Still in shock, Twilight walked to the waiting carriage with Vinyl close behind her. As she looked at Luna, who was being given a wrapped bundle by the pony she recognized as Erebos, Twilight couldn't help but replay in her minds eye what she had bore witness to only moments before.

The blood-curling scream.

The gut-wrenching crack of Luna's hoof on the mares skull.

The sight of the would-be assassin's broken body on the floor.

But most of all... she remembered what she felt. The sight of the blood that pooled around the mare threatened to make her lose control. She could still smell the rich, coppery scent, despite her being nowhere in proximity to the dead mare.

"Whilst thou be alright, Twilight Sparkle?" Luna asked, having now taken a seat in the carriage. Twilight's head snapped up and looked at the princess. She hadn't even noticed when Luna had climbed in.

"I... I don't know Luna. I-" Twilight stammered for a moment, then just stopped.

"I know. It shall be... hard, during the first years of your new existence."

Existence... That word spoke volumes to her. It presented to her the fact that she wasn't quite alive anymore and almost made Twilight go into a meltdown. How could one comprehend that they were alive yet dead already? Had she already sold her soul to Tartarus that her body may live on until the end of days? Who was she now... truly?

She was jolted out of her deep musings by a nuzzle and a familiar voice.

"I wanted to see you off, my faithful student." Celestia said, her voice carrying a sad tone to it.

Twilight nuzzled her mentor back before looking into her tired eyes. How had she not seen it before? The slightly drooping posture, the bags under her eyes, even her hair seemed to be nearly stilled with how tired Celestia was.

"Princess... Celestia, I... I'm scared." Twilight admitted. Both Luna and Vinyl looked to each other briefly before looking back to the two alicorns as the bond that transcended merely pupil and teacher showed in the exchange before them.

Pulling Twilight into a hug, Celestia spoke soothingly into her ear. "I know Twilight, I heard what happened. Though there are dangers throughout, do not fear the night my faithful student, you are in good company."

Twilight reciprocated her hug until Celestia released her grip. As Twilight pulled away from the hug, she nodded first to Celestia, and then to Luna, who then beckoned the night guard who were strapped to the chariot. As the carriage took off, Celestia watched until it was out of sight, a single tear streaming down her cheek as the filly who had become the closest thing to a daughter Celestia had ever had, flew off into the night.

"You know..." A smooth voice came from beside her, a voice she hadn't heard in quite some time. "You're going to likely have the rest of eternity with her. Her parents will die, many of her friends will as well... but you... You'll always be there Celestia. Provided we all survive this of course."

Turning her head slightly, Celestia saw the black stallion standing beside her looking up at the moon above.

Looking up as well, Celestia confided in the unicorn. Though she harbored a fear and sense of mistrust for many Vamponies, she knew she could trust the stallion next to her.

"She's like a daughter to me Amaranth... how can I smile when I know that the price of her immortality is death? How do I look her in the eyes, knowing that death, in a way, has already claimed her?"

Smiling cryptically, Amaranth bumped Celestia playfully.

"I recall having a similar conversation with you about your sister a while back. How is this so different?"

"Those were different times... We were always powerful, the both of us. Yet, she never could quite match me. To this day, even with her being a vampony, she can't... though I imagine part of that is because of her time in exile on the moon."

"Well, that'll do it... thing is, the way I see it is like this. What's happening to her, isn't too different from what happened to you all of those centuries ago. She'll be okay."

Looking back over to where the stallion had been standing, Celestia saw nothing. She closed her eyes briefly before looking back up at the moon above.

"I hope you're right Amaranth... for both our sakes."

As the carriage made its way towards the outskirts of Ponyville, Twilight stared at her hooves until Luna cleared her throat to get Twilight and Vinyl's attention.

"Melody, did you contact the ponies we'll need?"

"Yea. They should meet us when we land." She said with a nod.

"Good. I feel they will need to know what has happened too as things have become more... complicated, than originally forseen."

At this, Melody cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Looking down at the bundle Erebos had handed her, Luna began to explain as she carefully unwrapped whatever was in her hooves.

"You both have seen the memory of when I took my mentors life. The blade I held that day was no ordinary blade, it was one of the three mystic blades of Ne' Thrael... The ancient city of Alicorns. Though our race has all but vanished, there are still reminders of the time when Alicorns were as plentiful as any of the other three races. The three mystic blades are just such items. The blade that resides in Canterlot is the blade of Equis. Legend says it was made as a weapon by the first alicorn to fight off the demons that plagued this world and protect his fellow ponies. Then there is this blade, Draco, the dragons blade. It is said to have been made by the first dragon king on this world, given to the Alicorns by that king himself long before Discord's great, great grandsires were even born. Then, there is the blade for which we cannot account. The blade of the gods. It is said that though these two blades which we now have are powerful, far more powerful than any other blades in this land, that it could bring about the end of this world. That blade is Superi. And-"

"And I shall have it soon." A crimson unicorn said from beside Luna, thoroughly startling everypony in the carriage. It only took an instant for Vinyl to bare her fangs at the intruder and make a stance to lunge.

"Wait!" Twilight said, reaching a hoof towards the strange unicorn. Upon touching him, he became blurry and fuzzy, as if out of focus on a telescope. Looking over to Vinyl's horn, she saw that the unicorns horn was alight with magic, but it was not the color of her own.

"A Projection Spell. He's not really here. He could be on the other side of Equestria and use this if he had a mental link with whoever he wanted to see this."

"Ooh, smart this one." The stallion said with a nod in Twilight's direction.

"Caedis!" Luna hissed as she looked at the unicorn, fire in her eyes as she bore her fangs to the intruder as well. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Oh, just checking up on what you've been up to Luna. Oh and Melody... thanks for making that possible." The stallion said with a wink, causing Melody to snarl at him.

"Go buck yourself Caedis! You ripped out my heart all those years ago! If I find you, I'm going to rip out yours!!"

"Oh, still upset about that I see. Well, no matter.The unicorn said smugly before letting his gaze fall on Twilight again.

“Seriously though Luna? Make another vampony and expect to take me? That's insulting Luna, really it is.”

“She will bring about your destruction Caedis. The darkness has consumed you... so much that even the Elements of H-”

“Yes, yes... So much so that even your vaunted Elements of Harmony can't save my wretched soul.” The unicorn chuckled psychotically. “Oh, but what soul is there to save? I gave my soul to Tartarus the day you changed me. Not that it matters mind you. I've already set things in motion that you could not possibly hope to stop.”

“We WILL stop you Caedis... of that you can be sure.” Luna said as her horn lit.

“You will plague us no more this night.”

“Perhaps not this night... but I will plague you Luna... up to my dying br-”

The image dissolved as Luna's horn lit brightly then faded as she looked to Vinyl, her eyes hard.

“He had a link with you Melody... how?”

Vinyl's head was hung low.

“We were lovers... two hundred or so years ago. I didn't know what he truly was. He left me to a group of Vampony hunters in Trottingham 167 years ago. I remember his smile that night... He was laughing! Laughing as they closed in on me with stakes and torches. He was just using me, playing my heart for a buck. That's the night I was talking about with Amaranth earlier. He saved me... to this day, I'm not entirely sure how.”

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked

Vinyl looked up and said, "I don't know... it was like... I can't really describe it. I didn't feel any magic, I didn't see him teleport, all I know is that in the blink of an eye, we went from surrounded by hunters, to surrounded by corpses. It was so..."

"Impossible?" Luna finished for her, her eyes still hard and set on Vinyl.

Vinyl nodded as Twilight spoke up. "When he moved in the castle... I couldn't sense anything. I'm ALWAYS attuned to magic fields but, I felt NOTHING when he moved! It's like he's-"

"Not even there? I get that a lot." Amaranth said, now sitting beside Luna with a smile. Everypony recoiled slightly at his arrival, but relaxed when they saw who it was.

"I know... Caedis was here. Cocky little colt isn't he?"

"Perhaps not so much as yourself Amaranth, but yes." Luna teased, not giving the stallion a single look.

"You can give the poor mare a break Luna, she's telling the truth." Amaranth said, lighting his horn for an instant.

"You never were that great at clearing something like that out of somepony's head."

At this point, Luna gave an apologetic look to Vinyl before concurring with a small nod.

"No... I wasn't."

Giving Luna a wry smile, Amaranth continued.

"Well, at least we know his plan now. Not too hard to put the pieces together. He's obviously figured out the clues within the old legends and plans to enact them."

"You'll have to pardon me but, what legends?"

Amaranth looked to Luna, who nodded in confirmation.

"Well, in short, there are seven clues, said to have been passed down by the first Queen of the Vamponies in the form of legends as to the location of the blade Superi. She, at one time, had all three mystic blades, and as such... was very powerful. However, she was fair, and there was prosperity for her ponies. However, one of the nobles in her court was greedy and sought to use the power of the three blades for his own ends. He attempted to steal them from the Queen, but she found out about his plan and stopped him. His plan was to use the three blades, take them to the ruins of Ne' Thrael, and take over the world by using their magic to wipe out almost every other race. The Gryphons, The Dragons, The Cows, Buffalo, almost every sentient race... even unicorns and pegasi. He would have killed everything, making vamponies the sole race of this world aside from Earth Ponies."

Twilight was listening intently to the tale, hanging on Amaranth's every word.

"Why were earth ponies the only ones he was going to spare?" Twilight asked.

"Simple... they didn't possess the means to fight back. An earth pony is strong compared to unicorns and pegasi naturally... however, anypony who became a vampony automatically had double the strength of even the strongest earth pony. Unicorns have magic that can injure, even kill vamponies. Pegasi... well, they're tricky to catch. Granted, a vampony pegasi can catch another pegasi... Same with a Vampony Unicorn or Alicorn. But again, the pegasi of old were a warring race. Even they knew how to fight vamponies to an extent. Granted, not as well as the unicorns but I digress. He was basically going to make the earth ponies the vamponies slaves. Forced to work whatever their masters saw fit and on a whim, could be slaughtered for no more reason than their master was thirsty."

"So what did she do with him?"

Amaranth shrugged.

"She killed him. There's a few legends as to that. Some say he was killed with Equis, Some say he was killed with Draco, Some even say he was killed by both of them. However, all legends said that he wasn't killed with Superi due to the darkness that festered within that vampony. It was said that Superi, though powerful, was also weak. If a strong enough evil found its blood upon the blade, it could be overtaken forever. For that reason, Superi was hidden by the queen, as she would not risk another like him trying to take over this world."

"So why does Caedis need to take the blades to Ne' Thrael?"

"There is an altar there, said to have the inlays for each of the blades. The magic within all of the blades is ancient and powerful, even more so than what Celestia or Luna possess. If used for evil, it could potentially destroy this entire world, leaving it naught but ash in space."

"And if used for good?"

Amaranth looked to Luna, then back to Twilight and cracked a smile.

"We don't know. We thought of a few possibilities but most of the old legends have to do with what could happen if evil gets control of the three blades. It could be as simple as a vamped up version of the elements of harmony, cleansing anypony of ANY trace of evil... or it could turn them into stone like it did Discord. Good job on that by the way." Amaranth said, smirking at the last bit before his expression fell a bit.

"Or... in a worst case scenario... It could potentially eradicate ANY source of evil in its entirety. In other words, no statues, no bodies, no ash... just poof, and everypony who so much as has an evil thought is gone."

Twilight gaped at Amaranth until he chuckled.

"This is all just speculation mind you. We won't know for sure until we find Superi and the ruins of Ne' Thrael. In the meantime, I think I'm going to stay with you lovely mares for a while. It's been a while since I've seen Artemis... I just hope she doesn't rip out my throat again."

"Wait... AGAIN?!!!"

As the carriage touched down, Twilight looked outside to see that they were in a small clearing in the Everfree forest. Timberwolves howled in proximity to the carriage until Luna stepped out and onto the ground. In that instant, there was silence. Even the crickets had stopped their chirping at the entrance of the vampony queen to their midst.

As such, Twilight was able to hear quiet hoofsteps approaching. No doubt the ponies Luna had mentioned before. Two cloaked and hooded figures walked out of the woods and, upon reaching the clearing, pulled back their hoods. Giving Twilight the shock of her life.

The ponies before her were none other than Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy?! Pinkie Pie?!!" Twilight said in disbelief as she saw their fangs.

"Twilight?!!" Both mares said as they saw their friend exit the carriage sporting a new pair of wings.

The three simultaneously fell back onto their haunches, eyes darting between each other in confusion until a sound broke the uneasy silence.

"Hehe..."

Pinkie Pie was starting to giggle. It wasn't long before Fluttershy joined in her laughter, then Vinyl and Amaranth, then even Luna. Leaving Twilight even further confused until, for some reason she couldn't fathom... she began to laugh herself.

Author's Note

DEAR CELESTIA'S TEATS!!! It's been WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long since I posted a chapter. Sad thing is, to an extent, I haven't been able to help that. Between work, family and surviving a horrific head-on collision with a semi-truck (I wish I was joking about that last one, but I walked away with naught but bruises and a single cut. Would have been terribly rude of me, dying before I finished my stories! Anyways, back to my A/N!!) I've been unable to really do much typing despite having several ideas of where I want this to go. Anyways, enjoy the update you ravenous hoards!!!