Chapter Seven

Something dark

Gasping, my eyes shot open! My veins felt like they were filled with ice and my whole body ran cold, a pain shot through me so viscous it felt like my skin was slowly being peeled off! I couldn't do anything except scream. I heard another mare screaming beside me, I looked over and saw Luna twisting in agony just as I was. Blood fell from my eyes and nose leaving crimson drops in the grass.

I looked around and I couldn't recognize where we were, but only that we were both in terrible agony. We were under the cover of a single tree on a hill in the middle of an empty, dry, tall, grassy field.

I clenched my head as I lost my vision, I felt something pulpy run from my eye sockets, pressing with a hoof to my face I could feel the indents and realized in horror that I no longer had eyes! I let out a scream of terror, but it fell silent as I lurched back over and started puking. It felt like my insides were on fire as the pain only continued to get worse!

Goddesses, how was I even alive?

Now it really felt like my skin being peeled off as an indescribable pain shot along through my spine. I realized I couldn't hear Luna anymore, but I couldn’t really hear anything anymore as my head screamed at me, pounding worse than when it was exposed to sunlight for the first time.

I let out another blubbered wail, my gums now feeling like they were being skinned with a razor blade. I bit down on something hard only to realize it was a tooth, pain unlike any other shot through my face and I felt as one by one all my teeth were pushed from my skull. Then the pain lessened a little and now I could feel that underneath all of the pain, was something else, something that felt good. It felt like it had when Luna first shared her shadows with me, only this time it felt far more intense, and provided some comfort in the midst of so much pain.

The reprieve was short lived, pain shot through my head again and I felt something pushing out of my gums, I moved my tongue up and felt something sharp.

Suddenly the base of my wings swelled up with deep itching pain, my eyes burned, it felt like I was being stabbed by a thousand tiny knives, and right as I thought my body couldn't take it anymore, all of a sudden the pain just stopped, and I was left feeling exhausted as the world once again slipped away.

___

Tiredly I opened my, eyes? I thought they had melted out of my head, but when I opened them, I could see crystal clear, more clear than I had ever thought possible, the details in everything immediately so much more apparent!

I felt good… but hadn’t I died?

I had no idea how much time had passed, and I looked over at Luna who was lying next to me in a small pool of what I hoped was only my blood.

I saw her side still moving. I let out a sigh of relief.

“Luna…” I breathed, the action of speaking causing me to notice something different in my mouth.

I felt around with my tongue and felt sharp pointed teeth that led down to two long, sharp fangs.

“My teeth, they're like yours,” I gasped.

I stood up and grabbed Luna with my forehooves, pulling her out of the bloody mess.

“Feather?” I heard her whisper as she slowly opened her eyes, she smiled up at me, “you're ok…”

Luna reached up and hugged me, “I can't believe it worked,” she breathed.

I collapsed next to her underneath the tree and held her tight, tears pooling in my eyes.

“I'm sorry about your dress,” I sniffed with a smile.

Luna stifled a laugh and she held me tight as the two of us cried.

She pulled back and looked at me, her nocturnal eyes widening, “Feather your eyes,” she gasped, “they look like mine, how-” her voice trailed off as her eyes moved to look past mine.

I blinked, a satisfying chill running through my body as I took a deep breath, savoring her sweet scent. I felt more than good, I no longer felt any kind of pain, no headache, no soreness of any kind, like all the little damages my body had accumulated over the years had suddenly just vanished. I felt amazing, and the sudden knowledge that I now also had slitted nocturnal eyes like hers, just made me smile even more. Everything, I noticed, felt so much more intense, smells crisper, sounds louder and I could even hear the wind moving through the grass.

I grinned.

“That's not the only thing,” I said while showing off my new teeth.

“Not the only thing indeed,” she breathed, surprise and shock written all over her face as she stared down at my back.

I abruptly remembered in horror that I had lost my wings. I looked back and braced myself for the bloody stubs I thought I would see, but instead what I saw made my heart skip a beat. There on my back, were long, dark, beautiful wings.

I gasped.

I stretched my new wings out to get a better look at them, they had no feathers! my white coat bled into a dark grey at the base of my wings that faded into black further up. The skin where feathers would normally be was semitransparent and had a dark purple tint to them that faded into the rest of the dark grey. Just like Luna’s they looked like something akin to the wings of a bat! they felt good, stronger and significantly lighter!

I started to cry again as I hugged myself with my new wings, relieved and beyond happy that I could still fly. I then threw them around Luna pulling her into an embrace.

“Thank you!” I cried as we held each other.

Luna stood up and took a few steps back.

“Feather I, I don't even know how this happened,” she admitted in shock, “normal healing magic wasn’t working, so I resorted to using-”

She paused as a shiver and moment of horror passed over her face.

“I used necromancy,” she whispered, turning away, “I shouldn’t have, but you were dying!” She turned back to look at my wings, “I tried to tie your life blood to mine in that spell so that I might use myself to keep you alive, but-”

She paused.

“It seems in doing so, the darkness that's been changing you, must have interacted with that magic and the change took place far faster than it ordinarily would have. This wasn't supposed to happen so soon, I'm so sorry Feather… you must be overwhelmed.”

“Are you kidding? I've never felt so good before!” I exclaimed, “it feels like I've been living my entire life drowning underwater, and now I can finally breathe!” I exclaimed excitedly, taking in another deep, fresh, crisp breath of the cold night air.

“And these wings!” I continued before lifting off into the sky, I ended up moving faster and higher than I meant to, “they are going to take some getting used to, but they are amazing!” I giggled before doing a little loop and landing back down in front of her.

“So, you've always felt like this?” I asked, “Stars why didn't you do this to me sooner!” I smiled.

“No this is all new to me, this is so strange, I can hear your heart beating from here, and everything’s just so… sensitive,” she murmured.

Luna stepped towards me with an almost motherly worry, “you're not upset?”

“Of course not, thank you Luna,” I smiled.

Luna threw her arms around me in a hug, “you really scared me Feather, I thought I was going to lose you,” she sniffed, nuzzling my neck.

As she nuzzled into me it felt almost like the first time all over again, the fine hairs of my coat and the skin under it tingled and sent shivers through the rest of my body. Luna’s soft nuzzles turned to kisses and I went limp in her arms. I felt a sharp pinch, but it immediately faded into a cold shock that spread through my veins. I tried to say something but all that came out was a squeak, I tried to move but my limbs felt like heavy weights.

Luna stepped back, and I stumbled to rest against the tree, my blood dripping from her muzzle.

“Feather I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me, I couldn't stop myself...” her voice trailed off.

Something stirred inside me as I watched her wipe the blood from her face, and I quickly moved up to her. I could hear her heartbeat like the sound of a thousand thundering drums, I could hear the blood flowing through her veins like a rushing river or great waterfall. I realized I was absolutely starving! I had never felt hunger like this before. It felt like my stomach was being torn apart by razors. My own heart started to race as every cell in my body commanded me to do one thing. Like Luna, I couldn't stop myself either as my teeth came down on her neck, my new fangs making it more than easy as I bit in deep and drank. Stars, I only hoped I wasn’t her... a thought that came far to late as no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t seem to pull myself away.

I heard her gasp as she stiffened, a few seconds later however and she relaxed. The taste was unlike anything I had ever tasted before, it put Simon’s sushi rolls to shame! Like before. It still tasted like blood but for some reason I was absolutely in love with the taste! And the feeling that it gave me was almost orgasmic!

After a few moments I pulled away from her neck still starving but feeling satisfied enough. Luna was staring at me with a baffled expression.

“Whoah,” she breathed “that was...”

““Amazing,”” we said simultaneously.

She looked at me in surprise, “what, what's happening to us?”

Her shock faded as she smiled, “did you feel that cold sensation running through from where I bit you?” she asked.

I nodded.

“It was almost numbing yet euphoric, it made it so that the bite didn't hurt,” I responded.

She blinked, “that's what I felt too,” she paused, “I think that was some kind of venom,” she said still looking shocked. “Well that's new, and so is this hunger,” she paused again, “before it was just a craving, but now-” her voice trailed off.

She smiled and pulled me in for a bloody kiss, and I felt her tongue move around my new fangs and a shiver of pleasure ran through me as I returned the kiss.

She pinned me against the tree so hard I felt the bark crack, but she didn't hurt me at all, she pressed up against me, and wrapped her beautiful wings around me.

She stopped and looked up, “Feather what happened, did you find Ruby?” she asked fretfully.

“Yes, I found her but-” she silenced me with a wing.

“Just lay back, I'll see for myself,” she whispered.

“Just relax,” she murmured smoothly as she put her horn to my head. “Just let me in Feather.”

Realizing what she was doing, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and let my guard down.

I felt something similar to the vice grip of the shadows, the sensation of Luna entering my mind while I was still awake was the strangest thing I've ever experienced. It wasn't like when I was dreaming, instead it was like suddenly my mind didn't belong to just me, but that I was sharing it with another. I blinked as I caught glimpses of scenes and events that I wasn't familiar with, then my mind was forced to the memories of the train station. The events all flashed past my eyes in less than a few seconds, but it was like reliving it all over again, just with none of the pain.

“Stars Feather, I can't believe you had to go through all of that,” I heard Luna's soft voice in my mind, “I’m sorry.”

I felt her horn lift away from my head and my vision returned to normal.

“That was so strange,” I murmured, “but it was kind of nice, not being alone in my own head for once.”

Luna smiled sweetly at me.

“Finally, I found you two!” The exhausted voice of Ruby pulled our attention away from one another as we looked towards the grey mare limping up the little hill we were on.

Luna climbed off me and I slowly stood up dusting myself off.

“I heard screaming coming from over here, I had gotten lost, I'm so glad I found both of you,” Ruby breathed in a sigh of relief as she stepped closer.

Her eyes widened as she saw our blood-stained coats, “are you two alright!” she exclaimed rushing over.

“We’re fine Ruby,” Luna called out softly.

It was then that Ruby got a closer look at both of us, and she took a step back.

“What... what those crazy ponies were saying,” she took another step back fear crawling across her face, “were they telling the truth?” She gasped, “what are you,” she stuttered in fear as she addressed the two of us.

“We are still us,” Luna cooed sweetly, trying to get Ruby to calm down, “Just because we might look frightening doesn't mean the words of those delusional ponies hold any truth, they are the real monsters, not us,” Luna said matter of factly.

Ruby seemed to relax a little, the expression of fear in her face slowly retreating, “So, you two have always been this way, the whole time?” she asked skeptically.

“Luna has, but this is all new to me,” I started, “after I told you to run, that beige stallion, Elijah Kane he said his name was, he took my wings, stabbed me through the heart and left me for dead.”

I paused.

“But Luna saved me, and now,” I looked back at my new wings, “I guess this is how I am now,” I smiled.

The dried blood on Ruby’s coat drew both Luna and I’s gaze. Had it been fresh I don’t think I'd have been able to help myself. As with Luna I could hear the gray unicorn’s heart beating like a cascade of hail on a thin roof top. It was taking everything I had not to give in to the hunger.

Ruby stepped back towards us before leaning her bruised body against the tree for support.

“What am I going to do?” she whimpered, “I can't go back to the Royal guard, my best friend is dead, and I have nowhere to go!” tears started streaming down her eyes.

“You could come with us,” Luna offered.

“Where!?” Ruby shouted disdainfully, there’s nowhere left to go! The castle isn't safe, as far as I know your sister, the Princess whom I pledged to serve might be involved in all of this!”

“What do you mean?” Luna questioned seriously, “when I confronted her, it was clear she was oblivious to the situation.”

“Before Feather showed up those monsters were rambling on about the sun, the light and cleansing the world of darkness, they wouldn't shut up about it, forgive me if the first pony I think of when I hear that, is your sister.”

“My sister is many things, but an insane radicalist is not one of them,” Luna nodded firmly.

“Regardless,” Ruby sighed, “if she is oblivious like you say, then that's no better."
The poor mare looked lost, hopeless...

“The light was so important to those monsters,” she paused, “I feel sick, like I can't breathe,” Ruby collapsed to the ground. I dashed to catch her.

She looked down at her torn red dress and her necklace of the sun.

“I'm just so tired,” she murmured, closing her eyes and beginning to cry.

“I'm so sorry for what you went through Ruby. I know nothing I say will help, but know that Feather and I are here for you,” Luna whispered softly.

“Thank you, Princess...” Ruby murmured.

After a moment Ruby looked down and wrapped her necklace in the red glow of her magic before yanking it off.

“My entire life I've been told to believe in the light... that the light is good, but why should I believe in something that at every turn only proves itself to be nothing but evil?” she murmured hopelessly, still staring at her floating pendant of the sun.

Luna looked at her sympathetically, “Ruby, I can't tell you what to believe, but I can offer you my knowledge.” Luna sighed before stepping closer towards her.

“Light and Dark are not just some abstract notion of good and evil, in fact they are not even relatable. In my experience I've found that both are in fact, quite literal and independent from those abstract monikers.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby sniffed.

“Think of the Darkness and the Light like two literal opposing forces like oil and water. These forces can be interacted with if you know how, they are neither good nor evil. Through the circumstances of our lives, we typically tend to lean towards one or the other. Those who belong in the light thrive in it, but those of us who belong in the dark only suffer in the light.

“I don't understand, are you saying that I belong in Darkness? Ruby asked.

Luna simply nodded.

“You started taking every night shift, something most ponies would never want to do, but you enjoyed it, you looked forward to each and every night. I'm sure you've felt the quiet, the peace, the shadows, clawing at you for some time now.”

Ruby nodded and took a breath before turning around. Looking out into the field I saw a tear run down the side of her cheek before she lifted her necklace high and stared at it

“When Sunny and I were kids all I ever wanted was to serve in Princess Celestia’s grand army. My parents they never approved, but Sunny supported me every step of the way. After his parents died I promised I’d take care of him, it’s because of me he signed up. We always knew there was the possibility one of us could die, but not like this…” she sniffed and whipped her eyes, “he was only here because of me, I made him work nights with me, and I now he’s dead.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said rushing up to her and putting a hoof on her shoulder.

Ruby shook her head, “no its not,” Ruby expression turned to fury as she threw her necklace as far as she could, with a look of disgust on her face.

“It’s their fault, and I want nothing to do with them or the light ever again!” She spat.

“In that case,” Luna began solemnly, “allow me to show you something far better,” she purred, a grin creeping up her face.

Shadows crept up around the dark alicorn's legs as she took a step towards Ruby and lifted a hoof towards her.

Ruby looked back up at Luna with her sad red eyes and saw the dark tendrils that were stretching towards her, “what the-” she breathed as the shadows slowly wrapped around her like silky laces.

“Stay calm and just relax,” Luna soothed, “just close your eyes and take a deep breath, don't try and fight it, just let it in.”

“What is this, exactly?” Ruby asked skeptically and prodded at one of the dark smokey tendrils with a hoof. It scrunched back at the offending hoof almost like a snake would.

“Just relax, they are just shadows, pure, absolute, literal darkness, please let me share this with you, you won’t regret it,” Luna urged.

“You really won't,” I added, trying to reassure her, “if you just let yourself get lost in the shadows, I guarantee you will feel better than you ever have.”

I knew this would make her feel better if she was just willing.

Ruby closed her eyes, “okay,” she murmured.

She took a deep breath and I saw her visibly relax, the shadows immediately went in through her nose, mouth and eyes. They wrapped tightly around her. I saw her smile as she sat down, and her wounds were slowly healed.

“Wow…” she breathed, “that feels, more than good,” Ruby smiled.

Luna pulled away her hoof and the shadows faded. Ruby opened her eyes; they were pitch black for a moment before she blinked and the shadows faded back into her.

Still smiling, Ruby closed her eyes again. She fell over onto her back with a stretch.

“I can feel it,” she grinned and opened her eyes to look up at the starry sky, “you were right, this is much better. No wonder Feather is obsessed with you,” she chuckled, the veins around her eyes darkening.

“I wouldn't use the word obsessed,” I said a tad defensively.

Both Luna and Ruby gave me a look.

“Ok maybe a little,” I amended and Ruby raised an eyebrow, “ok a lot,” I stammered, blushing.

“It's okay Feather, in fact I would argue that I am just as obsessed, if not more, with you,” she purred sweetly, nuzzling behind my ear.

Ruby rolled her eyes.

Letting out a long breath Ruby sat up, “make me like you,” she said, looking towards the both of us.

“Well,” Luna began sheepishly, “I just did,” she told Ruby with a small smile.

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked before glancing between the two of us, “I don't look like either of you.”

“You let the darkness in, and now you'll slowly change, but it takes time,” Luna informed her.

“But Feather looked normal not longer than an hour ago,” Ruby pointed out.

“That's because I used a very dark magic to save her life, it inadvertently made her change in just a few minutes, as well as a few other unforeseen things.”

“Could you do the same to me?” Ruby pleaded.

“Why would you want such a thing? besides, I don't even know if I can.”

“Please, you could try?” Ruby pleaded, “I want to serve you... Please I have nothing else, and nowhere left to go!”

Luna took a step back in surprise, “yes you can come with us, serve me if you wish, but why would you want to be like us?” Luna asked in surprise.

“If I used necromancy magic to turn you, then the compulsion to drink others' blood is magnified tenfold. If Feather is any indication, you'll gain wings like hers, and I'm pretty sure there is no loophole where you get to keep your horn,” Luna warned.

Ruby looked skeptical now, “why?” She asked, “also you two drink blood?” She added, cringing and looking a touch fearful again.

Luna Nodded.

“Because I don't have the power to just create an alicorn, nopony does. I have no idea how to tweak the spell to trade the wings for your horn, or if I even can,” Luna informed her.

“Wait,” I interjected, “I thought if a non-pegasus let the darkness in then they would get all the changes except for the wings. So why would necromancy force her to have wings?”

“Feather, you lost your wings, the darkness may have dictated what your new wings look like, but it alone didn't give you new ones, the only reason you have new wings is because the spell used our blood to create a link between us to restore your body. Meaning in order for Ruby to keep her horn I would have to create a new link to tie her blood to mine and in the process break ours. Right now Feather, that link is the only thing keeping you alive.

Luna Started pacing

“Now I can add a small number of others to that link but I can’t change the foundation of it. If I turned Ruby in this way, chances are very high that our link will override her physiology, you are the foundation Feather and you are a Pegasus.” Luna explained.

Ruby let out another long breath, “Feather what do you think, is it worth it?”

“Absolutely, but then again, I'm not a unicorn,” I pointed out, “but I can tell you, that the moment I lost my wings while fighting Kane, I felt something inside me break. If I didn't get these new wings, I don't know if I could have lived with myself,” I admitted.

“If you sacrifice your horn, there is no going back,” Luna warned, “and this is still all new to me,” Luna paused, “I don't yet know exactly to what extent we’ve changed.”

“Well what else am I supposed to do?” Ruby asked helplessly.

Luna looked at her for a long while before responding smoothly, “do what you feel is right.”

Ruby stood there for a long while before letting out a sigh and looking back up at us, “I don't want to lose my horn, but," she paused, giving the smallest hint of a smile.

I saw the veins around her neck darken as her eyes turned black.

“This feels right, after what I've just gone through and what you've shown me, I don't think that I could ever return to any kind of normal," she paused again, “I do believe this is worth my horn,” she stifled a laugh, “I was never any good at magic anyways.”

“Very well,” Luna began, “I suspect this should be simpler than before,” she nodded before moving up to Ruby.

I was intimately familiar with how the darkness can influence one's actions. I felt it when I had killed those ponies... It's always for the better of course, but I don't think any unicorn let alone Ruby would have made the decision to lose their horn so quickly without the darkness’s influence.

Luna lifted her forehoof up to her mouth before drawing her own blood, upon seeing the crimson drops it took everything I had not to rush over and lap them up. I again felt the ravenous urge, the deep hunger that threatened to consume me. It had been there since I changed, the only difference was that now I was really paying attention to it. I realized only now that my mouth was open, and I was panting like a hungry animal.

“You will have to drink,” Luna urged sweetly, moving her foreleg towards Ruby's muzzle.
Ruby stared reluctantly for a moment before closing her eyes and taking a breath as she pulled Luna’s forehoof to her mouth.

I watched her drink, and I was itching to go over and take some for myself. The need to have blood was so painfully intense, it took everything I had to resist the urge. My eyes were even beginning to tear up.

I watched as Luna sunk her teeth into Ruby’s neck. Ruby gasped in shock and smiled before returning her bloody muzzle to Luna’s foreleg. After a few more moments, Ruby fell limp. I realized I could no longer hear her heart beating. I could no longer hear the blood flowing through her veins. Luna had completely drained her...

Luna gently set Ruby on to the ground and backed away. Luna lowered her head and pointed her horn at Ruby’s corpse. A black veil of magic -- far different from the soft blue glow I was used to—flared out from her horn and wrapped over the dead grey unicorn mare the magic seemed to co ales and pool towards her heart before sinking into her and out of sight. Not a few moments later and the candy red maned unicorn began to convulse. Ruby gasped as her eyes shot open, I heard her heart rage back to life. She held her hooves to her head as she started to moan in pain. We looked on as I saw blood begin to pool in her eyes and nose.

“Fuck!” she screamed.

With Ruby twisting in agony, I watched the gruesome scene that I had just gone through unfold all over again. Her eyes turned to mush and poured out of her skull, her teeth began to fall out and I watched in horror and fascination as she gripped her head in pain.

Her horn -- as Luna predicted-- started to crumble away, turning to dust as she screamed. The bloody hole it had left in her head slowly closed and I saw the bloody beginnings of ridges start to form on her back.
I know I had gone through the same process -- excluding the horn -- but it was still fascinating to see it from this perspective.

The idea of the darkness breaking down and replacing parts of one's body didn't seem to gross me out anymore, if anything I just thought it was really neat.

Lastly, I saw her fangs begin to push out as she let out one last scream of agony before falling still.

“That was horrific,” Luna gasped in shock, “I can't believe you went through that,” she gulped, looking back at me.

“Didn't you go through it as well?” I asked.

“Only partly, I developed most of my nocturnal qualities over time.”

I saw Luna grin, “your new wings are so incredibly comfortable are they not? I can't even remember what my old ones felt like,” she purred.

I stretched my wings out, enjoying how they felt, “they are,'' I confirmed, “so much more comfortable,” I smiled leaning in and kissing her still bloody muzzle, the taste of Ruby’s blood wasn't nearly as sweet as Luna’s but it was still delicious nonetheless.

“What are we going to do?” I asked as I pulled back.

Luna sighed, “well we can't go back to the castle, or in public for that matter,” she pointed out as she felt along one of my new wings with a hoof.

“Unless…”

“We go back to the old train station and,” she paused, “clear it out, before they have a chance to escape, then we can dispose of the remaining guards at the castle that are under their influence, Ill then tell my sister what one of the institutes has been doing behind her back and hopefully be done with this awful mess.”

“There are too many of them at the station,” I said, shaking my head.

“Feather, didn't you notice something when you drank my blood?”

“Beside the pleasure?” I smiled and she grabbed my left foreleg with a smile before sinking her teeth into it.

I reveled in the feeling as she did so, after a moment she released me “now drink mine,” she commanded.

She moved her hoof to my muzzle, and I obediently bit down and drank her wonderful tasting blood. I was just so hungry, and this was finally starting to alleviate it a little bit. After I lifted away, she smiled at me “now look,” she said, directing my attention down to the wound she had made on my foreleg. I watched as the wound she had just made began to heal right before my eyes!

“We are going to be harder to stop than you think,” she smirked, “and besides, I'm an alicorn, what could they possibly do if it came down to it?”

I supposed she had a point, and I was looking forward to a rematch with Kane, this time around I would make sure that he is put in the ground for good.

Realization struck me, “wait, does this mean-” my voice trailed off and her eyes widened as I saw that same realization in her eyes. “I mean, it would make sense, right?” I asked, hoping more than anything that I was right!

Luna sat down hard and smiled as tears started to pool in her eyes, “it means time will never take you from me,” she gasped happily before throwing her hooves around me.

Hearing her say it almost made me burst into tears as I hugged her in return

“It looks like you get to keep your promise to me after all,” she breathed, her voice dripping with relief.

“I'll live forever now...” I murmured.

Before meeting Luna, the weight of what that meant normally would have crushed me, but now all I could feel was happy and relieved. Now I would never have to go through losing Luna, as selfish as it is, I had become terrified of being left to turn to dust, of becoming old and useless, of Luna leaving me behind. I never wanted to leave her, and now I wouldn't have to!

I smiled.

“Now I will never lose you,” she whispered before lifting back and kissing me. She pulled away and we both stood up. “Now, let's go butcher that monster that ever dared to think he could take you away from me,” she growled wickedly.

The mention of murdering Kane yanked my mind back to the four ponies I had killed, their deaths had shaken me when I was back at the train station, but looking back at it now, I didn't feel sorry, Stars I didn't even feel guilty or any remorse for that matter. I knew I should, but for some reason I just couldn't. It's like that emotion was being blocked somehow, but I knew exactly how; the darkness takes away pain. I breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I needed to do was dwell on the horrors already done.

Distracting me from my thoughts, Ruby gasped for air next to us and I saw her now red slitted nocturnal eyes dart around. She felt over where her horn used to be with a hoof and let out a sad sigh.

“Oh good, you're awake, how do you feel?” Luna asked with concern.

Standing up she looked back at her new wings and a small smile crept across her face, “well, I've never been able to fly before, what's it like?” she asked optimistically as she stretched out her new wings, “ok that feels super weird,” she said giving an experimental flap.

“It's unlike anything you’ve ever experienced,” I assured, making her grin.

“This is unlike anything I've ever experienced! I feel..” she took a deep breath, spinning around.

“Like you've been living your whole life trapped inside of a thick fog, and now that fog has finally lifted?” I asked with a smirk.

She nodded.

“I suppose I'm going to have to learn how to do everything from scratch now,” she sighed, “I used my horn for so much,” she murmured wistfully.

It was then that she caught sight of the fresh blood on my hoof and her eyes widened as she trotted over. I knew exactly what was going through her mind, and I offered her my foreleg which she promptly grabbed and pulled to her mouth. Her venom shot threw my arm, it seemed less intense than Luna’s though that could just be because I'm super biased, but I still enjoyed that cold euphoric feeling, nonetheless.

She continued to drink for a while, and I was starting to feel dizzy as I looked back at Luna whose mouth was practically watering while watching us.

I tapped Ruby's shoulder, “ok that's enough.”

a second later she reluctantly pulled back blood dripping from her mouth, and she tilted her head back in an effort to savor every last drop.

“When you said I would have to drink blood, I was under the impression that it was going to be a burden, but this-” her voice trailed off as she giggled in delight, “well I certainly have no regrets, having a horn was convenient but I’d trade it again for this in a heartbeat!”

Luna trotted up to me and I felt her fangs plunge into my neck, “wait” I tried to say, but she continued to drink regardless. It felt good, but between her and Ruby, I was beginning to have a hard time keeping my eyes open! “Please Luna, I feel like I'm about to pass out!”

At that she stopped and turned to kiss me instead, that on top of the blood loss almost made me lose my balance. “Sorry, I guess we are going to need a larger supply of blood than just each other,” she grimaced.

A sadistic look crept across Ruby’s face, “I think we know just the place”

Luna frowned, “the train station isn't that far away from here, I could only carry Feather for less than a couple of minutes before the change started to kick in and I had to land here, no doubt we need to deal with the problem that still remains there, but you also don't know how to fly yet,” Luna pointed out.

Ruby spread out her wings, “ok well then, tell me how I do this,” she asked looking back towards the two of us.

“I don't think-” Luna started to say but I dashed past her to move in front of Ruby excitedly.

“Right, so I suppose you don't need to know how to do anything fancy, you just need to get from point A to B,” I started.

“The angle in which you flap each wing is going to determine direction, and you can use your tail as a kind of stabilizer, do what I do,” I directed as I opened my new wings excited to really try them myself.

“Okay now when you want to get off the ground make sure you jump a little when you flap your wings, it just makes it a little easier,” I paused, “now if you angle both your wings down, you’ll go forward, you aim them up you will go backwards, tilting a wing in one direction and the other in the opposite is how you turn, but try and remember to not overdo it, you can turn fairly easily by just leaning.”

I took a breath.

“To hover, you have to push vertically straight down, also when you’re hovering you have to flap your wings in sync every time you feel yourself start to fall, or you will fall.”

Ruby looked worried, but excited.

“Don't worry, this will all come naturally over time,” I promised, trying to reassure her.

“Ok so to get in the air remember to jump like I said, and tilt your wings slightly down when you push off, like this,” I said as I leapt up into the air.

Luna flew up next to me and we waited for Ruby to join us.

we watched as she did exactly what I showed her and she got airborne, “hey I’m doing it!” she exclaimed. Then a small gust of wind blew by, and she fell crashing to the ground.

“Dammit!” she cursed.

“Ok I think I got it this time,” she huffed, rearing up to try again. getting in the air she was slow and wobbly, but she was flying!

We chuckled “since you’re not used to being high up, we’ll stay low, still, just remember to not look down,” I teased.

“Fret not, once we get moving you can just glide, and it's much easier than trying to hover, believe me,” Luna assured her.

Luna and I flew up behind her to make sure she was ok. Luna had to catch her with her magic a few times when the wind started to pick up, but once we started to pick up speed Ruby leveled out and started gliding with ease.

“See it will just come naturally,” I grinned as I did a loop around her.

“Yup!” she squeaked, her terrified expression betraying her enthusiasm.

I was so focused on trying to help Ruby that I totally forgot to appreciate how good it felt to fly with these new wings, it required so much less effort than with feathers, and I was considerably more agile. Something about them just felt right.

I saw the old train station come into view and all manner of ponies were scattered, running around outside, moving all manner of things that I couldn't make out from up here, thankfully I didn't see any of the mindless ones shuffling about. Though there had to be at least two dozen ponies down there, and that was just outside.

“So how are we going to do this?” I asked Luna.

“We land, and we talk, we need more information, there could be innocent ponies down there, most of them might not even know what is really happening,” she said with a nod.

“But what if they do turn out to all be crazy,” Ruby asked in fear.

Luna frowned, “then don't let any of them get away,” was all she said.

“You really think we can take all of them,” I asked shocked.

“Feather, if it comes down to it, we are going to rip through them like wet paper,” she purred, giving me a sadistic grin.

“I don’t know how I feel about mass murder… even if they do deserve it.” I admitted.

“Would you rather these monsters continue to exist and prey on innocent ponies like Ruby or her partner Sunny?”

I shook my head, “of course not,” I murmured.

“Sometimes the necessary thing to do, isn't always the right thing to do, but that doesn't change the fact that it still needs to be done. Our job is to keep it simple, to not let that notion become corrupt and twisted for our own ends, as Elijah Kane so clearly has.”

“Right,” I nodded, “then let's get this done with.”

“Uhh Feather?” Ruby prompted.

“Yes?”

“How do I land?” she asked, blushing.

Luna rolled her eyes and facehoofed.

“Right, well we’ll just learn that later, for now Luna can catch you with her magic, Right?” I prompted, looking back at Luna who raised an eyebrow.

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes and we glided down.

The two of us slammed down in the middle of the mass of ponies, and Luna caught a rather embarrassed looking Ruby a second later, setting her down.

All of the ponies turned and stared, a few looked terrified, not all were in institute uniforms, but the few who were, all drew out their weapons. One of the bucks took off his hood.

“I watched you die, Elijah killed you!” he shouted, taking a terrified step back.

“Yeah, I tried death, it didn't take,” I smirked.

“Please, as your Princess I plead that you lay down your arms and-”

Luna was cut off by screams of hatred.

The six or so ponies in uniform all stared at us with fiery hatred. But everypony else just looked scared or confused. I started to realize that I recognized some of these ponies! They were from the bonfire party I had seen earlier!

Were they with Elijah? Did they know what was happening here? From the many looks of fear and confusion I didn't think they had a clue...

“Luna, I don't thin-”

My world was suddenly black… I felt my neck snap back from the impact, my ears were ringing as I fell to the ground, my head clutched in thunderous pain!

I didn't hear the shot. But I could feel the thundering sound of Luna’s hooves, and it didn't take me long to smell fresh blood clinging to the cold night air.

I lifted a forehoof to my eye to feel the hole the bullet had left. Everything was quiet aside from the piercing ringing, it all felt so surreal… The smell of blood became increasingly intoxicating until I felt it right at my muzzle. I instinctively reached out and sank my fangs into whatever was bleeding in front of me. The blood tasted bitter, sour. But regardless of the taste I couldn't stop myself as I vigorously drank as fast as I could. Slowly I felt my hearing start to return along with my vision. I screamed as I felt the bullet being pushed from my skull.

I opened my eyes and saw a limp mare in my jaws! I reeled and jumped to my hooves.

“Oh goddesses!”

The world was a chaotic red. My ears rang from gunshots, and screams. I rapidly looked around trying to regain my bearings. I spotted Luna, I watched as faster than lightning she jumped into a crowd of ponies, they were ripped into pieces as viscera splattered everywhere. In a matter of seconds Luna had become like a blender and ponies started to try and run rather than fight her. Though the ponies that tried to run or fly away were promptly blasted into paste by a beam of blue death emitting from her horn.

“So much for talking.” I muttered, still in shock.

I heard Ruby yelp and I turned to realize the two of us were surrounded. Ruby had a spear running through her neck. I watched as she gurgled and choked on her own blood as she struggled to fight off her attacker. I used all my strength and tackled the pony who had stabbed her but instead of knocking him to the ground like I expected, my hooves pushed right through him as he was torn into bloody pieces, the gore splattered my face.

like wet paper…

The smell of blood was intoxicating, I licked some off my lips, and I felt those shadows stir like mad, my hearing became muffled once more. I started to lose all train of thought as my whole body cried out for one thing. I couldn't fight it anymore. I bit into the nearest pony I could, I moved so fast with so much force that I accidentally ripped their head off in the process, I felt a high like no other take hold of me.

Just don’t think about what you're doing Feather, just focus on the blood. I let the high consume me as I just kept ripping my way through pony after pony.

Everything was a blur, my body was running on autopilot. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Ruby had removed the spear from her neck and was doing the same, her red eyes almost appeared to be glowing as a wicked toothy grin was plated on her face. Some tried to run from her but it was futile as she was much faster than any one of them.

Suddenly I felt something sharp pierce my side. I winced in pain, pushing back the pony who had stabbed me. I pulled the sword out of my side with my mouth only to jam it into the lower part of her throat.

I tore up, watching with my new eyes in perfect detail as her entire neck and skull was split open, I then proceeded to dig my hooves into the almost split in half corpse and ripped it the rest of the way apart, the pony whom was about to stab me with a spear stopped in terror and tried to run away, I tackled him and dug my teeth into the back of his neck until I felt bone. He screamed, then with a meaty crunch and little effort, I pulled his spine away from his back with his head still attached to it. I paused and tilted my head back, the base of the skull over my mouth as I let the waterfall of blood fall down onto my tongue.

Instead of simply ripping them apart, I started only using my teeth targeting wherever I could, trying to drink every drop of blood that I could possibly get my hooves on!

Time seemed to pass like a blur, I had one last mare in my grasp and dug my teeth into the side of her neck drinking as fast as I could until her heartbeat came to a slow and sudden stop, and I could no longer get anything out of her.

With a deafening wet thud, the last body fell to the ground.

___

The air was silent, and cold. The high faded and I was left sitting in a pool of blood. I looked around at the mass of corpses and saw Ruby giggling like a mad mare, rolling in a pool of blood as she occasionally put her head to the side to sip some of it up.

I looked up a pile of corpses that Luna was standing on top of. She had her teeth in some dead pony’s neck. I looked down at my own bloody hooves. I knew that this was all wrong, that it should feel wrong, why doesn't this feel wrong!!! I wanted to scream! I wanted to cry! But I couldn't… I just couldn't.

I noticed in horror that we, had killed everyone... we killed the ponies responsible for the horrors Ruby and I witnessed in the train station, but so many innocent ponies… were just gone…

I heard Elijah’s words echo in my mind, ‘unfortunate, but a necessary sacrifice’

I shook my head and screamed, “fuck no! Nothing about this was fucking necessary!” I tried to wipe the blood from my muzzle but all I did was smear more blood from my hooves, “fuck…”

The really fucked up thing is that I felt good, I felt fucking great! I laughed hysterically as I looked around for the nearest corpse that still had some blood left.

I ended going back to the buck whose spine I had ripped out, the rest of his body surprisingly seemed to still have a good amount of blood left.

“You know, why the fuck not!” I yelled and I knelt down to sink my teeth in.

Call me biased for more reasons than one, but I much preferred mare's blood over buck’s, mares just tasted sweeter. And this is something I'm actually thinking about after slaughtering Stars know how many innocent ponies! What the fuck was wrong with me!?

I stopped and backed away feeling nauseous. I could feel the darkness trying to take away the pain. I realized I was fighting it, Goddesses. Why was I fighting it?

“I just… need to give in…” I sighed, “Everything will be better if I just relax and give in.”

I closed my eyes and took a breath. I felt the darkness tighten around me and flood my body with a cold, calming, icy chill. I took a breath and opened my eyes.

“Oh… much better.” I murmured as my gaze returned to fixate on the mass of corpses. I abandoned the body I was at and moved onto the next one, thankfully this one was in fact a mare. While I was feeding on her, I began to notice that everypony tasted slightly different, but the taste of blood, as good as it was, could only differ so much from pony to pony, only Luna’s was substantially different, and hers was much better than any of the blood here.

A long while later and I realized that between the three of us we had probably gone through gallons of blood, so how come none of us were bursting at the seams? I wondered. I guess part of being what we are, meant we processed what we ate at a hyper accelerated rate? or there was some serious magic going on, probably the latter. Whatever the case, it didn't matter because for the first time since being turned into this, I wasn't hungry anymore.

Luna was trotting up to me, if it wasn't for the fact that she was a really tall alicorn with nocturnal eyes, fangs, and a starlit mane, and bat wings. I wouldn't have recognized her as her normally charcoal black coat was stained and matted completely dark red with blood.

Tackling me into the blood soaked grass she pressed her lips to mine and I shared whatever leftover blood was in her mouth as I cleaned her fangs with my tongue. And I felt her do the same to me. After a moment she broke away and rested her head over me.

“Feather?” she started, “is it wrong that I’m looking at piles of bodies and instead of ponies all I can see is food?” she asked morbidly.

“I don't feel any remorse either,” I admitted, “I mean I started too, I almost had a panic attack, but I let the darkness take it all away.”

She looked at me concerned, “I feel the same, it's so surreal, I mean I suppose these ponies deserved it but still,” her voice trailed off, “we are going to need to be careful,” she warned.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that almost all of these ponies were innocent. At least not yet…

“Feather, Princess Luna!” Ruby called, “I found one that's still breathing!” I looked up to see her dragging a terrified young pegasus mare over who looked like she was having multiple panic attacks all at once, “she was hiding in a hollowed-out tree trunk!”

She was the same mare I saw delivering the pastries at the bonfire. She was lilac with a dark purple mane, and orange eyes. She was being dragged through the bloody grass while remaining completely stiff. I assume she’s too terrified to even try to move, and I knew that if she tried to run or fly away Ruby would just rip her apart.

Luna climbed off me and I sat up to look at the shell-shocked mare. Her cutie mark was of a little loaf of sliced bread.

“How many more of you are there?” Luna growled, baring her fangs.

The young mare just yelped and looked away, burying her face into the blood-soaked grass. “Just, please kill me fast!” she cried.

Ruby balked and let go of the sobbing mare, taking a step back, “well my buzz is gone,” she complained.

“Answer the question!” Luna demanded stomping down a hoof.

“They… you already, killed them all!” she whimpered.

Luna looked at Ruby, “go and check the building” Ruby nodded and headed towards the old train station.

“Do you know the name Elijah Kane!” I demanded hoping this mare wasn't innocent, like that would somehow justify what happened here.

“I don't know who that is!” she cried.

“Do you really wish to test our patience?” Luna asked in a low growl and the mare rapidly shook her head.

“I, I just bring baked goods from Lillypool every week… I, I was catering for the party, I just do what I'm told, I really don't know anything!” she stammered in fear before turning and burying her head in her hooves.

“She’s telling the truth,” Luna spoke softly, and I looked up at her

“I know,” I murmured.

I turned back to look at the mare, “what's your name?” I asked, softening my tone.

“why, you're just going to.. to kill me anyways,” she stammered.

“we’re not monsters,” I said prudently.

She glanced up at all of the corpses, “could have fooled me.”

“For one,” Luna began, “we are all very new to this, none of us were in control, had I been, I would have never let things get this messy.”

I sighed, “I'm sorry too, I should have tried harder to stop myself.”

Luna gave me a sympathetic glance before returning her attention to the terrified pegasus, “secondly, most, if not all of these ponies were murderers, or psychopaths. They were insane cultists brainwashed into believing a false truth that caused them to be a threat to everyone.”

“They were peaceful!” she shouted back, “they were just nice town ponies, and you killed them all!” she started sobbing.

Ruby was trotting back with fury on her face, “these monsters killed my best friend Sunny right in front of me, fucking lobotomized him and put a parasite in his brain to control his corpse!” she screamed at the young mare.

“If it wasn't for Feather here, I would have been next,” she spat before turning to Luna.

“Liar!” the lilac mare spat, “you're insane!”

Ruby’s fangs came to bare, and her nocturnal eyes narrowed to thinner than paper. I imagined it was taking everything the gray mare had not to rip the terrified little pegasus apart.

I bit my lip.

I knew Luna could handle it, but the last thing Ruby needed was to know that this mare was telling the truth, that we did murder a bunch of innocent ponies.

“She was telling the truth by the way, and the mines are caved in, the building is empty.” Ruby muttered. “Sorry Feather, no sign of Elijah”

I grimaced, not a good sign.

“How long have you been coming out here to trade with them?” Luna asked sweetly.

The lilac mare looked down at her hooves before responding, her voice shuttering “just for tonight,” she paused, “they were kind!”

“Do ponies shooting at and charging your Princess with intent to kill sound like stable, kind ponies to you?” Ruby accused.

“Princess?” the lilac mare mumbled in confusion.

She stopped cowering and finally looked up at Luna, her eyes glided down from her horn to her wings.

“You're an alicorn.. Your..” her voice trailed off as her eyes widened, “I'm so sorry, I didn't realize, I-”

Luna tilted her head up with a hoof and smiled, “it's alright, you're safe now.

“But why?” the lilac mare asked in forlorn, “why kill all of them!” she cried

“Oh, for ponies sake, Ruby hold her down.”

Ruby did as ordered and held the lilac mare in place as Luna stepped towards her.

“What, what are you doing!” she screamed in terror.

“I'm going to show you the truth, I'm going to show you what Feather here experienced, I'm going to show you the reason why we did what we did,” Luna told her, and she put her horn to the mare’s head.

“Now let me into your mind, I'd rather not turn you into a vegetable by forcing my way in.” she said matter of factly.

The lilac mare gave a terrified nod and I watched as she reluctantly closed her eyes. A few moments later Luna stepped away.

“There, now you know the truth,” Luna nodded firmly.

The mare opened her eyes and looked at all three of us, a war seeming to play out just behind her eyes.

“Ruby let her go,” Luna ordered softly, and she obeyed.

The mare just sat there silently, wrapping herself in her wings and closed her eyes.

“I understand now,” she murmured, “you're not monsters, but it doesn't make this right,” she wept, looking back up at us.

Great now the bread pony thinks all of those ponies were monsters too… I mean I guess they could have been? I didn't really know for sure after all, I was just assuming they were innocent. Maybe they were all in on it, and I'm torturing myself for nothing!

“Well, if you were me, and you had the power to make these ponies suffer, what exactly would you have done differently?” Ruby asked, narrowing her eyes.

The mare looked up at her and her words were lost as she hung her head.

“That's what I thought,” Ruby said dismissively.

Luna must have realized the distress I was in because I felt her wrap a wing around me pulling me close. Slowly I started to calm down.

“Feather breath, look around, we got them all, anypony who might have been innocent either hid like this one, or ran away.”

“I'm pretty sure she's the only survivor,” I murmured...

Luna shook her head, “I know we messed up, but you can't think like that, in the end we were thorough. We did the right thing.”

The right thing!? We didn’t do the right fucking thing we-
“ahh”

I put a forehoof to my head as I felt that tightening feeling in my head again, much greater than before.

She was right, we... we did the right thing.

We did the right thing.

“Are you all right feather?”

I nodded and looked up at her

“Have you ever killed anypony before now?” I asked.

She looked down at me with troubled eyes. “Once as a little filly in self-defense, and again, more than a few times when my sister and I were at war with Sombra the mad king of the Crystal Empire, but... never like this,” she paused, “but what we did here, as unspeakable as it was, it needed to be done,” she murmured with a nod.

“And in the moment, as sick as it was, I admit, I enjoyed every second of it,” she murmured.

“We all did,” I reassured her.

As I continued to look around at the massacre that still lay before me. No amount of reassurance was seeming to help me though. I still felt sick, and I was starting to have a headache.

“Feather, what's wrong?” Luna asked concerned.

“I just feel really sick all of a sudden,” I murmured, hugging myself with my wings

“Here, just relax” I heard Luna coo softly before she leaned towards me. I thought she was going to pull me in for another kiss but instead I saw shadows start to pool out of her mouth.

Understanding, I leaned forward and breathed them in, smiling as I did so.

I felt them flow through my entire body and I let myself get lost in the wonderful feeling. Luna leaned forward even more and gave me a small kiss on the nose before pulling away. No longer feeling sick, all I could feel was good as I leaned up against her and she put a wing back around me.

“What in the sweet Celestial fuck was that!” the lilac mare asked, looking shocked and terrified.

“Would you like to find out?” Luna purred, and the pegasus mare turned and tried to leap into the sky but Ruby grabbed her tail and pulled her back down with a hard thud

“Suit yourself,” Luna scoffed.

“I'm sorry Princess, but you're terrifying, you all are, like something out of a nightmare, what in stars even are all of you exactly?” the lilac mare asked, still shaking.

All three of us exchanged unsure looks, “we don't exactly know,” Ruby admitted, “do we?” she added looking back at Luna who just shrugged.

“You sure about that, cause you all look a lot like vampires to me,” the mare said, taking a step back.

Luna laughed, “admittedly I can see why that might be assumed, but vampires are just an old ponies tale, a legend to scare fillies and colts from staying out after dark.”

“You all have fangs and drink blood,” she said flatly.

“All legends come from somewhere…” Ruby murmured with a shrug.

“I suppose we are vampiric in nature, but that does not make us vampires,” Luna said with a firm nod.

“Uhh what in Equestria is a vampire?” I asked cluelessly.

Ruby turned towards me, “don’t worry about it,” she snickered, “it's just a silly old myth”

“Yes, well this vampire would like to know what a vampire is if indeed that is what we are.”

“We are not vampires,” Luna reiterated with a little hoof stomp.

Now reacquiring her more serious demeanor, “We are heading back to mine and my sister’s castle. You are welcome to come and stay there for the night, or day, before you return home, it's either that or a really long flight,” she stated matter of factly.

“Promise not to eat me?” the Lilac mare asked, her humor betraying her obvious terror.

The three of us all nodded.

The lilac mare Shakely brought herself to her hooves, “ok,” she sighed, “I'll go with you, my name is Nyx by the way.””

Author's Note

This one was a doozy to edit, apologies if I missed anything as far a punctuation and grammar go but I was trying to get this out before the weekend was over.