I've been waiting for this! Although I'm confused as to why rainbow was not infected, is it just a retcon with plot armor or is there some mechanic that I'm missing?
Happy Nightmare Night! Congratulations on getting out a Halloween chapter. Cool pic too, though I don't think the Castle of Friendship exist right now, does it? I forget.
Applejack had never thought there would be a day that would ever trump her parents death as the worst day of her life, but tonight was coming very close to being it. It was still hard to believe that everything she had ever believed in had changed in the last few hours, but no matter how many times she closed her eyes, the images were still there. She had seen the undead. Undead children. And she killed them with her own hooves.
She could only pray that Diamond Tiara and Tender Taps were at peace now. Nopony deserved such a fate. Her prayers didn’t just go to them, but to Rarity and Pinkie Pie too.
May the Crown of Diamonds, Tapper of the Stage, the Generous Gem, and the Bubbly Balloon all be at peace now....
Applejack would be lying to herself if she didn’t say that Rarity was the one pony out of their group of friends she had problems connecting with at times. Sure, she and Rainbow Dash argued but that was because of the competitive and stubborn nature they both had. Rarity was different because she was AJ’s opposite in every way. They were both raised in the same quiet little down, but had grown up with such a difference that it was hard to believe they were friends. Yet despite their differences, the two had loved each other like sisters. Applejack always respected Rarity for who she was and that was being a diamond. Not just in appearance but also inside. There was always a generous soul in Rarity that believed everypony had the means to shine in their own way. To stand up and be unique among each other. Sometimes it needed a dress, other times it needed words, or a combination of both. Yet, Rarity would always ensure you looked, and felt, special for you no matter what.
Which is what makes her worth of the Element of Generosity,
Pinkie Pie, however, was a pony nopony could really ever not be friends with. She may have been loud, weird, and sometimes annoying, but a smile from Pinkie Pie was a cure for almost anything. The party pony made quite an entrance the first time Applejack saw her with the biggest party she had ever seen and one of the most fun days ever. Since then, Pinkie Pie had been a part of Ponyville with her job to make sure everyone smiled and had fun even during the darkest days. Got sick? Pinkie Pie was there to make you feel better with balloons and cards. Broke up with your special somepony? Pinkie would make you a special cake and introduce you to new ponies to court. Lost somepony you cared about? Pinkie would host a memorial party for them so you could talk about the good times you had. Everypony loved her and that included Applejack.
No matter what you do, or what you say otherwise, you cannot live without a pony like Pinkie.
Now they were both gone. Two more of her family was gone. Done in by the kindest of them all.
The once gentle angel now turned into a cruel demon.
It was like this for what had to be nearly a half an hour until Dash finally said something that made Applejack’s stomach sink to her bottom. “I saw her neck get twisted.”
“Rainbow...”
“I saw her neck... twisted... snapped like a twig. By Rarity’s own hooves...” A few tears were dripping down Rainbow’s cheek. “I just sat there and did nothing. Me. The fastest pegasus alive. I’ve saved her multiple times before and the one time she needed me and I was there I just...” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and gave a harsh laugh. “I didn’t think Rarity even had the strength to lift anything more than a dress.”
Well, what happened only hours prior seemed to prove otherwise...*shiver*.
“Rainbow, stop it-”
“And the worst part of it is that she didn’t expect it at all. Like Pinkie Pie expected Rarity to just leave her alone and hug her. Instead she got herself killed... idiot... stupid fricken idiot...” Rainbow continued.
“Rainbow, please!” Applejack said desperately.
“We’re gonna die...” Rainbow whispered, crying. “I saw that thing... that thing in Fluttershy’s body that... evil... We can’t stop it. We’re useless and it's going to kill us-”
Rainbow is losing it....
Applejack’s hoof met Rainbow Dash’s face so hard you could hear it a mile away. The two friends stared at each other. Rainbow Dash in shock while Applejack just glared.
“We’re not going to die... and if we are we’re takin’ that abomination with us...” Applejack growled, fighting her own tears. “That thin’ killed our friends, our townmates, and hurt our families. It’s hurting Fluttershy and ruined all our lives. Ah’m gonna kill that vampire even if Ah have to do it alone.”
“... Are you scared?” Rainbow Dash asked.
I am downright petrified!!! Especially now that the Ghoul Army is coming to town.
“Sugarcube, Ah’m ready to just piss mahself right now, but Ah’m not gonna be, and excuse mah language, a pussy about it,” Applejack answered, lowering her hat. “Ah’m ready to just curl up in a circle and cry mah eyes out, but as long at that damn demon exists, Ah’m not gonna mourn yet. First vengeance, then mournin’.”
Rainbow Dash stayed quiet until she sighed and gave a small smirk. “Guess I wouldn’t be the Element of Loyalty if I let you do this without me, huh?”
“Couldn’t think of a better pony to do it with,” Applejack replied back with a smirk of her own.
Even in the darkest of times, these two will never change.
Both smirks quickly faded when Rainbow Dash then asked, “I take it you heard Twilight earlier?”
Applejack winced before she started rubbing her ears. “Kinda hard not to. Didn’t think the girl had it in her to be so... angry.”
“Well, I can’t blame her,” Rainbow Dash said, huffing as she glared at the wall. “If the, and forgive my blasphemy, stupid princesses told us about vampires being real earlier then maybe we could have prevented this from happening.”
“I fear that perhaps it was our error to keep such a thing secret.” The two ponies turned to see Princess Luna entering while closing the door behind her. They made an effort to bow, but Luna held her hoof. “No, my sister and I do not deserve to be bow this day. Rather, we desire to ask for your forgiveness in failing to react to this situation properly.”
If there's one pony who deserves it, it's Fluttershy....
“How’s Twilight?” Applejack asked.
“Honestly, I fear that she is broken. Not beyond repair, but upon losing her two best friends and having her beliefs shattered about the world as she knew it I fear she will need time to recover,” Princess Luna answered, shaking her head. “My sister and young Spike are taking care of her now. The former telling the truth as I am here to tell you as well.”
“Yeah, so vampires are real? Great to know by the way,” Rainbow Dash hissed.
Yeah, really great.
“No, she is right to be upset. You all are,” Princess Luna answered. “You must understand. My sister and I believed that all the vampires in Equestria were destroyed. Along with all the other dark creatures and nightmares that existed so long ago.”
No matter how much you destroy it, the darkness will always linger.
“Maybe y’all can explain everythin’ then? And Ah mean everythin’?” Applejack asked, sitting down.
Princess Luna nodded and cleared her throat. “Long ago, the world was... a much darker place then it originally way. And I don’t mean because of beings like Discord or Sombra. There were forces beyond any evil you have never met. Vampires. Werewolves. Demons. Zombies. Dark magic. Even abominations from other worlds. Imagine almost every scary myth you grew up knowing when you were a filly. Every one of them was real.”
The Drinkers of Bloods, the Wolves in Pony's Clothing, the Abominations of Ponykind, and the Sorcerers of Darkness...all of it real.
“Wait, so... if everything is true... why is it all taught to be fake?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“My sister and I worked many years to wipe such filth from Equestria,” Princess Luna said, lowering her head as rage began to show in her eyes. “Every day it was a new atrocity. Many lives were lost. None were spared for any reasons. There are evils in this world that cannot be defeated by friendship. Only by cold steel to the heart.” She paused before continuing. “If I must be honest, my sister has weakened Equestria’s military considerable. We do not have the once proud Legions that stood against darkness and brought the warm light to our subjects. We do not have our Inquisition to make sure all stand pure before the holiness of Faust. Nor are the Hunter Guilds, filled with heroes that risked their lives to defeat evil, around anymore. I understand why such things were dissolved over time, but I cannot help but fear it was a mistake in the long run to lose our vigilance.”
Or to lose any important things that could even work to your favor.
“Ya make it sound like it was a war back then,” Applejack pointed out.
“It was a war, Applejack. A war between darkness and light. A war that saw many dead, and some suffer fates worse than death,” Luna answered in a harsh tone. “However, the worst were the vampires. Soulless abominations that feed on the blood of the living. Murdering and raping their victiums before feasting on them, turning them into corpses or ghouls like your friend, Rarity. They had the blackest of magic, armies of the dead at their command, and could strike without warning. They see us living as cattle. Good to harvest and feast on. It was a miracle we found ways to exterminate them at all.”
The Vampires are the wolves, and the ponies are the cattle....
“So how did this one survive?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I do not know, but I fear this is the worst of them all,” Luna answered with a heavy tone. A tone that spoke of someone who had seen the worst the world could offer and came out less of themselves. “His name is Nosferatu. He was the last of the Vampire Lord's my sister and I faced nearly a thousand years ago. This being... no he is not even a being. He is a monster in the purest form. Whatever villains you have faced are nothing compared to him. He is even older than my sister and I, technically.”
This made the two friends looked at each other with wide eyes. The Princesses were some of the oldest creatures in the world, and it was rare to hear about anything else older than them.
“He was the last and most powerful Vampire my sister and I had to face... I thought for sure we destroyed him all those years ago...”
Yet he escaped...somehow.
Princess Luna was a warrior at heart. While her sister, Celestia, was the one who preferred to fight in the political battles with the nobility and delegates from other nations, the princess of the night preferred her fights up close and personal. With her magic gripping the handles of her twin blades, she charged forward with her sister against their most hated enemy since Discord himself: Vampire Lord Nosferatu. The last of the vampires and the final enemy to end the darkness in Equestria once and for all.
Long had she dreamed of this moment, this final battle against the greatest murderer of her ponies. This would only end in death be it her and her sister or the demon before them. Luna did not fear death, as did any true warrior, but she feared failure. Should she and her sister die all of Equestria would fall.
If the leaders die, so will their nation.
Thus, she couldn’t fall. She had to win.
Let him taste the wrath of the Royal Pony Sisters.
Celestia had struck first with her spear, unleashing the energy of the sun that choose her to be their champion. Nosferatu had all but easily dodge the blow by floating back to his throne and landing on top of it. Raising his hooves, the blood flowing through the room began to take the form of spears and swords which levitated before him. With a flicker of magic, the now sharp blood blades began making their way towards the two sisters. Together, they activated their shields with their magic, wincing as the dark magic struck hard. Luna nearly lost her focus when she heard the dying screams and painful cries of their centurions behind them. She had nearly forgotten them in her foolishness. She turned around and quickly turned away, not waiting to see their ruined corpses.
Corpses that will soon be raised into Ghouls.
Nosferatu summoned two more of his blood swords and charged at Celestia, clashing his blades against her spear as she twirled around like a dancer of death. Yet for all her skill, Celestia was only to match even with the dark lord who moved swifter than any normal pony should. With a war cry, Luna joined in the fray, her blades singing in the air as she tried to strike their damned foe.
Nosferatu narrowed his eyes and summoned more blood weapons to his side while fighting both sisters on opposite sides. While Nosferatu may have been older than Celestia and Luna, the two sisters knew each other’s moves without even speaking. When Celestia swung high, Luna would swing low. Luna would fake a strike while Celestia went for a killing blow. It went on like this for what seemed like hours.
Time is endless to somepony of evil and darkness...especially a Vampire.
Pushed back by a kick, Luna summoned her magic as white star like energy spheres began to appear around her. She threw them one by one, each hitting the vampires which pushed him further back. Celestia summoned her spear and struck the ground, unleashing a wave of fire that burned most of the cloak and skin off of their foe. Any other creature could have been killed by either attack, but upon landing back on his feet, Nosferatu summoned the blood in his throne room and wrapped it around his body. In a few seconds, he was all but healed.
“Thou cannot killeth me. I am immortal. I am a god.” Nosferatu said, calmly.
“Th're is only one god. And thou art not h'r!” Celestia cried out charging forward, but Nosferatu struck back with his horn. Dark red lightning struck out and hit Celestia dead center in the chest, causing her to fly back while yelling pain.
The only one true god is the Goddess of the Ponies herself!!!
“Sister!” Luna cried in horror before growling at her attacker. “Fiend!”
However, something small and black managed to get in her face, distracting her. Another then appeared. Then another. Soon she was being swarmed by the creatures who began to pick at her flesh with her bites. She tried shooing them away with her swords, but the creatures, recognizing them as bats, continued to attack her.
Their distraction worked for their master, as a wave of dark energy struck Luna and sent her across the throne room, right next to her sister. Helping each other up, Luna took a good look at her sister's armor which had a bit of a melt to it in the center thanks to the last blast while she was bleeding on her limbs and shoulders. Nosferatu, however, stood calm and collected with his bat minions swarming around him.
“We art at a disadvantage, Sister,” Celestia whispered, growling as they helped each other up. “This entire throne cubiculo is liketh a weapon f'r that gent to useth.”
That entire throne is like a giant weapon for Nosferatu to use.
“Then shalt we proce'd with the planeth?” Luna asked, mentioning the idea the two of them came up with to defeat Nosferatu.
“Forsooth. We shalt appeareth to beest dead from the next attack and slain. At which hour that gent gets closeth enow we shalt striketh that gent,” Celestia muttered.
“Then alloweth us desire our training hath paid off, Celestia,” Luna whispered as the two charged again.
Finish him....
Nosferatu grinned and unleashed another wave of dark energy that nearly swallowed the two sisters whole had they not teleported away. However, before either could recover, a blast of magic from his horn hit Luna right in the center of her chest. Her armor too most of the damage, but she screamed for real from the pain as she was sent her into a corner where she pretended to go limp and act slain. Using the training she learned from a Zebra Shaman, she slowed her heart to the point where it could barely beat, but still she remained alive. While there were spells that could feign one’s death, any magic used the vampire could have sensed immediately, so they had to learn how to physically do it.
Zebras don't really get enough credit to they?
Praying to Faust that it would work, Luna kept one eye slightly open to watch the events before her. Her sister was also pretending while lying down on her back, doing her best to appear dead. She could see blood dripping down from a wound to her side and feared, for a split second, her sister had been killed for real, but Luna still kept up her act as Nosferatu glided over to Celestia’s body.
“Yond is't? How disappointing. I did expect m're from thee two...” He looked down at Celestia with a grin, slowly inching his mouth close to her neck. “I hath't nev'r did hath't alicorn blood ere. I wonder how thee taste...”
The only thing you'll be tasting is the cold steel soon to enter you.
That’s when she saw Celestia’s magic slowly raising her spear before plunging it straight into the back of the vampire lord. He howled in agony and anger as Celestia opened her eyes and blasted him point blank with her magic. Luna used this change to get up and fly towards her foe, aiming her swords for his heart to end his life once and for all. Nosferatu, however, would not die so easily as he barely managed to maneuver out of the way so that the blades missed his heart by inches, but still did enough damage with their holy magic at work.
Teleporting in a burst of blood to his throne room, the dark lord held his bleeding chest as blood dripped out of his mouth. Any mortal would have died from such a blow, but it was useless unless they got his heart or head. Glaring at the two with hatred, he raised his hooves as his vampire bats began to circle around him. Tendrils of dark magic erupted from his body and began to leach onto the vampire bats one by one.
Wait a minute...his magic is seeping into the bats...ooooooh NO!
“What is he doing?” Luna asked.
"It doest not matt'r! Gath'r thy pow'r, Sist'r! Alloweth us endeth this!” Celestia cried as she began to summon her power into her horn.
The revelation was right there, dammit!!!
Luna closed her eyes, summoning the full power of the moon to her. She could feel it's cold yet powerful energy fill her veins and vigor her. Her eyes began to glow while her magic levitated her and her sister into the air. Their combined power, sun and moon, began to mix together as they stood side by side. Nosferatu just stared at them with an impassive expression as the two sisters unleashed their attack. From their horns, twin beams of light and shadow blasted towards the vampire.
Due to the bright light, the sisters couldn’t see what was being done against their foe but they heard his screaming nonetheless. The force of the blow was too much for the wall of the castle and so it was blown apart from the inside.
When the last of their magic was drained, Luna fell back to the floor, nearly collapsed with exhaustion as did Celestia. Sweating, the two looked up and saw that they had completely demolished the once blood filled room into near rubble with the throne and its wall obliterated. The giant hole in the castle opened the sisters to the fresh air of the outside world as they looked around for any sign of their foe, but there were only vampire bats trying to escape from the danger.
He's gone...for now.
“Any signeth of Nosferatu, sist'r?” Celestia asked as the two of them flew towards the edge of the room.
Luna looked around before noticing the dust and blood filled cloak that their hate foe wore. “Look.” She levitated it to her sister before giving a soft smile. I believeth this is all yond remains.”
But he will soon be back.
The two sisters then began to hear cheering from the outside and looked out the window. Hope and joy filled their hearts as they saw the ghoul army dying in huge numbers while their soldiers cheered in victory. Without their master alive, the magic keeping them under his thrall was no more. Light began to shine through the dark clouds and upon the two sisters as if Faust herself was saying how proud she was of them for ridding such evil.
Celestia and Luna stared at each other with smiles before holding each other close with their wings. Their armies below cheering for the two sisters as the darkness began to seep away.
All is well for now...but the past will come back to haunt them.
“That day my sister and I did our best to help heal Equestria from its dark history,” Princess Luna finished her story. “It was feared that others would seek to harness the powers of the vampires and other sinister creatures for their own so over time they were made into myths and stories with some facts being wiped out entirely. Yet, I fear that our actions have only worsened our situation.”
By a huge scale!!!
Neither of the two Elements said anything, just stared at each other in silence as Princess Luna continued, “Nosferatu is not like the other enemies you have faced. Therefore, my sister and I will deal with him while you and the rest of the town shall be safe away from Ponyville. Hopefully, we can put an end to him before he goes underground.”
“How bad would that be?” Applejack asked.
“He could spend the next hundred or so years slowly turning others into ghouls or vampires. Causing chaos in Equestria while building up his forces. Nosferatu could even wait a thousand years if it means rising to his former power,” Princess Luna answered. “To a vampire, time is meaningless.”
Especially to an immortal Vampire.
“There’s just one thing I don’t understand,” Rainbow Dash asked out loud. “How did he survive your battle? You said it yourself there was nothing that remained of him when you two did your final attack so how did he survive?”
“... The bats...” Applejack realized in horror. Princess Luna raised an eyebrow before her own eyes widened.
Moaning, she slammed her head against the wall and cursed. “Of course! The vampire bats! I thought he was trying to drain them of energy to heal himself, but what if he was putting his own essence into the bats themselves to survive?! Stupid! Stupid!”
So I was right....
“Wait, I’m lost,” Dash asked, scratching her head.
“Dash, Fluttershy started going sick after Twilight dragged their essence out of their bodies,” Applejack explained. “What if Nosferatu kept a part of himself inside the vampire bats during his battle against the Princesses, and it continues to spread among the vampire bats over the centuries as they continued to breed?”
“And when Twilight Sparkle dragged their essence out as one, they combined and searched for a new host...” Luna continued.
“... which was Fluttershy,” Dash realized in horror. “So then...”
And now Nosferatu has Fluttershy in his clutches.
“... Ah did this,” Applejack whispered lowered her head in shame. “Ah refused to listen to Fluttershy and had Twilight to do it in the first place... this is... this is...”
If only you had...if only you had.
“No, you didn’t know,” Luna said, walking over and nuzzling the teary-eyed farmed. “This is not your fault, Applejack. It is ours for not finishing this fight right the first time.”
“Who cares whose fault it is!” Rainbow Dash shouted, pounding her hooves together. “All that matters is beating this guy and stopping him.”
Princess Luna nodded. “You speak the truth, Rainbow Dash. For now we must-”
The door slammed opened as one of the Night Guards looked as pale as a ghost. He struggled to say something, but he looked to scared to do so. Princess Luna, sensing something was wrong, asked, “What is it? Speak!”
Uh-oh, when a sentence is interrupted you know things are going to be bad!!!
“The dead... the dead are attacking!” he shouted as he pointed to the window.
Princess Luna immediately looked out the window and she gasped upon seeing the horror outside...
The dead had come to feast.
And Ponyville is like their all you can eat buffe.
I've been waiting for this! Although I'm confused as to why rainbow was not infected, is it just a retcon with plot armor or is there some mechanic that I'm missing?
Happy Nightmare Night! Congratulations on getting out a Halloween chapter. Cool pic too, though I don't think the Castle of Friendship exist right now, does it? I forget.
May the Crown of Diamonds, Tapper of the Stage, the Generous Gem, and the Bubbly Balloon all be at peace now....
Which is what makes her worth of the Element of Generosity,
No matter what you do, or what you say otherwise, you cannot live without a pony like Pinkie.
The once gentle angel now turned into a cruel demon.
Well, what happened only hours prior seemed to prove otherwise...*shiver*.
Rainbow is losing it....
I am downright petrified!!! Especially now that the Ghoul Army is coming to town.
Even in the darkest of times, these two will never change.
If there's one pony who deserves it, it's Fluttershy....
Yeah, really great.
No matter how much you destroy it, the darkness will always linger.
The Drinkers of Bloods, the Wolves in Pony's Clothing, the Abominations of Ponykind, and the Sorcerers of Darkness...all of it real.
Or to lose any important things that could even work to your favor.
The Vampires are the wolves, and the ponies are the cattle....
Yet he escaped...somehow.
If the leaders die, so will their nation.
Let him taste the wrath of the Royal Pony Sisters.
Corpses that will soon be raised into Ghouls.
Time is endless to somepony of evil and darkness...especially a Vampire.
The only one true god is the Goddess of the Ponies herself!!!
That entire throne is like a giant weapon for Nosferatu to use.
Finish him....
Zebras don't really get enough credit to they?
The only thing you'll be tasting is the cold steel soon to enter you.
Wait a minute...his magic is seeping into the bats...ooooooh NO!
The revelation was right there, dammit!!!
He's gone...for now.
But he will soon be back.
All is well for now...but the past will come back to haunt them.
By a huge scale!!!
Especially to an immortal Vampire.
So I was right....
And now Nosferatu has Fluttershy in his clutches.
If only you had...if only you had.
Uh-oh, when a sentence is interrupted you know things are going to be bad!!!
And Ponyville is like their all you can eat buffe.
Babbling
That...is the SCARIEST freaking thing i have ever seen...
Welp...guess I'm not sleeping tonight...