Heir To Darkness

by Leafdoggy

Chapter 20: Broken

Fluttershy groaned as she adjusted her position on the floor. She didn’t want to wait for Windbreaker to send another pony after her, and she was steadily getting the feeling in her legs back, so she decided it was time to move.

She put a hoof solidly on the ground and tried to push herself up. Then her leg promptly fell out from under her and dropped her back to the floor.

“If you can’t even get up,” Helsing said from his bed, “I can’t imagine you’ll put up much of a fight against Windbreaker.”

“I don’t want to fight her,” Fluttershy grunted. She made another attempt, this time using both front legs at once, then slowly bringing herself up to standing. Her legs wobbled under her, and she had to lean against the wall for support, but this time she managed to stay upright.

“You ain’t got much choice in the matter,” Helsing told her. “No words are going to get her to put her plans aside. You’re the best chance she’s had to get real power in centuries.”

“We’ll see about that,” Fluttershy said. With some effort, she reached out and pulled the door open.

“Girl, just wait for an hour. Read a book! Get yourself back into shape at the very least.”

“She already hurt one pony because of me,” Fluttershy said as she pushed herself into the hallway. “I can’t be afraid of what she might do to me if being afraid will make her hurt somepony else.”

“She’ll rip you apart!”

Fluttershy looked up and down the hallway, and to her right spied the corner of the bar that stood in the lounge. She turned that way, fell against the wall, and started painstakingly walking in that direction.

“I have a doctor,” Fluttershy mumbled back to Helsing as she left. “He’ll put me back together.”

Then the door swung shut behind her, and she was alone.

The wall gave Fluttershy the support she needed to walk, but that didn’t mean it was comfortable. Every movement scraped her side against it, and with it her neck, sending shots of pain into her spine and down her back. It made her walk with a strange, sliding limp that gave the impression more of her dragging herself down the wall than walking alongside it.

The lounge was still dark and empty. The coals had long ago lost the last of their heat, and there was nothing left to light the room at all. It left the room looking strange. Fluttershy could still see, and in fact could make things out even more clearly than before, but the world was cast in a dull monochrome. Everything was colored in shades of darkness. Not black and white, there was no light to shine on anything at all, but the darkness itself. It was like it was thicker further away, more omnipresent, like looking at stars in the night sky and knowing, somehow, which ones were the closest.

A few slow, grueling steps later and she was back in the dark hallway.

She could see it clearly now, and it was a strange sight. It reminded her of the hall of portraits in the castle, but where that had been organized and uniform, this was chaotic and lawless. Portraits once again lined the walls, all of old important-looking vampires and embellished in just the right ways to make them seem fearsome, but around each portrait was a smattering of decorations and other baubles. Some held crests and weapons, some stored scores of books, and others still seemed decorated purely for aesthetic purposes, but no two sections were alike.

They did have one similarity, though, and that was that they made it very hard for Fluttershy to walk down this hallway. She kept having to stop and find new ways to support herself because her path would be blocked by a bookcase or a suit of armor, and moving around these obstacles slowed her pace to a crawl. Worse still, it was noisy, and every errant bump as one of her legs shook and sent her teetering in a direction she hadn’t expected let out a crash telling Windbreaker exactly where she was.

At first she tried to stay hopeful that perhaps Windbreaker hadn’t heard her yet, but that hope was dashed when, about halfway down the hallway, a gust of wind started up and refused to stop.

Luckily, it wasn’t strong enough to push her back, and she forged steadily onward.

She couldn’t see Windbreaker in the room at the end. She was either too far away, or hiding from Fluttershy’s sight. All Fluttershy saw was the blank wall at the back of an empty room that, for whatever reason, was now blowing wind down the hall at her.

“I just want to talk,” Fluttershy tried calling out.

There was no response.

“Windbreaker, please,” Fluttershy said, “there’s no reason for us to fight. Let’s just talk, and—”

She was cut off by something on the breeze whizzing past her head. In the corner of her vision, a tuft of her mane floated gently down to the floor, having been cut cleanly off.

Fluttershy gasped and pressed herself against the wall. “Please,” she repeated, “I don’t want anypony to get hurt!”

“You go ahead and talk, then,” Windbreaker’s voice came from the empty room ahead. “Just don’t move too much when you do. I’d just hate to miss your eyes and hit something more important.”

Fluttershy gulped and started moving again, although now she kept her head low and her ears alert.

“Dracula will never give me the throne if you make me your puppet,” Fluttershy said.

“You’ll take it,” Windbreaker said. Something blasted past above Fluttershy’s head. “That’s the whole point.”

“Why not just take it yourself?”

“She lets her guard down for you. She may have lost her spine, but she’s still the strongest vampire out there.”

“If you’re so sure you’re right, why won’t you just talk to me about it? I’m sure we could—”

Fluttershy’s ears twitched as another sharp whir flew towards her. She pushed herself off the wall in an effort to avoid it, but it was too fast and still sliced painfully across her cheek. She let out a cry and held a hoof to her cheek, which quickly became slick with blood.

“It’ll hurt less if you just give up,” Windbreaker said.

“I can’t do that,” Fluttershy replied, and she put the bloody hoof to the ground and started trudging onwards once more. She stayed off the wall this time, her legs having gotten enough feeling back for her to at least attempt to walk, although the movement was awkward and ragged.

“Fine. I guess we’ll do this the hard way.”

Suddenly the wind picked up, and a dozen more knives flew her way.

Fluttershy acted on instinct and flapped her wings against the wind as hard as she could, trying desperately to knock the projectiles out of the air, and for the most part it worked. There was a clatter as most of them hit the walls and floor.

She missed two of them, though, and a second later they cut deep grooves into Fluttershy’s front legs.

She yelped, and her legs trembled. She nearly fell to her knees, but somehow she managed to stay standing, as painful as it was to put that much weight on those legs.

Fluttershy let out a deep breath in frustration, but since her teeth were clenched from the pain it came out as a hiss. “Just stop this,” she said quietly.

Then Fluttershy snapped her eyes open and Stared at the spot that Windbreaker had been standing in the first time she came into the room. “Stop,” she commanded.

Immediately, the wind died down, and there was a noisy crash from the room as a pile of knives fell to the floor. Behind it, Windbreaker growled.

Fluttershy sighed in relief. She started her walk back up, trudging painfully forward.

“I really just want to talk,” Fluttershy said. Her voice was low and tired. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

Windbreaker said nothing.

“You can talk, you know,” Fluttershy said. “I want to hear what you have to say.”

Windbreaker laughed at that. “Fool.”

Fluttershy frowned. “I don’t think it’s foolish to think everypony has kindness inside them.”

Windbreaker laughed harder. “Are you really serious right now?”

“Of course I’m serious,” Fluttershy said. “I think we can all—”

“You really are stupid.”

As Windbreaker spoke, the breeze picked up again, easily twice as strong as it had been before. Fluttershy gasped and crouched, preparing to dodge an attack, but it was far too late. She was too close, and she wasn’t even watching the right direction.

The wind was blowing in from behind her this time.

Just as Fluttershy processed what was going on and started to turn around, the first knife hit her. It sliced a deep groove into her back before tumbling on past her.

She yelped in pain, but didn’t have time to react past that. The second knife hit right after, cutting through an ear, and the third flew through one of her back legs. Plenty of knives missed her, too, slamming harmlessly into the far wall of the room, but not nearly enough. By the end, she finally fell to her knees.

Fluttershy coughed as she tried to still her trembling body. “Please,” she murmured, “I just—”

“Shut up, girl,” Windbreaker said. “I’m done playing. It’s time for you to feel real power.”

With that, the wind shifted direction again.

Fluttershy braced herself, but it was useless against what was to come. The first knife buried itself into her shoulder. She cried out in pain just as the second knife struck her hind leg, and similarly stabbed deep into her flesh. Then four more slammed into her side all at once, and the force of them sent Fluttershy flying.

She didn’t go far, but she landed hard, and the jostling of it made the knives cut away even more. She screamed in agony at the onslaught of pain.

Suddenly, there was a presence behind Fluttershy. “Stupid, stupid girl,” Windbreaker said. She put a hoof down on the side of Fluttershy’s head to stop her from looking up. “You really thought that would work if you couldn’t even see me?”

“I had to try,” Fluttershy groaned.

Windbreaker scoffed and pressed down painfully. “Dracula really has lost her mind. I knew she’d gotten soft, but to think a weakling like you could earn anything but a painful death is just lunacy.”

“She’s your leader,” Fluttershy said. “You’re supposed to believe in her.”

“Is she?” Windbreaker leaned down closer to Fluttershy. “She hasn’t led the vampires in centuries. It’s been me, and times have been good. I brought us food. Safety. Fun. Dracula would have us hide away in this dump for the rest of eternity. The vampires don’t actually listen to her. They listen to me.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Fluttershy said. She coughed hard. “What you’re doing will just get the vampires exterminated.”

“You bought into that nonsense she spews about her father?” Windbreaker laughed. “She just wants to feel like she took her father out for more than just power. She’s a delusional old bat.”

“That’s not true. She wants—”

Windbreaker ignored her, and instead lifted her free hoof up and pressed it down hard on the blade in Fluttershy’s shoulder. Fluttershy screamed and shuddered as pain wracked her body.

“Oops,” Windbreaker said, “wrong way. I meant to pull that out for you.”

Fluttershy let out a quiet sob. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can,” Windbreaker told her. She hooked her hoof under the hilt of the blade in Fluttershy’s shoulder and flicked it into the air in a quick motion, then caught it with a wing. Fluttershy barely held back another scream as it cut through her again on the way out. “I’m teaching you a lesson.”

“What lesson?”

“That I’m in charge,” Windbreaker said. “You do what I say, otherwise this all happens again.”

“I won’t give up.”

Windbreaker laughed. “You’re tenacious, at least. Let’s see if we can change that. I really don’t like what those eyes of yours can do.”

In a slow, taunting motion, Windbreaker brought the knife in front of Fluttershy. Her blood still dripped off of it in heavy globs. Then Windbreaker turned the knife so all Fluttershy could see was the thin, sharp edge of it.

Fluttershy wasn’t paying attention to that, though, because in doing so Windbreaker had put the tiniest sliver of her wing into Fluttershy’s vision.

Her eyes snapped open, and Windbreaker froze. “Drop it,” Fluttershy ordered.

The knife fell to the floor.

“Take your hoof off of me.”

Windbreaker did as she was told.

Fluttershy tilted her head achingly upwards. Above her loomed Windbreaker, her face etched into a deep scowl. Fluttershy locked eyes with her.

“Move in front of me.”

Windbreaker did. Fluttershy never lost eye contact.

“Sit down.”

Windbreaker sat.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said. She groaned as a wave of pain washed over her, but she pushed it away. “Let’s have a talk.”

“You can’t make me care about what you say,” Windbreaker said defiantly.

“Of course not,” Fluttershy said. “This is just a talk.”

“Then talk.”

“Do you really think you’ve done the right thing for vampires, and not just for yourself?”

“Yes,” Windbreaker said confidently. “We’ll never survive by hiding away like this. They’d come for us eventually.”

“Why not try to make peace with the outside world, then?”

“You’re such an idiot,” Windbreaker said. “They’d just find us faster then.”

“I don’t agree,” Fluttershy said. “Equestria is a peaceful place now. They’d welcome us all.”

“You’re a naive little child. The only way to ward them off is by making them fear us.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Well, I’m not going to change your mind in one conversation.”

“If you release me I’m going to kill you,” Windbreaker said. “You’ll have to kill me before then.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m not going to hurt you. I want you to see that Equestria is a kind place. So, I’m going to show you.”

Windbreaker gave her a disgusted frown. “What does that mean.”

“I want you to—”

“Hold your tongue, Heiress.” A familiar, regal voice cut Fluttershy off before she could give any commands.

Behind Windbreaker, the shadows twisted and took on a new image. They warped together, curved in spirals around each other, and in a fast, smooth change took form as Dracula.

“My Lady?” Fluttershy looked up at her in shock.

In that shock, she’d completely forgotten about Windbreaker, and in that tiny window of time she broke free.

Windbreaker pounced, her ears back and her fangs out. She hissed with pure killing intent as she flew at Fluttershy.

As she flew through the air, though, a thin rope of shadow hardened in front of her. She had no time to respond, and it slammed straight into her neck, stopping her cold and instantly taking her breath away. Then the spindly tendril wrapped itself tightly around her neck and held her firmly in midair.

Windbreaker sputtered and grasped at the rope binding her, but her hooves passed right through it. She was completely powerless to free herself.

Dracula walked calmly up behind Windbreaker. “My apologies for the intrusion, Heiress, but this one had some very interesting things to say about me. Care to repeat them, Windbreaker?”

Windbreaker’s mouth moved as she tried to talk, but no sound came out.

“Hm?” Dracula tilted her head. “I can’t quite hear you.”

Fluttershy bit her lip. “My Lady, please, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yet do it I shall.”

“Please, I was trying to help her!”

“This one has lost her right to your help.” Dracula stared hard at Windbreaker. “Speak up, girl.”

Windbreaker pounded her chest in a desperate attempt to force air out. Fear pulsed through her eyes.

Dracula scowled. “Speak!” With her command, the rope binding Windbreaker flew against the wall at remarkable speeds, slamming her so hard against it that cracks ran far enough to hit both the ceiling and floor.

Fluttershy gasped. Without thinking, she snapped her eyes open again. “Dracula, stop!”

The darkness holding Windbreaker disappeared, and she crumpled down onto the floor and started gasping for life.

Dracula turned her head to Fluttershy in a slow, smooth motion. “Did you just give me an order?”

“I…” Fluttershy blinked and swallowed hard. “I-I just don’t want anypony to get hurt.”

Dracula narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy and thought.

“Fine.”

The shadows making up Dracula’s form melted back into the walls and floor, and it was like she had never been there at all.

Down the hall, Windbreaker was wobbling as she pushed herself back to her hooves.

“I’m still—” She coughed violently and spat out some blood.” I’m still going to kill you.”

Fluttershy Stared at her one final time. “No, you’re not.”

Windbreaker growled. “I will never forget this.”

“I would hope not,” Fluttershy said. “I think you’ll have a long time to think about it once you do what I ask.”

“You’re not asking.”

“You’re right, I’m not,” Fluttershy said. “I’m The Heiress, and you tried to kill me. I can’t just ignore that.”

“Get on with it.”

“Alright,” Fluttershy said. “I want you to go to Ponyville and find Princess Twilight. Tell her I sent you to learn about kindness. Then, I want you to tell her about every single time you’ve ever hurt another creature in your entire life. Whatever happens from there is up to her.”

“They’ll lay my crimes on this whole town,” Windbreaker said. “You’re dooming us all.”

“We’ll see,” Fluttershy said. “Now go.”

Windbreaker grumbled something incomprehensible under her breath and started to walk away. Before long, she was completely out of sight. Fluttershy watched the hallway where she’d gone with bated breath for a long moment, worried that the effects of her Stare wouldn’t last, but eventually she accepted that she was safe and let out a long, exhausted breath.

Then she took another deep breath and called out into the air. “Helsing? I heard you follow me. Could you please come help me? I’m not sure if I can move.”