Embracing the Darkness

by BlueAzura

Chapter 7

There was a bright light. Followed by…

*Thump*

*Crack*

“OW!”

Twilight winced in pain, as she landed headfirst into something hard. After a waiting few a minutes to stop the spinning sensation in her head, the unicorn pulled up into a sitting position. She briefly shook her head. “Oww… that’s going to leave a mark…” Reaching up and rubbing the tender spot on her head, she winced. “Yeah, I’m definitely going to feel that in the morning.” Realizing how she ended up hurt in the first place, Twilight leaped to her hooves. ‘That reminds me… where am I?’ Looking down, the unicorn found herself standing on top of a now broken table. ‘Huh… I guess that explains why it hurt.’ The next thing she noticed was the smell of old paper and when she ignited her horn, Twilight found herself standing inside the familiar Ponyville Library. She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m home…”

Twilight’s happy moment didn’t last long, as she heard a heavy accent emanating from the stairs. “Alright! Whoever’s down there… give yourselves up! I got a pair of apple bucking legs and I ain't afraid to use them!” The voice became louder, as the owner quickly cantered down the steps. “If you’re a thief, get ready to feel what my apple trees feel every…” Her words as well as the orange mare herself skidded to a halt, as she spotted a familiar purple unicorn. Applejack’s mouth hung open, as she stammered out, “T-T-Twilight?!”

“Applejack!” cried Twilight, running up and giving the work horse a tight hug. “It really isn’t a dream after all!”

Applejack lifted a shaking hoof and after giving the unicorn a quick pat on the head, spoke in a shaking voice. “I-I don’t believe my eyes… Twilight is it really you?” The earth pony pulled away and held Twilight at hooves length. “When we didn’t get any replies from the letters we sent, we thought something bad happened to you, sugarcube!”

Twilight shook her head quickly. “I’ve been trying to send letters since the day I arrived at the castle, but Nightmare Moon’s goons won’t allow anything in or out.”

The earth pony frowned. “Well that’s a mighty shame…” Her frown quickly turned upside down. “But, that’s okay! You’re finally back to where you belong, sugarcube.” Applejack finally released the unicorn. “That reminds me, how did you end up here in the first place? I didn’t hear the door open.”

Twilight smiled gently. “Nightmare Moon teleported me here.” She winced at the memory. “Rather suddenly too…” She then remembered. “But wait, how did you end up in the library, Applejack?”

The work horse smiled. “Oh, that’s an easy one. The girls and I all agreed to take turns at keeping watch over the place while you’re gone.” Applejack lowered her head a little. “Spike sometimes comes back here to get some shut eye, but most of the time he just sleeps at our places.” She looked away. “Poor fella… said that it just hurts too much to stay here for too long.”

Twilight felt as if a sharp knife went through her heart and spoke in a low voice. “Spike…”

After a moment of silence, the orange mare’s face lightens. “But now that you’re back, I’m sure he’ll be feeling better lickety split!”

Twilight was about to agree with her friend but was interrupted, when a rusty metallic smell assaulted her nose. The metallic smell of… blood.

*Thump-thump*

Twilight gasped, quickly looking around for the source. She soon found it in the form of a small cut on the side of her friend’s shoulder. ‘Oh, no…’

*Thump-thump*

Hearing her friend gasp, Applejack tilted her head slightly. “You alright there, sugarcube?”

*Thump-thump*

Twilight tried to drown out the noise from her chest. “A-a-a-a-Applejack y-y-you’re b-b-b-b-bleeding!” She pointed with a hoof, visibly shaking. ‘Oh, mighty creators, not now please. not. NOW!’

*Thump-thump*

“What?” The earth pony turned and saw the cut. “Well shoot… I guess I cut myself when I was running down here.” She turned and began walking towards the library’s kitchen. “It’s no big deal, Twi, just slap on a quick band-aid and I’ll be all set!”

*Thump-thump*

Unnoticed by her friend, Twilight fell to her knees. ‘No… please no! I can’t… I won’t! I…I…’

*Thump-thump* *Thump-thump* *Thump-thump* *Thump-thump*

‘no…no… No… NO… NOOOOOOOO!’ Her prayers fell to deaf ears, as Twilight’s world turned red.

Applejack suddenly felt a pair of hooves wrap around her. Turning, she saw the purple unicorn leaning into her. “Twi? What’s wrong, sugarcube?”The unicorn didn’t respond, as she leaned in closer. “Twilight?” The earth pony shivered slightly, when she felt the warm breath of her friend on her neck. “Okay, Twi, you’re sort-of scaring me now…” The purple unicorn continued to ignore her, as she slowly pulled her lips back and presented her fangs to the earth pony. “Now what in tarnation are you…” She couldn’t finish, as she let out a gasp of pain.

Twilight kept her eyes open, as she stared into earth pony’s emerald ones. She saw her friend’s face twisting in pain and fear. Her ears perked up when Applejack spoke. “S-stop…”

With a great heave, Applejack threw the vampony off her while yelling. “Get off me!”

Twilight felt herself crashing into a bookcase. The sudden jolt caused the books to fall in a great heap around her. She could already feel the thirst retreating, but she didn’t care about that. ‘It’s over… I’m a true monster now…’ The unicorn felt tears running down her face. ‘and I hurt one of my best friends…I’m so sorry.’

Applejack stood stock still; pressing a hoof to her neck, where she could still feel two small indents in her skin. She spoke in a low voice. “So… this was the secret then, Twilight?”

Twilight pulled her face from her hooves, tears still streaming down her face. “W-what?”

The orange pony didn’t move. “I had my suspicions… but, I never thought it’ll be something like this.”

The unicorn stared in bewilderment. “W-what are you saying, Applejack?”

The apple farmer gave Twilight a hard look. “I knew you were hiding something back at the hospital.” Before letting the unicorn speak, she continued. “When you made such a big deal on the blood and that neck of yours… I just knew something was off…” Her face turned into a scowl.

Twilight flinched at the earth pony. ‘She’s angry at me… which is understandable.’ She gave her eyes a small wipe. ‘But, it doesn’t explain why she’s acting like this. If anything, she should be running away from me…’ She braced herself and muttered. “I know you’re angry because I hurt you and if… if you don’t to be friends anymore… I understand.”

With her eyes narrowing, Applejack slowly approached the shivering unicorn. “Oh, I’m angry alright.” She brought herself face to face with the vampony. “I’m angry you didn’t say anything before you went ahead and made a meal out of me.” The apple farmer pulled away. “Then maybe I could’ve helped you sooner!”

Twilight blinked. “Huh?”

The orange mare gave a small smile. “Twilight, I’m your friend and if my friends are having a tough time with something…” She placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “I’ll always be there to help.”

Twilight’s mouth fell open. “You mean you’re only mad because I didn’t tell you that I was going to feast on your blood?”

Applejack flinched slightly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Well… I would’ve been a lot more understanding if you really needed it…” Her eyes went narrow. “You only did it because you really needed the blood right?”

Twilight grimly nodded. “I’ve been holding the hunger back for about a week now and it only gotten worse over time.”

The earth pony’s eyes widen. “A whole week? Well shoot, it’s no wonder you couldn’t help yourself.”

The unicorn threw her hooves in front of herself in a surprised manner. “Whoa, whoa, whoa… Are you telling me that you know exactly what I am and how I would react?”

Applejack gave an awkward smile. “Well… to tell you the truth, I pretty much know about everything that is to do with vamponies.” Seeing the shocked expression on her friend's face, she averted her eyes and muttered in a low voice. “I’m…well… sort-of a… vampony hunter…”

Twilight threw herself away from the earth pony. “What?!” She slammed her eyes closed. ‘Oh, horseapples! She’s going to tell me that she’s going to kill me now. I just know it!’ She braced herself for the incoming attack… It never came. Instead, the unicorn slowly pried her eyes open to see the gentle smile still on her friend’s face. “Are… are you going to get it over with?”

Seeing the look on the purple mare’s face, Applejack started laughing. “Ha ha ha ha! Aww… sugarcube, you don’t have to worry about whether you’re going to live or not.” She gave another gentle smile. “I’m not going to hurt you, Twi.”

The unicorn let out a sigh she didn’t know she was holding. “That’s a relief. I thought hunters of any kind will just kill their targets no matter what.”

Applejack’s face went dark. “Well… during my training, I was taught that all vamponies were blood thirsty killing machines… that will stop at nothing to end all of ponykind.” Her face brightened. “But, after seeing you getting along with our friends so well… I don’t really think that’s going to happen anytime soon. You’re a good pony and I trust you.”

Twilight smiled gently. “Thanks.” After a few seconds of awkward silence, she asked, “How long were you a vampony hunter anyways?”

The earth pony grimaced. “Since the day I turned seven… It was more of a side job anyways. I never in all my years fought with any vamponies or even heard anything close to them.” She waved a hoof absentmindedly. “So over the years I thought vamponies was just a bunch of hooey and just a waste of time at the farm.” She gave a weak chuckle. “Until now that is.”

Twilight’s eyes widen at the information. “But, wait… what about Apple Bloom? Is she…?”

Applejack shook her head. “No… I was supposed to teach her, but I thought teaching how to run the barn was a better idea.” Her eyes narrowed a little bit. “That reminds me, how are we going to break it to the others?” She pressed a hoof to her chest. “I mean I know what you are and what you have to go through, but I don’t think the others will take too kindly on this.”

The unicorn’s eyes turned to stare at the floor. “Yeah… I have a feeling Fluttershy won’t even come near me when she finds out.” She shuddered at the thought of seeing her friend’s reactions after finding out. ‘Get away from me! Monster! Freak!’

Seeing the depressed look on Twilight’s face, Applejack reached up and patted the unicorn’s shoulder. “Now don’t fret, sugarcube, I’m sure they’ll understand if we explain.”

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah, all I have to do is tell them that I turned into a monster and I will need to drink the blood of other ponies in order to survive… easy…”

The farm pony sighed. “Yeah… I see your point…” Applejack cleared her throat. “Now I don’t really like doing this…” She sighed again. “But, we could hold off tell them until you feel comfortable telling them yourself.” The work horse smiled. “I’ll try to cover for you if things get a little close.”

The unicorn stared in surprise. “You’ll really do that for me?”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “What part of you being my friend don’t you understand?”

“Oh…” The two stared at each other before bursting out in laughter. After they were able to breathe again, they closed into a tight hug. “Thank you, Applejack. I don’t know what I’ll do without you and the others there to help me.”

They broke apart and Applejack said, “Think nothing of it, sugarcube.” She turned and began walking up the stairs. “Now I’m going to wash my neck and get some shut-eye. All this talking made me really tired and we’re going to need the energy in the morning when we tell the others you’re back.”

Twilight winced, as she remembered the injury she caused. “I’m really sorry about that, Applejack.”

The earth pony looked back over her shoulder. “Don’t sweat it, Twi… Just make sure you give a warning if you’re going to do something like that again.”

The purple unicorn nodded. “Fair enough…” She tilted her head. “Wait… again?”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “What, you think you just need to drink one time and be set for life?” She shook her head. “I don’t really want to put the others on the 'dinner plate' so I’ll just have to tough it out.” The earth pony stamped a hoof. “I’m also a vampony hunter and I can handle it and keep you in check.”

Twilight gasped. “I can’t possibly do that to you!” The thought of turning one of her friends into a blood bank, sickened her.

Applejack gave a warm smile. “Now don’t worry about me, sugarcube. Worry about how you’re going to find a way to tell the others.”

The pair entered the bedroom and while she was setting up the spare bed, Twilight asked, “If we weren’t friends and I did that to you… what would you do?”

The earth pony slipped into the covers of the bed, yawning. “Why, I would have to kill you then.” She rested her head against the pillow. “No blood sucking varmint is going get away with that, not when I’m still kicking.”

Twilight gulped, regretting ever asking that question. “Oh… okay then.”

The room entered at state of silence, as the heavy storm still raged on outside.

The atmosphere in the castle has almost gone a complete one-eighty, as the castle staff milled about and cleaned with an uplifted attitude. Nightmare Moon leaned into her new throne, as she took a deep breath. Watching the staff cleaning, she couldn’t but smile. ‘Well, well, well… It seems they finally understand who the ruler of this place is now.’ Some of the staff took notice of their queen and waved their hooves in greeting. Nightmare waved a hoof in response. ‘I don’t know why, but I finally feel as if they love me now.’ The alicorn tilted her head in confusion. ‘Which is strange… I don’t think I have done anything different from what I normally do.’ She gave another warm smile. ‘That’s it! It’s because I removed that dreadful unicorn from the castle! Once she was gone, everypony started to love me.’ Nightmare Moon’s ears perked up when the large double doors to the hall opened.

Valor slowly made his way towards the alicorn, bowing once he reached the bottom of the stairs. “My Queen, I see you are in a good mood in this wonderful night.”

Nightmare Moon gave a quick nod. “Yes, captain, it seems that this place is finally warming up to their leader.” She then noticed a hooded pony entering. “Ah, you have returned, leader of the Night Shadows?”

Standing beside the navy blue Pegasus, the hooded pony bowed. “Of course, anything the queen wishes it shall be received.”

The alicorn leaned forward. “I have already heard from Valor that you have a total of twenty ponies at hoof, correct?”

Standing up, the hooded pony nodded. “That is correct, Dark Queen. They are all ready to serve you in any way possible.”

Nightmare Moon nodded. “Very good, you may go now.” She turned to the captain. “Have them stationed inside the barracks, Valor.”

The Pegasus gave a quick salute. “At once, my Queen.” He turned and left, followed closely by the hooded pony.

The two walked in complete silence, as they made their way towards the castle gates. The rain has finally let up and stars could be seen, twinkling in the night sky. Once they were clear of the front gates and into the empty road, the hooded pony spoke. “Do we carry out our plan now, Valor?”

The captain shook his head. “Not yet, we still need to convince Nightmare Moon that you and the others are safe to keep near.”

The hooded pony groaned. “Why do we have to wait? I’m sure she’ll never see it coming and we are sick of waiting now.”

The navy blue Pegasus sighed. “I know, brother, but we just have to endure it a little while longer.” He lifted his head towards the heavens. “We’ll finally be freed from this once and for all.”

Twilight let out a loud gasp, clapping a hoof to her chest. She leaned into the back of the bed, breathing in and out in quick succession. ‘Oh, what a horrible dream…’ She shivered, as she remembered an image of herself standing on a pile of dead bodies. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the dead ponies were the drained corpses of her friends. The unicorn visibly turned green when she saw herself drinking into neck of the apple farmer. She watched in horror, as the vampony dropped the limp Applejack and faced her with blood red eyes. The monster gave a toothy grin. ‘Oh, don’t worry about you’re pretty little neck, my dear… You’re next!’ The last thing she was able to see before waking up was the scarlet eyes…

Twilight leaped out of the bed and while running towards her bedroom mirror, she whispered. “Please don’t be red. Please don’t be red. Please don’t be red…” When she reached the mirror, Twilight was expecting to see two sparkling purple eyes. But as she leaned in, her heart stopped. The unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be seen. In fact, she could only see the room, reflecting back at her. Hearing a small cough to her side, she turned to see Applejack walking up to her. “Applejack, what happened?”

The farm pony raised an eyebrow. “Did you already forget what you are now, sugarcube?”

Twilight gulped. “I didn’t expect the 'no-reflecting' thing to be actually true…” Turning back, she placed a hoof on the mirror trying with all her might to see herself. When the mirror failed to grant her wish, her face fell. “I guess I’ll just have to accept it and move on…”

Applejack solemnly nodded. “It’s the easiest way to spot out a vampony in a large crowd so be careful, Twi.”

The unicorn took a deep breath. “Right… well it’s finally time to get together with the others… I missed them.”

The earth pony turned and began walking towards the main part of the library. “Well, why don’t you just mozy on down and do it!”

Following right behind the orange mare, Twilight tilted her head in confusion. As she stepped off the last stair she asked, “What does that mean…” She couldn’t finish as the room suddenly burst into life.

“Surprise!”

“AH!” The unicorn threw her hooves in front of her at the sudden bright light in her face. When she took a peek, the unicorn was greeted with a familiar sight. All of her friends where there, grinning at her with happiness and excitement. All of them began to hug and greet her all at once. The library was filled with the cheery noises of all the ponies, as they talked and laughed with each other. Twilight hasn’t moved at all during the entire time, as the unicorn was stunned into silence.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Rainbow Dash leaned in. “Uhh girls… I think we broke her again…”

Pinkie Pie jumped in. “Don’t worry, Dashie, I got this.” With a hop and a skip, she landed squarely next to the frozen Twilight. “Hmm…” She gave the unicorn a critical scan with her eyes before suddenly sticking her tongue inside the mare’s ear.

“EEEEEEEK!” Twilight flew for what felt like ten feet into the air before landed squarely on her back. When her eyes were able to focus again, she saw a snow-white unicorn leaning over her.

“Pinkie, I think your methods need some umm… improvements.” Rarity shot the party pony an amused look. “Honesty, Pinkie, that was simply a disgusting thing to do to a lady.”

The pink pony rubbed the back of her head with a hoof and stuck her tongue out. “Hehehe… oops!”

The alabaster pony grabbed Twilight by the hoof and pulled her upright. “Are you alright, dear?”

Shaking slightly, Twilight nodded. “I think so.” She flicked her head into each of the pony’s faces. “I don’t believe it… How did you know that I came back so soon?”

Pinkie Pie thrust a hoof into the air, waving it in a wide manner. “Oh! Oh! I was the one that told everypony that you came back! Everypony except Applejack because I had a feeling you’ll be here in the library… and you were!” The pink pony proceed to hop around the room singing, “Twilight is back~! Twilight is back~! Twilight is baaaack~!”

While the rest of the ponies were distracted by the party pony, Fluttershy took a few timid steps forward. “It’s so good to see you again, Twilight. I hope life at the castle wasn’t too hard for you.”

The purple unicorn leaned forward and gave the butterscotch Pegasus a tight embrace. “I can’t say it was bad there…” ‘It was worse… so much worse.’ She felt warmth all around her, as the others realized what the pair were doing and joined in. “But, if I had to choose… I’ll forever keep this place in the number one spot.” 'Speaking of number one... where's my number one...'

Their group hug was interrupted when they heard a small cough. “Uhh… I know you miss her and all but… can I say hi to her now?” The ponies broke apart and Twilight was able to make out a small purple dragon standing off to the side.

The unicorn couldn’t stop from crying out. “Spike!” The two began running towards each other, colliding in a great hug in the center. Twilight felt tears running down her face. “It’s good to see you again, little brother.”

The baby dragon tightens his grip. “It’s good to see you too, big sis.” After a few heart wrenching minutes, Spike pulled away and held the unicorn in front of him. “I can’t believe it… did you really finish your training with Nightmare Moon and you’re here to stay?”

Twilight nodded. “Yup” ‘Even if I didn’t do anything really…’ She gave the dragon a little noogie. “See Spike? I told you I’ll be quick.”

Spike gave the purple unicorn a friendly push. “Yeah, yeah… you did say that.” He gave a big warm smile. “We’re a family again.”

Twilight gave her eyes a quick wipe. “It’s good to be back…”

The warm atmosphere was interrupted, as Pinkie Pie jumped in-between. “Hey, Twi, remember that surprise I promised you back before you left?”

“Oh?” The unicorn completely forgot about that! “Oh, yes! What was the thing that got you so excited, Pinkie?”

“Hehehe…” The pink pony gave a toothy grin. “It’s right over here!” With a quick dash behind a door, Pinkie emerged with a large metal object on wheels.

Twilight stared at it, her eyes slowly widening as she spoke. “Pinkie… is that?”

Rainbow Dash fluttered next to the unicorn. “Yup, that’s Pinkie’s party cannon.”

The unicorn’s eyes were filled with horror. “You’re setting that off in here?!”

The party pony gave an energetic laugh. “Don’t worry, Twilight, I managed to perfect it just the other day!”

The cyan Pegasus rolled her eyes. “Yeah… and the day before that, you almost set Ponyville on fire remember?” Twilight’s eyes went even wider at the statement.

“That only happened because I mixed up the frostings and the sprinkles.” Pinkie reached behind the cannon and pulled up a piece of string. “With a little bit of duck tape, it was all fixed!” Her face turned into a beacon of excitement. “Here we go!”

Twilight instantly paled and was able to find her voice. “Pinkie wait!” It was too late, as she watched the pink pony in horror. The party cannon let out a tremendous explosion, as it filling the entire library with a cloud of confetti. Having her eyes shut just before the cannon went off, Twilight slowly inched her eyes open. Gazing around the room, her jaw fell open. The once clean and bear walls of the library were now filled with all manner of party decorations.

Pinkie Pie popped out of nowhere and gave the unicorn a friendly slap on the shoulders. “Well… what do you think?”

Twilight gave the pink pony an empty look. “I’m just glad you didn’t set the tree on fire!” ‘I don’t know what I’ll do if that happened…’

The party pony threw a hoof over her stunned friend’s shoulder. “Oh, you’ll have plenty of times to do that later because it’s yours!” She began to hop away. “Think of it as a welcome back present. But enough with the chit-chat, it’s time to party!”

The purple unicorn stood rooted to the spot, staring into the back of the pink pony. ‘If you think I’m getting anywhere near that thing, you must be out of your mind!’ She was interrupted by a scaly hand gripping her hoof.

Spike gave the unicorn another warm smile. “Come-on, Twilight! They’re starting the party without us!”

The unicorn responded with her own smile. “Right behind you, my number one assistant!” The pair reached the other of ponies and began dancing. The sound of laughter and music floated gently in the morning breeze and into the still-night sky.

Author’s Notes: If you were hoping for a “Super Twilight” that can do anything she wants… yeah… that’s not going to happen. (Sorry!) I just have to say that at that part, she was basically starving herself at that point. (That’s why it must. Be. Done!)