To say that everypony was shaken was an understatement of the highest calibre. Nopony moved, even the vampire that had committed the act, which seemed odd. Surely he would be using this time to gloat, or to bring a swift end to the few that remained alive?
No. Something much different was happening to the creature in question. His lips were twitching, but it wasn't to a smile. He seemed to be alternating between a pained grimace and a neutral expression, trying to maintain his composure. A pressure was growing in his mind, forcing him to focus in an attempt to quell the rampaging fire of grief that overwhelmed his senses. 'Damn that stupid pink pony', he thought, 'how is she still able to fight back against my control? Tch. Even Rarity's Stand is worthless if it can't keep one pathetic pony contained'. Externally, however, he forced a dull laugh from her throat. "H-how amusing. She came to her d-d-death," he seemed to choke on the word, "and all for n-nothing- ngh!" a hoof came up to his forehead as he kneeled down, doubled over in visible pain as his head throbbed.
「Dancing Queen」 was the first to break free of her reverie, drawn away by the sudden presence of her mistress' mind. She was still alive in there, fighting back! The sight of one of her friends' demise must have drawn her out, kicking and screaming as the Stand felt an emotion run through her mistress' mind that she had never felt before. Something dark and cold. She wished to hurt the vampire. Shocked by her carefree mistress' thoughts, the doll responded to them regardless, dashing forward with both arms outstretched towards the shuddering vampire, too preoccupied to respond.
The vampire caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and made to leap aside, knowing that he could not freeze a Stand as he had the rainbow mare, before a dagger of pain buried itself in his mind. In his mental eye, he saw the bound pink one, breaking free of one shackle at a time as she stared at him with a face full of fury, blue eyes set with literal fire in their pupils. He saw the corner of her lip twitch upwards at the same time as a fist met his neck, making him wince and bringing him back to the real world, just in time to feel 「Dancing Queen」 rain blow after blow upon his body, each one knocking him backwards and preventing him from acting. To his confusion, they weren't powerful hits. Each one could maybe damage a foal, but not an adult, and certainly not him. 'Her attack was much stronger before, I don't get it!' he thought, his rising hoof slapped away by another punch.
The other ponies looked up from the glittering chunks of ice that had once been their friend, broken from their stupor by the sound of multiple blows landing against skin and bone, seeing the towering doll whaling upon the vampire in Pinkie's body. He didn't seem too hurt by any of the attacks, but was annoyed enough that he seemed unable to break free.
「Dancing Queen」 would have been smiling grimly if she had the capabilities to do so. Yes, her mistress' thoughts were finally reaching her once more, and they weren't pretty. Incoherent screaming was most of what she heard, punctuated by griefed wails, and each one drove the Stand to hit slightly less hard, and more slowly. Not because of fatigue; no, Stands could last forever so long as their masters were still able to fight. This was something much different. For in Pinkie's anger, she had unconciously thought up several ways of punishing the vampire. Some of which wouldn't have worked, but there was one that 「Dancing Queen」had latched on to. Something that would be sure to make the vampire regret ever coming back into existence.
The rhythm eventually grew slow enough for the creature in question to lash out, striking first at the doll's arms before going for a right hook to the face. The first blow pushed the Stand a fair distance back, and the second surprise impact to the face sent her reeling, a chip cracking off of her cheek as she went spiralling through the air until she crashed into the wall next to where Rarity was still shellshocked, frozen in place staring at the shards of ice on the ground. Across the room, the leg of the overturned mannequin jutted out from a pile of fabric. Turning her head just slightly, she reached an arm around the white mare's hoof, the pony's head whipping sideways, eyes widened. "Rarity, I need you to do just one thing for me to save Pinkie Pie..." and then she started whispering her plan. Rarity slowly nodded, shivering as she turned to face Twilight, breaking her from her stunned state as she relayed the plan. The monster paid them no heed, completely confident in his victory even as he stumbled over a step, somewhat shaken from the previous assault.
Snarling, the vampire clasped his hoof over one eye, glaring at the Stand he had just downed. "Vile, filth-sucking wretched fool! All you've done is hurt yourself and your mistress! I get it, though. I can feel her screaming in anger at me; she must be going insane. Soon she'll be gone, and then, then, THEN! Then I may take my time feeding on the rest of your pathetic friends. If I destroy you, then I will finally be rid of your whimpering master for good." he panted, placing one hoof in front of the other, making his way over to the doll with a step at the end of each sentence. As he moved for another, he was halted, unable to move his hoof as it tugged against something, as though he'd stepped in gum. Looking down, he saw a chrome liquid pooled around his hooves, seeming to harden and constrict around his legs as he tried to move them. Through Pinkie's memories, he could tell that this was the work of Twilight's stand. His gaze shot to the right, where the trembling Alicorn stood. "And you think to intervene? I expected an Alicorn to have a much more powerful Stand than this. But I suppose you are a mere sapling among red oaks." he shrugged, flexing his leg, pulling and stretching the hardened metal with one hoof until it broke free, only for the falling liquid to shoot forward, tugging the leg back down again. His eyes seemed to glint. "I'll say it again. Cease your intervening at once. Do you truly wish to end up like, ah, what was her name again...? Oh yes, Rainbow Dash. Surely you don't desire to share her fate?" and even as he spoke, he regretted those words.
Instead of breaking the mare further as his careful barbs had previously accomplished, her mane seemed to simmer and wave in a breeze that wasn't there. Her eyes hardened as the Stand surrounding his hooves did the same. All of a sudden, a gout of flame consumed the mare, the liquid portion of 「Weird Science」bubbling and growing ever hotter against his fur. "YOU!" she screamed in what everypony recognised as the Royal Canterlot Voice, "ARE NOT!" she willed her Stand to expand, growing to encase more of the vampire's body, "ALLOWED TO SAY!" the liquid metal ran up to the monster's neck, "HER NAME!" she finished, as the Stand hardened, constricting his body painfully tightly as a wave of magic coursed through the object; not able to damage the monster himself but making his controlled body loosen and become unresponsive to his controls. Pinkie had not broken free, so how was she able to disable him?
Twilight continued seething. Her Stand almost completely covered the creature, giving her the complete layout of Pinkie's physical anatomy, as well as information which her studious mind filed away unconciously for later. With this knowledge, she'd sent a miniscule electrical pulse down a specific part of the brain, disabling all motor functions except for the eyes. She tore her eyes away from the one who'd killed her friend and looked away. "Rarity." she said simply, nodding and getting a return nod from the fashionista.
The mannequin that had previously been knocked over was placed directly in front of him, posed in mid-canter. At this, the vampire could only laugh. "A mannequin?! This was your great 'last resort!?' Ha! Hahahah- what. What are you doing? What's happening!?" his tone grew more panicked as something seemed to tug against the metal constricting him. He growled. If he still had control, his strength would have been more than enough to shatter these bonds, and now something else was happening to him; this unknown pressure. As if in response to his mental query, the Stand of his possessed body hovered behind the wooden figurine.
"I had thought you to be somewhat intelligent, Dio Brando." the doll tutted, causing the encased vampire to freeze, blinking several times before hardening his gaze with a fierce growl.
"How do you know that name, you worthless creature!" he screamed, wanting to writhe and push away from his prison and throttle the being that dared stand before him for information. To his surprise, a humourless chuckle escaped her.
"You are not one to talk, vampire. Your sheer narcissism was audible to my mistress' thoughts from the second you took control. But now it's over."
A harsh bark of laughter, the violent crimson eyes partially lidding. "'Over'? Even though you currently have me disabled, it cannot be this way forever. You have no means of defeating I, Dio! Your physical strength is nothing compared to me! Your speed is barely evident, your durability lacking, and your ability...!" He seemed to choke, recalling as if by muscle memory the exact areas that the Stand had decided to strike him. Silence reigned for several moments as 「Dancing Queen」 seemed to smirk victoriously. The expression angered him beyond belief. "YOU BITCH!" he yelled, gaining back control by sheer willpower and pushing hard against his captor, the metal shattering, falling to the floor. It would reform in a few moments, but it wouldn't be quick enough. He leapt at blinding speed towards the tall lady, hooves outstretched. With a choking cry, he was pulled back, held hovering in the air like a puppet. The creature now identified as Dio Brando screeched in denial, thrashing even as his own garments restricted him from movement.
"You finally figured it out, it seems. I think it's high time my mistress had her body back. Your time on this planet is done, creature. You underestimated us. Underestimated me. Now, you suffer the price." 「Dancing Queen」 spoke, shockingly calm in the face of all that had transpired. As if by a unicorn's telekinesis, the old-fashioned clothes that had caused this horror started to move all at once, shifting against the mare's form as the Stand's power forced the fabric away from its master. The scarf came first, then the waistcoat, both hovering just above the ground as the boots on her hind legs dropped third. Dio Brando's voice had silenced, power cut away as Rarity's rogue Stand was separated from him. The white and red undershirts were the last to go, loosening themselves and joining the rest of the hovering bundle of clothes in midair as Pinkie's body fell in a heap; breathing, but only just.
Forcing themselves away from the shards of still-frozen ice, Rarity and Twilight dashed over to their fallen friend, sighing in relief as the fangs retreated, shrinking smaller and smaller until vanishing completely. One of her eyes opened slowly, blinking continuously as a thankfully bright blue iris revealed itself. Then the other. "Pinkie Pie! Are you ok!? Say something!" Twilight cried, a comforting hoof on her friend's side.
The pink mare blinked again with bleary eyes, as if not quite awake. "T-Twilight? Where's R...Rainbow Dash?" she said, voice no more than a whisper as the two other mares inhaled sharply, nervous eyes flickering over to the pieces of ice that seemed to taunt them. Pinkie looked over as well, head lifting from the ground to confirm her fears. Instead of an outcry of grief as they expected, Pinkie Pie seemed to deflate. "Oh..." was all she could say. None of the others exactly knew how to respond either, tears somehow not coming; it felt as though Rainbow would not have wanted them to cry. More likely she'd have desired them to feel happy about their victory. Speaking of which, Pinkie looked out of the window at the sun kissing the tops of the treeline in the horizon. She'd have to act quickly, then.
「Dancing Queen」 took that moment to come forward, shakily helping her mistress to her hooves and leading her towards the floating outfit. "Um, Pinkie, dear? What are you doing with those...Those clothes?" Rarity mumbled, unsure of her friend's state of mind at this point in time.
Her breath coming out much more regularly and with more strength now, Pinkie decided not to respond. 「Dancing Queen」 tapped the standing mannequin on the way past, and several things slid into place for the two mares standing a small distance away as the clothes started to shuffle in the air, the boots fitting themselves to the hind legs of the wooden figure.
As the final piece of the outfit slid over the mannequin's neck, everypony present flinched back in shock as Dio Brando's raging voice echoed through the room, even though he had no mouth from which to do so. "I SHALL TEAR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU LIMB FROM LIMB BEFORE I- What?! What is this...? Oh. Oh! I see!" he broke free of his rant, chuckling in a humoured manner. "Yes, just like you ponies do with all enemies you face. You cannot beat me, so you imprison me, believing me to be defeated forever. Tell me, just how has that been working for your dear Princesses? I suppose you could ask the one just there, but she doesn't even know how to keep her friends alive, let alone how to deal with threats." everyone present was silent to this as Twilight bowed her head to the side unwilling to meet the mannequin's nonexistent gaze. Nopony responded to such an accusation. Except, that is, for one Pinkamena Diane Pie.
"No, Dio. I'm not keeping you shut up in a prison." She muttered, a humourless chuckle wrenching itself from her throat as she had the mannequin move between her two friends, in front of the window. "I've seen what you can do. Would do. Have done. You're not like Discord. Or Nightmare Moon, or Chrysalis, or even King Sombra. You're a true monster, through and through. So you're not getting the same punishment. You're not getting imprisoned, or even banished. This might not hurt you, but it'll make me feel a lot better when you're not able to hurt anyone anymore." Pinkie finished darkly, her friends gasping at the normally cheerful pony's fury, her gaze set in resolute anger, much like the time Applejack had broken her Pinkie Promise, only much, much darker.
Before anypony had time to react, Pinkie Pie let out a grunt of anger as 「Dancing Queen's」 fist crashed against the mannequin's face, chipping off a large chunk from the wooden figure's muzzle. "W-What?! No, you can't do this to me!" the vampire shouted from within. Pinkie seemed to disagree. Her Stand shared her sentiments. Within moments, the towering lady's arms were moving too quickly for anypony present to track with their eyes, punch after furious punch battering and cracking the vampire's prison of wood. As her Stand pulled its slender, branchlike arms backwards into the air, the mannequin spoke for the last time. "I am Dio Brando! I AM DIO! I AM-" Dio screamed, not given time to finish his tirade as 「Dancing Queen」 threw both arms forward at full force with her mistress' shout of sheer, unrestrained anger, completely shattering the wooden mare with enough force to send the pieces flying through Rarity's window. The very instant that the tattered and torn clothes met the dying rays of the sun, Dio Brando, the monster who had killed countless in his time, cried in agony; his outfit sizzling with heat as it started to disintegrate before the eyes of the ponies who had lined up at the window to gaze upon their most terrifying enemy's demise.
"I...Am...Dio. I'm...Dioooooo..." the vampire spoke his last, narcissistic to the end; the few remaining shreds of his fancy clothing turning to dust as the sun set behind the Everfree Forest. All that remained scattered on the dirt was the broken shards of Rarity's mannequin, the vile creature well and truly dead.