When a plague wipes out many, bringing Equestria down upon its knees, when decades old evil stirs and wreaks havoc on the living, Fluttershy must search for salvation in the closing darkness.
(Inspired by the events in the MTG storyline: Shadows Over Innistrad.)
It has been three months since the first reported case of the plague. In that time, Equestria went from hero to zero in a span of six weeks. Law enforcement is gone, the princesses desperately try to find a cure, and ponies have been dying left and right from the plague and... unnatural causes.
Accidentally left in this crumbling land of nightmares and grotesque happenings, Fluttershy embarks on a quest to find the rest of the Mane Six.
But, this plague has a secret, a dark secret. The secret that is hidden in Blackened Hoof manor, A secret will make Fluttershy turn to the darkness to find the answers she seeks, to find salvation.
It came without warning. It came without thought or action, without a battlehorn or a prophet's decree. It came…
It struck like the creeping spider in the night. It poisoned the body and mind, it poisoned the blood and the food and the water and the air. It poisons all it touches, it corrupts the most innocent, and eradicates the old and young. It leaves a river of blood in it's wake.
We are doomed…..
(!!!)
Ponyville, a three months and a half after the first infected.
Status: Healthy, must keep it that way.
Three months. A whole three months of seeing stallions and mares that I once knew turn into wailing and screaming infected. They cry out, hoping to get help, any help…
My friends… they retreated to a fortress somewhere in the north under the commands of Celestia. All five of them are in that bunker, and they left without me.
It wasn't their fault, I got lost in the riots and the crowds of panicking citizens. I hid in a garbage can and waited for the angry shouts and violence to stop. When I got out and went to look for them, I realized they were gone. After that, The Plague claimed the lives of the entire town guard, so brigands locked the town down and have free reign to harass and murder and rape as much as they please.
I’m so scared, scared that I will become infected with this plague, scared that I will not have the courage to do something. Scared that whatever took Angel will eventually come for me.
Need to get out of here, out of Ponyville. I need to find my friends. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity…. I need to find them all.
Element of Kindness, give me strength.
-Fluttershy.
(/^/)
The rain began to pour as the swirling masses of darkness turned the sky dark. Lightning flashed, and the cries of the infected seemed to drown in the sound of thunder, giving Fluttershy a brief break from the moans of the dying.
She quietly sloshed through the puddles, keeping her eyes open for any brigands and criminals. Ever since The Plague hit, crime is as common as the number of earth ponies in Ponyville.
Fluttershy pulled her hood over her head with her hoof, and kept trotting. She glanced down at her saddle bag that was a gift from Rarity before shit hit the fan. All it had inside of it was Fluttershy’s journal, and a can of sliced carrots that was intended for Angel before…
Fluttershy shook the thoughts of Angel away from her head, not wanting to break down in the middle of the street and the storm.
She passed various houses, and more than half of them had a red hoof mark, telling the citizens to stay away from the infected house.
Fluttershy then saw a group of thug ponies coming around the corner, chatting like it was a fine summer day. One of them had a bloodstained spiked baseball bat on his back.
Terrified, Fluttershy galloped into the nearest unmarked house. She ducked behind the door and started to whimper as she hoped to dear Celestia that they don’t trot up to the house.
“hey, they say that the Crystal Empire is completely plague-free. You guys want to leave this shit hole of a town?” one thug said as they trotted past the house Fluttershy was hiding in.
“Nope, because the empire has laws, laws that prevent us from doing whatever we want. I rather stay here and pillage how I want, when I want, and however I want. And if there is a uninfected mare in these parts… well, I would like to do many things to her. Heh, heh, I wouldn't want to pass up on the opportunity.”
Another bandit said, “you forget, Ponyville has laws too.”
“Bah, The Plague wiped out the guards in this place. The only ponies around her are the doctors and the occasional survivor.”
While they were chatting, Fluttershy made a mental note to avoid those thugs at all costs
After the thugs passed her, Fluttershy decided to explore the clearly abandoned house. It was a mess, with half-eaten plates of food and things were scattered around, with magazines and other miscellaneous items. Whoever owned this house, they were in a hurry to get out of this town turned-Tartarus on Equis.
Fluttershy silently made her way to the kitchen like a rat hungry for its next meal. She opened the cabinets and found not one can of food, not even a crumb.
“The mice must have eaten everything…” Fluttershy whispered to herself. She took a long look around the kitchen cabinets a second time to make sure she didn't miss anything. That was when a metallic object was illuminated by a flash of lightning.
Fluttershy stared at the kitchen knife, wondering how it found its way to a cabinet. She picked it up with her hoof like it was a ticking time bomb, all to aware of what it can do. After all, she saw many ponies get stabbed by this kind of knife during the riots. Maybe she should put it back… or take it.
Fluttershy hesitated. Surely it wasn't stealing if she took an object from an abandoned house? But, if she took it, she knew that she would have to have the courage to use it when the time comes.
Fluttershy took a shaky breath, and put it in her bag. She headed towards the stairs, the steps creaking after every time Fluttershy puts her hoof down on the boards.
She observed from the stairs. She saw two rooms, a bathroom and a bedroom. She decided to check out the bathroom first. Inside of it was pretty standard for a bathroom. White colored decor with toliet and shower and a medicine cabinet/mirror.
Fluttershy opened the cabinet and found a bottle of pain pills and one band-aid. She put both in her bag.
She carefully made her way to the bedroom and pushed the door open.
There was blood spattered on the walls and floor. Next to Fluttershy, behind the door, was a disembowled corpse of Written Script, and it looked like the rats fed on his organs, indicated my the chew marks on his intestines. Then the smell hit her.
Fluttershy immediately vomited and backed out of the room, tears and terror rising up inside her. She was about to cry when she heard a sobbing sound, coming from the blood-stained room.
Fluttershy stood still, paralyzed with fear. For what seemed like forever, Fluttershy finally pulled herself together.
“I...I-I got to pull myself together. I have to be courageous. For my friends, I have to be,” Fluttershy whispered to herself. She went back to the door and opened it more. She tried to not make any contact with Written Script’s corpse as she stepped over her vomit puddle. She then heard the sniffles and the heavy breathing coming from underneath the blood-soaked bed.
Fluttershy whispered to the bed, “is anypony there? If so, are you alright?”
The sniffling stopped. Underneath the bed, a tragic voice said, “I don’t wanna die! Please, leave me alone! I don’t want to become one of them. I don’t want to kill again. Oh sweet Celestia, please help me!”
Whoever was under the bed started to bawl. Fluttershy slowly trotted towards the bed, which immediately got a warning from the pony under the bed in the form of a feeble pillow throw. The pillow bounced harmlessly off of Fluttershy’s face. After that, the pony started crying again.
Status: shaken by Written Script’s corpse, but still healthy.
When I was exploring a seemingly abandoned house, I found Golden Harvest, a.k.a Carrot Top, alive and well. She keeps on saying something about Written Script and a shadow that was behind him before he died. I ask how he died, then she went silent.
She is hysterical and keeps looking underneath her mane for something. I'll ask about it later.
I have decided to take her with me to help find my friends. After all, she is all alone, so somepony needs to show her kindness.
We are to quietly slip out of the town. I can't fly us out because of the brigand archers, so we will have to use our own four hooves to make it out of here.
My fear, my shyness is getting in my way. I’m scared of seeing the thing that took Angel away in the streets. I have seen it in my nightmares, in my daydreams. It always appears in front of a overgrown estate, then beckons me to follow it. I saw it on the night it took Angel… I saw it… right?
I can’t relive that. I can’t be scared, or I will never be good enough. I have to be strong, for my friends.
-Fluttershy.
(^^^)
Fluttershy and Golden quietly creep through the streets, avoiding bandits and the dying as their moans of pain and suffering fill the air as soon as the thunder ends.
Golden was still shaking her head and crying silently. She absolutely refused to see the dead bodies that littered the street, all friends she knew before they got the plague.
They passed Sugarcube Corner and passed Carousel Boutique, passed Golden Oak Library. Seeing these locations, in ruin and disrepair with bodies littering the ground in front of the former homes of her friends. This brought Fluttershy to tears, as the view of them all looks like a nightmare come true.
As the two mares continued to trot in the shadows of death, they finally have gotten to the outskirts of town.
Fluttershy frowned. It wasn't supposed to be this easy to escape Ponyville at all. She could see The Castle of Friendship and further away, her own cottage.
Fluttershy turned to Carrot Top and gave her a reassuring nod. A nod Golden Harvest returned.
Fluttershy took one step forward and sunk halfway into the ground. The cold of the earth shocked her and she quickly tried to scramble out, with Golden Harvest helping her by pulling her by her mane unto somewhat dry land. Fluttershy had mud all over her underside and legs.
That was when she really took a good look at the landscape before them.
The unrelenting rain has caused the area around Ponyville to become a swampy quagmire, filled with dead bodies and tombstones, which were here because the local cemetery was full.
As the two gazed in terror at the makeshift swamp-graveyard, they saw what appeared to be floating candle lights colored an eerie, faint blue.
One of the faint blue flickers of flame floated over to the two mares, whispering something to them.
“Don't you recognize me?” the orb of light said.
Golden Harvest’s eyes went wide, “Diamond Tiara?! Is that you?”
“yes…”
“What happened to you?” Fluttershy asked.
“I died of the plague. My body rests somewhere here. I was so young… and buried with my parents without a tombstone. I have become a Will o’ Wisp. I cannot rest without a proper burial.”
Fluttershy dipped her head, “we are sorry you have to be this way.”
“Do you know what happened to the bandits?”
Fluttershy’s head went up slowly, “No. Why do you ask us?”
“Look around.”
Fluttershy did, and wished she hadn't.
The bodies of the bandits that she hid from in town were ten feet away from them. The bandits’ eyes were wide with horror, as if something scarred them to death. One of the bandits had their lower body completely missing, their entrails floating in the swamp.
Fluttershy looked at Diamond Tiara’s Wisp and said with a hint of panic in her voice, “what happened to them?!”
The wisp cackled, “I led them into the swamp to die!”
Almost immediately, the rest of the wisps turned from blue to red and began laughing. Then, half rotten hooves began to emerge from the swamp, seemingly clawing at the air. Even the bodies of the bandits began to move. Their lifeless eyes fixed upon the two mares.
Diamond Tiara’s wisp said in a rather sinister tone, “join us, in death. It is the only escape from this plague, the only escape from this Tartarus on Equis. Join us.... join us.”
The other wisps began to chant “join us” over and over again. The undead still clawed at the air, and the bandits’ bodies began to crawl towards Fluttershy and Carrot Top.
Terrified to the point of borderline insanity, the two mares began to jump from island to island, trying to avoid the dead. Fluttershy was always one island ahead of her companion, move fast to avoid the rotten hooves grasping the air.
“Come on, Carrot! We need to get out of here!” Fluttershy said as she turned to encourage her friend.
Golden Harvest was moving as fast as she can, trying to keep up with a adrenaline fueled Fluttershy. But, she was not quick enough for one zombie hoof.
Golden cried out in pain as the sharp bones curled around her hind leg. She was wrestled to the ground and was being dragged into the swamp.
Fluttershy could look on in horror as fear locked her joints. Fluttershy saw her scream as a rotten hoof covered Golden’s mouth. Then, a skeletal head with bits of flesh still attached emerged from the murky waters and sank its teeth into Golden’s neck, and tore out her jugular.
Fluttershy was paralyzed with fear, unsure what to do against such evil.
Soon, other bodies emerged from the same spot and tore open Golden Harvest’s body and began to eat her organs. They ate her as she was still alive, kicking and screaming.
“You're next, you're next, you're next!” the wisps chanted
The wisps laughed their haunting laugh as Fluttershy spread her wings and took off towards her cottage, crying the entire way.
(***)
Fluttershy opened the door and slammed it shut, and locking it. She galloped into her dining room, picked up a chair with her teeth and galloped back to the door. She jammed the chair underneath the doorknob and then collapse on the floor and began to weep.
It just wasn't fair. She tried to escape a nightmare town with somepony she could have saved. She could be talking to Golden Harvest right now if she didn't hesitate to help the mare. She didn't deserve her fate at all, not after all she has been through.
Fluttershy kept on crying, practically drowning in her sorrows.
“Fluttershy, open your eyes.”
Fluttershy paused her crying. That voice… could it be?”
Fluttershy slowly turned her head upwards to see the princess of the moon herself. Then Fluttershy took note of her surroundings. They were at a pristine lake with a board dock and the moon reflecting off the water’s surface. They were surrounded by aspen trees.
She turned back to Luna, “please tell me it's really you.”
Luna trotted over to her and sat down besides her, “it is I.”
Fluttershy snuggled up to her and began to cry again, with Luna patting her back.
“There, there. You have been through a lot, haven't you,” the princess cooed.
Fluttershy wiped her snout and said, “why Luna? Why is this happening to Equestria?”
Luna gazed at the water, “to tell you the truth, I have not the slightest clue. All my sister and I know is that dark magic is involved.”
Fluttershy asked, “dark magic? But, what kind of dark magic user would do something like this?! Why are they trying to turn this place into the stuff of nightmares?”
“The most ancient and evil kind.” Luna looked down to the yellow mare and asked, “what are you willing to do to make this land right again? To help your friends?”
Fluttershy didn't even hesitate to answer, “anything.”
“Even venture to a place that nopony has come back from.”
Fluttershy hesitated, then nodded.
“Then I have a task for you.”
Luna got up and traced the water with her hoof. The water’s surface rippled as it revealed a map of the Kingdom of Equestria. She pointed to a spot on the map.
“South of Baltimare, near the Horseshoe Bay, lies a manor. This manor was once a site for many healers and scholars, a place where the owners would host lavish balls and help those that were poor and sick. Then, one day, it changed.”
“What happened?” Fluttershy asked.
Luna shrugged, “only legends and myths shine light on the matter. Some say the wife went mad and butchered the entire staff and her husband, others say that she was seduced by a demon, or the dark arts. Some even suggested that she hung herself, and her ghost haunts the crumbling manor. All we do know is that place is a Major pool of the darkest magic on this continent.”
Fluttershy asked, “what's its name?”
“Blackened Hoof manor,” Luna said.
“I… I think I heard of it before.” Fluttershy put her hoof to her chin, then her eyes widened, “I have heard of it! Twilight was talking about it a couple months ago. She said on how she bought a book on the subject.”
“If she has a book about it, then it would be wise to acquire it, for it could give you powerful insight into the manor.”
“So, wait. Princess Luna, what am I to do once I get there?” Fluttershy asked.
Luna waved her hoof over the water and the map disappeared. She turned to Fluttershy and said, “before its fall from grace, the manor housed many books on the healing arts. It has one book that has a cure for anything, or so they say. We need this book to save the population of the sick and dying. My sister and I developed a spell that prolongs the life of an infected pony, but they will still die in the end. So we need that book. It may be the only shot we have.”
Fluttershy nodded trying to gather up her failing courage, “alright. I will try m-my best, for my friends and Equestria.”
Luna smiled, “I know you will.”
The world around them began to distort, getting foggy and the moon fading. Fluttershy quickly said; “what about my friends? Are they okay?!”
Luna’s voice called out from the growing darkness, “yes, they are alright, and they miss you.”
Tears began to slip from Fluttershy’s eyes as she said, “I miss them too.”
Fluttershy opened her eyes, and groggily got up. She was in her cottage, and the lightning still flashed outside. She trotted over to her window and looked out of it. She could see the very faint lights of the Will O’ Wisps a hundred yards away. Trying not to think about what happened in the swamp, Fluttershy trotted around her house, noting that the various cages for the animals that lived here were empty. She went upstairs and tried to turn on the shower, in a bid to make herself feel better and to clear her mind.
Instead of hot water, blood began to spray from the shower head, splattering Fluttershy’s body.
Fluttershy scrambled out of the bathroom and galloped into her room, dripping foul blood all over the floor.
Tears began to slip as she finally realized that she could never escape the horrors of this land. It seemed that every part of her being wanted to give up.
“No, I-I have to be strong,” she whispered to herself. She went back into the bathroom, shut off the blood-shower and tried to wipe as much as she could of her body. When she was finished, she went back down stairs and rummaged through her cabinets, looking to take food items for her journey.
As soon as she put some food in her bag, she was about to head out her door when she noticed a pot of flowers near her window. The pot had a bunch of dark purple-colored flowers that drooped a little.She approached the pot and read the sign in the pot.
“Wolfsbane.”
Fluttershy knew the plant well. She had to rush many animals to the Ponyville Hospital to save their lives from the menacing poison this plant produced. And in most of those cases, all the animals had to do to nearly kill themselves were to touch it.
But, Fluttershy could recall what Zecora said about the plant, on how it could repel or even kill powerful supernatural monsters, and it was second only to silver in that regard.
Fluttershy knew just what to do.
She trotted over to her animal care supplies and pulled out some disposable latex hoof gloves and put them on. She then picked up the pot and flew over to her kitchen. She set the pot down and brought out a tea kettle that was used to give water to the animals instead of actual tea making. She filled the kettle with water.
Now came the dangerous part.
Fluttershy made sure the gloves had no holes in them, then proceeded to pull the plants up out of the pot.
All that needed to happen was for her to touch any part of the plant. There was no medical services anymore, so if she screws up, she's dead.
Fluttershy removed her gloves and reached into her saddle bag. She carefully grasped the knife from the house Golden Harvest hid in and grabbed another pair of gloves and put them on. She laid the plants onto a cutting board and went to work, carefully slicing the roots off the plants. She then put them in the kettle, and began to heat the kettle.
Fluttershy then took the knife and carefully wrapped it in cloth, knowing that the knife retained some of the poisons. She then opened a plastic bag and tied it as soon as she placed the knife in it. She then put it in her bag.
Fluttershy then went up stairs and opened her medicine cabinet. She grabbed some antibiotics and penicillin, some bandages and stiches and put them in her saddle bag. She then grabbed some vials of medicine that was only used for the animas if they had a cold, and dumped the contents down the bathroom sink. She rinsed them out, a total of five vials is what she had.
She went back downstairs and took the heated kettle off the stove. She lined up the vials on the counter.
Fluttershy grabbed a large cup from her cabinets and grapped a strainer, so the root peices don't get caught in the vials. She poured the poisonous liquid through the strainer, and into the cup. When the kettle became empty, Fluttershy put it and the strainer down in the sink. She then grabbed the cup of poison and began to pour it into the vials. As soon as that was done, Fluttershy re-corked the vials.
She finally had a way to truly defend herself.
Fluttershy put her vials of Wolfsbane into her nearly full saddle bag. She trotted out to the door, took a deep breath, and went out the door.
Fluttershy spread her wings, and shot skyward, flying over the swampy area tha was the outskirts of Ponyville. She headed straight for Twilight’s Castle of Friendship, trying not to look at the swampy land of the living dead below her.
She landed on the grand balcony of the castle. She went through the door.
(&&&)
The place wasn't a mess at all, which made Fluttershy’s mind feel a lot at ease. It was still the same as the last time she visited.
Fluttershy made her way to Twilight’s personal library, intent on finding the book. She searched the rows for more than twenty minutes before she found what she was looking for.
She carefully pulled the book from the shelf and read the title out loud, “History of Blackened Hoof manor; a comprehensive guide to the legend.”
Fluttershy carefully opened the book. The warm scent of an old book wafted to her snout, which was a lot better than smelling corpses or swamps. She decided to read the introduction to the book.
She started reading.
“Blackened Hoof manor, never in Equestria has a mansion ever been associated with evil and darkness like this one has. It's an ancient abomination from a not-so-ancient time, filled with bitterness and anger and bloodshed, spanning hundreds of years. I, the author of this book, will attempt to open the veils of darkness that has so carefully covered the truth, shielding it from the light. I have dug-
Fluttershy heard something.
Fluttershy put the book into her bag when she saw a shadow standing in the middle of the hall that lead to the library.
“W-who's there?”
The figure responded by putting itself in the light.
It was Spike, a good friend to all the Mane Six. His scales were as pale as snow, and his eyes glowed red.
Fluttershy started to back away in terror as Spike parted his lips, revealing blood-stained teeth. He hissed like a cat with rabies and began to advance.
“I'm so thirsty… my throat feels like its roasting over hot coals. Good thing you came along, I haven't had a good drink in days,” he said with an evil glint in his eyes of red.
Fluttershy was practically hyperventilating as sheer terror washed over her like a tsunami. She quickly pulled out one of her Wolfsbane vials and said, “s-s-stay back. I-I mean it!”
Spike hissed and continued to move forward, his eyes glowing as he stared at her.
He stopped when he was ten feet in front of her, licking his lips, anticipation driving his mind over the edge.
“I wonder, Fluttershy. Does your blood taste like coward?”
Spike then lunged forward, his teeth flashing as the lightning crashed.
Fluttershy threw the vial with all her might, hoping that her Wolfsbane concoction will work.
The poisonous liquid surged from the vial as it broke against Spike’s face, causing third degree burns.
Spike let out a blood-curdling scream as the poison caused his scales to burn and smoke. He hopped out the window, and crashed into the swamp below.
Fluttershy galloped over to the window to see if Spike was okay, (even though she knew he was not.)
When she looked out the window, he wasn't there.
His terrible laughter echoed throughout the Castle of Friendship.
“You almost killed me, Fluttershy. But soon, you will suffer the same fate as I!”
His laughter seemed to be getting closer, and as it did, it began to sound more and more demonic.
Fluttershy spread her wings and flew ibto the air, going as fast as she could, and ignoring the bite on her right front leg.
All the while, was completely unaware that a certain wisp was watching her fly to the horizon. Carrot Top could only watch. Soon as Fluttershy was outside her vision, she transformed into her wisp form, and began the wait for another lost soul.
I don't want to see Spike like that again, ever. He was so evil and he called me a coward…
Is that what he has always thought of me as?
He wasn't a plague victim, that's for sure. Or else I would of died from the bite he gave me.
Whatever he was, it wasn't natural. I could feel the dark powers trying to get to me when he stared at me. My guess is something Twilight told me about. She called it… hypno-something. Because of that dark power, he bit me just as the lightning flashed. The bite was enough to get me out of the trance and throw Wolfsbane at him. I don't want to kill him, but it seems that he wouldn't hesitate to get me.
This bite is numb, no pain from it whatsoever. It seems infected, so I must clean the wound.
I hope the medicines I brought are enough.
-Fluttershy.
(*^*)
Fluttershy continued to walk the worn path that many ponies have used to get to Baltimare on hoof. The rain went away, but the dark clouds refused to yield to any celestial bodies of the sky. Fluttershy couldn't even tell if it was day or night.
She walked the beaten path, one Wolfsbane near the top of her saddle bag, in case the corpses on the path decided to stop playing dead.
Fluttershy stopped for a moment to check her bite wound. It was wrapped in bandages with some penicillin added to it. She even downed one of her antibiotics to fight the infection.
She continued to trot to her destination, thinking about the good times she has had with the rest of the Mane Six.
That was when she saw movement on the path up ahead.
She could see the outline of a pony stabbing a body repeatedly with a sword, and crying the entire time.
Fluttershy was tempted to flee, but before she could, the figure looked in her direction.
The figure withdrew its sword from the body of whatever it was and began to gallop at Fluttershy.
Fluttershy spread her wings and was about to take off when she was tackled by the figure. Both her and the figure tumbled to the ground, with Fluttershy scrambling to get back on her hooves and fly away.
The figure jumped on her and held her down with its sword raised high in the air.
“No, please, don't hurt me!” Fluttershy said in an attempt to yell, but her words were more like a squeak.
The figure froze. It lowered the sword and said, “there is only one pony in all of Equis that talks like that.”
The figure dropped the sword and embraced Fluttershy in a tight hug, tears running down its face as it said, “I never thought I'd ever see a living pony again!”
The figure pulled away, giving Fluttershy a good look.
The figure was none other than Roseluck. Roseluck looked fine, minus the blood-shot eyes and the bruises and cuts that covered her body. Her mane was a mess, with dried mud and leaves caked into it. She wore an old-styled red coat.
Fluttershy got up and said, “you aren't one of those wisps, are you?”
“No, and thank Celestia that is the case.” Roseluck jumped into the air and said, “Luna said somepony would come to help me, and she said that it would be one of the Mane Six! Thank Celestia that you're hear, otherwise I doubt I would last the entire night.”
“Luna spoke to you too?”
Roseluck nodded, “yep, she sent a lot of ponies to this Blackened Hoof manor she told us about. Thing is…”
“You kinda trailed off…”
Roseluck shook her head, “I know. It's not easy killing the ones you love as soon as they turn.”
Fluttershy quickly looked over to the spot where she saw Roseluck stabbing a body and crying hysterically.
She gulped, “then who was that?”
Rose sheathed her silver sword, “it was Daisy. She was bitten, and she turned and tried to kill me. Lily Valley was lost in the Ruins.”
Rose looked both ways up the path and then turned to Fluttershy and said, “we need to move. It's not safe in this area. We don't want to get caught by the monsters.
Fluttershy frowned, “why is that? The zombies are easy to avoid (as long as you're not scared like me) and I haven't seen a wisp for miles.”
Roseluck picked up her sword and strapped it to her saddle bag, “there are things more deadly than wisps in this part of Equestria. Tell me, do you believe in werewolves?”
Fluttershy began to shake like a leaf in a storm. She quickly glanced at the trees that were beside the worn path and said, “have you s-seen one?”
“Only once, when I saw it devour a baby foal’s corpse.”
Fluttershy looked at the ground as panic set in, “w-we are going to d-d-die!”
“No we are not. They kinda disappeared a bit ago into the woods, so I think we're good. But, to be on the safe side, I think we really need to get going.”
Fluttershy hesitated, then nodded once and both began to trek down the long, winding road.
“If you don't mind me asking, where did you get that coat?” Fluttershy asked.
Rose replied, “what? This three cape coat? From the town hall in Ponyville. I was stuck in there for five days and explored a bit inside. I found this gathering dust in the attic, and it was raining, so I took it.”
“And the sword?”
“It's an old family heirloom named Rosebane. It was created when one of my ancestors, White Rose, went to Blackened Hoof manor”
“He survived?!”
Rose nodded, “He is the only pony to do so. When he returned from that horrid place, he was something else entirely. To kill him, another one of my ancestors named Anvil Break crafted a sword made of silver, and killed him while he was sleeping. Since then, the sword has been named Rosebane. It has been passed down from generation to generation, always coming into possesion of a blood relative of White Rose when they need it the most. So, when The Plague appeared for the first time, I mysteriously found it on my bed one day.”
Fluttershy looked at the silver sword with awe and fear. She then said, “what did White Rose become?”
“Vampire,” Rose replied.
Flutrershy found herself itching to throw a Wolfsbane vial and fly away as fast as she can. She had to know if Rose was anything like that first, so she asked, “are you a v-vampire?”
Rose rolled her eyes, “no. One is not born with vampiric traits. One must be turned. Sure, i'm descended from one, but nopony in my family has ever inherited vampirism. But what we do inherit is White Rose’s knack for growing flowe-”
A haunting howl filled the air.
Rose turned slowly, then quickly said, “Fluttershy, we need to get out of here! That one is not far behind, and I bet you it has our scent!”
“It sounded like a normal timberwolf to me,” Fluttershy said.
Rose shook her head, “I promise you, that's no timberwolf.”
They turned their heads when they heard crashing in tue underbrush, twigs snapping as the beast came closer.
Without another word, both mares galloped away.
The foresr seemed to come alive on either side of the road as the howling grew louder and louder. The trees seemed to move on their own, swarms of bats filled the skies and common woodland creatures began to flee the area, knowing all too well what was coming.
Rose looked behind her and heebeyes widend as a panic-inducing howl pierced the thick night air. Roseluck looked ahead and shouted, “Fluttershy, do not look behind you! Keep galloping, got it?!”
Fluttershy did as she was told and keeped up the pace. She could hear the breathing of the beast behind her, could hear the steps hitting the ground, and could even feel Its hot, putrid breath on her flank.
Then the beast howled right behind her, making her realize just how close it was. Her fear kicked in, and she began to gallop like crazy. She spread her wings and took to the air, hoping she was going to make it.
She looked below and finally saw the creature.
The werewolf was about the size of three Big Macintoshes, with with matted and bloodstained fur. Its claws were the size of bear claws, and it stood on two legs. Its teeth were all srai ned with blood with gore stuck between them.
The beast howled at Fluttershy, causing Roseluck her chance to escape its attention.
Fluttershy stood the in the air, paralyze by fear. She was about to take off when the werewolf ran at a tree. Fluttershy knew what was going to happen, but before she could fly away, the beast hopped onto a tree, scaled it in under a second, then vaulted itself off the tree, flying right at her. Fluttershy was still paralyzed by fear, so she got spiked out of the air. She landed hard on the ground, two of her ribs snapping at inpact. She screamed in agony as the werewolf landed with a thud. She could of sworn that the werewolf smiled. It howled a victory howl and stood over Fluttershy. It raised its claws, ready to tear into her flesh.
In a blur of silver, it lost its claws.
The werewolf roared in agony and staggered away from Fluttershy, revealing Rose with Rosebane in hoof. She slid underneath Fluttershy, putting the element bearer on her back, and took off, leaving the werewolf to wallow in its pain.
Fluttershy could here more howls of the various werewolves that call this stretch of land home. They were all howling, and they were all heading towards the two mares.
“Don't pass out Fluttershy! Stay with me!” Rose said.
“I got Wolfsbane in my bag!” Fluttershy shouted, which was more like a whisper than a shout. Luckily, Rose heard it that time. She nosded and headed for a bridge that passed over a small stream on the beaten path.
Rose gently let Fluttershy down. She then opened Fluttershy’s saddle bag open and grabbed all four remaining vials. She opened one and poured half a circle around them. She opened another one and poured another circle around them again, completing the circle. She held Rosebane in one hoof and a Wolfsbane vial in the other.
Fluttershy took a good look from the bridge, and wished she hadn't.
Bodies of many ponies were here, and it was obvious who killed them all. Fluttershy even saw corpses of baby fillies and colts, all torn apart and slaughtered like animals, their brains, organs, and blood decorating the grasses around them.
Fluttershy puked, which made Rose puke.
The werewolves emerged from the woods, their eyes looking hungrily at the two mares. Many of them had blood all over them, and one even had one filly alive in its jaws.
“Help me!” the filly cried. The werewolf tighten its jaws around the filly’s head, causing it to explode, brain matter and blood began leaking from the werewolf’s jaws.
This single murder of a filly caused Rose to drop Rosebane in terror as the werewolves circled around them.
One werewolf lunged at the two mares, ready to do the same thing as the werewolf with the filly did.
It touched the circle of Wolfsbane and immediately roared in agony. The werewolf staggered as the poison began to work its way into its bloodstream. In a couple seconds, the werewolf’s eyes popped, and the beast flopped to the ground, steam coming off its now-empty eye sockets and its mouth.
As soon as the werewolves smelled the steam coming from the dead werewolf, they high-tailed it and ran back into the woods, their howls leaving an echo in the two mares’ s hearts and soul.
Those werewolves came very close to taking our heads off. Luckily, werewolves won't cross water, so we made our getaway after the confrontation on the bridge.
I feel that I am slowly loosing myself in this nightmarish landscape. I see bodies of many dead Equestrian ponies littering the landscape, all trying to run away from the plague. I can feel my sanity and what's left of my innocence slipping every time I see a monster that seems to come out of the pages of a horror book.
Something else is happening to me. Ever since I broke my ribs, I have been feeling thirsty. Water tastes like liquid ash to me, and the food I brought from my house tastes like vomit. I can't sleep, I can't walk straight, Roseluck has to carry me for a mile more often than not.
It is definitively not the plague, definitively not any other illness I know of.
Dear Celestia, what is happening to me?!
-Fluttershy
(**)(**)
“Although we may never know what truly went on in that manor, we can say that whatever happened, it turned the most blessed manor into an eldritch abomination.” Roseluck said as she read out loud the ending of Chapter One.
Roseluck closed the book that was taken from Twilight’s library, and put it back in Fluttershy’s saddle bag, which in turn was next to the sick mare. Fluttershy was wrapped in a salvaged sleeping bag, looted from one of the numerous corpses on the road. They were close to their destination, and could see the skyline of Baltimare from where they were camping for the night, (or day, they couldn't tell because of the dark clouds.)
Roseluck turned and made sure the carrot slices weren't burned. They were cooking the only food they had left after the rain soaked whatever food they had.
Roseluck took the carrot slices and offered one to Fluttershy. Fluttershy groaned, shook her head, and pulled the sleeping bag over her her head.
Roseluck was very concerned for her friend. The good news is that she isn't infected with the plague. Bad news is that whatever she’s got, it isn't pretty.
Fluttershy was shivering, and her yellow coat was growing pale. Her eyes were bloodshot, her breathing was terrible to hear as she drew short, ragged breaths. She was the very image of sick.
Roseluck hated to see her like this, so she decided to go into the woods for a bit to see if she could find some herbs that would help with the sickness.
“Fluttershy…, can you hear me?”
The pegasus nodded under the sleeping bag.
“I’m going to search for some herbs in the woods for ten minutes, I’ll be back.”
Fluttershy was whimpering, a clear sign that she didn't want her to leave her alone. Roseluck turned away, ignoring Fluttershy’s whispers of fear.
()()()
Fluttershy watched in horror as she saw Roseluck gallop into the woods, ignoring her calls for her to stay with Fluttershy.
It was by this time when she noticed that the shadows around her seemed to comfort her in their own way, as if the shadows themselves were blocking her vision from seeing the dead all around her. The shadows then produced a pony in a long, black cloak with a hood obscuring the pony’s face. The pony had a scythe on its back.
Fluttershy saw this pony, and knew immediately what it was.
She began to cry uncontrollably, trying in vain to inch her sleeping bag away from the approaching spectre of the shadows. Her sickness wouldn't allow her to move at all without some kind of pain.
Defeated, Fluttershy could only watch with absolute horror as Death approached her.
Death towered over the mare and reached out with his hoof, and getting his scythe ready. His hoof hovered over her bite wound. Death paused for a moment as Roseluck galloped out of the woods with herbs in her mouth. She spotted Fluttershy and was at her side in a couple of seconds.
Fluttershy noticed how she completely ignored Death, as if she couldn't see him.
Roseluck’s mouth was forming words, but Fluttershy couldn't hear them. She then saw Roseluck start to cry and sat down to weep.
Fluttershy frowned. Why was she crying?
Fluttershy turned her head towards Death.
Death still had his hoof hovering over Fluttershy’s bite wound.
He withdrew his hoof and looked down at the yellow mare. He put his scythe back on his back and backed up slowly while still facing Fluttershy. He backed into a tree, and instead of hitting the tree, he melted back into the shadows.
(*)(*)(*)
Why?
Why did Fluttershy have to die?
Roseluck asked that same question over and over again in her mind as she sat in front of the body of Fluttershy.
“I shouldn't have left her, dammit I shouldn't have left her!” Roseluck cried.
How was she supposed to complete this quest alone? Is this what Luna wanted? To send everypony to their deaths in pursuing a hopeless goal?
Roseluck continued to mourn, not caring if any monsters hear her. Roseluck would rather die than move on now.
“Roseluck, why are you crying?”
Roseluck stopped crying, and slowly turned to see Fluttershy staring back at her.
“wha-what?!” was all Roseluck could say.
Fluttershy unzipped the sleeping bag and climbed out of it, she stretched her wings and yawned.
“I-I saw you… I-I saw you…”
Fluttershy tilted her head, “saw me do what?”
“I saw you die in front of me with my own eyes!” Roseluck managed to say.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened, “I died?!”
That was when Roseluck took in the whole picture. Fluttershy’s coat was now a pale yellow. Her wings were now bat wings, her eye’s irises were a mesmerizing gold color that seemed to softly glow, and the whites of her eyes were pitch black. Her teeth are pointed, and her wounds were completely healed, save for the bite, which was now a small scar.
Roseluck had a pretty good idea on what bit her in the first place.
“You're a…”
Roseluck drew her sword and pointed it at Fluttershy, causing the latter to back off in alarm.
“Roseluck, what are you doing?” Fluttershy asked in a nervous squeak.
“Stay the fuck away from me!” Roseluck cried. She put the sword handle in her mouth and galloped away, in the direction of the manor.
“Wait! Come back!” Fluttershy said. She spread her wings and took to the air, following Roseluck into a cemetery.
(&&&)
After an hour or so searching for Roseluck in the air, Fluttershy descended from the sky and landed in the middle of the cemetery.
Her ears twitched with the sounds of the silent graveyard as she tried to locate Roseluck.
The tombstones seemed to call out to her in an eerie and sinister way.
The fog in the graveyard was strong, obscuring most of her vision, hiding much from her, hiding many more horrors that were watching her with evil eyes.
Fluttershy was strangely unaffected by the atmosphere of the cemetery, and was even walking along the withered grass like it was a warm, sunny day.
She spotted a bench near some tombstones. Deciding to rest, she layed down on the bench.
She took her saddle bags off herself, and out fell the book of the legends.
Fluttershy slowly grabbed the book with her hoof. She opened the book and flipped to chapter one.
Chapter One
The legend of how Blackened Hoof manor came to its current state is unknown, and many legends seem to explain what has happened. In this analysis, we will use the most popular version of the legend itself.
It all began with the marriage of Lord Thunder Whitehoof, and Marelady Wave Foam.
According to the legends, they were the happiest couple in the world. Lord Whitehoof was from one of the Crystal Empire's most noble-blooded clans, and Lady Whitehoof was distantly related to the royal family of Maretonia.
They were fillyhood sweethearts, and fulfilled the vows they made as young ponies to marry each other when they were old enough. It is said that the angels themselves sung the bride's song before they kissed.
Because of their wealthy heritage and bloodline, they pooled their wealth and built a mansion on a piece of land near Baltimare and the area near Horseshoe Bay, complete with cotton crops and servants. They had built a garden, a feasting hall, a ballroom, a theater and many other wonders.
Fluttershy flipped the page, engrossed in reading the book.
It wasn't long before the relationship bore fruit. It is not known when their first offspring was born, but this version of the legend states that the first born was born during the winter, and its name and gender lost to history. The parents loved this child greatly.
But this happiness was not to last.
You see, the staff of the manor, the maids, were willing to do anything to please the Lord and Lady of the manor, and they did so in order to gain a favorable position from them.
When the first born came into the world, Lady Whitehoof gave the task of taking care of it to a rather timid maid named Purity Bliss, because the lady’s job required her to constantly leave the manor. What she didn't know was that Purity had deep feelings for Lord Whitehoof, feelings he never returned.
Purity Bliss would take care of the first born, in hopes that Lord Whitehoof would notice her. However, the more she sought his love, the more she was met with disappointment. Legends say that the final straw came when she saw Lord Whitehoof tenderly comforting his wife. She snapped and flew into a silent rage.
She made a cake for the first born on its second birthday. With the parents of the first born cheering it on, the first born dug into the cake…
Only to die frothing at the mouth and in intense pain.
The Lord and Lady of the manor hung Purity on the tree on the left side of the manor in an act of revenge and justice. As she died, the rest of the maids were forced to watch the body of Purity swaying from side to side, riding on the wind. This was supposed to be a warning to not poison the second offspring, who was due in two months.
But, Pure Bliss’ s sister swore revenge, and waited until it was five months later. She staged a revolt on the manor grounds. Arming all but one of the servants with daggers bought at the local market. She would then use forbidden black magics to control the minds of the servants. She stormed the manor with her fellow servants.
Lord Whitehoof would fight them off with his sword, a sword that secretes poison magically, but would be undoubtedly overpowered by the sheer numbers of the maids, and, according to the legend, would get stabbed fifty-six times.
Lady Whitehoof would give her offspring to the only maid that wasn't brainwashed. Then, according to legend, Lady Whitehoof would send this maid with another child that she secretly (and accidentally) had with another stallion when she was drunk during a masque ball. The maid fled the area, and could hear the screams of a butchered Lady Whitehoof as she galloped with the two fillies into the night.
The sister had her revenge, but she accidentally released the other servants from their mind control. Horrified, the other servants tar-and-feathered her, and hung her from the same tree her sister was hung from.
The servants then were so filled with guilt and hate for themselves, for they murdered their masters in cold blood. They built a massive bonfire in the courtyard and flung themselves upon the roaring flames, burning alive.
It was soon after this unfortunate event that ponies stopped going there. The trees died, an eldritch mist always hangs there, strange noises, apparitions and pools of dark magic is all too prevalent in the areas of the manor.
It was around this time that the locals started to call the Whitehoof manor, the Blackedhoof manor, as a way to show the fall of such a place.
Although we may never know what truly went on in that manor, we can say that whatever happened, it turned the most blessed manor into an eldritch abomination.
Fluttershy closed the book slowly, images of the events of the past seared on her brain.
She looked around and sighed, wondering where Roseluck had run off to. She got up, put the book in her saddle bag and continued down the path that snaked its way through the abnormally large cemetery.
It was eerily quiet, with the ominous wind softly blowing around her. The graves looked old… very old. The clouds would still not part, and the fog is still very heavy.
As she stared at the fog that swirled around the tombstones, she would see Roseluck appear.
She had a fierce look in her eyes, and Rosebane in her mouth.
“Roseluck! I'm glad you're alive!” Fluttershy said in a quiet cheer. She began to trot towards Roseluck.
Roseluck growled.
Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks, and her eyes widened with horror as Roseluck galloped at her with furious eyes.
Fluttershy spread her wings.
She shot towards the sky, with Roseluck grabbing Fluttershy’s tail and pulling back.
Roseluck then slammed her into the ground, and jumped into the air.
Fluttershy had a millisecond to see the flash of silver as Rosebane sunk into her flesh.
The pain… oh sweet Celestia, the pain. It was like a thousand heated branding irons inside her body, burning up her innards and causing Fluttershy to scream a scream of pure and terrifying agony.
“Burn in Tartarus, you monster!” Roseluck cried as she twisted the blade in the wound. Roseluck then noticed something different about the graveyard.
Fluttershy’s screams literally woke the dead. The rotting corpses of many souls burst out of their graves, shambling towards the two mares. If Roseluck didn't leave now, the zombies will overpower her.
Roseluck withdrew Rosebane from Fluttershy’s stomach, and fled, leaving Fluttershy for dead.
Through her blurred vision, Fluttershy could see all of the undead surrounding her, moaning and groaning, each wanting a bite out of her flesh.
But she also saw another pony among them, galloping towards her, using his throwing knives to slash its way towards Fluttershy.
Fluttershy could not mantain consciousness, and passed out as the figure call out her name.
Fluttershy smelled it… she could smell the scent of an unnaturally sweet scent wafting in the air.
Her eyes shot open, and frantically looked around for the source of the smell.
It was a puddle, a puddle of Celestia knows what. However, Fluttershy didn't care what it was, as long as it quenched the inferno in her throat.
She got up and staggered over to the puddle. She practically slammed her own head into the puddle and began to gulp down the liquid.
She liked the feel of the thick and sweet liquid run down her throat, soothing the inferno almost instantly. However, a new trait, greed, was making her drink more. As she gulped down the savory sweet liquid, a voice said, “finally awake, eh?”
Fluttershy turned her head to the pony that was shouting her name when Roseluck abandoned her. She stared at the mask on its face, the red macabre mask of a skeleton. She couldn't tell if it was a mare or stallion, for the mask distorted its voice. Long, shaggy locks of mane-hair snaked out of the hood of the pony. The pony’s cloak was lined with throwing knives. The cloak covered the pony’s body and cutie mark.
“Who are y-you?!” Fluttershy said with a squeak.
The pony responded, “I would be more concerned about yourself, bearer of kindness.”
The pony tossed a mirror at Fluttershy, who caught the mirror with her teeth, careful not to break the glass.
She grasped the mirror with her hoof, and she slowly held the mirror to her face.
Her eyes widened as she saw her new self for the first time.
“W-what am I?!”
The masked pony simply shook his head and said, “dead. I guess undead is the more correct term here. In other words, you have joined the ranks of the many evils that plague this land.”
Fluttershy looked down, tears streaming from her eyes, “how did this happen?”
“Nopony escapes the plague, the corruption, the evil that roam the land. It was bound to happen, sooner or later. Even now, your friends are slowly succumbing to the twisted magics that radiate from Blackedhoof manor.”
Fluttershy looked up, and through her flooding eyes, she saw bat-winged ponies flying about in the sky, with a cloud of bats following them. They were heading in the direction of Canterlot.
The masked pony turned away and said, “you don’t get it, do you?” He held out his hoof, pointing to the piles of bodies that littered the land.
“The land you once called home is twisting into a shadowy land that devours all. Everypony is being twisted into a creature of the most terrifying of stories. Werewolves, zombies, and the plague are only a fraction of what will come. Equestria is all but lost. Even the other kingdoms and empires of the world will be consumed by the corrupted darkness, and the world will be filled with the undead until the end of time.”
The masked pony turned to Fluttershy and said, “even you, the element of kindness, is now a fallen shadow, a testament that even Harmony cannot stop this deluge of death and destruction. It is only a matter of time before the rest of the six, and even the alicorns, submit to the encroaching evils.”
Fluttershy asked, “is there anything I can do? Did Luna really send me on a suicide quest to a manor that will ultimately… turn us all?”
“Luna sent me here to give you her advice, for the fell magics that curse this land has severed her ability to communicate with the other ponies she sent to help you, and others in the quest for the mansion.”
Fluttershy stammered “what happened to them?”
“Torn apart by werewolves, eaten by zombies, tricked by wisps, fed upon by vampires, scared to death by ghosts, the list goes on. You are the last of them all the ponies, only you remain to stand against the undead hordes.”
Fluttershy looked around, seeing bodies, fog and hearing faint howls in the distance. She could see the occasional zombie shambling around, looking for fresh corpses. She could feel the damp, cool air that blew ominously, and could see the lights of wisps in the far distance.
“We are done for… aren't we?”
“That is why i’m here. Luna has sent me to tell you information, the only chance we have of defeating this eldritch nightmare.”
He continued, “in an addition to the healing book, there is an artifact that may have the ability to cleanse the darkness, and restore Equestria to itself.”
Fluttershy’s eyes lit up with hope, “what is it then? I must know!”
The red masque pony said, “the Angel’s Herald, an ancient nail used as an holy relic of sorts from the creation days. Somehow, the Whitehoofs’ got their hooves on it and stored it in the chapel built on their grounds. If you awakened the angel said to be inside of it, its holy power could reverse the damage the eldritch abominations did to this land.”
The masked pony began to walk away.
“Wait! You can't leave me!” Fluttershy cried. The pony continued to trot, leaving Fluttershy alone with a choice:
Continue to the manor…
...Or turn around and go home.
Fluttershy looked behind herself to the puddle of the crimson liquid and noticed something she had failed to see before.
Next to the puddle, was the cut open corpse of Vinyl Scratch. Her face had the same gold and black eyes Fluttershy had, and her mouth was twisted into a snarl that revealed her sharp fangs. Her chest was pierced with a wooden stake, and her corpse was drained of blood, the blood being the puddle of crimson liquid.
Fluttershy hung her head in defeat. She turned and began to walk towards the manor.
As she did, the red-masked pony looked on. Besides the pony was another pony, a unicorn.
“It seems that Luna did not forsee her becoming that… thing.”
The red masked pony nodded in agreement, “indeed. However, she is slowly breaking underneath the darkness. It is possible that she will completely lose it and turn on what remains civilization has. You better hope that your act of rescuing her does not come back to bite you in the ass.”
The unicorn stallion dipped his head, “it will not, I assure it.”
The red masked pony looked towards Fluttershy’s miniature figure as she continued to make her way towards the manor. He sat there for a moment, then turned to the unicorn.
“Then you shall follow her. If she turns against us, kill her. If she encounters Roseluck again, don’t interfere. If she falls, continue her quest.”
The unicorn knelt before the red masked pony, “as you command.”
The unicorn got up and began to follow Fluttershy.
“Ashen.”
The unicorn turned and said, “yes, my master?”
“Don’t fail me.”
Ashen Spectre nodded and then galloped away to trail the element of kindness.
(^*^)
Fluttershy continued to trot down another lonely path in a forest, lamenting her unfortunate fate. She still continued to see bodies by the path, munched on, decaying and infested with flies.
Wisps floated around the trees, cackling and speaking in hushed tones. None dared to go near her, nor speak with her. They all could sense what she was, and as a result, let her be.
Fluttershy sloshed through coagulated blood puddles left over from various werewolf kills and their mutilated victims. She could smell the enticing scent of blood, and it took all her willpower to not drink from the cup of death.
But, that was when she heard the sound of a violin up ahead.
Her pace quickened, and became a full gallop as she went up the road to locate the source of the sound.
She found the source…
It was Octavia.
The earth pony was on the side of the road, playing a violin as she gazed tearfully at a tree.
Fluttershy approached Octavia, and squeaked out a “hi”
Octavia turned and saw her, and only nodded glumly. She turned back to the tree she was staring at, and continued to play.
Fluttershy looked at the tree and saw a crude carving engraved in the bark. It was a capital V next to a capital O. Underneath was a sentence:
best friends 4 ever.
“We made that when we were fillies,” Octavia said as she continued to play her sad melody, “now it's my final memory of her… and now I play my final song.”
“Final song-” Fluttershy began, but then noticed the knife at Octavia’s side.
“My final song…” Octavia said again, her voice cracking.
Fluttershy now knew what Octavia was planning to do after she finished her final song.
“Octavia, you really can't be considering-”
Octavia cut her off, saying, “you don't understand. I can't live with without her. She has been my best friend since my very first memory. A world without her is no world I want to live in.”
“Surely you know that Vinyl-”
“DON'T speak her name. It was because of your kind that she wound up dead. Your kind’s fault for turning her. Your kind’s fault for forcing me to kill her to save my life!”
Fluttershy straightened up and said in her best commanding voice, (which wasn’t much), “killing yourself because you were forced to take the life of a friend is no excuse to commit suicide! Vinyl would have wanted you to live, or would of offered her life to keep you safe from anypony that wished you harm, even if it was herself!”
Octavia finished her song, and grabbed the knife.
Fluttershy leaped at her, knocking the knife out of her hoof and tackling the musical mare. They tumbled into a ditch that was on the side of the road, Octavia biting and kicking as they hit the bottom.
The knife was nowhere to be found, and Octavia continued to bite and kick.
Fluttershy raised her her fore hoof and punched Octavia in the face, stunning the mare.
It was dead silent for a bit, then Octavia began to quietly weep.
“All I want is her to come back… that's all I want.”
Fluttershy helped her get back on her four hooves.
After picking twigs out of Octavia’s mane, Fluttershy said, “Vinyl would want you to stay alive, she would want you to remain strong.”
“How can I? How can I live my life without her?!” Octavia asked as she continued to cry.
“You keep on going and wait. You will see her again, even if its not in this life.”
Octavia looked at the tree, and continued to weep.
“Look, I may have found a way to bring back all the live that were taken during this whole event.”
Octavia looked at her with sorrowful, hopeful eyes and said, “R-really?”
Fluttershy nodded, “yep. I have to find a relic in Blackened Hoof manor. This relic is said to have the power to reverse the effects of evil and revive the dead.”
“Really?!”
“Really.”
Octavia looked at the carvings on the tree again, then looked back at Fluttershy.
“Then… I will wait. I will wait by her corpse and pray and hope. If you can revive her, then I will wait.”
Fluttershy raised an eye, “promise me that you will not take your own life, and It shall be done.”
Octavia nodded, “I promise.”
Fluttershy began to trot away from Octavia, heading for the manor.
“Wait, and Vinyl will be revived.”
Octavia nodded and trotted towards the direction of Vinyl’s body. And Fluttershy looked behind herself it time to see the fog swallow Octavia.
Fluttershy continued to walk towards the manor, dread increasing every step closer
From the moor, she could see the dreaded building in the distance. The source of the dark powers that infested Equestria with its plague and monsters.
Part of her was telling her to stay away from that sleeping evil, but Fluttershy knew in her heart that she was beyond the point of return. If she turned back now, she will doom Equestria until the end times.
Even from where she was, she could feel the dark magic’s pulse from the manor, like a dying pony’s heartbeat.
Fluttershy continued to make her way to the fallen manor as the wind continued to moan and the sparse trees casting sinister shadows as the lightning crashed overhead. Jack O’ Lanterns littered the moor, their eerie lights casting shadows of creepy smiles.
Fluttershy could see no bodies around like she has been seeing on her way here. In fact, she didn't see any creature of supernatural origin on the moor with her.
But she did feel somepony’s presence.
No… not one presence, but two.
Then she heard an ear-splitting scream that was coming behind her.
She whirled around to see the legend itself in the flesh, the Headless Horse. It was making its way towards her like a speeding Pegasi.
Fluttershy was paralyzed by fear. Her new instincts told her to tear out its innards.
Wait… tear out its innards?!
The Headless Horse smacked her aside, Fluttershy flopping to the ground. Her instincts told her to flee, to gallop or fly as fast as she could to get away.
But, the terror that was the spirit of the Headless Horse was coming at her again, laughing like a lunatic, and showed no sign of letting her live.
She has heard the stories of what the Headless Horse did to ponies. Taking their heads, mutilated bodies, vanishings, she’s heard it all.And she wondered what method of death she would suffer at its hooves.
She closed her eyes and prepared herself and her soul to wander this plane of Tartarus for all eternity. She was ready for the pain.
Except that she felt the legend go through her body as easily as water goes through air. Fluttershy opened her eyes in shock as she didn’t feel pain, but felt… empty.
She looked down at herself to examine the damage, but she found none.
She only found mist in place of her body.
Stunned, she recalled the various stories and folklore about the powers of the demons of the night, and was quite shocked about her misty appearance. She looked all over herself, wondering how the fuck she turned into a cloud of mist.
The Headless Horse turned and laughed again.
Fluttershy could feel her body rematerializing, and the horror began to gallop towards her again.
Fluttershy knew that only one thing would stop this horrid ghoul from taking her life.
She drew a deep breath, and closed her eyes.
The insane laughing getting closer and closer.
Fluttershy opened her eyes, giving the incoming supernatural missile the stare of its un-life.
The Headless Horse stopped in its tracks.
Fluttershy’s vampiric instincts kicked in, giving her a smile that would make expectant mares miscarriage. Her eyes glowed a more crimson-tainted gold.
With a blood-chilling shriek, Fluttershy spread her wings and flew at the Headless Horse, ready to see if its neck is still full of blood.
As soon as her fangs touched the neck of the Headless Horse, it vanished with its laugh echoing around the moor.
She crashed into the moor, recieving a mouth full of dirt for her efforts.
Her eyes went back to the normal gold color, and her bloodlust left her.
After sitting face first in the dirt, Fluttershy slowly got up, shaking like a leaf.
“I-I lost control… almost became… a monster.”
She got up, and turned her head to see if the Headless Horse was still around.
She did see a stallion in a suit at the edge of the moor, near the trees.
It had no face.
Fluttershy blinked, and the faceless stallion was gone.
She turned and spied the Blackenhoof manor gates only a couple hundred yards away.
She began to make her way to the gates, trying to forget that she almost lost herself on the moor.
She could feel the darkness growing inside of herself, a foreboding shadow of corrupted instinct and corrupted mind, body, and soul. She could feel the dark energies flowing from the manor, and from the twisted land that has once been a beacon of light in the world.
Passing many Jack o’ Lanterns, Fluttershy was closing in on the gate. She wondered if she would ever make it out alive.
As she got closer and closer, she could see the bodies of many a pony that managed to get this far. She recognized the bodies of Colgate, Sunset Shimmer, and… the bodies of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Fluttershy choked back a sob and immediately turned away. This proved to be a mistake, as she saw the Wonderbolts in the gore-spattered grass as well. She could make out the bodies of Spitfire, Cloud Chaser, Lightning Dust, Sprinkle Medley and many others. They all died next to Jack O’ Lanterns, the pumpkins becoming makeshift macabre tombstones.
All of this, in front of the manor gates.
Fluttershy got a better look at the manor through the gates. She saw that the manor was easily as big as the Canterlot Castle, and was adorned with gargoyel statues on the edges of the rooftops and dirty marble statues in front of the manor.
But that was only one part of it. A massive graveyard was next to the gates on the other side, coming in between the manor and the gate. Mausoleums and crypts dominated the graveyard scenery, as well as the floating wisps and the occasional scurrying spider or rat.
Then, something manifested in front of the sinister iron gates.
It was a cloud of mist at first, but it then solidified into a mare, dressed in maid attire.
The maid trotted to Fluttershy and stood about three feet away from the pegasus. The maid spoke, “welcome. Are you here to see this glorious manor?”
“N-no. I come to stop the madness.”
The maid tilted her head and smiled, “only those whose souls dwell in darkness may open the manor gates. Souls like yours.”
“My soul does not dwell in darkness.”
The maid scoffed, “Please, don’t deny it. You are one of the many blights the night has to offer. No matter what you think, you are a monster.”
She looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder and said with a creepy smile, “you better open the gates, or she’s gonna get you.”
Fluttershy turned, and once again wished she hadn’t.
Fluttershy saw Roseluck galloping on the moor, with the sword Rosebane in her mouth.
And she was heading straight for her.
Fluttershy turned back to the ghost, “h-how do I open the gate?!”
The ghost smiled again, and said, “use the darkness inside you.” With that, she vanished.
Fluttershy heard Roseluck scream, “You're mine, you stuttering freak! You hear me?! MINE!”
Fluttershy, terrified out of her wits, allowed the corrupted darkness to flow into her soul. She felt something snap inside herself, and a cool, soft, and malevolent power surged inside of her. She began to shrink, her snout sprouting whiskers, her hooves into small claws, and her mane disappearing. Her fur went from pale yellow to black, but her eyes stayed the same.
Fluttershy looked over her new body, and then back at Roseluck, who was just two hundred feet away from the gates.
Fluttershy the rat hopped through the gaps between the iron spokes on the gate and scurried for her life, running into a hole in the ground. She heard the gates open, for the gates sensed Fluttershy’s dark powers when she went through them.
Fluttershy peeked out of her hole and saw Roseluck gallop through the gates in time to see them close with a resounding rattle.
Roseluck whipped her head around, trying to figure out where she went. She growled and made her way to the manor.
Fluttershy turned and decided to explore the tunnel, for she won’t go out in the open since Roseluck is on the prowl.
(*^*)
The tunnel seemed to go on forever as Fluttershy the rat scurried through it. The tunnel was abandoned and hadn’t been used in years, as evidenced by the rat skeletons she passed by. She wondered if this tunnel even led to another tunnel, chamber, or room. She wondered if this was just another rat nest, like the many nests in and outside her home.
She squeaked in sorrow as she remembered her home before all this began. She remembered her animal friends, her only companions before Twilight, her only friends since her fall from Cloudsdale.
She really wanted to go back to the days or sunshine, of warmth and family, of bliss and peace.
She forced herself to push those thoughts out of her mind. After all, if she didn't push forward, she would fail them all.
While she was thinking, she suddenly fell. She landed on a cold stone floor with a small thud. She groggly got up and examined the chamber she fell into.
Coffins were tucked into stone pockets that adorned the walls. Various depictions of Death were carved into the walls and doorways. A stone coffin was In the middle of the cold room.
Fluttershy focused on her form and the darkness within herself. She felt a familiar snap, and she grew back into the pony of kindness.
The stone coffin seemed to beckon Fluttershy to open it.
Normally, Fluttershy would shy away from such things, but the dark energies that radiated from the coffin were… different.
She crept towards the stone coffin, her enhanced senses on high alert. She put her shoulder against the lid, and used all the might that was stored in her legs and pushed. The stone lid began to slide off with a gritty noises coming from the stone coffin. The lid came off and hit the floor with a resounding slam that seemed to echo from everywhere in the chamber, also causing the stone lid to shatter into pieces.
Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy peered into the coffin.
She saw a corpse that was dressed like an aristocrat, with a fancy coat like the one Roseluck has. The corpse still had its pink mane that was cut short, and its bony and disheveled face was complete with missing eye sockets that seemed to stare at her. At the right side of the corpse was a stuffed and decaying teddy bear, and on the left was an amulet with a decorative white rose in the middle of it.
Seeing nothing else, Fluttershy headed for the door of the chamber located on the far side.
But, as soon as she touched the doorknob with her hoof, she felt two presences in the room.
She turned around in time to see the corpse of the stone coffin crawl out of its resting place on its rotted hooves, an eerie pale-blue light in its eye sockets.
Then the door turned into a door of stone. She was trapped.
Fluttershy faced the creature, her wings poised. She was shaking like a leaf, but wanted to show the monster that she was a threat.
The corpse shambled on its four hooves towards Fluttershy, and stopped about five feet away from the mare.
“G-go away! Leave me alone!” Fluttershy said in the loudest squeak she could muster.
The corpse sat there, a maggot falling out of its ribs.
“Flesh of my flesh… Blood of my blood…”
Fluttershy shook her head in bewilderment as the voice entered her head.
“W-what? Who said that?!” Fluttershy said. The corpse stared at her, “I did.”
“wait...huh?”
“I have waited for you for a long time, Flesh of my flesh. I yearned for the day I could once again see my legacy. And here it is, before me.”
“Wait, that would mean…”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened.
“Exactly. I am your ancestor,” the corpse said.
“That's impossible! My family comes from Cloudsdale! We never came to this… place,” Fluttershy said.
The corpse shook its rotting head, little strands bit of pink mane fell out as he said, “it would make sense. After all, who would tell their offspring and their offspring’s offspring the tale of their fallen house, corrupted by the very evils that they sought to destroy and heal? No, Flesh of my flesh. It starts on the fateful day.”
Suddenly, Fluttershy’s mind was assaulted by various images coming at her in rapid fire. One showed a proud stallion with an ornate sword that was dripping green liquids. Another showed the same stallion with numerous stab wounds, shaking with the knowledge of inevitable death. Another image showed the stallion grasping the teddy bear with his teeth, before he could hold on no longer.
“I knew my wife cheated on me. I knew she had a bastard foal with another stallion. Instead of punishing her, I forgave her and raised the bastard like It was my own, alongside my other offspring.”
“But, that would mean your Lord Whitehoof,”
Fluttershy shook her head, “but this doesn't make any sense. The book said-”
“The book only comprises of legends and architecture. Legends are twists in reality. Remember that.”
The coffins on the walls began to shake violently, with rotten hooves punching their way out of the stone prison.
“We need to go, lest you become the first lunch they tasted in a hundred years.”
The corpse collapsed and a blue orb emerged. The orb said, “and you will need my help.”
(<{}>)
Fluttershy trotted among the coffins and dead bodies of many ponies as she and the spirit of Lord Whitehoof explored the catacombs.
Lord Whitehoof was fine, but Fluttershy was worse for wear. Her thirst was reaching unbearable heights. For the first time, she was craving blood. She longed to feel the crimson liquid enter her mouth, flow over her tongue, fill her cheeks, slide down her throat…. Anything to quench the bonfire inside her throat.
But she was aware of these thoughts, and these thoughts terrified and shook her to the core. In fact, she was talking to herself, telling herself that everything was gointg to be fine, and this is all a bad dream.
Unfortunately, the truth was that everypony she knew was either dead, or on the brink if death. It it wasn't no dream.
She managed to break free from her tormented psyche to take notice of the new chamber they entered after going through Celestia knows how many tunnels.
The chamber had a single altar in the middle of a platform, in the middle of a chasm. Chandeliers made of deceaced pony bones hung from the chamber’s roofs. Pillars of bone were around the altar, and the bridge that connected the entrance were made of bones as well.
“On that altar, flesh of my flesh, is the resting place of my firstborn. He was indeed poisoned, but he bled to death from every crevice his body instead of the legend’s claim of him frothing at the mouth. There you will find the last heirloom of my legacy. With it, you must defeat the scion of the bastard. Only then will this mansion sleep.”
Fluttershy turned and began to creep across the bridge, she looked back to see the orb floating in the entrance.
The message was clear, she was to do this alone.
The bone bridge creaked and groaned as Fluttershy crept along. She made it to the other side and got a good look at the altar. The altar was (of course), made of bones. It had an idol of a demonic pony, and a sacrificial knife with blood caked on the blade and handle. Next to the altar, was a coffin.
Fluttershy opened the coffin lid slowly, and peered inside of it. Inside was the same sword she saw in the visons of Lord Whitehoof. She went to pick it up when she heard a filly crying.
Fluttershy turned to see a filly behind her, one leg over its eyes, its tears dripping from its face.
“Are you okay, little one?”
The filly sniffed, “No… my dad, he, he…”
Fluttershy trotted over to the filly and put one hoof over its neck in a form of hug. She pulled away and said, “tell me what happened.”
The filly sniffed and said, “you're so nice.” Then, the filly removed its fore leg from its eyes, revealing their golden-crimson color.
Fluttershy stepped back, fear written all over her face.
The filly cackled and said, “and your blood… it smells so good.”
The filly hissed, revealing its sharp teeth that were covered in gore.
It tackled Fluttershy, its jaws snapping at Fluttershy’s neck. Fluttershy held the filly at bay with all four legs, straining to not become a Flutter-smoothie. She transformed into mist and reappeared behind the filly, her teeth bared.
At this point, she had enough. All the lives taken, all the death and destruction she had witnessed was caused by monsters like this filly. She decided that she would have no more of it.
She linged at the filly and sank her teeth into its snout, causing a scream of agony to erupt from the filly’s mouth. Fluttershy bit down harder, and tore of the snout.
The filly reared back in pain, screaming like a terrified colt. Fluttershy sank her teeth into the filly’s right hind leg, taking the filly down. Fluttershy then held down the squirming filly as she tore off the filly’s right leg in a shower of blood. She tore open the filly’s belly and shoved her snout in its chest, bit down on the heart, and ripped it clean out of the body. She crushed the heart in her jaws, causing crimson to leak out of her mouth, dripping like liquid ribbons unto the stone floor. She felt the scarlet liquid down her throat and realized something.
She wanted more!
She plunged her head into the body of the filly, drinking and slurping the blood like she was downing a sundae sold at the Sugarcube Corner. She gulped greedily as rivulets of blood slid down her cheeks and the outside of her throat, dripping and forming puddles.
Fluttershy raised her head and breathed deeply as she felt the newly acquired blood fill her stomach. She wiped her mouth and bucked the body of the filly off the ledge, its flopping corpse disappearing into the darkness below.
That was when she saw her own reflection in one of the puddles of blood. She didn’t see herself in the puddle, only a monster.
A monster that looked exactly like her.
Fluttershy collapsed on the stone floor and began to cry.
The rest of the Mane Six stood outside of the manor gates, crying before the bodies of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“She shouldn't… she couldn't…,” Rarity choked out between sobs as she saw the mangled state of her little sister.
Applejack said nothing, the tears from her closed eyes sliding down her face as she mourned her own sister’s death.
Rainbow Dash was shaking like a leaf, and crying. She refused to see Scootaloo’s body, for fear of seeing it rise from the dead.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie stood behind the three mourning mares, crying along with them, but didn't feel the same pain the three shared.
Pinkie turned to Twilight, “how do we know that Fluttershy survived? After seeing the Crusaders, she… she can't be… dead… right?”
Twilight looked down and said, “to tell you the truth… I don't know.”
Rarity cried her piece and got up shaking. She looked at the cursed manor, and was filled with instant dread.
She looked at the gates, and noticed something.
“Hey, I may have spotted Fluttershy’s journal!”
Rarity galloped over to the gate and used her magic to levitate the blood spattered journal.
“Sweet Celestia.” Rainbow said as she noticed the bloodstains.
The rest of the Mane Six gathered around Rarity as she flipped through the pages.
“What does it say?” Applejack asked, despite to focus her mind on the task ahead instead of her sister’s rotting corpse.
Rarity flipped through the pages, and said, “The journal states that our darling Fluttershy has been through a lot of things while we were gone. Spikey… bit her.”
By now, the group knew that whatever bites, also turns.
Tears began to form again in Twilight’s eyes as the alicorn shook her head. “Oh Spike, i'm sorry.”
Rarity continued, “She says in her journal that she feels a change happening inside her, like this very grotesque land is distorting her sanity. She says that she Is wondering what is happening to her. She is traveling with... Roseluck.”
“Wait, Roseluck is alive?” Pinkie asked.
“It would appear so. But she abandoned Fluttershy after…”
Rarity dropped the journal, horrified.
“Rarity? What's wrong?” Twilight asked.
Rarity only shook her head, daring not to read more.
Rainbow Dash picked up the journal, and read the page that Rarity refused to read.
“She writes that… she became one of them.”
This revelation shook the group to the core. Now they knew that Fluttershy was undead, and also knew that they would have to face her.
Twilight looked at the gates, and threw a black crystal at it. The darkness within the crystal opened the gates.
She looked back at her friends and said, “we came here to save her, and by Celestia, we will do it.”
(~}
Fluttershy lost track on how long she has been in the tunnels underneath the manor. Has it been days? Weeks? A month? She couldn't tell.
All she did know was that she had the sword of her ancestor strapped to her flank, and that she was slowly beginning to embrace the shadows. After all, the light abandoned her, her friends abandoned her, everypony she knew abandoned her in her hour of need.
She was falling, and is falling hard. The only thing that was keeping her from fully embracing the dark was her pathetic morality.
Fluttershy strode through the catacombs like she was gliding on strands of darkness, searching for the way out that Lord Whitehoof had described to her.
She could sense it…
There it was! A drainage pipe, one of the many pipes that keep the catacombs from flooding by dumping the rainwater in underground reservoirs. If she could go up one of those, she wouldn't have to find the secret passage way.
Then she frowned, she couldn't go through water. It couldn't be the way.
She turned and kept searching, trying to seek an exit from the macabre catacombs.
She spotted a crack in the wall, not wide enough for a rat to go through, but there was something on the other side.
Fluttershy transformed into mist and trickled through the crack. She turned back into her normal pony self.
She studied the place she had just arrived in.
The space was easily as big as three fillyball stadiums, with small stalagmites hanging from the underground roof. The place looked like it was lit with the afternoon sun, but no source of light was detected. Beautiful aspens and cedar trees towered over the bushes of nightshade and blueberry. Various plants, from roses of many colors to sunflowers and blue grass were all over the ground. A brook ran lazily under a small bridge and through the middle of the underground paradise. To the far side of the unexpected paradise, a small chapel was spotted.
Fluttershy broke her trance and began to trot through the oasis.
She could feel the touch of wheat tickling her side, and could feel the bluegrass underneath her hooves. She could smell the sweet scent of strawberry and blueberry plants, and felt a soft, warm breeze wrap itself around her like how a mother mare wraps her newborn colt in blankets at bedtime. Fluttershy could even hear a faint lullaby on the wind.
Fluttershy passed the brook, its soothing gurgling nearly bringing her eyes to tears.
She pressed onward, arriving at the steps of the small chapel.
She entered it.
The small chapel was small, only able to fit about twenty ponies at a time inside its holy walls. Stain glass windows depicting two infant fillies that look a lot like Fluttershy and… Roseluck.
And Roseluck herself was there as well.
She was kneeling down in front of the altar, muttering words in ancient Bitin. Fluttershy took a step forward, her hoofstep echoing.
Roseluck stopped her prayer, and slowly rose. She turned her head towards Fluttershy, looking her dead in the eyes.
For a bit, none spoke. Roseluck decided to break the silence.
“Welcome, Fluttershy. I have been expecting you.”
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes, “what game are you up to, Roseluck?”
Roseluck shook her head, “I am up to no game. I discovered the truth. I discovered how to stop this.”
She moved to the side to show a holy relic sitting on the altar. A golden nail.
Fluttershy scrunched her nose in disgust, “it smells like blood and miracles.”
Roseluck nodded, “this is the nail that holds the sealed angel. This nail hold the primordial Light, something that all ponies forgot to revere.”
Fluttershy snarled, “the Light abandoned me. It is nothing more than false hope given to the masses. Vampirism showed me the truth, it showed me that the world doesn't care for its own. The Darkness is where I belong, and it's were I will stay.” Fluttershy then licked her lips and growled, “And I have no intention of leaving you here alive.”
Roseluck let a single tear escape her eye, and drew Rosebane. In a flash of light, both ponies appeared in front of the chapel, back in the underground oasis.
Roseluck then said, “the hero of Light versus the villain of Darkness. Let us find out, once and for all, who will prevail.”
Roseluck lunged at Fluttershy, aiming to pierce her heart. Fluttershy smiled a maliciously, and transformed into a swarm of bats, avoiding the attack and scattering all over the area.
“Awww, poor Roseluck.” Fluttershy’s voice boomed all around. “Always wanting to purge the world of evil, yet never getting to destroy it. Your whole goal is to kill me because of what I became.”
“I had no choice! I felt that to save your soul, I had to kill you to prevent it from corrupting you!” Roseluck answered.
A chilling laugh filled the cavern, “you lie! You abandoned me, you tried to kill me, you are no better than my undead kin! Oh, i'm going to have such fun with you.”
Roseluck was terrified. This was not the Fluttershy she knew. This was a corrupt Fluttershy, a Fluttershy that has turned into the most dangerous monster she had ever known.
Roseluck’s breathing had become ragged, and she was shaking as she heard hoofsteps all around her. Then a swarm of bats blasted her from the side, their claws and fangs performed a fly-by slice and dice that gave Roseluck some cuts all over her body. From the other side, a plague of rats knocked Roseluck over, the rats biting away at her flesh. Roseluck swung her sword wildly, killing some rats, but more seemed to take their place.
Suddenly, a ivory white stallion appeared next to Roseluck and threw a bottle of holy water that exploded on Roseluck. The water didn't harm her, but the water melted the rats off of her.
“Ashen! What are you doing here?!” Roseluck cried in surprise.
Ashen turned to her and said, “get out of here, now!”
Roseluck turned and fled, fear giving her the strength to gallop despite her many cuts.
Ashen turned to see Fluttershy trotting to him rather seductively , surrounded by rats and bats. One wolf were on either side of her. He eyes glowed a soft red. Her demonic bat wings were larger now.
Her wolves lunged at Ashen, one of them crunching down on his right foreleg. Ashen managed to stab the wolf in the throat with his knife. He then wrestled the other wolf to the ground and stabbed it in the head and the throat.
Ashen then made the mistake of looking up.
Fluttershy’s eyes glowed more fiercely now, casting her dreaded hypnosis on the monster hunter. Ashen knew what was happening, yet he couldn't look away. In a second his will broke like shattered glass, and he just stared at her.
Fluttershy stood over Ashen. She smiled and nodded. Ashen obeyed like a dog, and got up. Ashen excitedly leaned his head to the side.
Fluttershy gnashed her fangs, and clamped them down on his neck, hitting his jugular. The pain snapped Ashen out of his trance, and he bucked and struggled as much as he could. But, Fluttershy held on like a leech, and even managed to subdue him with raw, unnatural strength. Ashen’s struggling turned into twitching as Fluttershy finished her meal.
She withdrew her fangs from his neck, crimson and saliva dripping from her mouth.
She turned and said, “Oh, Ashen. I got plans for you.”
She laughed her haunting laugh as her dark influence turned the afternoon light into moonlight, turning the oasis into a copy of the sinister forests were the werewolves prowl. Will O’ Wisps appeared and corpses began to rise out of the ground.
Amidst all of this, Fluttershy muttered these words with a sadistic grin.
Roseluck galloped up the spiral staircase, nearly going mad with fear. She clamped down on the holy and sacred relic while she tries to not die a painful death.
She needed to get to the altar in the Bloody Chapel. The very same place were Lord Whitehoof was murdered. If she could get there in time and perform the ancient rite, Equestria will be freed from the curse and things will go back to the way they were.
Roseluck found the top of the stairs and rammed herself through the door, snapping the door off its hinges and slamming herself into the wall. She got up and continued to gallop, with a nasty cut on the side of her head from slamming into the wall. She bursted through another door, and was now in the manor courtyard. She galloped at the double doors, and found them to be locked.
Panicking, Roseluck tried to pry the handle and lock off the old doors, but to no avail. She drew Rosebane and used it as a crowbar, wedging it between the lock and door, and giving it a pull.
“Roseluck.”
Roseluck stopped, and slowly turned around. She could see a very familiar pair of glowing reddish-gold eyes in the fog that permeates all over the manor and the courtyard.
The monster has found her.
Roseluck was now hacking at the door with her sword, screaming for help as Fluttershy approached her, licking her lips greedily. Behind her was Ashen, completely under Fluttershy’s spell, and is practically a walking corpse with no free will.
This was it. Time has run out for Roseluck, and she knew it. Death was literally ten hoofsteps behind her, and Roseluck knew that she couldn't contend with a vampire as powerful as Fluttershy.
Roseluck collapsed into a sobbing heap, too terrified to even look up.
Then, by some miracle, a pair of white hooves opened the double doors and grabbed Roseluck by the mane and pulled her through the doorway. The doors were slammed shut and magically sealed before Fluttershy could react fast enough.
Fluttershy shrieked in rage and spread her wings. She shot towards the moon-filled sky and commanded Ashen to find a way in.
(*-*)
“You're safe now.”
Roseluck opened her eyes to see something she would never have expected to see in this area.
“P-princess Twilight?”
Twilight smiled and said, “its me.”
Roseluck looked behind Twilight to see the rest of the Mane Six. Her eyes widened and she leaped with joy. “We’re saved! Thank Celestia and the Primordial Light, I thought I was a goner.”
“Um, Roseluck,” Twilight said, “what were you screaming about out there? And have you seen Fluttershy?”
Roseluck’s eyes reverted to eyes of terror. “I have seen her…”
“Dearest, may you tell us about her,” Rarity asked, “we all have been worried sick.”
Roseluck swallowed hard and said, “no time, we need to get to the Bloody Chapel before… the monster finds us.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow and said, “what monster?”
Roseluck shook her head, as if she were to speak the monster’s name, it would invoke a curse.
Applejack took a step forward, and eyed Roseluck. She frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Your keepin’ something from us, aren’t you.”
Roseluck took a defensive step back, and said nothing.
“Give up, Roseluck,” Applejack said, “Honesty can see through ah lot of things.”
Roseluck hung her head and sighed. “Fine, you caught me. I was hoping to spare you all from the truth.” She turned towards the sealed double doors and said, “the Fluttershy you knew is gone.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rainbow Dash said. “You telling us that Fluttershy is gone, as in… gone gone?”
“No.” Roseluck stated. “She has become a slave to her vampiric desires. She is the monster. She is the one that’s gonna drink us dry and laugh while doing it.”
Rarity’s eyes began to water as she said, “no… not another one.”
“Listen, all of you,” Roseluck said. “We need to get to the Bloody Chapel. That is where it all began, and that’s where it will end. I got the relic, so all we need to do is release the angel within the nail to end this nightmare.”
Twilight looked at her friends and then back at Roseluck.
“Are you certain that this is the way?” She asked.
Roseluck nodded, “this is our only chance.”
“What about Fluttershy?” cried Rainbow Dash . “We just can't give up on her!”.
“Open your eyes, Rainbow!” Roseluck shouted. “She is beyond saving! All that is left of her is that monster! That thing that dares to call itself by her name is her! Get it?!”
Rainbow was stunned by the Roseluck’s sudden outburst. In fact, they all were.
Roseluck shook her head and said, “we need to get to the top floor of this manor. That is where the Bloody Chapel is. That single chapel is responsible for all that has happened. If we destroy the root, the weed will die.”
Nothing was said, only solemn silence greeted them. They hung their heads, and silently weeped for their lost friend. Applejack trotted over to Roseluck’s side, and nodded in agreement.
Just then, the temperature in the room dropped, and the double doors began to violently shake.
Then the magical barrier flickered-and shattered. The doors were flung open.
Ashen trotted in, his eyes glowing a reddish-gold, and demonic bat wings rested in his back.
Roseluck turned to the rest of the Mane Six and yelled one word:
“Run!”
Ashen gnashed his teeth, revealing fangs. He lunged at the Mane Six, transforming into shadow, but was blasted back by Twilight’s magic. He screeched and retreated before the rays of light.
Twilight smirked as she said, “nice try, foul creature. Did you honestly think that something like you could take on the element of magic?”
Then, a voice whispered something in Twilight’s ear.
“Did you really think it would be that easy?”
Twilight froze as she felt cold breath glaze over her throat. She knew immediately whose voice it was.
And realized that she fell for a trap.
“Oh Celestia… say it isn't so.”
Fluttershy clamped down on Twilight’s neck, causing blood to spray as she tore at Twilight’s jugular.
While the rest of the Mane Six were frozen by the sheer horror of Fluttershy, Ashen reformed behind Pinkie Pie and bit down on Pinkie’s hind leg. Pinkie scrambled and flopped to the ground as Ashen twisted her leg. He then pulled Pinkie into the shadows, while Pinkie screamed bloody murder, clawing at the floor and was dragged to her bloody death, and it all happened within a second.
Fluttershy threw Twilight’s corpse to the ground and turned to face the other two remaining Mane Six members, her unnaturally wide grin dripping with ropes of crimson.
“This is for abandoning me.”
Rainbow Dash readied herself to fight, with Rarity still frozen with shock.
Ashen appeared behind Rainbow, and launched himself at her, while Fluttershy did the same in the front. Rainbow flew straight at Fluttershy, tackling the monster. The two flew around the ballroom in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Ashen turned his attention to Rarity and began to walk towards her, his eyes giving off waves of evil intent. Applejack was about to rush to Rarity’s aid, when Roseluck knocked her out with a blow to the head, just as Fluttershy swarmed the best flier in all of Equestria with bats that acted like a blender, tearing Rainbow apart in the air and redecorating the walls with her blood.
Rarity was quickly overtaken by Ashen, and received a bite that broke her neck. Ashen leisurely consumed her, patiently waiting for his master to finish Rainbow Dash.
Roseluck grabbed Applejack and put her on her back, and galloped up the stairs while the two vampires were distracted by their grisly deeds, desperately fleeing from the horror show.
She heard the death scream of Rainbow Dash, right before the vampiric bats spilled her innards.
Fluttershy froze when she heard that voice. She put down her meal, Rainbow Dash’s corpse, and turned around.
Princess Luna was there, and was infuriated.
“I chose you to help, I chose you to end this corruption. And instead, I see my chosen one as a dark creature bent on destroying everything that was ever loved.”
Fluttershy snarled. “Don't lecture me about destruction. Where were you when you sent everypony to their deaths? Where were you when they were getting eaten alive, sucked dry, torn apart, or gerting killed by that faceless thing on the woods? Where were you when I got bit?! The answer is simple; you were hiding in your precious castle, letting those who believed in you die.”
Luna stomped her hoof, “I chose you so you could find the salvation of Equestria, so you could solve the mystery of your real bloodline!” She yelled.
Fluttershy raised her chin, “look at me, Luna. Do I look like somepony that could save this land?”
“You can still save this land! All you have to do is purify yourself of the corruption.”
“No, Luna.” Fluttershy said. “This is who I am, and it shall never change. Darkness is the only friend that has stood by me. It has never abandoned me, nor has it ever tried to kill me. Darkness… is the only thing…”
“Darkness is good when it's the Sacred Darkness. The Darkness that inhabits you is the corrupted Darkness, and that kind of Darkness is not your ally!” Luna said.
“That kind of Darkness is all I am,” Fluttershy countered with a growl.
Luna narrowed her eyes, “Then so be it. Your right Fluttershy, it's time I played more of a part in this tragedy. I'll start with thou!”
Luna faded away.
Fluttershy smirked, “an illusion. She knows she can't enter this place, the various curses place around the manor grounds will strike her out of the air if she even gets close.”
A clap of thunder shook the manor.
Fluttershy shrugged and turned to Ashen Spectre. “Go, find the last two survivors in this manor. Do as you please with Applejack, but bring Roseluck to me.”
Ashen bowed. “As you wish, my master.”
He turned into a swarm of bats and left the bloodied ballroom, leaving the mangled corpse of Rarity.
Fluttershy looked at the glass dome and laughed. This was her all hers, all of it. Before this is all over, she will rule this eldritch land. Nothing could stop her, nothing!
She chuckled to herself, and the glass above her shattered. In a millisecond, something sliced through her body, and pinned her to the floor. The pain would make silver weapons cringe as Fluttershy screamed in pure, unadulterated agony. She could see… a spear, a black-bladed blue spear with ancient moon carvings on the shaft, jutting out of her stomach and into the floor.
She felt some kind of baggage drain from her. She knew it wasn't her vampirism, but something more.
Whatever it was, it was way to painful to lose. Fluttershy screamed and thrashed as the spear sucked something out of her, her screams muffled by the ballroom.
(***)
“Why didn't you let me help them?! Ah could've of saved them!”
“Applejack, calm yourself! There was nothing you could do, except getting yourself killed.”
Applejack clenched her teeth. “You don't know that! Celestia, I can still hear their screams!”
Roseluck backhoofed Applejack, and a silence set in.
“Applejack, I know what it is like to lose a friend, I really do,” Roseluck said. “But, until we get to the Bloody Chapel, they will stay undead, understand? We can resurrect them, we just have to make it.”
Applejack looked down, and nodded. “Ah will follow you, but if you tricked me, Ah will kill you myself.”
Roseluck nodded. This manor has changed everypony who set hoof here, whether they see it or not.
“Shall we?”
Applejack reluctantly nodded and together, the two stepped into the room.
Alas, it was no room. It was a long hallway that was as wide as the throne room back in Canterlot. Stain glass windows adorned both sides of the hallway, each window showing a different story, in a different time. Roseluck and Applejack looked at the stain glass windows in awe, because Roseluck and Fluttershy were in the glass.
Both ponies looked at each other, then back to the stained glass, the shadows making the stained glass look sinister.
The first window depicted a two-headed mare, kissing a white stallion with a pink mane on one side, and kissing a green stallion with a red mane on the other side. Each stallion held a sword. The sword that Roseluck had looked eerily identical to the one the green stallion had. The next window showed the two stallions fighting each other, the white stallion shattering the green stallion’s sword with his own, casting his opponent down while the two-headed mare, now with one head, cowered with two fillies that looked like baby versions of Fluttershy and Roseluck. The next window showed the mare kneeling before the white stallion, who is reaching out to the filly that looked like Roseluck. The final window showed the mare, the white stallion, and the two fillies together, like in a family portrait.
Applejack gulped and asked, “why are you two in the glass?”
Roseluck studied the windows with a furrowed brow, putting the pieces together. She stood there for a while, the said, “That's lord and lady Whitehoof.” She pointed at the first window, “that window tells the tale on how all this started, about why we are here. It all began when Lady Whitehoof began to cheat on her husband, by having a secret affair with a stallion whose name is forever lost to history. The white stallion is Lord Whitehoof.”
She moved to the next window, saying, “And here, is when Whitehoof discovers the affair, and challenges the unnamed stallion to a duel, a duel fought with their legendary swords. Lord Whitehoof defeated the unnamed stallion, shattering his sword like glass, and killed him as his wife and the fillies, one his own, and the other, a bastard born from adultery, looked on with fear.”
Applejack slowly nodded, listening to the sad tale.
Roseluck continued. “In the next glass, we see Lady Whitehoof asking for forgiveness as Lord Whitehoof passes judgement on the bastard filly. On the final window, we see that he decides to raise the bastard as his own, to be part of his family.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. This Lord Whitehoof must have been pretty kind to take in a constant reminder of his wife's unfaithfulness and raise it. But one question was still unanswered.
“Why are you and Fluttershy up there for?” Applejack asked.
Then it clicked in Roseluck’s head.
Roseluck turned to Applejack. “Because, I am the descendent of the bastard.”
(^^^)
Lightning crashed outside as Fluttershy struggled to pull the rod from gods out of her body, her body writhing in pain as the spear continued to burn whatever was inside her. Her attempts were growing weaker and weaker as a pool of her own blood began to form.
Then, the spear grew barbs. The barbs stabbed her insides, and continued to snake their way through her blood vessels.
Fluttershy was in way to much pain to even scream. Her legs failed her, her grip on the spear weakened severely, her consciousness fading rapidly.
He went limp, and the spear hummed coldly.
(/^&)
Applejack and Roseluck opened the door at the end of the hallway, and stepped into the room.
It was a nursery, with two ancient crips and a plethora of toys for young foals. There were shelves of old porcelain dolls, their faces cracked from sitting there for ages, never seeing the light of day. There were two different music boxes, with names inscribed on the lids.
“This is where the two resided until the fall of house Whitehoof,” Roseluck said.
Applejack could imagine a restored room with two foals sleeping peacefully. To lose all of that and your parents to a bunch of bewitched maids…
Roseluck trotted up to the two music boxes, and read the carved names.
“Baron Wing and… Anvil Break?”
Roseluck backed away from the boxes. That couldn't be true. Anvil Break was her ancestor, but she was sure that he wasn't born in this evil manor.
But she remembered a certain saying in her household.
“Legends are just twists in reality.”
If he was indeed the first of her lineage, that would mean that White Rose would be his son.
“He crafted a sword to kill his son…” Roseluck muttered, horror written on her face.
“What?” Applejack asked.
Roseluck shook her head. She scanned the room, and found a map of the manor hanging on the wall.
“Who would put this map in this room?” Applejack asked. Roseluck trotted up to the map and pointed to the spire that dominated the top of the manor. “There, is our destination.”
“Why there?”
Roseluck turned to Applejack, saying, “because there is where it all began. It was this spot that Lord Whitehoof made his final stand. It was once a place of worship. But now, it stands as a bloody testament to all that has transpired here. We must confront whatever is at the top with the relic.”
“The relic better work,” Applejack muttered.
A crash was heard, coming from behind them.
The two whirled around to find a doll that had fallen from one of the shelves, its porcelain body smashed to pieces.
“We need to go, I don't like this room.” Applejack said.
“Don't worry about the room, worry about me.”
The two mares looked at each other, then slowly looked up.
It was one of the dolls, its eyes glowing red.
The doll spoke with Ashen Spectre’s voice.
“But soon, you will worry no longer. You know, I will be generous. I will give you both a ten second head start.”
The doll erupted in laughter, yelling, “run little meals, RUN!” Applejack and Roseluck hightailed it, nearly busting down the door, the doll’s haunting laughter seemingly chasing them.
Fluttershy woke with a gasp, and immediately looked at her belly.
The spear was gone. No scars, no clear evidence that she was skewered at all.
She was still in the ballroom, and looked up to see the shattered remains of the glass the spear went through.
“So it wasn't a dream.” Fluttershy told herself.
“Caw!”
Fluttershy whirled around to see… a single, ragged, jet-black raven. This raven cawed again and its eyes glowed a sickly green.
“Hi… um, Mr. Raven.”
The bird cocked its head to the side and cawed.
“... judging by the green eyes, you're no ordinary raven.” Fluttershy said.
The raven spread his wings and flew around the room, and landed on Rainbow Dash’s corpse.
Fluttershy did a double take on Rainbow Dash’s body. She noted the numerous cuts, the gut-spilling slash, the torn throat, and the pool of coagulated blood.
It… appalled her.
Fluttershy’s reddish-gold eyes began to water… with blood. Tiny streams of it slipped from her eyes as she turned around to see all the mangled bodies of the Mane Six, minus Applejack, who was lucky to escape with her life.
“What have I done?!” Fluttershy yelled quietly as she wiped the blood-tears off her snout and cheek. Panic and Madness sowed their seeds in the mind of Fluttershy as she kept on staring at her gruesome masterpiece.
She turned to the raven, and frantically asking, “please,... tell me if this is a dream! Tell me i'm dreaming, PLEASE!!!”
The raven regarded her with cold eyes.
Fluttershy went to the raven and asked, “please, tell me I'll see them again, in anyway, shape or form!”
Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she heard the raven’s word. She stumbled as she realized all the horror, all the blood soaked screams of agonizing pain she caused.
Then it dawned on her...
“The spear changed me. Luna! What have you done to me?!”
Luna appeared in a mirage of herself, her face was unfeeling, no pity in it whatsoever.
“I did what must of been done. Thy soul is cleansed of the corruption. Vampirism cannot be cured.”
Fluttershy prostrated before the princess of the moon.
“Please, help me!” She begged in a whisper.
“Silence cur!” Luna shouted, taking Fluttershy by surprise. “You deserve the worst punishment after what you did. I was willing to forgive you, but you showed me that there was nothing to forgive. After you finish up here, you are banished from the land until the end of time!”
Fluttershy began to weep blood again as she stammered, “p-please… h-h-have mercy.”
“MERCY?! did you show mercy to the innocent lives you killed, who were your friends?! For your deeds, you expect mercy from me or my sister?! Never!”
Luna brought her voice down to a dangerous tone. “After this mansion, if you don't leave Equestria, i'm going to kill you myself, understand me?! This is the price and you will pay it.”
Luna extended her hoof, and with a magic pull, ripped the Element of Kindness out of Fluttershy’s body.
“You don't deserve this!” Luna hissed as she disappeared.
Fluttershy collapsed into a sobbing, bloody heap. Everything was taken from her. The raven flew to her side.
“What am I?” Fluttershy asked between sobs.
Quoth the raven; “Nevermore.”
(---)
“He’s getting closer!”
“Don't look at his eyes! Keep yours on me!”
Roseluck and Applejack galloped through the various hallways, a bunch of ancient, floating dolls were chasing them, all with glowing red eyes.
“Your blood will taste so sweet.” The dolls said in unison as a shadow was forming in between them.
Roseluck took out a vial. This was the last vial of Wolfsbane. She uncorked the vial and threw it at the dolls.
It did… nothing.
The dolls laughed and lashed out at Applejack, grabbing her hind legs. Applejack slammed into the floor, her eyes filled with terror as she was being rapidly pulled back.
“Roseluck!” she shouted.
Roseluck dived at her, locking hooves with Element of Honesty, using all her strength to hold on.
“Awww, we can't have anything like that.” the dolls said.
The shadow solidified into Ashen Spectre. While Roseluck was temporarily distracted by the master of the dolls, the master took her own sword out of it's scabbard…
And used it to slice at Roseluck’s fetlock, slicing off that part and the hoof of Roseluck’s right front leg. From this, Applejack was dragged into the shadows screaming, and Roseluck stood there in shock as she realized what just happened.
She screamed in pain as blood began to pump from the stump. She knew that she had to stop the bleeding, before she died.
She paused and heard Applejack’s agonizing scream as she was torn apart. Roseluck could even hear her blood spatter down the hall.
Roseluck threw herself into a room and closed the door. It had no lock, so she was done for if Ashen decided to bring his dolls for a visit.
Roseluck was silently crying in pain as she looked frantically for something to stop the bleeding on her stump. With no other option, she grabbed and yanked the ancient bedsheets of the bed in the room. With her teeth she ripped the sheets apart and began to wrap her stump with haste. It hurt so bad…
The bleeding stopped, but Roseluck is having second thoughts about coming here. She had done nothing but lose her friends, and letting everypony die. She was so sick of it, so sick of it all.
She looked mournfully around the room. No doubt that Ashen is looking for her now. Her blood trail should lead right to her location.
She collapsed on the floor, weeping, hoping that she is granted a quick death.
(**?**)
Fluttershy slowly made her way around the manor, blood staining her cheeks.
Banished, alone, deemed a monster.
All she wanted was to bring her friends back, all she wanted was for all this to end.
But it hasn't.
Fluttershy’s new companion, the raven, followed closely behind her, cawing and pecking at the occasional skull.
Fluttershy was alone. The raven was seemingly tormenting her, by answering “nevermore,” to all her questions and monologues. Every once in awhile, Fluttershy would turn to see if the raven was still there, and its piercing gaze would nearly drive her insane.
Fluttershy realized she had no purpose, no salvation, no hope.
She lost her friends, her element, herself, and lost sight of the goal. What could she do now in this horror land? What could she do to possibly change the outcome of this juggernaut of evil?.
(**^**)
Death did not come for Roseluck.
Roseluck’s painful sobs turned into sniffles as she slowly regained her train of thought.
She was still terrified of Ashen casting his shadow at any second, but knew that she needed to see what she could use in order to go out the door.
She got up, and slowly looked at the room once more. It was a small room, perhaps ten-by-ten feet, with faded peeling wallpaper. A simple bed and dresser were in the room, along with a faded portrait of a white mare.
“Marelady Whitehoof.” Roseluck said in a hushed whisper. Underneath the portrait was a worn note, folded up.
Roseluck carefully went over to the dresser, keeping her stump close to her chest. She had to get used to it.
Using her teeth, she picked up the note. She slid onto the old bed, making it creak. Using her left front hoof and her teeth, she was able to break the seal on the note, and open it.
She read it quietly to herself.
“My love, I have accepted the duel, and have accepted that it may be the last time I can openly tell you about how much I feel.
I must confess that I have known of your marriage to Lord Whitehoof when I courted you in the gardens. I saw you once and I just… had to make you mine. I am a scoundrel, a liar, and a thief. It broke my heart, and fed my jealousy every time I saw you with him.
Perhaps this duel will ultimately decide the winner of your heart. Know this, If I win, then we can finally live the way we wanted to. To see the world, to live on the road, never stopping, living free. Alas, it is but a dream. Your husband is the best swords stallion on the continent, so this is my death writ.
Inside my dresser is my sword. I shall not fight with it, and shall use an inferior blade instead. If you get this note, burn it and flee the manor, because I dread to think on what he could do to our young Anvil Break.
I'm sorry it turned out like this, but in the end, I go to meet my destiny with the only honor I ever had in my life.
Don't waste your prayers on me.
Love, Steel Plate.”
Roseluck shed a single tear. She read the unknown stallion’s writ, read the first of her lineage’s own words.
She put the note in her bag and slid off the bed. She went over to the dresser and opened the top draw.
She opened the case and gazed at the sword.
It was a Gothic-style straight-edge arming sword. In the middle of the black colored blade was decorative rubies that resembled crystalline drops of blood. The crossguard curved downwards on both sides, and was made of silver. Strips of dark leather were wrapped around the hilt. A small, single ruby orb topped the pommel. Next to it was a black scabbard, with red silk marking the wavy patterns. A belt as attached to it.
While looking at this sword, Roseluck made her mind up.
“I will reach the Bloody Chapel. I swear on my ancestor’s grave.”
Using her teeth, she slid the sword into its scabbard, and tied the scabbard to her flank with the belt. She still kept her missing sword’s scabbard on. She then faced the door.
With a deep breath, she said, “I do this for you… Steel Plate. I will get through this horror. For all my friends…”
She was in front of the door, and felt fear returning to her mind.
“And may darkness take me if I fail, nevermore to return.”
Fluttershy ran, it followed. She yelled, it stood in silence. She wept, it laughed.
This raven, whatever it really was, was her punishment incarnation. She is slowly being driven mad by this small monstrosity. Devoid of hope, bitter and angry, the raven whispers in her ear, “nevermore.”
Fluttershy wanted to end this, to end the fiend in bird form. She remembered the Bloody Chapel, the place where all of this originated. So many lives lost, so many corrupted and destroyed. Her resolve burned. Fluttershy decided to make a final attempt at righting her wrongs. It was time she went to the chapel.
(???)
Roseluck was on a balcony, eyeing the old bridge that connected the Bloody Chapel Tower to the rest of the manor. All she had to do was cross the ancient stone bridge. But, it was on the opposite side of the bridge that had her giving herself second thoughts.
Ashen was on the other side of the bridge, holding the shredded corpse of Applejack.
He grinned wickedly as he threw her corpse off the bridge, into the fog below.
“It would be rude of me to not let you join in on all the fun,” he said with a demented chuckle.
Roseluck growled in response.
Ashen rolled his eyes. “So… really think that you can take me, eh? That's precious.”
Ashen’s eyes glowed red, “ Lady Fluttershy will reward me for this.”
Roseluck drew Steel Plate’s sword, its ebony blade blending in with the darkness of night. Ashen turned into a black mist, his red eyes glowed within. He rushed at Roseluck, as the latter closed her eyes. She knew that nothing could harm a vampire in mist form, so Ashen would have to take her bait in order to reveal himself.
And he did.
He changed into his physical form and clamped his jaws on her neck, driving his teeth into her flesh. Roseluck took her sword and plunged it into his neck. Ashen let go in a shriek of pain. Seizing the opportunity, Roseluck tackled him, using the sword to pin him to the bridge. Ashen thrashed like an animal caught in a trap, shrieking wildly and ferociously. Roseluck felt a familiar weight on her flank. She looked to see Rosebane. She has never been more thankful for the sword’s magic properties in her life. She drew the sword.
Ashen stopped his squirming to see Roseluck raise her blade.
“You took my hoof, now I take your life!”
She slammed the blade into his neck, slicing off his head. She watched as his head tumbled from his bleeding neck, off the bridge, and into the fog below.
She sheathed her swords, and kicked Ashen’s headless body of the bridge.
Then the throbbing pain began.
In fact, the pain was so sharp, she collapsed in utter pain. It felt as if tiny needles were slowly driving themselves into her bloodstream, tearing at her arteries and veins.
Tears began to slip from her eyes… tears of blood.
With a haunting realization, she was turning a lot faster than Fluttershy did.
A faint ethereal voice laughed from below the fog.
Ashen was still not dead. The vampire outsmarted her.
“I’m coming for you!” Ashen said as his demonic laugh seemed to be getting closer and closer.
Roseluck realized her mistake, she forgot to burn the body and the head.
Terrified, she ran as fast as her pain allowed to the other side of the bridge, her tears forming a trail of scarlet drops as Ashen’s laughter seemed to echo from everywhere.
She smashed down the door that covered the entrance, and went inside.
Roseluck knew that time was short. She knew the corrupting effects of vampirism, she has seen it first hand. She also knew that, despite the accelerated rate of her metamorphosis, she still had time to make things right. She just needed to push on. The ran up the spiral stone staircase as fast as her three hooves allowed, passing macabre paintings of death, lit up with candles. The Plague, monsters rising from their graves, even a pool of blood with struggling ponies was depicted. Thunder crashed outside as the tower shook with the rumblings of the sky. She kept going.
She ran, and ran, and ran up the staircase as she felt her newly formed pointed fangs cut her tongue. Pain in two places erupted from her back, two separate bulges appeared, and were getting larger. She kept running.
Her eyes watered, her throat burned, she kept pushing.
Then, she made it to the door that leads to the room where it all started, and where it shall end. The golden nail was a lot heavier now.
Roseluck opened the door, and went in.
The room was massive. Where stained glass was once was, were empty holes of stone. The pews were nothing but splinters, shattered along the floor. The altar was split in half, bloodstains spattered all over it. The Light Icon, a symbol of the forgotten light, was desecrated with dried organs hanging loosely from it. But, the most eerie part of the room was the dark magic circle that filled the room. Its symbols glowed a shade of crimson, and a body was found in the middle of it.
Suddenly, blood and pain erupted from Roseluck’s back, making her scream in agony. Her legs were shaking from the sudden burst of pain as she dared look behind her.
She now had a set of demonic bat wings, blood dripping off of them.
She looked back at the corpse, and knew who it was.
She went over to the corpse, and kicked his head, to make sure that Discord was really dead. Roseluck then spotted a book next to his corpse that was written in Bitin. She picked up the book and read its cover.
“Quod Sacra Tenebrae.”
She heard stories about this ancient tome. Some say it was made in the pits of Tartarus, others say that the notorious Queen of Blood gave her life to forge the very pagers out of her own blood. It was the epitome of all things considered dark magic. It was once a pure book of primal knowledge, but it was corrupted by vampire blood along the way.
It seems that Discord never changed at all.
But who, or what killed him?
“What happened?”
Roseluck turned to see Fluttershy, a raven perched on her back, standing in the doorway.
Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide as she saw the state of Roseluck.
“What happened to you?!”
Roseluck looked at her wings. “Ashen is what happened.” She said bitterly.
Roseluck expected Fluttershy to charge her and tear her apart, drink her blood and be done with it. Instead, Fluttershy slowly walked into the room and said, “it’s all my fault… isn’t it?”
Now it was Roseluck’s turn to ask, “what happened to you?”
“Luna. She threw a spear from Canterlot at me. It cleansed the corruption of my mind, but my body cannot be cured. She wants me exiled as soon as this is over. If I don’t comply… she’ll kill me.”
Both looked at the corpse of Discord, Fluttershy was strangely unmoved by it, as if she has gotten used to the deaths that have transpired.
“Well, well, well. I guess you’re not my master anymore.”
Both looked up to see Ashen Spectre in the air, his bat wings flapping with great force. He landed on the floor, his hooves echoed off the stone.
“Kinda funny, you know. Now I can end the heirs myself and claim this manor. Celestia and Luna will fall before me!” He said.
Fluttershy then put herself between Ashen and Roseluck. “Now is the time I correct my mistakes. Roseluck, summon the angel. I will keep him busy.”
Roseluck nodded, and began to chant.
“I’ll tear your head off, you filthy whore,” Ashen screamed as he launched himself at Roseluck, only to be knocked away by Fluttershy. Fluttershy released a shriek and attacked him with savagery, biting and kicking, and slashing with her wing claws.
“You killed him, didn’t you?!” she yelled.
“Guilty as charged. It was only a matter of time before I took his blood.” Ashen snarled. He lunged at her and knocked her down, and stomped on her ribs, breaking them, and bit down on her leg. He then threw her into the stone wall, incapacitating her. Thunder crashed, and lightning flashed as the tower shook with the rolling thunder.
“Nothing will stop me. I will wipe both bloodlines from this world.” Ashen proclaimed as he advanced towards Roseluck, who was too absorbed by the chanting to take notice.
Then, the ghosts of the murderous maids appeared behind Ashen, their hollow eyes filled with malice. In the middle of them appeared a tall, regal stallion, holding a two-hoofed sword that leaked a green substance from the blade.
“You… will… not… touch… them.” the stallion said in a raspy voice. Ashen turned to see all the original maids, the ones that gave the Bloody Chapel its name, staring at him, with ethereal knives in their hooves.
“Amen!” Roseluck cried as she lifted the golden nail up, the nail surrounded in an intense aura. Ashen lunged at her, but the ghosts caught him first, and began to swarm him, stabbing at every part of his body.
Roseluck motioned for Fluttershy to come to her, which she did.
“We only got one shot at this. The ghosts can’t kill him, but the angel can. Hold your hoof to the ground.”
Fluttershy did as she was told. Roseluck raised the nail.
Before Fluttershy could of had any second thoughts, Roseluck plunged the nail into her hoof, pinning it to the floor.
The holy relic was burning her flesh, causing the most excruciating pain she had ever felt. Fluttershy screamed in pain as the blood that came from such a wound exploded in a shower of burning light. The ghosts were driven back, but Ashen was blinded. He staggered away as the angel appeared. It appeared as a mass of six wings. One pair of wings covered the upper body, another pair covered the lower body, and the last pair had its wings spread to keep it in the air.
“Who calls the Herald to this world? Who has the courage and might to do so?” it said.
“I do!” Roseluck answered, “I wish for this world to be cleansed of the corrupted darkness that killed millions of innocent ponies, we wish to be free!”
The two pairs of wings opened up, revealing the stallion underneath. He was made of pure light. “You have been judged, and you will be saved, as well as the rest of Equestria!”
The angel floated to the top of the room, its radiance pulsing with power. The feathers on its wings began to glow, and Ashen was held again by the ghosts, screaming and kicking as orbs of raw light formed in a vertical circle around the angel.
The Herald raised its head, its eyes like miniature suns, and yelled:
“Levate in Caelum, Laudo Lucem!”
The orbs fired off its wings and blasted opened the roof of the tower, flying through the sinister fog and air. They went to different locations of Equestria, hovering over cities and towns. One hovered over the tower. The Herald put its forelegs together and said, “AMEN”
The orbs fell from the sky, and detonated on impact.
(...)
Fluttershy woke, and noticed that the moon was out.
Wait, the Moon was out!
Fluttershy got on her hooves and looked around. She saw the ruins of the manor, but no ghosts, no zombies. She didn’t hear the howls of the werewolves, nor hear the whispers of the wisps. She saw Roseluck, unconscious and… normal. No wings, no fangs. Just normal.
Fluttershy looked at her wings, and they had feathers. She bit her tongue, no fangs. Tears slipped from her eyes as pure joy sunk into her being, no blood drops came.
She looked behind herself and saw The Herald, standing over the ashes of what she would only assume was Ashen’s.
The Herald floated over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy kneeled, tears of joy still slipping.
“Before I begin the awakening, I must tell you that I have eradicated most of the evils from this land. One hundred of them still live. When I’m gone, you must lead your friends to destroy them, or the same plague of evils will strike again.”
Fluttershy nodded.
The Herald extended a hoof, and a glowing rod of light formed, and two books formed as well.
“This is the Sacris Tenebris, the tome of pure darkness and seals. This other book is the Sacrum Lumen, the tome of pure light and healing. This rod is known as Vitae, the breaker. These relics will help your kind.”
Fluttershy was handed the relics.
The Herald created another orb of light, and threw it into the ground, causing an earthquake. The ground faintly glowed, and the Herald said “it is done.”
The Herald turned back into a golden nail.
Roseluck, awake and well, said “now what?”
Fluttershy put down the books, and said, “ take them, Luna is bound to come for me soon.”
“What about you?” Roseluck asked.
Fluttershy held the rod, and said “I must atone. I’ve done many evil things during this event, and I doubt the rest of the Mane Six will want to see my face right now.”
Roseluck nodded, “Be careful out there… cousin.”
Fluttershy smiled, then spread her wings and took off.
Roseluck was silent for a while, then heard some rubble shift as she heard five mares stuggle to break free.
“Hello, anypony here? Ah could use some help!”
“Ugh, how did I end up in such dirty rubble?”
“This, is not twenty percent cooler. Ow, my wings.”
“Is this a new party game? Guys? Hello?”
“What kind of magic… just revived me?”
Roseluck chuckled, but turned to see three fillies making their way to her.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders.
“Um… what happened?” Scootaloo asked.
Roseluck shook her head, “can’t say. Why don’t you help me get your friends out of this rubble.”
They got to work, digging out the five of the Mane Six.