Luna walked through the castle halls, flanked on either side by pegasi of the Night Guard. She entered Celestia's private dining room to find Celestia awaiting her arrival, slumped partially onto the stout wooden table and addressed her sister. "No word yet, I take it?"
Celestia lifted her weary head, slowly shaking it. "Nay, not a whisper..." She wearily sighed, fatigue written across her features. "Oh, how I miss her. And when she does show up, I dread what we may have to do."
Luna forsook her seat in favor of comforting her sister, walking over and lifting Celestia's head with a hoof, looking her in the eyes. "Do not despair, Tia. I did not myself all those years ago, and now that it is Twilight missing, we must be strong; if not for ourselves, then for her. I fear the action we may have to take, but we will have her back." She embraced her sister, softly whispering the next words. "Twilight shall always be Twilight, regardless of what may happen."
Celestia closed her eyes and let herself be consoled by Luna. "I know, Lulu. I'm just so scared; she's become very dear to me, and her loss cuts deeply." She relaxed, then tensed up as she opened her eyes. "I will do whatever it takes to save her, and we'll finally have a chance to put that monster down, too." She eased out of Luna's embrace, looking at the plate of food half picked over. "I'm not feeling too hungry anymore. Shall we go see what Shining has gathered today?"
A small smile crossed Luna's face as her sister's despair lifted. "Very well. It was going to be my next stop before the night court anyways. That stallion has been running the guards into the ground; hopefully he has something for us this evening."
Luna and Celestia walked through the castle down to the lower levels, where the barracks and jail where situated. Entering into the command room, they walked onto a scene of organized chaos. Even with night rapidly approaching, guards filled the room, exchanging reports, organizing one of the many filled boards with reports tacked to them, and running errands. At the center of it all stood Shining Armor, creases on his brow caused by stress making themselves known.
"I want companies Bravo and Delta to have three search parties ready to go for tomorrow morning, by the sun's rising! Ensure they take sectors romeo two through sierra six, and I want a report for every sector!" he barked out as he bent over a table in the center, a quill furiously writing over parchment before the paper joined a large stack next to him.
"Good evening, Captain Armor. Any news?" Luna asked, everypony ignoring their presence as they carefully made their way to the table.
Shining briefly glanced up from his parchment before moving his head back down to focus on the reports in front of him as he growled out his answer. "None yet, and it's beginning to frustrate me! Every method we've used for locating her have failed! We've tried triangulating her magical signature, nothing. Tried tracking the enchanted earring I gave her specifically in case something like this happened, and nothing! Even brought in the one guard whose talent was divination, and she was stumped." He punctuated each failure with the slam of a hoof on the desk's surface, the final one leaving a small dent as he sighed.
"I see. I know we have tried the same methods as well, although I was unaware of the earring." Celestia quietly said, masking the weariness of her voice. "It must be the chaotic magic masking her presence from us."
Shining sighed once more, picking up the stack of reports with his magic and cramming them into a small folder. "Yes, that's the conclusion we've come to." He turned and finally faced them both. "But we also have equally disturbing reports. We have her presence narrowed down to the Everfree Forest, although truthfully, it's so large that doesn't tell us much. However," his hoof pointed towards a nearby board, its surface nearly plastered with reports, "all of those reports are casualty reports. Search patrols have encountered timberwolves that are roughly sixty percent larger than normal, as well as manticores that are thirty percent larger. We've already had to cut down on the number of patrols and increase the size of the parties, but even so, we've had numerous injuries."
He picked up another folder and opened it, revealing its lone piece of paper. "Even the zebra mystic Twilight knows reports that the plants of the forest are becoming less responsive to her; some outside force is exerting its influence on the forest as a whole. Whatever, or whoever, is behind this... it's no joke."
Celestia shot Luna a knowing look, and opened her mouth to speak. However, before she could utter a word, a resounding crash sounded out as branches of an apple tree struck the desk in front of them, accompanied by a chromatic burst of light. Everypony paused, the room deathly quiet as Celestia and Luna's eyes widened in shock.
"Twilight!" Celestia exclaimed first, immediately turning to Shining. "Captain, I need you to prepare a company to secure Ponyville against any potential threat, and I want them deployed as soon as possible. My sister and I will be going in advance and will await your arrival."
Without a word, Luna moved next to Celestia, their tails intertwining as their eyes closed, a destination in mind. As one, their eyes popped open, flowing with power as their horns radiated light, and they were gone from sight, a white afterimage the only evidence of their visit.
"Twilight, is that you?" Applejack nervously asked, eying the mare in front of her.
With a deep and rich laugh, Twilight levitated the stetson hat off the ground, her normally violet magic a vibrant red coloration. Setting it down on top of her head, she simply smiled, her fangs readily obvious. "Oh, Applejack. Is that anyway to greet a friend?" With a quick motion, a pair of wings the same shade of her coat unfurled, the lack of feathers increasing Applejack's heart rate.
"A-Are those wings, sugarcube? H-How in tarnation?" Applejack stammered out as she slowly backpedaled from Twilight, who closed the distance with a single flap of her leathery wings, the stetson fluttering off in the breeze.
Twilight licked her lips, the saliva causing her fangs to glint even more in the moonlight. "I take it you like them? You can have your own, you know. Kind of why I'm here, really." She walked up to Applejack's side, tenderly nuzzling her frozen friend's neck, then dragged her tongue from the base to the nape of her neck.
Applejack violently shivered at the intimate contact, her mind yelling at her to move, but her body refusing to comply. "W-What done happened to you; we've been worried sick this last week," she managed to stammer out, causing Twilight to take a half step back and look her in the eyes.
"Oh, it was wonderful. I met an amazing stallion who gave me such power. I mean, I'd always asked or worked for stuff when I wanted it, but now..." She moved back in and nipped at Applejack's neck, her voice slightly muffled by the fur, "I know that I have the power to simply take what I want, and when I want it. And, Applejack, I want you..."
Twilight sank her fangs into Applejack's neck, the warm blood quickly filling her mouth as Applejack began to grunt in response. Twilight revelled as she drank the magically rich blood, enjoying it as much as the involuntary sounds coming from Applejack. Slowly removing her fangs, she licked the bite mark, causing it to quickly fade as if it had never been there. Pulling back, she noted the dazed look on Applejack's face.
"Sleep now, AJ. I'll be back for you once I've got the other girls." Twilight stared into her eyes, her words weighted by a hypnotic gaze as Applejack's eyelids quickly closed and she collapsed to the ground. Licking the last remnants of blood from her fangs, Twilight wickedly smiled. "One down, four to go."
Two forms streaking through the night sky forced her focus to them. Twilight began laughing madly, shooting up a small flare of red. The two figures in the sky immediately corrected their course, headed directly for her. "Oh, fun!"
The two alicorns came in hot, forming depressions in the ground as they landed. “Twilight!" Luna called out, ready to run to her side, but halted as she noticed the glowing eyes and wings.
"Her eyes, Luna. It's going to have to be the hard way." Celestia calmly spoke, preparing herself for a fight. "Twilight... forgive me for what I am going to do. I know that you can hear me."
A tittering laugh erupted from Twilight's mouth at the words being exchanged. "Oh, looksee here! It's Little Luna and her big sis Celestia! Long time no see!" Twilight's voice rang out, multi-layered.
"Redamarc." Luna growled the name, hatred dripping from her words like venom. Her legs tensed as she subconsciously shifted into a fighting stance. "Return Twilight to us, and we may make your destruction swift."
Laughter greeted her words, a wide grin forming on Twilight's face as Redamarc spoke through her. "Oh, Little Luna. I see the time on the moon has made you stiff. No pleasantries, no hellos, just straight to business, I see. Lighten up some, enjoy yourself! Afterall, it's not everyday your ole pal Red decides to come and pay you a visit!"
"Monster." Celestia quietly spoke, her tone a stark contrast to the fire that burned in her eyes. "As Luna said. If you return Twilight to us now, we’ll promise to make your ending swift. Otherwise," Celestia stood tall, her words filled with hatred, "we'll hunt you down, and I'll enjoy seeing you slowly die at my hooves."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Twilight waved a hoof back in forth as he repeated the words a few times. "I must say, those wings are rather ugly." Twilight let out a weird warbling laugh. "And why would I want to 'return' this thrall to you? I quite like her, she's very powerful. Plus, I have some revenge to see to. I hope you enjoy this first gift of many!" The jovial tone disappeared, Twilight taking a fighting stance, her wings spread out at her sides. The next word was spoken aloud, although there was no need to.
"Kill."
Twilight launched forward, her red eyes glowing and her sharpened horn glowing red as nearby branches were lifted from the ground, following behind her. Luna and Celestia split to each side of her charge and raised shields, the limbs splintering against them. With a flap of her wings, Twilight neatly turned in the air, coming at Luna's backside.
Luna, startled at the dexterity Twilight showed, suffered the clip of a hoof against her flank as she moved to dodge. Twilight taunted her as Luna put some distance between them. "Hah, a little slow there, Luna! You're the one who taught me how to fight, I thought you could handle a flying opponent!"
Luna forced herself to remain calm and in control; it would do no good to get angry. After all, this was Twilight, and her goal was to save her, not kill. She caught Celestia's eyes and briefly nodded, the duo taking to the sky as they levitated some of the larger branches littering the ground.
"Oh, fun!" Twilight exclaimed, swooping in close to Celestia. She had to shift at the last moment to try and avoid a branch from Luna as well as Celestia's horn, which came dangerously close to her side.
"Twilight, I know you can hear us! Fight him!" Celestia desperately pleaded, her horn igniting with its golden aura as she prepared a spell. She carefully followed Twilight; Celestia was having a difficult time getting a bead on her.
Laughter rang out as Celestia was forced to abandon her spell in favor of a shield once more as apples were turned into improvised projectiles. Normally, they wouldn't be an issue, but one that missed her embedded itself into the trunk of a tree. "Oh, but I am fighting! I'm fighting you, aren't I?"
"ENOUGH!" Luna boomed out, her horn glowing, the magic almost tangible in the air around her. As she gathered more power, her eyes began to glow, the spell discharging moments later. The few clouds in the sky gave way under the sudden onslaught of wind as a concentrated cone made its way towards Twilight.
Tucking her wings into her sides, Twilight skimmed the top of the cone as she skipped across its surface, much like a pebble on water. The next gust of wind knocked her to the ground, where she landed gracefully on all four hooves.
Celestia tried sneaking up behind Twilight, her previously abandoned spell ready to go. As Twilight landed, Celestia discharged the magic, the electrical bolt headed for its mark. At the last moment, Twilight moved, causing it to simply graze her flank as she cried out in pain.
Luna landed next to Celestia and faced Twilight, who was attempting to shake off the numbing sensation that had spread to encompass her left flank. "I'll try to subdue her; it hopefully won't take much more." She spoke softly, undercurrents of emotional pain in her voice.
Celestia just nodded, looking up briefly to the moon. "When I give the signal, you know what you need to do, right?"
"Yes," was the only word Luna spoke as she dove for Twilight; who was starting to dive at her. She struck Twilight head on, her hooves colliding with the smaller mare's side, causing yet another cry of pain. Luna internally cringed as she closed the distance once more for what she hoped was the final blow.
Celestia hung back, watching and waiting for the opportune moment to reenter the fray. She watched as Luna retaliated against a wild swing at her with a controlled flap of her wings, bringing her to Twilight's flank. A quick two strikes from her hooves connected with Twilight, causing Celestia to cringe.
Twilight was panting heavily, her side still numb, and her right rear hoof hovering off the ground as she turned to face Luna on three hooves. She flapped her wings to go airborne, but was quickly dropped back to the ground as a spell affected her immediate area. Her body felt heavy, her wings unable to take her weight to the sky.
Celestia saw her opening and went for it, launching herself forward. Grasping Twilight in her hooves, the impact knocked the breath out of Twilight as Celestia immediately decelerated.
Luna came over and helped Celestia secure Twilight, her back to the ground and her wings anchored at her sides. Twilight attempted to struggle, but her physical and magical strength were both exhausted from the short, but intensive fight. Luna took full control of her bonds, freeing Celestia to do what she needed to do in order to free Twilight from Redamarc's control.
Celestia's eyes shifted from cerise to a deep red as they began to glow. "Now, Luna." Celestia raised both of her forelegs to her mouth, two sharp fangs protruded from her lips as she carefully bit into each forehoof, a small trickle of blood beginning to pool in the wounds. Her fangs disappeared as she carefully lowered her forehooves to Twilight's head, her magic holding Twilight's mouth open.
"Virtus ex sanguis datarius, voluntas erit redeo!" She dripped the blood into Twilight mouth, where it splashed against the back of her throat. After a few moments, Twilight involuntarily swallowed. Celestia held her hooves there as the self-inflicted wounds began to heal, the last of the blood splattering in Twilight's mouth. "It's done, Luna..."
Luna moved to support Celestia, who slumped over in exhaustion. Celestia weakly smiled at Luna, who removed her magic from Twilight. "It should only take a few more–" Celestia was cut off as Twilight became stiff as a board, her eyes snapping open, showing the deep red color of her eyes slowly bleed back to their original lavender color. A scream passed through her lips, her coat regaining some of its color, her wings snapping open, rigid. Along the main bone structure of her wings, from the base to the very tip, pegasus feathers began to sprout, her coat finally stopping just a shade or two shy of its original lavender color. Her eyes were now back to their normal color, with the exception of a small cerise ring near the very center of each pupil. The feathers stopped growing, the same color as her coat and wings, looking extremely out of place on the otherwise leathery appendages.
Twilight was still as Celestia and Luna watched, their breath held nervously. A groan erupted from her, causing them both to let out a loud sigh of relief. Twilight's eyes focused and took in the sisters over her, concern evident in their eyes.
"Oooohhh...." Twilight groaned, pain radiating from every muscle in her body. "I had the strangest dream..." She paused, taking in her surroundings, noting the destruction of the orchard around her, the unconscious Applejack and Spike in the distance, and Luna and Celestia over her, both looking extremely tired. Finally, she looked to either side of her, noting the appendages attached to her sides, and raised her hooves to her mouth, where they were greeted by two sharp teeth.
"Oh, horseapples."