//------------------------------// // CH 4 Blood Magic // Story: Twilight's Nightmare // by Nightsclaw //------------------------------// The frustrations of twisting her mind to grasp this wonderful spell were finally over. It was vexing, her host made this all look so easy. She sighed. It had taken long enough, but at last, she held the spell complete in her mind.  Actually casting it would take all her focus. She peeked in on Twilight and found her to be sleeping peacefully. Good, she would need her full abilities here.  With a mental summons, she brought her fragment back into her whole. For a moment, her mind spiralled, two chains of events trying to make a single narrative in her memories. The lullaby she used to sing to a lonely Luna persisted as the confusion of her two parts fusing faded. The memories of comforting Twilight gave her an idea. It would be.. it would prove useful to sing to her Little Star. It would help keep Star happy, reinforcing the Nightmare's claim on Twilight. Yes, yes, that would be most effective, she would do so when they next sought rest. Every little positive association or pleasant memory she could give Little Star would each affect her host bit by bit, compounding upon each other, infecting Twilight with trust and affection towards the Nightmare. If the Nightmare could get Twilight to care for her, genuinely care for her, she would be safe from even the hated Elements of Harmony. After all, they have no hold over what is already in harmony.  She wanted to throw her head back and laugh but now was not the time for that, she had much to do before she could see the shocked look on her hated sisters face. Oh, this was going to be glorious. The Nightmare offered Star an approving smile, before she picked her Little Star up in her forehooves, nuzzled her and placed her down at a safe distance.   Now she only had to cast the most complex spell work she could remember trying.  Banishing the happy ancient tune from her mind before it altered the spell, she set to work. This was going to be hard. Her horn lit, then overcharging with a secondary aura of shadows roiling from it. The very air thrummed with power and shadows, stretching towards this Darklight as if reaching for the now blazing horn.  The Nightmares head hurt, and it felt like her horn had a toothache. Five-dimensional arcane equations were most certainly not to her liking, not at all. Grinding her teeth, she kept at it, she would not be deterred, she would not fail. Her host's gathered spilt blood swirled, symbols and shapes began forming under its surface.  First, a single sizeable Arcane circle rose, tightly packed with interwoven glowing magic runes. Next six more within it, rapidly followed by thirty-six tiny ones formed orbiting the others in an intricate pattern some teleporting between positions others even seeming to be in multiple locations at once. Visually the whole work was stunning to behold, each part moving in its clockwork dance. To a unicorn's senses, it seemed to sing with the sweetest music a beautiful sirens song of near perfection.  She drew in a ragged breath. Since when was she breathing hard? The now fully constructed spellwork was bearing most of its own magical weight now allowing her to dim her horn.  That felt nice, the pain almost instantly fading away. The runes flared brightly, Nightmare wanted to shield her eyes with her wing, but now was not the time to show weakness, she could stand against the sun, so this was nothing. Proudly and with a stately stride, she advanced into the magic array. Small arcs of static played over her coat, leaving her mane more than a little frazzled. Each of the small circles pulsed and leapt at her. She flinched, battle instincts only barely restrained as she remembered this was meant to happen. Raising a shield or knocking the circles away with a burst of force would have destroyed all her work and likely caused an explosion. With a pinching sensation and a burning chill, the spell circles fused with her coat. Each acting as an anchor for what would happen next, reducing the amount of energy that would be lost in the transfer. Ethereal chains reached out from the anchors plunging into the blood connecting the Nightmare’s senses directly with a vast pool of magic. The chains flexed once before pulling, reeling in and dragging the blood along. What extraordinary power, Nightmare closed her eyes relishing the sensation. Yes, yes, Celestia, you might still have a claim to more raw power but compared to my host, you are most wasteful with your spellcraft. Blood crawled towards her, flowing up her hooves then legs slowly climbing higher. It felt slick, it felt warm as it caressed every part of her it touched. It crackled with magic, it was infused with life, leaving her invigorated.  If felt good, very good, maybe a little too good. Ok, now she knew why blood magic was banned. This was far too sensual and could quickly become addictive to a natural-born corporeal being. If a spa trip was even a pale reflection of this, then that was unquestionably going to be a luxury she indulged in when she got back to civilization.  Being Twilight's power, there was no struggle, no conflict, the power simply settled refilling her wellspring.  She could feel the last layer of the spell activate collecting the little wasted power. It reached out shaping and forging the blood solidifying it, altering its very material properties. The familiar weight of armour forming on her body. Something shaped itself along the length of her wings and horn, likely wing blades and a helm. She would deny it if anypony asked, but the feeling of armour enclosing her again made her feel safe, like a foal holding its favoured blanket. She scoffed at herself, at least armour is useful. Liking being safe in armour is not a weakness. "Only thirteen point two percent loss of magical energy from the conversion process, point eight per cent better than predicted", Stars overly enthusiastic voice snapped Nightmare back to reality. Nightmare opened her eyes finding Star sat like an eager puppy with ears perked up and alert looking at her with admiration, a quill writing once more on a scroll. Remembering her plan Nightmare reached out with a now armoured hoof to softly caress Star's cheek. "Thank you my Little Star, this would not have been possible without you." Star blushed and seemed stuck between trying to hide behind her scroll and puffing out her chest with pride. Nightmare looked over herself, the blood red metal. The armour fit her perfectly, it's colour might not be what she preferred, and it might not make her look as terror-inducing as her old set, but she could get used to it. She could feel the faint tingling of magic tickling her horn in a timing set by her heartbeat. She focused closer, the armour had a self-repair enchantment, and it was tied to her earth pony magic significantly increasing its durability.  The second most potent armour she had ever worn, crafted not by months of hard labour and mind braking enchantment work. No, it was conjured with a single spell. The Nightmare flicked her wings out testing the wing blades, Not a weapon she had ever used but they looked the part. The edges looking razor-sharp they almost seemed to whisper to her, pleading to have their thirst sated with just a little blood. "Come, we shall leave this place." Nightmare turned for the exit. gesturing with a wing for Star to follow before neatly folding her wings to her sides and trotting forward. The rapid clacking of Star's cantering hooves on the cold stone floor let Nightmare know there was no danger of leaving her behind, even with her longer gait. If it were not for Star providing directions, Nightmare would have been stuck in the Tartarus forsaken temple till the end of time. The whole place was a confusing mess and somehow without a single bit of detectable magic, was completely warded from both divination and teleportation spells without the right key.  From the lecture, Star had happily provided given temple's age the key would most likely be a stone ring about hoof size. It was hard to seem attentive and offer praise at the right time. Star appeared to be taking this as merely a merry little sightseeing adventure so she must have succeeded. Nightmare was not worried about being ambushed with her host's sensitive horn and sharp hearing, nopony would get close without her noticing. Even if they did, she was armed, armoured, and her host was an Alicorn, what could they do? The last thing they needed was to give up any advantage of stealth. A one way sound barrier was a simple solution that prevented anypony else from hearing Star's pleasant conversation and endless observations about the temple and its history. She went through a thousand years on the moon just fine, she could deal with a few hours long history lesson. The journey to the entrance chamber proved to be uneventful. Star had likely filled a few hundred scrolls with notes and diagrams.  Using a wing to indicate Star should stay back, the Nightmare approached the open archway leading to the massive entrance chamber. She was careful not to show herself to any within as she listened. As if waiting for that exact moment a deep male voice called out, "No point hiding, we know you are there Alicorn". A chill travelled down her spine, the small spike of fear clearly from her host. Willpower alone preventing any outside signs. She knew that voice, her host knew that voice. He would pay and pay dearly. Clearly, she had underestimated her foes, they apparently had very capable concealing magics likely aided by the temple itself. She would not underestimate them again. Still warded by the sound barrier she stomped one hoof down. The powerful impact was only audible to herself and Star. Extending her senses through the stone with her earth pony magic, she felt out for those in the entrance chamber.  Thirty-six hooves pressed down on the rock. All of them weighing about what she would expect for unicorn stallions. So she would have to deal with magic and lots of it. Nightmare stepped into the chamber deliberately concealing Star from view with her body. Letting the sound barrier drop, she flared her wings, displaying the razor edge of her wing blades. Her eyes quickly swept the entrance chamber. It was large, about the size of the throne room back in Luna's home in the Everfree. The unicorns, whos were identities concealed by black robes, were forming a semi-circle around the archway. They were a good four seconds away at full gallop spaced further enough apart from each other that if she charged one, the rest could quickly scatter then surround her. The central cultist took a step toward her, "Blood magic dear Twilight, Celestia would be so disappointed with you, she might even send you back to magical kindergarten," He sneered.  This foe had clearly researched his prey knowing enough to try and provoke a hasty reaction from Twilight with his words. Such a shame for him that Twilight was resting. "I'm the element of magic. All magic bends to my will. Do you truly think one such as you can stand against me?"she purred with menace. She leant forward threateningly, her horn lit as she changed her stance to one more common to a meat-eating predator. She only just preventing her pupils from becoming her favoured draconic slits. "I do," the stallion let out a cruel bark of laughter, "You are nothing but the rarest of spell components to me, Princess." Nightmare flicked her eyes to the exit "And you are worth less than the dust on my hooves, I shall be leaving now."  Nightmare let a lance of ebony fire lose from her horn smiling with glee as the roaring energy slammed into the arrogant stallion.  The fury from her spell cleared, she blinked in disbelief. He was still standing, not having even moved to defend himself. His robes were burned though, but his flesh seemed unharmed. That's impossible. He had no shields, no wards, no armour. What? How? One of the other cultists violently exploded into a cloud of ash. The others not even flinching. So this wannabe Sombra is using mental domination and harm redirection. No matter, he only has so many sacrificial minions. Nightmare lit her horn three layers of glows surrounding it multiple spells forming in her mind preparing to cast all of them simultaneously. She would have fun with this. His eyes flashed virulent green, coils of miasma rolling from them as he roared out, "You shall not escape me!" Twilight's fear blossomed at that sight, starting to resist, starting to thrash against the Nightmares control. Quickly she tore a piece of her essence off throwing it into the mindscape with orders to calm Twilight now, she needed Twilight calm, right now. The spells in her mind fell apart, small arks of power sparking from her horn. The now undirected energy as dangerous to her as her foes. She could not fight with the current distraction. She had to play for time and wait for Twilight to settle. She tried to focus on a complex shield spell, but Twilight kept disrupting her concentration. "No not now," she growled, her voice laced with rage. A swarm of surgical blades flashed into existence then rushed towards Nightmare's face propelled by the dark stallion's magic. Moments later blasts of force lanced out from the other cultist's horns all converging with deadly intent. Nightmare's horn sizzled with power as she forced all the strength she was holding back under control and into a simple telekinetic shield. "No, no, no, no, no!" Twilight screamed in Nightmares mind, the full forced royal voice hitting like one of Applejack's bucks to the face.   Twilight's terror-filled panic rapidly overwhelmed Nightmare's thoughts. The magic she was channelling breaking free from any control. Nightmare felt her body hit the ground hard, her heart felt like it would explode from her chest. Her world shattered as flames consumed it, and darkness claimed her.