“Why do you want us to stay behind, exactly?” Dash said in a stern voice, projecting her distrust again. “Just so you can say it was only you that saved the princess? That it?”
“Dash,” he responded, “ it's because this is obviously a trap.”
“So? All the more reason for us to go with you. You would've been nailed by that golem if we weren't there. Who knows he doesn't have something better up his sleeve?” She encouraged that they all go together.
“Alex?” Twilight interrupted. “Are you certain it's a trap? I mean, what if the golem told you to expect a trap there, and really it was just out of the way to stall us?”
“Yeah, how can you trust someone that just tried to kill you?” Dash injected into the conversation.
“Most people simply let go of their lies when they are going to die, Dash. I've learned this the hard way. I used to be a military medic.” He said as-a-matter-of-fact.
“-And zealots will believe things through the end, Alex. I'm sure you've learned this as well.” Twilight fought.
Twigs and leaves crunches with each step taken. The sunlight hid behind the thick canopy, already touching the distant mountain's side. Birds sang songs of sorrow with a twist of frustration at the group for stepping on fresh nesting supplies. Hives of bats and bugs shot sounds of echolocation, even during the day. The cool breeze occasionally burst through the trees and blew their hair, giving a false impression that an opening was near.
“I still don't understand why we have to bring him.” Dash continued.
Twilight simply rolled her eyes and shrugged off the question. From her perspective, he was quite calm and quick to help in the situation. He's obviously had a lot of experience in this line of work, given he seems to be confident that everything will be alright. Although it doesn't exactly explain how Luna would know, since she hasn't even met him yet, it still gave Twilight bits of comfort that he had an idea of what they were heading into.
Suddenly she shuddered at a wretched thought that crept into her mind.
If whoever took the Princess is as powerful as Alex, which is surely a possibility, then...who's to say we'll be of any use at all? Maybe he's just trying to keep us out of harm's way...But what if Dash's suspicion is right? What if he's just using this for something? What if he's trying to get something out of all this?
She walked just a bit faster to get in-pace with Alexander, and carefully glanced at him from the side.
No, almost no emotion in his eyes at all. This doesn't exactly help. Either this is him not caring because saving someone's life simply does not matter to him, or because he's just used to it. Tricky. This can really cut so many ways.
She looked at him again, trying to reinforce her belief that he's really here to help.
Oh well, I’ll just try to make sure he doesn't pull anything.
“Hey Alex, if you like 'traditional' weaponry so much, why don't you ever use a shield?”
Surprisingly, it wasn't Twilight doing the questioning, it was Dash. The boredom had been so effective that it convinced her questioning him would be more fun.
“Psychology my dear Dash. I come off as more aggressive or threatening if instead of a shield, I have another, or much larger, weapon. It keeps me out of a few unnecessary battles. Having said that, I think that it's more fun just to parry attacks with a sword.”
“Well, I suppose that's one way to do it.” She commented.
“Do what?” He asked, unsure of what she meant by the words.
“If you wanted to get out of fights, couldn't you just put on a robe or something? So you're not showing off a fully loaded squadron's worth of weapons on your body?”
“Well, I’m not exactly familiar with this area, so i may need my weapons, and that would make it difficult to pull anything out when i need it.” He replied.
“Mare, please, we've been here at least a dozen times, we only know the road to the castle, Zecora's, and back and we've never brought weapons with us. Right girls?” She triumphantly stated.
They all nodded in agreement.
“Huh, last time I ran through a forest empty-handed I nearly got decapitated by a giant. Maybe I’m just getting too old to expect anything different.” He pondered out loud.
The reaction he got out of most of them was nearly the same. “A giant what?”
“You know, a gia- Oh, that's right....uh, it's a human the size of a golem. Roughly speaking, maybe bigger.” He informed.
The former statement, however, evoked a different reaction from Twilight, one that caught Alex off guard. “Now that I think of it; how old are you, anyway?”
At a quick, or even careful glance, one couldn't tell that he had flinched in his step, or contracted his eyes a bit. But Twilight was better than careful, she had precise focus on all the sudden, albeit miniscule, movements that gave away the fact that he was no longer in his comfort zone in the conversation. To say he's good at hiding himself behind rhetorical questions and sarcastic answers would be an understatement. But Twilight was yet, even better at deciphering what he does and doesn't want you to believe.
“I'm, uh...forty-three.”
The girls looked at each other a bit, and back to him, before Twilight spoke again. “You don't sound very confident in your answer. Are you sure that's the answer you want to go with?” Her voice rang with suspicion, purposely indicating to Alex that she knows he's lying.
Son of a... “Okay, I may be, about...a decade older than that. I've had a long day.”
Four of the six looked like they accepted the answer. Applejack and Twilight, however, looked at each other to show the other that she doesn't believe it. “Long enough to make you forget your own age? I doubt it.” Twilight struck back. “If you don't want to talk about your age, you could just tell us.”
Mother of... “Yeah, I just don't like talking about it.” He agreed, trying to quickly end the lingering conversation.
There was a quickly increasingly loud inhaling followed by a moment of silence, as if to act as the calm before the storm. A storm named 'Pinkie'. “OH youknowwhatwouldbesofun?Tryingtoguessyourage!YES!Canwetrytoguesspleaseohpleaseohplease?Iknowyoudon'tliketotalkaboutitbutittechnicallywouldnotbetalkingaboutitifwejustguessedandyounoddedorshookyourehadifwewererightorwrongpleaseohpleaseitwillbesofunibetyouarelikealmostahundredorsomethingijustwanttoguessyouragethatcan'tpossiblyhurtcanit?Noitcan'thurtunlessyouwerelikeasupersecretagentorsomethingareyouasecretagentican'ttellbutibeticouldfigureyououtifyouwereOHmaybeyou'reactually-mfmffmmmffghfmmf...” The whirlwind of nonstop talking ended at the lavender unicorn stuck a hoof in the pink pony's mouth.
“You can guess as much as you like, but I’m not going to give a hint to how old I am.”
“Okay!” Pinkie replied happily. “I love twenty! Let's start at Twenty. Are you twenty? How about Twenty-one? No? Twenty-two? What about-”
Alex had already tuned her out, quickly realizing that she was going to guess EVERY number she could think of. The others simply listened as she went on and on, and Alex was thinking of whether or not to tell her the first ingredient in glue.
“You know she just want's to be your friend, right...?” A ghostly voice chimed in. “Of course, as long as you have been avoiding 'friends' per se, it's rather difficult to tell people apart, now isn't it?”
The voice seemed very familiar, it was lighter in pitch and kinder in tone than his own. Alex looked to his side to see the white stallion again. With the pony walking side-by-side it was now easy to see the cutie-mark; Four cards, overlapping a bit, each of a different suit, but all four had a king on the face and the A for aces in the corner. Alexander looked over to the others, seeing if they could even hear the stallion, given he was less than two feet from the group.
“Don't bother asking them; it's just us in this conversation.” He gave a small chuckle. “'Alexander', right? It's been so long since you've used your real name. Too long maybe.” Alexander tried to find the power to speak, but found it far too difficult for some reason. The colt walked almost eerily next to him, without sounds coming from his lungs breathing, or even from the leaves and twigs he broke as he walked on the hard forest floor. He was almost like a ghost, but not given an ethereal look.
“Why do you use that name anyway?” Again, the pony amused himself. “Oh, that's right, it's your little 'front' to keep others away. Or at least so you can cope with leaving them....That's what you always do eventually, right? Just, up and leave?” He waited, as if expecting to hear an answer. “The reason you leave is the same reason you push others away. You're scared. You've been scared your entire life that it will happen again.”
Again, he let the words set in. “You think to yourself 'How could I lose my friends if I never have any?'. But what makes life worth living if you live it alone? I'm telling you now, the only thing worse than losing a loved one, is losing love itself. I'm telling you this so you can stop the ceaseless cycles that happen before your eyes, and you're too ignorant to even glance at them. You're not waiting for your future, your future is waiting for you, for you to get your act together and change.”
“Alex,” he paused in disgust of calling him that. “What you have yet to realize, is that you are the reason for your own unhappiness, and your age is trivial compared to how you get there. Stop pushing others away and you'll have your own, happy, forever-and-a-day. I can promise you this much; If you change yourself, you'll find change in others as well.” The colt looked Alex in the eye. “Big days and small days, Jack. Which will it be?”
The words set in just as the stallion had set them. Jack (with the former alias “Alexander”) simply set and digested the information he took in. All he could think of as he repeated the monologue over and over in his mind was simple fact; He's right.
Jack looked over to the group. They seemed like in spite that their own princess was captured alive, they still seem to be happy they have each other, and are absolute in the idea that they can defeat this evil together. How could I be so blind? He pondered.
“You weren't,” he said. “you just closed your eyes really, really tight.”
Jack looked down to him in the eyes again. “....who are you...?”
“I'm just memories compiled into one's subconscious that evolves and grows based on one's 'true' mentality and personality, with the knack of knowing what your active conscious does not.” He looked Jack back in the eye. “Or in layman's terms, I’m you.”
Jack couldn't even respond. He had never expected this to happen, not in millions of years. 'This' being several things. He never thought he could have ever gotten so ignorant. He never thought his mind could be in such disarray that his own subconscious would have to set him straight. He never thought it would make him feel so idiotic either. But after all that, there was one thought that lingered. ...Why is he a pony?
“Just make some friends while I’m gone.” He pointed to the six candy colored ponies next to Jack. “They look like they'd make great friends.”
“Oh, and, it'll be about midnight, just so you know.”
“What?” Jack muttered under his breathe. No response. Well, no MALE response.
“Hmm? Say something?” Twilight asked.
He quickly grasped the fact that the imaginary colt was gone. “Oh, uh, no.” she shrugged it off. He looked at listened to the pink pony slightly behind himself. “What about thirty seven? Thirty eight? OH no, you're thirty nine!! Definitely! No? For-” He could only guess she hadn't skipped counting for so much time, only to pick it up again. No. He had that entire conversation with himself in only a matter of seconds. He looked back to Twilight. I guess now would be the best time of any.
“Actually,” She looked at him, “could I talk to you in private?”
From her standpoint, his entire demeanor just changed in an instant. Up until now, his voice was cold and calculating, With little emotion attached to his words. Now, though, his voice contained quantities of sorrow, with a hint of nervousness.
“Yeah.” She said to him. She looked to her friends. “Girls, keep walking, we're going to be right off the path.”
The others exchanged looks, with the exception of Rainbow, whom pointed at her eye, and then to Jack, to ensure he knows his place as a permanent suspect.
The two broke off and walked parallel to the others around 10 meters away, as to get out of earshot, but not eyesight.
“Twilight,” his voice crumbled to contain emotion again. “what is it like to have friends?”
Her face froze. She most certainly did not anticipate this question in the slightest. “Well... it's....i guess it's....” She concentrated to find the words she was looking for. “It's great.” She was able to muster out of herself. “It's wonderful. I mean; After I made friends, I found ponies I could rely on, that care for me and would help me through any situation I faced. They give me somepony I can trust; Somepony to be with through thick and thin.” She gave a sigh. “Before I had friends, I thought it would all be for naught, just useless attempts and work that would have no real reward in the end. But I was wrong. I had never been happier in my life. And honestly, I wouldn't give it up for the world.” She ended, making a silence that seemed to last forever.
“...what do you consider me...?”
The question hung in the air as Twilight tried to search herself for the answer. She only met him a few days ago. He was nearly a complete stranger in comparison to her friends. And yet, she cared for him. In spite of what he can do, his well being still worried her. Has she really grown attached to him over the past half week? His 'hush-hush' demeanor aside, yes. She has. Enough to say these next few words.
“I see you as a friend.”
He tried not to show it, but his face lit up almost instantaneously. “Thank you...” As the two kept walking, Jack pulled out a pocket watch from his backpack. It was hand-crafted as far as one could tell. Silver with intricate vine details around it's circular edge. It had a small, flat ruby center-piece, where the red thinned out and disappeared into a clear diamond color around the edge of it's circumference. He pressed the jewel and it opened wide. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breathe, and exhaled a thin mist of energy into the open timepiece. His eyes watered as he was forced to relive the saddest part of his life over again; But it was necessary.
When he was done he closed the device, causing a click and snap. “Twilight. This watch is very special.” He handed it over to her, and she took it in her magic. “Listen, that watch? It now contains a copy of many of my memories. The same man that showed me how to make the backpack, is who gave my that timepiece. I don't even know how it works, I just know it works.” He paused. “Keep that with you. Don't open it right now, but it will show you everything I am. It will also explain what happened the, uh...the other night...” he trailed off, Not wanting to contemplate that moment. “Just, make sure you don't lose it. Please?”
She took the end of it's chain and roped it around her neck to attach it to itself, and dropped it to dangle from her. “I won't...but I have one question.” He looked her in the eye, waiting for it. “Why the sudden change?”
He should have seen this one coming a mile away. Maybe he was more distracted than he initially thought. “I, had a bit of a uh...revelation I guess. Not too long ago.” That was an understatement. He only had the 'discussion' moments before this one.
“We should go back. Dash doesn't even trust me right next to her; Let alone being alone with one of her friends.”
Twilight only giggled a bit. “Yeah, she really doesn't trust anyone until you prove yourself.”
The two guided their direction to ease back into the group. They heard quiet talking so silent as the got nearer.
The air became cold and still by an unnatural force, as they ascended the final staircase to the throne room. Even the cracks and holes bore no motion of nature's breath. In the deathly ill silence, Twilight could have sworn she heard a faint electronic whirring, perhaps it was just the anxiety getting to her.
She eased her mind by counting the leaves of the vines that grew on her path upwards. She stopped for a moment to feel the smooth vegetation with her velvet-Esq fur. The lively plant-flesh grew rapidly, loosely hugging her hoof and going up, only to broken off when she continued the ascent with the others. Bind root, she thought, Grows well just about anywhere, but exceptionally well if allowed to bind to an animal. Makes good armor, too, since it regenerates.
She caught the vine on the last step of the stairway to slide it off.
They all halted before a set of double doors to take in the scene, and let the anxiety settle in. The air was stale, allowing chunks of dust to float aimlessly in the air, which was easily seen near the crystal clear window with the sun closing the distance to the horizon. Something's wrong. Twilight thought, observing the doors. These doors weren't here before. She looked them over. They were wooden, and thick, with the black painted metal pieces all over it, securing the planks that make it up. Not a bit of dust. Obviously this is new.
The thing that really set the doors out of place wasn't the fact it was new, it was the lack. Not only was it locked, but the huge bar of metal that sat across it to secure it's stance was on the outside. Why someone holding Celestia hostage would be stupid enough to do something like put the lock on the wrong side of the door is beyond her, but it will work for them.
Jack nervously shuffled his feet to the door, placing his hand on the bar, and looked at the six ponies. “If anything happens, just get her and get out. Don't fight my enemies for me.”
They all exchanged nervous glances, even Rainbow, trying to think of what would be bad enough to make him worried about them.
He pulled up on the iron bar, sending off a symphony of clicks and taps in a hidden mechanism in the frame. It creaked, as if centuries old, as he pushed it open with his shoulder. The air was even more brisk as they entered. A thin later of magic shielding plastered the walls and windows, giving it all a sparkling look. Twilight's heart jumped when she saw a tall white alicorn looking out the window.
“Celestia! Thank goodness, you're alright!!” She ran to greet her mentor, but screeched to a stop halfway through at the sound of a large set of doors locking. She snapped her head back just fast enough to see the magic wall seal off the only exit that was available. While Twilight slowly reset her gaze to the princess, the princess set hers to Twilight.
No. No. No no nonononono...princess, what happened to you? She thought, looking over her teacher. Celestia's entire image changed within seconds. Her eyes became bloodshot; Her mane fell to the ground, becoming dull and lifeless; Her fur lost it's sheen; her veins showed through her coat, as a villainous black; And her voice was doubled over by a demented tone.
Celestia peered at the only other thing in the room that was about as tall as her. “Hello Alexander.” She, or 'he' if referring to the darker voice, looked at the ponies. “Vermin.” Jack walked up next to Twilight, while the others walked up behind them.
“What did you do to the princess?!?!” She demanded.
“I've possessed her, half-wit. Now silence and let the adults talk.”
WHAT?!?! Twilight thought. Her face showed a face of pure frustration and anger, but she kept her temper, and remained quiet. Maybe Alex can deal with him better anyways.
Celestia looked at Jack again. “Hello Alex. Good to see you in such great shape.”
“Hello Mr....”
“Xavier.”
“Mr. Xaxier. It's good to see you haven't done anything stupid yet.”
(S)he gave a huff to vocalize anger towards him. “Do you even know why I’m here?”
“Other than to stall while your smarter brother in the back thinks of a plan, no. I don't.” Jack replied, with a slight smile.
Twilight winced at this. Each joke he made, she thought would be his last. Given the predicament, it is rather bad timing.
Again, Xavier hissed at this. “Thanks to you, I have no brother.” He huffed again. “And that's why I’m here. To make you feel pain, Alex.” He spat out. “Someone here will die tonight. And you get to choose who it is.”
Jack's heart skipped a beat. Or maybe five.
“But luckily for you, the weapon you'll use isn't exactly ready yet. So I do hope you find temporary oblivion to be a great alternative to sitting there and making a plan to save everyone.” He tacked on sarcasm at the end of the sentence.
“Wha-” SLAM!
Suddenly a hammer struck the back of Jack's head, sending him a few feet forward. He hit the ground hard, with his head facing away from the others, and unable to see what had struck him.
“Alex!!” Twilight exclaimed. She continued to watch, hoping he would get back up. But he didn't.
A couple of the others nearly tried to run over to help him, but their feet stayed glued to the floor in fear of befalling the same fate. Twilight shot a stare at Celestia possessor; It was quite difficult for her to sustain her state of calmness. “Look, I’m sure that whatever happened between the two of you, doesn't need any bloodshed. Please, if there is any way I can ta...”
She stopped as she saw Celestia uncover a trap and open it's door. She pulled out a changeling, one that was larger and meaner looking than at the invasion, that was all tied up and had a burlap sack over it's head. She tore it off and looked directly into his eyes.
“You! Stay here. Yell to me if they try to pull anything, and you might live.” She set the changeling next to the trap door, and descended into the hidden chamber.
As soon as the door shut, he looked to the ponies. “Please tell me you have a plan to get us out of here alive.”
Twilight looked over to the window, where dash wash trying to pound her way through, to no avail, and looked back. She was about to say “no, but I’ll think of one.”, But something else in that sentence caught her attention. “Wait, what do you mean alive?”
Suddenly a muffled scream was heard from the hidden cellar, one that turned the heads of all the ponies in the room. The changeling reacted stronger to it, and scrunched up his body beyond what the ropes had, along with giving a pained yelp. He tried to get closer to Twilight. “Please, help us. He's locked us out of the hive mind with magic, but we can still feel the ones that are here with us! We're all tied up, and he's killing us off one-by-o-AHH!!” He winced again as he felt another ping in his body.
Fluttershy was in tears, and looked to Twilight. “We have to help them! Nopony deserves something like this!”
Twilight tried to stay as calm and collected as she could. “Don't worry Fluttershy.” She turned to the changeling. “But we're going to need what we're up against. Please, start from the beginning, but be quick.”
“Al-HNNNGG!” He covered his head, as if it would stop the pain. “Alright!! Last night, something requested the help of the Queen's Elite.” He pointed towards the door. “It was whoever possessed your princess. He was covered in shadows so we couldn't see what he looked like. She agreed to help as long as she could get revenge from the two responsible for ou-AHHH!!” Again, he felt like his head would burst.
“our failure at the invasion. Early this morning we arrived here to set up his plans. We created that door, wooded outside but heaviest metals we could find on the inside. We used our magic to make powerful talismans, strong enough to keep this magic shield up through Celestia's AND Luna's strongest attacks together. But then he-AH.” He managed to stifle his self this time, unconsciously timing when each attack was.
“He triggered the shield himself, and attacked us all. He threw us in the cellar, but before he did me, he told me 'you're special' and put a sack on my head. I wasn't able to see it for myself, but my brothers told be through telepathy of what was happening; He's killing them and absorbing their souls for some kind of dark magic. A lot of the time, we were all just unconscious, so he could have easily gotten your princess in that time.”
As he finished, he prepared himself for the next pang of death. But to his surprise all he felt was a small magic surge and silence from the local brethren. He looked up to see the fading purple light from the lavender pony. “Feel better?” He nodded. “I'm sorry this all happened to you. None of you deserve this. But I have one question. Could you tell us exactly what he is? I mean, any info we could get on him would help us escape.”
He looked at the door to make sure Celestia wasn't coming back yet. He looked to Twilight again. “Whatever you do, don't freak out, or he'll know something just happened.” He double checked the door. “He's a Vrykolakas. And a powerful one at that. He doesn't just know this dark magic, he was born with it! Innate in ways of condemned! His very being was forged from the damned themselves!”
Twilight gulped as she took in this information. This snippet of, yet all-telling, information.
“Twilight.” Applejack interjected. “As much as I'd love to say I know what he's saying, I don't. Can you translate for me?” She asked.
“He's saying...That what we're facing is a demonic vampire, from the depths of Tartarus itself.” She said, only barely keeping herself from panicking. “Even worse, I have no idea how we can even fight it. The whole put-a-stake-through-it's-heart thing doesn't actually work, but I don't know anything that will!” She thought about the situation for a moment. “Wait.” She looked over to Jack. “We need to wake Alex, he knows how to defeat it.”
Fluttershy went over to Jack's body, while Dash stood next to the lavender unicorn. “Uh, don't mind me asking, but, how do you know he does?”
“This seems to be about revenge, which means Alex has dealt with this before.”
Her horn glowed as she helped Fluttershy move his body over to the window.
“Alex!” He heard. He had hit the granite floor hard, after being nailed in the back of the head by a currently unknown object. The pain was excruciating; It felt as if someone used a train to ram the blunt end of a railroad spike in the back of his skull. Not only that, but Jack could feel something constricting him; Choking him. Whatever it was, was supposed to render him unconscious, but didn't. However, he still felt he couldn't move anything. He was barely able to breath, let alone get back up.
Jack could hear voices, but only two of them, and he didn't recognize either of them.
A soft, feminine voice spoke first. “Is he...?” She left off, not wanting to speak the word.
“No. He's alive, and barely conscious at worst.” Said the more confident stallion.
Jack heard them set themselves down in front of him. “It's been a long time, Jack.” He spoke calmly, and slowly. “Come on, I know you're here. Just, open your eyes, so we know you're listening.”
Jack grunted as he worked up the willpower to breach his own ocular covers. What he saw surprised him a bit. There were indeed, two ponies. One of them was dark, had starry hair, and a moon for a cutie-mark; Just as if she were the alternate version of Celestia. The other, had light brown fur with a darker brown mane, and wore a traveler's vest that seemed to use an alternative to leather, along with a white shirt underneath.
At that moment, Jack could barely register in his mind who he was talking to. “Hello...princess.” He managed. He looked at the colt, but was silent.
“Don't remember me, do you? I thought you would have recognized the voice, but I guess it's changed a bit much.” He paused. “Actually, you'll remember me the instant I explain why your friends can't even see us.”
Jack was actually thinking about that before the colt mentioned it, but he continued. “Two words. Perception. Filter.”
Jack's eyes widened at the thought of such a device. He stared up at the pony who was now rambling a bit. “One so strong, that you have to be inside it to see through. Or, well, just watch something go into it from the outside, but it only works for that specific object. Or have an IQ of over 230, but that's pretty rare. Or, really you could have just known me and it never really works on you again. Well, I guess there are other ways to-”
“Doc..tor....” Jack let out.
“Oh, so you do remember me. For a bit there, I thought you forgot.”
“How...can I?...You never, stop talking....” He winced in pain from his aching head.
The Doctor let out a playful face of disgust. “And that's the only thing you have to remember me by? Tisk tisk."
“How's Harkness?” Jack said.
“Oh, Captain Jack is A-Okay. The you Jack seems to be in a bit of trouble.” He paused. “Actually, what are the chances you were both named Jack? Are you two related or something?”
“I....no, we-”
“Well, it doesn't matter. But regardless I’m just here to give you a pat on the back and moral support. In the form of letting you know that, thanks to Luna here, the spell or weapon or whatever you want to call it that your enemy is making is indeed, useless. Sabotage at it's best. So you know exactly what you can do to end all this.”
He got up and walked back to the Tardis, which was hidden behind the two from Jack's point of view. As Luna entered, he turned back. “Oh, and, one last thing.” Jack waited silently. “I suggest you use your real name. It fits you better.” He entered, and shortly after, the Tardis disappeared, leaving behind only dust and echoes.
Jack heard mumbling coming towards him, and tried to move his head, but felt his eyes get heavy, and his vision began to fade.
The doctor began messing with the controls of the Tardis again. “Doctor,” Luna started. “What did you mean back there, 'Thanks to Luna'? We haven't done anything to prevent the spell yet.”
“Which means, that we will, now, come on-” He flipped the switch and set the ship in motion. “Get those bags of frogs, telepathy/kinetic emitters, and exfoliated carapaces, we're going to make some fake changelings!”
Jack began to hear voices, but they were fuzzy. “-ink he's....ming back...” He managed to open his eyes a bit, revealing that both eyes were now lazy. “There, he should be....no!” He dropped forward, as a result of having lack of motor control at the very moment. With the help of hooves, he slowly but surely leaned back up. “Okay, just take it slowly Alex. No need to rush this.” He re-opened his eyes, beginning to fix his focus again. A purple hoof tilted his head up by the chin. Twilight looked into Jack's eyes. “Hey, are you going to be alright? Do you feel anything? Or maybe the lack thereof?” He managed to shake his head, which had uncontrollably shook his torso in a similar manner.
“Alright, I’m going to have to take a more direct approach, this isn't going very fast. Dash, I’ll need one of your feathers.” “What? Hey, wai- Ouch!” Applejack chuckled. “Too slow Rainbow.” She hoofed over the feather. “Here you go darlin'.”
“Hey!! Plucking pony feathers is not cool.”
“Oh quit your whining, this one here just got knocked into tomorrow with an enchanted sledgehammer with a poison dart stuck to it.”
Twilight just rolled her eyes at the argument. “Okay Alex, this is going to hurt a bit, but trust me, this is to help you.” Twilight found the small lump on the back of neck, and concentrated. She stuck the soft end of the feather on it, and began moving the hairs inside it. Once they got in as far as she could without widening the hole too much, she fed a spell onto the feather.
Jack winced in a small amount of pain he could feel. But then he realized he was now getting feeling back in all of his body. After a bit of time, he felt the feather slide out again. Placing his hand on his neck, he felt the welt that had formed from the impact.
Twilight levitated a blue feather front and center for everyone to see. It was almost completely covered in a layer of unknown dark liquid. “Tranquilizer.” She said flatly. “I'm actually surprised I could get it out that quickly.” She dropped it and turned to Jack. “You feeling any better?”
He rubbed his neck some. “If by 'any better' you mean 'at all' then yes, yes I am.” He leaned up with his shoulders square against the wall, and looked up to the group. “What did I miss?”
Everypony waited for somepony else to explain, but slowly it came to the conclusion that a few of the others had set their eyes on Twilight. She noticed this, and let out a small sigh. “Fine, I’ll tell him.” She said to them. She turned to Jack. “Okay...We are facing...A demonic 'vampire', as one would say, that wants nothing less than revenge against you via an undetermined sorcery that requires the deaths of a small elite army of changelings.” She cleared her throat. “...and, uh, for all we know, he's just about done, and he'll walk in here any minute.”
Jack took a few moments to process this information.
“Alex, would you happen to, you know, have a plan to get us out of this?” Twilight asked pleadingly.
“Well...for a normal vampire it just takes a properly made stake to the heart-”
“Told you Twilight~” Pinkie interrupted in a sing-songy voice, which didn't falter in the presence of frustrated stares.
“-but this, is going to take a whole lot more, and I don't even have all the right materials.”
Twilight sighed. “So, he's going to have one of us killed, via you, and we can't even touch it?”
He shook his head, and began to pick himself up. “Not unless Celestia is a reasonable casualty, which I doubt. Possession is what's stopping us for the time being.”
Twilight hung her head. “Someone here will die tonight, and you get to choose who it is.” She was about to get desperate. In fact; she'd be willing to bite the dust if it meant her friends got to live happily ever after; Especially her mentor-for-life.
Suddenly a creaking echoed through the room as Celestia took her sweet time ascending the stairs again.
I just hope nopony gets hurt because of me.
The possessed figure stopped at the changeling and eyed him.
“I heard talking, what did they say?”
After a moment of frozen fear he worked up the courage to speak. “They were, uh, just trying to wake him up.” He shook a little, frightened by the famous last words spoken by this demon, before it descended to his brethren.
She stared at the group and acknowledged that the human was only just now getting up. She looked back to the changeling. “Very well, I suppose you did your job, you get to live.”
The bug-eyed being nearly dropped and began thanking his lucky stars, but was picked up by the neck by the tall figure. “Hope you remember how to fly.” She had her hooves at his throat, and threw him against the window. The shield broke only long enough to let him through. Shattering glass could be heard, along with a small crack of a bone or two breaking, as he was forced through a decorative window.
The last the group saw of the changeling was him falling into the smokey abyss that surrounded about half the castle.
Jack managed to pull himself up and silently tread over in front of his new friends.
They nervously listened to what the demon was about to say.
“Alexander,” he started. “You have a few options here.” He pulled out a knife; One with curves bending back toward the wielder, and giving off black fog from the metal itself. Celestia handed over the blade to Jack, who took the weapon with unease.
“This blade is very special, Alexander. Whoever is killed by it is bound to the lowest depths of Tartarus itself. Permanently. There is no way around it. Even someone with your....condition.” The figure let out a laugh to break up his monologue. “Option one: You kill me. You condemn both me and your dear Celestia to such a fate. You solve all your problems at the exchange of breaking a bond.” He continued. “Option two: You kill yourself. If you do this, I’ll leave this planet in peace, even the princess. You save everyone you've met, but at the cost of your own freedom from hell.” He drew his eyes to Fluttershy. “Option three:” He pointed at the group. “You slaughter five of those six 'friends' you've made there. And you can choose which one lives.”
Jack could barely breath. “...you know exactly what you can do to end all this.” Yeah, I guess I do. I just wish this won't happen again.
Jack slowly turned around and looked into the eyes of each one of the mares in front of him. They were frightened of the choice he was about to make; Pinkie and Fluttershy were holding each other and were almost in tears. He lowered himself to Twilight. She had watered eyes herself. He grasped her in a hug, and she returned it slowly.
He whispered in her ear, “I'll be fine. You take care.” Jack stood back up and looked towards the Alicorn.
Twilight wanted to scream. No. you don't have to do this! There must be some other way! You can't do this!
Celestia smiled her evil smile. “I see you've made a choice. Good. Care for some famous last words?”
“Yeah. Te conatus.” This is going to burn like hell...
He took the edge of the blade and pressed it on his chest. He pulled as hard as he could, sending a wave of pain over his body, centered at his heart.
Twilight looked through her teary vision at Jack. She heard the slice that could only come from the splitting of flesh, and saw a small, shiny, blood-covered point that came out of his back. She watched, horrified, as he dropped down to the ground. It seemed to be in slow motion; She was able to watch him drop to his knees and then slam into the ground on his front.
The Blade seemed to collapse in on itself, breaking away into smaller pieces until unseen by anyone.
The demonic voice only laughed, and bled itself out of Celestia's figure, disappearing and dropping her half-conscious body to the ground. The mane six were too shocked to see this though, and had only paid attention to the body they were now walking up to.
After the disappearance of the knife, something seemed to be eating away at him. Similar to his armor from only days ago, his body began to disintegrate, only from the inside out. His chest widened and looked as if it was burning away. Not only that, but his clothing and weapons went along with him. This continued until there was only a skeleton left, which had precariously kept stable, as if it were kept together by some strange force.
By now, Fluttershy and Pinkie were bawling like there was no tomorrow. The others were at least teary, with the exception of Rainbow, whom fought against her depression at the ending scene before her.
They had stared at it for hours, as far as they could tell. In actuality it was only for a few minutes. The only reason they could tell time was passing was because-
Wait, the sun! Twilight realized that the sun had just completed it's daily use, with the light now turning to a dull white from the moon on the horizon. But that must mean.. She looked to her side, and there was Celestia, also, looking at the remains. Their eyes met, both brimming with water.
They embraced each other in a hug that would put Pinkie Pie to shame. Twilight spoke through her sniffling. “Princess...he-”
“I saw all of it, my most faithful student. I'm sorry you had to see such a thing.” She replied, in a voice that would have seemed normal for her, if it didn't contain the few traces of sorrow it did.
When they broke from each other, they looked back to the bones that lay on the floor. Then Celestia spoke to them. “My little ponies, this sir died a hero's death; one that meant sacrificing what he could to help all he could. And so,” She silently cut off part of the ancient curtain that hung next to the window. “ he shall be given a hero's funeral.” She properly laid the skeleton onto the end, and began covering it in the thick cloth. When she was done, she levitated the corpse and walked towards the door.
The others followed at her semi-slow pace, with Twilight lagging in the back. She held up the silver pieced watch for a moment, and could only think one thought. What secrets did he entrust me with? She could only ponder for now, for she felt that now was not the time to open it.
A/N
Alright people, i'm sorry for the MASSIVE delay on this one, it is entirely my fault, aside from a few unwanted vacations from typing. This story WILL be finished. I'm not going to go on another 'this is cancelled' rant. I realize my immaturity of what i had said, and so i will be typing in a timely fashion. I've probably lost a good number of viewers over that, but i can only blame myself. In any case I'll be splitting the last chapter into two chapters, so that you get some earlier explanation on what the buck is going on, and why such an event has just happened.
Please, comment, it helps me understand what i'm doing wrong. As a reminder, this is still my first FanFic.