Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

“NO!”

A sharp cry of denial filled the air as Pinkie Pie reached out to the hole in the floor in front of her, right where she and her friends just witnessed Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash being pulled under the crimson tides.

Applejack held onto the pink mare’s vest and kept her from falling in as she fell to the floor in a sobbing mess. The farmer couldn’t deny her own watery eyes as she joined Rarity and Glimmer Shine in staring down into the cavernous space below in a shocked stupor.

Eventually, Rarity couldn’t hold in her own sobs any longer and collapsed into the waiting stallion’s shoulder. She couldn’t believe that their shy and loving friend was gone.

Down below, Luna stood by, staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed into the crimson depths as the purple mare beside her cried and sobbed.

At the back of the room, Celestia was hovering in place and staring ahead. All of the color had left her face, and although she was keeping airborne, her form seemed to shrink and fall slack. Dusk had momentarily stopped attacking her. She knew he was enjoying seeing her so heartbroken, but she didn’t care.

Twilight hiccuped and let out a shaky breath as she stared at her still outstretched hooves. She could practically still feel the pegasus’ own hooves holding onto her for dear life. This was the second friend she had in her grasp, only to have them ripped away.

“Fluttershy… No…” She clenched her eyes shut, letting fresh tears fall as she let her chin thump onto the platform below.

Then, a slight bubbling came to the surface ahead, causing her to open her eyes. Was it Rainbow Dash? She hoped that the cyan mare was alright, but even then, she knew that Rainbow would probably be just as if not more heartbroken than she was.

After all, there was no way that the cyan mare was returning with their friend still in her grasp.

A shape breached the surface of the crimson pool, and Rainbow Dash gasped for air. However, the pegasus wasn't alone.

Luna, Twilight, and near everyone watching had their jaws fall open in stunned surprise. Floating there alongside Rainbow Dash, coughing and sputtering and gasping for air, was none other than a certain yellow mare.

“Fluttershy?!” Twilight blinked, hard. “You’re alive?” She muttered, her voice leaving her behind briefly as her sullen features curved upwards into a joyous smile. “You’re… you’re alive?!”

Almost immediately, the atmosphere in the room shifted from despair and hopelessness to relief and joyous celebration.

“What?” Dusk narrowed his eyes at the impossible sight. How could one of the creatures simply let go once it had its prey? Now, Celestia was the one wearing a triumphant smirk, and he felt a frustrated growl forming.

Twilight lit her horn again and helped Rainbow Dash with lifting the yellow mare out of the bloody pool. The pair looked exhausted both physically and emotionally, to the point where both of them collapsed briefly once they were back on the platform, Rainbow still keeping a foreleg placed over Fluttershy as they both lay there and breathed.

“Are you two ok?” Twilight asked, giving them a brief examination before glancing to the crimson water. “What happened down there?”

Rainbow Dash spoke in between pants. “I don’t know… It… it just… let go.”

Then, another out-of-place sloshing noise came, making everyone look up. Rainbow Dash shot to her hooves, Twilight helped Fluttershy up, and Luna stood in front of the three mares as they all watched the foamy surface, fully expecting one of the creatures to be coming to retrieve its lost prey.

What greeted them instead, was another equine shape breaching the surface as a familiar pegasus stallion gasped for air.

“Blue?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but form a stunned smile as she saw her friend.

Meanwhile, Twilight noticed that amidst his disheveled and soaked appearance, he had one of his blades formed around a wrist. Was he the reason Fluttershy got freed?

Blue wasted little time with getting his bearings and catching his breath. He hovered up out of the water and looked to the group urgently. “Go! Get the Princess out of here. I’ll keep them off you!” He shifted to look down toward the crimson depths uneasily.

Although they were still reeling from the close call they just had, the four mares quickly shifted back into serious mode. The stallion was right. They had to get out of this room.

“Fluttershy, Rainbow-” Twilight started, when the two pegasi beat her to it.

“On it!” Rainbow Dash chimed, rushing over to the blue alicorn and getting on one side while Fluttershy got on the other. After a moment spent trying to figure out the best way of carrying her, the pair started to lift off.

Shortly after, the ponies heard a guttural, garbled screech. Twilight shrank back from the edge of the platform as she looked down and saw a terrifying visage of congealed blood in the shape of a griffon’s face. Its eyeless stare and stringy tufts of fur atop its head brought her right back to her time in the school, and she couldn’t deny feeling a bit of a chill work its way over her.

“Holy cow!” Rainbow widened her eyes as she looked down. She hadn’t seen one of the creatures in person yet. She had seen a depiction of a more humanoid one from one of the summoning books they acquired, but this one was perhaps even uglier.

The creature wasted no time in shifting its attention to the easiest prey in the room, the slow-moving bunch of flying ponies above it. It opened its beak silently, staring at them for a moment before a sudden geyser shot up beside it in the form of a clawed appendage.

Fluttershy flinched and averted her eyes, while Luna and Rainbow Dash tensely watched the bloody missile approaching. They started to fly to the side, but they wouldn’t get clear in time.

Then, Blue Bolt sprang into action. With his blade still formed, he zipped forward in the air and channeled some energy through his weapon, causing it to glow orange. He swiped across the stretching column of fluid, and while a wave of energy didn’t come out, it did seem to have an enhanced effect on the creature’s normally resilient liquid body.

The bloody limb exploded into a shower of red droplets, and the rest of it started losing shape and falling as scattered fluid as it lost its connection to the monster, until only a smaller stump was left for the creature to pull back with a confused and agitated bleat. It stared at its former limb for a moment before looking back up to the pegasus and squawking angrily.

Blue smirked triumphantly. “Ha! Not so tough on my turf, are you?!”

Up above, Pinkie and the others gradually returned and watched the scene below, waiting to help however they could. While Rarity and the pink mare were a bit unnerved from seeing the bloody creature again, they couldn’t help but feel amazement as Blue Bolt successfully fought back against it. They had thought the creature to be near-invincible and undefeatable, but now their new friend was evening the odds.

However, Pinkie widened her eyes as she shifted them up, letting out an alarmed gasp. “Girls, look out!”

Hearing their friend’s cries, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Luna looked up, only to freeze as they spotted some red-tinted blurs of motion heading straight for them.

“AH!” Rainbow flinched her eyes shut and seized up along with Fluttershy. There wasn't anything they could do to stop what was about to happen.

Then, a flash of magical energy and a series of hollow pings sounded out, causing the pegasi to open their eyes. They saw a lightly magenta tinted barrier in front of them, with droplets of crimson fluid falling off on the outside.

Looking down, they found their unicorn friend with horn at the ready.

Twilight flashed a smile and nodded at the trio before settling her eyes forward again. Her expression fell and tensed as she saw Dusk sending more projectiles their way.

A group of crimson spears came flying toward them. However, a few of them broke off, and instead of flying at the pair carrying Luna, they flew toward Twilight herself, causing the unicorn’s pupils to shrink.

Before the projectiles could reach her, Blue Bolt flew in front of them and summoned his other fore-blade. He rotated the blade into a better position and stuck it out with precision, managing to catch one of the spears on its flat metallic surface. It dispersed with a faint ping and a sizzle.

The next projectile he wouldn’t be able to block with his blade. There wasn't enough time to predict its trajectory as it curved slightly. Instead, he moved in front of it and caught it with his body.

Twilight produced a slight gasp as she heard the stallion stifle a pained cry. The blood bullet pierced his chest and must have lost all momentum inside. However, her worry for the stallion wasn't the only worry she had.

The last stream of blood aiming for the unicorn zipped forward. Blue Bolt tried to swipe it out of the air, but he was too hindered by his fresh injury to be able to reach it. His face paled as he watched it whiz by him. “Twilight!”

Seeing the projectile incoming, and feeling more strain against her shield as the other crimson missiles went after her friends, Twilight cringed and felt her body tense. Still, she managed to leap to the side just in time, leaving the stream to hit the stone platform behind her.

She breathed a sigh of relief, only to cringe again and clutch her head as a great strain was put on her magic. Dusk was still firing on her barrier, and Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were hesitant to move any higher as a result.

Celestia seemed to be trying to distract the pale stallion, but with how many tendrils and streams he could loosely control at once, it was hard for her to get close or attack without endangering herself.

Twilight yipped slightly as a particularly strong blood bullet struck her shield. A few small cracks were left behind, which she quickly focused on mending. She couldn’t take much more, and she knew it. “Rainbow, Fluttershy, get out of there!” She yelled.

However, they didn’t even get the chance to heed her words as another volley of spears came, faster than ever before.

Twilight felt her heart racing as she sized up the projectiles. She tried to funnel more energy to her shield, but she knew it wouldn’t be enough. She had to stop her friends from getting hurt. If they fell into the water again, even if the wounds they received weren’t fatal, they were as good as dead.

But what could she do? No matter how much she wished otherwise, part of her knew that the answer was nothing.

Then, just as she was bracing herself for her shield being shattered, a second barrier flashed to life in front of hers, composed of orange-tinted energy.

The nigh unstoppable barrage of projectiles shattered through the orange barrier, causing a slight yell from Celestia. However, going through the alicorn’s shield seemed to weaken them. Twilight felt her magic straining as the spears thundered into her barrier, and it cracked to be sure, but it didn’t break.

Dusk whirled around with an agitated growl as his attacks were thwarted yet again. He saw the white alicorn hovering a dozen feet away, panting slightly as she recovered from having her magic overwhelmed.

“I grow tired of your meddling!” He jabbed a foreleg toward her, shooting a connected tendril out at her.

Celestia cringed as the tendril approached. Could she dodge it? Could she block it with how much stamina she had used?

Her answer didn’t come.

A splash came from below, barely registering in Dusk’s mind as he focused on his mentor. What did register, however, was something nearly striking him, causing him to dip to the side slightly.

A long, stretchy column of blood shot up and passed his head. It appeared to have a darker, taloned hand attached at the end.

“What in the-” Dusk muttered as he looked down, only to find one of the blood monsters poking its disturbing maw out of the surface of the crimson waters and staring up at him. It produced a hungry shriek and swiped its now whip-like forelimb at him.

Dusk trailed his eyes up to the elongated limb. The claws on top made a decent effort of heading toward his neck, but he dodged to the side and let it fall back to the water.

He glared at the creature. “You foul, mindless beast! Do you know who I am?! I summoned you!”

The agitated garble that replied seemed to indicate that the creature didn’t care if it even understood. It sent another geyser-like claw up toward the alicorn, undeterred as a blood tendril snapped at its limb and cut it off at the top. It merely reformed the appendage and tried again.

Back at the center of the room, Twilight couldn’t help but smile as she watched the master getting assaulted by his supposed minion. The indiscriminate bloodthirsty nature of the creature unnerved her before, but now it was coming in handy.

However, a closer-sounding splash made her trail her eyes down, only to widen them as she found another bloody claw shooting for her.

“AH!” She yelped, dodging out of the way just in time to avoid it.

As she flopped to the ground, the unicorn looked up and froze, all of the blood in her veins running cold.

The stretchy limb reeled back in toward an amorphous red shape climbing over the edge of the platform. A griffon’s head and another limb poked out of the flowing mass, staring straight through her as it settled into a puddle on solid ground before rising and taking shape.

It twitched its beak and readied another claw to shoot forward, aiming to grab her. Letting out a garbled roar, it reached out, only to have the trembling purple equine blink out of existence, much to its confusion.

Twilight fell back and rolled to her side as she teleported up to the edge of the hole above. She let out the breath she had sharply inhaled before as Pinkie and the others gathered around her.

“No thanks…” She muttered as she peered down into the hole, spotting the creature on the platform looking around for where she went. “Been there… never want to do that again.” She shuddered slightly and shook her head.

“That was a close call.” Glimmer Shine breathed a sigh of relief as he offered the unicorn some help getting back to all fours.

“I thought that dreadful creature was going to get you for a minute there.” Rarity shivered at the thought. At this rate, her therapist was going to have to break out the jumbo-sized box of tissues from the relapse of suppressed memories that were being dredged up, not to mention all her new trauma.

“Right now, I’m not the one we should be worrying about,” Twilight said as she approached the hole again and looked down. She could see her pegasi friends still carrying the wounded alicorn up toward them. “Come on, girls! A little further!”

Rainbow Dash strained to fly faster. Safety was just a few feet away, but they could only do so much. Carrying one adult-sized pony wasn't exactly easy on a pegasus, but carrying a full-grown alicorn, even with Fluttershy’s help, was proving to be difficult with their exhaustion.

Hearing a slight noise behind them, Rainbow turned her head, only to spot another bloody limb stretching towards them. Having found no other targets, the creature on the platform had shifted its focus back to them.

Thankfully, Blue Bolt swooped in and cut the limb down before it could get too close.

Just as the cyan mare was flashing an appreciative smile to the stallion, she heard another magical hum and some muted pings. Darting her gaze ahead, she saw one of Twilight’s shields blocking some more stray blood spears sent by Dusk.

While Fluttershy tensed nervously at the increased attacks against them, the both of them stayed their course and kept flying higher, trusting that their friends would keep them protected long enough.

Twilight hid a cringe as she kept blocking shots from hitting the trio. So far, Dusk hadn’t sent anything powerful enough to break her shield. Perhaps he was too distracted to put that much control and power behind his blood?

Then, however, her eyes widened as the unthinkable happened.

Instead of crashing right into her barrier, two of the bloody projectiles froze in midair and changed their trajectories, heading underneath and then around the glowing shield. Before Twilight could even try to expand her barrier or form it into an enclosed bubble, the streams were already shooting up toward her friends.

“Girls, look-”

Before the unicorn could even finish her warning, a shrill cry of pain interrupted her as both of the streams hit Fluttershy. One of them clipped her side, while the other pierced through one of her wings.

The yellow mare dropped like a brick out of the air from her injuries, and unprepared for the sudden shift in weight and balance, Rainbow Dash dropped Luna.

“Princess! Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelped in a panic, darting her eyes between the pair. She couldn’t help them both, but she had to do something. Seeing how the alicorn was closer, she zipped down and tried to catch her, but to no avail.

Then, just as she thought all hope was lost, Luna’s weight was suddenly lessened as a magical glow enveloped her, but not a magenta one.

Both Rainbow Dash and Luna looked up to see Rarity with her horn aglow staring back at them, a certain amount of stress in her face that told that this wasn't an easy task.

“Hurry, Rainbow Dash! Get her up here!” Rarity pleaded, fighting against her straining magic to pull the alicorn higher with the cyan mare’s help.

Rainbow was forced to oblige, but she darted her gaze downwards to find her shy friend still plummeting toward the crimson waters. “Fluttershy!”

The yellow mare clutched her newly injured wing tightly against her body and held her slashed side. She looked down through one squinted eye, only to see herself getting closer and closer to the watery grave she thought she had escaped from. She screamed and closed her eyes.

Then, something caught her, but it wasn't the water’s surface. She felt a pair of forelegs holding her form close to a matted fur chest.

“Got you!” Blue Bolt stated in a slightly strained voice as he adjusted his flying to compensate for his passenger’s weight.

Fluttershy looked up, only to find the stallion’s sapphire blue eyes gazing back. Somehow, even through the urgency of the situation and her pain, she felt comforted in his embrace, just like she did when Rainbow Dash was holding her before.

A muffled roar filled the chamber, bringing the pegasus out of her daze and back to reality. She looked over, only to find a set of sharp talons heading straight for her face. She yelped, burying her head into Blue’s chest and hugging her forelegs around him, but he thankfully managed to evade the reaching claw stretching past.

Seeing Rainbow Dash and the alicorn above struggling to get up toward the hole, with Rarity helping to lift and Twilight still trying her best to defend, Blue Bolt cringed nervously.

“This isn’t the time for messing around, Dash! Pull harder!” Blue said as he flew up beneath them and pressed his back into Luna’s stomach, adding his wingpower into the effort.

Rainbow Dash grunted in exertion as she pulled on the alicorn’s upper half. “You’re the one with superpowers! You push harder!”

“Unless you want to do this on your own, both of you push harder!” Rarity yelled, clenching her eyes shut and using every ounce of magical power she had to lift the alicorn’s weight. She wasn't nearly as used to lifting heavier objects with her magic as Twilight was, let alone living things.

“Uh, guys… That monster is still trying!” Pinkie chimed in urgently.

Blue Bolt and the others glanced behind them, only to see a fresh set of clawed appendages shooting up toward them, one lagging behind the other. They quickly realized that they wouldn’t be able to dodge without dropping the alicorn.

Acting quickly, Glimmer Shine dove to the side to get a better angle and held out his popper. He leveled it toward the creature and sent two shots bursting out.

The two bolts of energy impacted, with one striking the creature’s shoulder area, and the second hitting closer to its amorphous base. Both impacts created gaping craters in the crimson beast’s form as liquid exploded out of the way like a burst water balloon. The blood griffon let out an agitated squawk as its unstable form collapsed on itself, briefly submerging it back into its own puddled lower half.

As a result, the two forelimbs stretching up toward the ponies stopped. One of them collapsed entirely into liquid, while the other seemed to wilt and sink more slowly. However, it didn’t entirely lose form, and even started to shake and twitch as the creature below climbed back up and regained its body.

Just as the four flyers were cresting up toward the hole in the ceiling, the stretchy limb swiped at them. It managed to catch Blue Bolt’s hind leg and latch on, digging its claws into his skin.

“Gah!” Blue yelped, but couldn’t react further with the yellow mare in his forelegs.

“Blue!” Fluttershy gasped as she saw how much pain the stallion was in. They both looked down, only to see the creature starting to pull on Blue’s leg and drain his blood out.

Seeing the severity of the situation, Rainbow Dash helped pull Luna’s upper half up so she could grasp the edge of the opening. “Help her up!”

With Twilight and Rarity still occupied, Pinkie, Applejack, and Glimmer Shine all rushed over and pulled the blue alicorn up and onto solid ground once more.

Once the alicorn was safe, they turned back toward the pegasus still fighting to stay hovering near the ceiling, a wave of alarm washing over them.

Blue Bolt grit his teeth as he felt the creature’s pull getting stronger. “Rainbow, take Fluttershy!”

Rainbow Dash hovered down with an anxious, darting quality to her eyes as she contemplated helping the stallion break free or heeding his words. Seeing him barely holding steady, she decided to protect their wounded, flightless friend first.

Fluttershy suddenly found herself being transferred from one pegasus to another as the cyan mare grabbed her and lifted her. However, almost the instant she left Blue’s grasp, the stallion yelped as he was rapidly pulled down.

Rainbow Dash and the others gasped. “Blue!”

With his wings failing him, and the liquid form of the creature siphoning out his blood as it reeled him in, Blue Bolt had to act fast. And act he did.

Using his free hind leg, he summoned one of his spirit weapons and kicked across the stretchy red appendage. It took a couple of tries due to how thin it was and how disoriented he was, but eventually, he made contact. His blade sliced clean through the crimson channel, and because it was stretched so thin, the blade was able to separate it into two halves briefly.

That brief disconnect from the creature’s main body was enough to make the rest of the limb turn to fluid. The claws lost form and fell away from Blue’s leg, revealing a nasty set of puncture wounds that would need healing.

Blue braked in the air and watched as the creature reeled in its limb without its prize. “Ha! Take that, you overgrown jello mold!” He cheered triumphantly.

His celebration would soon be cut short.

“Blue Bolt, watch out!” Celestia shouted from across the room, but by then it was too late. A crimson tendril wrapped around the stallion’s neck tightly before whipping his entire body away and sending him hurtling into one of the stone walls. The alicorn herself couldn’t even watch for long as she was forced to dodge her own series of attacks.

After cracking the wall behind him, and possibly a few bones, Blue Bolt sucked back in the air that was knocked from his lungs as he steadied himself in the air again. He turned to see Dusk still toying with Celestia.

He started to rush off to retaliate until he paused as he heard a familiar voice in his head.

“Blue Bolt, Princess, see if you can hold him still near the opening! We’re going to try using the elements.” Twilight explained.

Glancing up, Blue could spot the purple unicorn and her friends gathered by the edge of the hole. They were all looking down to him with expressions ranging from confidence, to hesitance, to downright nervousness.

Looking down toward Celestia, he could see a certain look on her face that indicated she had heard the same message he had. She couldn’t communicate back very openly for fear of alerting Dusk to their plan, but she did meet Blue’s gaze briefly.

Blue Bolt steeled his expression and lifted a hoof to his ear, briefly concentrating on the white alicorn. “Get ready… I’ll distract him.” He muttered, only loud enough for her to hear through the spell.

There was no sign of a reply, but she seemed to understand as she kept herself roughly behind the pale stallion amid her dodging.

Then, Blue summoned one of his blades and focused for a moment. A warm orange glow washed over the metal, making the intricate half sun etched into it more realistic than a mere depiction. He sized up the shot in his mind, waiting for Dusk to hold still for a few seconds before swiping his foreleg across the air.

A curved wave of energy shot out with a small burst of air. It cut through the space between it and its target in a mere moment.

Dusk whirled his head around at the odd noise, only to catch a glimpse of the projectile heading toward him. He had been on the receiving end of a few of these attacks before, so he knew what to expect.

The alicorn zipped to the side in the air, allowing the wave to sail past him uselessly. He smirked at Blue Bolt. “Is that all?”

He got his answer in the form of a magical discharge behind him. Before he could turn, a concussive blast slammed into his back, sending him flying forward. Dusk produced a slight noise of pain as his body sailed through the air. He flapped hard with his wings, bringing himself to a stop.

As he whirled around to face his attacker, Celestia suddenly wrapped her aura around him, binding his limbs to his chest and restricting his movements.

“Now, girls!” Celestia exclaimed.

Dusk trailed his eyes up, barely able to move his head at all. He spotted the six mares gathered near the hole in the ceiling, an iconic set of jewelry adorning their forms which began to glow slightly. “I see… So the trump card is in play, is it?” He strained, his chest being crushed slightly from the magical aura constricting him.

Up top, Glimmer Shine and Luna backed up as the five mares looked to their lavender leader. Twilight gazed back at them before shifting her eyes up to the tiara on her head, and then down at Dusk.

“This is it, girls. It’s now or never.” She said resolutely. “Everyone ready?”

There were enthusiastic nods and voices of agreement all around. Even those among them that were wounded, battered, and bruised were eager to put an end to this.

With that, they all took their places and allowed their connection with the elements to take over. The necklaces started glowing brighter as a magical hum filled the air. Soon after, luminous outlines of each jewel started flying out around them. A magical aura enveloped Twilight and her friends, and their eyes shone pure white as their bodies lifted into the air.

Down below, Celestia grit her teeth and strained to keep Dusk held in place. She could keep him immobile for short bursts, but soon his unnatural essence would break free of her magic. “Twilight… please, hurry.”

Meanwhile, to his credit, Dusk seemed more inconvenienced than troubled by the constant hum and flying shapes made of light shooting past him.

“The elements of harmony… The most powerful magic Equestria has to offer. Yet, such power is useless if it is tied to such weak mortal lives!” He said. Without even moving, a stream of blood shot out of the wound on his neck and up toward the hole in the ceiling.

Twilight and her friends’ eyes widened, though it was hard to tell with the unnatural glow.

Just then, Blue Bolt flew between the blood bullet and the six mares, blocking the projectile with one of his blades. He scowled down at Dusk, who narrowed his gaze in return.

A bloody geyser tipped with talons shot by, nearly hitting Blue until he dodged out of the way. He darted his gaze to the side, only to see the creature on the platform still trying to reach him. However, that creature wasn't the only one trying to interfere.

A sudden cry of pain came from the back of the room. Blue looked up just in time to see Celestia recovering from a glancing wound across her chest as another stretchy appendage shot past her. The blow was plenty cringe-worthy and concerning in its own right, but what was most concerning was the fact that her horn dimmed briefly.

Blue looked back down to Dusk, whose mouth now curved upwards as the magical hold over his body ceased.

The pale stallion started to cast his gaze upwards, looking to retaliate against the six mares for even daring to try and oppose him, when his surprised vision was filled with the sight of the blue pegasus flying down toward him with reckless abandon.

“What the-”

Dusk only managed to get out some shocked muttering before the bold pegasus slammed into him headfirst. Blue wrapped his forelegs around the alicorn as best he could, trapping Dusk’s forelegs and whirling him around in the air before holding on for dear life.

“Gah!” Unhoof me!” Dusk yelled, trying to squirm out of Blue’s strong grip. When that didn’t work, he fired out a few short streams of blood from his neck and wrists, piercing the pegasus’ body clean through.

Blue clenched his jaw and stifled a pained outcry as he was impaled, but he kept his hold around the alicorn. He even managed to fight Dusk’s superior wingspan to keep himself and his unwitting prisoner in place.

He couldn’t hold the alicorn for long, but he didn’t have to.

With the growing magical energy surging through them, Twilight and the others felt a sense of joy slowly building inside them. They always felt good when they used the elements, when they focused on their loving bonds with each other and all of their friends, but this time was different.

Twilight couldn’t keep a smile from building as she closed her eyes.

Tom… this is for you.

And then, she snapped her eyes open as a rainbow of radiant light burst forth from in front of them.

Luna and Glimmer Shine shielded their faces as the ray of light surged down into the cavernous room. They could barely see what was happening. For a moment, they worried that Dusk wasn't going to be in the path of the elements, but much to their stunned relief, they could see the band of colors heading straight for the alicorn suspended in the air.

Blue Bolt saw the multicolored light heading straight for him. He briefly wondered if this was safe or a good idea. Then again, the elements of harmony were supposed to be a force for good, so they probably wouldn’t hurt him. Even if they did, it would be worth it.

Dusk struggled to break free as he felt and saw the light surging toward him. However, he was too late to act any further before being engulfed by the rainbow.

Almost immediately, everyone present heard the pale stallion scream out in pain as a faint sizzling sound came from within the light. They couldn’t see either Dusk or Blue Bolt anymore, but they knew that they were hit directly.

Eventually, the rainbow faded and vanished entirely, leaving some heavy wisps of smoke behind. Twilight and her friends gently floated back to the ground, and the light faded from their eyes as the magic of the elements slept once more.

Glimmer Shine blinked. “Did… did it work?” He asked, somewhat hopefully.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash gasped as she stared down into the hole. “Look!” She pointed eagerly.

Blue Bolt squinted his eyes open, his vision clarifying and adjusting to the newly dim room. However, he jumped slightly at what he saw right before him.

A pair of sunken, dark pits stared blankly at him, ringed with gaunt, wrinkled skin that clung loosely to a fanged equine skull.

Where before there had been an alicorn in his grasp, there was now a limp, unmoving corpse. The three characteristic wounds still sat across his body, but other than that, some stringy tufts of white hair, and some patches of desiccated brown fur sticking to his body, there were no other signs that this was the same vampiric pony they had fought for so long.

Celestia looked up, only to startle as well as she saw what Blue Bolt was holding. She was surprised, shocked even. Had they done it? Had they won?

A series of cheers and hollering erupted from above as the six mares and even Glimmer Shine and Princess Luna celebrated. They were all bouncing up and down eagerly and hugging each other. At long last, the nightmare was over.

There was no sign of either of the blood monsters. Perhaps the power of the elements had scared them off? Either way, Celestia and Blue Bolt quickly made their way up and out of the cavernous space, bringing Dusk’s husk of a body with them.

Blue unceremoniously dropped the withered alicorn to the floor with a repulsive sound. As they observed previously, he didn’t move or show any signs of reaction as he settled.

“Is he dead?” Applejack asked, hesitantly keeping her distance from the body along with many of her friends.

“He sure looks dead to me.” Rainbow Dash said, briefly contemplating kicking the body.

“But… he’s a vampire. Shouldn’t he be turning to ash like all the others?” Twilight asked with a troubled frown.

Before anyone could answer, a whoosh of fire silenced them as Blue Bolt summoned one of his blades and pointed it down. “Only one way to find out.” He said before raising his foreleg and planting the blade firmly into Dusk’s chest.

The sound made was that of aged, crumbling skin being pierced, like the crinkling of a newspaper. Blue’s blade pierced the alicorn’s body with little difficulty, and while there was some skin turning to cinders along the edge, it didn’t seem to have any other effect, even as Blue removed his weapon.

A few moments later, however, the group made a grim discovery.

The wound in Dusk’s form slowly started to mend as a darkly colored blood-like substance filled it out from within before shifting back to withered skin and fur.

Twilight and the others jumped back, now on alert at the sign of life. Strangely, even with this new development, the rest of Dusk’s body didn’t seem to be restoring itself from its decrepit state.

“What the hay?” Rainbow Dash shook her head and furrowed her expression. “He’s alive?! But… we hit him with the elements and everything! What’s the deal?!”

“Perhaps the elements did not completely exhaust his reserves of energy?” Luna said, adopting a troubled frown as she stared at the corpse before her.

"But… I don’t understand. It doesn't look like he has any blood left in him." Glimmer Shine observed.

"I doubt very seriously if all of the blood he consumed is inside him in a purely physical sense," Celestia added. After all, he had drained an entire village before. "Whether he is in some catatonic state or not, we must not give him a chance to regenerate."

"Sounds good to me." Blue Bolt said, starting to raise his hoof toward the husk of an alicorn and project light from it.

Celestia reached out and stopped him. "Save your strength, Blue Bolt. If he still has his healing abilities, it could take quite a bit of effort to kill him. Besides that, you need to heal Sunspot."

"Oh… that’s right," Blue said, growing a bit anxious as he glanced toward the exit out into the hallway. "But, what do we do about him?" He gestured to Dusk.

"We will have to clear the blizzard outside so I can raise the sun. Even he would not be able to survive direct exposure for long." Celestia reasoned, letting her gaze linger on the shriveled husk that was formerly her first student. A myriad of different emotions welled up inside of her. Relief. Joy. Sadness. Regret.

“At any rate, you all did an excellent job,” Luna said, turning to the ponies gathered around. “Go take a moment to rest while Blue Bolt heals Sunspot. We will stay and keep an eye on Dusk until we can get ahold of Cadence and the others to see their progress.”

Twilight and her friends stared at the alicorn’s body for a moment or two. They were all exhausted, but somehow they couldn’t believe that things were finally over. They had lost so much in the fight with Dusk. Blood, sweat, tears, and even friends.

Still, they couldn’t let themselves fully celebrate just yet. They still had friends in dire straits that needed help.

“Come on, Blue. Sunspot isn’t getting any better with us just waiting here.” Rainbow Dash suggested as they all started to leave.

“I’ll bet she’ll perk right up when we tell her we turned Dusk into a raisin.” Applejack smirked, eliciting a warm chuckle from many of her friends. They all needed the levity after such a tense battle.

Still, Twilight turned and glanced back to see Celestia and Luna sitting before the pale alicorn. Luna had her foreleg around Celestia’s back as the older mare stared down distantly. Twilight felt a tug at her heart. It must have been a complex victory for her mentor.

However, something else made her stop in her tracks.

A hint of movement was coming from off to the side. Something was slithering across the floor. Something red. And as Twilight’s vision strained to make out what she was looking at, her eyes suddenly widened. It was blood, traveling in streams along the ground and heading straight for Dusk’s body.

“Princess, look!” She exclaimed, voice full of alarm as she pointed out the flowing liquid.

Everyone paused and turned to see what the unicorn’s sudden outburst was about. Celestia and Luna’s faces paled as they saw the streams creeping up to the withered body and starting to get pulled up and into the wounds across Dusk’s neck and wrists.

Both alicorns jumped to their hooves and backed up. Celestia lit her horn and charged her fiery energy through it. It didn’t matter how weak she was. She had to stop it. She had to stop him.

Dusk’s leathery skin stretched around the three slashes as the blood entered his system. The ponies could barely see a twitch in his foreleg, and a slight red glow in the centers of his eyes, before his form was obscured by a blinding ray of sunlit fury.

Celestia’s form started to shake as she kept her beam up despite her exhaustion. She had passed her limit for such powerful attacks long ago, but it didn’t matter. The blood was still being pulled into the light despite the sizzling noise and steam rising out.

“Blue Bolt! Take Twilight and the others and-”

*Swish*

The princess of the sun was silenced as a hint of crimson zipped across her. Twilight and the others felt their hearts stop as Celestia started to fall backward, a spray of blood erupting from her now slashed chest.

“Princess!” Twilight yelled.

Luna turned to see her sister falling to the ground, her jaw falling open in shock. Before she could even think of a way to retaliate, she felt her windpipe being constricted by another crimson lash.

All stunned eyes fell on the cloud of smoke and steam lifting from the air ahead of the two sisters, where the blood tendril was snaking out of. A tall, lithe, familiar figure could be seen through the smoke, standing upright.

The smoke cleared, revealing the trail of blood from before still being pulled up into the air and into what was formerly a lifeless husk. Leathery skin filled out and softened, burn marks vanished and mended, leaving behind pristine brown fur.

A displeased groan shifted to a feral growl as Dusk’s form finished restoring itself. He looked down to his foreleg, the same one that had the tendril grabbing Luna attached to it at the wrist, and admired his newly supple skin and shiny fur.

Then, he leveled his eyes at the group ahead, a glint of anger shining in the blood-red irises, which themselves began to glow.

“Now then… You’ve had your chance. I believe it’s my turn.” He said, a devilish grin forming that made the watching ponies’ blood run cold.