorns started to slowly wake up. They blinked momentarily before looking at each other for a quick second as they backed away while glaring. "Nice to see you're up. Hope you got enough rest? Because we'll be leaving in a few minutes or so."

"We're leaving? But shouldn't we stay here, seeing how it's still nighttime? Not to mention, Zecora did place a barrier around her home with the powder dust she made." Celestia said as Alma cracked her neck.

"Normally, that wouldn't be an issue. But seeing how those idiots stole certain magic spells from my tomes, scrolls, and books I carry, they have means to slip by stuff like this...which Zecora will have to come with us as well." She said, which took Zecora by surprise.

"Is it that bad that I have to leave my home in the Everfree Forest?"

"Do you have ways of stopping or defending against a demon made from the body of a living pony?"

"...That would explain the loud roars I heard earlier," Zecora said as she started collecting her things and placing them in a bag off the side of the counter.

"Well, while she's doing that. I would like to do something first." Nightmare Moon said before walking over to Alma and touching her shoulder. Upon doing that, everyone in the room, minus Zecora, blinked in confusion before seeing the dark alicorn pull her hand away to reveal a purple soul in her hand.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Celestia yelled as Nightmare Moon smirked.

"The soul of your knight that was the demon Alma fought." She said before looking back at Alma. "For some reason, this pony has a lot of souls within her body. It would be impossible for a normal pony to have more than one soul within their body. I take it as another thing your father's curse on you can do?"

"Yeah, anypony or monsters I kill, their souls go right into me. Guess you could say. The more I kill, the stronger I get, in a way." She said as Celestia stared at her in horror and shock. "It's not my fault I'm like this. If I had the means to remove it, then I would. But I came to terms with this."

"This... let's just get going before I mentally break down from all this," Celestia said as Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes at her reaction.

"We will. I just need to do something first before we go." Nightmare Moon said before turning her attention back to Alma. "I can turn this soul along with the other souls you have into weapons that might help you in this upcoming battle that we're sure to be involved with, or power to increase your already astonishing strength now." She said as the bat pony raised an eyebrow at her.

"But there's a price for it, right?"

"Indeed. I want to make a pact with you, a foreigner from a strange land." Nightmare Moon said as the bat pony was about to reply, only for Celestia to speak up.

"Out of the Question! Do you think I will let you trick this pony into forming a contract with you? For all we know, you could be just using her for your evil goal to take over Equestria."

"Yeah, because taking over Equestria would be so easy. I already told you that my desire to take over this country pretty much died eight years ago due to my stone imprisonment. You can believe it if you want. I don't really care at this point."

"Also, I wouldn't be talking smack about her mistakes. Need I remind you about what happened to Apple Bloom and me?" Mitta asked as the white alicorn was about to say something, only for the earth pony to speak again. "Bare in mind, you pretty much got us killed. While Nightmare Moon only wanted to make the nights last longer." She said before going silent. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Thank you, Mitta. I'll be sure to pay you back for that." Nightmare said before going back to Alma again. "So, care to take up my offer? Seeing how you have souls inside you, you do need some weapons made out of them? Can't rely on the same weapons you have now, no?"

"You make a fair point...Alright. I'll take up your offer." Alma answered as Nightmare Moon smiled. "Do you have something to make it official, like blood or something involving writing?" She asked as the dark alicorn summoned a jet-black color goblet before her. The bat pony took the goblet and looked inside it to see the dark blue liquid inside it.

"Drink from the goblet filled with my blood, and our pack will be complete. Now, fair warning, there might be some-" Before she could finish, the bat pony quickly drank down the liquid, which took Nightmare Moon by surprise. "Side effects...wow, not even worried that you might be drinking poison."

"Is it poison?"

"No, but you could at least let me finish my sentence before guzzling it down like a dehydrated pony in a desert." She said before continuing. "Side effects include slight appearance changes, mainly your eyes and hair. Eternal youth, which I can say will come in handy over the years, and a vast reservoir of magic inside you. Not unlimited magic spells, don’t get the two confused."

"Will it happen now or possibly later?" Alma asked as Nightmare Moon shrugged. "Great... let's hope it doesn't happen while we leave this place."

"Not before I can make you a weapon that can be helpful to you." Nightmare Moon said before motioning for Alma's greatsword. "Mind if I see your sword?" The bat pony, without question, hands over her weapon to Nightmare Moon as the dark alicorn places the soul within the sword. Once inside, her horn began to glow as a burst of arcane magic erupted from the moonlight greatsword. The light slowly faded from within the hut, revealing the greatsword's new appearance. She could see that the blade was thinner, the guard straight and not curved backward, and the handle a bit longer. A smirk appeared on Nightmare Moon's face as she snapped her fingers to place the sword inside of a sheath that she made appear out of nowhere before handing it over to her. The bat pony eyed the newly looking moonlight greatsword as she poured some magic into the sword. Upon doing so, the greatsword began to glow brighter than it was initially, which caused Alma to stare at it in amazement.

"Wow, it's as if you returned it to its former glory. No, better than its former glory," She said before placing her weapon on her back holster. "Guess you weren't kidding about being able to make new weapons."

"Technically, it's still the same weapon. Just more refined and not covered in rust due to aging over the years and infused with Equestrian magic. If you have or find any souls from monsters or something, just bring them to me, and I'll make, enforce, fuse, or refine weapons to your liking."

"I'll be sure to let you know if I do. But for now, let's get going. You got everything you need, for the time being, Zecora?"

"For now, yes. But what is your plan for dealing with what's happening in the Everfree Forest?" Zecora asked as the bat pony shrugged.

"I just want to get out of this forest before they send a monster after us. Because I can't fight while worrying about you all, seeing how you can't defend yourselves to some degree. Once we're out, we'll think of a plan or something to deal with them." She said as she noticed Zecora finishing packing her belongings. "Sorry, but you might not be able to return to your home for quite some time."

"It is fine. I am friends with the ponies of Ponyville. So getting a temporary new home shouldn't be an issue. That or if Twilight and her friends are willing to let me stay with them until this matter is resolved."

"Well, that's good to hear." She said before looking at everyone else.

“Is everypony ready?” Mitta asked as she took her eyes off the window to see everyone nodding. "Good, because three of them are watching us from behind a tree."

"...Okay, time to run." Apple Bloom said as she was about to run towards the door, only for Celestia to use her magic to levitate her off the ground and place her next to Mitta.

"Pretty sure they're not that much of a threat, seeing how they haven't done anything so far. But right now, we should leave before they tell their friends about this place." Alma said before looking over at Apple Bloom. “How far is it to Ponyville?”

"It's just a straight shot down the dirt road that leads down from Zecora hut to the entrance of the Everfree Forest."

"Perfect." The pony walked over to the window Mitta was looking through. "So they're hiding behind that tree?"

"Yeah...wait, what are you going to do?" Mitta asked as she noticed Alma's hand charging with electricity and forming into a bow. She soon takes aim at the tree the three zombie ponies were hiding behind and fires an arrow at it. Once the arrow landed, the tree burst into flames as the zombies hiding behind said tree quickly bolted off to the side and tried to run back into the forest. Only for the bat pony to shoot two of them down by knocking their heads off.

"Damn, guess two out of three will have to do for now." She said before making the bow disappear and began to head towards the door to the hut. "The fire will spread, which will act like a blockade for the citizens of Sunnytown. So they'll have to go around it, which will give us some time to get to Ponyville."

"... I'm a bit impressed...though wouldn't it take some time before the fire spreads?" Celestia asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Apple Bloom said as she pointed over at the forest, which quickly caught on fire, taking everyone by surprise.

"Okay, now we can haul flanks and run." Mitta said as everyone quickly bolted out of the hut and down the dirt road to Ponyville.