Applejack looked up at the moon with eyes turned red by tears she had been trying her hardest to not cry. However, the thought of Applebloom being torn limb from limb by a vampony who saw the act of a foal’s question as an offence worthy of death, proved too much for the mare to handle. The idea that such ponies, living or dead… or of any state in-between for that matter… would condemn pegasus and unicorn foals like Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to death… it appalled Applejack more than she thought anything ever would.

So she had left. Walked away from the conversation so she wouldn’t have to hear any more of something that she knew she would eventually have to fight.

But not as she was.

No… if she was to fight the ponies who would do such a thing to a foal, she would have to become that which she feared. That which would do such a thing to a foal.

She would have to become a vampony.

“Applejack… you okay?”

The usually bubbly voice turned worried served to snap Applejack out of her train of thought. Turning, she saw Pinkie Pie looking at her with a worried expression as her pin-straight hair danced in the slow breeze of the Everfree.

“Ah… Ah don’t think so Pinkie. Hearing Amaranth say that even foals would be killed for so much as speakin’ out a’turn? Knowing that th’ entire earth pony race would be nothin’ to vamponies but food and labor? Ah can’t stand that thought. Makes me sick to mah stomach.”

A quiet moment passed before Applejack looked at Pinkie with determination in her eyes.

“That’s why Ah’m not gonna sit idle by and let it pass. Ah’ll fight it. Ah’ll become the very thing that would have us earth ponies as nothin' but slaves… if’n it means Applebloom and foals her age would have a future. Ah’ll become somethin’ else… somethin’ stronger.” She said with a tone that spoke of great resolve.

Shaking her head, Pinkie gave her friend a sad smile.

“You don’t have to take this burden on your shoulders Applejack. Luna wasn't going to force this on you. There are many of our kind who don’t see like those meanie-heads do. There are a lo-”

“A lot of vamponies who see it like y’all do… Ah get that Pinkie. Ah really do… but Ah can’t just sit by and let it happen. Not with mah little sister an’ her friends’ lives on th’ line. Ah just can’t. Ah… change me, Pinkie.”

The sudden request by her friend caused Pinkie to recoil in shock. After Luna's original plan had been thwarted, she had thought Applejack would eventually come to join the ranks of the night.

BUT NOT THAT NIGHT

“I… AJ, this isn’t something to be taken lightly. I think you should-”

“WHAT? RECONSIDER?! AS IF AH COULD! THERE ARE FOALS ALL OVER EQUESTRIA WHO WOULD DIE! FRIENDS WHO WOULD DIE! AH CAN’T JUST SIT BY AND LET IT HAPPEN PINKIE! AH CAN’T!"

Her shouting done, Applejack slumped in front of her friend as her tears spilled over onto the ground below.

“Ah just can’t. Ah have to fight it Pinkie. It ain’t because Ah’m an Element of Harmony, ain’t for th’ Princesses, ain’t even for all of Equestria… It’s for the foals. For ever filly and colt, earth pony or not. Ah couldn’t live with mahself if Ah let so many foals die because Ah was scared. So please… turn me.”

Looking up, Applejack saw tears in Pinkie Pie’s eyes as she looked at her. The were a conflict of emotions there; confusion, remorse, sadness. So many emotions ran through her friends eyes, but most of all, she saw a resolute sort of resignation. The acceptance that her friend would be joining the night, not for herself, but for the safety of others.

“You’re as honest and loyal as they come, AJ, especially to your family. Are you sure though? It's not something you'll be able to shrug off once you do it. It's forever."

"Ah know... An' Ah'm willin' to bear it. Come what may, so's the foals of Equestria can be safe."

Nodding, Pinkie sighed as she looked up at the moon for a moment before her eyes widened and she smiled a smile that threatened to break physics.

"Hey, AJ?"

"Yeah, Pinkie?" Applejack asked as the party pony's mane became its usual poofy mess, much to the surprise of the Apple mare.

"What if I asked you to wait a few days before you make your decision?"

"Why? The sooner Ah get it done'n'over with, the sooner Ah ca-"

"Because, I have a feeling there's somepony you need to meet. He's an old friend friend from when I was first turned. He probably knows a thing or two you might want to hear before making a decision." Pinkie said, interrupting her friend with a face that was surprisingly stern.

"Ya mean like what Princess Luna did with Twilight?"

"Somewhat... but I think he may have more insight for you in particular. He's an earth pony, like us. His reason for coming to the night is a bit similar to your own as well. I... Please, AJ, will you give me three days?

"Ah..." Applejack started, only to stop and consider.

Three days... Ah suppose Ah could wait that long.

"Alright Pinkie." Applejack said with a resigned nod. "Ah'll give ya the three days.

Nodding with a smile, Pinkie gestured back to the door.

"I think we should head back in... no doubt the girls are worried about you."

"Yea, Ah did storm outta there pretty sudden-like." Applejack said with an admonished smile before walking towards the door. Just before the pair of them entered the crypt, the farmer looked over at her friend and smiled a little wider.

"Hey, Pinkie?"

"Yeah, AJ?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. What are friends for after all?"

Applejack smiled as they walked through the door, only for it to fall as Twilight walked past them and out the door.

"Twi? Sugarcube, where ya goin'?"

Twilight turned and gave then a small smile.

"Just out for a walk. I'll be back soon."

And with that, without so much as another word, Twilight ventured out into the night.

Twilight hadn’t been sure of why she had suddenly felt the urge to leave the room where Amaranth had been talking to her friends. Nor had she been sure of why she felt the need to go for a walk.

However, one thing she was sure of was that she was now walking through the Everfree in no particular direction. As she did so, several questions came to her mind, many troubling.

Will there be a day when I’m asked to kill another out of pity?

Will there come a day when one of my friends asks me to end their life?

Even though Luna had shown her what could possibly happen, Twilight couldn’t help but be shaken by the questions. However, one question worried Twilight further.

Artemis wanted to fade. She wanted to die, to end herself. Why?

As she came to a cliff face, she sat down and looked over the valley below, listening to the silence that surrounded her as her thoughts consumed her.

Wait… silence? The Everfree is hardly ever silent!

She suddenly found herself listening for anything, a chirp, a screech, anything that would indicate that some of the usual creatures of the night were around.

All she heard was a small, quick heartbeat that was surprisingly nearby. Looking over, she saw the tail of a shivering cockatrice, obviously hiding and scared stiff.

Why would a cockatrice be hiding? Unless…

Artemis sat, looking over a valley towards the horizon as she waited, waited for the dawn. As with so many things that she still did, waiting for the sunrise was a habit, a habit she retained from her living years.

She sighed. Trying to remember the details of those earliest years had gotten harder and harder as she had aged. She could still remember some things though.

Her Mother, Her Father, her brothers and sisters…

Gone. All gone. Naught more than dust by now.

Looking to the horizon, she sighed again.

Want that if I could, I would join thee now.

A scant moment later, Artemis heard hoofsteps behind her. Far and away from stealthy, whomever it was certainly had no qualms with making their presence known.

Most surely a foal or fool, to traipse so in the night, as these woods are not short of dangers.

Taking wing, Artemis flew into the boughs of an oak and waited on whoever it was that had interrupted her solitude. Upon seeing the intruder, she grimaced.

The fledgling… this whelp wears on my patience.

Hoping that maybe the cliff would deter the intruder, Artemis waited, watching silently as Twilight walked straight over to the cliff and sat down.

Well, so much for that. She thought as she silently unfurled her wings and began to conjure a spell that would take her away from the cliff face.

“Artemis?”

The pegasus mare froze, a perplexed expression making its way across her muzzle as she looked down at the mare below her. She hadn’t turned around, but her ears were perked.

How? How did she know I am here?

Twilight was a bit spooked, nary a moment ago she had been looking at a cockatrice that was cowering behind a boulder, when she suddenly felt a tingle.

Somepony was using magic nearby.

“Artemis?” Twilight asked as she reached out, feeling the magic around her until she found its source in a tree a few hoofsteps away.

“I’m impressed fledgling, however, my patience is nearing its end with thee.” Artemis said, her voice coming from Twilight’s right, as though the mare were sitting right next to her.

“I’m not here to fight, Artemis, I just went for a walk. There’s a lot on my mind right now.”

“A likely story. No doubt Luna told you to follow me and convince me to join thy cause. I am not so naive as to believe thou simply wished to walk.” Her voice said, this time coming from Twilight’s left.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight shrugged.

“Say what you will, but it’s the truth. However, if I may make a small request?”

“What request would you make? Not that I will likely acquiesce.”

“Would you stop with the voice throwing? It’s a little unnerving. Especially since I know you’re in the oak directly behind me.”

As her lips curled into a snarl, Artemis jumped down from the limb, landing quite hard as to make her presence known.

“Thou has quite the nerve, seeking me out, intruding upon my solitude, all after I made my wish to be alone quite clear. I’ve half a mind to knock you unsensible and go back merely to throw you to the ravenous clutches of my so-called guardians. However, I have the suspicion you do not seek to be taken as a common whore, so leave me in peace before I act upon the idea.”

As Artemis spoke, Twilight froze. She dare not let her mind wander to what was happening to Luna at that moment, nor what would become of her if she were thrown into the same room as them. However, she couldn’t just let Artemis go. If Luna went through all of this, changing Twilight, giving her own blood, and unleashing a wraith on ten others just to bring the mare in front of her back from the edge, there had to be good reason for it.

“No.”

Artemis narrowed her eyes dangerously as she approached Twilight, a low rumbling growl that would normally be associated with a manticore building in her barrel as she began to speak.

“Perhaps I shan’t throw you to my guardians after all. Perhaps I should dismember you myself! Limb from limb. Bone from Bone. Take your body and deposit its pieces over the Everfree. Mayhaps leave thy head hanging from yonder oak? No doubt it would be a horrific experience having to watch as I tear you asunder, having to feel every bit of that pain, but not dying as I assure you, you will see and feel the pain I would inflict upon you."

By that time, Artemis was nose to nose with Twilight, her fangs bared at the now-cowering fledgling.

“W-would you do the same… to a foal?”

Twilight’s world exploded as Artemis backhoofed her so hard she actually went flying and crashed into a tree. She acutely heard at least five of her ribs snap as she hit the tree with enough force to rattle its leaves. Looking up, she saw the snarling face of a mare infuriated.

“YOU DARE!! YOU DARE TO ASK ME THAT QUESTION?! MANY IS THE TIME I HAVE LAID DOWN WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MY LIFE FOR FOALS!! I HAVE BRAVED DRAGONS FIRE, THE MIGHT OF MINOTAURS AND THE TWISTED MINDS OF GRYPHONS, ALL TO SAVE FOALS!!!” Artemis screamed in rage, the very air around them becoming darker until the only thing Twilight could see was the furious mare before her.

Twilight was terrified, but she knew this would likely be her only chance, so she stood to face Artemis.

“If you run away from this, if you just go and get yourself killed… you would be condemning foals to fates like that and worse. Their blood would be on your soul. For not standing up, you would be just as guilty as the monsters who would kill a foal for something so small as asking a question. You-”

“SILENCE!”

Again, the sting of Artemis’ hoof meeting her face served to remind her that she was playing a very dangerous game.

Potentially a lethal one.

“And what would thou have me do? Ally with the mare who betrayed me? To become naught more than her attack dog for the rest of my days?”

“Only until we finish Caedis and those who would follow him.”

“What of after?” Artemis snarled, clearly not liking where she thought the conversation was going.

“I… I’ll swear you an oath.”

“An oath? To what?” The pegasus asked, flaring her wings challengingly.

“That if, when this is all over, if you still want death… I’ll give it to you.”

In that moment, time seemed to stand still. The darkness left the air as Artemis gave Twilight a mildly shocked look. Many things the ancient mare had expected, but that had not been one of them.

“How?”

“A mystical blade.”

“Which mystic blade? There are few that can deal death to vamponies, fledgling.” Artemis groaned with annoyance.

“Equis, or Draco, though I doubt you’d have a preference as long as they both have the same result. Correct?” Twilight said, her voice strained as she bargained with a mare who wanted nothing more than to die.

Artemis considered Twilights proposal for a long moment before finally nodding and walking right up to her.

“Then an oath you shall make, sealed in our blood that thou cannot go back on what we agree.”

“O-okay… how do we… seal it?” Twilight said, obviously clueless.

“Oh Dear Faust! Do as I do.” Artemis said as she brought her right foreleg to her mouth and bit on the inside of her fetlock.

Following suit, Twilight did the same as Artemis walked over and hooked Twilight’s bleeding fetlock with her own.

“Make thine oath.”

“I-...” Looking Artemis in the eyes, she spoke a solemn vow. “I, Twilight Sparkle, make this oath. Should the day come when our enemies are no more, should you still wish for death, I shall give it to you… on pain of my own death.”

Nodding, Artemis retracted her hoof.

“That shall suffice.”

Then, without so much as another word, Artemis began walking back to the crypt with Twilight in tow.

The walk back to the crypt had been a quiet affair, with Twilight almost being afraid to breathe too loudly, lest she invoke the wrath of the mare next to her.

Now, seeing the doorway, Twilight sighed. She felt like the ordeal of bringing Artemis to their side was over, but knew better.

Upon entering the crypt, Twilight saw Applejack and Rarity talking, the former looking much calmer since Pinkie had talked to her.

Glancing over, Twilight saw Artemis making a beeline for the room the group had talked in previously. No sooner had she cleared the threshold than she barked "OUT," and the rest of her friends quickly scurried to join Twilight in the main room.

As the door slammed shut, Twilight began to worry about what was now happening behind it.

“Fools, all of you.” Artemis said as she stared Amaranth down.

The stallion, to his credit, didn’t so much as bat an eye as he looked over to the wine shelf and scanned the shelves.

“While that’s far from the first time you’ve called myself or Luna that, I do question your justification, my old friend.”

Finally selecting a Merlot that was nearly as old as Ponyville was, he looked back over to Artemis, finding the mare to be rather unamused.

“You bring me back from the edge, you restore me, all after having made vows to kill you and that wretch both… yet you sit here, drinking wine while waiting for my venom to wear off on her. All things considered, I find your nonchalant attitude insulting and foolhardy…” Artemis said before baring her fangs.

“Or perhaps… merely suicidal.”

“Oh, that’ll be the day.” Amarath said with a chuckle as he sipped on the wine, looking at Artemis over the rim of the glass.

“Fact is old girl, we need you. No doubt Twilight, the fledgling, offered to kill you by her own hoof once we make Equestria safe for all again?”

While the accuracy of his guess would have bewildered most, Artemis was used to the prophetic nature of the stallion before her.

“Yes… One she will be held to by her own blood.”

“Ah… a blood oath then? No doubt she is rather clueless about all that entails, not that I can blame you for taking advantage of the situation. Oh well, I suppose that is your prerogative as a suicidal madmare.”

Sighing, Artemis moved a chair and sat closer to the table, closing her eyes as she laid her head down on the cool surface.

“In another life, I would have broken your horn for a quip like that… you vexing bastard.”

A soft tap next to her head made Artemis open her eyes to see a full wine glass sitting next to her.

“In another life… perhaps. For now though, I believe you’re going to want that drink in a moment.”

“Why do you say tha-”

Artemis wasn’t even able to finish her sentence before a loud crash sounded in the room behind her, followed shortly by a loud scream.

Looking over at Amaranth, she shook her head as she rose from her seat.

“You know… I truly hate thee at times.”

No sooner had the door closed behind Artemis than Twilight’s friends trotted over to her, their eyes showing many questions.

“Twilight, Sugarcube were ya able t’convince her?” Applejack asked first.

“Yes, Applejack, I was… but I had to make a pact with her I’m none to fond of.”

“Which would be?” Rarity queried.

“That if she still wants to die at the end of this… I have to kill her.”

“Whoa, whoa there Twi! How the hay could you AGREE to something like that?!” Rainbow asked, her wings flaring up defensively.

“It was the only way I could get to her! I knew she wanted to die… it was the only thing I could promise her that would sway her, Dash!” Twilight said as she signed deeply, a single tear escaping her eyes.

“Besides… If I’m correct, by the end of this, we’ll all have blood on our hooves. The blood of our enemies, but the blood of ponies nonetheless.”

For a moment, nopony said anything. Twilight’s statement hitting each of them in a way none of them had expected.

“I think that’s why Luna gave me so many chances to back out of this. We’re going to have to kill. Deliver death to prevent death… Kill for the sake of Equestria, and everypony in it. If not for everypony… then just for the sakes of foals like Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom.”

Twilight looked up at her friends with a fierce fire in her eyes.

“If for nopony else… for those three.”

The six friends looked to one another for several long moments before Dash nodded, resolution evident in her eyes.

“Alright… for them. For the Crusaders.”

Nodding, Twilight looked to Dash, Applejack and Rarity.

“I suppose that just leaves the three of you to be… turned.”

“I was actually talking that over with Fluttershy here... “ Dash said, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

“She’s going to turn me on the next full moon.”

Nodding, Twilight looked to Applejack.

“Pinkie’s having me meet somepony before I turn. Thinks he’ll have a few things to help me feel better about the whole thing.”

“Yuppers, he’ll get AJ set on all of this Twi, don’t you worry your pretty little alicorny head.” Pinkie quipped as Twi looked over to Rarity.

“Well Rarity, I suppose that just leaves you as the ‘wild card.’”

“I would say so. I’d prefer to be turned by a stallion. Perhaps I’ll find a charming vampiric stallion in this gothic underworld to sweep me off my hooves and turn me during a night of frenzied-”

The sound of wood splintering and clattering behind them brought the attention of the six mares to a very dishevelled Ruby, who in the blink of an eye was upon Rarity, sinking her fangs into the mare’s neck.

The scream Rarity produced would have rivaled any Royal Canterlot voice either royal sister could have summoned.

“It’ll all be over soon.” Ruby whispered huskily into Rarity’s ear as she kissed the bite marks, looking over her to Applejack and Rainbow Dash with a lascivious grin.

“Now for you two… I think-”

It was at that precise moment that Artemis burst through the door, surveyed the scene in front of her and flared her wings, causing Ruby to rocket with great speed to the ceiling above, hitting her head rather hard on the solid stone before promptly throwing the dazed mare back into the room where she had come from, rebuilding the door with yet another flare of her wings.

Looking over to Twilight, she nodded towards Rarity.

“Tend to her… the venom will hit her heart soon. Do keep her quiet though, I'm trying to have a discussion in here." And with that, Artemis turned and walked back into the room, closing the door behind her.

“... So much for a whirlwind romance.” Rarity whimpered just before her eyes widened and she screamed.

“This… is going to be a long night.” Twilight signed.

Setting her quill down, Twilight stretched languidly, a sigh escaping her lips as a few of her joints popped. A vampony though she was, there was always something about sitting still for too long that just made her feel stiff.

Looking outside, Twilight spotted a familiar blur in the distance heading towards the library. Glancing at the clock, she smiled as her attention turned back to the prismatic streak that was now much closer and bearing down on her home quite quickly.

Right on time. Wait for it... Aaaand NOW!!

Lighting her horn, Twilight opened the window, plotted Rainbow Dash's trajectory, shielded two book shelves, and put a particularly large pillow right where Dash was headed.

The resulting landing was, to say the least, amusing.

It was, to say the most, spectacular and slightly horrific.

With the full speed of her flight uninhibited by the window, Dash hit the pillow, bounced off both of the bookshelves Twilight had just shielded, then slid towards another. Stopping just shy of the shelf, she hit it with a hoof, causing a copy of the latest edition of Daring Do to fall right onto her belly.

"Right on time, Rainbow." Twilight said with an amused chortle.

Nodding as she picked up the book, Dash flashed Twilight a fanged smile.

"Naturally! After all, since we started this, reading got about 20% cooler!"

The slight squeak of the door hinges brought the attention of both mares to Artemis, who had poked her head in the door and now bemusedly regarded Dash.

"Hello, Rainbow. Nice of you to... Drop by."

Rainbow threw her head back and gave a single laugh before she deadpanned at Artemis.

"HA!! Never heard that one before..."

Author's Note

Well... once again, I prove that I am in fact not dead. Rather, I've been in zombie mode.

Basically, working in retail around the holidays SUCKS. BIGTIME.

That said, I'm still working at this, albeit slowly. So, to all of my readers (Who I do value! Seriously! You all are great!) Please bear with me, because I WILL keep writing until I finish this lovely little tale of darkness.

DJ-Pon3FTW