The Dead Stallion's Hand

by Lord Zalgo

Enemies and Allies

Phoenix froze at Rarity's words. He slowly opened his mouth and gently ran his hoof along his teeth, only to feel that two of his top teeth had become elongated and sharper than the rest. He felt numbness throughout his body as realisation started to set in. Phoenix simply slumped down into a seated position as Rarity began to slowly edge closer to him until she slowly reached her hoof out, closing the distance between it and Phoenix's shoulder. As Rarity touched Phoenix's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him, Phoenix's fangs returned to their normal state as ordinary teeth and his eyes returned to their regular light blue hue. Suddenly, they both heard magic behind them.

"Phoenix! Rarity! Help me with this imposter!" Twilight shouted as she held Cadence in her magic. Cadence looked at the three ponies, hoping that somepony would explain.

"No, Twilight! It's okay, she's the real one!" Rarity exclaimed.

"How can you be sure?!" Twilight screamed in response.

"Do you really think she'd fool me if she were an imposter?" Phoenix asked carefully. Twilight stopped. She seemed to be contemplating her friends' words. After a few moments, Cadence slowly lowered to the ground and the aura around her dissipated.

"So... you're really Cadence?" Twilight asked unsurely. Cadence simply smiled serenely, before crouching slightly and...

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake." Cadence said with Twilight quietly joining in on the last line. Rarity and Phoenix stared blankly at the pair for a moment before turning to each other.

"Tease her later?" Phoenix asked.

"Tease her later." Rarity confirmed. After a quick moment of Cadence and Twilight catching up and Phoenix clearly being more distant than he normally would, Rarity asked a question that caused everypony's blood to run cold.

"Twilight, what do you know about vampires?" Twilight didn't reply immediately.

"...What is it you want to know, Rarity?" Twilight asked unsurely.

"Oh... Just the basics. How to spot them, what they do, how they can be killed." Rarity listed, trying to sound casual.

"Uh... Well, when they're angry or threatened, their fangs appear and their eyes turn red. I think it's obvious that they bite ponies, right?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. So, anypony they bite becomes a vampire too?" Rarity asked.

"No. Only a pony who is the opposite gender to the vampire biting them will turn. The pony also has to be a virgin." Twilight answered, growing ever more curious about this sudden questioning about vampires. Rarity didn't let it show on her face, but an overwhelming stream of relief flowed though her. However, she also felt a smaller stream of dread for Phoenix as well.

"Okay. What about how to beat them?" Rarity asked, masking the emotions she was feeling.

"Well, nopony really knows. Vampires have always been very secretive and all anypony can say about vampires' weaknesses are rumors at best. However, something we do know is that vampires are essentially invincible at night." Twilight lectured.

"'Invincible'?" Phoenix asked.

"Yeah. Any wound they sustain, even from things that seem like their weaknesses, will heal almost instantly when they're in contact with moonlight. As long as they're out of sunlight, their wounds will heal much faster than a regular pony's." Twilight explained.

"Well, what happens to them in sunlight? Is it like in the books? They burst into flame, right?" Cadence asked, growing ever more worried for Phoenix.

"Well... Nopony knows. Nopony's ever seen a vampire in sunlight before. Throughout history, nopony's ever seen it." Twilight said. Phoenix seemed to review the new information in his head before looking around and saw something that made his heart stop for a moment.

The sun was rising.

There was nowhere he could hide. No matter what within the next moment or two, the area they were in would be filled with light.

"Well... Looks like you three will be the first, then." Phoenix said fearfully. The girls looked at him curiously before they followed his gaze and saw the sun. The colour drained Rarity and Cadence's faces while Twilight still remained confused. Before anypony could react, the area around them illuminated in the golden glow of the sun with Phoenix standing in the centre waiting for a burning, scalding demise. After a moment, Phoenix opened his eyes to see his body still as it was before the sunrise. Silence fell for a few moments.

"Don't ever scare us like that again." Rarity said simply.

---

The group of four ponies turned a few heads as they ran through the castle, heading towards the room of the bride. The sight was so unusual that nopony could move until they were long since gone. As they reached the room, Twilight reached for the door handle, only for her hoof to be repelled from it by some kind of magic.

"Oh, no! We can't get to the fake Cadence! Now what?" Rarity exclaimed.

"The wedding's going to start soon!" Cadence exclaimed.

"Girls... I can teleport, remember?" Twilight said. Not a moment later, the four of them disappeared and reappeared inside of the bride's room. Where the bride... or somepony that looked like her was standing. The faux-Cadence turned around and looked at the ponies with a look of mild horror.

"W-what?! How did you escape the caves?!" Faux-Cadence exclaimed.

"Teleport. We can all do magic, you know." Cadence replied.

"Impossible! This can't be happening!!" Faux-Cadence screamed.

"I'm afraid it is, changeling. And you're going to pay for what you've tried to do!" Twilight exclaimed angrily. The Faux-Cadence simply scowled.

"Looks like he was right after all." Faux-Cadence said. Phoenix placed his foreleg in front of Twilight in order to stop her.

"What do you mean by that... Chrysalis?" Phoenix asked. Chrysalis showed a small amount of surprise before she dropped her disguise and continued to scowl.

"My... business partner told me that you ponies wouldn't help me and would slaughter me if given the chance. If I can't get love peacefully, I'll take it by force!" Chrysalis roared, preparing to attack.

"Wait-wait-wait-wait! 'Peacefully'? Who told you that wouldn't help you if you were peaceful?" Phoenix asked. Chrysalis paused for a moment.

"...I don't know. He didn't show his face. He was definitely a pony, though." Chrysalis replied, slightly confused at the ponies' non-violent response.

"Okay. What did he tell you?" Phoenix asked.

"He said that to get love from ponies, we'd have to take the capital by any means and take the love forcefully. Infiltrating the wedding seemed the most harmless way to do it." Chrysalis replied.

"I see. I think I might have an idea as to what's going on." Phoenix said.

"Wait. Why do you need the love?" Cadence asked.

"It's my people's food source. There's a famine back at our homeland. We're desperate... And that's why you won't stop me!!" Chrysalis roared again.

"No, wait, Chrysalis! We want to help you. As I was saying; I think you're being double-crossed." Phoenix said.

"What? By whom?" Chrysalis asked.

"The pony that talked to you. I think it might be Blueblood." Phoenix said.

"Prince Blueblood?! Why do you think this anything to do with that disgusting stallion?" Rarity said with disgust filling her voice.

"You weren't awake at the time. He's the one that hired the spies that brought us here." Phoenix explained.

"But... we all came on the train together. You two came with us." Twilight said with confusion.

"Replacements. Changelings, no doubt." Phoenix said.

"The pony did say that he would aid a few of my infiltrators in taking a role in the wedding." Chrysalis said, feeling more and more realisation that Phoenix may have been correct.

"Think about it. Why would he be so interested in taking down Canterlot? To take down the main power within it. The princesses. How much power has Shining Armour's love given you? You have been feeding on it, right?" Phoenix asked. Chrysalis focused her magic for a moment and her face suddenly filled with shock.

"There's... so much power! I... I think I could overpower Celestia with this much energy!" Chrysalis exclaimed. Everypony showed their surprise clearly on their faces.

"...Would you have attacked her?" Twilight asked, cautiously.

"...If the need to appeared. I never thought that I was a match for Celestia, so it never came into the question." Chrysalis replied.

"Maybe that's part of his plan. We escape, we reveal you, Celestia attacks you, you overpower her. All Tartarus would break loose." Phoenix said.

"But, why? Why would Blueblood do this?" Cadence asked.

"Intimidation. Distraction. Chaos. Destruction. ...Death." Phoenix speculated. Silence fell in the room.

"What do we do now?" Rarity asked. Phoenix walked to the window to see many guards down below. Phoenix turned his head to look at the girls.

"Blueblood wants a fight. We'll give him one." Phoenix replied, turning back to the window after he spoke.

"Here comes the bride..." Phoenix muttered to himself.

Comments

[Vandristine]

Oooooh, here comes the castrating!