Blood Curse Hunters

by Rarity Belle


Chapter 118

Even though all the evidence was there, it couldn’t be believed. Sweetie still had a hard and difficult time that it was in fact Rarity who was behind everything. How could Rarity have ever risen through the ranks of the vamponies and become their queen? Was she the only queen that ruled over the lands, or were their several that would heed to yet another one, who pulled all of the strings. The situation was tender, stupid and above all, terrifying to witness. The other two didn’t knew what to do, to either shoot all the other ponies present or wait for the call for murder being given.
 
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were both uneasy about the matter. There was no doubt that Rarity wasn’t a vampony. The fangs that she revealed whenever she spoke and the wings that had grown out of her back gave more than enough confirmation. Rarity was a monster, an abomination to the world of the living. And she was in charge of possibly an entire cover of blood-sucking monsters that were ready to do everything she desired. But they also had a look to both Trixie and Fluttershy.
 
They felt regret for the both of them and wondered how on earth Rarity had managed to talk the both of them crazy enough to join her. Although Trixie’s case was easy to understand with all of the bite-marks in her neck and the rest of her body. But Fluttershy? Why would Fluttershy have joined the likes of her? It didn’t made sense in the least bit. She could and should have gone to Twilight in the hope to cure the condition, or learn to live with it.
 
Maybe it was because of the reestablishment of the Night Guard that she became terrified and sought shelter with Rarity? If that was the case, than they were to blame that she now guarded the one exit that they had. The matter was a lot more complicated than any of them had wanted to admit it to be. In one way, they were all responsible for it. A heavy burden to carry upon them all.
 
The whole situation was fragile and everypony felt it becoming more brittle with every passing minute. Sweetie was unable to even speak a normal word against her sister. She just stared at her with a glance of death. The fact that Rarity would kill intruders without a second thought, but was having second thoughts because it were them, caused all sorts of questions. Questions that were never spoken but the air was full of them.
 
The monster of Everfree was Rarity, who had died in the fires of the Carousel Boutique, giving both Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon even their right. That was the trigger for Sweetie to over overboard. She didn’t show it, but the young mare wasn’t herself any longer. She had shut herself down for the moment. Which meant that Scootaloo would have become the voice to speak. The wisdom of the pegasus outpaced the unicorn by a long mile. The sorceress had been guided by hatred and anger for too long.
 
Maybe Scootaloo could just say something that would soothe the pain for both sisters? “And yet here we are, standing alive and breathing. Which makes me beg the questions, which I want to ask you, Rarity. Why haven’t you killed us yet? What’s your reason for not doing so?”
 
The ivory vampony had to admit that it was a nice change of pace, to see somepony like Scootaloo talk to her. A voice that wasn’t filled with anger and hatred. Rarity would happily oblige to the words of the pegasus. She would speak the dreadful truth to them three. “It’s simple, I’m curious about the three of you. You’re wearing armor and carrying weapons that are curtesy of the Night Guard. I’ve seen your sort before on my trips through Canterlot. Which makes me beg the question, which I do ask you in return: why are you here? What did you came here to do and what do you expect to find here?”
 
Those questions really managed to hit home for the three of them. All three had their own answers on the matter and they wanted to answer at it. But Apple Bloom decided to keep her mouth shut firm. Any word that would be spoken by her mouth was only going to make the situation a lot more terrible. Sweetie on the other end, wanted to answer each question in great detail. Though with the rage going through her, Scootaloo placed a hoof on her back. She shook her head to the young unicorn. It wasn’t her place to say what was on her mind. Even though she wanted, she wouldn’t.
 
“Sweetie, if you start to talk now, with all that anger and rage in you, the whole situation is going to be broken. I don’t know about you, but I much rather keep on living for a few more hours, long enough to hang this armor away, thank you very much,” she brought forth in a whisper.
 
The words of Scootaloo made Sweetie raise an eyebrow and shake her head. She didn’t truly understood what was meant with them. Although she did have a faint idea. The answers to so many questions were too easy to not give. Sweetie Belle discharged her horn and waved a hoof to her sister. She turned her gaze away from the ivory mare and shifted her attention to the wolf. A wolf who growled and snarled like the true monster that it was. Sweetie cracked her neck, preparing herself for the fight. “She’s all yours, Scootaloo,” the young unicorn mumbled.
 
That was the sign where she had placed her hopes in. “Right,” the pegasus said and her glance shifted back to Rarity, “as you know by now, we came here because that was our mission, to see what lived in the castle of Everfree and probably murder everypony present. Only problem was, we didn’t knew that you, all of you, were present here. It, changed the situation a lot, of course. And, doubts has filled our minds.” Scootaloo tried to explain the situation to the best of her abilities. The calm and collected tone in which she spoke was both load and clear for everypony.
 
Rarity had to admit that she was taken by the words of the pegasus. She found a strange feeling of pride and acceptance in them. She wouldn’t just mindlessly charge at them, but pry as much information from them as she could. Only in that way, she could tell her part of the story. Whether she liked to admit it or not, Rarity was still having sisterly feelings towards Sweetie Belle. She was the only pony whom she couldn’t hurt, ever. A fact proven once before, when she lost control of her bloodlust all that time ago.
 
A deep, sharp, animated inhale was given by the vampiric unicorn. “And now that you know I am here, you are hesitant to slaughter me like you have slaughtered so many others. I must admit, I do have respect for that. Let us see how long we can keep the mutual respect going. But answer me this as well, why would you have ever decided to join the Night Guard? What drove you to doing so?” Curiosity had taken over her mind. Rarity wanted to know exactly what had managed to drive her beloved little sister over the edge by so much.
 
Scootaloo shifted her attention back to Sweetie. It was her time and turn to answer the question. She was the reason why the other two were there. Sweetie was the spark that managed to set the entire place ablaze. The pegasus gave a nod to her, telling her it was okay to tell her story. Then her eyes would shift to Soulful Gust, looking over him gave her a funny feeling. Everypony else accepted the words of the unicorn about mutual respect, but he seemed to have his own agenda. She would have kept a close eye on him.
 
All while Sweetie Belle faced her sister again and would drop the biggest revelation to that point. “You want to know why I joined the Night Guard? Why we joined? It’s simple, honestly.” Sweetie’s eyes met those of her sister again and the stoic looks between the two of them were exchanged again. Neither showed even a little bit of emotion. They appeared to be two statues. Statues that were forever doomed to look at one another.
 
“Pray tell me,” were the only words that got out of Rarity.
 
Sweetie huffed just once. It was her classical sister response. The stock up little mare that it always had been. “The reason I joined, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo just followed, is because I wanted to find who killed you. And yet, here you are, alive and well before me. But I know who killed you, I know far too well who killed you, Rarity.”
 
“Oh no...” Scootaloo mumbled to herself. She knew where the road would end and it wasn’t pretty.
 
Apple Bloom was tempted to do something, but the bow and arrow required all of her strength. Even if she wanted, she couldn’t do anything. Sweetie as on her own and she was going to make a bad situation even worse. “Don’t do it, Sweetie!”
 
She didn’t care what the other two hunters said to her. It was her sister that she spoke against. She should have taken it like the mare that she was. “You killed yourself!”
 
The high word was out and the vampiric unicorn actually managed to take a step or two back. She was shocked to hear those words coming out of the mouth of her sister. Never had she even dared to think that Sweetie was capable of spilling such words. Rarity would congratulate her sister, weren’t it for the fact they infuriated her at the same time. Now it was her time to shine. Her time to talk about the hardships of her own life, the past few years.
 
Her expression changed to a much more hateful one. The eyes were never taken off of Sweetie, but she knew where Trixie stood. Only Gust was the wild card of the bunch. He had moved out of her field of view and Rarity wouldn’t look to his new location. All she had an eye for, were those three pesky hunters, who thought they had it on the right end.
 
“You little snitch!” Rarity growled in return, stomping her hoof on the stair, letting it crack. “After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you treat me! You don’t know where I have been through these past few years, little sister. I had to pretend I was normal for a whole year. I had to keep on living my life as I had done always. You were right to suspect me, but nopony dared to believe you, because who would suspect me? It was my saving grace!”
 
“Then how did you end up like this?!”
 
“Fleur, Dis, Lee. She was the one who changed everything. She was the one who ignited the fires in the boutique that night, she was the one that almost caused me my life!”
 
“And you killed her in cold blood!” Sweetie countered. It would her sister remind the fact that she was the monster in this case. If it would be worth it, was the question remained unanswered.
 
Rarity huffed in return. She thought that Fleur had gotten what she deserved. An eye for an eye, as the saying went. Problem was that Rarity was immortal while Fleur wasn’t. “Her death was the sweetest of them all!” Yet through all of her words, there was one fact that arose within her. The diary that she had given to her mother such a long time ago. Hadn’t she shared the secrets that stood within it?
 
“Answer me this, Sweetie, has mother never told you what happened to me? Had she never placed a diary on your room, which was mine?”
 
The confusion was visible in the eyes of Sweetie. She truly didn’t have a clue about what Rarity was speaking. The whole situation had taken a turn and everypony was now looking at Rarity. An animated sigh came from the ivory vampony, who closed her eyes for a moment. “I suppose that she never let any of you read it. That morning, when you woke up with a burned, stuffed animal next to you. Who do you think placed that there?”
 
It was in that moment was a heart broken. Sweetie’s eyes would be filled with tears. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t wanted to believe it whatsoever. “No...” She shook her head and tore her eyes away from Rarity. Everything was then falling on their place for her. So many pieces of the puzzle were filled in. But it would never excuse the crimes that Rarity had committed.
 
The young unicorn would shift her gaze back to Rarity, only to see a sight that she never had hoped to see. “No!” Sweetie shouted atop her lungs. It was already too late. The actions couldn’t be cancelled. The chain of events would be set in motion and would follow through to the end.
 
Soulful Gust had managed to work his way behind Rarity and with the wings flush against the body, he had the perfect place to strike. In just a split second had he risen on his hooves, towering over Rarity. The ivory unicorn turned around when Sweetie shouted, only to see a hoof coming down.
 
It was inevitable that Rarity would be hit by one of the silver hooves of the stallion. It sliced through her skin and wing, tearing open the side of the mare. A mare who lost her footing on the stairs and fell down to the bottom.
 
Soulful just stood there, bloods on his hooves and panting. “There can only be one queen, and it was never going to be you!” He had played his last, closed card, and revealed which side he was on. The peace was broken between the hunters and the creatures. Yet the way it would turn out, wasn’t in his favor. Soulful knew that his death would be imminent, but wouldn’t go down without a fight. “Shiva’s, the one and only!”