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.