//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: A History of Long Nights and Blood 
// by Balancer 
//------------------------------//

Proofreader's Note: TacoTown here. th' reason this chapter is so late
is entirely my fault. i was th' one who procrastinated, took overlong
on it, spent a week away from a conputer, yadda yadda. i take full
responsibility for lateness and any remaining errors, and if anyone
blames Balancer i'm blacklisting them (sorry, but i take this stuff
seriously). and i'll be checking. now enjoy th' chapter.


Chapter 6

(So Far)


Twilight focused on a patch of ground a short distance from the
Vampony and teleported in a flash of light. As she appeared, her group
of friends whirled around to confront her, as Vincenza simply watched
her calmly. Suddenly, Rainbow began to speed towards her, as if to
tackle her.

“Nopony attacks my friends…Twilight?” She backpedaled in the air in
confusion, her wings frozen in shock as she fell onto the ground. The
rest of the group were all shocked by their friend.

*battle music*

Vincenza grabbed the sword in her side, and without any visible effort
or pain, pulled it out with her magic. The wound gushed blood before
rapidly closing up in mere moments, the skin healing and growing new
hair, leaving no scar tissue. She tossed the blade over to Twilight,
who easily caught it in her magic. With a smirk, she stepped back and
rose up onto her rear hooves, her horn briefly lighting, black smoke
forming and condensed into two blades on her forehooves. Each was
straight, no curves or other decorative pieces, and at three quarters
the length of a pony they dragged, almost imperceptibly, on the
ground. While there was a handle like on griffon swords, running
through the handle were three rings, which fit on her forehooves
loosely. With six clicking noises, they tightened and she rose one at
Twilight, who had taken advantage of the momentary distraction to draw
her other blade, rising up on her forelegs and activating the bindings
on her swords.

 Twilight rushed Vincenza, sprinting forward and slashing with her
right blade, and raised her left as if to stab. Vincenza stepped into
her charge, turning the slash aside as she spun on her hooves like a
dancer. Twilight’s stab missing its mark, Vincenza brought her left
elbow into the purple unicorn’s face as she completed her spin.

Twilight stumbled backwards as blood sprayed from her broken snout.
Vincenza had her back to her as she spoke. “Do you want to know why
you should not have picked a fight with me Twilight?”

Twilight simply spat the blood from her mouth in response as she
healed her broken snout with her magic.

Vincenza looked over her shoulder as she slowly turned around, a
psyco-esque smile on her face.

“Because I don’t show mercy.” As she completed her turn,
Twilight charged again, only this time, she slashed forward with an
undercut from her left. Vincenza quick stepped backwards, parrying the
blow. Twilight stepped forward with a lunge at Vincenza’s midriff, and
was batted aside as the vampony quickly stepped out of range. As
Twilight regained her balance, Vincenza quickly stepped inside her
reach and thrust her leg forward like she was kicking down a door.

There was a cracking sound as her hoof connected with Twilight’s
chest, the unicorn being propelled backwards, tumbling head over tail as she was flung like ragdoll into the wall of a house behind her. She
quickly rose from the ground, and with a shake of her head charged the
vampony once more. She attempted a feint overhead before quickly
spinning on her rear hooves into a sweep at Vincenza’s knees. But she
was blocked as her foe intercepted the blades with a parry and swiftly
delivered a kick to her face that sent her sprawling.

Twilight got on to her side and braced herself to stand as she healed
herself, the pain in her ribs easing.

“Nice healing spell.” A voice said from above her. Twilight had enough
time to turn her head before a kick impacted with her ribs, sending
her into a collision with a nearby wall. She got up again; her horn
aglow as she rapidly healed the damage her ribs had sustained, glaring
at the vampony looking at her across the street. Vincenza was standing
there, watching her like a lion watches a wounded gazelle. Just
bidding it’s time, not out of fear but enjoyment. Twilight charged her
again, this time firing a volley of magic bullets as she closed the
distance.

Vincenza lit her horn in response; small white shields popping up in
front of each bullet, sending each one to the side. As Vincenza dodged
Twilight’s first swing, Twilight turned sharply, thrusting her blade
at Vincenza, who quickly parried it with a flick of her hoof. Twilight
then launched into a volley of slashes and magic bullets, but Vincenza
blocked every slash and bullet with ease. No matter how hard Twilight
tried, no matter the feints she attempted, she could not break through
the vampony’s defense.

Vincenza smiled at Twilight’s efforts, and in one movement dropped to
the ground, sweeping Twilight’s legs out from under her. As she fell
to the ground, Vincenza sprang upwards and jumped up, spinning into a
kick that sent the unicorn flying. As she hit the ground, her left
shoulder made a sickening crack as the foreleg dislocated. She came to
stop in front of her friends, who quickly rushed to her aid.

“Twilight! Stop this please! Why are you fighting?” Applejack asked as
she helped her friend stand. Twilight ignored her as she shrugged off
her friend’s hooves and rose up onto her hindlegs. She placed her
right hoof on her left shoulder, wary of the blade attached to it as
she pushed hard, clicking the shoulder back into place with a slight
wince. Dropping into a fighting stance, she approached the vampony
cautiously.

“Exercising caution now are we?” Vincenza taunted. Twilight didn’t
reply, and simply raised her guard. Seeing this, Vincenza prepared to
rush her, Twilight bracing for impact as she blurred and vanished.
Vincenza reappeared on her left, and before the unicorn could respond,
delivered a vicious roundhouse to her torso. The force of the blow
expelled the air from her lungs and shattered nearly every rib as it
connected, sending her flying across the street, directly into the
wall of the house behind her. Twilight staggered up, downright
laboring for breath as she healed her wounds with magic at a much
slower rate than before.

Vincenza slowly walked towards the unicorn, every step balanced and
poised like a dancer. “Stubborn little thing aren’t you?” She remarked
as Twilight readied for another charge. “Though not nearly as bright
as I thought.” She said with a grin.

Twilight smirked at her and lit her horn, but this time her body
started crackling with purple lightning, and she speed forward in a
flash. The world slowed around Vincenza as she was forced to kick her
speed into a higher gear to doge Twilight’s blade. She bent backwards
as the blade soared over her head where her neck had been located
moments ago. She watched as the blade crackled with purple energy,
leaving traces in the air.

[‘Things just got interesting.’] She thought to herself.

Twilight spun, stabbing down. Vincenza threw her legs out from under
herself, and spun to the left, forcing the stab to miss her. She
continued the roll on the ground, but quickly sprung to her feet a
short distance away. Vincenza took a fighting stance and charged
Twilight, purple sparks arcing into the air as the blades met.
Vincenza pressed her attack, swinging her blades at the unicorn in
front of her. Twilight parried the blows, although each blow contained
enough force to drive her back. Vincenza suddenly stepped back,
spinning clockwise as she swung her left blade, the right held close
to her body as a guard.

Twilight saw her opportunity.

She stepped forward and ducked under the arc of the swing, pushing
with her back hooves to push herself up in an uppercut swing with her
right blade. Vincenza blocked the swing, causing it to go up into the
air. Twilight used her momentum to thrust her other blade out in a
stab, but Vincenza deftly side stepped the stab. Twilight spun low on
her hooves and brought her failed uppercut around in a swing, Vincenza
blocking it and stabbing down at the unicorn, Twilight spun in the
opposite direction using both her blades to intercept the stab.

With both of her blades blocking the stab, Vincenza unleashed a
powerful kick, too fast for Twilight to block. The kick connected
underneath Twilight’s chin and sent her flying backwards headfirst
towards a wall. But before she hit, she rotated in the air and hit the
wall back hooves first. She hit it like she was getting into a crouch,
and all the glass on that side of the street shattered as a shock wave
of force passed over them. A moment later she snapped her head up, and
launched herself at the vampony with both blades swinging. 

Vincenza blocked them both, pushing Twilight backwards with her blades.
Twilight landed, and crouching low she flung herself at the white
unicorn. Snarling, she unleashed a flurry of strikes, swinging hard
and fast, her form showing years of practice and a gracefulness that
belied natural skill, the energy traces left by her blades dazzling
her group of friends. Although, against the elder vampony she looked
like a flailing fool.

Vincenza moved like a dancer, each movement of her body nothing if not
precise and economical. She weaved around the swings, deftly parried
stabs, and countered feints. Not once did she follow up a counter or
take advantage of the openings in the defense. Instead, she moved
around the unicorn, staying just within striking range and just far
enough away that Twilight had to constantly move forward to strike
with any force. All the time with a slightly condescending smirk on
her face, taunting her opponent.

After a short while Twilight let out a frustrated cry and rushed
forward, scissoring her blades at her opponent’s torso. Vincenza,
however, raised her blades and deftly caught them both. Twilight
strained as she tried to break past the block. Purple energy cascaded
along her body as she pushed with all her strength.

Vincenza leaned in close. “That all you’ve got Twilight?”

Twilight glared at the unicorn. “Not even half.” She quickly retorted,
a smirk playing onto her features. Her horn flashed momentarily and
the purple energy surrounding her jumped to Vincenza, and with a
colossal boom and flash of purple light the energy connected.

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Inside the Library, a reptilian eye slowly opened.

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The air was filled with the stench of burning hair and charred flesh
as Vincenza shot backwards; moments before she caused yet another wall
in the square major harm, her blades disappeared in puffs of black
smoke. As she hit, the occupants rushed outside to the battle scene.
Twilight didn’t waste a moment and charged her horn. Within seconds,
the charge was bigger than when she calmed the Ursa Minor, the ground
cracking from the large concentration of energy. When it had reached
the desired amount, Twilight unleashed the spell, a massive beam of
purple energy rocketing out.

The beam raced towards the building, but before it struck it suddenly
shot directly upwards. All eyes tracked it as it rocketed up into the
air, where it split into smaller beams. These beams arced down and
showered onto the building that Vincenza had crashed into. The plaster
walls charred and smoldered as the purple bolts rained unto them. The
thatch roof ignited, the dry vegetation creating an inferno. The
building collapsed under the shower of magic, small chips of stone
shrapnel being flung in all directions only to be stopped by a purple
shield. As the shower finished and the dust and ash settled the extent
of damage to the building was revealed. The entire building had been
demolished.

The group looked at it with open mouths as Twilight turned her back on
it and began to walk away, breathing heavily. Octavia was stunned, as
she had just witnessed her partner and friend engage in the most
violent thing she had ever witnessed, and she had lost.
Everything in her went numb as reality faded to grey. “Nopony coulda
survived that.” Applejack mumbled to no one in particular.

A/N An here ends part one feel free to rage in the comments below