//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten: Vampires Don't Sparkle // Story: The Element of Willpower // by Redwolf15 //------------------------------// Chapter Ten Vampires Don't Sparkle There's darkness all around me. I don't feel anything. I wonder Am I dead? Then I see a light, a warm, soothing, yet very familiar light. "Get up." I hear a voice. "Who said that?" I ask, my voice is an echo. "If you want to save your friends, then you must get up." It was coming from the light. "Who are you?" I ask it. "I am a piece of you, a piece of everyone. I am one of the key ingredients that makes a creature who they are. Only you are able to control me. And only I can help you defeat Discord." "What do you know about Discord? Do you know why he's free and loose?" "You must get up. You must defeat Discord. Nosferatu is only a stepping stone in your quest. He is a puppet, a puppet being controled by the same one who brought you here. "Wait, what do you mean he's a puppet?" "You must get up." The voice begins to get fade. "Get up. Get up." "Get up!" Sharla yells. "Eh? What happened? Where are we?" I wake up with a startle. "Easy there, easy." Shining Armor helps me sit up. "How are you feeling?" "Not to good." I rub my face. "How long was I out? And where are we?" "As to where we are, I'd say the castle. How long you were out, hard to tell. We were both unconscious until we woke up here." "Where's Shantze? Did they get him?" Sharla pushes Shining Armor aside. "No, don't worry." I slowly stand up. "He and Light Flicker are safe. I sent Flex to protect them while they get help." "Help? What kind of help?" "The trustworthy kind." I look around. We're in a dark cage with a single torch outside. There are three stone walls around us and metal bars. "Shining Armor, can you get us out of this?" I ask. He shakes his head. "Sorry, but these stones are enchanted, it's not letting me use my magic." I instinctly reach for my sword. Only for my hand to pass by my side. Of course they took it. I sit against a wall, waiting for something to happen. Sharla sits down beside me. "We heard you mumbling something in your sleep. Were you dreaming?" I rub the back of my neck. "I don't know what it was. It seemed too real to be a dream. But I don't think it was real." "What was it?" "I don't know. Something about Discord and Nosferatu being a puppet." "What do you mean puppet?" Asks Shining Armor. "That's what I said.There's obviously something bigger going on here. We need to get answers." "But how?" I think carefully. "He said that he'll turn us into his minions. So that means that we'll see him again. Maybe then we can get our answers." "Great!" Shining Armor says with false glee. "So how do we stop him from turning us?" "Eh, I don't know." The cage doors opened up and eight ponies are standing there. They notion us to follow them. We have to comply. The castle is basically just what you would expect it to be. Old, creepy, stone bricks with cobwebs, dust everywhere. Nothing unusual. We come up to two giant wooden doors. They are the only things not dirty. As the doors swing open we walk into a dimly lit room. The place is clean with a burning fire place, red curtains covering windows, beautiful rugs and a big comfy chair that Nosferatu is sitting in. He's facing away from us, reading a book. Why am I not surprised about any of this? "Ah, you're all awake." He doesn't look at us. "That's good." "Why did you bring us here?" Asks Shining Armor. "Well, I thought that after living in solitude for all these years, you'd think that I'd get used to the quiet and loneliness. Unfortunately, ever since hearing all the screams and cries of these ponies, I've wanted a conversation. Sadly none of these thralls can keep a full conversation going. Right?" One of the ponies moans. "See? Useless." "So, what? You want to talk before killing us?" I ask "Exactly! So tell me, what brings you all together? A unicorn, two griffons, a phoenix, and, surprisingly, a human." I look around. We were in a nice room, cornered by undead ponies, and our biggest threat wanted to have a nice chat with us. I notice something at the fire place. Our weapons. I notice something about the curatins. Why were they closed? Because it was morning, that's why! It was hard to to tell but I could see light from the sides and birds were chirping. He was protecting himself from his greatest enemy. "Jesse," Shinig Armor whispers to me. "I can feel my magic returning. This room must not be enchanted like the cage. Stall him long enough for enough of my magic to return." "Right, when I give the signal, use it." I whisper back. "So tell me Nosferatu, I've had a question in my mind ever since I met your brother Balto. Who is Mother exactly? I asked him, but he didn't know. But you, on the other hand, know more quite a bit more than he did." "Sorry, but I never knew who she trully was. I just know her species because I overheard her taking to Princess Celstia. I didn't give it much thought really." "... And he even mentioned something about a monster that took her away." He stops reading the book and stands up. He looks different than from before. He no longer looks bat like, now he looks like a regular human. Brown hair, human nose and ears, no fangs. He's even smaller. Just like a real person. "He's an old enemy. The Princesses fought him centuries ago. He came, we fought, he won. We went our separt ways after that. A few days ago he came to me. He offered me a proposition, I spread his message around, and he returns Mother." "What? That's why you're doing this? Killing innocent ponies just so you can have one person back?" You can guess I'm pretty furious. He stays silent, looking at the fire. "... Yes. And I would kill even more if it I had to." "Is this what Mother would trully want? I spoke to Balto and from what he told me, she was a loving and caring woman. Would she trully want this? No! She would have wanted you and your other siblings helping ponies. And now is their darkest of days. If you help us you can make her proud." He grows silent and angry. He knows I'm right, but he doesn't want to face the truth. "I've had enough. Bring him over. He's first." I'm being pushed towards him. "Not yet. Armor! The curtains." Shining Armor uses his magic and the curtains fly open, brightening the room. Nosferatu jumps into the shadow. I elbow both ponies in their faces and run for our weapons. Sharla and Shining Armor free themselves. I unsheathe it and throw Sharla's axe, killing the closest pony by her. I run up to Nosferatu, sword burning, and swing at him. He has limited space. But he's still too fast. "You're just prolonging the inevitable." He says as he dodges between slices. He catches my sword while it's still on fire and backhands me. I go flying across the room and my sword's fire extinguishes. I glance to see how Shining Armor and Sharla are doing. Shining Armor is doing everything to keep them back while Sharla is swinging wildly. They can't hold the ponies back forever. "I can't believe you actually thought that that would work." He steps into the sunlight. His face starts steaming, it's burning up. He's not the kind of vampire that dies on first contact apperantly. I stand back up. That backhand really hurt. I run at him again. Just to be knocked down. And again. And again. "You know, you should really try a new tactic. I don't think this one is working out for you. Not to mention I'm getting bored." He goes back into the shade. His skin is burnt, he seems like he has hit his limit in the sun. I wipe blood off my mouth and try catching my breath. "Shut up. I'm going to beat you. And that's final." I rush him another time. Only to go down again. "Jesse!" Shining Armor is down and one of Sharla's wings is broken. She's trying to do everything to keep the turned ponies away from them. "Hmph. Maybe I'll start by turning the pony. Then the Griffon. And finally you." He disregards me and starts walking up to them. "How's that sound?" I couldn't stand by and let him do that. I run at him and go sailing across the room and crash into the wall. For the third time since I came here, I could feel something burning inside me. I pick myself up and once more. You guessed it. I run at him once again, but this time I now it will work. He looks behind him and gets tired of my constant rushing. He brings his hand back, nails outstretched, and swings to cut my throat open. But his hand passes through air. "What?" "Behind you." He turns around and sees me. I punch him in the gut. Don't you just love the sound of pain? I bring my leg back and knee him in his face and he begins bleeding from his nose. I grab the scruff of his jacket and pull his coat off. "Aw. Dammit! How were you able to do that?" He grabs his face trying to stop the blood flow. "And give me my coat back!" "You know, this is one damn fine coat. It would be a shame to get blood on it." I throw it on the chair. He looks at me with a hint of glee in his eyes. "I am actaully starting to enjoy this." Then I notice something on his chest, a mark over his heart. The same one I saw at Flora's, the coat was covering it before. "How did you get that mark?" I ask him. "Oh this?" He points to it. "I told you, the creature that took Mother from me made a propsition. When I agreed he marked me, I suppose that means I'm now serving him." The mark was the very same on that note. It was a 'D' a backwards D. 'He is a puppet, a puppet being controled by the same one who brought you here.' The words echoed through my head. "Who was it?" I grow more serious. Nosferatu grins an evil smile. "Discord." Son of a Bitch! I should have figured that one out. You idiot! While I was lost in my thoughts cursing myself, Nosferatu takes his chance and rushes me. He swings his claws in every direction. And I begin dodging him. I don't understand what's going on. Before, I couldn't even keep up with him. Now I'm matching him in speed, but I don't feel faster. I glimpse over to see how Sharla and Shining Armor are doing. That's what was happening, Sharla was swining her axe at an incredibly slow speed. The reason why I don't feel faster is because everything else is going slower. No, no that's not it, I just don't percieve myself going faster, I percieve everything else going slower. But she's in a tight fix. She's not going to be able to kill them all in time. I kick Nosferatu into the sunlight and I light my sword on fire again. I swing it at the turned ponies and unleash a huge fire slash, burning them all to a crisp. The room begins to get darker. I look behind me, the night has come. Nosferatu is standing behind what little sunlight was left. "You... You have just signed you're death wish." He begins changing, fangs start to grow, two leathery wings explode out of his back, hair disappears, and he gets bigger. And I am about to be in a world of hurt. "You've killed my slaves. Now you'll have to replace them." He uses his wings to propel himself forward. I brace myself as he we crash into each other. My left hand interlocks with his right, I stab his other arm to stop him from gouging out my eyes. We seem to be evenly matched. He pushes the blade farther into his arm and bites down on my shoulder. "GOD DAMMIT!" I twist the blade and swing it up, severing half his tricept. "GRAHH!" He lets go of me, pulling a chunk of flesh out of my shoulder. "Do you know how much blood I'll have to drink to fix this?" "Stop comlaining, at least you can have it fixed, this is permanent." I point to the gash in my shoulder, it's spewing blood. "Crap!" The blood stops. "Eh?" "Over hear." I turn around and see a weak Shining Armor waving at me. "I blocked the blood flow with a bit of magic. But I haven't stopped it, so be careful." "Thanks." I switch my sword to my left hand. It bursts into fire. I stick with the original strategy: rush him. I swing my sword left, right, up, down. Any direstion and every direction. He returns my steel with his claws. All we suffer are small burns and shallow cuts. We match each other in speed. Neither of us can get a good strike seeing as though the other dodges it. We break away from each other exhausted. My back is to a window. The fire inside me is burning. "Alright kid, listen up. It's obvious that we're evenly matched, so how about this. I go my way and you go yours, and we never see each other again. If we keep going on like this we'll probably kill each other. How about that?" Nosferatu asks. "Heh." A fleeting smile comes across my face. "That's funny, your brother Balto said something similar to me. I guess your Mother tought you all to be many things. Except brave. You don't want to die so you take the easy way out. If I let you go then I'm just letting you kill more innocent ponies. I won't stand aside and let you do that. I may have no connection to this place, but I won't let you reek havoc." "Your choice." He sails towards me and knocks my sword out of my hand. He tackles me through the window. We end up on a cliff. The castle is high up on small mountain. Underneath it is the forest. Really? I think to myself as I see the old castle. It's like I'm in some cheesy story and the writer is getting lazy with ideas. Nosferatu lifts me up by my neck and extends me over the cliff. I try loosening his grip to breath. "This is what happens to heroes, boy. You live your life thinking that you can do anything, you can save everyone. But in reality, you're nothing, you're weak, and there will always be someone better than you." He opens his mouth wide, ready to suck me dry. I get an odd feeling in the back of my mind, a feeling that tells me to reach up. I don't ignore it and reach. A knife lands in my hand. I don't wonder where it came from, and I don't care. I just stab him in his heart. He stops in shock. He never saw this one coming. "You're right Nosferatu, there will always be someone better than you. Sometimes they don't show it, sometimes they need a motivation. But losing isn't what happens to heroes. They fall, they cry, they bleed. But they always get back up. They always do the right thing. That's what I do. I get back up!" I twist the blade. The last bit of his life disappears. Shining Armor and Sharla appear by the window. Just in time to watch Nosferatu go limp. just in time to watch me go over the edge. I'm falling. I can see the tree's moving closer towards me, and soon I'll be seeing the ground. I'm about to die, aren't I? I notice that the knife is still in my hand. "Hey, wait a minute, this is my knife." Suddenly my leg is jerked so hard that it felt like it was about to be torn off. I look down and see that I'm moving parallel to the trees "Well isn't this a familiar sight." I look up. "Flora! Am I glad to see you!" For the second time in my life, this harpy saved me. "Hey, where are the kids? And Flex?" "Hm? You mean the bird, pony, and griffon? I ate them." I stare at her in horror. "Hahahahahaha! Just kidding, they're fine. But if they didn't say they knew you I probably would have eaten them." "Uh, that's great. Hey could you take us to that castle over there. I don't know about you, but I kind of prefer my feet on ground." I see two figures flyin towards us. "Flex! It was you who gave me that heads up wasn't it?" "Mirorr!" That's a definate yes. Flex flie up beside us with Shantze and Light Flicker behind, Light Flicker was being carried by Shantze. "We saw you in trouble so so I threw it!" Shantze said. "Heh, thanks buddy." Flora flies through the same wind I flew out of. "You're alive!" I see Sharla inside as Shining Armor leans on her for support. "Hey, who's she?" asks Shining Armor. "A friend." I get up on my feet after Flora sets me down. "You know quite a bit of odd creatures." "Heh, then I suppose that includes you." Pain shoots through me as I grip my missing shoulder. I lose feeling in my legs and collapse. I look at Shining Armor and Sharla, they seem to be in the same boat as me. "Hey Flex, think you can give us a patch-up?" Flex starts glowing and I can feel my pain disappear. Blood starts receding into our bodies, Sharla's wing begins to straight out, Shining Armor no longer needs support to keep himself up, and the flesh around my shoulder starts mending, becoming whole. I test out my shoulder, moving it in all directions. "Thank you Flex. And thanks for the save Flora." I say. "Looks like that's twice now you've saved me from falling to my death." "Yeah well, I didn't have anything better to do." She says. "Besides, you're lucky I was this far. I'm looking to find a new spot to nest, otherwise I would have never been able to save you in time. There's been a lot of weird stuff going on at the mountains and forest." "What do you mean?" "I don't know. One day everything's fine, then next day half the mountains are frozen and the other half is spewing lava. And they're are polka dots everywhere. And the Forest? Don't get me started on that mess. I'm telling you, things have gotten crazy back home." "It must be Discord's work." Shining Armor said. "Discord? Where have I heard that name before?" Flora starts checking her memory, trying to remember Discord. "Discord. He's a draconquuis. Fancies himself a god. He's literally the spirit of chaos and disharmony." I say as a light goes on in her head. "Oh yeah, wasn't he ruler of Equestria until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna turned him to stone or something? What's he got to do with this?" "When I met Shining Armor here a while back, he told me Discord escaped and has defeated his greatest threat and took the throne in Canterlot. He's too strong for anyone to try and stop him. Ever since he escaped, his 'influence,' as Shining Armor puts it is slowly spreading across the land, creating chaos and havoc everywhere. We're on a mission to stop this." "Then count me in. If someone is screwing with my territory, then I want in." She says. The others look at me, wondering if it is a wise choice. I nod my head reassuring them that it's okay. "Alright then, next stop Diamond Dog Caves." Shining Armor says. Everyone begins walking out of the room while I stay behind. I walk back to the chair Nosferatu was sitting in and grab his coat. I look at it, admiring how the light shines off the leather. "Now this here..." I throw the coat over my shoulders and put my arms through the sleeves. It's a good fit. "Is one damn fine coat."