The Prince of Darkness

by Morningstar 2143

Chapter seven: Conflict on the Horizon

Back in Ponyville, Twilight had been pacing back and forth in the throne room ever since Star’s departure. Spike entered the room with a sandwich on a plate in one claw and a glass of water in the other. He looked at her with an expression of concern and started a conversation with the fatigued princess.

“Twilight, I uhh…. made you a sandwich.” he held the plate up to her face but was instantly ignored. “Listen Twilight. I know you’re worried about Star and Rarity, but you haven't slept in days and i think it’s having negative effects on your mind. You’ve barely had anything to eat or drink, you’re getting thinner and not in a good way.” she continued to pace back and forth, ignoring the concerned dragon. Spike grabbed her tail in an attempt to get her to stop but only ended up being dragged along the floor with his heels skidding against the ground. “Twilight, stop and eat something!” he shouted trying to get her attention again, but she eventually kicked him off. Frustrated, he jumped and grabbed her face, pulling her down to meet his gaze. “Twilight! You need to eat something!”

“Eat something? Eat something?! Eat something?!!!” she pulled away from his grip. “You expect me to eat in a time like this?! Last time we saw them, Rarity was sick and Star was heading for the tundra! It’s been eleven days since they left and Shining Armor hasn’t said anything about them returning to the Crystal Empire! They ran out of food five days ago and Rarity was on the edge when they left!

“Twilight, I just…”

“You just what, Spike!? Let's evaluate the current situation! Star and Rarity are lost in on the tundra, there is currently no sign of them returning, Princess Celestia doesn’t know about any of this, and you want me to eat something?!?! Honestly Spike, do you even care about……..” she was silenced, mid sentence, by the sharp pain and purple bler of a dragon claw slapping her across the face. She looked at him, his arm still raised, and placed her hoof on her cheek.

“Don’t you dare accuse me of not caring!” he said with his claws balled into fists at his side. “You know me better than anypony else, so you know I would never not care about my friends! This isn’t only your burden to bear Twilight! Sweetie belle is at Sweet Apple Acres waiting for her older sister to return! We are all suffering from this.” Spike stormed out of the room and Twilight sat there, still dumbfounded at the baby dragons actions.

She looked at the sandwich he had made her sitting on the ground. Tears began welling up in her eyes when she noticed that he had made her favorite. She sat on the ground facing the door, pulled the small meal closer and began eating with a smile on her face and tears rolling down her cheeks.

As she finished the final bites of the well crafted sandwich, a loud banging was heard at the door. She pushed the door open to find Rarity lying on the ground, nearly drained of energy. “Oh my Celestia! Spike come help me it’s Rarity!” He sped onto the scene and helped Rarity onto Twilight’s back. “Spike! Go out and tell everypony that we found Rarity.”

“Yes ma’am!” he dashed out of the castle. Twilight, having been able to muster enough strength, managed to get the unconscious Rarity to the closest room with a bed, Star’s room.

She entered the dark room, found the bed and put her in it. She thought to herself `Spike was right. I’m to tired to even use my magic.` Twilight sat there in the dark, by Rarity’s bedside, waiting for her friends to arrive.

Meanwhile, in the coven’s cave system. Morningstar lie’s on his back in the bed of velvet fabric that he first awoke in, staring at the ceiling. Rosemary came out of the closet in another red silk robe, and got the bed with him.

“Last night was amazing my shepherd.” she said as she wrapped her around his chest. Star could hear the exhaustion in the way she spoke, but decided to change the subject.

“Shepherd? What happened to little lamb?” he turned his head to look at her.

She giggled like a small philly. “You’re no longer a servant of the crown. You’re the patriarch of the coven, the shepherd of the flock.” she smiled at him and pulled his head closer to hers. “And I am the shepherd’s wife.” she planted a kiss on his ice cold lips. As she turned away, now facing the wall, she dawned a look of concern. Silence filled the room as Star continued staring at the ceiling.

“Why did you tell the meat bag to warn the crown of our attack? Don’t you care about our victory?” she kept her eyes on the wall, worried about what his reply would be.

“I wanted to give them a fighting chance. When I drain the blood from Celestias veins and take her spot on the throne, I would like them all to know that they put up a good and honorable fight.” he got out of the bed and made his way to the door.

“Wait, won't that inspire an uprising later down the line?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” he left the room and made his way to his iron throne. He was soon followed by Rosemary.

“Why are we out here?” he responded with an empty stare into nothingness. As he sat in the hard iron throne, his eyes seemed as if they went blank or entered a state of meditation. He idly sat there staring into the darkness of the room with no hint of movement in the near future.

Back at the castle in Ponyville, the mane six, and the royal sisters were gathered around Rarity’s bedside, waiting for her return to consciousness. Sweetie bell was laying in the bed with Rarity, head on her chest and tears flowing out of her eyes. Rainbowdash was using her time to go through Star’s things.

“Hey, Dash. Do yuh really think this is the time fer that?” Applejack asked.

“Oh come on AJ! Just think about it. We really don’t know anything about Star. Pinkie doesn't even know when his birthday is.” she explained while still rummaging through his things.

“It’s true!” Pinkie chimed in. “I asked him tons of times and he never tells me. I mean, why wouldn’t you want to celebrate your own birthday?!” Rainbowdash crawled under the bed, continuing her search. She came out with a black and blue duffel bag in her teeth. She reached into the bag and retrieved a small tape recorder.

“Ha! I found something that may help.” Twilight levitated the small piece of technology out of her grasp. “Hay, give that back! I thought you were too tired to use your magic!”

“I am.” she explained. “I’m lucky i’m able to even do this much.” she directed her attention to the recorder. “Rainbowdash, I don’t think we should be poking around Stars room like this.”

“Think about it Twilight. That recorder might be the only way to wake up Rarity!” they all looked at her with befuddled expressions. “I’ve been thinking, what if Stars voice was the only thing that could wake her up wake her up? I mean, she did like him so much. And it is the perfect opportunity to learn more about him.” Twilight thought for moment then nodded at Rainbowdash. She pressed play on the tape recorder. With a click of the button, the small black brick began projecting a hushed background noise that sounded similar to rainfall. A few seconds of background static passed before they could hear a voice calmly speaking into the mic.

“Day one in Equestria.” everyone in the room gathered around, listening to their missing friends voice. “Today, I met everypony that I’ll most likely spend the most time with, but first my thoughts on the two princesses.” Celestia and Luna came in closer. “Celestia is kind of a blank slate. I have know idea who she is behind the goddess physique that she projects all the time, so i don’t believe we will be getting to know each other anytime soon, and I honestly kind of regret that.” Celestia withdrew her head. Twilight caught a slight glimpse of regret on her mentor's face. “As for her sister Princess Luna, the case is the exact opposite. She’s outgoing, kind, and has an actual personality. She’s the kind of pony that I would like to have as a friend.” Luna smiled in praise, the tape continued.

“On to the one that i’ll be spending a lot of my time with, Twilight.” she brought her head closer. “She is extremely powerful and gifted in all things magic, but is a bit of a know it all. Sometimes it seems like she rubs her knowledge in her friends faces. But this is just an initial analysis of her personality. I’m sure i’ll get to know her better throughout my stay in Equestria.” the tape came to an end with click and a buzzing sound.

“FLIP THE TAPE OVER!” they all shouted at her in unison. Twilight hastily popped open the tape dock, ripped out the tape, and shoved it back in on the other side and pressed play. It clicked back to life and continued.

“On to Pinkie Pie.” she smiled and got closer. “She is so fun and energetic, she's always on the move. There is not a single negative thing I can think of about her. She sang me welcome song as soon as I introduced myself, I mean talk about a first impression. If I met somepony more like her back home, I would have thought that they were crazy.” the smile on her face only grew to make up more than half of her face. The tape continued.

“Rainbowdash” his voice projected through the speaker.

“I bet he's just going to drone on and on about how awesome I am. I mean who wouldn’t?” they all shushed as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“Honestly, i’m at a loss for words. She’s a little impulsive, hard headed, and is more of a show pony than anything else. But you can tell that everything she does is to change what you think of her for the better. She’s supportive at one point and competitive the next. She is fun to hang out with though and I look forward to knowing her better.”

“Not exactly what I expected.” she said rolling her eyes again

“On to Fluttershy.” she backed her head away in fear and concern for what he might say about her. “She’s the kindest and coolest pony i’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and i’m proud to call her my friend. The only thing holding her back is her shyness, if she were to be more confident, then she could achieve so much more in life.” her face dawned a small, bashful, yet satisfied smile.

“Now for Applejack.” she repeated the actions of her friends and drew closer. “I uhh…. Have a confession to make.” he paused. A nervous gulp could be heard in the background. “I think like her, as in more than a friend. Sure she seems a bit stubborn and hard headed, but that voice is like honey to my ears. Or, in this case, it would be apple cider.” she just stood there with her cheeks turning red, listening to all the things that he was saying about her. The warm fuzzy feeling that filled the room vanished as soon as he stated. “I know I said that I was going to do the things that I would never do back home, but I can’t ask her out. I’m uhh….. I’m terrified of rejection. I don’t know what I would do if I asked and she said no. She probably would have said no.” the tape went silent with the only sound coming through the speaker was something that sounded like crying. He sniffled, then continued. “And i’m the one who said Fluttershy needed more confidence. Why is it so hard to tell beautiful mares how I feel?”

“Did he just call me beautiful?” she looked at the floor, lowering the brim of her hat and said. “Ah never woulda’ guessed that he felt that way.” her cheeks were still flushed with a reddish hue.

“On to the last one, Rarity.” her ear twitched slightly. “She seems a little uhh... pretentious. But she also seems like a nice and generous pony. It might take a little adapting to retaliate, but I think we’ll get along just fine. Although, I have noticed that she’s a little touchy feely on me, her eyes wander a bit too much, and I do occasionally catch her staring at me. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that she actually likes me.” there was a moment of silence before he continued. “Might just be my imagination though. But if she does like me like that, then I don’t know what to do. If I say something, then I might end up scaring her off. But if I don’t do anything, then somepony else will come around and she’ll lose interest. I’m so confused, I've never had somepony like me before. Well, that I'd noticed, at least.” he paused once again. “Why am I working myself up like this, over something as insignificant as small looks. I doubt that she likes me like that. I’m not that interesting, I would even go as far as to say that I don’t believe that i’m attractive at all. ” the tape, once again, came to an end with a click. Everyone in the room stood speechless, gazing at the now silent tape recorder.

“It was nice hearing Star’s voice the way it used to be.” Rarity stated from the bed. They all turned to the bed in surprise and gathered around her.

“Rarity!!” Sweetie Belle ran up to her as fast as she could and hugged her as if she was never going to see her again. “I was so worried about you.” she began crying into her sister’s chest. Warm, salty tears pouring down her cheeks in streams and dripping onto the bed sheets. “I thought I was going to lose you.” she tightened her vise-like grip on her. Rarity lightly caressed her head, wrists still red and tender from the old rusty shackles. She turned to Twilight noticing her apparent worn out condition.

“Twilight darling, what happened? You look almost as bad as I feel.” she dawned an anemic and sickly smile, trying to hide the pain she was in.

“That’s not important right now. What is important is how you’re doing, how did you get back, and where in Equestria is Morningstar?” the sad smile on Rarity's face vanished as tears began streaming down her cheeks. She stopped stroking Sweetie’s mane and placed her hoof back at her side. Voice full of mourn, she told them of everything that had happened to her, and to Star. She told them about the vampires of the coven and what the guards told her of the prophecy. Everyone in the room listened in disbelief as more and more of the story came to light. The tale ended with the message that Star gave to Rarity.

“War is coming.” she said allowed. The room fell into a dead silence. The tension increased as they all stood there, minds processing the prospect of war between the living and undead.
The long period of silence was ended by the urgent pitter-patter of Celestias hooves hitting the bluish crystalline floor, making her way for the door. She exited the room and addressed the two royal guards she positioned outside the room. “You! Go to Canterlot and prepare all troops for battle. When I give the word, you are to assemble outside the city facing to the north!”

“Yes Princess!” he proclaimed with a solute before departing. She turned her attention to the second one.

“And I want you to go the Crystal Empire and notify Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor of the impending attack on Canterlot and ask them to send extra troops to support our military.” he repeated the actions of the first and left. Celestia had started making her way for the door, determination filled her every step. Her eyes, filled with fortitude, stared sharply at the door as if it were going to vanish without a trace.

“What are you doing sister!?” the booming sound of Luna’s royal voice was enough to get her to stop in her tracks.

“I’m preparing for the attack. We’re going to need as much help as we can get. The vampires didn’t win last time and they won’t win this time.” she turned to look back at Luna “Come Luna, we must prepare our armaments and condition the guards.” she turned to face the door assuming the her sister would obediently follow.

“No.” she replied. Celestia spun her head around to look back at her sister astonishment. Luna stood there with her head cocked back and wings opened to there full length. “While I agree that something needs to be done about the vampires, I don’t think an all out war is the best answer. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but Morningstar would never let us down. I can’t explain how but I know he’ll come through for us in the long run.” Celestia, now with her head lowered projecting an aura of sadness, looked up at her sister and replied with.

“If you don’t want to fight along my side, fine. But don’t you dare put your faith in an evil blood sucking vampire!” with that, she left for Canterlot.

“Excuse me princess.” Fluttershy chimed. “If you don’t mind me asking, why does Celestia hate vampires so much?” Luna turned to look at them. She sighed and told the story.

“You all know the story of hearth's warming, correct?” they nodded in accord. “Then you have not heard the aftermath story.” they all looked at her with curious expressions. “Our story begins many moons after we came and settled here in Equestria. We lived and survived under the veil of friendship which allowed us to find peace amongst the three races. But as we began to immigrate further inland, we discovered that we were not the only things that called this place home. We discovered a native tribe of creatures that referred to themselves as vampires. Because of the lack of leadership and the language barrier, the early Equestrians saw their actions and culture as hostile and attacked the vampires.”

“So this all just one big misunderstanding?” Twilight inquired.

“I wish it were Twilight, but several moons after my sister and I rose to power, they attacked a small village barely in its infancy and slaughtered hundreds. They claimed that they were retaking land that was had been stolen from them. Enraged by the deaths of her citizens, she retaliated by placing a horrible curse on them.” she took a deep breath. “My sister is the one responsible for the vampires inability to go out in sunlight and there unquenchable thirst for blood. This secret is one that not even the vampires are aware of, not even in the slightest.”

“That’s it! Why don’t we just break the curse? If we do that, then maybe they will stop the attack.” Twilight insisted.

“I understand your intentions Twilight, but that is simply impossible. The curse can only be broken by Celestia, and only Celestia. In her mind, the only thing we can do is fight. She wishes to do away with every vampire, and at the moment, that includes Star.” the room fell silent at the thought of the death of their friend.

“Princess.” Twilight, with a plan in mind, spoke confidently to Luna. “You should go and be with Celestia, everypony will stay here and help me with my plan.” Luna nodded reluctantly and left for Canterlot. Rarity told Sweetie Bell to home to the carousel boutique and Twilight sent spike to keep her company.

As they gathered around Twilight to discuss her plan, Morningstar ended his all seeing gaze into the darkness of the Covens main chamber. When he became aware once again, he discovered that the others had gathered around him, waiting for instruction.

“Get ready, we leave now.” he arose from the iron throne and started for the exit.

“But sire, we will die in the light. We will be fighting the sun and her children, we are at a disadvantage.” He stopped in his tracks and peered over his shoulder at the underling. He looked back at the exit and continued.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan for that.” he dawned a devilish grin as his horn began emitting the dark red aura.

Author's Note:

i hope you enjoyed this chapter. this took me several weeks to finish on account of me getting sick repetitively. thanks for reading.