//------------------------------// // 52 The end of one thing, is the beginning of something else // Story: Blood Curse Boutique // by Rarity Belle //------------------------------// Darkness, nothing else than complete and utter nothingness could have been seen for the unicorn after she regained her consciousness. The purple maned, ivory coated mare had no idea to the place that she possibly could have entered. Yet the strange thing was that it happened after she saw the familiar face back in her old bedroom. Rarity couldn't even remember what happened and then there still was the never ending darkness. A darkness that was not the night nor the shadow. It frightened her deeper than anything as it made her fill her lungs with air not tasted in ages. It made her return to times unspoken of. But then, among the darkness that she found herself in, there was a source of light that could be witnessed. Something that appeared to be shining through the dark. Not clear but definitely twinkling in the distance. The unicorn allowed a deep groan to leave her body before she tried to move over towards the mysterious light. She had not even the slightest of clue from that what she would expect to see once she reached it. If she would ever reach it to begin with. For the darkness doesn't give its secrets away that easily and the mare knew that just all too well. But for what was about to happen, nopony could have seen it coming. Rarity moved her slender body closer to the light. Yet the distance never seemed to lower itself. At the same didn’t it widen either. It was on a fixed point ahead of her and the mare just couldn't understand what was going on. That was until the secret was revealed to her in a rather unusual fashion for her. The eyes slowly got revealed as the lids opened up from them. Confused and frightened, the mare had found herself in yet another room. Though it wasn’t the room in which she had met the figure that blocked out the sunlight. The room she found herself in was old, castle-like even. The unicorn of grace found herself in a posterbed with giant blankets and a white pillow, and right before her was another secret revealed. The mysterious light she saw, was in fact the candle that stood on a small table on the opposing side of the bed. “Where in the name of Celestia do I happen to be this time?” she questioned herself. She allowed herself to look even further around the room. She came quick to the realization that there was nothing to be discovered. There was nothing else in the room outside of the table with the candle. The window that was blocked off by the curtain, two sets of doors on either side and probably the most interesting of the bunch, a cabinet or wardrobe. Yet none of those things could possibly help her in order to see where she happened to be. Or could they? The unicorn got the bright idea all of the sudden to leave the bed as a whole. After that did she wanted to do some closer inspection upon her location. “Let me see here,” she mumbled to herself as she pushed the blankets off and set her hooves on the cold, wooden floor. In any other pony they would have created shocks and shivers. Since Rarity was happened to be undead, she didn't feel a single thing of it. Yet it was the texture that seemed to be recognized by her. It was something difficult to tell for certain, yet she was able to. “Oh no. Everything but there. Please let this Canterlot, please, please, please, I beg of you,” spoke Rarity herself. With a gulp did she made her steps forward and towards the wardrobe-ish looking cabinet. She had no idea just what to expect within it but if it was the location she thought it was, it could be terrible. With fear for her own life did the unicorn dare to call upon her magic in order to open up the wooden door. While the soft screeches of the hinges did their turn in the dead silent room, it were the eyes that fell on something. Something that made her gasp for breath. It even caused one of her forelegs to cover her mouth. The mare appeared  like she had seen one of her worst fears, a ghost of some kind. Her eyes shot all over the insides. ~~~~                 Though in reality had her eyes caught a dress that was maroon red of coloring and had a matching hat with it. If she looked a bit closer, she could even spot a set of gloves for her forelegs. Yet the design of the dress wasn't any type she had ever done for she would know that. That particular dress came from times older and probably even more forgotten as the gears of time went by. “Impossible that that... no,” she spoke in a quiet tone. She shook her head and closed the door again with her magic. “That can’t be a true original, from her.” Despite her curiosity that had grown stronger towards the subject, had Rarity just to set herself off of it and focus on the task that laid ahead of her. The one she originally had set out do. Her eyes tore themselves away from the wardrobe and they started to switch between the doors of the room. The both of them were engraved in a marvelous pattern within the oaken wood. But the carvings were the same on both door and thus a bit useless for her and her quest. “Not to mention the few dozen guards standing behind each of them to count me in. Or better said, to take me out,” said Rarity herself before her eyes fell on the window. The curtain covered window would be the only option for her to reveal the true place she ended up with. With a calm pace did she walked up to the deep blue, golden edged curtains and opened them with fear for her life. Rarity had not the slightest of clues just what could be behind it. The sun shone upon it for all she knew. With the fear of her own life crawling through her body as a whole, Rarity pushed open the curtains even further. Yet just before she did her action, something deep within her yelled at her. She didn’t listen and just yanked the thing open to reveal the sights. Her eyes fell upon a normal, hexagon glassed window but they were blinded by a powerful shine. Rarity closed her eyes for a moment and hissed darkly as her wings uncurled themselves faster than light. Mere seconds later she dared to open up on her of eyes again and look straight at the source of the light. Only to make yet another discovery that wouldn’t have been pleasant. “The moon... I’m looking at the moon!” Rarity almost yelled. She had figured it out. But her joy was only short lived though. Because when her eyes went down, they caught the structure she didn't had the desire to see. A structure which she began to hate even, yet everything always brought her back to that location. “One has to be bloody kidding me..!” ~~~~                 In the middle of the night, back in the house that stood just outside of Ponyville, had the loving parents been through another day of unsettling emotions about the loss of their daughter. All three remaining family members were down from it, if not devastated. But they had to continue on with their lives. The time to grief was there for certain, but they all just wanted that the little unicorn and the big sister would return to them. So they could be reunited as the family they were and always thought to be. It was a simple and humble wish most could have gotten behind. The purple maned, pink coated unicorn mare opened her eyes in the middle of the night once again. She had been suffering another delusional dream that was everything but comfortable for her mind. With her throat being as dry as a dessert, she just needed something to drink before she could even go back to sleep. Pearl managed to drag her body out of bed. She removed the strands of mane out of her eyes in order to see the world around her. In her nightie she wandered in silence past the desk of Magnum. She turned her attention a little bit towards the window. The curtain that covered the glass was not all the way closed and she looked into the darkness that was the Equestrian night. Something that was both amazing yet feared by many, even though she didn't truly understood just how. With the faint moonlight that shone down, it almost seemed like the world around her was a fairy tale. Though that part was considerably a piece of her mind still being half asleep. A fact she rather kept that way for when she would return to bed. The unicorn mare left the bedroom in silence. Then she would have made her way downstairs, towards the kitchen. Yet in the darkness of the house it was truly terribly to watch anything happen. Thus after she closed the door almost all of the way did the mare went ahead and allowed her horn to shine very lightly in the magical cyan blue aura to have something to help her see among the dark. But when she passed the living room, she meant to saw something in the corner of her right eye. Something that sat in a chair with the coat of her husband and the mane of herself. “Rary?” she spoke up while her faith was already restoring itself. She wanted to sigh in relief and just embrace her oldest daughter within her hooves. She turned herself around to witness the situation as it happened to be. Yet what she saw, was nothing but a trick which was played up by her mind and Pearl just went along. Her eyes dropped towards the ground and all of the faith that had been building itself up in her body and mind was just gone. It disappeared like snow before the sun. Pearl continued her way to the kitchen as she mumbled the words towards herself. “A child should bury the parent, not the other way around...” She took a small glass towards her and filled it with water before it just got downed all the way. Faster than a student could drink a pint of beer had Pearl managed to drink up her water. With a small clung on the kitchen counter was the glass set back on it and the unicorn mare turned herself back around to return to her bed and continue on with her sleep. Something she was desperately in the need of and truly could use before there would be any more illusions of her deceased daughter running around. ~~~~                 When the mare stood back in the hallway that was running through the whole second floor. She couldn't help it but to go to the room Rarity always resided in. With her hooves that brought her forward, did the sadness only grew in her. She had a truly difficult time keeping herself together. Her hoof raised itself up towards the door. It got just placed against the wood while she allowed herself to be delved within the memories of her part, of Rarity’s past. Countless moments of true happiness and delight came up in her as she just smiled at all of them. It was spoken many times that their daughters where the little princesses of the earth, and she found it more than true. For no other daughter had so much life, compassion and diversity then Rarity and Sweetie in her eyes. A deep sigh left through her nose as she knew the times would be over, the times of joy were gone and replaced with a grim reality that was the truth. Nevertheless, as long as Pearl had her memories of her oldest daughter and her youngest one to cuddle, she felt like she could take on the entire universe. Yet she couldn't help it but to let go a single tear before her hoof removed itself from the door. “Goodbye, my sweet daughter,” she spoke in a sad and soft tone, then she give a sniffle. Almost as if it was done against her will she turned herself around. The mare had returned into the grand bedroom was her horn still lightly charged up. Pearl knew her husband was a deep sleeper no matter the situation and didn't even care about the light. All he did was to give a little snore after the door fell back into the lock and she was back. Careful steps were taken towards the bed before her eyes fell on something that seemed to be out of context. Something in the room wasn't supposed to be there at all. Her eyes had fallen on an illuminated book that laid down on the desk of her husband. It was considered to be a miracle that the two hadn't spotted it during the day. Or Magnum had seen it but thought it was Pearl’s, which wasn't the case. Curious to just what the book might be containing, the unicorn mare had pulled the chair back in silence and assumed her place in it. With the help of her magic being increased just a little bit, she pushed herself behind the desk. With her being comfortable within the chair did she took the book in her hooves and opened it to read it. The very first thing that she took note of was the fact that it was burned for the most part. “Salvage..?” she questioned herself while her magical aura acted as a little reading light. Pearl turned a couple of pages until she was by a part that was still intact. From the writing that was done with the quill, there was only one pony she knew that had such a writing style. But as she read more and more were the facts positive that what she held in her hooves was the secret diary of her daughter. Entry after entry got read by the motherly eyes of Pearl, who had a greater battle with every possible second to fight her tears off. All of the entries just spoke her mind up about situations that happened either at home, the boutique, the family, the news, nothing was left unturned by the mare of grace. Much to the surprise of her mother. “Rary, you magnificent mare that you are,” spoke Pearl softly after a single chuckle had left her. Her eyes shot over to the bed, only to see Magnum still vast asleep. ~~~~                 She read further through the diary while the night went on. But then she came to the part where it all happened, the part to which she was turned vampiric. All of the entries got a lot darker in tone and sometimes they even sickened her. Yet she had read the facts of her daughter. A daughter that was turned into something nearly unspeakable off. All that time ago when Sweetie made the claims, she happened to be nothing else but right. Neither Pearl nor Magnum wanted to believe her for reasons of their own. Regret was the first feeling that originated within her body. The second feeling that came was anger towards herself and the third being an odd acceptance. Pearl knew she had been wrong, but there was nothing to be done against except allowing it to rest. She wasn't in the mood for all the extra hassle that it would create if she confronted Sweetie once again with the facts. It was a bad idea, especially with the times as they were. Pearl held the key to that what her oldest daughter had become and it had ruined her image for her. Where Magnum had seen her in the final moments of her life, Pearl did held the evidence of the last year in her hooves. It was just like somepony added salt to an already open wound for her. Yet the facts were as they were and she knew she couldn't change them. What she could do though, was making sure that the secret she carried actually remained a secret so that neither her husband nor her youngest daughter knew that truly happened to Rarity herself. Under a deep sigh she stood up from the desk with the book in her hooves. Her forelegs never touched the ground again. She stood bipedal on the ground and walked over to the bed. The secret diary itself got slid in the gap between the mattress and the wooden head end and would remain hidden there for time to come. At least until she got a better spot of placing it. And then she allowed her body to be dropped on the bed. Her horn completely discharged itself and Pearl pulled the blankets over her while simply having the desire to sleep. ~~~~                 But to every night must come an end and this one was no other exception upon that rule whatsoever. While the moon lowered itself with an unusual calm behind the hills, the sun came and did its turn over the eastern horizon. To shine down upon the land. The skies turned from their black and dark blue coloring into a much more pleasant red one mixed with a hint of orange in between. The clouds that hung in the skies were something that broke the pattern by appearing pinkish of color as the light traveled through them. An ordinary day some could have called it, and must would. The rays of the sun teased the nose of the little Sweetie Belle. Whose nose twitched ever so lightly before she let out an adorable sneeze. A sneeze that caused her to wake up from her slumber a little more abrupt then she liked. After her head had fallen back into the pillow were her green rimmed eyes revealed themselves to the world. What followed was the blinking motion being repeated a couple times. There was a yawn that left her mouth afterwards. In her eyes it was still too early to do anything. But when the filly snuggled her head back into the pillow, there was something rather unusual that she could feel against her ear. Something that she thought to have lost since the raging fires. Something that was held so dear to her that nopony else may knew about it whatsoever. With a soft ‘huh’ that left her mouth, Sweetie turned her head in such a manner that she could see what rubbed against her ear. And the very moment the half burned plushy got seen in her eyes, there were tears of joy within them. She took the stuffed animal in both of her forelegs and cuddled it with the same amount of love as her older sister always cuddled her. In her eyes had the upcoming day just gotten perfect and she knew it. For many more minutes would she sit and lay in her bed and just snuggle and cuddle her beloved possession without any actual thought of where it could possibly came from. Sweetie didn't care about that in the least bit, she got the one thing that she truly desired to have out of the boutique. For that stuffed animal of Starswirl the Bearded held so much memories of the little unicorn. Memories that were also attached to her sister. And in her book, that was all that she needed to truly know about it. ~~~~                 After the passage of time had the sun traveled further up the skies in order to deliver the day that was starting. Pearl herself was the first in the family that woke up properly and did her daily routine in order to refresh her body and mind. While she stood in the bathroom, she was raised on her hindlegs and used her forelegs as supports on the washbasin. As she was applying the makeup to herself was it Magnum who entered and gained a deep blush over his face as he saw his wife like that. “Hehe, sorry honey,” he spoke up while already retreating. “It’s alright love, I’m done anyway,” the mare replied before she applied the last dots on her face. Then she smiled over to him like the morning sun. The mare let her body lower itself and the magic discharge before she would walk up to him. Once their faces were matching up perfect with one another, their lips came closer and closer. The two lovebirds looked one another deep into the eyes and before they knew it, the kiss had erupted. It was short ‘good morning’ kiss as Pearl was the one who broke it first. Though she did continue by nuzzling his nose. “I will prepare breakfast today and then wake up Sweetie when the toast is being made,” she spoke in a whisper. “Sounds like a plan to me in my ears,” the stallion replied with a smile. He nuzzled her in return and then continued to do his routine. The unicorn mare passed her husband and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. There she would prepare the heavy breakfast for the three of them. Coffee and tea were being made up, bread and siege were being put on the table. Everything was there almost instantly, with the exception of those who had to eat it. Pearl charged up her horn a bit further more to let the magical toaster do its work and she only had one last job to do. The waking up of her youngest daughter. ~~~~   While Sweetie kept cuddling the stuffed animal, she could hear the commotion on the hallway of course as her parents woke up. But she gave it little to no attention whatsoever. That was of course, until there was the signature knock on the door of her bedroom. “Come in,” Sweetie called out happily. Under the soft screeches of the hinges got the door opened. The loving mother entered the room of the little filly with a smile on her face. “Good morning to you as well, Sweetie. You seem rather, excited and happy today,” she spoke up in a soft manner while she approached the bed. But while she walked closer, the plushy was unavoidably caught in her cyan rimmed eyes. It only managed to have raised the questions within her mind. Yet she sat down on the bed of Sweetie. The filly crawled over to her mother in order to give her a big and tight hug of love. The mare embraced the hug and allowed her hoof to stroke through the mane of the little filly in a calm manner. “That is because I am mom, I got my plushy of Starswirl back,” said Sweetie with a giggle in her tone. She then presented the thing to her mother in its full glory. It was a discovery that struck the mare with the greatest of surprises. The ideas of her daughter roaming around the rubble was something that was terrifying for her as a mother. “Say Sweetie, do you know where you got it from, or even from who?” she asked in a careful manner while the filly brought it back to her chest. The ears of Sweetie dropped down towards her head before she let out a deep sigh. “No mom, I do not know how it got here. All I know is that, I woke up this morning and it just was, there. I don’t know who, what, or even when,” she spoke up in all her honesty. It was a miracle if the truth had to be told that much like the journal, the stuffed animal also had been in her room for a mere two days and it was never noticed. The best explanation given for the fact was that their sadness blinded them all or gave each of the family members a tunnel vision and with that, they had to do it. Another mystery added to a pile of others that was it in the mind of Pearl. She knew of course about the journal of Rarity, she was the only one that knew. While she lost herself deeper into the thoughts that were racing through her mind, her ear perked up from a thoughtful moan that came from below. That came from Sweetie to be exact. “What are you thinking about sweetheart?” Pearl asked. Her tone was one that only a mother could give to her daughter. ~~~~                 The young Sweetie Belle looked between the plushy and her mother multiple times before the green rimmed eyes kept themselves upon the mare. “Well, maybe it isn't our place to question where it came from, instead we should be happy that it is there. It, it sounds stupid mom, but I don’t want to know where my plushy came from, as long as I have it with me, she will be with me as well,” she said. Those words opened the eyes of Pearl further and wider than anypony could have ever done for her at the time. She was a bit in shock of them. Though the most ironic part of them was that she could understand her daughter´s words. It must have been a tick that ran in the family because everypony happened to be a light philosopher in life. “I, I understand the decision you have made Sweetie and as such, I shall not ask the questions about it. Though, may I see it for a moment?” “Thanks mom, and of course,” replied Sweetie before she gave the plushy to her mother with a smile. It looked so beaten and yet at the same time it managed to hold together. Pearl took the stuffed animal over in her magic and she watched over the thing from all the angles possible. “He, is a bit charred, don’t you agree?” she said while her eyes fell on Sweetie again. The filly could only nod her head towards the made statement and then tilted her head to one side. She was not fully getting the point to where her mother would wanted to go to, but in her mind there were some ideas being made. “Would like me to restore him as he was or-” Almost in an instant she was cut off by a loud yell from Sweetie. “No! I want him to stay like this mom. N-Nothing changed, just, like, this.” The eyes of her youngest daughter looked up into hers and the twinkle gave it away that she meant the spoken words from the depths of her heart. Pearl couldn't say no to a decision made like that. Not to mention the fact that Sweetie looked at her with those big, twinkling eyes. Under a soft sigh she gave the stuffed animal back to the filly, who returned to cuddling it. “Then so it shall be said and done sweetie, you coming for breakfast?” “Yes I am, just give me a minute,” she replied with a smile. After the words were spoken stood Pearl up again and nodded towards her. In silence she would leave Sweetie alone again until she would join the rest of the family downstairs by the breakfast. There were a lot of uncertainties in life and the three family members knew that all too well, but with what was in store of the day was everything but pleasant. Both Sweetie and Magnum would be countered by the words of the passed away daughter by both children at school and coworkers at work. But where Magnum had pretty much nothing to fear, Sweetie Belle had all reason. ~~~~                 The filly was eating her breakfast there was the thoughts about two other fillies with who she had trouble since day one of school, would stop at nothing to make her life sour. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had no respect for anything and -pony with the exception of themselves. That was something that did not only piss her off but also enraged the little unicorn filly. Luckily for the two of them was the fact that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo could contain her as a rampaging Sweetie Belle would be the last thing anypony wanted to see. The two of them departed from the house at the same time but not before pearl gave a kiss to the both of them with a smile. “Good luck to you two today,” she spoke up before she would give one last nuzzle to the two. “Thanks honey,” said Magnum before he would set his hat on his head and would be the first to leave the home. “Thanks mom,” spoke Sweetie with her signature crack and then left as well. The filly left the comforts that were her home did her eyes look up to the open skies and allowed a sigh to leave through her nose as her thoughts brought her to faraway places. Pearl kept standing within the doorway to see if the earth pony and pegasus filly would keep their promises to guide the unicorn filly to school as they had said it the day before. She didn't had to wait for long before the two made their presence known loud and clearly. Pearl waved over to the two and they did wave back before they would continue on with their journey to school. The mother closed the door after she had returned into the building and sighed deeply for the cleaning task ahead of her. ~~~~                 Both back in time and in the location where Rarity had woken up from her slumber, was the unicorn looking over the fear she had hoped to never see again. Ever since their last meeting she had hoped to never return to the wretched place. Just because she didn't had the desire to do so. And then, she could find herself once more on the dreaded location for whatever reason. Her eyes continued to look out of the window. They went over the many towers of dark stone that were rising up and into the air. Yet none of them - at least not the ones she could see - came as high as hers. There was no way of indicating if her tower went up even more. “Heh, feels a bit like the princess being locked up in the tower. All that is missing is a dragon and the tale is complete,” mumbled Rarity to herself. But soon afterward she placed a hoof before her mouth and kept looking. She was looking for a scaled creature that either hid among the clouds of the night or on the soil below. The eyes kept gazing as if their lives depended from it. Which to a certain degree they did. For minutes she kept looking down to the ground below and skies above but there was nothing to be discovered on either side. What was to be found, was her confirmation on the location. Rarity knew where she was as there was no misinterpretation or anything the like. “Shiva’s, castle...” Out of all the possible places that existed within the entire universe they were allowed to live, she had to end up in the dreaded castle of a pony who claimed to be the oldest vampony alive. It was not something that Rarity loved but she had to deal with it. And whatever it was for which she was called upon, better had to be worth her while in her eyes. Shelter being the number one priority as her boutique was no more. “Guess it is time to visit her once again,” she muttered to herself before she would turn herself around. The curtain fell back against the window and the clatter of her hooves against the wood gave an uncomfortable relaxing feeling. The mare walked over to the door which was the closest to the poster bed and with the help of her magic she opened it. Yet she feared that what she could possibly find behind it. There could be a pile of decaying bodies behind it for all she knew. Though if that were to be the reality of the situation, the millions of flies would have given it away. Those buggers were nowhere to be found. “Just one way to find out...” And then she just yanked the door open like it was nothing. But the mare kept her eyes closed for anything that would be within it that she didn't want to see. With the door wide open and nothing pulling her in and nothing that came out of it, Rarity ever so gently opened her left eye in order to witness that what truly laid behind the door. In her eyes she caught the wonderful bathroom in which she had spent some ‘quality time’ on one of her earlier trips to the castle. Almost everything seemed to be the same as when she left it the first time around and simply couldn't believe it what she caught in her eye. An eye that was soon enough followed by her right one. “Same room? Just dumped in the cabinet to make it look different?” she thought aloud to herself before she shook her head a couple times. “I need some clarity upon this all. Without a doubt she means it good, but there is a catch somewhere beneath the grass. What’s next, me becoming her personal assassin or something the like?” Rarity allowed a ‘mph’ to leave through her nose at the thought that was going through her mind. “Don’t be ridiculous. How can a pony of fashion be guided to become a hitmare?” she added to her words. The idea was crazy and even sounded stupid. But from time to time did those horrible ideas just might work out in the favor of somepony unwanted. And Rarity could have found herself into the fire instead of the frying pan. From bad to worse, couldn't have been more true than in her situation. ~~~~                 Rarity closed the bathroom door again and turned herself over into the direction of the other door. The door that would be leading to the staircase according to her mind. With caution did she approached it and opened it with a hoof and great care. The only exception being that that time was that she kept her eyes clearly open for anything that was not supposed to be there. Within her eyes she caught nothing except the hallway that would have ended and spiral down in the staircase. She didn’t caught any stairs that went up to even higher levels in her eyes. The unicorn needed answers on her questions. She would get them whatever way possible, whenever possible. With a confident look in her eyes did she took a step forward and allowed them to glance over the hall one last time. Their red tint was haunting, fitting for the atmosphere of the place. Than it was just a near march towards the staircase. A staircase that was to be lit by countless candles all the way down. “One just has to love stairs...” mumbled Rarity to herself before she started the descend. Step after step she came closer to the ground. Her ears kept themselves perked for anything that was not supposed to be there. Seconds seemed like minutes to her. Yet as to be expected in the castle, it was just deserted as ever. Not even the mice could be heard crawling around and in between the walls. On a graveyard there would be more sound. But by one of the windows was Rarity’s attention caught due to the moon itself and she stopped her descend just for a little bit of time. Her red eyes went over the rock that stood mighty in the skies. She couldn't help it but to picture the infamous mare in the moon. The sign that was the fact that Nightmare Moon still locked up within the borders of the rock. It had been there since the day she was born, up to the day she was crowned to be the very element of generosity. It haunted her to a certain extent. The very battle with the mare of nightmarish proportions still lingered inside of her. While it was true that Twilight did most of the work, there still was a lot that could have gone wrong even with the six of them being present. If one of the ponies wasn't the element they represented, Equestria would have looked a whole lot different and she knew that all too well. A shudder went through her body before she dispatched the thoughts. After mere minutes of watching the moon had the vampiric mare lost the track of time once again. She had to shake herself out of it before the descend would continue. It was tougher than that she had thought given the silence. Rarity was used to be working within it all of the time, so the mare had no idea what was driving her so crazy within the particular one. ~~~~                 Yet she managed to do it. With the passage of time had she returned to the ground floor of the castle. Rarity could have found herself within the hallway of the dark stone castle. Her eyes stared at the oaken door that was closed and formed a massive barrier between her and her target. But Rarity couldn't resist to look at the black gate that protected the castle. The iron gate that hung so threatening in the opening was just waiting to drop itself. Possibly to skewer an unsuspecting pony downside up. When the entrance of the castle fell in her eyes, was the vampiric unicorn shocked to say the least. For the black ironed gate had fallen down to the ground. Escape of the place would be nearly impossible unless she had to break some windows in order to do so. “What is she planning to do with me? Or any other soul trapped in here?” mumbled Rarity to herself. Her shadow raged in the light that was created by the torches of the hallway. She shook her head from side to side before she turned her body back around to see the door. The door that would be leading up to the throne room. With confident steps she went up to it. With every step she took did the aura around her horn brighter. All the way up to the point that the oaken doors would open themselves for her just before she touched them. Timing was at its finest. With the doors open thanks to her own magic and the questioning of Shiva’s reasoning could begin for the mare. The only problem happened to be that the room was deserted yet it seemed like somepony had been there not all too long ago. When she looked into the room there was a table that stood before the very throne. A table with a maroon red cloth over it and on top of that stood a crown. A crown that had been decayed over time itself, but the crescent moon was still able to be seen in the eyes of the unicorn mare. “What are we going to get now..?” Rarity whispered while she continued to walk forward. She couldn't resists not to look again at the many, glass stained windows in the room. They always told their story to her in one way or the other. Stories of fearless adventurers and brave souls who did horrible things to live among the day dwellers. Many she would pass by as she continued to walk towards the table. ~~~~                 When she did reach the table, Rarity just stood there in calm pose. She just watched over the crown. Yet the more she looked over it, the more she realized just what it was. Her eyes widened themselves at the made revelation and she did a scared step backward. “The crown, of, of princess Platinum!? But, that is impossible! She wasn't a vampony according to all of the lore, she was a pony of royalty!” the frightened mare spoke up towards the object. It was doubting her believes on the country of old. Would there have been another curveball that came her way? Her words were caught up by the force behind it all. For upon the throne she made her reappearance as per usual. The swirling shadows that were the entity of Shiva revealed themselves to Rarity once again. The soul piercing red rims just gazed at her without any expression. The silence and even the tension that had fallen between the two was almost ready to be cut no matter what. Then she spoke her words. The answers she desired were going to be get, Rarity hoped. “It was only worn by the unicorn princess, lady Rarity. After her unfortunate passing away, it was left out of the family heritage and the finder could keep it. Which was me.” “All nice and such, but why am I here again!? I never wanted to return to here and you know that more than well! So tell me, oh mighty queen of the vamponies, what is my purpose here?” Rarity replied with a snarl in her voice. She just wasn't pleased with the manner that the queen had treated her and she wanted answers on her question. “Hmhmhmhm, my dear, lady Rarity. There is a bit of backstory to it all, in popular believes, it is said that a vampony lives forever. While it is true that our race outlives the rest of pony races, not even we are immortal. Not truly, our bodies do age but at a sl-” “Get on with it!” Rarity interrupted. A lecture of old history was the last thing she wanted. Shiva gave her a deep growl in return before the words came back. “As you do so desire, milady. This fog is the last form I could hold myself in, but now ever that grip is loosening up on me. There is only thing I could possibly do in my power to get this all back to the right end. And that is crowning the new queen.” Rarity was just baffled by the words. She had expected a lot of words coming from her without a doubt but the ones she spoke were among the ones she absolutely didn't. Her jaw fell open as her wings uncurled themselves in the shock. “A-And who is that going to be, if I may ask? If I dare ask, actually,” she managed to bring out with a slight tremble in her voice. She feared the answer that would be spoken against her. The pieces were falling on their spot for her, but she didn’t wanted to admit it to herself. “The next queen, would be nopony else then a mare of the vampiric order itself.” All of the sudden she stopped her tone and fixed her red rims on Rarity. For the first time ever when the two were together, there were no more shadows that swirled before the eyes. They were given the all clear and could just gaze upon the ivory coated unicorn. Who on her turn returned the stare and thought that she saw a dark blue coat for a moment. But there was no time to think or consider the sight, for the voice of the shadows spoke up once again. “You.” “M-Me!? A-A queen? Why would you want me to be a queen so badly?” the unicorn asked up as she heard the reply of Shiva. She couldn't believe it at all, it all seemed to be too nice to be true in her eyes. “Because, lady Rarity, after you have lived for as long as I have, you do want your rest. You do want to sleep for eternity. I have witnessed so many thing in life, it is time for me to quit it before it blows even further. Do you accept the offer, or not?” Shiva replied towards Rarity with a deep seriousness in her tone.