Section Three

Chapters

Discovery
Trixie
Loyalty
Generosity
The Nightmare
Eclipse
Harmony
Meeting

Discovery

Harmony.

It is our guiding principle, to live together.

The sound of soft scratching filled the room, a low burning candle flickering and spreading Celestia's form against the walls of her tower.

Taking a short break Celestia sighed. "Even two hundred years later, I am still dealing with your schemes. Always wheels within wheels with you dear sister."

Looking up the White alicorn gazed out of her window, her sister’s moon hanging perfectly framed within its borders, a series of dark craters forming the face of a pony looking back at her, faintly Celestia could swear that she still hears that maniacal laugh ringing in her ears.

The night will last, forever!

The sound of hooves on castle stone breaks her out of her reverie, the door opening without so much as a knock, the wind putting the weak candle out of its misery as a royal guard stands on in the doorway.

"Ma'am, we have a situation."

Gazing at the slightly out of breath stallion the Princess can see a hint of fear in his eyes.

"It's about...Twilight."

In an instant Celestia is on her hooves, her expression serious as she commands the guard. "Take me to her."

The guard salutes. "Sir."

The panic rising in Celestia's chest threatens to overwhelm her as to her shock, The guard leads her not to Twilights tower, but deep into the castle's dungeon. When she arrives one look on the custodians face confirms that something is seriously wrong.

A foul stench meets Celestia's nose and she sighs, that particular smell having become all too familiar in the past few centuries.

The smell of death.

Bracing herself for a moment Celestia made her way through the thick portal and into the dungeon proper, her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the dim lighting.

It takes a long moment for her eyes to recognize what she's seeing, and even longer for her mind to stop running in circles.

Sitting before her, is Twilight, her hooves buried deep inside a Stallions torso. Her tiny horn is aglow, writing something on a piece of parchment behind her. When Celestia takes a step into the room her hoof comes down on something wet.

The small purple fillie's ears twitch at the noise.

"Since you aren't running, I assume it's Celestia herself, one moment." The filly finishes what it was she was doing and a few moments later the soft scratching sound of quill against parchment stopped. When the filly finally turns around to look at celestia, her gaze is perfectly steady.

Eyes dilated due to low lighting, breathing completely steady. Looking over Twilight’s face There is no sign of fear, or remorse. Honestly there was hardly any reaction at all.

It takes a moment for Celestia to find her voice but she does, her expression falling.

"Why twilight..”

Looking down at the corpse Celestia’s expression turns sad. “You know the law, it was the first thing I taught you."

The filly looks down at her bloody hooves, seeming to inspect the blood sticking to her purple fur, as she watched she notes how it dried into small clumps. "I wasn't aware that the law extends to prisoners slated to be executed. He was going to die in a few hours anyway. And besides." The small unicorns horn lit up, a book floated over to Celestia bathed in a magenta glow Celestia.

Grasping it in her magic, Celestia recognized the book as the last one she gave to Twilight as her next assignment, the title "Anatomy of a modern pony" standing out on it's cover.

"It was incomplete, it lacked a lot of details, the proper layout of the organs, variances in age, sex, and species. I found it terribly incomplete"

The entire area lit up with a violet glow as scrolls scattered about the floor float up, turning into a neat pile at Celestia's hooves.

Her expression unreadable Celestia opened one of the scrolls herself, a soft golden glow wrapping itself around her horn. Her eyes scan through a complete breakdown of the heart, it was hardly anything new to her eyes, but it was far more detailed than any filly should have been able to recreate.

Celestia's stern gaze falls upon the filly before her, sitting in a small pond of blood and looking up at her, her steady gaze showing merely a hint of pride at what she had accomplished.

Slowly, as Celestia’s fears begin to dwindle, somewhere in her mind gears begin to turn in mind, wheels within wheels beginning to spin.

Harmony has given her a gift.

"Tell me young one, how did you feel when you ended this prisoners life?" Celestia gestures toward the cadaver lying on the dungeon floor.

The young mare in question frowns, her eyes going unfocused as she attempts to answer.

"I can't recall, I was only thinking of pursuing knowledge at the time. he might have been yelling, but I don't remember anything he said if I'm being honest."

Rolling the scroll up in her magic, a flare sparks from Celestia's horn, catching the scroll itself on fire, the entire time the Alicorn's eyes were locked on her student's.

A spark of indignation, nothing more. Not even anger.

The wheels begin to spin faster.

"Interesting, I believe I may have uses for one such as you. Not many are born unable to connect with others as you, Come child." Celestia turns and walks out of the dungeon, startled guards staring at Celestia's bloody hooves, and when she left a moment later, a filly with stains moving up to her shoulders, and all over her chest. Many looked ill.

~~~~~~~

Twenty years later

The sound of scratching fills the room, a flickering candle sending a horned shadow about the room.

The door slowly creaked open and a figure steps into the loom, a new candle replacing the previous one.

"Are you quite sure about this twilight? Doing this will remove any chance of your ascension."

The scratching stopped as the quill slowly floats over to a nearby inkpot, a magenta glow fading from it. "I've done my own research on the matter Celestia." The quiet monotone of Twilights voice almost making her sound bored. "We both know that with my lack of empathy I lack the critical spark to trigger ascention. If your plan is to succeed, I'm going to need to be around for her return."

Turning to face Celestia Twilight paused for a long moment before continuing. "I am loathe to add further compulsions to my mind as well as you, but even thinking about it logically I won't get what I truly desire in a single lifetime." Twilight’s horn lights up, her magic grabbing the scroll she was working on. "I've completed work on the three Sections as you requested. You shall be in charge of Sections One and Two. The limitations of the spell make it difficult to use without..."

"I am not some white flower that needs coddling twilight, I know exactly what I am asking." Twilight's eyes narrow for a moment before continuing. "We must break them, individually. the limitations of not leaving lasting marks on their bodies narrows our options. Intrusive methods are restricted due to our current medical knowledge. I have outlined a plan for general cases, but if they resist the first three weeks, I may need to get personally involved."

Rising to her hooves Twilight twilight slowly makes her way to the doorway. "I don't wish to delay this any longer. Is the monster properly secured?"

Following behind Twilight Celestia sighs. "Yes, I truly wish there was a better method, but we've not managed to capture any of the originals my sister made."

Standing before a iron door Celestia takes a deep breath and opens the door, watching as twilight steps inside. Closing and locking the door she watches as her student slowly makes her way to the chained monster in the corner.

The beast hisses at her, red eyes glowing as it tracks the unicorn.

Celestia looks away and slides the viewing portal closed, a gasp of pain coming from the cell. Turning to a nearby guard. "Have a prisoner ready. My student is about to undergo a change, and I'm going to do my best to make it survivable."

Celestia's ear's flick toward the cell when the distinct sound of a telekinetic blade slicing through flesh, followed by the clang of shackles hitting the floor

Official personnel records: Section Three director Twilight Sparkle

Authorization level Queen required.

Director Twilight Sparkle:
Gender: F
Race: Unicorn Vampire
Clearance level: Apprentice
Relevant information:
Aside from the symptoms of Vampirism which T. Sparkle is suffering from, she exhibits many of the symptoms of sociopathy, such as lacking empathy for ponies and an inability to form lasting personal bonds. Subject has been shown to only acknowledge Celestia's instructions. How Celestia keeps her under control is never directly observed, speculation includes trading to acquire blood, or perhaps even physical stimulation.
Additional notes:

Author's Note

First chapter of a new story.

done with the help of a new editor.

Trixie

EIS dossier: Trixie Lulamoon

Authorization level Infiltrator required.

Trixie Lulamoon
Gender: F
Race: Unicorn
Clearance Level: None
Status: Flagged as potentially Disharmonious
Relevant Information:
Possesses an unusually high sense of self-worth. Observing agents have had difficulty determining if it truly is an act or signs of a deeper personal issue that goes against Harmony.

Special Notes: Currently undergoing personal instruction by Celestia for Operation Nightmare.

Twilight put down the clipboard, her magic blood red, tinged with flecks of darkness, nearly blending into the dark hallway she’s in. She looked above a nearby door, the clock ticking down from three minutes.

Once the timer reached 0:00 a small beep sounds Twilight opened the door, The light made her eyes hurt, taking a bit longer to adjust than a normal. when it did her gaze fell upon the blue unicorn sitting in the corner.

“Are you willing to agree to have the Harmony spell cast upon you?” Twilight’s voice is monotone, showing no strong emotion even at the smell that penetrated the room.

Opening a dark umbrella Twilight stepped into the room, a tingle passing through her body as she passed through the accelerated time field. Opening the umbrella to shield against the artificial sun above she stood in the doorway, the scorching heat of the room not seeming to phase her.

The room is spartan, white floors, white walls, a bucket on Trixie’s left being the only other thing of note.

Blue ears flicked at the sound of Twilight entering, the single occupant turning slightly, tired violet eyes locking onto Twilight’s red ones.

“Personally trying to break me? I know what this country is now.” Trixie goes to toss the bucket away from her, only managing the strength to move it slightly, the groan of metal echoed around the room for a moment.

“It’s a lie.” Fire still sparked in her eyes for a brief moment. “Did Celestia lie too? Was Trixie just one mistake away from this every time I made her laugh?”

Trixie tried again to move the bucket, panting a bit as she slumps again, the fire leaving her. “Trixie always thought she didn’t wear a mask near me. How foalish Trixie was.” Trixie goes back to looking at the corner. “Do what you must, Trixie never gives up.”

Twilight finds herself in an odd situation.

Trixie’s crime is against Harmony, and she’s showing no signs of penitence. Two weeks of food deprivation and her will is still unbroken. Twilight took her time trying to figure out the proper course of action.

The procedure for possession of forbidden magic artifacts was accelerated, possession of them amounting to treason, or at the very least sedition.

And that amulet was at the very top of the restricted list.

The procedure was clear.

Standard sleep and food deprivation, but more interaction to find out how they learned of the item in the first place, then execution if they refuse Harmony after two weeks of accelerated deprivation.

To buy herself some time Twilight checked the time field to make sure it was working properly, finding it slightly out of sync she fixes it absently.

When she’s done she makes her decision, returning her attention to Trixie her shoulders were hunched in fear, but she’s making no other attempt to defend herself.

With a soft humming sound, Trixie was put out of her misery, her head softly rolling from her shoulders and landing on the ground with a soft thud.

The smell of blood fills the room and Twilight’s breathing catches in her throat for a moment, biting her lip she turns and hastily exits the room.

Only to be greeted by a very heavily breathing Celestia.

“Twilight, It’s Trixie, she’s been taken here, I need to know where she is.” Celestia’s eyes are wider than normal, this must be important.

“I just executed her, She refused to submit to the spell after the first round.”

Celestia pushed past Twilight and looks into the room behind Twilight, gagging at the sight and looking away.

“No.”

Celestia takes a deep, shuddering breath.

“Why. she was only picked up….”

The smell of blood is getting to her, seeing the most expedient method to end the conversation Twilight seized it. “She was caught with the Alicorn Amulet. The procedure is expedited for possession of Endless Night class artifacts.”

Celestia waved a hoof dismissively. “I know the procedure, it would explain why I was not contacted first but this is not the...” Her voice trails off once she realized Twilight was already leaving, heading toward her office.

After all the centuries with Twilight, she knew better than to try to correct her rude behavior. Instead, she simply follows the smaller unicorn into her office, waiting patiently even as her mind is running around looking for a solution to her current predicament.

Twilight for her part pulled a small bag from a nearby cooled cabinet, opening it and drinking from it, the coppery smell of blood making Celestia try extra hard to hide her disgust, old memories of the battlefield threatening to come back.

“As I was saying, she’s a special case, we are out of time and she was the last viable candidate for operation Nightmare.”

Twilight took her time before answering. This case messed with her scheduled intake of blood, and her resolve was wavering. When she’s confident her urges are satisfied she returned the half-empty container to its storage, her body arguing against itself the entire way, demanding more like it always does.

When she’s done she takes a familiar seat at her desk. “I am aware, but this system works for a reason. Letting emotions get in the way of procedure is a slippery slope.”

The alicorn sighs, having come up empty on alternative plans. The only remaining option was…

To be frank, it was a terrible idea.

But it was out of alternatives; she couldn’t train a new student in time.

“From now on I’m to be informed on all expedited cases, even if I’m not going to be able to talk to them, consult me before executions.

Twilight frowns, taking a few moments to rifle through several documents before she found the one she was looking for. “This contradicts earlier commands. in 1570 you said-”

“I know what I said Twilight! But this can’t be allowed to happen again, I’ll deal with my... distaste for your work. It’s been a long time since I took the battlefield twilight, I’d rather not revisit such places again, but this takes precedence over that.”

Twilight simply looks at Celestia, once she’s certain that the alicorn is serious she began writing down the new procedure.

When she finished she looked up. “Will that be all?”

Celestia shakes her head sadly, I’m afraid not. Do you have the current files on the prospective element bearers?”

Twilight nods and pulls the relevant files, holding them out to Celestia in her magic. Celestia takes them but lowered them to the desk, sliding them toward Twilight.

“I recommend studying them yourself, the last option I have for a bearer of Magic is you.”

Quick on the uptake Twilight shook her head. “There are at least fifteen issues with that suggestion.”

“I’m well aware.”

“I can’t leave my work, Vampirism has been removed from history, there are any number of ways I might reveal crown secrets, let alone my….inability to read social cues, I’m likely to raise suspicion and not even notice it.”

“I am aware, Twilight.”

Twilight goes to open her mouth again but Celestia cuts her off.

“I’m going to give you access to study the Inspiration Manifestation should you succeed.”

Twilight pauses, the mind-affecting nature of that book had long intrigued her.

Something inside Twilight made her pause, thinking it over for a long moment, she’s not sure what she was feeling.

The fact that she was feeling anything at all was odd in and of itself.

Twilight makes a mental note to examine herself later. Long hours or improper blood intake may be messing with her mental faculties.

“I accept, I request permission to use memory alteration as insurance in case crown secrets get revealed.”

Celestia nods. “Granted, remember lethal force is not acceptable against my sister when you confront her. I am also assigning you Spike as an assistant.”

Twilight simply looks at Celestia. “I do not see a reason I need an assistant, let alone him. That experiment was a failure from the theoretical stage.”

Celestia sighs. “Should you frenzy his scales would stop your fangs, he can also take visitors while you sleep. He’s the only one I would trust to accompany you, anypony else would likely try to get in your way, and that has not once ended well.”

Celestia turned and left, closing the door behind her.

The vampire simply looked down at her desk, something in her chest making her uncomfortable.

Maybe her blood intake really was miscalculated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celestia managed to keep her mask in place until she entered her room, closing the door and locking it with a spell even Twilight would have difficulty opening for at least five minutes.

When she’s sure nopony could see her she lets her rage out, a pulse of heat and anger so powerful it sets her bed aflame, ripping her throat raw with the force of her scream.

The burning bed takes her ire and she grabbed in her magic, smashing it against the wall over and over, by the time she’s only holding burning splinters and ashes in her magic she’s calmed down a bit, slumping to the ground.

“Why Trixie, why! I warned you time and time again. I know your magic was weak, but that didn’t matter.” Celestia looked to the wall, where there’s a large painting of herself with a younger Trixie, the corners of it were already starting to burn from her earlier rage.”

Celestia carefully removes the painting, looking at it fondly for a long time, the flame at the edges slowly burning more and more of the memory away, with a flash of magic the painting vanished, crumbling to ash and joining the growing pile on the floor.

Opening the door she calls a nearby guard. “Trixie is to be erased. Pass it on to section three, have her room remodeled into another ambassador’s suite.” Getting a salute in response she closes the door once again, looking at the ruins of her chambers she faintly smiles. The loss still hurt, but it couldn’t be helped, she’ll mourn her latest student later.

She needed to redecorate anyway.

Author's Note

Got struck by some inspiration on where to take this story, as usual thanks go to the editor for hammering this into something resembling good writing.

Loyalty

Twilight was doing the final checks of her equipment. Her gaze roamed over the opened umbrella to make sure there were no holes light could penetrate through. When she had finished and dispelled the simple light spell she was using a knock sounds from her door.

“Enter.”

After a few small adjustments to her umbrella, she added two simple spells, one to notify her if someone tampers with her umbrella, and another to summon it to her with a simple command.

When she’s done she looked up to see who her visitor is. Her eyes lock onto a pair of emerald draconic eyes.

“Spike, I didn’t expect you to be here so soon.”

“I rushed over the moment I got the order from Celestia.”

Twilight simply shook her head, “Your experiment was a failure, any attempts to garner parental affection from me utterly failed.”

Spike’s shoulders dropped for a moment, causing him to sigh. “You don’t have to remind me, mom.”

“I’m just informing you of the status of our current relationship, not long ago you were...I think ‘clingy’ is the word.”

Spike blushes and looks away. “I was six. Imprinting is some serious business. You were all I could think of.”

Twilight nodded, opening a drawer and writing down some things. “Interesting, I may question you about the nature of ‘imprinting’ at a later date, for now, are you packed and ready to begin? Celestia has given us a covert mission.” She slid some documents to Spike as the dragon rolled his eyes. “Yes I’m packed, standing orders are to be ready to mobilize at a moments notice.” He took the document and skimmed through it. “Preparation for the summer sun celebration? Wouldn’t this be….” Spike frowned, a gap in his memory showing itself. “Ugh, mind magic isn’t supposed to work on dragons, yet you find a way. I have vague memories about Celestia having a student, but nothing other than the color blue.”

Twilight looks at Spike concerned. “Seems the spells need refinement, you aren’t supposed to remember her at all.” Twilight made another note on a nearby scroll, writing down dragon memory spell needs refinement, regenerative properties of dragon brains are still a rather daunting task to overcome, but overcome they must be in order for Harmony to stay in effect.

Standing up when she finished, grabbing a few things and putting them in saddlebags.

~~~~~

Twilight stared at the abomination before her for no less than thirty seconds before turning to the guard nearby.

“I requested a chariot.”

The guard nodded. “You did.”

Twilight pointed to the tortuous flying contraption before her and spoke again. “Then why am I riding in that.”

The guard almost smiles at her. “Celestia said in order to maintain your cover, such a method of transportation would bring suspicion. Chariots are reserved for royalty or apprentices. Since you aren't royalty and Celestia hasn't taken an apprentice in decades, you get this." He gestured toward the contraption before them. As far as the public is concerned you are simply a mid-level government official making sure things are ready.”

As much as she wanted to object, Twilight sighed and begins floating her belonging into the balloon.

“Tell Celestia that I request to be compensated for this.”

The guard simply turned behind him and pulled out a book, the title worn with age. “One of Her sister’s journals on the dream realm. Be careful when handling it.”

Twilight simply took the book and climbs into the basket hanging beneath the giant pink balloon, taking position near the edge across from Spike who had already climbed inside and was resting comfortably. Twilight opened her umbrella, the enchantments placed on it taking hold as the guard gives the balloon a push, starting it’s arduous and slow descent to Ponyville below, the sun shining above them reminding Twilight just how close she is going to be to death for the foreseeable future.

Seems she still has some self-preservation instincts left, This is the first real danger she’s encountered for awhile.

Twilight concluded she needed to get out more, the amount of new data she could acquire about Harmony in the field was substantial enough.

It’s been a few centuries since she’d worked for the EIS.

By the time she’s done mulling over various options to gather more knowledge, she looked out over the basket to find…

That she’s only halfway there.

New observation: Balloons are significantly slower than chariots.

Deciding that she might as well be productive with her time she decided to read a bit of Luna’s journal.

Dreams have existed as long as ponies have, Their aspirations became real, and their fears become nightmares. Nightmares have existed since the first night, thus their name. They can take many forms, as individual and unique as the ponies who suffer from them…. Here is a list of common nightmares, organized by common themes and my observations on how they behaved.

A few enlightening pages later and the balloon abruptly shook, the semi weightlessness fading as Twilight finds they have arrived, judging by the sun in the sky a good thirty minutes have passed since she started reading.

She closed the book and made sure her belongings are taken care of. Climbing out of the basket she stood amidst the bustling Ponyville town center.

“Spike.”

The dragon in question stepped next to her. “Yes, mom?”

“I’m sure Celestia gave me tasks to accomplish, what’s the itinerary so I can finish and leave this sunlight behind, the longer I stay in it the greater the risk I expose myself.”

Spike searched through his disorganized mess of a backpack until he uncovers a carefully rolled scroll.

“First up is food preparations, they are being done by the Apple family this year.” Spike closed the scroll and looks around for somepony to give directions.

Twilight had already noticed a familiar face, she walked up to a pink pony and waves absently. “Hello.” Before she can say another word the pink pony gasps hard enough to alert any nearby ponies and runs off, leaving Twilight looking confused as she tracked the pink blur moving away faster than logically possible.

What’s her problem? Did I do something for her to report me for?

Shaking it off she turned to find Spike had already located somepony and was given directions to Sweet Apple Acres.

The trip there on foot isn’t quite as bad as she was estimating, though the sun-baked road reminded Twilight of the food deprivation cells. Memories of Trixie pass through Twilight’s mind, something about the turn of events causing it to stand out more than her other recent executions.

The procedure was set in stone, yet Celestia had looked troubled.

She’d been far more squeamish nowadays, ever since the nobility was added a few generations ago she'd become a bit softer from interacting with them.

The meeting with the Apple family was uneventful, but Twilight had been forced to ‘taste’ many of the apple dishes they were going to serve.

The food just sat in her stomach, weighing her down like a rock, she’s going to need to expel it soon before it begins to adversely affect her.

A blow came from above, causing her to lose focus on her umbrella for a moment as Twilight was forced face first into a patch of mud beneath her.

After making sure it wasn’t a prelude to a stronger attack, Twilight spat the mud out of her mouth, seems a bit of her ‘meal’ escaped into the ground as well.

Tasted much the same as the mud, to be honest, vampires are not the best judge of taste. The sound of laughter came from above and she sees a blue pegasus laying on a cloud laughing at her.

Twilight simply glared up at the winged pony, noting for the first time that the sky has not cleared yet.

She needed to look up more often, the blindside from above illustrating the consequences of being ill-prepared quite nicely.

“Don’t worry, I got this.” And with that, the pegasus takes off, faster than any she’s seen in recent memory.

And summoned a tornado around Twilight, The pure overkill of the move stunning twilight enough that she didn’t strengthen her magical grip on the umbrella. Which gets caught in the wind and sent flying some distance away.

The next thoughts that Twilight had were nothing but pure white.

The pain of the sun was worse than any she’s ever experienced before, burning away not only at her body, but her reason as well.

Her scream filled the entire town square.

Spike saw the danger and grabbed a blanket from his backpack, throwing it over Twilight, it wasn’t enchanted to block all the suns rays, so at best it would only buy some time.

Spike glared at Dash and pointed at the umbrella. “Get it! Hurry, she doesn’t have much time!”

Dash is confused for a moment, but flew after it anyway, returning with the item in less than a second.

The moment Spike held the umbrella above Twilight her mental faculties slowly returned to her.

She shuddered a bit, looking down at her body, her back was in shambles, her vertebrae showing through where her skin and fur had burned away, her tail was gone, along with most of her mane, it pinched to move but her body was together enough for her to rise to her hooves, the gruesome visage of her body sending ponies fleeing in panic.

“Spike, I should have some at the library.” Spike nodded and begins leading her slowly toward the tree in the town center. Before they get far Dash blocks their path. “What the buck is a vampire doing working for Celestia? Isn’t that like… Helping their enemy?”

Spike looked between Twilight and Dash for a moment. “My mom’s always been a vampire, she was allowed to turn by Celestia herself, so that she could continue working for her.”

By now the entire plaza was deserted, leaving only the three of them standing in the middle.

Dash looked doubtful, but looking at twilights wound made her stifle a gag, seeing the genuine care Spike had for her she sighed, beginning to feel ab it guilty. “Well…” Dash rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “This is my fault, so...let me help.”

Twilight simply looked at Dash, nothing in her file had mentioned her being knowledgeable about vampires. “How can you ‘help’ Rainbow.”

Dash looked confused for a moment. “How did-” she shook her head. “By giving you blood. Duh.” she accompanied this with a roll of her eyes. “Wait...this won’t turn me into a vampire... will it?”

“I'm not sure, I don't believe so." Dash looked hesitant but was obviously thinking it over. "Well, I wouldn't be against turning into a vampire." Unfortunately, Twilights were now turning toward blood, a new sound was hitting hear ears. It was a rhythmic pulsing sound. It took a bit before she realized she’s hearing Dash’s heartbeat.

Twilight fights with herself for a bit, coming up with pros and cons to this course of action. Eventually, she nodded in agreement. At best, this is a bonding moment which she will need to get the elements to work, at worst she can always erase Dash’s memories of the event later.

Remembering the fact that at least a dozen ponies saw her being hit by the sunlight she realized she’s going to be busy with paperwork for all the necessary memory wipes.

Twilight motioned to a nearby alleyway, walking normally in spite of her grievous wounds. Dash looked hesitant at first, her gaze drifting to her exposed skeleton but followed behind soon after.

When they find a suitable location Dash looked to Twilight, she seemed torn between three emotions, joy, disgust, and terror. Eventually, she just sighed and tilted her head to the side.

Twilight's original plan was to simply feed from Dash's hoof, but the moment she saw the ponies exposed neck her rational faculties ground to a halt, she quickly stepped toward the pony and bit her without a moment's hesitation.

This was her first mistake, since her change, she had only ever drank blood from preserved and purified blood bags.

Her second mistake was giving into temptation and biting Dash's neck.

Her third mistake was feeding on a potential element of harmony.

The moment Dash's blood hit Twilight's tongue her body reacted, clamping down harder, and not being satisfied with the amount she was getting, she actively began sucking the blood out, her mind ablaze with desire. She tasted like bottled lightning, Twilight's body began to tingle.She was so full of pure power that healing her wounds took moments, which would normally take a few hours.

The first sign that something was wrong was when she stayed clamped on Dash's neck even after her wounds were healed. The second was when Dash began to feel lightheaded, asking her to stop. The third was when her protests begin to grow fainter, her body beginning to feel lethargic and slow. A moment later something pulled Twilight roughly off of Dash, letting the pegasus crumple to the ground. Twilight for her part stared at the assailant, her eyes glowing with need as she launched at the small form blocking her from her meal.

When she clamped down, her teeth ground against something hard, her momentary confusion about not biting into flesh slowly faded away as the color purple filled her vision.

"While Celestia was right about my scales, I didn't think I'd have to test it this early. Are you feeling better, mom?"

The hunger is still there, but it's farther away than it's been for centuries. Even after her mental faculties returned the feeling of power didn't fade, her body felt lighter and faster than ever.

"Think you can let go of my neck soon?" Realizing she's still absently trying to bite into Spike’s neck she released him, giving a look at the crumpled form of Dash laying on the ground, she could still hear the ponies heartbeat, and the sudden Impulse to do something overcame Twilight. She takes a step toward Dash, Spike moved to stop her but a sharp glare held him in place.

She moved over, looking at Dash's form, she leaned in and slowly she moves over and licks Dash's neck, a faint spark of that flavor hitting her tongue for a moment.

As she watched the twin punctures shrank and vanished after a few moments.

Observation: seems hunting is innate for vampires, it simply comes naturally to them, even without any formal training.

A new voice came from behind them. "Gee, I didn't think the rumors were actually true. I figured Celestia found a different way to make you immortal, vampirism seems...extreme." Twilight turned to see a pink pony standing in the alley, looking at Dash with a sad look on her face. "What are your orders Director Sparkle?"

"Ah, Pinkamena." Twilight thought for a moment, Taking her time as she checked to make sure Dash wasn't in any immediate danger before continuing. "Wipe the memory of those from the square, vampires are fictional."

The earth pony nodded before looking at Dash. "And what about her? She's been a fan of vampires since she was a filly."

Twilight simply looked at Pinkie and frowned. "And you didn't see fit to put this in her file because...?"

Pinkie's ears folded back as she absently kicked at the ground beneath her. "It didn't affect her status in any significant way. And...honestly, she was too adorable hiding the fact that she read those stories. It felt...bad sharing a harmless secret like that."

"I'll consider that for your review, leave her memories intact." Twilight thought for a bit. "Maybe convince her that I used vampire powers to wipe their memories, but that I trust her with my secret. Have a squad watching her in case she tries to share that knowledge with others." Pinkie gave a salute before turning to leave.

"Oh, Pinkamena, one more thing." Pinkie turned to look at Twilight again, waiting for her to continue.

"Do you have enough agents to handle this task? I could send a letter to Celestia for reinforcements."

Pinkie waved a hoof. "No need, Celestia sent more agents this morning, she anticipated we would need the extra hooves on deck. And...I think she's keeping an eye on you as well."

Twilight nodded. "Of course, I've got more tasks for my mission to complete." Something inside Twilight felt odd, a weight in the pit of her stomach, not dissimilar to the 'food' she had in her stomach before.

It didn't make sense, she knows for a fact she can consume far more blood than a pony possesses with no side effects other than an increased hunger for more.

It took a moment to realize that the feeling was worse when she was looking at Dash. The pegasus' breathing was shallow and uneven.

"And make sure Dash is well, I don't want any lasting consequences from my lack of control. And make sure she finishes her task, the sky is not clear like Celestia requested."

Pinkie saluted again, grabbing Dash and carefully throwing her over her back. "Yes, ma'am." A soft smile is on her face as she took Dash to the hospital.

Official personnel records: EIS Manager Pinkamena Diane Pie

Authorization level Student required.

Name: Pinkamena Diane Pie

Gender: F

Race: Earth pony

Clearance level: Student

Relevant information: Due to her nearly photographic memory and fine attention to detail Pinkamena has been the manager of the Ponyville branch of the Equestrian Information Service for nearly a decade. She has never shirked from her duty and does her utmost to spread Harmony to all citizens of the town.

Against orders, she’s become a friend to everypony in the small town and goes out of her way to make them smile by any means necessary. Pinkamena has been observed to have massive swings between Manic and Depressive moods, sometimes at the drop of a hat. (metaphorically, and in one case literally)

Nevertheless she’s been a valuable asset, and her extensive knowledge of everypony in Ponyville has been a major boon, as it is our closest settlement to the Everfree forest, and Disharmonic individuals may arise due to the stress of living in such close proximity to the old castle.

Additional notes: Under orders of Celestia Pinkamena’s service to Section Four is being put under review. The case is still open, and an investigation is underway to determine if she is to be kept in her current position in the foreseeable future. In particular, it’s to be observed if her ‘friendship’ with the townsponies is interfering with her judgment in reporting aberrant behavior.

Author's Note

I may have missed a few things when editing this one, let me know if you spot errors. here's a short answer to questions you may have:

This takes place the day after chapter 2.

EIS stands for Equestrian Intelligence Service

Twilight oversees Section four (another name for EIS) but she doesn't manage them directly like she does Section Three.

If you have more non-spoilery questions I may be happy to answer.

As usual, credit goes to my editor for taking a hammer and forging this into a passable weapon against Disharmony.

Generosity

The next pony Twilight had to meet was yet another potential element bearer. Her file wasn't exactly giving much hope for such a thing, however.

Umbrella floating above her Twilight made stepped into the auditorium, Rarity was in charge of decorations. When Twilight entered the room the first thing she noticed was a cream-colored earth pony giving what sounds like a fearful conversation.

“Beautiful.” Twilight looked down to notice that Spike wasn’t staring at the decorations. (which were quite nice) but was looking at the white unicorn.

Seems Spike is reaching adulthood, odd that he finds a pony of all things attractive. Could it have something to do with him being raised away from his own kind? His standards of beauty were shaped by his surroundings.

Having heard the sound of hooves entering the room the pony turned toward twilight and screams. "It's her! It's the vampire!" Rarity simply looked at Twilight and frowned, doing her best to calm down the hysterical pony, and getting a fainted mare for her troubles. After she made sure the pony didn't hurt herself when she collapsed Rarity's eyes moved to Twilight's fangs for a moment before she opened her mouth to speak.

Anything she was about to say is stopped by a glowing barrier around her. Twilight winced from a sudden headache. Finding the sensation familiar, Twilight cast a spell to shift her perception. Rarity and the earth pony were still frozen in place, but between Twilight and the two mares are a pair of unicorn stallions, both wearing tuxes, each sporting an invention made by Twilight herself.

Each wore a pair of sunglasses, enchanted with one of Twilight's unique spells. It's not quite invisibility, but it causes others to not register that someone is there. The effect is similar to situational blindness. Ponies were still aware enough to step out of your way, but the enchantment prevents them from realizing why they did so.

Twilight patiently waited for the pair of stallions to finish, She got a salute from the pair before they leave. She nodded in recognition and focused on Rarity and the formerly hysteric mare. Rarity was helping the pony up with a worried look on her face. "Roseluck, are you all right?" She hasn't seemed to have noticed Twilight yet.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just another fainting spell." The earth pony rose to her feet.

Twilight made a mental note to have EIS look into this 'Roseluck' She seemed awfully panicky and excitable. Even for a pony. A full-blown panic started by her would hardly be in keeping with Harmony.

A loud gasp brought Twilight out of her reverie. “My goodness! What happened to your mane?” Rarity was looking straight at the unicorn, her eyes wide with horror.

Did the memory alteration fail? Looking back it seemed that her hair has yet to recover from her brush with sunlight earlier, it was much shorter than it was before, looking clearly burned.

“You poor thing, don’t worry, I can fix this.”

A telekinetic field wraps around Twilight and pulled her into another room before she could think about breaking out of such a thing. Twilight’s eyes widened a bit as she realizes she’s being brought before a mirror.

Hopefully it’s not an old one, old mirrors were made with silver backing. Any chance of that being the case faded when Twilight saw the antique design of the frame. It’s obviously quite old.

Buck.

Twilight debated whether or not to call Mr. Black and Mr. White back into the room.

This whole time the white unicorn had been prattling on about how much a burned mane was a travesty.

The vampire silently waited for the moment of realization, a sleep spell gathering in her horn.

Soon enough the ponies words stopped abruptly as she noticed her guest didn’t have a reflection.

It took a few moments before the unicorn worked it out, her eyes are going from Twilight’s fangs to the umbrella floating above her and back.

“Huh. Honestly darling I had expected you to be a Stallion.”

That...was, not the reaction Twilight was expecting, she put a pause on casting the sleep spell for the time being.

This was the second pony to not freak out about learning she was a vampire. It was becoming more and more obvious that Pinkamea’s reports were incomplete.

Celesta may be right about that mare. The conflict of interest was too great, the only thing that stopped her from sending a letter to Celestia right then was the fact that Rarity had stopped talking and was holding out a book.

Fangs in the night a picture of a stallion biting a woman is on the cover. The style seems to be that of a romance novel. Wondering who breached the information blackout on vampires Twilight looks at the author’s name.

Mi Amore Cadenza

Of course. Celestia has a hard time saying no to her. Probably some halfwit plan to drip feed Vampires to the general population.

That Pink annoyance always did seem to want Twilight to get out from Section Three more.

The unicorn was looking at Twilight expectantly and it dawned on her that she missed the unicorn saying something.

“What? Sorry, I was just...surprised at your calm response.”

Rarity waves a hoof in dismissal. “Please, if you had truly came here with some ill intent you wouldn’t have done it in daylight.” She looked at the umbrella pointedly.

“I’m going to venture a guess and say that you’re the organizer sent by the Princess. And if she sent you, she must be well aware of your... condition.”

Twilight was surprised. This unicorn is far more perceptive than her file led her to believe. Her fake Canterlot accent and dramatic nature were black marks on her record. But there was more there than initial reports suggested.

If Twilight was on the fence about writing a report about Pinkie’s incomplete files before, she was now going to make sure that her conflict is resolved.

By any means necessary.

But that can wait, for now, introductions. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I’m here to see that the decorations are in order.” Twilight glanced toward the doorway they came from. “And from what I can tell, you’ve done a satisfactory job.” The vampire turns to leave but is stopped by an irate unicorn.

“There’s still the matter of your mane.” The unicorn glared at the burned hair as if it was the greatest crime in the world.

It was odd that it didn’t recover when she fed on Rainbow earlier. But at the time she wasn’t linking logically.

“It will recover tonight when I consume my ration, it can wait; I’ve got more work to do.” She stepped to the left to go around the unicorn but is stopped once again by a soft hoof on her shoulder.
"I told you my mane will recover later tonight when I have my blood ration. Seeing as the decorations are progressing nicely, I have more preparations to observe today."

Rarity bit her lip a bit. "Is this 'ration' somepony from town?"

Twilight pauses for a moment, trying to determine how much she should reveal.

In the end, she decided honesty was in her best interests.

"No, I have one blood bag given to me daily to keep myself performing at optimal, though this may be increased to two shortly."

Instead of letting her pass, the unicorn's expression turned to one of abject horror. Before Twilight could even start thinking about what she said wrong to upset this pony Rarity speaks again. "I will not have someone who works for Celestia existing on blood bags of all things!”

Twilight’s time table was rather rigid, and now she was on the verge of being late. "I am very busy, what are you getting at?." At this the pony bit her lip again, looking at Twilight oddly before she spoke with a soft voice. "Use me."

Twilight wasn't sure she heard that right. "Did you just offer yourself to me?" Rarity blushes at that. "I didn't mean like that...and this is hardly the romantic encounter I dreamed of, but I can't have you going all day with a mane like that. if I can help that then I will."

Twilight was dumbfounded. Considering how easy it was for Twilight to lose control earlier, this pony was risking her life, and she wasn't asking for anything in exchange.

The bizarre behavior stunned Twilight for several long moments before she started hearing a thump once again.

Seems Nightmare designed her curse so that the simple thought of drinking blood caused her hunting senses became more active. Rarity's heartbeat was a bit faster than Rainbow Dash's was earlier. Studying rarity's face it doesn't seem to be from fear, but simple excitement.

It was still very alluring.

Perhaps she agreed to it too quickly, her body seemed to move on its own. This time though she prepared herself, keeping a firm hold of her mind even as she opened her mouth, her fangs glinting in the light as she bit into Rarity's neck, causing her to give a soft gasp.

With focus, Twilight kept ahold of her instincts this time, though the rush of just pure pleasure that filled her at this moment nearly overwhelmed her faculties a second time.

The most surprising thing was the taste, where Rainbow Dash tasted like bottled lightning, This pony tasted sweet. Almost cloyingly sweet, like pure sugar in pony form.

Content to just let blood flow into her mouth this time, Twilight focused on her mane, the burnt strands growing longer and longer as she spent this precious blood to regrow the lost hair.

Rarity's heartbeat was beginning to slow, but she still made no effort to Stop Twilight. After a few more mouthfuls Twilight reluctantly licks the open wound in her mouth, swallowing down the last few drops as the punctures healed. As she stepped back Twilight took stock of Rarity, making sure there was no immediate medical attention needed.

Instead of the unicorn collapsing into a crumpled mess, this time her donor had the softest smile on her face, a faraway look in her eyes. Twilight waved a hoof in front of Rarity's face a few times, not eliciting a reaction.

Curious. Must be some sort of trance. Twilight simply waited as she observed the other ponies behavior. It took nearly a minute for Rarity to come out of her trance, but when she did the smile only widened. She looked at Twilight and smiled, an odd glint in her eyes. "Darling, the books did not do that justice. That felt simply wonderful. You don't need more do you?"

Seems that a bite from a vampire used on the wrong pony could create some sort of dependence. The fact that it was pleasurable for the victim as well as the Vampire was news to Twilight.

This warranted further study. Other vampires had previously not been seen as high-level threats to Equestria, the long silence and vanishing of the Originals letting security focus on other dangers to Harmony.

With this knowledge, it was possible that some ponies would willingly hide a Vampire as long as they could be fed from.

Twilight decided to raise the threat level of vampires by a few degrees. Resources were spread thin due to Operation Nightmare but this definitely warranted investigation.

A soft hoof on her shoulder breaks Twilight's train of thought. Realizing she never answered the question Twilight shook her head, ignoring the pleas of her body she replied. "No, I will not require more."

As the new blood joined with Dash's flowing through Twilight's body Something sweeps over her, an odd feeling. Has she fed too much today? From her early tests, the amount of blood she could consume was several times what she's already drunk. As Twilight attempted to analyze the feeling a thought occurred to her.

She should give something in return for the blood. It takes but a quick glance to the floating book before the answer occurs to her.

Though it would be tedious interacting with her again. The blood and information about vampire feeding habits she's gained more than made up for it. She waited a few moments longer, searching for a different solution one final time before she spoke. "In exchange for your...generosity When the Summer sun celebration is over, I can arrange for you to have a meeting with the author of that book. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

It took Rarity a few seconds to realize what she was just offered, but she claps her hooves in excitement, nearly losing her balance due to still being woozy. If she could she might have pranced around the room as well. "Yes! I would love to meet the author, a princess no less! I had no idea you were capable of such a thing, but thank you thank you thank you!"

Seeing it was now the best time to leave the pony behind and continue with her schedule she’s stopped once more, but this time it’s from a purple dragon. He still seemed enamored by the white pony, but his expression was confused.

“That’s not like you. You normally do anything to avoid Cadence. You didn’t even want what you got in the first place, I can’t quite figure out how that was a proper trade. Normally you would ask for much more for such a thing.”

Was he right? Perhaps the stresses of today were getting to her. Filing that away for later she walks past him, she had one more thing on her list.

It was time to meet the last potential element bearer.

~~~~~

Official personnel records: Section Three Spike

Authorization level Apprentice required.

Special advisor Spike Sparkle

Gender: M

Race: Purple Dragon

Clearance level: Informant

Relevant information:

Hatched from an egg by Director Sparkle, Spike was an attempt to inspire parental affection from Director sparkle. The experiment ended in failure and Spike has since been under the care of Mi Amore Cadenza. His first two years of life were with Director Sparkle, and as a result has picked up a few of her traits, and has imprinted upon her.

Additional notes: He seeks to prove himself in his ‘mother’s’ eyes, accepting almost any assignment just to spend time with her. He has since gained a similar level of deductive reasoning, and will make a wonderful intelligence agent when he is older and his body is able to handle the responsibilities of such a task.

All efforts thus far from Celestia to get Director Sparkle to mentor Spike have failed. Her interest in Spike is purely academic as it was a way to study early dragon development.

Queen’s notes:
Spike is such a wonderful dragon, any mother would surely wish their own children were as obedient and intelligent. His dragonbreath is a great way to send communication which cannot be intercepted. I do hope at some point Twilight accepts my proposal to educate him, I think he could actually handle her lessons. If only because he’ll kill himself trying to complete her courses.

Not many survive her unique method of teaching. Even fewer now that we are more in control and armed conflict is nothing but a distant memory.

Author's Note

Good news. I've got a few things planned, and I may be able to complete this story in 2 or 3 more chapters. It could always end up being longer, but for now, the plan is to get to the ending in 2. Enjoy, all you lovely ponies.

may you live in Harmony

The Nightmare

The sun beat down on Twilight’s umbrella, the road radiating heat. Since becoming a vampire such things have stopped bothering her, but the faster she gets out of this the less likelihood of a repeat of what happened in the town square.

She needs to readjust her umbrella’s enchantments to automatically return without a command. She hadn’t anticipated just how painful that was going to be.

Nightmare designed her curse well, if they only saw one vampire burning in the sun in such agony, the rest would fall in line. Works as a great deterrent, and a failsafe to stop them from going to Celestia.

Spike rode on her back, Dragons were sedentary by nature, and while she initially refused his request, she conceded that he had a point that it’s what an average pony would do.

She only had one final item on her itinerary left, and then she could get out of this sun and get to her blood bag.

Now that she thought of it, the flavor of those bags was nothing like feeding on actual ponies, and she wasn’t looking forward to it nearly as much. Perhaps she should start drinking blood the more ‘natural’ way.

It would also let her get used to the power of her vampiric instincts. A repeat of what happened to dash is the last thing she needs.

The sound of chirping floats toward her and she looked up. A pegasus was conducting a group of birds to sing a song.

“Oh my, stop please everyone.” The pegasus flew up to a bluebird and seemed to be giving it a soft talking too. The bird nodded and they reset for another run. Twilight listened to it for a little bit more. It was much more in tune that last time. After a few more moments she cleared her throat which caused the birds to scatter, Twilight watched them go with a frown.

She figured they were used to ponies since they were comfortable with the pegasus being that close. “I’m here to make sure that preparations are underway. I didn’t mean to scare them away. You are Fluttershy correct?”

The yellow pegasus stares at my face for a long moment, not really answering the question.

Twilight tries again. “I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Is there something she’s doing wrong? The yellow mare says something, and even with Twilight’s enhanced hearing, it’s not easy to make out.

It was mostly a mumble anyway. A fluttering sound greets Twilight's ears and she looks behind Fluttershy. “Oh, it looks like your birds are back. Keep up the good work.” Twilight turns to leave and Spike approaches holding a scroll in his hand.

“A baby dragon!?” Twilight was rudely knocked away, the mare has surprising strength. “He’s so cuuuute!”

Huh, seems she can speak up. That was in doubt before.

Spike gets a big smile on his face, looking over at Twilight as she rises from the ground, using magic to get the dust out of her coat.

Spike and the mare strike up a conversation.

That was the last thing on her itinerary. Turning back Twilight begins heading back to the temporary housing Celestia provided.

The conversation droned on in the background as Twilight approached a wooden door set in a large tree. She can hear the sound of lots of heartbeats from inside.

Interesting, I guess this town is more well-read than I assumed from reports.

She opened the door only to find the library dark. Streamers hanging from the roof and tables scattered about. A normal pony wouldn’t have been able to perceive them. Was this a precursor to an attack?

She enters the room, the eyes of many ponies watching her.

What are they doing? Twilight was sure this wasn’t normal pony behavior, they usually are opposed to hiding in the shadows. Perhaps they ar-

“Surprise!” the light kick on and the dark streamers reveal their bright colors, confetti raining down from above.

Oh.

“Surprise!” Pinkamena is in front of her. “I’m pinkie pie, and I made this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? Huh huh huh?”

Ah, her cover. Right. Twilight begins walking through the crowd of ponies, many of which she saw in the town square.

Twilight eventually manages to break away from the party and retire above in the sleeping quarters. She’s got a lot of work to finish.

But first some chores.

First, she inspected her umbrella once again, making sure it wasn’t much worse for wear, when she finished the inspection, she reworked the enchantments to have it return to her even without a command. It will be able to float above her for a few minutes before she’d need to give it more magic, this should be quite sufficient.

Second, she got to work on paperwork for the mass memory wipes in the town square earlier. Detailing what happened. She approved a few transfer requests and declined a resignation. Seems somepony liked Trixie and didn’t want her memories to be wiped. This request was late in arriving, the pony in question already being memory wiped.

She leaves a note in her file that this pony is at risk of treason.

Third, time for some experiments. Looking inward she began analyzing herself.

Even now she could feel that the blood she’s obtained from the element bearers. (many of whom were downstairs, including dash who seems to have recovered quickly.) moving through her system. It seemed stronger than the usual blood she had inside her.

That odd feeling in her chest appears again, Twilight holding her hoof over where her heart still rested.

What is this? Some form of magic? It’s seeming to hamper her decision-making processes. Possibly mind-affecting? It was strongest right after feeding from Dash, and to a lesser extent Rarity.

Come to think of it, she felt a bit better after she saw dash having fun at the party downstairs. And the odd feeling with Rarity went away after making that promise.

Twilight begins taking notes, writing down her experiences after feeding on ponies. Remembering the promise she got to work on requesting an audience with Cadence.

Without a larger sample size, it was hard to tell if feeding from anypony would have the same effects.

Time for another experiment. She checked the time and found that it’s close to midnight. Maybe thirty minutes from showtime.

Grabbing a small bag of blood from a hidden storage container behind the nightstand she takes a small sip.

She almost spits it out at the taste.

Or, more accurately the lack of taste. Memories of the two times she fed today play through her mind, and before she realizes it she’s accidentally finished the bag.

That was supposed to last the whole trip, half now, half before she returns to Canterlot.

She put the now empty blood bag away, taking a seat at a writing desk She gets back to writing down what happened to her that day and begins a rough draft on her plan to remove Pinkamena’s conflict of interest when she returns to Canterlot.

For some reason she lingers on the paperwork, she doesn’t finish it with her usual speed.

Something’s slowing her down.

After coming up empty of reasons for this to occur she checks the time, glancing up to the moon in time to see four stars fly behind the stellar body and the face she’s been seeing for centuries fade from the surface.

Showtime. Twilight makes her way downstairs, the party’s still in full swing, and she joins the procession of ponies to the town hall.

The ponies are excited as they wait for their princess. The fanfare began to play and the curtains open to...nothing.

Somepony goes to check and speaks out. “She’s gone!”

Laughter filled the room as a trail of blue sparkles swirl into the room, forming into a large black alicorn.

Now for the confrontation. Waiting for the right moment in the monologue for the Nightmare to ask ‘Do you not remember who I am?”

“You’re Nightmare Moon.” Draconic eyes flit toward Twilight and she feels her body freeze in place.

This was not part of the plan.

“And what do we have here? An ally? An enemy?” Swooping down toward Twilight Nightmare gave her a look over. “Oh my, a vampire. I would have figured my sister destroyed all of you by now. Tell me, vampire, why are you here?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, the prepared lines stopping in her throat. Instead of following the scripted lie she said. “I’ve been sent by Celestia to gather the elements of harmony and purge you of dark magic.”

Twilight blinked for a moment. What was that?

“Oh dear, my sister still underestimates me after all these years. Seems she couldn’t even find an Original to turn you. Such a low-level pawn.” Darkness gathers in her horn, a black aura forming and the alicorn touching her horn to Twilights.

Twilight’s mind went blank, only returning a moment later when her body began to convulse and collapse. “Oh my, and you’ve even fed on some of the bearers. Naughty naughty. That much magic is...difficult to control. Come, we’ve got much to do before you’re a suitable pawn.

And with that, She dissolved into blue mist, taking Twilight with her.

Amidst the stunned ponies in the audience, a voice rang out. “Code Equinox! All EIS operatives are to begin memory alteration.” All eyes turned to see Pinkie, standing in the middle of the room a deadly serious expression on her face. Applejack walked up and gave her a cross look. “What’s that supposed ta mean?” Her next question was stopped dead when everypony was hit by a paralysis spell.” Pinkie turned to Spike. “Send a letter to Celestia, code Equinox. Ask for orders. Spike nodded, his gaze flickering to a frozen Rarity for a moment before complying.

A pair of male unicorns seem to materialize next to pinkie, their horns flashing a reddish color as they worked on wiping all relevant memories, working from the edges of the frozen crowd inward.

Pinkie nods to them. “Mr. Black, Mr. White.” two unicorns nod in greeting but don’t speak when a flash of green fire lights up the room and a scroll forms in front of Pinkie.

She opened it quickly, breaking the seal and reading it at a glance. The two stallions are now focusing on 4 ponies in the center of the room when Pinkie raises a hoof. “Hold, new orders. Those four are to remain, wipe the rest.” She gets a nod from them and Spike moves next to her. “What do we do?” his eyes are still mostly on the frozen white unicorn in the center of the room.

Pinkie looks a bit sad for a moment, ponies beginning to collapse to the ground as sleep spells were cast upon them. “Celestia has authorized a full explanation. Our new orders are to retrieve Twilight and break whatever spell she’s under. Though that may be difficult, The Nightmare did invent the vampire curse. It makes sense that she would have worked in some way to enforce their loyalty.”

A blur of blue moves in front of Pinkie, a pair of magenta eyes glaring daggers at Pinkie. “This is poor form for a prank, you have ten seconds-” Pinkie cut her off.

“Starting from the top I’m… I’m an agent of Celestia sent to watch everypony in this town…”

Far away, deep in the Everfree forest a black alicorn slowly walks around a bound Twilight Sparkle. “You’ve got such a resilient mind.” She shook her head. “No matter. I have just the thing for that.” The dark alicorn brought her hoof up to her mouth, biting down on it with her fanged teeth until a few beads of blood began to pool. Using her horn she forces Twilight’s mouth open, holding the hoof over the bound vampires' open maw.

“You may have tasted some of the new element bearers, but that doesn’t hold a candle to my blood.” As a few drops land on Twilight’s tongue, her mind went blank. Her body spasming as it begins to undergo changes, her bones breaking and growing back stronger, her coat changed to a darker color, closer to black. Twilight’s fangs grew longer, curving noticeably over her lip, a second pair rose from her lower jaw as well.

She’s not felt pain like this since her first change...or even her brief exposure to sunlight paled in comparison.

The sound of Twilight’s voice echoed from the castle, her scream so loud it tore her throat apart only for it to heal and be torn again. After several agonizing minutes, the pain left her, her mental faculties slowly returning.

“There there young one. Your voice is quite delightful you know.” Twilight could only stare at her with one red eye as she slowly took stock of her body.

“And there you go again, not reacting in haste or anger, simply turning inward to analyze what’s happening. You found the solution to being unable to lie in record time. I take it you suffer from some form of sociopathy, this makes you an ideal servant, even if your type is difficult to manage." At twilight's surprised expression she waved a hoof dismissively. "I’ve seen the signs before. No doubt my sister has been making great use of you.”

The sound of Nightmares hooves on the paved stones echoed about the room for a few moments. “Now that you’ve had time to think, what are your thoughts?”

Twilight continues to observe, deciding not to answer.

Except this time her mouth opened. “My body feels lighter, from a few tests my bones themselves seem to be somewhat stronger, considering I wasn’t all that powerful before I’d say that my strength has increased a few orders of magnitude. Subtle testing of my strength yielded no results on the binding holding me in place. Probably designed to restrain one such as me. I’ve yet to determine if my magic has also been amplified as lighting up my horn could provoke an attack.”

Twilight’s eyes widened slightly in shock.

“Ah, you thought the same trick would work twice. I’m afraid the more power I bestow upon my children, the more control they relinquish. Can’t have my most powerful servants plotting behind my back can I?” Her sardonic laughter echoed about the room, the withered tapestries hanging from the ceiling doing little to absorb the sound.

“The more I learn the more genius this curse is, I’ve learned a considerable amount today alone.”

“Have you now? Let me guess, you feel odd. Weird sensations in the pit of your stomach, almost like an ache.”

Twilight looks at Nightmare incredulously.

“I know what you’re going through, but it wouldn’t be smart to put all my cards on the table. Now my servant.” Nightmare leans down, her face inches from Twilights.

“It’s time for you to tell me what my sister has been up to these past few centuries.”

For a full second Twilight resisted, but eventually, the curse forced her to begin talking…

~~~~~

Harmony doctrine Section 5a. In regards to operatives.

Harmony is the duty of all. We require everypony to abide by the tenets of Harmony. The Disharmonic are not ponies. They are barriers set against us.

Report everything. You are Harmony’s eyes and ears in Equestria. Without you we will lose to chaos once more.

May you live in Harmony evermore.

The Tenants of Harmony.

1. Live in Harmony. Help thy ponies.
2. Nopony is to seek more than they need. Greed leads to poverty, and poverty leads to Disharmonic thoughts on how to escape. Classes need to exist, but they do not need to seek to raise somepony above another. Nopony is greater or lesser than any others. All are required for Harmony to remain.
3. The nobility is exempt from some Tenants of Harmony.**
4. Disharmonic are not ponies. They are not like you. Feel nothing for performing your duties.
5. Always stay observant. A moment's inattention can lead to somepony becoming Disharmonic.
6. Do not worry about Erasing. All workers in section 1 2 & 3 will never be Erased. When your contract is up, you’ll be placed in a loving home with your memories wiped. At the end of your service, you have a wonderful life of Harmony to look forward too.
7. All orders of Celestia Supercede orders from Twilight unless it regards Breaking.
8. War is sometimes an inevitable evil. All staff is required to assist in wartime.
9. Freeing Disharmonic beings will result in being Erased. This rule supersedes tenant 6.
10. During the Erase procedure, only Twilight and the Princesses* shall keep their memories.

* Princesses includes Celestia, and not Cadance. This list will be updated after the results of Operation Nightmare.

**The nobility are exempt from Tenents, 1, 2, 5, 7 and 8

Author's Note

I ended this chapter a bit earlier than I normally would. I've decided to open up a Q&A to the readers of this story.

Simply ask a question in the comments about something you wish to know, and I'll post it in the next chapter. I won't give spoilers, but anything twilight knows about the inner workings of Section Three are on the table. For those who want a better explanation of why I'm doing this read the relevant blog post here I'm eager to know what questions are burning in your minds!

Eclipse

Code name Eclipse:

A pony has acted against harmony. This code is only used for members of Sections One, Two, and Three. There are three stages of this code.

Partial Eclipse. Reserved for low-level staff, such as housemates and waiting staff. To date, Partial Eclipse has been used a total of 146 times.

Notes: Seems infiltrators assume the castle staff isn’t watched and has the run of the place. Such obvious loopholes are no real threat to Harmony. -T. Sparkle

Half Eclipse: Reserved to Sections One, Two, and Three standard staff. To date, Half Eclipse has been used a total of 57 times.

Notes: My ponies that work in Sections 1, 2, and 3 are chosen after a thorough screening process. Those that work for Twilight doubly so, but even the stoutest of us can falter in our just work. After a rash of defections when Twilight implemented a new torture (the Iron Mare I believe she calls it) we’ve increased the amount of memory wipes Section Three staff undergo on a regular basis, and I’ve delegated all Stage 3 Omega Breaking procedures to Twilight’s capable hooves. -Celestia.

Total Eclipse: Reserved for usage when a Princess acts against Harmony. Director Twilight Sparkle falls under this category due to her position in Section Three. To date, Total Eclipse has been used a total of 5 times. 4 by Director Twilight Sparkle against Princess Cadence. And once By Cadence as a way to call a ‘family meeting’

Notes: Cadence means well, but her efforts are in vain, I’ve never quite observed a pony like Twilight. She values Knowledge far more than any individual being. The last Code ended in bloodshed, Twilight had determined that a proper punishment should follow what she called ‘erroneous usage of a state of emergency’.

I’m only grateful Cadence recovered from her injuries. Had I not intervened I think Twilight might have executed my niece. -Celestia.

I’m not giving up on Twily, I can still sense love inside her, buried deep down. It’s a weak flame, almost not even there most times. But if you catch her when she finds a new book, it’s hard not to feel it’s flame. -C

The Harmony Spell:
Type: Light magic (Mind Affecting)
Difficulty: Above Average
Casting time: Three Hours
Usage: Forbidden without approval from Celestia, Director Twilight sparkle.
Effects: Forcefully instills The values of Harmony in an individual. Similar to a Geass except this leaves no outward effects, and can’t be circumvented with clever changes in belief or thought.

An unwilling individual who has the spell cast upon them will have their mind destroyed, leaving behind nothing but a body that reflexively sustains life. It will drink water if it’s poured into their mouth, chew and eat food, Breathe and blink. It will also relieve itself whenever it feels the need, regardless of what position it is lying in.

Notes: The basis of Harmony and the main tool used to maintain a self-perpetuating system. I only wish the Harmony spell didn’t require the target to be willing. I’ve refined the breaking procedures necessary to be as ‘kind’ as they can be, at the request of Celestia. -T. sparkle

Breaking Procedures

Breaking Alpha: Disharmonic individual is subjected to standard sleep and food deprivation for two weeks. Unicorns have their magic sealed with an enchanted Inhibitor ring, and pegasi Have their wings bound. The cells in A have been enchanted with time dilation effects. Timers set above each cell counts down from three minutes. Every three minutes(roughly three days for the Disharmonic) the Disharmonic are given a standard portion of water, calculated for weight, age, and the temperature fluctuations of the cell.

Cell design: Always brightly lit by a miniature sun hanging in the center of the ceiling. The temperature fluctuates between 32C(90F) during the ‘day’ and 18C(65F) at ‘night’ (The sun does not dim during the night, only temperature changes occur)The Dimensions are 12/12/12. The walls are brown and padded to prevent suicide by its occupants. There is no bed or other creature comforts. guards are ordered to provide water at specific intervals (roughly once every three days to the Disharmonic) and never more water than required for survival. Every nine minutes (nine days for the Disharmonic) they are asked if they submit to Harmony. Guards are not to react in any way to the Disharmonic unless they are being asked to rejoin Harmony.

Notes: 90% of the Disharmonic agree to the Harmony Spell after Breaking Alpha, and it also lowers their will and resistance for Beta and later Omega.

Breaking Beta: Disharmonic is given a standard ration, and water then moved to a Beta chamber. They are strapped onto a table and left for three hours.

After three hours a Beta employee will begin.

Beta Step 1 is a slow amputation. If it’s a unicorn It is their horn, a pegasus, their wings. Earth ponies lose their hind legs. The Beta employee is to make the Disharmonic feel that this is permanent, but the cuts are to be clean and precise so that they can be reattached later. The amputated part is ‘burned’ before the Disharmonic, this is a flame sending spell modified for the transport of severed limbs. Under no circumstances should something be done to a Disharmonic that cannot be healed without leaving a scar.

If disharmonic does not agree to rejoin Harmony after amputation and another Two-hour delay They proceed to Omega.

Beta/Omega chamber: a 30/30/8 dimly lit room that hovers around 20C(68F). Chains on the wall within the Disharmonics view contain skeletons of some Erased. Torchlight is the only illumination and the Omega devices are kept barely out of sight. The point of the Three-hour difference is for them to recover slightly from the bright Alpha chambers. Experience has shown that Ponies will worry about what is going to happen to them. Three hours is the optimal time, as longer times allow for detrimental recovery of mental faculties.

Notes: 50% of those who arrive at Beta submit to Harmony

Breaking Omega: Director Twilight Sparkle is to personally handle all Omega breaking procedures. Ponies are left up to her mercy until a predetermined time. After this time they are told that a final refusal will result in being Erased, followed by a brief explanation of the Erasure procedure. Only Director Twilight may know what methods she uses.

Notes: 95% of those who reach Omega Submit to Harmony.

Of those that agree to have the spell cast upon them, there is a 1% chance that they resist, typically the feeling is quite pleasant. The spell is tricky and does it’s best to soothe the target while it’s being altered.

~~~~~

“Do ya know what happens ta those who go to Section Three?” Applejack’s face looked thoughtful, a frown creasing her forehead.

Pinkie sighed. “No, but it’s nothing good, what little I know about the Harmony spell is…” She glances at an empty corner. “It makes you happy, and it instills the qualities of harmony into you. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty. The few I’ve sent to Celestia have come back great ponies. Their sadness is gone, but so is their ambition.”

A white hoof rested on Pinkie’s shoulder, Rarities caring eyes looked thoughtful as well. “How did you of all ponies get involved? I can hardly see you being a part of...this” Rarities white hoof swept the room, all those who came to see Celestia sleeping soundly in a pile near the center.

Pinkie took a deep breath, her usual energy spent. “They are always watching, someone noticed my....memory and conscripted me.” Pinkie looked into Rarity’s kind eyes, her hair seeming a bit less poofy than before. “It isn’t something you say no too.”

Rarity paused for a moment. “Did you say no?” Pinkie nodded. Rarity raised an eyebrow waiting for a response only to get a sad shake of pinkies head. “I know I said no at first, I was sent to see Twilight.” At a cough from someone unseen behind Pinkie, she gave an absent wave of her hoof. “Director Twilight.” She sighed once more. “I don’t remember what happened during that time, but I woke up in my bed, it seemed a few days had passed and my desire to refuse was gone.”

Applejack spoke up. “You don’t think...they used the Harmony spell do ya?” Pinkie shook her head. “I don’t think so, those under its control never speak about it, I also think I’m...Important somehow. I was actually on Twilight’s list of ponies to meet today.”

Dash’s rough voice echoed around the room. “Who cares? We all knew Twilight had to be important, or the Princess wouldn’t have sent her. That Black pony did something to her, and we need to fix it.” Dash’s eyes were determined, her mouth set in a grim line.

Pinkie shook her head. “I know, but you should know, Twilight is strong. She was trained by Celestia herself eight hundred years ago…. And if the rumors are true, she knows not only battle magic, but dark magic as well.”

Rarity scoffed. “It can’t be that bad, after all, magic is only capable of….” her expression fell. “I’m beginning to see the issue. ‘Combat magic’ isn’t taught anymore. And I’m starting to see the obvious information blackout on magic used to harm. She was also trained during a war, but what’s Dark magic? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Pinkie looked to Spike, getting a nod she continued. “Dark magic corrupts the caster, ponies who use it end up changed, easily falling to hatred, it’s power is so great that it’s rumored it’s what caused...Nightmare Moon.”

Rarity blinked, taking a moment to process that. “I see, though our best bet is for Nightmare Moon to grow overconfident.”

Pinkie sighed, nodding in agreement before she could respond though Dash’s voice cut in. “Who cares? Twilight’s in the hands of that...Nightmare and it’s our job to get her back right? Let’s just go get her back.” Everyone was shocked at her brazen declaration but their expressions turned serious. As one they turned toward the window that Nightmare Moon had dragged Twilight through.

Pinkie bounced to her feet. “No sense waiting any longer, we’ve got a journey to get through. She bounced through the doors, the other 4 following soon after.

~~~

The light from Nightmare Moon’s horn slowly faded. “Hmm, I was expecting more panic from my return, I can hardly sense any strife or distress at all.

“It’s likely the E.I.S. has already started measures to wipe memories of the event.” Teal Draconic eyes moved over to the bound Unicorn. “I must say, I’m impressed my dear sister could come up with a system like this. And it seems she’s no longer the warrior who banished me a millennia ago.”

Twilight tried, she truly tried to remain silent, but the curse in her blood forced her to speak once again. “She has bad memories of the battlefield, I imagine it’s some form of PTSD. She’s not participated in breaking in almost a century. I don’t even know if she still practices battle magic at all.”

Nightmare nodded “Explains why she wasn’t here to greet me in pony. Sending a replacement instead.” The clop of hooves on stone echoed about the area as Nightmare moved toward a shattered globe, large stone spheres littering the ground. “What was she expecting? The elements are inert, and magic is nowhere to be seen. Her entire plan hinges upon a faint hope.” Nightmare kicked one of the spheres, sending it rolling across the ground with a rough grinding sound.

“Are you truly opposed to Joining Section Three? Celestia wishes to rule together with you once again. Surely you remember good times as well as the bad?”

Nightmare raised a delicate eyebrow. “An emotional plea now? Are you truly running out of options where that’s your best course of action?”

Twilight's face shifted from wide-eyed and hopeful back to grim determination, her lips set in a line. Resisting answering for a full five seconds before a simple “Yes.” escaped her lips.

“How quaint, but a few centuries of life isn’t quite enough to match wits with me.” Summoning a scrying mirror Nightmare looked in on Ponyville. “Oh, it seems your ‘friends’ are on their way. I’m afraid their plan won’t work…”

Nightmare moved closer to twilight, with a flick of her horn she removed the bindings holding the vampire in place. When she eventually rose to her hooves Nightmare stared deep into Twilight’s eyes. “Break them, don’t just kill them, show them that their efforts are futile.” Twilight stood there for a full thirty seconds before she sank into a shadow at her feet.

Already figured out she can use shadow magic now. I’m glad I could control her, she might have been a challenge otherwise. Nightmares gaze returned to the scrying mirror, a bunch of ponies making their way foolishly toward her. “I hope your watching dear sister, my only regret is that I can’t see the look on your face when this house of cards you’ve built comes tumbling down around you.”

Author's Note

Here are my words that I chose by throwing a dart at a dictionary, it wound up somewhat resembling a new chapter, so I posted it. As usual, any questions can be asked in the comments, I'd like feedback so I can improve even more.

Harmony

Break Them.

Twilight’s senses were now stronger than they have ever been. She could hear the rustle of every branch, the soft footfalls of every creature within at least 100 yards, maybe more if she took the time to hold still and focus her senses.

She was not currently doing that, her destination was already burned into her mind, a quick scan of the stars gave her the direction of Ponyville, it didn’t take long to figure out where her targets would be.

It was meant to be her leading them to the castle, not Pinkamena.

Show them that their efforts are futile. Twilight’s mind was frantically looking for holes in those commands, surely there was some way to still succeed.

Everything was riding on it, this elegant system she’s been working on for centuries can’t fail now.

She stopped in the shadow of a tree. What’s going on? Her mental faculties seemed impaired. That weight in her stomach had returned as well, and it was far stronger than before.

Analyze. She needed to analyze. When did this happen? When did it start? Recent events flashed through her mind. It started the moment after she was exposed to sunlight. When she was feeding on Rainbow Dash. The thought that she lost control had led to a potential bearer nearly dying seemed to have been the impetus.

Oh dear, it seems you’ve even fed from some of the element bearers, such potent magic is...difficult to manage.

Was it a result of feeding? The second time she felt this way was after feeding on Rarity. She agreed to let her meet Mi Amore Cadenza, which under usual circumstances was more effort for less return. Perhaps their blood was affecting her mental faculties, Nightmare moon’s blood did affect her quite drastically too, adding support to this theory.

Don’t just kill them. This could be interpreted as orders not to kill them. Nightmare moon seemed to think they were no threat to her in their current state.

A plan cut through the haze, her mind grabbed onto the idea like a drowning pony grabbing a lifeline. She spends several minutes mulling it over, refining it and filling in the weak points, it also didn’t trigger any of Nightmare’s various influences that she’d noticed so far, with that done, she gave herself several commands, then geased herself to forget her plan.

Time to Break some ponies.

~~~~~

Twilight’s eyes flicked up as she heard voices coming from up ahead. Up above the 5 ponies in question were moving along a sheer cliff, reports stated that Fluttershy wasn’t exactly a good flyer in tense situations, the fact she was walking gave credence to that observation.

Twilight’s horn lit up, a simple artillery spell slammed into the cliffside above her. As expected the cliff started to collapse, sinking into the shadows at the base Twilight moved from shadow to shadow till she was on the cliff, it seemed like Dash and Fluttershy caught Rarity and Pinkie pie, but Applejack was exposed on the cliff, giving orders for nobody to panic.

Break them.

She can’t have them rallying at this point, she emerged from the shadow of the cliff into the moonlight. The moment her hooves came into contact with the ground Applejack froze, the fur on the back of her neck seeming to stand straight.

Her voice a purr Twilight spoke. “Oh dear, don’t you know commanders are often the first targets in wartime? In centuries past they used to wear the quite shiny armor of their station, they soon realized that standing out was a bad idea, a single well-placed spell could disrupt an entire battalion.”

Slowly Applejack turned around, looking Twilight in the eyes. She seemed to flinch when they made eye contact.

Interesting, Twilight hadn’t looked into a mirror recently, such things didn’t quite work for her to begin with. She hadn’t realized her eyes were glowing, and the changes brought on by Nightmare moon left her looking quite monstrous.

Twilight began to feel a strange sensation as she stared into Applejack’s eyes, The farm pony seeming to fall under a trance. Something inside Twilight made her break eye contact, the trance breaking almost instantly, Applejack panting as she staggered for a bit. “The buck was that? Pinkie said you’re strong but…” Twilight simply observed her for a moment.

Something was wrong here, aside from the obvious toll her gaze had, Applejack didn’t look worse for wear. The vampire’s ears flick as she hears the beat of wings behind her. Before she could channel some magic to her horn Applejack held out a hoof, keeping them at bay.

That’s it, there was a distinct lack of fear. “Aren’t you afraid Applejack? A new Alicorn arrives on Equus and captures and converts your greatest, and quite possibly only hope. I’m sure Pinkamena informed you on how dangerous I am, even before I was altered.”

Applejacks ears folded back on themselves for a moment. “It’s true, ah been told that ya could kill us all without battin’ an eye. But ya didn’t.” She pointed a hoof at Twilight. “Ya attacked tha cliff we was on instead of attacking us. Mah guess is you want to make us scared. I know ya can kill me easily, but Ahm not afraid of ya. Ah live next to the darned Everfree fer pony’s sake.”

What is with these simple ponies and exceeding collected data? Twilight is distrustful by nature, not keeping anypony at their word unless she has some way to ensure such ponies could not renege, like Pinkie’s geas. Of course, Celestia is the only exception to this, and only due to a massive amount of collected data.

To date, Celestia has not yet once gone back on her word.

Plan A was not working, so it was time for plan B. She bared her fangs with a hiss. She spread her body out and lept into a charge. Applejack for her part simply dug in and readied herself to meet it head-on. Twilight’s horn flashed a single time, pulling Applejack’s legs forward a bit, which caused her knees to buckle from the unexpected pull. It would only have taken her a moment to catch and ready herself again.

The look in Applejack’s eyes showed that she knew it was enough, Twilight was upon her, forcing her head to the side with minimal effort as she bit down on the now exposed neck.

The scent of Apples worked its way into Twilight’s nose, this pony lived and breathed apples. And it showed with her sweet blood. Dash was lightning in a bottle, Rarity was sweet like a marshmallow.

Applejack was sweet too, but it was more understated. It had been centuries since Twilight had eaten fruit, but it reminded her of that. Similar to last time, her instincts threatened to take control once again but to Twilight’s surprise, she found she was nearly fully lucid during this feeding.

She could hear the beat of wings behind her as Dash dove toward her.

Analyzing the sensation once again, Twilight concluded that whatever Nightmare did to her, it gave her greater control over her...urges.

Not that she wasn’t severely tempted to continue feeding, the urge to clamp down on the neck when she felt hooves trying to pry her off was strong, but that would be against her commands. Ripping out the throat of this pony would kill her.

Instead, she glanced behind her and lit her horn again, thin tendrils of shadow rose from the ground and began to constrict Dash’s throat.

That was new, flexing her control a bit she pulled Dash off her, she grabbed a few parting swallows before she released Applejack, licking the blood from her lips with her tongue. Applejack for her part seemed to be in the same trance she observed in Rarity after feeding.

Dash was fighting against the tendrils constricting her, her magenta eyes shone with determination. More tendrils rose to meet the first and grabbed hold of Dash’s wings, anchoring her to the ground. Once she was sure Dash couldn’t escape Twilight began pacing once again.

“Once again, I see a distinct lack of fear in your eyes.” The flapping of wings above Twilight alerted her to the other pegasus, but a simple glance toward Fluttershy caused her wings to freeze up and she dropped to the ground with a soft thud next to Rainbow Dash.

“Mostly.” The shivering yellow pegasus was clearly frightened, but was still attempting to free Dash of her bindings. A flick of a hoof sent the nuisance tumbling away, just short of the cliff.

Peering down, the vampire loosened the hold on the pegasus’ neck to allow her to speak.

Dash was making sure Fluttershy was okay first, after that she resolutely locked eyes with Twilight. “Yea? Well, I heard what AJ said, and she’s right. You could have killed us there, but you didn’t. As far as I’m concerned that’s enough.” Dash glared at Twilight, magenta eyes boring into red. “I don’t abandon a friend, and you need my help.”

Doesn’t abandon a friend? Regardless of whether or not calling Twilight a friend was accurate, that’s a ridiculous statement in the extreme.

Everypony has a breaking point.

A new sensation filled Twilight’s chest, almost warming her up from the inside. The lingering taste of Applejack on her tongue was a bit more prominent as Twilight realized something.

She trusted Rainbow Dash.

She trusted somepony without any form of blackmail. As her concentration faded the tendrils of shadow vanished.

“Looks like I’m right.” Dash’s eyes still shown with determination, but now Twilight has a sinking suspicion of what that determination was.

This was not going to plan at all. She needed time to regroup. With a flash of her horn, she was gone.

~~~~~

Twilight appeared a couple thousand hoof lengths in the air, casting a scrying spell to make sure where she wanted to teleport was clear, and channeled a longer teleport while she fell. In a flash, she was gone.

A moment later her hooves meet solid dirt again. A quick scan in front of her showed it was clear, still she needed more time to prepare. Casting a scrying spell she checked on her targets again.

They seemed to be helping Applejack, Dash was arguing with Pinkie but a few words from the EIS agent quieted her. Before she could observe further Pinkamena glanced up, her eyes flat and cold. She stared right into Twilight’s eyes, even this far away something wormed in her stomach.

She hastily canceled the scrying spell, getting on Mena’s bad side was suicide. Looking around she weaved a quick curse to delay them for a bit while she collected herself. Once the Terro r Enchantment was on some trees between them and her she relaxed a bit. hopefully, that will slow them down.

Minutes passed as she paced back and forth.

Why did she trust them? She hasn’t trusted anypony in centuries, since she was young and naive enough to think other ponies thought the same way as her.

Even worse, the plan wasn’t working and pondering why she trusted Rainbow Dash was getting her nowhere, as she turned toward the castle once again a musky scent hit her nose.

Something had approached her while she was lost in thought. Looking up she saw a manticore, it seemed this clearing was where it nested. It roared at her, seeking to intimidate the small pony that intruded upon its lair.

With a flash of her horn, the manticore’s head thumps to the ground.

Unfortunately, it was standing above her, it’s heart, not realizing it was pointless, continued to pump, the blood flowing from its neck drenching down and soaking the vampire In a red downpour, the red ichor sticking to her fur and pooling across the ground.

Before she could cast a cleaning spell to get it out of her fur she made the mistake of breathing in.

The scent of the blood covering her body sapped her ability to think, it was so all encompassing that she kept taking deep breaths.

Something was slipping, her thoughts were becoming sluggish. Before she knew it she was drinking the blood from the open neck of the giant creature.

The first sound that showed her she waited too long was that of ponies laughing. Glancing behind her she noticed a group of ponies laughing on the ground.
Her thoughts started to clear the haze her mind was under but she was distracted by the rhythmic sounds of their beating hearts. Her meal was cold, the blood no longer useful, as they approached her she turned to face them, her ragged breathing sinking her thoughts once more below the miasma. Her vision became steadily redder.

The ponies have noticed her at this point, many of them sand in shock, the white one, in particular, looked quite ill.

Good, her hooves brought her to the distracted pony, right as her fangs flashed in the light an impact hit her lower jaw, sending her flying backward into the copse of her last meal.

With a hiss she regained her hooves, her jaw reformed and repaired itself.

“Take that, you ruffian!”

A shame, she recovered quickly. The rest of the ponies took fighting stances, fear in their eyes.

Fear makes them slow, this was going to be good.

Don’t kill them.

The force of the words removed some of the haze. Her mistresses commands still echoing in the deepest part of her mind. Her frenzy lessened somewhat, but not completely

“Waaaaiiiit!”

The timid yellow one was standing in front of her, her back turned toward Twilight, her neck only protected by her pink mane.

Twilight’s thoughts were struggling to take over.

“Get...back...Flutter.”

The Yellow one turns to look at her. Her eyes aren’t full of fear, they are full of... something else.

Something selfless.

Twilight took a few staggering steps, the scent of blood was still overpowering, it looked like many of the others were struggling to stand firm.

“Easy, Twilight. You’re just hungry, right?”

The calm beating of her heart was drying out Twilight’s mouth. Mutely she nodded.

Then she did something insane.

She exposed her neck.

She moved her hair out of the way and leaned to the left. In a blink Twilight was there, biting down, a sweet taste flooding her mouth.

But something was wrong. It was sweet.

Far too sweet.

Twilight coughed as the blood found its way to her stomach, where it began to burn like acid, eating her from the inside out. She staggered back, her body seemingly aflame. As she staggered back, those Blue-green eyes followed her, concern etched in on her face.

That’s what it was, it was kindness.

This taste, this magic, it was too much. It felt like her insides were melting. Before anyone could react Twilight did the unthinkable. She puked.

The few gulps of blood she got from Fluttershy left her body in the quickest manner possible, followed by a lot of manticore blood.

The scent of the poisoned blood was making her a bit nauseous. She collapsed on the ground. Fluttershy is at her side in an instant. “Are you okay? Can I help? Is blood not what you wanted? I probably have some food-”

It was too much. Twilight stood up and did the only thing she could think of.

She ran, she ran far faster than she’d ever run before, the forest around her was a blur, she got a glimpse of something purple in a river and stepped a bit to the right, but she got caught on something smooth and thin. Seems she pulled something like a bush out of the ground, not thinking too much about the orange...hair?

She stopped, it seemed she ripped some hair off something. She looked back a bit, she could hear something crying behind her.

A burning sensation filled her stomach again, it seems there was still some of the blood of the yellow one was in her system. Ignoring it she ran a bit further, coming to a stop at a large wooden bridge.

She was already back at the castle.

Finally casting that cleaning spell to remove the blood coating her coat she breathed the first clear breath in a while, her panic subsiding and her thoughts returning.

She got a new idea, with magic she cut the thin ropes holding the bridge and leaped to the other side.

She knew just who was going to arrive.

Show them that their efforts are futile.

Everypony had a breaking point, she was going to prove that Dash would fail just as well.

All she had to do was wait.

~~~~~

Twilight was feeling a lot calmer than before. The magic of their blood was potent, and it was affecting her mental capabilities. Her plans haven’t worked, because she was simply too emotional to form logical ones.

Thinking about it again, Nightmare did mention that such magic would be difficult to handle, it seems somepony’s blood can affect vampires based on certain factors.

The fact that they were potential element bearers must have something to do with it.

“I got this.”

The flapping of wings alerted her that her guest had arrived.

It was time to prove these...emotions wrong.

Everypony breaks.

A brief change in the style of flying showed that Rainbow Dash had noticed her, she wasn’t making an effort to hide.

Just before the pegasus could call her friends a bubble of silence stopped her. The fact that her voice made no sound seemed to frighten the pony, but instead, she simply turned to fly back to her ‘friends’.

Twilight couldn’t have that, a simple command and the pony was grabbed by shadowy tentacles and dragged to the ground.

Twilight walked up to the bound pegasus, those magenta eyes were still full of determination, and a little bit of fear.

“Now now, let’s just have a nice...chat. I’m sure that Pinkamena has informed you about me.” Rainbow nodded, seeming to be a bit calmer than she was before. “Yell for help and I’ll break one of your wings.” A flash of pain in her stomach made Twilight wince, but it wasn’t enough to stop her.

Now the pony was afraid, though still determined.

That won’t last long, removing the area of silence Twilight gestured for Rainbow to speak.

“We’re going to save you Twi. That black bitch can’t stop us.” Rainbow’s expression didn’t change at all. “You’re being controlled, don’t you see that?”

Of course, she saw it. It’s kinda hard to ignore a command that’s been running in the background of her thoughts on repeat. Time to prove what she should already know by now.

“I have a...certain authority in the government. You might not know the full scope of my responsibilities. And when Nightmare takes over, I’m sure she’s going to use Section Three to her own ends.”

Rainbow Dash’s file mentioned her ambition.

“I’m sure I could get you something...something like…” With a flash of her horn, a suit appeared in front of her.

A very iconic blue and yellow suit. “A Wonderbolts position. You could start in all of their races and shows. Such a thing would be easy...all you have to do is, join the winning side.”

Dash’s eyes grew wide, the mention of her life’s goal right in front of her.

When Twilight see’s Dash trying to move closer to the suit, she removes the shadowy bindings holding her down. With relief she sees her pick up the uniform, her eyes unreadable.

Then she chucks it down the ravine behind her. “I’ll get there on my own. And I never abandon my friends.” Those cursed eyes bore into Twilight, making it seem that the very idea that she’d abandon someone laughable.

The pain in her stomach comes again, Twilight gasps, deep inside her something snapped, everything up to this point flashes through her mind and she collapses.

Her breathing is coming in ragged breaths. She gives up, nothing these ponies do make sense. They all seem incorruptible in various ways.

Honestly, if she was breaking them in section three, she’d order them executed. The .05% of ponies that can’t be broken.

It’s been a real long time since she failed. A shadow blocks out the moon above her, the concerned looks of five ponies staring down at her.

“I...don’t understand. Why won’t you break? Why don’t you give up? If I wanted to, you’d all be reduced to chunks of bloody meat. What holds you up? Is it belief in Celestia? Believe in me? I’ve been turned and ordered to torture you guys till you give up. just...I don’t understand.”

“Ah don’t think it’s much ta understand sugarcube. Ya been workin fer centuries to help ponies. Ya can’t eat food, yet ya stomached everything mah family shoved at ya. Far as Ahm concerned yer a good pony...vampire.” Applejacks face was smiling, even slightly worried.

Once again, Twilight trusted her.

“You could have left me to die. And from what I understand you hadn’t fed on anyone before, I’m glad I was your first, and I’m glad you trusted me enough to keep your secret. And you know by now, that I never abandon a friend.”

A friend. Do these ponies think I’m their friend?

“Darling, I offered you my blood on my own, I didn’t expect anything in exchange, and even so, you agreed to introduce me to Princess mi amore Cadenza. And, if what I’ve heard is any indication, you go out of your way to avoid interacting with her. Quite generous of you, don’t you think?”

This was true, the constant concern about...lack of friends was more effort than it was worth, for more efficient to avoid her rather than sit through another lecture.

“U-um...even thought you were in a frenzy, you held yourself back. I don’t think you wanted to hurt us...and about...torture...I think being mean to make the world a kinder place is...nice.”

“I’ve got my orders Director Sparkey, but even if I didn’t, part of me will always want to help you!”

Even pinkamena, the oldest of the bunch by far had something to give.

If that ancient mare thinks of me as her friend…

Something inside Twilight grew, the emotions she’s been attempting to suppress grow rampant.

They were supposed to be the ones to free Luna. They were supposed to realize their elements on their own.

Twilight was never meant to be in this position, but she didn’t care, Light began shining from her as she finally realized what she had to do. Nightmares commands were scattered and blown away by the force of the magic inside her.

She knew this might be possible, if remotely. What she didn’t expect was the pain. She clamps her mouth shut so as not to alert Nightmare that something’s happening. Slowly standing on her hooves Twilight forces the new magic to her horn, pouring more magic into it she finally gets a reaction.

One last mission.

~~~~

]

These damnable orbs! They refuse to budge from the ground in their current state. Even inert Nightmare could feel their power.

And it was growing stronger. She hated to admit it, but she could feel fate’s guiding hoof here. She briefly considered calling back her new servant to assist in destroying these relics of the past.

A quick scry showed her confronting them outside.

They move fast.

Then her new thrall began to glow, with a jolt she noticed her unseen bindings on the ponies’ very soul are shattered.

That was why they were reacting! A thousand years to plan this revenge, and she didn’t notice that the purple one was the Element of Magic!

The orbs lift from the floor and fly out of the room, with a curse Nightmare chases after them.

She can’t fail now, not after coming so far!

~~~~~

“Get behind me...friends. They are coming, and so is she.” They instinctively noticed the change, the weight of destiny on their backs.

The elements flew and attached to their respective owners in a flash of light. Soon all of them were sporting golden necklaces with their respective cutie marks on them.

“For what it’s worth, I’ve never had friends before. I don’t even interact with my own son.” She sighed. The memory of Spike finally stirring something inside her. Seems the experiment wasn’t a failure after all.

“I don’t think I could have expected the feelings you all inspire inside me. And I’m glad I got to experience it at least once.”

They all look concerned as a tiara landed upon Twilight’s head, a purple star sitting in its center.

As she expected, the pain was worse, causing her to gasp audibly. Fortunately, though, it won’t be long now. Nightmare was hot on the elements’ tail. Channeling magic all six of them began to float, and right as Nightmare dove out the crumbling doorway Twilight directed the magic at her.

A rainbow comes from them and hits Nightmare head-on, her body cracking as she shouts in defiance.

It almost drowned out Twilights scream, far worse than when her body was changing, worse than sunlight.

Even worse than when she first turned.

When the light faded there was a small blue form where Nightmare once was, and Twilight collapsed upon the ground, the tiara rolling away from her and hitting a wall.

“TWILIGHT!”

Five ponies move to her, and all of them stare in shock.

Her dark color is gone, the shaggy coat and tufted ears are replaced by that of a regular pony.

She’s breathing heavily, her gasping mouth revealing that her fangs were gone.

“She’s...not a vampire anymore?”

“Move aside!” The small blue alicorn is on her feet, The five ponies take protective stances between her and Twilight.

“Make haste! She is not long for this world!”

Behind her the sun is rising, a glowing orb landing in their midst. When the light fades Celestia is standing there, her expression concerned. “Sister…”

“Not now Celestia! Thine student is dying.”

“What?”

Luna had muscled her way through the ponies while they were distracted. And sure enough, it looked like Twilight was aging before their eyes, her fur was already turning white.

“The curse is what kept thine student alive, without it, her true age is catching up. Come, sister, I wish to repay my savior, but I am weakened.” She closed her eyes for a brief moment before opening them once again. “My hatred is gone, and with it most of my magic.” Luna was carving a rune on the ground. Working quickly, she enveloped Twilight with a blue aura. It seems to be slowing down the progress, but not by much.
There are still tears in Celestia’s eyes, but she wipes them away and nods. “Right.” She
scanned the rune her sister was carving on the ground and frowned. “This is...different than before. I glanced at the curse and it was incredibly complex.” She points to a part near the edge. “What’s the catalyst? You’ll need something strong to bind such an array.”

Luna doesn’t answer for a long time, adding more and more to the array. “Blood.” She replied simply. She glanced at Celestia before continuing. “Alicorn blood. Mine isn’t as potent as it was before, I’m going to need some of yours as well.”

Alarm flashes across Celestia’s face. “This is… why would you…” Her indecision is stopped when she looks upon her student, her body was already beginning to disappear, her hooves slowly turning to dust before her eyes.

The decision was made for her. Celestia’s eyes harden, becoming resolute. “Where.”

Luna pointed to a circle of runes on the left, taking her place on the opposite side of the array. With a nod they both used telekinesis to slash their hooves, pouring the crimson liquid at the same time.

The moment it comes into contact with the array it flares to life, white magic filling the area. Which lit up Twilight’s friends' concerned faces.

“Chronomancy sister, rewind time to when thine student was first turned. We don’t want her to look ancient for millennia.”

Celestia’s horn lights up, it’s glow rivaling that of the array, with a flash the ponies are teleported back to Ponyville, along with Luna.

The confused ponies looked around, noticing a glow off to the east that rivaled even that of the coming dawn. A pillar of White light rises into the sky, though it soon became corrupted, darkness blooming within its heart. The size of the dark pillar drowned out the sun,Eclipsing it much like the moon minutes before.

Applejack moves over to the blue alicorn, ignoring the spectacle above. Without preamble she socked Luna right in the face, sending her into a nearby cart. The force of her impact destroyed the cart, sending the apples contained within flying everywhere.

“She better be fine. Ahm not losing a new friend a day aftah meeting her.”

Luna shakes off the debris, sporting a new shiner as she spits out some blood, she runs a spell through her coat to remove the dust and the black eye is already starting to heal. “I do not know if thine friend will be fine. The curse was meant to be fatal if removed after a ponies’ natural lifetime. If I recall, twas to instill fear in my elders about crossing me.” Luna looks at the forest, the light-show beginning to fade. “Twas also not designed to work with my sisters’ blood or blood from multiple alicorns. This one had to improvise a new rune in very little time. At best she will be stronger than the Originals. At worst, thine friend hath already expired due to an excess of magic.”

Applejack raises her hoof again but lowers it a moment later. “At least ya were honest about what’s going on. Only thing worse than a lie, is lying about serious matters.”

Luna opened her mouth to respond but a flash of teleportation behind her closed it again. Before she knew it hooves were being wrapped around her in a hug.

Leaning in to her sister’s warm embrace Luna let herself relax. “I missed you so much, All these years.” Celestia was letting her feelings out, the force of the emotions raising the temperature of the air around her. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, the other ponies gave the sisters some space, their expressions full of concern for their new friend.

When both have suitably recovered Celestia addresses the ponies. “I believe she’s out of the worst of it, The curse took hold once again, We’ll have to wait for her to recover.” She looks at Luna “She’s already showing some strange symptoms sister, we may have to monitor her for a while.” Luna just nodded, wiping a tear from her eye with a small blue hoof. Together they both look to the sunrise. Around them, ponies were coming out of their houses and gathering around The sisters.

“Come Lulu, I would like to show you the world I’ve created.”

Author's Note

The first of two chapters. turns out if you don't feed the monkey with the typewriters they die, rats took their place. They have small bodies, so it's harder for them to push the keys down.

yea...that's why it took so long. Totally.

ahem I had several things I pointed two in this chapter that will pay off immediately in the next one.

Meeting

Twilight looked up at the sunlight high above her. It had been so long since she had simply enjoyed a sunrise that she stood there for much longer than necessary.

How easy one forgets simple things, like warmth on your fur or a breeze in your mane when you were deadened to them for centuries.

Centuries.

It was nearly a millennium since she was cursed in order to extend her life, and even after a week, she’s not gotten used to the changes her body has undergone.

She still needed blood, but it wasn’t nearly as large a drive as it was before, once every three days was sufficient, and feeding didn’t seem to impair her mental faculties at all.

But the biggest change was that sunlight no longer affected her, and she seemed...more alive. Her body wasn’t cool to the touch like it was before, and her coat had lightened to its natural hue she had when she was younger.

But enough hesitation, she’s got a meeting to attend to. Looking down from the sunlight above her eyes alight on an isolated log cabin. Pushing open the door her eyes fell upon horrified faces.

The small cabin housed a nightmare inside. Taking steps into the darkened portal she looked around, her eyes still seeing quite clearly in the dim light. All around her were the corpses of those who passed before, animals stuffed and posed in various snarling poses lined the walls.

Taking a step inside her hoof touches something soft, looking down she saw a pony fur rug, complete with a head facing the doorway.

Even after gaining some amount of emotion such things still hardly affected her.

Looking around she doesn’t see her target but a soft thunk came from beneath her hooves.

Ah, she was in the basement. Enhanced hearing is still as useful as it’s always been, moving past the main living area she encounters more and more stuffed ponies, these ones with faces frozen in terror. Twilight examined one of them for a moment, it almost seems as if this one was still screaming, the glass eyes looked very realistic.

She’d gotten better at Taxidermy since her last visit, good glass eyes were a rather recent addition, older ones were good for rodents, and even bears, but not ponies, who’s irises varied so widely in both color and saturation.

Thunk.

Eventually, she made her way to a door, even without using Arcane Sight she could tell it was heavily enchanted. Casting the proper spell she read the glyphs that covered the iron portal.

Crude,ancient and inefficient, but effective. Runes typically required more space to inscribe them properly than modern enchanting using spell matrix. Useful though for one normally without magic.

At a cost, of course.

Thunk.

Seeing that the enchantments were to stop anyone from leaving, rather than entering she opens the door and descends into the darkness below, the wooden stairs creaking beneath her hooves.

A few dozen steps later she’s greeted by the gaze of a pony chained to the wall, it’s confinement designed to be right where the stairs ended.

Putting escape so close, but so out of reach was an effective way to break somepony.

Not that the pony in question had much on its mind, it’s gaze was straight ahead, silent tears moving down its face.

Hmm, seems it has enough water to cry still. Must not have been here for long.

Its eyes moved to twilight, pleading, and silent.

Ah, its throat was cut, it’s voicebox removed. Odd, she usually enjoyed their screams.

Thunk.

Turning her gaze to the room on her left Twilight’s glowing red eyes survey the various torture implements lining the walls, a bloodstained table lies in the middle, a cart containing various knives and even surgical equipment close by. The far wall was dominated by a massive patchwork.

One could be forgiven for thinking it was a patchwork quilt, only on close inspection does one realize it’s composed of cutie marks, each cut with surgical precision and turned into leather, stitched together in a macabre patchwork.

Most serial killers keep some form of memento, a way to relive their kills. Her target liked to collect cutie marks.

Thunk.

Looking down, below the patchwork She sees her target, a slumped form on a butcher table. A pink hoof raises up a cleaver and slices through a pony lying upon it with a thunk. From behind like this you could barely make out a cutie mark full of balloons. Though, in this light they almost seemed to be popped, and faded.

Unlike normal, her pink hair is flat and lifeless, devoid of it’s happy bouncy curls.

Twilight learned long ago not to question the mane, it was a good measure of who was in control at any given time.

Flat mane usually meant Mena, or a rather depressed Pinkie about to revert to mena.

Twilight’s gaze shifted to the focus of Mena’s work, a scraping sound as chunks of flesh are deposited into a nearby bucket with meaty thuds.

“Pinkamena, do you have some time?”

A flat, monotone voice fills the air, the usual exuberant tone of PInkie replaced with a flat and low tone. “I assumed you would realize I’m busy.” She goes back to work again, slicing another part of somepony’s leg with a thunk.

“Giving my prey too much hope is a bad thing, sets me back by hours.”With a flick of her wrist, the butcher knife gets embedded in the table. Turning around Mena’s eyes meet Twilights, cold and blue, utterly lifeless and almost bored, an apron covering her chest.

Unlike pinkie, Mena’s hair is always flat, her eyes sunken as if they never sleep. The blue orbs looked irritated, flicking to the mute pony behind Twilight and back.

Mena reaches behind her and grabs a cube of meat from the bucket, still dripping with blood and pops it into her mouth, Sharp canine teeth flash in the dim light of the dungeon.

Hm, her illusion was off already, Interesting.

Looking down a bit, a golden necklace is wrapped around Mena’s neck, a pink gem in the center.

It’s design wasn’t the same as the element of harmony she possessed, looking far more crude and a lot older.

Looks aside, Mena was actually older than Twilight by a few decades.

Most werewolves died rather quickly, but those that can hunt consistently can prolong their life as long as they have meat.

Pony meat specifically. A werewolf eating a deer was the same as a regular wolf eating vegetables. Technically possible, but not very nourishing.

Vampirism wasn’t the only curse that Nightmare made.

As she silently eats her chunk of flesh she takes a seat on a nearby stool. “I’m kinda in the middle of something today, can it wait? Pinkie will be back sometime tomorrow, Diane has some planned time with that one.” She gestured absently with a hoof. At the pony chained to the wall.

Ah, that explains why it wasn’t dehydrated, hard to ejaculate when you have no water in your system.

Taking a deep breath Twilight speaks again. “This concerns all of you.”

Looking at the serious expression on Twilight’s face Pinkamena sighs “Alright, get it over with. I’m just doing some processing now anyway.”

Seeing no place to sit down, Twilight continues standing. “As per the Werewolf Accord, your territory supersedes Equestria’s laws, You’ve done an admirable job disposing of the Disharmonic, and you’ve kept your hunting to acceptable levels. However, it seems when Luna’s hatred was purged by the Elements of harmony, her control over the Originals was severed. They’ve begun to move, making waves now that they are free to do as they will. I’ve been asked by Celestia to ask for your assistance, an Ancient like you should be able to gather the other Clans to help hunt them down.”

Pinkamena simply sat there, remaining silent. She grabs and eats a few more chunks of flesh before growling.

“I don’t have much contact with the other Ancients, and I don’t have a pack of my own. I could threaten them into helping, but they don’t wish to work with me at all. It would be quite a fight to prove who’s the Alpha, and Fenrir wouldn’t make it an honorable one on one versus me. It would take time, and I’m not sure that’s something you have in abundance. Vampires are a myth after all, same with Werewolves.” Mena gave a toothy smile, her sharp teeth stained red from the pony meat she was just consuming.

Twilight sighs in vexation, rubbing her forehead with a hoof.

“I’ve been authorized to help you in any way possible, you’re right though, we don’t have much time. Have you been...satisfied?”

Mena looks at the work she’s done, her eyes drifting to the pony chained to the wall, and his former friend on the chopping block behind her. She seemed to be doing some sort of internal debate with herself and sighs. “Diane’s not on board, she wants to enjoy this one while he still has life left. Give us about three hours.”

Twilight sighs but heads up the staircase once again, the pleading eyes of the mute pony seeking salvation.

A salvation that will never come. Hopefully, he enjoys what little pleasure he can get before he dies.

Twilight didn’t hold out hope for that though, Diane was both a sadist and a masochist.

They were both going to be in a lot of pain soon.

Part of Twilight hurts, the small amount of kindness inside her wants to ease his suffering, but sometimes the greatest kindness is satisfying a monster so it doesn’t hurt many more.”

She leaves the basement behind and makes her way into the woods surrounding the lone cabin. Minutes pass and she eventually leaves the Everfree, walking down a familiar path past Sweet apple acres. She gets an enthusiastic wave from her friend on the way, bucking apples with the help of her sister.

A quick trip through town and Twilight finds herself inside the library.

She’s got work to do.

~~~~~

Her preparations were complete, her bags were packed and books were left out for Dash to come back for later, that mare really has an unhealthy appetite for reading, and surprisingly a secretive nature when it’s called for.

A twist in space-time alerts twilight that her guest has arrived.

Looking down she sees a familiar pink pony, but subtle things are different. Her mane which was once flat and lifeless before in the basement is curled and...kinda suave, elegantly wrapping around her face and framing her eyes almost sensually, even her eyelashes seemed longer and more ladylike, unlike the flat blue of before these were full of life, desire, and no small amount of pure unbridled lust. Even the way she stood seemed suggestive in the extreme.

Great. Diane was in charge, this will be...a bother.

Putting up a sound nullifying barrier twilight headed downstairs. “Diane, I was under the impression that Mena would be the one meeting me, or at least Pinkie.”

Diane’s voice rolls out almost like a purr, low and seductive. “My time is already being cut short, I’m not giving up control just yet. We have schedules for a reason hot stuff.” She takes a deep breath. “I can smell Dashie here, quite strongly too. Have you two...gotten closer while I wasn’t lookin?” The hunger in her eyes showed exactly what she meant.

“No, she’s just been borrowing more books recently, she’s scheduled to get some new ones in about an hour, I would prefer if we were out of here before then. Lots of questions that I’d rather not answer.”

Diane gives a wide smile, showing her canine teeth.

Seems the illusion’s still off. Lighting up her horn Twilight grabbed her saddlebags and floated them onto her back. “You know where the other Werewolf clans are? We don’t have much time before we have a bloodbath that would be quite difficult to erase on our hooves.”

“Blah blah blah.” Diane absently waves a dismissive hoof. “Mena filled me in, find the Ancients, force them to band together, kill the vampires. Anything I’m missing?”

As Twilight opens her mouth to speak a new sound hits her eardrums. There’s the excited heartbeat of Diane, but there’s another sound as well…

A second excited heartbeat had joined the first. No, excited wasn’t the right word… it was too fast, to frantic. This was fear.

Horseapples.

In a blur of motion Twilight ran to the door, throwing it open, knocking down a pony who was eavesdropping. The silence barrier ended right at the door, somepony could simply press an ear to it and hear their private conversation.

Looking down Twilight saw a groaning blue pony beneath the steps, holding her head before she looked up and gasped in shock.

“Dash, you weren’t supposed to be here for another hour.”

Dash for her part was simply shivering, almost cowering in fear. Her eyes were locked not on Twilight, but on something behind her.

Letting out another sigh she turned to look behind her, and of course; there’s Diane, her smile wider than before, showing off her sharp teeth for all of Ponyville to see, still stained red from the meat she just consumed.

Dash let out three simple words, words that made everything far more complicated than ever before.

“Pinkie’s a werewolf?”

Author's Note

And now the big reveal! to finally answer someone's question, YES there are more curses/and or statuses.

Zombies and Werewolves do exist.

I hope this isn't too sudden, I tried to sprinkle things about it in last chapter, and even the one before.

be sure to give credit to the rats that worked overtime for this. I'm worried this won't jive well with the readers of this chapter. The world is opening up to more possibilities, and I really hope you enjoyed the ride. now to go back to my cave.