Flutter Mane-ia

by Emerald Skysoar

Rising Darkness

Author's Note:

It took forever, but here it is. I was originally supposed to be longer, but I wanted to get it out as soon as I could. From now on, expect a chapter every month or so. Due to this, I promise the chapters will be a good amount longer, so look forward to that. And as always, if you see any mistakes, pm me so I can fix it. Thanks and enjoy!

The response was instantaneous. Applejack didn’t think as she galloped toward the beast at full speed, charging forward shouting “GET OFF MA FRIEND YA FILTHY VERMIN!!!” But the vampiric creature was undeterred as it continued to suck the crimson liquid down its throat, oblivious to the dashing earth pony. In a split second, right before she collided with her target, she quickly turned around and bucked the beast right in its neck with the force of a powerful locomotive. The thing screeched in pain as it hurdled into a far wall, sending even more dust and debris throughout the passage with an explosive crash. With a new sense of power, she gazed steely at the cloud that formed from blast, panting with sweat dripping down her face, waiting cautiously for any impending attack.

Suddenly, a loud voice erupted from the haze, “You have won my respect, pony. Your power is very… intriguing. I will allow you to have this small victory and escape from this place—but know this—I will come again…, and next time…, I will not be as merciful.” At the last remark the disembodied presence faded into nothingness. With that, the dust cleared, revealing nothing but a wide impression on the wall. Then, with a click, a nearby panel sunk into the floor, revealing a room with a huge staircase spiraling up into the darkness.

With the immediate threat seemingly gone, AJ then turned her attention to her unconscious friend. Rushing over and glancing at the body, she was amazed at what she saw. Below her, the rainbow mare’s once gaping wound was shrinking by the second. In a moment, it was sealed, and even blue fuzz was beginning to poke out from the new skin; only two circular scars remained. But it was not just the bite that was remedied, for the dried blood on her forehead was slowly going away as the gash healed. In a matter of seconds, Rainbow Dash seemed to be completely mended.

As the initial shock faded, Applejack finally was able to think clearly, “What in tarnation is goin’ on here!?” she yelled, slightly echoing throughout the silent passage. “Between Rainbow magically healing, a vampony appearing outta nowhere, and tons of traps on every turn, something strange is happening, and I don’t like it one bit.” With her fatigue lessened, she came to the conclusion it was best to forget about the silly contest and get the buck out the crazy castle.

With one motion, she effortlessly picked up her friend, but stopped soon after. The rainbow mare was ice cold; chilling the earth pony to the bone right as their coats touched. Icy waves bombarded their way into her. It was like carrying a heavy bundle of snow during in a blizzard. Had it not been for the faint breaths her friend was blowing on her, she would have thought the worst…

Now worried, AJ decided to endure the frozen onslaught and work double time to leave the thousand-year-old death trap in the dust. Hastily she galloped up into the darkness with unwavering determination. Finally after several torturous minutes of climbing, she saw a glorious sight in the distance; an aureole of light coming from a distant door. With her spirits rekindled, she burst towards the ambient ray, smashing the ancient door into dust as she emerged victorious from the crypt.

Panting, the earth pony looked around her new locale. It seemed like the two were now back to the first floor, but in a different wing. Looking up, she was amazed to find millions of twinkling stars overhead, bathing the area in a pale silver. To either side of the two was a long stretch of doors, identical with no indication on any of them. The air here was much sweeter than down below. Creaks and groans echoed faintly in the distance, accompanied by a steady dripping noise. Then suddenly the serenity of the hall was shattered by the angry roar of lightning from the heavens. Taking a second look, she could see huge storm clouds all around the horizon, slowly surrounding the castle. Dreading the thought of being caught in a thunderstorm and lost in the darkness of the Everfree, the exhausted pony rose to her aching hooves and once again began her search for escape…

---

Twilight Sparkle was getting rather annoyed at her “most faithful assistant”. It had been nearly half an hour since he left for the candles, and there was still no sign of him. By that time, she was feeling rather drained. With each passing second, the large ball of light shrunk smaller and smaller. Now darkness was beginning to rise once again in the library, greedily consuming the diminishing brightness. Before, she found innumerable amounts of ancient spells and memorized the most useful ones, but now she moved into lore and mythology, which was practically useless to her. ‘Where could he be?’ she thought, pondering while continuing another feckless effort to find any useful information.

That’s when she realized what she had done. She sent a scared, baby dragon out into the darkness of a crumbling castle and rudely locked him out. With newfound worry, her motherly instincts began kick in. ‘If only I wasn’t caught up in all those books, then I would’ve never sent him out alone! I can’t believe how foolish I was!’ Quickly she slammed the tome closed and rushed towards the door, using her magic to compact the shining orb and floating it above her head. This way, it would act on the remaining energy it had to light the way and not drain her magic. Using her shaky hooves, she pulled it open and galloped down to the first floor.

But she did not get far before she was stopped. It was a huge crash of thunder that made the regal alicorn trip and tumble down the stairs rather erratically. She landed face first on the worn ground of the entrance hall. Angrily she looked up at the growling heavens, shooting them a death stare, and then picked herself up from the ground. Paths surrounded her on either side, but she concentrated and remembered the path to where she told Spike to go. With the destination set, she rushed off.

The winding passage blurred past Twilight as she quickly went searched from room to room. Each met her with a similar response: nothingness. Now she was beginning to get really worried. ‘Surely there isn’t anything in the old place that could hurt a dragon, right?’ she thought while racing around from room to room. Then she began to call his name, “Spike, Spike, where are you? Spike? Are you here!?” She was answered in silence. Her light was getting dimmer and dimmer with each second until it was consumed by the voracious void. Too tired to cast another spell, she pressed on through the blinding veil. Finally, she reached the end of the hallway, but she noticed something different that wasn’t there before. A door had appeared from what once was a dead end. Intrigued by this, she hesitantly opened the door and called, “Spike, are you in here?”

This time however, she did get a response. “Twilight? Is that really you?” spoke a familiar voice with a southern drawl. Adjusted to the darker lighting in the room, she was now able to see her friend Applejack standing at the far end of the room, with something behind her.

“Applejack? What are you doing here?” she responded, trying to take a step closer before she was interrupted by AJ.

“Stop! Not a step closer. How do I know you’re the real Twilight and not some evil bat in disguise?”

“Applejack, what are you taking about? Of course I’m me. And what’s this about an evil bat?” said the alicorn puzzled.

“If y’all are the real Twilight, I’m sorry for this, but with the night I’ve had, better safe than sorry. Now, if you’re the real Princess Twilight Sparkle, answer me this: What did you get me for ma birthday last year?”

“AJ, you know I hate it when you using my full title. We’re friends, so there’s no need to be so formal. And to answer your question, I got you a new grammar textbook that I picked up at Canterlot, but it seems like you haven’t been studying it all that well.”

Before she could comprehend what happened, the orange, white, and red earth pony pulled her into a tight hug. “You have no idea what I've been through so far sugar cube.” she whispered, pulling Twilight in closer.

Recovering, she wrapped her wings around her friend, gently caressing the rugged coat, and tried to soothe her friend. Though she was shocked, she couldn’t help but notice the smell of her friend, which at that time was very repulsive, but she just ignored it.

After a moment, Applejack reluctantly pulled away when she remembered the condition her other friend was in. “I’m sorry, but we don’t really have time to catch up. The short story is me and Rainbow Dash—“

“You mean, Rainbow Dash and I.” corrected Twilight. “And if Rainbow Dash was with you, where is she now?”

“I’m getting to that.” AJ said with a slight edge. “Anyway, Rainbow Dash and I came to settle a contest, we separated and bad things happened. I found her lyin’ unconscious and tried to carry her up here… but then we were attacked.”

“Attacked by what?!” the alicorn interjected, shocked at the possibility of a malicious creature lurking in wait to attack ponies. Her mind wandered to scared baby Spike, hiding from an evil monster in fear.

“WILL YA LET ME FINISH!” yelled the earth pony, too tired to deal with any shenanigans. At her friend’s silence, she continued. “We were attacked by… Fluttershy.” Before Twilight could interrupt again, she quickly followed up with, “But it’s not what you think. It was some kinda fake Fluttershy that turned into a vampony—”

Now Twilight couldn’t help it at that point. The story was way too absurd to real. Attacked by a fake Fluttershy? And even more so, one that turned into a character from an old mare’s tale? It was just too funny to contain. She erupted into laughter at her friend’s perceived joke. But the look staring back at her was anything but humorous.

“Don’t believe me, do ya? Well why don’t you look at what it did to Rainbow?” she said, pointing with her white hoof at the bulge in the corner.

Walking further in, Twilight was now able to see what AJ had been talking about. In the far end of the room was the sprawled out body of her friend Rainbow Dash. Immediately she wiped the smile off her face and rushed towards the lifeless form. When she went to touch her, it was like her whole body was consumed in winter snowstorm, and she instantly pulled back shivering. “How did this happen?” she asked astonishingly.

“I told ya already, but y’all didn’t believe me. Just look here.” she said, moving over to her. When she got there, she slowly put her hoof down against the light blue mass, cringing, but she didn’t pull away. “Take… a look… here.”

At first Twilight didn’t see anything, but soon she saw exactly what AJ was referring to: two small, round marks in the rainbow mare’s neck. That took her aback a good bit. “Then… there really is a… vampony in the castle!” she exclaimed after she recovered. Pacing, she continued “This is bad, this is really bad. I sent Spike alone to get some candles and he still hasn’t returned! I need to find him! I need to make sure he’s safe! What if—“

“Focus Twilight” Applejack interrupted, “one thing at time. I’m pretty sure Rainbow here needs you more than Spike right now. And besides, he’s a tough little guy, so I’m sure he can take care of himself. And hurry, before I turn into an icicle!”

“You’re right.” she said, moving back over to the problem at hand. “Hold on just a second more, I think remember a spell that might work.” Focusing, she tried to recall the incantation out of the thousands she learned today. Then, in a moment of clarity, her epiphany came. Concentrating her magic in her horn, she started the intricate process. A purple aura washed over her subject as she floated up.

Soon the dark room lit up with a bright light as Rainbow Dash was slowly being healed. After a moment the light dimmed as darkness took its dominant presence again. The mare was gently placed on the ground, and silence took over.

It seemed like time stopped then. The world stopped to hold its breath, waiting to see if the mare would make it through the night…

Comments

[Scygnus]

Well, obviously she won't

Not that that'll stop her, of course.

Hrm. Is this Dracula Classic, that has complete control over all he has sired and all their own turned, or was he only controlling Fluttershy by directly possessing her?

EDIT: I want to upvote, but the upvotes are at 42 and I kind of don't want to change that

Oh well.

[Ponyess]

I would just point out that the summary is less then the story deserves.
Aside from the summary, I can't point at anything more to complain about, before reading more of the story.

5272812 If it is worth your vote, give it.

[Emerald Skysoar]

5326694 Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy the story! More chapters will be rolling out soon now that my college work is finally beginning to die down. But out of curiosity, what would you suggest I change the summery to? I thought it was fine, but I'm always open to suggestions.

[Ponyess]

5358929 The size of the chapters looks good, while you still have what seems to be a short time span in each of the chapters.

I would have a blank line after the first sentence and one after the fourth, in order to make room for the respective points.
If you can't put in Paragraphs in the Summary, it reflects poorly on the story in the eyes of your future readers.
What you see in the summary and the first few chapters is what you expect for the rest of the story.

You have an exceptional vote-ratio for the story, make your best to maintain it along with the development of the story.

The next chapter is certainly due, but don't rush publishing new chapters after that. Just post them, but take at least a week, before actually publishing.

[MissSparklePony1]

“Don’t believe me, do ya? Well why don’t you look at what it did to Rainbow?” she said, pointing with her white hoof at the bulge in the corner.

Wait, white hoof? The only two ponies present are Applejack and Twilight, and since Applejack is talking she would point her ORANGE hoof

Sorry if this sounds harsh, just want to let you know