When Legends Rise

A cool summer breeze whistled through the trees as I stood on the balcony to my room. Each of us had retired to our own individual rooms, with Octavia going to spend time catching up with her parents. I was leant against the edge of the balcony, nursing the liquor from that tavern back in canterlot. Humming in thought I took out the music box that Twilight had given me, placed it on the balcony and pressed the crystal on the base, after a moment the porcelain figure turned into an image of Twilight. She blinked and looked around in confusion, before her eyes focussed on me then widened in surprise

“Oh, Onælan. What can I do for you?” She asked. I went to speak, only for a rift of light to tear open the air in front of us, suspended in mid air some 10 feet beyond the edge of the balcony. This evoked a gasp from Twilight, I quickly glance left and right, but anyone else on any of the other balconies appeared oblivious. Suddenly a familiar figure appeared through the riff.

“Fantasia” I stated. The divine alicorn regarded me with indifference, before her eyes narrowed as they locked on Twilight’s music box.

“I would have preferred if you weren’t present for what I’m about to do...but it matters not, it’s not like you can actually do anything” she said.

“Do what?” I asked.

“There are certain things that I require of you.” she said “things that require me to take a more direct approach, particularly with you”

“But...you already gave me that staff” I said, assuming she was referring to the magic, at this Fantasia snorted.

“That twig was a mere distraction to avoid rousing the suspicions of the Equestrian princesses as to my true intentions” she said, causing Twilight to look incredulous.

“Excuse me!?” she asked.

“Did you honestly think that I could imbue my own powers in mere wood taken from a shattered door?” Fantasia asked, looking rather amused. “Nay, a much more direct approach is required” Twilight went wide eyed at this.

“But what you are suggesting is to bind his soul to you!” she exclaimed, looking livid “that’s dark, cursed magic. You cannot do that!” Fantasia chuckled at this

“Oh, dear Twilight” she said “your kind so easily puts faith in Harmony above all else. But what is really required to bring true peace is balance. For there cannot be Harmony without chaos. Good without evil...Light without dark!” at this purple smoke began to seep from fantasias eyes, and a bubbling purple aura appeared around her horn. I barely even had time to register Twilight’s desperate cry of protest as a black and purple beam of magic shot out towards my forehead...

...darkness surrounded me...

When I came to I got a very sudden sense of vertigo as I reached the realisation that I was perched on the roof of a building in the dead of night, in my full set of armour without the cloak, overlooking the narrow streets, I very quickly lent back so as not to fall off.

“What the hell!?” I exclaimed.

“I was wondering when you would awake” I heard Fantasia say and I turned to see an image of her, a spirit composed of ethereal light the size of a regular pony, perched upside down on a chimney pot, stood on a single foreleg.

“What did you do?” I asked “Twilight said something about soul binding, what did she mean?” at this Fantasia pushed herself off of the chimney and pirouetted through the air before gracefully landing in front of me.

“Your soul belongs to me now, Onælan” she said “do as I command, and you shall be rewarded with great power. However, disobey me..” at this she raised a hoof and clenched it, and I felt a level of pain unlike anything I’d felt before rip through me. It was only for a split second, but it was enough to cause me to double over and nearly drive me to the edge of sanity.

“Damn you!” I hissed, standing back up “you’ve taken my very soul, what makes me human!” she held up a hoof to silence me.

“Not taken it” she said “bound it, your soul is still within your body. I merely own it and protect it”

“What’s in it for me, then?” I asked “so far it’s sounding pretty one sided”

“That’s why I brought you here. To show you just what you are now capable of” Fantasia said, turning to look at the city which stretched out before us. “People so often assume that light signifies good, and darkness evil. But this is certainly not the case. Is it morally wrong if you use dark magic to revive someone who’s only just passed? Or morally right to use the light of a thousand suns to blind someone?”

“Intention is everything” I said, realising what she was getting at.

“Exactly” she said “the entire point of the Wrakjon's existence is to keep the world in balance as it progresses, to make sure that the planet does not stray too far towards total industrialisation whilst preventing civilisation as we know it from collapsing. As such that requires being able to understand and acknowledge both sides of a coin, the light and the dark. Good and evil. Do you understand?”

“So far” I said levely. I was still livid that I now had my soul bound to her, but I didn’t have much choice but to play along, Fantasia wrinkled her nose.

“You do realise I can read your thoughts now, yes?” she asked.

“Shit” I muttered before sighing “Well, I do now”

“Look, I know you value your independence and free will” she said, giving me a soft smile “and I know this seems harsh at first-”

“You think?” I asked sarcastically, she ignored my remark.

“But in time you’ll come to appreciate that being soul bound to me has more benefits than drawbacks” she said “I won’t lie about having the ability to control you should I feel the need, but I’d much rather let you do things your own way, makes things more entertaining that way”

“You're not reassuring me about your lack of morality” I muttered “anyway, you said you had a reason from bringing me here. Well what is it?”

“I thought we could have a little fun whilst helping you to get used to some of your more basic abilities” she said, before humming in amusement as an odd glimmer appeared in her eyes “Hmm, thieves, murderers, drug dealers, rapists...so many naughty individuals who use the night to their advantage that need their heads bashing in”

“E-excuse me?” I asked, taking a cautious step back from her. Her propensity to seemingly switch tones on a whim, not to mention soul binding me, was seriously making start to question her sanity or lack thereof. She must have sensed my thoughts as she let out a giggle as she sidled up to me

“Your concepts of sanity and morality are amusing, my dear mortal” she said as she drew close...uncomfortably so “But I care not for such limiting concepts. I care of only two things; the balance of life & power, and protecting innocent life. It matters not to me the approach taken to reach those goals” suddenly her ears twitched and in an instant her juvenile playfulness evaporated, giving way to mature seriousness as her head snapped to the left faster than I could blink, looking towards a chimney a couple houses down, before a small, knowing smile graced her muzzle.

“There are not many who can sneak up on me. you have my congratulations at getting as close as you have without raising my suspicions” she called “come on out, I will not hurt you” after a moment an equine figure slunk out from behind the chimney, obscured by clouds I wasn’t quite able to make them out, it was only when they drew closer and the clouds parted that moonlight revealed their identity.

At first glance this pony appeared to by Vinyl Scratch, though upon looking closer a few detailed appeared off, for one thing she looked much slimmer, her ears and horn ended in much sharper points, not to mention the set of bat-like wings now adorned on her back, but most striking of all were her blood red eyes. I felt decidedly unnerved as she stared at me unblinkingly with a blank expression, as if sizing me up.

“V-Vinyl?” I asked uncertainty. In an instant her face shifted to her more usual laid back demeanor and writing appeared above her head composed of blue magic

“Yo, ‘sup?” I let out a sigh of relief

“Christ above, you had me worried for a minute” I muttered. “I thought you were about to jump me!” She let out a voiceless, wheezing chuckle as more writing appeared.

“My bad, I tend to zone out when I’m like this”

“So…vampire, huh?” I asked, awkwardly, she nodded cooly “ What’re you doing out here?” Vinyl merely shrugged

“Mare’s gotta feed, plus I’m revisiting some old memories of this city...you?”

“Ask Fantasia” I said, jerking a thumb at the aforementioned alicorn, Vinyl turned to her and raised an eyebrow, to which the Alicorn simply replied.

“I’ve soul-bound him, he belongs to me now” this prompted a reaction out of the unicorn turned vampire, who jerked her head back as if struck.

“Gods above, that’s some serious dark magic!” she then rounded on me, an incredulous look on her face “what the buck are you playing at!?”

“I had no choice or say in the matter, she just showed up and soul-bound me before I even had it explained to me” I said “More and more I’m getting the feeling like I have a tenuous control at best of my own situation” Fantasia chuckled at this.

“Who said you had any control?” she asked, at this Vinyl put herself between me and Fantasia and fresh words appeared above her head.

“I was more than happy to go along with the pre-destined hero horseshit, but you're starting to pull some super shady shit for the sake of “keeping the balance”. Something I’m not too keen on going with” Fantasia snarled at this.

“You would stand against me?” she hissed and she drew herself up to her full height “I could erase you with a mere thought”

“It would mean one less to do your twisted dirty work” Vinyl said bluntly, for a tense moment they continued their standoff. Before eventually Fantasia relaxed her posture.

“Have it your way, blood-pony” she said, chuckled darkly as her form began to fade “oh, and do me a favour, kindly get him used to using light magic and dark” and with that her form disappeared completely. Only once she was gone completely did Vinyl spit on the roof tiles.

“Damned gods...not one shred of decency or morality in them” she then sighed as her posture sagged and fresh words replaced the old ones “Alright, let’s get on with it”

“Fantasia said something about thieves, rapists and murderers” I said as Vinyl turned and loped along the length of the rooftop.

“Yep, that certainly makes things easier for me. I train you to get the drop on someone and in return I get a meal” she said as I drew up alongside her “Makes things easier on my conscience if I only prey upon the not-so-nice ponies”

“That’s one thing I’ve been meaning to ask” I began as I proceeded to burst into a sprint, before leaping the gap above a side street. When I landed I stopped and turned “How do you walk about in day time? I always thought vampires were supposed to burst into flames in sunlight” words appeared in front of my face.

“We do. But they created spells long ago to counteract that. One to block out the sun, another to disguise my appearance” she then leapt across to me “But you typically won’t see any non thaumic-wielding vampires during the day unless they have a unicorn familiar”

“Familiar?” I asked as we continued along the rooftops.

“A mortal who helps a vampire out, runs errands during daylight and such, occasionally gives blood when pickings are thin, but primarily a source of companionship from someone who comprehends our true nature, whether it’s romantic or not is down to the vampire and their familiar. Octy is my familiar” the paragraph faded away as Vinyl stopped on a dime, reared up and jabbed a hoof into my chest, fresh words flickering into existence above her head. “No matter what, a familiar is never forced into what they do. Consent is everything, it’s the only reason the princesses allow our existence to continue-” suddenly her ears pricked up and she froze as her ears swivelled around, as if zeroing in on some unheard sound.

“Bingo!” and with that she turned and dropped into a sprint, and had no choice but to dash after her. After a few minutes of chasing her across rooftops through the city she came to a sudden stop and signalled for me to get down and approach slowly, drawing close words began to appear on the roof tiles in front of me. “It’s better than I thought, some sort of crime den, that means plenty of practice for you and plenty of blood for me. It’s a wonder they haven’t raised the suspicion of the locals, I could hear them 2 blocks down.” peering over the edge I could see a dimly lit claustrophobic ally leading to some sort of warehouse, standing guard at the front door were two earth ponies, each about 5ft tall and built like brick shithouses. Vinyl clicked her tongue and I turned to see more writing above her head.

“Those are Yarvik Tykes, I’d recognise their sort any day. You’ll need to watch out for them, a single buck to the chest will cave in your rib cage even with that armour”

“I can already think of a way to put them down” I whispered “but it involves magic and something a bit less conspicuous than a sword on my part, and I don’t have either”

“I can be of assistance” I heard fantasia say as her form materialised between us, though almost immediately she appeared to become distracted as she looked at the warehouse below “...oh yes, they will do very nicely for our purposes…”

“Um...Fantasia?” I asked, she shook her head, before turning to look at me.

“Where was I?...Oh yes” she said, as a dagger with a blade some 6 inches long materialised in front of me, as I took it and examined the blade she continued speaking “Wrakjon such as yourself have some degree of control over your weapon of choice, consider that a nudge for now, as for your magic, tonight I’ll do most of the work, think of what it is you need to do and I shall bring forth the spell in your mind. But after that it’s up to those around you to teach you the basics...I trust you know dark magic, vinyl?” at this she turned to look at vinyl, who merely shrugged.

“Only the basics”

“It will have to do for now” Fantasia said “Well, you’d best get on with it, we only have so many hours of night time left” and with that she dissipated on a gust of wind. With a quiet sigh I slowly began making my way along the rooftop, trying to get closer so that I could get the drop on them. But only once I came close to the warehouse did I start getting second thoughts. I raised a hand ever so slightly to catch Vinyl’s attention, before speaking at a low whisper.

“Let’s take things a bit more cautiously than just dropping down on them” I said, turning back to look at her “I’m gonna see if there’s a window or something which I can use to get us in, see what they’re really up to” she nodded ever so slightly, and I took that as my cue to move closer. Separating the building we were stood on from the warehouse itself was a sizable cobblestone square, obviously intended to accommodate multiple carts loading and unloading. Gazing at the roof of the warehouse, I could see numerous dormas built onto the roof, some were dimly lit up, others were pitch black. Perfect. I imagined myself appearing next to one of the empty dormas as in the blink of an eye I reappeared with a dull “pop”, though I couldn’t help but wince at the noise and quickly pinned myself against the side of a dorma just in case someone had heard it, after a few tense moments it appeared I had gone undetected, and waved over to vinyl for her to come over. She appeared to shrink into the shadows before reappearing out of the shadows next to me, I looked her up and down and raised an eyebrow, she merely rolled her eyes

“I’ll teach you that trick later, let’s try and focus on breaking in for now” I slowly made my way to the front of the dorma and peered through the window, upon seeing that it was dark and empty I began to feel around the window frame, trying to see if there was some sort of latch. When that proved fruitless I decided to take a slightly more clever approach and with a simple prompt to Fantasia I reached out with magic and began to feel around inside, I soon found what I was looking for and with a mere thought I turned all the screws and pulled them out of their threads, then carefully lowered the entire window down and climbed it, almost immediately I was greeted to a smell that seemed...off. Only when I turned around did I see Vinyl staring at me with a gormless expression on her face.

“What? It pays to know basic DIY” I said, Vinyl shook her head then climbed in, once she was inside I then replaced the window and began to look around the room. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom I began to notice empty cages of various sizes, I couldn't help but glance around warily. “Wha...what exactly are we dealing with here, Vinyl?” I heard her let out a long sigh and turned to see her looking around at the cages with her teeth bared.

“At a guess...slave trafficking, distributing creatures to the north where law enforcement isn’t as effective...shit...this brings back memories I’d have rather left forgotten…”

“Vinyl?” I asked, prompting her to continue, she sighed and brushed her mane back with a pained expression on her face.

“When you’re a vampire it’s very easy to get caught up in a bad crowd...some time back I got involved in a trafficking operation, I guess I figured it would provide me with an easy supply of blood, the boss didn’t seem to care either way…” I was taken aback.

“Jesus, Vinyl…” I said, not sure of what else to say, she held up a hoof to stop me before I said anything else

“Save it. I don't need you lecturing me about morality, I’ve got my own conscience doing that already. Let’s just focus on gutting some slavers and freeing as many slaves as we can.”

“Lead the way” I said simply, not sure what to think of the situation, what to think of Vinyl. She walked up to the door and gently pressed an ear to it, listening out in case anyone was in the hallway beyond. Apparently the coast was clear as she slowly opened the door and poked her head out before opening the door fully and gesturing for me to follow. After a brief pause I followed her out of the room and into an unlit hallway, I followed after Vinyl and after a few minutes of meandering through various corredores we came to a metal door.

“I have a feeling I know what’s beyond this door, if the noises beyond are anything to go by. Best use a concealment spell” with that her horn lit up and she appeared to become transparent, I could still make her out but I had to concentrate. With a thought to Fantasia I felt a tingling wash over me and looked at my hands just in time to see them begin to fade until I could see the floor beneath them. I was shaken from my musings by a dull click as Vinyl opened the door, revealing some kind of dimly lit catwalk overlooking a large open warehouse, as she cautiously walked out onto it I noticed that her hoofsteps were noticeably muffled, and sure enough my own footsteps were also muffled. Walking out onto the catwalk after Vinyl I was taken about by the sight which greeted me.

Down below us were metal cages of all shapes and sizes filled with some manner of sapient creature, mostly ponies but the occasional member of another race. All were extremely skinny, most likely only being fed just enough to keep them alive, the sight made me shake with rage. A faint flash of vinyls blue magic in front of my eyes made me turn to look at her and I was greeted to faded blue letters floating above her head.

“Cool it, big guy. Save the anger for when we find the slavers” I let out a low sigh, trying to force my anger down, for a few moments Vinyl studied me before turning and resuming her path along the catwalk, presumably satisfied that I wasn’t about the suddenly fly off the handle. I held back a few moments to compose myself before following after her, my dagger now gripped firmly in my right hand.