Red Velvet and the Red Dawn

by Blackdrag-rose

Canterlot Under Siege

"So the culprit behind the murders was Red Velvet?" Princess Celestia asked, raising her eyebrow at Director Fury, who was kneeling before her in the courtroom.

"Yes Princess, he was the one behind the murders," Director Fury replied for what seemed like the fifth time, "We know there was somepony else in the ruined castle with him, but whoever it was managed to escape before my team and I arrived. We don't know if the second pony is one of Red's underlings, that is if he had somepony working under him, or if that was an employer that wanted him to weed out certain ponies. All we do know is that whoever the second pony was we have already lost them and they have likely disappeared by now."

Celestia sighed, it was troubling to know that one of her personal advisers was the pony responsible for the recent murders. Now that she thought about it she recalled how he had made a face when the murders had been brought up in court for the first time. He had known from the beginning about the kidnappings and the murders, and he just sat there, nearly right next to her, day after day until Fury had caught up with him. She was lucky he had been put down, otherwise she could have been injured in court and still would have been blind sighted by his trickery.

How she wished she could have gotten her magic around his neck so she could have personally snapped it herself instead of letting Fury handle the situation.

"I believe an order of rest is required for those who took part in the raid of the ruined castle," she finally said, causing the Director to look up at her, "and the same goes for the rest of the Nexus. You have brought a criminal who could have done great harm to the whole of Equestria and myself to justice. As such you and your network deserve a period of rest before you begin operations again. I will reward you with a medal if you wish, Director Fury."

"That will not be necessary Princess Celestia," the stallion replied, "The Nexus and I will take some time off, as you say, but we will return to active duty if the need arises. We'll take our leave."

Celestia watched the Director and his advisers, the nameless ponies who wore the black cloaks, leave the courtroom and her for the moment. She was still having mixed feelings about the one piece of truth that she withheld from the Director, but considering what had happened she was glad to have not told him. She really needed to have a word with her sister, that was if she had returned from her nighttime activities and was ready to speak with her.

Once the five ponies were out of sight Celestia got off her "royal rear", as some ponies had taken to calling her rear, and walked behind her seat to where a secret passageway rested. It was her only way of leaving the courtroom without anypony else knowing, and even if they knew it existed they wouldn't be able to follow her. She had designed the passageway to allow only her to enter and leave as she wanted, so anypony else was out of luck if they wanted to see what secrets she held.

Another question she wanted answered, but not in front of the Director, was if Red Velvet had found the dreaded Blood Rune at all. The passageway was home to hundreds of items that she and Luna had rather not let anypony else know the existence of, such as the other seven rune stones that complete the set. She had spent the last thousand years gathering all the dangerous items she could get her hooves on and stockpiled them far below Canterlot, farther than the crystal caverns were.

It was an ancient vault that housed the dangerous items in existence and only Celestia had the knowledge necessary to open it.

She would have liked to have taken the eighth rune stone and put it in the vault, but right now she had no idea if it still existed. Besides, she was more worried about what Luna might have to say to her, which was the reason she was traveling down the charm lit hallway and not the sun filled hallways of the castle. Ponies would tend to stop her when she was in a hurry, so this place was better since she could move uninterrupted as much as liked.

Not ten minutes after her departure from the courtroom did she appear in one of the hallways in Canterlot Castle, one of the more rundown and forgotten about ones. None of the maids and servants were allowed in this particular area of the castle, mostly due to the wards that Celestia threw up around the entrance. Only Luna had the necessary spell keys that allowed her to bypass the wards and enter the area, which made the place the perfect area for the two of them to meet and talk.

It was the perfect place for the two of them to talk without the fear of being interrupted in the middle of an important discussion.

Celestia walked down the forgotten hallway and turned on the first door she came to, opening it to reveal the beautiful night sky. It was a balcony the door led to, one that the two sisters could share while gazing at Luna's brilliant night. As usual Celestia found her sister already staring at the stars, sitting at a table while she drank some tea she happened to make herself. Celestia didn't care about the tea, if her sister wanted to drink while they chatted then it was perfectly fine with her.

"Ah, Tia, I was wondering if you were actually going to come tonight," Luna remarked, noticing her sister arrive, "Come, sit and have some cake. I had the chiefs make up a black cherry cake since you and your secret network have dealt with the stallion whose been murdering other ponies."

"Luna, you know why I'm here," Celestia slowly said, making her way to her seat and claiming it before casting an eye to her sister, "We have something very important to discuss tonight."

"That is what you said in your brief letter," Luna replied, shaking her head as she took a sip of tea, "Something about there being another pony involved in the murders and kidnappings. An underling or a superior to Red?"

"Don't play with me Luna, I'm looking out for your safety," Celestia commented, her sister making a face, "After all, it was our combined idea to eradicate some of the most dangerous criminals in Equestria, those the law couldn't put in jail. You decided to resurrect the ancient 'Lady Artemis' and use the name again, turning into the night huntress your choose her to be over a thousand years ago. You asked me to choose a pony who had the skill in magic to remain undetected for a certain period of time, one who could move in the shadows as necessary.

Our 'plan', if it can be called that, has worked out well. We may have lost a powerful mage, but in the end we have eliminated several criminals that could have caused trouble for the rest of Equestria."

"Director Fury might discover that the entire thing was a game designed by the two of us." Luna remarked, drinking from her tea again, "He might feel that we have betrayed his trust and he might decide to join somepony else, taking all our secrets with him and leaving us with little to truly defend ourselves."

"He would never turn on us," Celestia answered, shaking her mane while staring at the stars, "He's noble enough to where if we explained ourselves he might listen and forgive. But I must ask, did you see anything powerful while you were in the ruined castle? Like the Blood Rune?"

"I did not actually," Luna slowly replied, as if she had decided to say something different than what she was going to say, "Remember, that rune stone was destroyed years ago when Nightmare Moon was banished. I was fairly certain that I saw it shatter into a thousand tiny pieces."

~The Ruined Castle, The Blood Lake~

Deep beneath the ruined castle of the alicorn sisters rested a huge cavern, the same one that Red had found during the first couple of days he spent scouting out the ruins. It was here that he found an ancient lake, one that had become tainted by the Blood Rune that had been resting in its waters for over one thousand years. It was here that Red found the ancient rune stone and unearthed it, dragging it back to the worlds surface and the light that it had been missing for the last thousand years. It was here that the blood of past victims and Red's victims intermingled with the water, allowing the genetic code of all ponies to mingle in one place.

It was here that Red Velvet made his final resting place and joined the countless victims whose blood had been spilled into the very waters in which he now rested. Unfortunately the once still waters slowly began to bubble, slowly turning the peaceful waters into a raging storm area with water going everywhere. Far above the lake the Blood Rune glowed a faint, but steady, red aura, one that drowned the surrounding area with its red light. It was the rune stone that was causing the disturbance, not that anypony would know what was going on before it was too late to stop the stone's work.

A minute pasted before bodies began jumping out of the lake, landing on the stony area that surrounded the lake as each one faced the water they had just come from. The bodies were, in fact, past and present victims, brought back to life by the magic of the Blood Rune, but there was a complete difference between their old forms and their new forms. Their eyes had turned blood red, losing their original color, and they had grown fang like teeth, useful for biting into others skin and such. And all of them ended up growing a pair of bat wings, or if they were pegasus their wings changed from feather to leather.

But the worst was yet to come as the Blood Rune reached our for the one who had set in motion the ritual that would have resurrected him and others if he had fallen. The water rippled, acting violently as the final pony was being reached for, and the four dozen others watched in either awe or horror. Some were waiting in awe to see who their leader was going to be, while the others knew who it was and had no desire to see him again.

Far beneath the water the tendrils of the Blood Rune worked their magic, spinning around the fallen stallion who had set the wheel of change in motion. The stallion's bright red coat darkened to that of a crimson color, while his mane and tail became a pure black as night color. His cutie mark changed from a shield with a pentagram to a black pentagram with a blood drop in the direct center, giving him the new relation to blood. His form twisted and turned as bat wings sprouted from his back and fang like teeth grew out of his mouth and even the sword was torn from his body, but it eventually ended with one thing.

His eyes, his now blood red eyes, snapped open as the tendrils energized him to leap right out of the violent water, causing the area to shake as he landed on the ground. Some of the other ponies began to gather around him, trying to make out what made him so special that the rune brought him out itself. He just stood there, his head low to the ground as he sucked in the air, his mind, his magic, and his memory returning to him slowly. And with the return of his memories came the knowledge that he had succeeded in the long run of making sure he would be brought back to life if he had died.

The Blood Ritual had succeeded and now Red Velvet was born again, only this time he would best Director Fury and send his soul to Tartarus.

~Canterlot Castle, Forgotten Balcony~

Celestia was the first one to feel the unnatural magic of the Blood Rune at work, though she denied its existence since Luna had said that it had shattered. But she could not deny the evil feeling that she felt in the air, the Blood Rune yet still existed and this time it had chosen a champion to use against them. She and Luna had played a dangerous game in eliminating several criminals and they had given the rune stone exactly what it had been waiting for for over a thousand years.

They had delivered Red Velvet to the rune stone and had given it a champion, one who had a grudge to settle with they who defeated him. He would be coming to Canterlot to fight and destroy the Nexus, Celestia knew that much.

"We should not have played this game," Luna spoke up, her eyes still on the stars, "We should not have believed that the Blood Rune was destroyed within seconds of the moment of my banishment. Before the war we tried countless times to shatter the damned thing, only to fail time and time again. Last time I truly saw the rune was when our archmage at the time violated some of your laws and it was just hanging there. Needless to say you put an end to...whatever his name was and the schemes he was planning."

"His name was Twinkle," Celestia answered the unspoken question, "He was Starswirl the Bearded's son. A very powerful unicorn who was interested in the dark arts and nearly succeeded in completing a ritual that could have brought back the dead. He was and shall always be one of the most powerful necromancers in all of Equestrian history."

"So if Red Velvet and his victims were resurrected does that mean Twinkle and his victims were also resurrected?" Luna asked, fearing the worst if two of the most powerful unicorns were brought back into unlife and joined forces.

"If the ritual was completed, and I do believe it has been," Celestia replied, shaking her head as she moved towards the door, "then both Red and Twinkle will be resurrected and so will their victims. And if Red remembers how he traveled between the ruined castle and Canterlot then we could be facing an invasion any moment."

~Red's House~

"My basement..." Red said, his victims entering his basement through the gateway that was surprisingly still open, "My house...we're back in Canterlot. I am...surprised that the Princesses haven't shut down the gateway."

"Canterlot...a place I know nothing about." another stallion replied, one dressed up almost like Trixie would, "But the Princesses usually don't go around smashing magical gateways that still serve their purpose for collecting rare and powerful artifacts. At the time Celestia and her sister were in the process of building another castle high in the mountains, but Celestia had another motive for building this...Canterlot. She had begun to amass a collection of rare and powerful artifacts that she knew would be dangerous to the rest of Equestria and she needed a place to hide them all.

So she built a vault far beneath the soon to be castle, one that she had the keys to so none of the relics fell into the wrong hooves on accident. Luna knows nothing about the vault, because if she did then she would not have let it remain hidden for so long without the location being disclosed. Obviously Princess Celestia thought that I was to be trusted and, when the vault had barely been completed, she gave me a tour of the location. That was when I noticed the Blood Rune and stole it from her, right under her nose no less."

"Just who are you kid?" Red asked, his new underlings securing the two stories of his house as he and the stallion walked up to the first floor.

"Twinkle," the stallion replied, shaking his pure blue mane as the moonlight showed his gray coat, "Son of Starswirl the Bearded and First Archmage of the now Ruined Castle."

"I was, or rather am, Red Velvet," Red said, his eyes scanning the windows and the city around them, "Ex-Adviser of Princess Celestia. Seeing how I just died and was brought back by the Blood Rune itself it seems that I have been chosen to lead the assault on the Princesses themselves."

"Look dude, I really don't care who you are or were," Twinkle fired right into Red's face, "but I follow the Blood Rune and the Blood Rune alone. If it says your the one who is going to lead this band of vamponies in a war against the Princesses then I will do as it commands. If it says otherwise then I will gladly follow my orders to Tartarus, to fight the demons in that realm, and back to Equestria. And right now it is telling me to follow you into a war against Celestia and Luna, so right now you are the boss of this operation."

"You may be the son of the famous Starswirl the Bearded, but your a pain in my flank," Red commented, turning to the front door as he cleared his throat, "Okay then, listen up you fledglings. As you know there are only a few of us at the moment, say about twenty ponies given new life, but we will do something about this. Before I was caught and killed I amassed a collection of weapons that could be used against the guards and, eventually, the Princesses themselves. That's right, we're attacking Canterlot and the royal Princesses at the same time. Get whatever gear you want and be ready in five minutes."

While all the newly born vamponies milled around the two floors, collecting weapons and armor, one pony stood near one of the windows and stared at the city. The mare had a beige coat with a blue and pink colored mane and tail. Her eyes, now the same as everypony else's, were focused on the castle, but it was her mind that was truly elsewhere. Her mind was focused on her lost sister and the best friend she had left behind when Red had originally abducted her in the middle of the night.

She was none other than Bon Bon, sister of the Changeling Wild Cherry by law and best friend to one Lyra Heartstrings.

~Canterlot Castle~

"I do not envy fighting both Red Velvet and Twinkle, Tia." Luna complained, donning the armor of "Lady Artemis" again, "Nor do I like the idea of returning to Red under the guise of his former employer to try and talk some sense into his blood lust filled mind. Why can't I deal with Twinkle and whatever magic he has up his sleeves?"

"I know him better than anypony else in all of Equestria," Celestia replied, sliding on her armor as she looked at her sister, "I was the one who taught him every spell he already knows, showed him how to wield the arcane arts with little guidance, and it was I who finally put an end to him the first time around. It pained me the first time, having to put down such a talented mage, and it will be just as painful to do it for a second time. Besides, you studied Red long before we choose him for our little game, so if there is anypony who could take him it is you and 'Lady Artemis'."

"Very funny Tia," Luna sighed, admitting defeat was never easy for her to do, "Let's make sure we take them both down and their army before the citizens know whats happening..."

She would have finished her sentence, but she didn't when she and her sister saw some of the buildings of Canterlot ignite with flames. Red and Twinkle were already attacking the city and it was only a matter of time before the citizens began to run around wildly. Luna nodded and the two split up, Celestia heading towards the flames while she headed for the ground in favor of finding Red easily.

Twinkle stood at the front doors of the royal library, the two guards who usually stood guard having been incapacitated by his magic. From what his partner, the one called Red Velvet, said it seemed that there was a wing dedicated to his father, the great Starswirl. There was something about burning down all one of your ancestors built for themselves that made his long dead heart want to beat again. But, like a true vampony, his heart would never beat again, even if he did something like burn down the library.

He entered the library, after tossing the guards to the side, and wasted no time setting the entire place a blaze, burning whatever came in his area of vision. In case the area he wanted destroyed was protected he was also going to bring the entire library down on whoever was already inside. Seeing how the flames had no effect on his lifeless body he tore the iron gate down and let the flames surge into the wing he wanted to destroy.

"Stop this at once Twinkle, Son of Starswirl," said a voice he dared to remember, making him turn around to see Princess Celestia standing behind him.

"Ah, Princess Celestia," Twinkle said, blue flames twirling around him as he turned to face his former teacher, "How painful it must be for you to see me again, after one thousand years of my death at your hooves. You must feel sorry that you taught me so much and yet you could not help but look past my actions and ignore the fact that I had been acting weird. Its your fault that I ended up killing as many ponies as I eventually did."

"Your right, it is my fault that I didn't stop you in the past," Celestia said, sighing before continuing, "but I will not stand aside and watch you burn down my city and slaughter my precious ponies. You have already killed more than you should have, Twinkle, and I am forced to end you once more for the good of all of Equestria. You and your necromancy will be put down once and for all."

Twinkle moved forward and the two of them met with flames meeting ice, meaning that Celestia meant to cool off her enemy and his wicked flames. Twinkle really didn't care what his former teacher tried to do, which is why he really put almost no effort into dodging her attacks. Sure his feet ended up iced to the ground, but with the flames burning around them it make no difference as the heat melted the ice. He grinned in the knowledge that even if he died again he would have burnt down the one thing his father made for himself.

Lightning flashed and pain, a very small amount of it, ripped through his body, momentarily tossing him back as Celestia neared him. The two exchanged looks and magic hit magic as they battled it out in the library. Some flames whipped past Celestia and charred part of her armor, but she had been fighting for over a thousand years and the small pain was nothing to her. She just didn't want to resort to calling forth the spell that would have taken care of the entire burning library when Twinkle was still fighting, mostly because that would leave her weakened enough for him to defeat her.

Just as she considered using the spell anyway a flash of purple light crashed into Twinkle, sending him back into the burning hallway. Before Celestia could do anything the ball of light spun around and wind filled the area, causing the flames to suddenly wither and die out. The ball opened up and, with a cooling wind that put out all the flames in the library, there stood Twilight Sparkle, her eyes focused on Twinkle.

"I'm sorry to barge in on a fight, but it looked like you could have used some help." Twilight explained.

"This is rich," Twinkle said, chuckling as he got up, "You and Luna got yourselves another princess to share the responsibilities with. Let me guess, there's a fourth princess somewhere in the frozen wastes where the Crystal Empire happens to reside?"

"Your good at guessing the truth," Twilight replied, magic already at the ready, "Tell me; who are you?"

"Does the name Twinkle mean anything to you?" Twinkle asked, smiling when Twilight shook her head no, "Allow me to enlighten you to the truth. I am Twinkle, Son of Starswirl the Bearded and First Archmage of the Ruined Castle."

"Starswirl had a son?!" Twilight exclaimed, shocked because she had never heard of the legendary mage even having a child at all.

"Yes, he had a family," Twinkle spat the word like it was poison, "He spent his days working on books and spells instead of spending time with the wife and son that he actually had. He spent years perfecting a spell that would change the destinies of ponies just by uttering it, but he failed and eventually disappeared. I then spent the next few years discovering the dark arts, learning how to resurrect the dead and, eventually, create an army to conquer all of Equestria.

The Princess here stopped me before I could complete the Blood Ritual and summon forth the army of vamponies that would have destroyed everything. Now here I am, a thousand years later, under the command of another pony who attempted the Blood Ritual and succeeded, marking him as the head of the vamponies. I'm sure that you, a princess, know of the pony whose name will shortly leave my mouth. I am quite sure you know a pony by the name of Red Velvet?"

"Red's a smart pony, but he ain't no murderer," Twilight shouted, knocking Twinkle on his back with ease, "You may be Starswirl's son, but it doesn't seem like your very good at magic anymore."

"I have been reborn after a thousand years of being dead," Twinkle snapped, tossing flames that bounced off Twilight's barrier, "My magic may not have been as powerful as my father's own, but I have always been a student of magic, as such is my calling in life and unlife. So I shall fight two Princesses with my magic and I shall rend the life out of them before they realize what happened to them."

Chains wrapped around him as Twilight thrust him into the air and back down, repeatedly, wearing out the over talkative stallion quickly. She chuckled as her former teacher took over and continued the process, leaving a very clean area wherever Twinkle landed. Seeing how he was already dead and no blood was flowing through his veins they didn't ruin the already ruined flooring of the royal library. Though Celestia made a point to personally tear out Twinkle's heart while Twilight was busy restoring the library to its former glory.

"So how's Luna doing in all of this?" Twilight asked.

"She's hunting down Red as we speak," Celestia answered, hoping that Luna had dealt with the other problem.

~Canterlot Gardens~

"So this is where we meet again," Red commented, not bothering to turn around as he heard the hoofsteps behind him, "my former employer, Lady Artemis."

Luna stopped behind the stallion, her bow aimed right at his head, as she considered telling the poor stallion he had been played the entire time she had known him. How she wanted to just tell the stallion the truth, a truth that would no doubt shatter his reality and force him into attacking her and anypony else. She was going to have to do it, either to the stallion himself or to Director Fury when he showed up to investigate the attack.

"That is true," Luna said, making sure her aim was true while she spoke, "I'm surprised you survived the attack. I was sure that the Nexus had stormed into the ruins and had killed you right then and there. What happened to you?"

"Oh, you mean the new wings and different color everywhere?" Red asked, staring at the hedge in front of him, "The Blood Rune itself has decreed that I am to be the Head Vampony that leads the assault against the royal Princesses. It has chosen me over the foolish Twinkle, son of Starswirl the Bearded, to lead the attack. Even now he is battling Celestia, while I wait for Princess Luna to join me."

"She already has joined you," Luna stated, making the stallion turn around as her disguise melted before his eyes, "Its been me the entire time, feeding you names of those that needed to be removed from society. It was supposed to be a simple snatch and kill mission, not murder some ponies and let the Nexus know you existed as a killer. We were forced to end our game early, but instead of dying quietly you had to go and find the Blood Rune in that cursed lake under the old castle.

Now here you are, alive again and you came bearing an army of vamponies that, as the ritual says, are supposed to bring about our downfall. Strangely I noticed that most of them have taken to setting fire to one building and then calling it quits before flying for the hills. Your 'army' is a bunch of cowards that don't want to die a second time and those from the modern era are heading home to try living normally again. You have failed, Red Velvet."

"You...you...I'LL KILL YOU!" Red shouted, drawing himself up as magic shot out towards Luna.

Luna dodged, surprised that his magic had returned so soon, but she twirled her bow around and put an arrow square in Red's shoulder, knocking him backwards a bit. He growled and tore the arrow out, tossing it aside as he jumped towards her, his magic blazing as bright as a star. Before he got close Luna dropped her bow and erected a barrier, preparing for the incoming blast that she knew was coming.

The area around the royal gardens exploded as Red's magic discharged, tearing the entire gardens to pieces while charring the surrounding area to a blackened state. The very air had the smell of being charred, which would let others know not to come around the area for quite some time a the moment. As the smoke and dust cleared it was painfully clear that Luna was already injured, thanks to the charred left wing she was now sporting. She had underestimated the power that Red had poured into the attack, one powerful enough to challenge an alicorn like herself.

"I...was not aware my magic had been boosted to such extremes," Red commented, giving an evil grin as his horn lit up again and he faced Luna, "It seems that the Blood Rune has given me more than a new form and a new life. It has given me the power to fight the gods themselves."

That was before an enchanted arrow pierced his other shoulder, causing him to falter for a second before tearing nearly all the arrow out...leaving the head in the wound. He chuckled before the arrowhead turned into a ball of fire, tearing at his muscles as he faltered in his stepping.

"I'm sorry to have to do this Red, but you need to die." Luna said, a third and final arrow nocked as she aimed at the stallion's head again, "And may you finally find rest this time. In TARTARUS."

Before Red could even fire his last attack the arrow went right through his head, killing both the stallion and cutting his magic off at the same time. Time seemed to slow down as Red's body went limp and Luna took a breath, smoke slowly whipping around the ruined gardens. When time returned to normal Red's body hit the ground with a thud, the wind brushed away the charred smell, and Luna stood there with tears in her eyes.

The other vamponies may have been gone and the head vampony may have been slain, but it still pained even an immortal to kill a pony. But with Red's fall came the safety of everypony else. Luna only hoped that the entire ordeal was worth the effort.