Every legend has a beginning. The tale of the Prince of Darkness and his brother, "Jack the Ripper," began on the scariest night of the year; on Earth, that is. This is their story of conquest, revengeance, and love, centuries in the making
This was not what I wanted. My brother and I never wanted to come to this God-forsaken land. But fate seemed to have a cruel sense of humor.
Jack and I went to our Hometown Halloween Convention dressed as Raiden and Dracula, respectively.
If it weren't for the Combat Cross I purchased, we would have never arrived in Equestria on the verge of war with the overtaken Crystal Empire.
This is the beginning of our tale, and it all started on the scariest night of the year...
(This is my own take on the League of Humans Acting Villainous/Heroic.)
Brothers till the End Episode 1: The Dark Crusade By Jadan Stutes
This year’s Convention was going to be awesome. Why you might ask? Because unlike the others times the Con has arrived, this year was the first time it was to be hosted on Halloween Night. Thousands of people would be competing for the best, scariest, or downright the coolest costume of the night. This was why both my brother and I had entered the competition dressed as our favorite video game characters.
My brother Jack had chosen to compete as Raiden from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. He spent a crap-load of time making it just right, asking my help to finish some of the details, and to sculpt the HF blade from a piece of plywood. In the end he looked like the spitting image of the infamous cyborg ninja, complete with an eye band, and blood red contact lens.
As for me, my name is David by the way, I decided to go as my favorite anti-hero from Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2: Dracula/Gabriel Belmont. The most difficult part of the outfit was his iconic blood red cloak with golden details. It took nearly all my spare time, but it was worth it. Everything else, like the Void Sword and the Chaos Claws, were relatively smooth to make. However, we didn't have enough time to make the “Vampire Killer,” the original Combat Cross from the first game.
With our costumes (somewhat) completed, we entered the Con.
The place was packed with all kinds of people either cos-playing, taking pictures, or just there to see the sights. We took various pictures of people with outfits that rivaled our own, occasionally posing for others who were impressed by our designs. Out of all the people we've seen, three of them really stood out from the others.
One decided to go as Arno Dorian from Assassin's Creed Unity. Another went as Alucard, who managed to get all of the tiniest details for the costume perfect. I personally thought it was funny that we dressed as father and son from the same game. Finally the last person dressed as the 10th Doctor in his iconic brown suit with large trench coat.
We became fast friends, as we waited for the contest to start. Apparently, the dude dressed as the Doctor was a Brony ironically named John Smith. Adam, the man who went as Alucard, did not realize that anyone would dress as Dracula. It was a surprise to him that someone like me appreciated the hard work that went into the game and its characters.
Victor, the man dressed as Arno, was quiet the whole time, occasionally passing strange looks towards John. My eyes must have been deceiving me, because those looks seemed disgusted. Maybe he had a sore spot for Bronies; I meanwhile was relatively neutral about the whole fandom thing.
As the rest of the gang continued to mingle, I excused myself to see what was up for buying. Several booths caught my attention with mini statues, signed books, and prop replicas, the latter having...Something that I had to have.
I quickly made my way to the booth I spotted to find the perfectly sculpted Combat Cross for sale. A little while later and some well spent dollars, I had the finishing touch, and just in time to because the contest was about to begin.
My friends and I had our reservations for the competition to begin. We watched from the sidelines as all the competitors did their thing. Eventually it came time for us to go on stage. John went first and started quoting the 10th Doctor in front of everyone without missing a beat. Next went Victor, who started going into various poses that depicted him battling an invisible foe. Jack entered afterwards, quoted some of Raiden’s various lines from the game, and finished with flourishes of his sword.
Finally me and Adam went last with a “father/son” routine. He started out with quick slashes of his massive blade, and finished with a finisher quote from the Revelations DLC. I went next, with the weapon cases containing the Void Sword and Chaos Claws. I started out with Dracula’s famous quote, “What is a man? But a miserable pile of secrets!” I then released the Void Sword from its case, and started fighting an invisible monster with it. Next I unleashed the Chaos Claws, which made the audience scream in delight, and started throwing punches and slashes at imaginary demons.
For the finisher, I equipped my newly acquired Combat Cross, and was about to use the whip function, when suddenly I stopped. The cross started glowing an unnatural golden glow. My friends saw what was going on and came to the rescue. But just as they touched the cross, the glow became brighter than the sun, forcing us to look away. Wind started blowing around us at increasing speeds that just went faster, and faster, and faster. Then just as it started, it stopped. When everyone recovered from the blast, they realized that five particular humans had disappeared.
All that was left was a blast mark, shaped like a peculiar looking star, on the stage where the five friends once stood.
Elsewhere in the middle of the night, towards the battlefield that was once the glorious Crystal Empire, the leader of the Equestrian Reinforcements turned in her sleep. Ever since the Battle of the Crystal Empire started 2 years ago, Celestia kept on having the same dream every time she went to sleep.
It consisted of herself watching over the events of different futures. Sombra wining the war and plunging Equestria into eternal despair, to much later where Luna would go insane under a dark influence and go under the name Nightmare Moon. The latter was the most frequent dream the Princess of the Sun had. But every time the story would go in a different direction.
One such arrangement was that a tall warrior, both man and machine, against his will would spread his insanity to a broken hearted Luna. Together they would spread eternal night and death to the world, leaving its inhabitants with no hope. But then two warriors, brought together by an unbreakable friendship would defeat the usurpers, banishing them to the moon for a thousand years. However one of the warriors called the metal man his brother, and will be forced to make the ultimate sacrifice, leaving his immortal soul to mourn for eternity.
Celestia, haven awoken from this dream for the umpteenth time, was worried that this would soon come to pass. She loved her sister with all her heart, but wondered if the dream was set in stone. Eventually she shook her head to clear her thoughts, and focused on how her little ponies were going to be victorious in the war. The future would have to wait for now, after all Celestia had been through she kept her head high and kept telling herself a saying from an old friend.
"Always in motion, is the future. And many possible futures, there are."
Cold. That was the first thing that came to mind as I started to wake up. “Serves me right to not bring an extra shirt,” I thought angrily to myself.
There was a groan to both my left and right as I began to stand up, while opening my eyes led me to a bizarre sight.
Jack, Adam, and I were stranded in the middle of a snowy wasteland. The winds were blistering cold to us at first, but then it was replaced with a soothing cold feeling deep within my body. It seemed like Adam got the same treatment, because he had a relaxed look on his...pale cracked face?
“What is going on here,”I said to myself. As we were discussing what exactly happened, we were interrupted by the sounds of battle beyond the nearby peak. It sounded like whoever was fighting was losing badly. We eventually decided to see what was going on, when the battle noises started getting closer.
The peak wasn’t easy to climb with all the loose boulders cracking off the cliffs from the snow and frozen air. Just before we reached the top, Jack suddenly clenched his head in pain. Screaming and writhing in pain, we rushed to help him...Only to find that he stopped. He stood there with a blank look on his face, staring off into the distance, all while mumbling about someone named ‘The Ripper’.
“Adam, stay with him,” I told the Alucard lookalike. “I’ll go investigate the battle.”
Making my way down the other side of the peak, I came across a bizarre and terrifying site. A giant monster made of jet black crystal was attacking what looked like humanoid ponies with golden armor, horns on their heads or wings on their back or neither, and armed with spears/swords. It seemed that the crystal golem was having no trouble brutalizing the armored ponies with its razor sharp claws, as evidenced from the wasted delicious blood still dripping from its claws.
“Woah. Where did that come from?”
Shaking my head to clear it from the thought of blood, I weighed my options. I wanted to run from the gruesome fight, but something deep inside told me to destroy the beast. With a new determination burning in my eyes, I ran towards the monster, unleashing the Combat Cross from my cloak with a flourish that broke off a chunk of its leg. Turning its version of a head, that looked like a sickening monster that was half-n-half of a dragon and a wolf, it let out a bone chilling roar that shook the battlefield.
Boss#1: Crystal Golem
Striking it with quick flicks of the whip, I settled with dodging its heavy attacks towards my position. All that seemed to do was make it pissed off at me even more. It was smarter than I hoped, because its next attack cut off my dodging. Obviously caught in its trap, I prayed that the Combat Cross could be used to parry its next move. With a satisfying clang, the golem’s strike was shattered, giving me the perfect moment to counter.
After taking out a huge chunk of its health, the beast changed tactics. It tensed up for a second, then charged straight towards me, intent on smashing me against the snow covered peak. Suddenly, instinct took over, and I soon found myself dashing out of the charging beast’s way.
It missed, and crashed into the side of the mountain. With all the newfound strength I could muster, I slashed at the beast with every attack I knew, even attempting moves from the game. But then I stopped.
“Wait a minute,” the inner me said. “That’s it! We've been transported to a world where all the abilities from the games have found themselves into our being. That’s why Adam looks like he’s lived for hundreds of years!”
Taking a break from the beating was all the golem needed to land a sucker punch right where I was standing. I’ll spare you the details, but it hurt like hell. Getting back up, I tried to summon the Void Sword to bring me back to full health. For a moment nothing happened at first, then there was a deathly chill in my right hand. Extending from my hand like a lightsaber, the Void Sword came into existence.
It glowed and shimmered with an unnatural beauty. Twirling it around like I've wielded it hundreds of times, I prepared for the monster’s next move. It swung its left claw with enough force to rocket me to the center of the world, but luckily I dodged at the last possible second. The monster wasn't that smart to realize its attack left its claw stuck in the snow covered ground. Seeing the opportunity, I slashed the paralyzed arm with the bone chilling blade. I then felt the strangest sensation; all my fatigue that came over me when the beast did damage disappeared.
The beast did not like my barrage of slices one bit, as it settled on ripping out its entire left arm out of its socket. The arm left in the snow dispersed into a cloud of black smoke that fled the scene. I had no time to think, as the beast tried to burn me alive with emerald green fire shooting out of its disfigured maw.
Dashing to get out of the way, I settled on wanting to finish this creature once and for all. Reaching deep within my soul, I called upon the chaotic forces of the Chaos Claws. Within a minute, both my arms were shot with the most painful burning sensation ever. I then concentrated that pain into the fists and claws of my new-found weapons. Punch after slash was met with howling screeches from the beast as its crystal-like body started melting from the searing heat.
Getting desperate for the pain to stop, it lashed out its good arm at where I once stood, implanting its fist into the frozen ground. Using all the strength I could muster, I ripped the arm out of its socket, causing the beast to shout a pain-filled roar out into the blizzard air. Tossing the arm aside, I made to finish off the creature, when it captured me in its path of fire. I had never felt such a pain before, as it seemed to tear at my very soul.
Coursing every ounce of strength I had left, I concentrated the power held in the fire to my left hand, which I morphed into the Shadow Whip. The dark energy behind the golem’s blaze caused the whip to transform into a dragon sized snake that I launched straight towards where the beast’s heart should have been. It connected, and with a mighty pull I ejected the heart out of the beast, with it still beating an unnatural heartbeat.
The beast looked down at its heartless chest, and let out one last pitiful roar before it crumbled into dust. As for the emerald heart, which still gave out a few weak beats, started to lose its ethereal glow. With a mighty crack, the crystal exploded into large chunks of dull emerald, until only one shining spot remained. A shard of the emerald heart still had some life in it. Not wanting to let it go to waste, I kept it safe in my cloak.
After dusting myself off, one of the ponies guards walked up to me and said, “By Celestia’s mane. Who art thou?”
Taking a moment to respond with a dramatic effect, I replied, “I am the Prince of Darkness, the Dragon. I. Am...Dracula! And I’m in need of your help.”
King Sombra looked upon the reflection of the battlefield from his place in the war-room. To say that he was displeased was the understatement of the entire war. He fumed with anger after watching his prized golem crumble to dust under the ruse of the so called "Prince of Darkness".
With a hate-filled flick of the hand, he whisked away the image of the Ice Peaks, and spoke aloud, "Mark my words 'Dracula.' You will regret crossing my path. I don't know where you come from, but I do know you just made the biggest mistake of your LIFE!"
With his anger somewhat resided, he returned his attention to the war effort. He would have his revenge, against both him and the two Alicorn Sisters that denied his right to rule.
As my friends came down from the mountain, the remaining soldiers lead us through a maze of jagged crystal spires towards their nearby camp. I informed them that my brother needed medical attention, on account of... “Supernatural” reasons. Throughout the trek to the camp I kept going over the fight in my head. If my powers could obliterate a creature that size, there was no telling what else my friends and I could do.
The deep thinking must have made time pass by quicker, because in that moment, the camp was in our sights. Well, it was more like a small community with its size, position, and the fact that hundreds of anthro ponies were either preparing for battle or mingling with comrades.
When the entrance to the camp came closer, I distinctly heard the snapping of fingers coming from my right. I looked in that direction to find the silhouette of a tall mix-matched creature, with yellow and red eyes looking directly at me. He motioned for me to follow, as he disappeared into the snowy wind. My curiosity eventually won out, and I decided to find out what the creature wanted.
He lead me to a secluded ice cavern that made the wind in the air whistle a strangely majestic tune. That didn't matter to me, as all my attention was directed to the grinning mix-matched creature, staring down at me from his cloud of cotton candy with a glass of chocolate milk in his left claw.
“Color me impressed young man,” he said with a recognizable voice. “I saw your little tussle with the Crystal Golem, and all I have to say is, you have a good head on your shoulders.”
I was puzzled for the longest time, until I found my voice, “What are you?”
“Oh! Pardon me for my rudeness,” he replied. “My name is Discord, Lord of Chaos and Disharmony. And you my good sir are...”
“My friends call me David,” I said to the being known as Discord. “But you can call me Dracula.”
I did not anticipate for him to spit out the melted chocolate he already swallowed after mentioning my name. It seemed like he knew me, but I've never seen him in all my life. After cleaning his muzzle off with a purple towel, he looked at me with a new found wonder... I think. The only emotion he seemed to portray at the moment was relief and delight.
“I had not realized you were the great and powerful Dracula,” Discord said while clearing his throat. “Are there any more of you around here, or are you alone?”
His last comment threw me off guard. Why would he be concerned of Jack and Adam's well being? Better still, why was he asking of them? I decided to think on this matter later. For now, I concluded that Discord seemed trustworthy enough.
“Jack is at the Ponies’ camp with Adam,” I finally said to the chimera. “Why do you ask?”
He seemed to catch on to the doubt in my voice as he replied in a quick fashion, “No reason. But now I know that there are not one, but three humans here that have nothing stopping them from making sweet, delicious Chaos... Well except for me of course.”
He then stood from the cotton candy cloud, and put his mismatched hands on both of my shoulders. “Listen to me very carefully, young man,” he said with an air of authority. “We will meet again, and I will explain to you all my intentions. But for now, as much as I hate to admit it, you must follow the flow of the sands of time... For now.”
With a snap of his paw, the whole cave disappeared like it never existed. Dazed and confused, I found myself back with the group about to enter the military camp.
Suffice to say, it was much bigger than what we previously thought. Everywhere I looked, soldiers of all ages worked tirelessly on either repairing/making new weapons or armor in the various forges, or were sharpening their skills at the makeshift training grounds. However when our merry band of battle-scarred heroes came along, everyone, “Or, I guess everypony,” stopped what they were doing and gazed upon our arriving forms.
Their looks told us vast stories to our souls, with eyes that bled curiosity, fear, sadness, and hopefulness. For what felt like an eternity no one said anything, then a nearby soldier started to slowly clap. Pretty soon all the ponies started to applaud to our little group. It seemed that this war they were in had taken its toll on the poor souls. But after knowing that there was a beacon of hope, their hearts were lit aflame with a new found power that was rarely seen.
The soldiers that were with us during the crystal encounter, which only three remained, led us to a massive tent near the center of the camp. It looked just as bland as the other tents, but it was distinctly decorated with symmetrical patterns of both the moon and sun. The inside lead to what I could only describe as a pre-World War war room, complete with a giant table with a map of the surrounding countryside.
Two beings, that were studying the map carefully, looked upon us entering. I noticed that they were equine-like beings similar to the troopers outside, but these two had very subtle differences. Firstly, they were half a head taller in comparison to us and the survivors. Secondly, They had both wings on their backs and a single horn on their heads. Finally, they contrasted each other in the strangest way by having the one on the right have a bright white coat with a flowing pastel colored mane. And the one on the left had a dark navy blue coat with a mane that depicted the night sky complete with tiny stars.
When they took their eyes off the map to see us come in, they had varying degrees of shock on their faces. Righty’s look in her eyes had a cold chill of fear in them, as if she had known this would happen.
Making herself presentable, Righty said, “Who are you, and why did you save my little ponies?”
“I think I know where we are now,” I thought nervously to myself. “We’re in Equestria.”
Celestia could not believe her eyes. Standing right in front of her were the warriors from her nightmares. From left to right stood a grey skinned warrior with a dark blue cloak and a heavy looking sword sheathed on his left side. In the middle stood an imposing figure that radiated dark magic with pale skin, blood red eyes and cloak with golden accents running the length of the fabric.
But worst of all was the one on the left who was both man and machine. If what her visions had told her, he was to bring out the worst in her little sister in the years following the war. Although his one good eye held no malice within, Celestia settled with keeping a close watch on him during their stay.
I was at a loss for words. Before today, I had next-to-no knowledge about the world and history of the show, let alone believe it existed beyond our world. Now it was practically gift wrapped right in front of me and my friends’ faces. To top it all off, the two ponies in front of us seemed to be distrustful to us; which was understandable given that we had saved several of their troops when they needed our help.
In short, they weren't going to trust three beings that none of their kind had ever seen before, especially during the times of war. With that in mind, I pulled myself out of thinking and spoke.
“You have every right not to trust us,” I began. “But giving the hard times that you are all in, I had to save the lives of your men.”
Celestia mentally sighed in relief, but only for a second. Then with less distrust in her voice, she said, "It relieves me to know that you three do not mean to bring my little ponies harm... However I will ask again, who are you?"
"To my right," I began. "Is my brother Jack. But most people know him as Raiden. And to my left is our friend Adam, who is know throughout our land as Alucard. My real name is David, but now I go by the title Dracula, the Prince of Darkness."
A shiver of fear found its way to the sisters' hearts, after hearing my name.“Well, my name is Celestia, bearer of the sun,” she then gestured to the smaller mare. “This is my sister Luna, bearer of the moon.”
"Pray tell," said Luna. "How did thou arrive in this time of war?"
Adam answered for me. "To be honest," he began. "We're trying to find that out ourselves."
In that moment, a look of surprise and alarm crossed Jack's face. "Wait a minute guys. If we were launched into the heart of a war, then what happened to the others," he questioned with a hint of fear in his voice.
His question caused me to pause and think. If we were transported to a war stricken cartoon, there was no telling where the rest of our friends went. Suffice it to say I wanted to know more about this arrangement, and I knew a certain Chaos Lord that could shed some light on the subject.
"Is there a area of the camp that is out of the way," I asked. "There is much that we need to discuss... In private."
The two sisters cast worrying glances at each other, until Luna spoke up. "Why should We let you go," she asked accusingly.
"Calm yourself sister," said Celestia. "They can talk on their own time." She glanced towards me and said, "East of this tent lies a training ground that nopony uses anymore due to our placement on the battlefield. Due to an accident involving a new recruit and a balance beam, the area has been closed off as a danger zone to both our troops and the enemy. This might not be necessary, but I will dispatch one of our spies to watch over you, should things turn for the worst."
"Understood," I replied. "And thank you."
As we were leaving I could just barely hear the Night Princess send out one of her elite spies after us. "She's just being cautious," I thought to myself. "Best need to keep an eye on that spy encase he/she tries anything foolish."
With first contact taken care of, my friends and I made our way to the abandoned training ground. Along the way, I tore my gaze to look up at the sky. The moon shone brightly upon the frozen environment, masking everything it its bleak but beautiful glow. Tearing myself away from the sky, I got a glimpse of at what some of the nearby soldiers were doing. Some would pass glances at our walking forms through the light snow. Others would continue to mingle as if nothing had happened.
It was about a few minutes later that we arrived at the training grounds. The Princesses weren't kidding when they said that no one used the field anymore. The snow covered ground was littered with smoldered pieces of wood, remains of training dummies, and shredded fabric of archery targets. We paid attention to none of this, as Adam lead us to a semi solid looking table with rock stumps for seats.
Each of us took a seat, unsure of who should speak first. "Oh goody," said a familiar voice that was everywhere but nowhere at the same time. "You've all gathered together into your very own brotherhood... Oops! Spoilers."
Jack and Adam both consciously reached for their respective swords, unsure that the voice was friend or foe. I however remained calm, waiting for the looks of surprise that would soon befall my pals. The wait wasn't long before a snap brought forth the familiar figure of Discord, casually strolling towards us like nothing happened. "Nothing makes me more excited than seeing three new beings capable of creating the greatest Chaos know to existence," he said with a mischievous tone in his voice.
*SHING *SWISH
Simultaneously, both Adam and Jack unsheathed their blades, each threatening to stab the mix-matched creature in the throat. With a disapproving look, Discord said, "Now there's no need to act so hasty you two." He snapped his fingers causing the HF Blade and the Crissaegrim to fly out of my friends' grasp with little wings that flew them out of grasping range. "We wouldn't want a riot on our hands now would we," he chuckled with a Cheshire Cat like grin on his face.
Shaking my head from the chimera's antics, I said, "I had hoped that you would shed some light onto our whereabouts. But now I have a vague understand on where we are."
Discord had an amused look on his as he said, "Why don't you share your finding with the rest of the class. I'm sure they're eager to know."
"... We are in the land of Equestria," I replied. "More specifically on the southern border of the Crystal Empire."
Suddenly I felt a slight weight added to my head as a graduation hat and certificate appeared in my hand. "Ding! Ding! Ding," Discord shrieked in delight. "You got it right!... But all seriousness aside, you have all been summoned here for-" he paused. "Wait a minute. Aren't there supposed to be six of you?"
He started pacing around the ruins, but was stopped from a chilling howl that echoed off the blowing snow. We all stood and gathered our weapons, as figures of shadow were seen in the nearby peaks.
"Gentlemen," said Discord as he backed slowly away from the oncoming storm. "It has been a pleasure getting to know you. We should do this again some time!"
And with a snap of his fingers, he disappeared into the wind. All three of us gathered into a defensive state as the pack closed in on the camp.
"Prepare yourselves," I said to Jack and Adam.
"Lets get this over with," said Jack, his Blade Mode mask snapping over his face.
"I am ready," said Adam, unsheathing the Crissaegrim from his left side. "Now its your turn."
I nodded in retaliation, Combat Cross at the ready. When the first Shadow Lycan came into view, I shouted, "Have at you!"
One of the wolfs came running towards me at neck-breaking speeds, but my thought process at the moment was going even faster. I smacked it in the head with my Cross, flinging it to the side. With the creature dazed and struggling to maintain it's balance, I used this time to launch at it with a Chaos claw to the mid-section. The impact of the gauntlet alone was enough to reduce it to nothing but entrails and bones.
Three others managed to surround me in that time. Everything around me seemed to have moved in slow motion as they lunged at me in synchronization. I stuck my arms out to the sides, retracting the appendages back as I got ready to launch the knife like ends of the gauntlets straight into their necks.
They came. I lunged. Bringing them both down as the sound of blood spraying out of their necks graced my eardrums. The last lycan of the group swiped it's dagger like claws at the of area from whence I stood. It's arm flew over me as I was ducked. Using this opening as an advantage, I round-house kicked in the chest. It was sent flying for a good two seconds before landing in the snow.
I walked nimbly over to the winded lycan. I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, pulled his head to the side, exposing it's neck. I sank my teeth into it's throat, penetrating arteries and various other veins. An explosion of euphoria flooded my system as the blood trickled down my esophagus and into my body system. I never thought blood would ever taste this good, but the iron from the beast's life force was the sweetest thing I had ever drank. It grew thinner and thinner as I continued sucking out the heavenly, red liquid.
Ripping my head away from the now dead lycan, I managed to catch a glimpse at one of the spies the princesses had sent, flying as quick as a flash towards the center of the outpost. Within the precious seconds he had landed, the great ringing of the bell swarmed the entire camp, rousing all that were asleep or otherwise.
Every single pony in the camp grounds was awoken to the ringing of the alarm bells, combined with the screeching howls of the lycans that seemed to surround the whole camp. Like a dam opening its floodgates, every single shadow-hound poured into the pathways of the entire camp, springing everypony into battle. Both of the princesses swarmed out of the war tent, sun scythe and moon blade at the ready. With a battle-cry that shook the heavens, they charged headlong into battle.
I took a glance to see how everyone else was doing, and found myself struck dumb by what Jack and Adam were accomplishing.
Jack moved like a leaf on the wind, turning everything in his path into minced meat. Wave after wave of mindless beasts fell to his new-found skills of a cyborg ninja. Occasionally he would rip out the hearts of some of the shadow-hounds, which were emerald just like the golem, and crush the life-giving organ in his hand, effectively rejuvenating his energy to full power.
Adam fought like a parallel version of me, alternating between infusing his blade with either void or chaos magic. Just before he finished off a lycan, he would slit its throat and drink straight from the overflowing wound.
Tooth and claw met sword and whip, as the battle progressed without end. After finishing off another lycan, it occurred to me that this fight seemed too easy. These dark doggies were falling too easily to the might of the army. What was their scheme?
I settled on making one of them talk; after stunning another overgrown pooch, I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, bit into my wrist, and let my blood drip down the beast’s gullet. Letting him go, he stumbled around, shrieking and howling in immense pain.
Suddenly, he stood right in front of me, as still as water in a glass. His eyes, which were a sickening shade of green and purple, now were blood red.
“What is your command my lord,” he said in a raspy monotone voice.
“...Tell me everything about your orders from your former master,” I said, wanting to find out why they attacked.
“The coward Sombra thought it would be best if his swarm of shadows distracted the Equestrian Army, to gain more ground in the Crystal Empire.”
After those words left his muzzle, it became clear that this war was much bigger than what I assumed. Whoever this “Sombra” was, he had better prepare himself. Because the true Prince of Darkness was coming for him.
Putting my hands on my new subject’s shoulders, I said, “Help me gather more of your brothers. If we are to take down that coward, we need to expand our forces.”
He bowed his head head and replied, “As you wish, my Lord.”
He then took two steps back, and let out a commanding howl into the air, effectively shutting up all other sounds of battle except for his cry. At first nothing happened after everything went quiet, then every single shadow lycan surrounded where me, Jack, Adam, and my new lieutenant stood.
This didn’t go unnoticed by Celestia and Luna, as both of them landed in front of our group, brandishing their own stylized weapons and armor.
“What is the meaning of this,” demanded Celestia.
“This was a set-up,” I replied. “It would seem that Sobra tricked you and is now expanding his territory in the empire.”
Both of their eyes widened in surprise. “Damn his soul to Tartarus,” shouted Luna in frustration.
“We cannot allow him to corrupt the Crystal Heart,” said Celestia. She then turned to me. “What say you, Dracula?
“Me and my brothers will aid you,” I finally said. “But a Prince of Darkness is nothing without his army.”
With that, I quickly turned around and spat out a large puddle of blood that reached out to the nearby hounds. Each one that was caught sunk into the pool, coming out a second later with blood red eyes that shone for my loyalty.
“Your wish is our command my lord,” they all said simultaneously.
“Then its settled,” I said. “We’re going to take back an empire.”
With the skirmish halted to a standstill, both the Equestrian and Vampire Lycan armies marched headlong into the besieged empire, wasting no time with gathering supplies and weapons in the process. Our armies marched into the magic barrier that surrounded the entire empire, cutting off the blistering cold for the crystal dwellers within.
Passing through the barrier caused us all to suddenly become overwhelmed by the carnage that had transpired. Entire streets were engulfed in fire and smoke, as the sounds of battle sounded off in the distance. If it weren’t for the stench of death that permeated the air, the smashed buildings, and the jagged black crystals that spread throughout the streets, this city would have been beautiful in my eyes.
Our forces came across an intersection that had both Equestrian and Crystal soldiers fighting off shadow warriors from their encampment.
The shadow warriors had the same build as a normal anthropomorphic pony, but these guys seemed to be made entirely of shadow, with their red eyes softly billowing out purple smoke that seemed to look into our very souls.
Our combined reinforcements drove back the shadow ponies into a full retreat, some dissipating into the nearby jaded spires. The remaining troops that we helped, lead us to a mini fortification not too far away from the front lines.
“What are our losses Lieutenant Sun Strike,” Celestia asked to one of the standing lieutenants.
“We got hit pretty hard,” he said with tiredness oozing from his tone. “The enemy overwhelmed our previous outpost in the square, forcing us to retreat to where we stand. Some of the refugees believe that the enemy knew we were coming.”
“If that were the case,” interrupted Luna. “We wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
Sun gave Luna a tired but firm nod of understanding, and said, “That may be true your highness. However, I lost a lot of my men trying to evacuate everypony in that sector before it was taken.” He then turned his gaze towards me. “Who’s the freak-show musketeers with you?”
“I am know as Dracula, the Prince of Darkness,” I said, feeling slightly insulted from his comment. “These are my brothers Raiden, and Alucard. He doesn't need to know the full truth about us...yet."
“A prince eh,” he said, eyebrow raised in curiosity. “You don’t look like one.”
“There will be time to butt heads after this war is over,” said Luna, breaking both of us out of a potential fight. “Lieutenant, what does thou propose to do about thy predicament?”
He lead us to a table that contained a map of the entire empire. From what I could see, several sections of the city had been overrun in the last hour, as evidenced from the recently crossed out buildings. Red eyes were placed on the opposite side of the map from where we stood.
However, it was the castle in the center of the map that captured my attention. It looked as if no one had made an immediate move to capture it, since it was circled in what looked like neutral territory.
“As you can see,” Sun Strike began. “Sombra has made a bold move in claiming more territory in the empire. He has spread his forces westward towards the castle. I believe he is attempting to claim the Crystal Heart as his own.” He then gestured to a series of five small enemy outposts just east of the castle and added, “Our spies have found that he is held up somewhere in this sector.”
“What’s he doing down there,” Jack said in curiosity.
The Lieutenant looked up from his point on the map. “My only guess is that he’s waiting for somepony to make the first move,” he replied. “He knows that we cannot risk maximum casualties with a full frontal assault on the castle. But it seems like he wants to toy with us when victory is within both of our grasps.”
His comment through me off as I continued to study the map. Why was Sombra waiting for someone to make the first move? The people I knew who used that tactic usually were on their last rope, or planning for a large counterattack. If that were the case, then Sombra either had a guaranteed trump card that would turn the tide of the entire war, or was hellbent on capturing the castle first.
While the princesses conversed about their next move, I observed the map for possible routes we could use to get to the fortress. From where we stood, two possible paths split out into various streets and back alleys that lead to the south and west entrances of the castle.
“Pardon me for the interruption,” I interrupted, cutting off the conversation between the sisters. “I think I have a way on how we’re going to bypass Sombra’s army.”
Everyone and everypony’s faces lit up in anticipation, silently ushering me to continue. “This is going to require a great amount of skill and no greater amount of courage. Our armies will split up into two separate intersections,” I then gestured to the map. “My section of the troops will take this route to intercept the south side of the castle here, while Celestia and Luna’s forces take the west there.”
“Why should We take the west?” Luna questioned. “Sombra is expecting your entire army to come in from the west. It would come as an extreme wake-up call for him to find us coming in from both the west and south. He will feel surrounded, forcing him to retreat to the one place in the crossfire that is heavily protected.”
“The Crystal Castle,” Celestia breathed.
“Precisely,” I replied. “With him held up in the inner confinements of the castle, you me and Luna will storm the fortification and finish him off once and for all!”
The troops listening in to our conversation shouted “Huzzah!” in enthusiasm for the coming final battle. With a small smile adorning her war torn face, Celestia said, “It would seem that they are ready for your new orders. How soon until we move out?”
"As soon as you're ready," I replied. "For now, we need to regroup and gather our strength. When the time is right, we will move against the enemy to the castle."
With ourselves well rested, heavily armed and armored, all of our forces were ready for the coming battle. Each of us now knew when and where to storm the castle. My battalion which consisted of the Shadow Lycans, the Equestrian soldiers from the camp, Jack, Adam, Lieutenant Sun Strike, and myself would charge through the South entrance. While Celestia, Luna, the Crystal ponies, and their loyal troops would take the west.
Our group went first by taking down shadow ponies carefully and stealthily to move onto phase two of the attack. I even managed to posses a few to distract larger targets from finding our spies.
In the end we had control over a clock tower that overlooked Celestia and Luna’s side of the city. Jack kept watch of their progression through the streets while Adam stood nearby to signal me to ring the bells of war.
*Crack-BANG
An explosion of light fired up into the sky, giving me the go-ahead to stroke the bells with all my might. The rope held firm within my grasp, as I swung it up and down at the base of the tower.
*RING *RING
Both Jack and Adam jumped from their respective perches near the top of the tower and shouted, “Charge!” into the heat of battle.
Throughout the streets ponies and monsters were fighting tooth and claw within the rush of the attack. Whenever a blockade in the path seemed to stop us, we struck back faster and harder than ever before. Eventually we came across an area of city that lead straight to the castle grounds. Only problem was that a swarm of living shadows were charging towards our battle ridden battalion. Time slowed down for my senses, as I surveyed the immediate area.
The living swarm of shadow was charging at us in the dead center of the street. Closer to our advancing army was a large cathedral with a massive tower that was dwarfed by the castle. However, it seemed like the area where the tower and the cathedral connected had become too weak to hold its own weight. This gave me a genius idea on how to dispose of the advancing masses.
I returned my cross to the confines of my coat, and called upon the chaotic power of the Chaos Claws. With the weak point of the cathedral in my sights, I waited for the right moment to launch a chaos bomb.
Just as the swarm of shadows were coming up to the cathedral, I let the sphere of fire fly from my fiery grasp. It soared through the air, until it found its target with a great explosion.The tower creaked and cracked under its own weight, with bits and pieces of solid gems tumbling to the ground. Then, like a chainsaw to a tree, it fell down and smashed into the advancing troops with a deafening crash that blocked out their shouts of terror.
Part of the tower broke off into two sections when colliding onto the road, leaving us with the perfect route to advance our siege. Some survivors of the collision tried to slow us down, but each attempt ended with quick lashes of my whip.
Finally, we arrived at the center of the empire, with its castle standing tall and proud in the heart of our battle. Looking at it in closer detail, the castle strangely reminded me of the Eiffel Tower if it were made entirely out of crystal. However, I couldn’t appreciate it for long, as the raging battle all around us grew to unimaginable heights. In the midst of all the fighting, I could vaguely see the forms of Celestia and Luna slowly making their way towards one of the support legs holding up the castle.
Luck was on my side, as our battalion was held up next to one of the supports that led up to the higher levels of the fortress. With fire running through my veins, I charged headlong towards the nearest doorway, not before my comrades told me that they would hold back the courtyard for as long as they could.
Just before I entered the darkened entrance, I noticed a cloud of jet-black smoke fly up into one of the upper balconies of the castle. It was then that I realised that Sombra had come, and that the duel to end the war was upon this world.
“Look upon me monster, for I am darker and more terrible than you could ever be. I am the Dragon, and you are my prey...”
The doorway that led back to the battle outside closed with a not-so comforting slam. I breathed a sigh of relief when the plan worked perfectly so far. But when all was said and done, I realized that I was now faced with a new challenge that eluded me beforehand.
Where the Hell was the damned throne room?
“Dracula. Can you hear me?” a voice in my head asked.
“I hear you loud and clear,” I replied. “How are you speaking to me?”
“Both my sister and I can communicate by telepathy to whomever desires to speak away from prying ears.”
“Clever,” I then cleared my throat. “Did you two make it into the castle in one piece?”
“Yes, but it appears that thou art in a different section of the castle than us,” Luna said, joining in on the quick mind debriefing.
“Glad to hear that you made it Luna. Quick question to both of you; where do I go now? I don’t know how to get to the throne room.”
They halted their thoughts from my prying presence. A few minutes later, Celestia spoke again, “Can you picture the room that you’re standing in into your mind so that we can see where you are in the castle?”
I did what she asked, and took note of my new surroundings. The room was entirely sculpted out of all the types of gems and crystals that were rare to be found back...home.
Wow... After everything that’s happened, it never occurred to me that we were stuck here. The thought made me realize that we would probably never see our family and friends again.
“David,” Celestia spoke up in concern. “Are you alright?You’ve been unusually quiet for some time now.”
I shook my head to clear my thoughts of home. “I’m fine,” I said at last. “I just had a few things on my mind.”
“Care to talk about it?”
“Not right now,” I replied with a hint of pleading in my voice. “...The passage way I ended up going through has led me to a stairway that’s trailing upwards.”
She ceased her questions out of respect for my privacy. “I understand,” she said at last. “In regards to your whereabouts, we know of the room that you are in. Go up the stairs until you reach the hallway at the top. From there on out, keep to your left until you reach a crossroads that has a route that leads to the throne room. You will know where it is when you see it.”
I copied down all her directions into a mental map to lead me along the way. “Okay, I’ve jotted down all your directions,” I said. “Is there anything I should look out for?”
“There might be some survivors held up within a few rooms along the path you take. If you find any of my little ponies, have them follow you to your destination. Me and Luna will find a safer place for them.”
“Got it. I shall rescue any survivors that cross my path.” With that said they cut off their mental link to continue through the castle, leaving me to climb up the stairs into the unknown.
At the top of the steps, I came across a large hallway that branched out both to my left and right, with decorative doors splitting off into separate directions. With everything that Celestia said, I took a few steps down the left passage, when suddenly I stopped.
thump, thump
thump, thump
“Two sets of heartbeats,” I said aloud. “Someone or something is nearby.”
My newly heightened senses allowed me to hear the heartbeat pattern of any living thing that was nearby. Coupled with the fact that there was a second but tiny set of beats, I concluded that one of these doors held two survivors; that of an adult and a child.
I kept my ears close to the doors along the length of the hall, the sound of the beats increasing ahead of me. Just then, I came across a door where the sound was literally flooding my senses.
“There they are,” I said in triumph. “Oh, but wait. If I reveal myself to them now, they might see me as a threat, considering I’m an unknown species. For all they know, I could be an agent working for Sombra.”
Finding myself within this predicament, I weighed my options. If I were to sneak in there, they would defend themselves from me. However, if I were to appear as a friend in this time of despair, they would follow me to sanctuary.
With my mind made up, I calmly knocked on the door saying, “Don’t be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you.”
There was a pause in the air until an unfamiliar voice of a mare replied, “How do I know this isn’t a trap?”
“You can trust me when I say that we both have a common enemy outside these walls,” I said calmly.
Silence followed after that last remark. Then at last the door slowly opened, its hinges creaking in protest of disuse. The room beyond the now opened door led to a disused storage room with a strange looking mirror in the far corner. Its occupants consisted of two ponies of various ages.
The first was a pegasus mare with a mane and tail that glistened with the finest shade of silver, a coat of emerald green, and eyes that sparkled like violet stars. She wore a set of robes fit for a queen that had seen better days, but was modified to fit her elegant wings on her back. A necklace shimmered in what little light the hallway provided, giving me a good idea on what her mark was: a diamond heart with a white banner to its left, and a black banner on the right. Holding her left hand and peaking out from behind her legs, was a little bundle of pink that seemed oddly familiar.
She looked up at me with big magenta eyes that were filled with curiosity, as I studied her features. Her mane and tail consisted of a blend of pink, purple, and cream yellow that matched the colors of a beautiful sunrise, complete with a tiny horn parting the flow of hair at the top of her forehead. She was covered from the top of her neck down to her hooves in relatively warm robes that seemed a bit too big for her. The robes did little to conceal the tiny pair of wings on her back, that fluttered every now and again to grow used to the changes in temperature.
The mare looked me in the eyes and said, “...You came to us looking to help any survivors, yet you carry yourself as that of a predator hunting for its prey. Just who are you?”
“I am known as Dracula,” I replied. “At this moment in time, Sombra is looking for the Crystal Heart. I came here with the armies of Equestria to stop him once and for all.”
The mare then let out a remorseful sigh and replied, “Then, it is as I feared. He has grown desperate for taking back his ‘absolute’ rule. ”
“Why is that,” I asked. “And for that matter, what does this kingdom call you?”
She straightened up slowly and replied, “I am know as Queen Jade Emeraldis.” She then gestured to the little one hiding behind her legs who hid from my gaze. “This is my daughter, Princess Cadance, the rightful heir to the throne.”
“Cadance, Cadance... Where have I heard that name before-oh... OH!”
It suddenly dawned on me that this little filly would grow up to become a strong young mare later in the future that was common knowledge to the bronies back home.
“M-Mother,” the young Cadance said with trepidation. “Is this stallion going to keep us safe from the monsters?”
I knelt down in front of her and said in a caring voice, “You don’t need to be afraid of me, little one. Only the monsters from nightmares fear me.”
She giggled slightly in response. I then looked up to her mother saying, “How long have you two been down here?”
Emeraldis let out a remorseful sigh and replied, “Ever since this war started several months ago with the key assassinations in our government. My husband kept both us and the heart safe from Sombra’s dark mind, but he was only prolonging the inevitable.” She closed her eyes in pain and continued her tale, “Three days ago, our security was overwhelmed by Sombra’s entrance into the heart of our very nation. He demanded both the throne and the Crystal Heart, or his armies would lay waste to the entire kingdom.
“Both my husband and the dark tyrant clashed swords in front of everypony in the castle that day, each striking with magic strength that would’ve made the Alicorn sisters proud.” She then bowed her head in sorrow, “But in the end, my beloved was no match for the darkness within the mad tyrant’s cold heart. Sombra made a statement that the empire would never forget... He did this by, be-beheading the king.”
Her eyes were then bombarded with a near endless wave of tears at this revelation, and I couldn’t for the life of me disagree that this monster needed to pay. Seeing the former Queen quietly sob for her husband’s death, I gently embraced her in a hug of understanding.
I then spoke in a comforting tone to both the grieving widow and the lost child saying, “What happened in the past cannot be changed. But now we must look to the future of this glorious kingdom.” I then stepped out into the hallway. “Come with me, and together we can destroy that monster’s darkness, avenge the death of your King, and restore peace to the empire.” I stretched my hand out to the Queen. “What say you Jade?”
She looked at my outstretched hand, eyes slightly red from the fresh tears, and grasped it firmly saying, “For my husband’s memory, and for the glory of the empire, I will join you on your quest.”
Little Cadence, feeling slightly left out from the potential fun, grasped my other hand tightly and declared, “If my mother is gonna help you take down that meanie, then count me in!”
I chuckled in response to her childlike innocence and said, “Then follow me! We’ve got an empire to save.”
