//------------------------------// // The Last of the Blood Lords // Story: Trials of Vladamir // by Rennoc215 //------------------------------// Author's Note: I envision the blood lord speaking like Christopher Lee, the guy who voiced Saruman from the Lord of the Rings, Count Dooku from Star Wars, and the preacher from the Corpse Bride. A fine red mist surrounded Vladamir, who was laughing coldly. "Now, witness my power!" He said, his black eyes burining with raw power. The mist formed an array of thin, needle-like spines. He laughed as the shards flew into the guards, puncturing the skin and seriously injuring them, before pulling out. The guards began bleeding out of all the new holes in their bodies, and Vlad cocked his head. He lifted his snout, and the blood of some 13 guards was ripped from their bodies, to form a large sphere over his head. He looked down at them as the blood sphere engulfed him, and Twilight began to feel her focus draining. Her horn sputtered a few sparks, and then stopped working. Vladamir laughed from within the sphere, and said sphere began shrinking down. It compressed around him, becoming form-fitting, creating a tight guard. It began to sculpt itself, taking on muscle structure as the main design. Layer upon layer of thin strips appeared, creating a skinless appearance. Spikes began to grow on his shoulders, and a thin stream crawled up his head and became a crown of thorns. The whole shape darkened, becoming nearly black. "Bloodsteel, the strongest metal known to Equestria." Vlad stated simply. He floated down, and looked at those who had survived the initial onslaught. Five guard, Shining, Twilight, and the accursed Sun Goddess. He laughed brutally, causing Twilight to wither beneath him. "Now, swear fealty to me, an you shall be spared. Any takers?" He looked about, and, seeing no volunteers, he roared. He pointed a hoof at another guardspony, and a spike rapidly extended from his hoof, impaling the poor guard. "Lets try this again, shall we?" He said, withdrawing the spike and draining the guard's blood. "Who doesn't want to die?" One pegasus guard fell to his knees, and crawled to Vladamir. "I don't want to die." He whimpered pathetically. Vlad smiled. "Good! Good. Anypony else brave enough to learn from past mistakes?" He stood and watched the remaining few. "My patience is waning, any more takers?" When nopony else moved, he sighed. "So be it." He said, shrugging his shoulders. He pointed his hoof in their general direction, and three spikes came out, killing all three. At the last, he turned back to see the three who have been a pain in his side since the beginning. He smiled viciously, raised a hoof, and was blinded by a flash of light. When he looked back, the three were gone. "You can run, but you can't hide!" He turned to the pegasus guard. "Go to Canterlot. Find out if they are within." The guard nodded, bowed, and took off to the skies. "Soon..." Vlad whispered under his breath. -+-+-+-+-+- A burst of light suprised all the ponies in shugarcube corner, and the sudden appearance of a now-unconcious princess didn't do anything to help the now panicking ponies. Nurse Redheart sighed. "If only we had that new first responder, Vlad, here. He could have helped." Twilight gave her a sad look. "Vlad caused this. Now, what is the fastest way to revive her?" The nurse ran off to the kitchen, coming back out with a large dish of icewater. Redheart looked at Twilight, and gave her the dish. "I simply can't do this to the princess. If you want to do it, go ahead." she finally said. Twilight let out an exasperated sigh, and dumped it over her mentor's head. Celestia awoke with a start, sputtering and flailing about comically. "Wha, huh, bu...?" She asked, before regaining her composure and standing majestically. "You all did not see anything." She finally told the stunned crowd, who all absentmindedly nodded. "Twilight, can you manage one long range teleport?" Celestia asked. Twilight nodded, and Celestia smiled. "Good. I need you to take us to Canterlot. With Luna, We can stop him." Twilight shut her eyes, and focused hard. A blink of purple light later, the three of them were gone. -+-+-+-+-+- The deep, resounding laughter echoed through the desolate streets. "Hello?" He called out mockingly. "Any reckless sun godesses?" He called down an abandoned street. This game he had been playing with himself for the past few minutes, but his patience was quickly wearing thin. He stomped his hoof in frustration, growling angrilly. He kicked the next door open, to find two mares who looked vaguely familiar. "Any frightened sun godesses here?" He barked. The pale unicorn stepped forth, and something stirred in his mind again. "No, but there are two scared friends." At this, the cyan pegasus flew forth. "I'm not scared. I'm just... Comforting you!" she boasted. Vladamir rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter. All I have is a score to settle. Now, if Celestia is not here, I will be on my way." He said, turning around. A hoof touched his shoulder, and the ball of blood slammed into the purpetrator. He turned to see the white unicorn laying on her side, gasping in confusion. An evil smile crossed his face. "So you're the pathetic example of an equine which Vlad fell for. And a unicorn, no less. Pathetic." He said, voice laced with disgust. He was about to kick her in the stomach, when a voice rang up in the back of his head. Leave her. She's only distracting you from finding the Princess. Vladamir nodded, and turned away to keep walking. "The Vladamir you knew is dead. Best remember that." He said, walking farther away. Vladamir knocked down the next door, to find nothing. "WHERE ARE YOU?" He roared to the open sky. "Right here." Said a defiant voice behind him. He turned with a wicked smile to the now numerous group behind him. His quick head count told him that there were now ten, nine mares and Shining Armor. Vlad laughed. "Quite the stud now, arent we, Shining? Nine mares crammed tight around one stallion?" Shining ducked into the group, his cheeks burning furiously. Vlad's expression grew dead serious. "Now, let's see who we have. We have Twilight, the prodigal unicorn, we have her brother, Shining armor, here to protect the princesses here. We have the Lunar godess and the sun godess, along with the demigodess of love. After that, we have five friends of different subspecies. Now, my only question is this: What hope do you have?" "We have these!" Twilight said, floating up five necklaces and a single tiara. Vladamir laughed. "Oh No! They are going redecorate me!" He said melodramatically, cackling wickedly. His expression stoned, and he said flatly "I will never submit. I will never be taken down. And today, you have all walked to your doom." His jacket flared out, transforming into tentacles of liquid life. The tentacles bulged, then flowed rapidly to the group, aiming to impale them. Shining, being him, flared out a shield spell, protecting the group with a shield just like the one used over Canterlot. But the tendrils were unrelenting, smashing into the shield repeatedly. "Girls, hury. I can't hold up this shield for very long under this kind of attack." He said, rubbing his forehead. They nodded, snapped out of shock, and quickly began putting on the elements. Vladamir, outside, was chanting something. "Ulti, my lord, my god. Cast down from the seat of power, hear my cry. Use me as a vessel, so as to enact your will." The tendrils slammed into the shield, a fine crack appearing. "Ulti, my lord, my god..." He kept repeating, at the end slamming the tentacles. After several repetitions, the shield crumbled. Vladamir opened his eyes to see them all in slight shock, over the fact that the shield fell so fast. The tentacles pulled back, and then raced forward. The princesses activated their horns, but found the job done before they started. The tentacles had stopped of their own accord, mere inches from the group. Vladamir stood twitching, his head shaking from side to side, eyes closed. "This is my body! I destroyed you!" The deep voice boomed. "You can't have it back. His eyes burst open, flecked with white. "Take the chance, we don't have much time to loose." Celestia whispered to Twilight, who nodded. She closed her eyes, tapping into the elements, but found that the element of generosity resisted her command. She turned to face Rarity, who had a stubborn look on her face. "He's still in there Twilight. I can't do this to him." She said, turning her nose upwards. Twilight sighed, realizing that all of them had to be consenting in order to use them. Then, a little thought took hold. Let's hope her element influences her on this little bit of logic. she thought with a smile. "But Rarity, he wouldn't want this. We should do this, not because we have to, but to end his suffering. Look at him," She said, waving her hoof in the direction of Vlad. "None of us want him to suffer. We should end it. We HAVE to end it." Rarity looked a little hurt, but another look at the convulsing friend solidified her decision. She sighed. "Alright. Lets do this." She added, in a whisper, "for him." Twilight smiled, and closed her eyes again, tapping into the elements once more. This time, she felt the element of generosity pushing, and she harnessed it like she would a strong sled dog. When all of the elements sat huddled in her control, she opened her eyes, feeling the raw magic streaming from them. Vlad looked up, his eyes full black again, just it time to see the "jewelrey" lighting up with arcane powers. "No, this can't be!" He cried out when he saw the light streaming from Twilight's eyes. "It just cannot be! I am the last of the Blood Lords! I am the one to carry the legacy, to bring the world back into the old order. I cannot be defeated, I am..." The rest of his rant was droned out as the sound made by pure magic roared into his body, lifting him upwards and engulfing him entirely in its blinding light.