Dark Souls: Story of the Blanks

Chapter Eleven

Such Black Light

(Entrance of The Everfree Forest)

“Alright girls. Whatever is going on in the forest, it might lead to the reason why Ponyville and Canterlot are being attacked.” Twilight said as she and her friends were standing in front of the Everfree Forest entrance. “Is everypony ready?” She asked as her friends nodded. Upon seeing this she turns her attention to Applejack who has an uncomfortable expression. “Are you sure you want to go with us, Applejack? I...know you’re not that comfortable with going into the forest. Especially after-”

“Will you stop bringing that up!? I said I’m fine, and I mean I’m fine. So will you stop asking me about it almost every day!?” Applejack said as it caused everyone to flinch. “Look, we have a mission to do. The sooner we get this over and done with, the better.”

“Right...s-sorry. I’m just making sure that you were okay with-”

“I’m fine. End of discussion.” Applejack said before pushing past Twilight and the others. As the farm pony went ahead, Twilight looked at her friends with a worried expression.

“I’ll keep an eye on Applejack.” Rainbow Dash said as she quickly followed after Applejack, only to notice the earth pony stopping. “Is something wrong, Applejack?”

“Something is moving in the forest.” She said as Twilight and the other walked over to her.

“Maybe it’s an animal?” Fluttershy said as she was about to walk over to where the sound was coming from, only for Applejack to place a hand in front of the Pegasus.

“I don’t think that’s an animal Fluttershy,” Twilight said before noticing the sound getting louder. “Change of plans, girls. We might have to deal with whatever it is that’s coming at us.” Just as the girls quickly got into formation in preparation for what to come, Alma’s sword erupted from the bush causing the girls to jump backward as the bat pony along with Celestia made their way unknowingly in front of Twilight and her friends. The solar princess blinked in surprise at this as a smile appeared on her face as Twilight and her friends' eyes widened in surprise.

“Princess Celestia!?” Twilight and her friends said in unison which caused Alma to cover her ears a bit from the yelling.

“What are you doing here in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight asked before noticing the solar princess’s attire. “What happened to you? I thought you weren’t supposed to return until tomorrow morning?”

“Originally I was...but things...kind of went into a spiral of chaos and mayhem for us.”

“You mean for you and the bat pony with you?” Fluttershy asked as she and the other looked over at her which caused her to smile awkwardly and wave at them.

“Well her and the others.” The girls looked at each other in confusion as Nightmare Moon, Mitta, and Zecora made their way from behind Celestia and Alma. Upon being seen, the girls gasped in shock upon seeing Nightmare Moon and Mitta’s undead-like appearance as Rainbow Dash was the first to charge at the dark Alicorn. Only for Celestia to stop her with her magic and cause her to flinch from the pain she felt from her weakened horn. “Easy Rainbow Dash. Now’s not the time nor place to start a fight.”

“Are you crazy!? Nightmare Moon is right there and could be planning to stab you in the back or something!” Rainbow Dash said as she struggled in the magical grip she was in. “We need to stop her before-”

“Now is not the time! We’ll talk about this once we’re away from the forest for tonight.” Celestia said as she looked over at Twilight. “We’ll head over to the Castle of Friendship tonight and explain what has happened. Under no circumstances, are any of you allowed to bring harm to her and the others along with me.”

“Um, okay. B-But just a fair warning...there’s a giant hole in the side of the castle.” Twilight said as it caused Celestia to pause. She soon released her hold on Rainbow Dash as she looked over at Alma and stared at her with a deadpan expression.

“Blame Grey Hoof that summoned the monster,” Alma said, causing Celestia to sigh in slight annoyance as she motioned for the group to follow her. Alma was about to follow after the two groups, only to stagger a bit as she felt Apple Bloom quickly move underneath the bat pony’s cape. “Hiding behind me isn’t going to help Apple Bloom. Nor will I allow it.”

“B-But….”

“They’re going to find out eventually. Might as well be now, or would you rather deal with the ponies of Sunnytown? Because given how they are...I’m pretty sure you've been through enough.” She said as Apple Bloom paused to consider her choices. However, that moment of pause ended when she felt the bat pony pick her up by the back of her shirt. “Time’s up, let's go.”

“H-Hey! Put me down, consarnit! This is no way to treat a filly!”

“I’m pretty sure you lost that right when you met me. Now quit your whining and let’s go. I prefer not to stand here and wait for something else to come out of the Everfree Forest to try and kill us...again.”

“Put me down you jerk! I told you that I don’t want-”

“Apple Bloom…” Apple Bloom’s eyes widen upon hearing Applejack’s voice as she and Alma look over at the older farm mare that is staring at the two. Mainly Apple Bloom’s zombie-like appearance. “N-No...i-it can be you...can it?”

“H-Hey sis….H-How’s it going?” Apple Bloom said as a nervous grin appeared on her face. Applejack simply stared at her younger sibling for a moment before collapsing to the ground. Fluttershy was the first to hear the farm pony fall to the ground as she turned around and gasped in shock. Before she could head over to her fallen friend, she looked over at Alma who was holding an undead Apple Bloom in her arms as the young filly waved awkwardly at her.

“Fluttershy, come on. We have to-” Before Rainbow Dash could finish, she looked over at where the pegasus was looking, causing her eyes to widen. “Holy Celestia! Apple Bloom!?” She yelled as they turned their attention to Alma and Apple Bloom. They gasped in horror from seeing the young filly’s undead-like body.

“Apple Bloom...is that you?” Twilight asked as the young filly nodded while looking away. “What on the wide earth of Equestria happened to you?”

“You,” Rainbow Dash said as she turned her attention to Nightmare Moon. “You did this to her, didn’t you!?”

“Quick to go assuming I had something to do with this. Why don’t you ask your princess about it? After all, she is the reason why she and Mitta are like this.” She said with a devilish grin on her face as the girls glared at her.

“You expect us to believe that? Especially coming from a monster that almost took over Equestria?” Twilight asked as the dark alicorn laughed diabolically. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking which one of us is the true monster here in this story.” She said before looking over at Celestia. “Right...Celestia~?” The white alicorn stopped to look over at Nightmare Moon with a tired glare before continuing to head over toward the castle of friendship.

“We should leave. Lest you forget that we’re still in need of a place to sleep until the morning.” She said before using her magic to levitate Applejack as the group began their walk toward the castle of friendship. As they were walking, unknowingly to the group. A small wisp-like ball would be watching them from the side of the forest entrance. It would look at the group for a moment before quickly following after them while keeping itself hidden from them and others.

(Castle of the Twin Sisters)

“This is not going so well.” Grey Hoof said as he looked over the destruction of the castle ruins. “Never knew that Alma was this talented in combat. We need to make her into our friend.”

“Is that wise Grey Hoof?” Three Leaf asked as she looked over at some of the undead ponies that were caught in the fight between the bat pony and demon. “You saw what she could do with that sword, not to mention the books she’s carrying?”

“Indeed, which is why we need her asap.” He said while walking over to Ivory Stone’s mangled body. “I’m sending our new friend here to retrieve her. Let's hope he can do the job SouthPaw couldn’t do by himself.” Gray Hoof’s hand began to glow a crimson blood color as he thrust his hand into his chest. Upon doing so, Ivory Stone’s body jerked a bit as he stood up. He lets out a gurgling sound as a white liquid substance pours out of his mouth and soon forms a sphere around him. In a matter of seconds, the sphere shatters to reveal a monstrous tall being standing in front of Grey Hoof.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could do that Grey Hoof.” Three Leaf said as she admired his work.

“Not fully complete, but thanks for the compliment.” He said before looking at the angelic demon. “Bring Alma and her friends back to us. Do not return until you do, my friend.” He ordered as the demon vanished in a ray of light.

“You think Ivory Stone will get them?”

“I hope so. I would hate to have what happened to Southpaw happen the same to Ivory. All we can do now is wait and hope he’ll win.”

(Castle of Friendship, Map Room)

Once the hole in the wall was fixed with the assistance of Starlight, Celestia began to explain tonight’s event and her past mistake to Twilight and her friends in the room. Where Celestia couldn’t reply due to the lack of knowledge of the Sunnytown incident, Mitta filled in along with Nightmare Moon. Though they didn’t believe most of what the dark alicorn said, Celestia was willing to back her up by telling the truth. After a few minutes when Celestia was done explaining what had happened, the room was filled with an awkward silence as Twilight and her friends looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces.

“So basically what you’re saying is, that's because of Celesita’s past mistake. We now have to deal with a bunch of undead ponies from a lost forgotten town in the middle of the forest, who can turn ponies or animals into monsters thanks to them stealing your magic books, and are now going to try to turn everypony into undead ponies like they are because they think cutie marks are curse marks?” Starlight asked as Mitta nodded.

“Pretty much, yeah. Anypony that comes into Sunnytown that’s new, Grey Hoof turns them into what I look like.”

“But you look different than how you were outside. Is there a reason why?” Twilight asked as the Mitta shrugged.

“During the daytime or in an area with enough light, we look like any other pony. But during the night, that's when we look like the undead. But that is beside the point. We need to take down Grey Hoof or else more ponies will suffer the same fate as I have.”

“Is that all? That doesn’t seem too hard. Especially when we have four alicorns and us. So I say we take the fight to them and knock them all out in one fell swoop!” Rainbow Dash said as Alma chimed in on the conversation.

“Three alicorns. Celestia’s horn is chipped due to falling out of the sky, so her godly magic is weakened until she recovers.” She said as Celestia nodded while Fluttershy was patching her horn up. “They also copied some of the darker spells from the spell books I carry with me, they have the uphill advantage over the Everfree Forest seeing how they lived there for a very long time.”

“Not to mention going in there without a plan would just give them more ammo. Because they set up traps that were originally used to keep the animals of the Everfree Forest away. But now they use them to capture or kill anypony that gets near the town. So sending ponies into the unknown would be bad.” Mitta said before leaning against the wall of the crystal castle. “Much as I want to see the place burned and destroyed, we need to think this much clearer and not rush it.”

“M-Maybe we can try and talk to them?” Fluttershy asked which caused Mitta to look over at the pegasus. “I’m sure we can reason with them if we can tell them that a cutie mark isn’t something to be afraid of.”

“Oh! Maybe we can throw them a party as a sign of friendship! No pony can say no to a party like I do!” Pinkie Pie added as the undead earth pony snorted in annoyance.

“You two can’t be serious, right? Talking to Grey Hoof would be like trying to tell an earth pony that you can’t turn an apple into an orange.”

“Darling, aren’t you being a bit...well dramatic. I don’t want to sound offensive to you. But we’ve saved Equestria countless times while you were in the Everfree Forest for a long time. I’m sure we can figure something out just by talking to him so we can reach an under-”

“Talking to Grey Hoof isn’t going to do or solve anything.” Apple Bloom said as Twilight and her friends looked over at the young undead filly. “I should know. I tried to tell him that, even showed him that a cutie mark isn’t dangerous by showing him mine...it didn’t end so well.” She said while her body began to shake. “All it did was make him angry...angry to the point where he did this to me...worse part of it...I was awake and alive when he performed the ritual on me two years ago...H-He removed parts of my skin, replaced my organs, cut off parts of my limbs, and replaced with somepony else. I begged him to stop, but all he did was smile and continue.”

“He did that to everypony that has a cutie mark on them,” Mitta added as Twilight and the other stared in shock at Apple Bloom. “While some manage to come out with their sanity in check, others aren't so lucky and are kept within his basement.”

“And where in the Everfree Forest are they?” Applejack said as she walked over to Apple Bloom to comfort her.

“Mitta knows. But I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t tell you seeing how you’ll end up going after them alone given what happened to your sister.” Nightmare Moon said which caused Applejack to glare at her. “Or do you want your family to mourn over the fact that you got yourself killed by an undead sociopath?”

“You expect me to just stand here and do nothing! Look what they did to Apple Bloom!?”

“Yes, I can see that. But like with Rainbow Dash’s plan. You’ll end up getting yourself killed in less than a second if you let your rage get the better of you.” The dark alicorn said as she leaned back in her seat. “We need to wait a bit until we have a plan. When that happens, then we can go to town on them. But for now, we’ll wait until Celestia and I can recover.”

“Wait, you’re joining this?” Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. “You expect us to believe that you turned over a new leaf just like that?”

“You were able to give Discord three chances, what’s so special about him that you’re willing to trust him more than me?”

“Well...um...that’s because...um….Twilight helps me out here.”

“I hate to say this, but she’s right about that...though how did you know about Discord and what had happened for the past nine years?” Twilight asked as Moon pointed a finger at Apple Bloom who sheepishly smiled and waved at them after Applejack calmed her down a bit. “Well, that would make sense. But, Nightmare Moon is right. If we give Discord multiple chances to change, then we should give Nightmare Moon a chance to change her ways as well. And seeing how she’s willing to help us with this problem, then this is a good way to show that she’s changed.”

“Plus we need all the help we can get. And having someone that can use magic is very helpful.” Alma added as the cyan pegasus looked over at Nightmare Moon who winked and blew her a kiss. Rainbow Dash shivered upon seeing this as she huffed in annoyance.

“Fine, but I got my eyes on you Nightmare Moon.”

“Well, I didn’t know you had a thing for bad girls like myself~,” Nightmare Moon said, which caused Rainbow Dash to Blush as she moved away. The dark alicorn smirks before looking over at Celestia. “Seeing how you and Luna have more power in the authority of this land. You’re going to have to inform your royal guards about this and have them form a barrier or something at the entrance of the Everfree Forest.”

“But doing that means Zecora won’t be able to go back to her home until this matter is taken care of,” Twilight said as Zecora simply smiled at the group.

“Sadly that is true. But this is an evil even my potions can’t protect me from for long. For the time being, I will be living with Fluttershy seeing how her home is near the Everfree Forest, but in an area where I can make stronger potions and stuff to ward off the evil that is from Sunnytown.”

“Okay, so other than that. What else are we supposed to do now?” Starlight asked before noticing Alma walking over to the window of the room they were in. “Is something wrong-” Before she could finish, Alma raised a finger at her as a means to keep her quiet for a moment. The bat pony’s ears twitched a bit as she placed a hand on her greatsword.

“Something’s coming this way,” Alma said before looking at the group. “Those who can’t fight, should leave and warn the ponies of this town.”

“Wait what do you-” Before Twilight could finish her sentence, a burst of blinding light erupted from the center of the room. The light caused everyone, safe for Apple Bloom, Mitta, and Alma to cover their eyes as the burst of light quickly vanished to reveal a bone-white monstrous being with gold hair and a spear in its hand. While everyone was still trying to recover from the light, Alma took notice of the creature about to impale Twilight with its spear as she quickly unsheathed her greatsword, fired off a beam of arcane magic at the monster, and sent it flying out of the castle.

“What the hay was that!?” Applejack asked as she was the first to recover from the sudden light blinding her.

“Grey Hoof summoned another monster. And this one looks like it’ll be a problem.” Mitta answered before looking over at Alma as she quickly gave chase after it.

“Where’s she going?” Rainbow Dash asked after recovering from the light next.

“Knowing her, she went after it,” Celestia asked as she looked over at Twilight. “Wake Spike up and send a letter to my sister to come to Ponyville asap.” She said before she and Nightmare Moon decided to go after the bat pony and the monster. “We’ll try to assist Alma as best as we can! You girls get to work on getting as many ponies away from the fight!”

“Right,” Twilight said before looking at the others once her vision came back. “Applejack and Zecora, you two take care of the west side of town. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, take care of the east side. Rarity and Pinkie Pie, take care of the south side. Apple Bloom and Mitta. I hate to ask this, but I need you two to take care of the north.”

“Wait a minute. You can’t just send my sister off to do something that dangerous.” Applejack said as she held onto the young filly tightly. “What if somepony tries to hurt her or worse?”

“That’s why I’ll be with her as we do this,” Mitta answered as she pulled out a frying pan from her side. “Plus, if we can scare them to leave their house for a time, then that can be helpful.”

“I know this is asking for a lot, Applejack. But right now, we need to help out Ponyville first before more ponies end up in danger from the monster Celestia’s fighting.” Twilight said as the farm pony stared at her for a moment before sighing.

“Fine, but once I’m done with my end of things. I’m going after my sister so she doesn’t hurt herself. Got it?”

“Got it,” Twilight said before turning her attention to the group. “Alright everypony, let’s go save Equestria!”