//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Warning - Dark Content // Story: Where Is My Love? // by TheMyth //------------------------------// “Do you think they were successful in rescuing Dinky?” Sugary asked Wise Words as they walked towards the castle from their apartment, the latter having told them about the events that had transpired not so long ago in Ponyville. Wise sighed as he shook his head. “If only I knew, Sugary…” “If I didn’t have this bloody limp, I would have come out of retirement and—!” Lucky paused when he saw the glare his wife gave him, silencing him and forcing him to look down abashed, only for his wife to nuzzle him.  Just as they arrived at the gate entrance, the trio felt the earth rumble as a shadow passed over them. As they looked up into the sky, they saw the Lightbringer flying low towards the docking area. Wise, Sugary and Lucky quickened their pace in order to reach the ship as soon as possible. Once they reached the now docked behemoth, they saw a few soldiers of the Solar Corps marching out of the main side hatch surrounding Blueblood and Derpy, with a sleeping Dinky riding her father’s back. “Derpy!” Lucky called out to his daughter as he galloped past the Solar Corps soldiers. When he embraced his daughter, he paused when he saw her flinch in pain. “I’m sorry!” he retracted himself from her, and saw the bandaged hoof. “What happened?” Before Derpy could answer her father, the voice of a mare screaming was heard from the entrance of the Lightbringer. Amber Vain was dragged out in chains by two soldiers, who ignored her cries as she barked out orders at them. Dinky’s eyes shot open when she heard her kidnapper’s voice, causing her to gasp and hide from her presence, which proved to be difficult with her being on her father’s back. “It’s alright Dinky, she won’t harm you or any other pony ever again…” Blueblood comforted his daughter as he gazed upon the prisoner with a combination of rage and pity. “Release me this instant you brutes!” Amber snapped at the soldiers, her eyes moving back and forth one pony to the other, an intense glare on her face as if she was trying to set them on fire by her gaze alone. “Do you have any idea who I am!? I am Lady Amber Vain! Soon to be Princess of Equestria! You are all flies to me! I am the destiny of this simple kingdom! Who are you to—” her words were cut off when one of the soldiers lit his horn and placed a magic muzzle over her mouth to silence her as she was dragged away. It can’t be… Wise Words thought to himself as he stared in disbelief at the deranged mare. He looked around to see none of the ponies in the current party were looking his way, giving him enough time to slip away unnoticed. Sugary grimaced when she saw the base where Amber’s horn use to be. “How did that happen?” she thought outloud, her answer given to her by her daughter who raised her bandaged hoof. Looks like all those lessons in self-defense Lucky taught her paid off… She furrowed her brow as she looked around. "All of this for our granddaughter?”         Before anypony could answer her, the Dreamcatcher slid into its berth, barely stopping in time. The deck was awash with agitated Katakan soldiers. Sugary noticed two Katakans carrying a stretcher with a heavily wounded stallion, whom she recognized as Deadeye. Her eyes then went wide as she saw a certain colt Dinky had introduced to her the day after the Gala sitting upon a Katakan mare's back. “Get him to the hospital wing immediately! If they need a blood donor, find me at once!” Nightshade ordered the soldiers, her own eyes misty as she tried to not cry in front of them. “Yes Ma’am!” the soldiers acknowledged her command and carried Deadeye off. Pipsqueak’s eyes never left Deadeye’s body until he was taken inside. “Is he going to be alright?” he asked Nightshade meekly, not receiving an answer from the mare. When he smelled something foul in the air, his eyes landed on a saddlebag that seemed to be carrying something round. Before he could enquire as to what it was, Nightshade flew to Blueblood and his company. Once she reached them, she lowered her back to let Pipsqueak off from her. “I must take my leave now, the Night-Mistress will want to hear about this,” she said before turning to Blueblood and bowing to him. Once she flared her wings to fly again, she was approached by Dinky who had jumped off her father’s back. “Thank you for everything, Nightshade!” Dinky nuzzled the Katakan’s leg until the mare lowered her head to the filly’s level. “You’re most welcomed, my princess…” Nightshade smiled fondly at Dinky and took flight, not wanting the filly to ask what she was carrying in her saddlebag. Blueblood sighed as he looked on to where Nightshade flew off to. I hope Deadeye will be alright… “I think we should—” he paused when he saw another figure coming towards them from the air, this time a white alicorn, who seemed to be in a rush. “Blue!” Celestia called out to her nephew as she walked towards the group. When she saw Dinky, she immediately nuzzled her. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” she said as she released her. When she looked to Derpy and her injury, she gasped and moved closer to her soon to be niece-in-law. “You’re hurt.” she said as she gently took hold of the hoof with her magic. “We need to get you to the doctor at once.” Once her hoof was free from Celestia’s grasp, Derpy nodded and gave a slight yawn which she covered with her sore hoof. “I think so too… that and a nice warm bed for me and my family…” “Wise, could you—” Blueblood paused when he looked around to see where the elder stallion was. “Wise?” he called out as he looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Where could he have gone? Just as he turned to his aunt, he saw the distress in her eyes. “Auntie?” Oh no! Celestia gulped and looked down to the company. “I am so sorry, but I must go now! I will be back as soon as I can!” she said as she galloped to the castle. Please Faust! Don’t let him see her like this! “Sir… are you sure you should be down here? This dungeon is currently housing a—” the guard’s voice was silenced when Wise Words lifted his hoof in the air. “I know full well who this prisoner is… hence why I must be down here.” Wise Words replied dryly as he lowered his hoof, walking past the guard and into the dungeon. The room itself had only one cell, where a unicorn mare was seated in with her head held up high and constant grin on her face. Wise Words sighed as he grabbed a stool from the corner and placed it just in front of the cell, taking his seat as he gazed upon the mare, her scarlet eyes in particular. “I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you in chains... I still can't believe all of this. You, of all the ponies in the world, actually being the daughter I missed so much..." Wise Words sniffed a tear that was building up. "How could you have done this? Did she drill some form of indoctrination in your mind that made you do this? Or was this just your own will, Melody?" Amber lowered her head to face Wise Words, her grin never dissipating from her muzzle. She cocked her brow before she speaking. "How do you know that name?" “I know it because I gave it to you the day you were born and I held you in my arms for the first time,” Wise said, frowning slightly when he noticed the mare’s eyes had narrowed a little whilst her grin had gotten wider. “Are you proud of your little filly, father?” Amber asked, giving a cackle. “Mother told me about you. How you left your own nobility behind and went lower than even the rats! Psh, a butler was no father for me! When I get out of here and take my rightful place at Blueblood’s si—” Wise stomped his hoof, silencing the mare, and he stood with a sigh. “It does me well, to know you are still alive, Melody,” Wise said as he placed the stool back in the corner, turning to face the mare once more. As much as he tried, the stallion couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “As for becoming a butler, it meant I could spend more time with you, but I doubt you remember all of the dollhouses I built for you. Goodbye, Mel… no, she is dead. Goodbye, Amber.” A deafening silence emitted from across the dungeon, with both ponies staring at each other for the longest time. With nothing else being said between them, Wise turned and began the trek from the cells, pausing when he heard the mare behind him gasp. “I remember those things alright!” Amber screamed, the sound of her chains rattling. Wise looked back over his shoulder to see her pressed up against the bars, sneering at him. “I took great delight in smashing them to pieces when I found out you abandoned me!” Wise Words said nothing as he began to walk up the stairs and away from the cell, each step felt slow as he furthered the distance between himself and the mare that was not even a shadow of his daughter. Emerging out into the castle grounds from the dungeons, Wise Words made his way over at one of the balconies and looked at the gardens before him, his mind and heart in turmoil from what he had just experienced. Behind him, on her way to the cells herself, Princess Luna stood with her mouth wide open. To her, Wise was one of the strongest ponies going emotionally, so to see him like this… The sound of wings flapping and then hooves on the concrete caused her to turn as Nightshade landed and trotted up to her, her eyes looking upon the the butler. There was a wet sounding thud as Nightshade dropped the sack she was carrying at Luna’s hooves, staring the princess in the face. “A present, from my son. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am needed elsewhere.” Having said her piece, Nightshade turned from the princess and walked over to where Wise Words was looking over the gardens. Princess Luna’s eyes softened as she looked on to the crestfallen stallion before her ears perked to the sound of another pony coming to her. She turned to see her sister walking rather fast to her, only to pause when she saw Wise in the distance. Before Celestia could act, she was barred by her sister’s hoof as it pressed against her chest. The elder mare looked to Luna, who shook her head in silence and turned to look at Wise Words again. Neither princess said anything as the Katakan mare sat next to the unicorn stallion and, in a display of uncharacteristic softness, nuzzled under his chin and pressed close against his side. Pain; something nopony wants to feel, yet it has purpose. It tells the body when something is wrong, or when there is danger, or alerts a pony to the fact that they are still alive. It was to tremendous pain in his barrel that one stallion awoke. Slowly opening his eye, the stallion winced and let out a hiss, for the room he was in was illuminated brightly. Something moved against his side, and he tried to let out a growl, but all he managed was a grunt of pain as his injuries flared up again. Whatever was against him moved away slightly, and he heard a quiet gasp, then a click. “It’s okay, you can look now,” came a small voice. He opened his eye once more, finding the room to be in total darkness now, but that didn’t affect his vision at all. Looking to his right, he saw his foreleg was in a cast and raised into the air, and as his gaze traveled further down his body he saw bandages wrapped around his barrel, continuing on under the sheet that covered his lower half. “D-deadeye?” Deadeye’s vision was drawn to his side, where he saw a horn glowing softly, the light low enough to not hurt his eye, and he could see the light amber of the eyes of the caster reflecting in the glow of the magic. “Prin…” the stallion tried to speak, but his words were cut off as he began to cough violently. Somepony eased him into a seated position using magic, propping him up with the pillows, a cup of water being floated in front of him, which he knew from experience not to drink too fast. Not seeing anypony else other than Dinky in his vision, Deadeye turned to his left, where he found a pair of red puffy eyes with blue irises staring back at him. Before he could speak, the pony wrapped their forehooves around his neck and pulled him in closer, pressing their lips against his. When they broke apart, they both turned to glance at the giggling filly, who hid her face by lying next to the stallion once more. Now that his eye had adjusted to the light levels, Deadeye looked around the room, his vision lingering on a small bag hanging from a pole which had a tube running down into his bandaged right foreleg; both were filled with a red liquid. "'tis fortunate your sister was back from her own mission, as your mother was insisting we drain her of blood to save you," Luna said, leaning in to nuzzle the stallion. "You gave me quite the scare, coming back like that. And when you are better I shall thank you properly for the gift you brought me," she added with a wink. "Night-mistress..." Deadeye started, his voice raspy, and he took another drink of the water held aloft in the alicorns magic. "Luna, I failed you. Look at me, a poor excuse for a Kata—" Luna cut him off by placing a hoof over his mouth, glaring at him. "You are not my captain because you are the strongest, nor the brightest at times," Luna stated, doing her best not to join the snickering filly. "You are my captain because, time and again, you've proven your sense of doing what is right against what is ordered. You are an example, one that all Katakans should look to be like." Deadeye knew her expression meant there would no arguing, so he simply nodded and lay back down. He looked to the door as it was opened, a teenage Katakan colt coming in. Unlike the stallion, this pony was one of the few who had been given and taken the choice to become a scholar; this particular colt was under the stewardship of Luna's personal assistant. He moved to one of two chairs in the room, Luna moving away from the bed to sit next to him, giving him a nod before looking at Deadeye. "I wish to let you rest for as long as you need," said Luna, her voice with an official edge to it. "But we must know what happened between you and the formerly alive Dark Star." Deadeye looked down to see Dinky staring back at him, and he was about to ask her to leave when the door opened again. Lucky Mint slowly entered and approached, reaching a hoof to his granddaughter. "It's time for bed sweetie," he said. "Come on, let him rest." Dinky tried to give Deadeye her best pleading look, but the stallion just shook his head. "This is not something you should hear, my princess," he said, ruffling her mane. She gave him a pout, then reached up and gently placed her forelegs around his neck, whispering 'goodnight' into his ear. She then turned and climbed from the bed onto her grandfather's back, the stallion leaving the room and closing the door behind him. Taking a deep breath, Deadeye began his report. "As soon as we entered the mansion grounds, I knew we were in the right place. As we approached the door, our targets came out. I took the initiative and focused on my unc... on the stallion, jumping at him..." Although he was subjected to a sudden and strong force, Dark Star did not cry out in pain, even when he was flung to the stone floor of the mansion’s lobby. Standing up, the Katakan stallion looked to his assailant and and began to laugh. “Oh my dear little nephew, how you’ve grown!” Dark Star said. "Tell me Deadeye, how is the big blue bitch doing?” With an angry snarl Deadeye leapt at Dark Star, his fangs bared and aiming for the elder stallion’s neck. Dark Star simply stepped back and brought up his right fore hoof, leaving it in Deadeye’s blind spot. As he expected, the angry pony was too focused on what he wanted to see it, letting out a grunt when it his his muzzle. Stepping back, Deadeye cracked his jaw and began to growl, the two stallions circling one another. “You’ve improved a lot, at least in your stance and offence,” Dark Star said as his wings fluttered. “But what about in defence?” He charged at Deadeye, who turned his body so that his side would take the brunt of the blow, but Dark Star was counting on that. Using his own wing, he lifted Deadeye’s out of the way and exposed the soft flesh of his barrel. Baring his fangs, Dark Star slammed his muzzle against Deadeye’s side and pulled his head down, leaving long gashes which began to well up with blood. Dark Star was about to attack again, but his vision was momentarily filled with stars as Deadeye’s hoof collided with his face, sending him sprawling backwards. Licking the blood from his fangs, Dark Star gave a low chuckle, an evil grin on his face. “I see… let them get an attack and then retaliate,” he said. “Well, your form is good… but what of your shadow-magic?” Deadeye’s eye widened as Dark Star, from his neck back, turned into mist, which swirled around like whirlwind. Not bothering to follow suit, Deadeye instead charged at his uncle, but couldn’t get close enough to attack. Dark Star didn’t have that trouble, using his shadow form to batter at his nephew, leaving at minimum scratches and at maximum deep cuts in the younger stallion. Forced onto the defensive, Deadeye backed away and watched the swirling mist for any form of pattern, but it was too random. Faced with no other choice, he copied Dark Star and half of his form faded away, but his chest and forelegs remained in their corporeal state. With manic laughter Dark Star charged forward, claws forming on legs made from shadow, which swiped at Deadeye. The one-eyed stallion howled as the claws dug into his left side, leaving several deep gashes behind, from which blood began to flow freely. One of the claws caught his right fore hoof, the shadow-claw crushing down around it; bones broke. Jumping back, Deadeye watched Dark Star carefully, the Lunar Corps captain panting heavily as his wounds burned. His eye widened as he spotted one place his uncle had left undefended, but it was very risky. Taking a deep breath, Deadeye returned Dark Star’s charge, the shadow- claws tearing fur and skin from Deadeye even as he pressed forward. Deadeye was light headed as he entered the area in front of his uncle which  the shadow-claws had been ignoring, and that is when he took his chance. Baring his fangs with a snarl, Deadeye sunk them into Dark Star’s throat, holding on even as the elder stallion returned to his normal state and began to thrash about, kicking and punching his nephew in desperation. Feeling Dark Star growing weak, Deadeye too returned to his corporeal state and fell to the floor, but his fang’s grip never faltered. The stallions crashed down, Deadeye using the deadweight of his forehoof to keep Dark star’s head down. Biting down harder, Deadeye pulled away. He felt resistance and began to chew his way through the muscle, being rewarded a few moments later by the flesh he had bitten being torn free. Spitting the meat from his mouth, Deadeye turned his gaze to the twitching form of the pony formerly known as Dark Star, a rapidly growing pool of crimson liquid coming from his throat. Trying to stand, Deadeye fell to his side and grunted in pain, for his wounds there had no chance of healing on their own. Turning from the body, Deadeye’s fading vision settled on the hole in the wall he had created. Putting out his good forehoof, Deadeye began to pull himself across the floor, not knowing or caring if the blood he splashed through was his or Dark Star’s. All that mattered now was seeing if Princess Dinky was safe. “Oh! Sweet flying feathers! That’s the spot!”   As she lay on the bed in Blueblood’s suite, Derpy was treated to a massage from her fiancé. With her back turned exposed and her wings spread, she felt her stallion’s hooves work their way across her wings’ joints, relieving them of the tension that build up from her fight with that wretched mare. When Blueblood removed his hooves from her body, Derpy immediately rolled onto her back to face him. “Where did you learn to give a massage like that?” she asked him, her eyes flustered as she felt strangely rejuvenated from his touch. Blueblood shrugged as he grinned. “Actually, this is my first time…” he trailed off, pausing when he heard Derpy giggle. "What?" "It's nothing." Derpy replied as she waved her bandaged hoof, causing her to flinch in pain. I thought those painkillers the doctor gave me would have kicked in by now… “Careful,” Blueblood warned her. His eyes lingered on the hoof for a moment in awe. “Still amazed you actually broke a horn with just one punch…” he trailed off, taking notice of Derpy’s lit cheeks. “Well with some deliveries, you need to be strong…” Derpy tittered as she remembered delivering sofas and other large parcels to ponies. “That and our little girl was in trouble, and I wasn’t gonna let her get away with what she did.” That mare’s punishment has only just begun… Blueblood thought grimly as he rested his head on his fiancée’s legs. “The important thing is we have our baby back.” “Is she still in the hospital wing?” Derpy asked, receiving a nod from Blueblood. The mare scrunched her lips as she sighed. “I hope Deadeye is okay…” she thought out loud as she remembered the state he was in. “He is… one of his sisters was around to donate blood.” Blueblood replied. Derpy lifted her back from the bed and turned to Blueblood as she cocked her brow. “One of his sisters?” she asked him. “Captain Nightshade has a big family.” Blueblood shrugged as he chuckled.   “That’s a relief,” Derpy sighed, making a mental note to do something special for the recovering Katakan stallion. “So what happens next?” she asked Blueblood as she rested her back on the luxurious bed again. Blueblood grinned as he raised his head from Derpy’s legs. “Well, I’m going to have a word with Twilight about planning the wedding, since she’s the best organizer out there… then I’m going to treat you and Dinky to something special… before that though, I think I need to do something…” “And what’s that?” Derpy asked. “This.” Blueblood replied, immediately pressing his lips to her stomach and blowing hard against it. Derpy squealed as she laughed at the sudden action, trying her best to push her stallion off with her good hoof, but to no avail. When she felt a pair of hooves tickling her ribs, she closed her eyes as she laughed and tried to free herself from her stallion’s hold. “B-Blue!” Derpy uttered out but her words were muted once he pressed his lips against hers. She melted into the kiss and moaned as she caressed his teeth with her tongue, begging them to open up. Once they did, she felt his tongue dancing with hers. After a few moments of kissing, they parted their lips from each other. Blueblood stared into her beautiful half-lidded golden eyes as he smiled down upon her. “I love you…” “I love you too…” Derpy caressed his cheek with her uninjured hoof before she pressed her lips against his. Her eyes fluttered to a close as she wrapped her hooves around his neck, bathing in the warmth of his embrace.