Luna walked through the castle halls, flanked on either side by pegasi of the Night Guard. She entered Celestia's private dining room to find Celestia awaiting her arrival, slumped partially onto the stout wooden table and addressed her sister. "No word yet, I take it?"
Celestia lifted her weary head, slowly shaking it. "Nay, not a whisper..." She wearily sighed, fatigue written across her features. "Oh, how I miss her. And when she does show up, I dread what we may have to do."
Luna forsook her seat in favor of comforting her sister, walking over and lifting Celestia's head with a hoof, looking her in the eyes. "Do not despair, Tia. I did not myself all those years ago, and now that it is Twilight missing, we must be strong; if not for ourselves, then for her. I fear the action we may have to take, but we will have her back." She embraced her sister, softly whispering the next words. "Twilight shall always be Twilight, regardless of what may happen."
Celestia closed her eyes and let herself be consoled by Luna. "I know, Lulu. I'm just so scared; she's become very dear to me, and her loss cuts deeply." She relaxed, then tensed up as she opened her eyes. "I will do whatever it takes to save her, and we'll finally have a chance to put that monster down, too." She eased out of Luna's embrace, looking at the plate of food half picked over. "I'm not feeling too hungry anymore. Shall we go see what Shining has gathered today?"
A small smile crossed Luna's face as her sister's despair lifted. "Very well. It was going to be my next stop before the night court anyways. That stallion has been running the guards into the ground; hopefully he has something for us this evening."
Luna and Celestia walked through the castle down to the lower levels, where the barracks and jail where situated. Entering into the command room, they walked onto a scene of organized chaos. Even with night rapidly approaching, guards filled the room, exchanging reports, organizing one of the many filled boards with reports tacked to them, and running errands. At the center of it all stood Shining Armor, creases on his brow caused by stress making themselves known.
"I want companies Bravo and Delta to have three search parties ready to go for tomorrow morning, by the sun's rising! Ensure they take sectors romeo two through sierra six, and I want a report for every sector!" he barked out as he bent over a table in the center, a quill furiously writing over parchment before the paper joined a large stack next to him.
"Good evening, Captain Armor. Any news?" Luna asked, everypony ignoring their presence as they carefully made their way to the table.
Shining briefly glanced up from his parchment before moving his head back down to focus on the reports in front of him as he growled out his answer. "None yet, and it's beginning to frustrate me! Every method we've used for locating her have failed! We've tried triangulating her magical signature, nothing. Tried tracking the enchanted earring I gave her specifically in case something like this happened, and nothing! Even brought in the one guard whose talent was divination, and she was stumped." He punctuated each failure with the slam of a hoof on the desk's surface, the final one leaving a small dent as he sighed.
"I see. I know we have tried the same methods as well, although I was unaware of the earring." Celestia quietly said, masking the weariness of her voice. "It must be the chaotic magic masking her presence from us."
Shining sighed once more, picking up the stack of reports with his magic and cramming them into a small folder. "Yes, that's the conclusion we've come to." He turned and finally faced them both. "But we also have equally disturbing reports. We have her presence narrowed down to the Everfree Forest, although truthfully, it's so large that doesn't tell us much. However," his hoof pointed towards a nearby board, its surface nearly plastered with reports, "all of those reports are casualty reports. Search patrols have encountered timberwolves that are roughly sixty percent larger than normal, as well as manticores that are thirty percent larger. We've already had to cut down on the number of patrols and increase the size of the parties, but even so, we've had numerous injuries."
He picked up another folder and opened it, revealing its lone piece of paper. "Even the zebra mystic Twilight knows reports that the plants of the forest are becoming less responsive to her; some outside force is exerting its influence on the forest as a whole. Whatever, or whoever, is behind this... it's no joke."
Celestia shot Luna a knowing look, and opened her mouth to speak. However, before she could utter a word, a resounding crash sounded out as branches of an apple tree struck the desk in front of them, accompanied by a chromatic burst of light. Everypony paused, the room deathly quiet as Celestia and Luna's eyes widened in shock.
"Twilight!" Celestia exclaimed first, immediately turning to Shining. "Captain, I need you to prepare a company to secure Ponyville against any potential threat, and I want them deployed as soon as possible. My sister and I will be going in advance and will await your arrival."
Without a word, Luna moved next to Celestia, their tails intertwining as their eyes closed, a destination in mind. As one, their eyes popped open, flowing with power as their horns radiated light, and they were gone from sight, a white afterimage the only evidence of their visit.
"Twilight, is that you?" Applejack nervously asked, eying the mare in front of her.
With a deep and rich laugh, Twilight levitated the stetson hat off the ground, her normally violet magic a vibrant red coloration. Setting it down on top of her head, she simply smiled, her fangs readily obvious. "Oh, Applejack. Is that anyway to greet a friend?" With a quick motion, a pair of wings the same shade of her coat unfurled, the lack of feathers increasing Applejack's heart rate.
"A-Are those wings, sugarcube? H-How in tarnation?" Applejack stammered out as she slowly backpedaled from Twilight, who closed the distance with a single flap of her leathery wings, the stetson fluttering off in the breeze.
Twilight licked her lips, the saliva causing her fangs to glint even more in the moonlight. "I take it you like them? You can have your own, you know. Kind of why I'm here, really." She walked up to Applejack's side, tenderly nuzzling her frozen friend's neck, then dragged her tongue from the base to the nape of her neck.
Applejack violently shivered at the intimate contact, her mind yelling at her to move, but her body refusing to comply. "W-What done happened to you; we've been worried sick this last week," she managed to stammer out, causing Twilight to take a half step back and look her in the eyes.
"Oh, it was wonderful. I met an amazing stallion who gave me such power. I mean, I'd always asked or worked for stuff when I wanted it, but now..." She moved back in and nipped at Applejack's neck, her voice slightly muffled by the fur, "I know that I have the power to simply take what I want, and when I want it. And, Applejack, I want you..."
Twilight sank her fangs into Applejack's neck, the warm blood quickly filling her mouth as Applejack began to grunt in response. Twilight revelled as she drank the magically rich blood, enjoying it as much as the involuntary sounds coming from Applejack. Slowly removing her fangs, she licked the bite mark, causing it to quickly fade as if it had never been there. Pulling back, she noted the dazed look on Applejack's face.
"Sleep now, AJ. I'll be back for you once I've got the other girls." Twilight stared into her eyes, her words weighted by a hypnotic gaze as Applejack's eyelids quickly closed and she collapsed to the ground. Licking the last remnants of blood from her fangs, Twilight wickedly smiled. "One down, four to go."
Two forms streaking through the night sky forced her focus to them. Twilight began laughing madly, shooting up a small flare of red. The two figures in the sky immediately corrected their course, headed directly for her. "Oh, fun!"
The two alicorns came in hot, forming depressions in the ground as they landed. “Twilight!" Luna called out, ready to run to her side, but halted as she noticed the glowing eyes and wings.
"Her eyes, Luna. It's going to have to be the hard way." Celestia calmly spoke, preparing herself for a fight. "Twilight... forgive me for what I am going to do. I know that you can hear me."
A tittering laugh erupted from Twilight's mouth at the words being exchanged. "Oh, looksee here! It's Little Luna and her big sis Celestia! Long time no see!" Twilight's voice rang out, multi-layered.
"Redamarc." Luna growled the name, hatred dripping from her words like venom. Her legs tensed as she subconsciously shifted into a fighting stance. "Return Twilight to us, and we may make your destruction swift."
Laughter greeted her words, a wide grin forming on Twilight's face as Redamarc spoke through her. "Oh, Little Luna. I see the time on the moon has made you stiff. No pleasantries, no hellos, just straight to business, I see. Lighten up some, enjoy yourself! Afterall, it's not everyday your ole pal Red decides to come and pay you a visit!"
"Monster." Celestia quietly spoke, her tone a stark contrast to the fire that burned in her eyes. "As Luna said. If you return Twilight to us now, we’ll promise to make your ending swift. Otherwise," Celestia stood tall, her words filled with hatred, "we'll hunt you down, and I'll enjoy seeing you slowly die at my hooves."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Twilight waved a hoof back in forth as he repeated the words a few times. "I must say, those wings are rather ugly." Twilight let out a weird warbling laugh. "And why would I want to 'return' this thrall to you? I quite like her, she's very powerful. Plus, I have some revenge to see to. I hope you enjoy this first gift of many!" The jovial tone disappeared, Twilight taking a fighting stance, her wings spread out at her sides. The next word was spoken aloud, although there was no need to.
"Kill."
Twilight launched forward, her red eyes glowing and her sharpened horn glowing red as nearby branches were lifted from the ground, following behind her. Luna and Celestia split to each side of her charge and raised shields, the limbs splintering against them. With a flap of her wings, Twilight neatly turned in the air, coming at Luna's backside.
Luna, startled at the dexterity Twilight showed, suffered the clip of a hoof against her flank as she moved to dodge. Twilight taunted her as Luna put some distance between them. "Hah, a little slow there, Luna! You're the one who taught me how to fight, I thought you could handle a flying opponent!"
Luna forced herself to remain calm and in control; it would do no good to get angry. After all, this was Twilight, and her goal was to save her, not kill. She caught Celestia's eyes and briefly nodded, the duo taking to the sky as they levitated some of the larger branches littering the ground.
"Oh, fun!" Twilight exclaimed, swooping in close to Celestia. She had to shift at the last moment to try and avoid a branch from Luna as well as Celestia's horn, which came dangerously close to her side.
"Twilight, I know you can hear us! Fight him!" Celestia desperately pleaded, her horn igniting with its golden aura as she prepared a spell. She carefully followed Twilight; Celestia was having a difficult time getting a bead on her.
Laughter rang out as Celestia was forced to abandon her spell in favor of a shield once more as apples were turned into improvised projectiles. Normally, they wouldn't be an issue, but one that missed her embedded itself into the trunk of a tree. "Oh, but I am fighting! I'm fighting you, aren't I?"
"ENOUGH!" Luna boomed out, her horn glowing, the magic almost tangible in the air around her. As she gathered more power, her eyes began to glow, the spell discharging moments later. The few clouds in the sky gave way under the sudden onslaught of wind as a concentrated cone made its way towards Twilight.
Tucking her wings into her sides, Twilight skimmed the top of the cone as she skipped across its surface, much like a pebble on water. The next gust of wind knocked her to the ground, where she landed gracefully on all four hooves.
Celestia tried sneaking up behind Twilight, her previously abandoned spell ready to go. As Twilight landed, Celestia discharged the magic, the electrical bolt headed for its mark. At the last moment, Twilight moved, causing it to simply graze her flank as she cried out in pain.
Luna landed next to Celestia and faced Twilight, who was attempting to shake off the numbing sensation that had spread to encompass her left flank. "I'll try to subdue her; it hopefully won't take much more." She spoke softly, undercurrents of emotional pain in her voice.
Celestia just nodded, looking up briefly to the moon. "When I give the signal, you know what you need to do, right?"
"Yes," was the only word Luna spoke as she dove for Twilight; who was starting to dive at her. She struck Twilight head on, her hooves colliding with the smaller mare's side, causing yet another cry of pain. Luna internally cringed as she closed the distance once more for what she hoped was the final blow.
Celestia hung back, watching and waiting for the opportune moment to reenter the fray. She watched as Luna retaliated against a wild swing at her with a controlled flap of her wings, bringing her to Twilight's flank. A quick two strikes from her hooves connected with Twilight, causing Celestia to cringe.
Twilight was panting heavily, her side still numb, and her right rear hoof hovering off the ground as she turned to face Luna on three hooves. She flapped her wings to go airborne, but was quickly dropped back to the ground as a spell affected her immediate area. Her body felt heavy, her wings unable to take her weight to the sky.
Celestia saw her opening and went for it, launching herself forward. Grasping Twilight in her hooves, the impact knocked the breath out of Twilight as Celestia immediately decelerated.
Luna came over and helped Celestia secure Twilight, her back to the ground and her wings anchored at her sides. Twilight attempted to struggle, but her physical and magical strength were both exhausted from the short, but intensive fight. Luna took full control of her bonds, freeing Celestia to do what she needed to do in order to free Twilight from Redamarc's control.
Celestia's eyes shifted from cerise to a deep red as they began to glow. "Now, Luna." Celestia raised both of her forelegs to her mouth, two sharp fangs protruded from her lips as she carefully bit into each forehoof, a small trickle of blood beginning to pool in the wounds. Her fangs disappeared as she carefully lowered her forehooves to Twilight's head, her magic holding Twilight's mouth open.
"Virtus ex sanguis datarius, voluntas erit redeo!" She dripped the blood into Twilight mouth, where it splashed against the back of her throat. After a few moments, Twilight involuntarily swallowed. Celestia held her hooves there as the self-inflicted wounds began to heal, the last of the blood splattering in Twilight's mouth. "It's done, Luna..."
Luna moved to support Celestia, who slumped over in exhaustion. Celestia weakly smiled at Luna, who removed her magic from Twilight. "It should only take a few more–" Celestia was cut off as Twilight became stiff as a board, her eyes snapping open, showing the deep red color of her eyes slowly bleed back to their original lavender color. A scream passed through her lips, her coat regaining some of its color, her wings snapping open, rigid. Along the main bone structure of her wings, from the base to the very tip, pegasus feathers began to sprout, her coat finally stopping just a shade or two shy of its original lavender color. Her eyes were now back to their normal color, with the exception of a small cerise ring near the very center of each pupil. The feathers stopped growing, the same color as her coat and wings, looking extremely out of place on the otherwise leathery appendages.
Twilight was still as Celestia and Luna watched, their breath held nervously. A groan erupted from her, causing them both to let out a loud sigh of relief. Twilight's eyes focused and took in the sisters over her, concern evident in their eyes.
"Oooohhh...." Twilight groaned, pain radiating from every muscle in her body. "I had the strangest dream..." She paused, taking in her surroundings, noting the destruction of the orchard around her, the unconscious Applejack and Spike in the distance, and Luna and Celestia over her, both looking extremely tired. Finally, she looked to either side of her, noting the appendages attached to her sides, and raised her hooves to her mouth, where they were greeted by two sharp teeth.
"Oh, horseapples."
Nice chapter, loved the fight scene
The action scene wasn't too bad... Probably could have added some details, though.
Had to go back a re read the story to get an idea of this one... Go figure.
~Skeeter The Lurker
Was wondering when you'd put a chapter out for this one, considering the other couple active stories of yours updated recently.
3099834
Well, as I said, here it is.
3125142>>3125151
Yeah, me and action aren't so great. I think I'm going to have to do some more research before I start getting into the expansive stuff.
3125185
Yeah... I've actually had this sitting awaiting editing on my end since July 17th. Uugh. I have no excuse.
3125191
No worries. Knew it'd be out eventually. Still, i'm following stories that update but once a month with chapters this size, so i'm nothing, if not patient to get my 'fix.'
Great chapter.
"Oh horseapples."
So... I'm guessing this means alicorns are of the Ventrue bloodline and Twilight used to be a Gangrel?
Great chapter! It's been a while, i can wait patiently for sure but i would still prefer a "little" faster pace on geting those chapters out
Im realllllllly interested in hearing about what celestia did there and how!
Hmn, so looks like everyalicorn is a vampire of some sort.
3125309 Nope, luna taught a vampire alicorn but not all are.
3125309
without spoiling too much...
Nope. Not all alicorns are vampires of a sort.
3125307
Yeah, really have no excuse as to how long it took to get this one out.
3125403
Celestia popped out fangs ... If she is not a vampire then what is she?
Do All alicorns have hidden fangs? (like NMM?)
well now that I see your update schedule I'll hold off reading more until there's more chapters, then I'll just read it form start to whatever
3125523
My thoughts exactly. What is with that?
an update
3125523
No Luna popped the fangs and bit Celestia.
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I didn't think it was that convoluted or confusing, but Celestia is the one with the fangs here, folks. The why won't be shown until Chapter 4, however.
Heh it's fine, I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again in the future, but a good chapter is ALWAYS worth the wait,
3125523 Their is a race of beings similar to vampires only they are daytime walkers and they are the polar opposite of vampires, though in most stories, they are worse than vampires when it comes to humans.
Well worth the wait mein herr. Excellent chapter.
Oh I liked this chapter
Ooh, I've been waiting for this.
Good to see this hasn't been forgotten. Thoroughly enjoying it so far.
You have earned yourself a like and favorite!
"I like this ship! It's exciting!"
No, Scotty! This story is exciting and I can't wait for the next chapter! Also- Alicorns are vampires?!?! *le Pinkie gasp* No wonder they live so long! Very cool concept, completely original as far as I know. As for your note... As long as you're productive in your corner, I have no problems with the late chapter. :)
Is Applejack automatically a vampire now, or is there some other part to the process?
So much dropped bass even Vinyl is like DAYUM!
So Twilight didn't go full evil, she just did that due to Redamarc?
Shouldn't Celestia have, you know, some sun magic or something?
Your fightscene wasn't bad, a thing you should keep in mind, though, is that you should always consider if the moves one uses when fighting are plausible or not. I mean, the magic makes many of these things easier, which is the reason I think that everything's okay here, but imagine you'd have an earth pony fighting, they don't have magic or wings for fancy moves. Why am I saying this? I bet you knew that already... All in all, I think that was pretty enjoyable, especially the last phrase.
I think Applejack is up for some unpleasant surprises soon.
So... Please tell me that Celes and Lulu aren't morons and check to see if Ajack got bit... (Yeah, I know the bite faded, but since it seems like they know jut about everything about this, they'd know that the bite disappears fairly quickly.)
...Vampire Applejack under Twilight's control, please?
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Why use Sun Magic (which might not do anything) if she can bring back Twilight by making herself the new "anchor" or "master" ?
3126010
Are the vampires/other beings based on a different mythos? or are they mostly original works? They sound interesting and i was thinking about looking them up.
oh ... Please do not answer if it would be too spoilery ( I may be a glutton for punishment but i like to keep up the suspense )
3128990 depends on what era your talking about, the day bats, as we shall call them, are from an era closer to ours than the original vampire.
Interesting. You impress me once again, Sir Cowboy of Space.
Also, the fight scene was pretty awesome, I wouldn't discount yourself. I am intrigued by what you have set up here.
Update? Awesome. Seems like Celestia and Luna will have some explaining to do next chapter. I like how Celestia knows how to release a vampire from its sire. Perhaps she had to do that often back in the day? Who knows, all I know is that I like this story
How is an apple tree branch and chromatic light equalling "Twilight's in Ponyville"?
So she just continues grunting after the first one?
Mild repetition of "red" here, maybe use crimson or another word.
Maybe a little to close for "dove" and "dive". It also doesn't agree with the later action of Luna hitting Twi in the side since it gives the impression they are going at each other face first.
Celly is a vampire too? What?
This sounds odd, her back is still arched at this point right?
I am assuming the full brunt of the freakout happens next chapter.
I liked this chapter, though AJ needs much faster reflexes. Also, any reason you pick AJ to be munched on? She isn't in the character list whereas Rarity is.
3127826 There's a plot?!
Don't be silly! This is a vampire story! Those don't need plots!
Ok, now I have no choice but to write a trollfic where everypony is both a changeling AND a vampire.
3129354
They could use some work, but that's something that will only come with time and experience writing action. Still, glad that you enjoyed it, it was passable enough that no one swapped their vote or added red, so I can't really complain. There's 2-3 chapters of set-up and info dumping before diving into the start of the action, and from there the story will test if I'm up to truly keeping things together.
3132443
3rd chapter will be a flashback to Twilight's captivity, so the 4th chapter is the explaining. And oh boy, is there a good bit of it. I'll be aiming to only have a week to two between updates this time as well.
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Changeling? Don't quite see where you're pulling a changeling for, but hey.
...well this is interesting. Trackfav'd and upvoted.
Lars cancels Read Chapter; Needs unread chapter.
3133096 Because there are a massive number of 'X is/becomes a changeling' and 'X is/becomes a vampire' stories in... well, I think every single fandom has a plethora of vampire fics. They're like bacteria in their pervasiveness!
And since changelings are rather akin to the emotional vampires in the first place (hence attracting similar crowds), turning both concepts into a complete farce in one story makes perfect sense!
3125191 in "Fallen from the Light" chap2 was Celesta or Luna the 1 who had the Fangs & gave Twilight their Blood. Also is that Princess a Vampire like Twilight?
Fiske is waiting for a chapter 3...
More I must have more now
3141766
Eeyup
I've read Becoming One With the Night in just 3 days.
I allready feel the symptoms by not enough TwiLuna
3171200 thanks
First of all, I'm stating my suspicions that Twilight isn't going to become an alicorn. The phrase "Strength of blood given, will be returned" implies that they give Twilight their strength to overcome the possession, but that power will be returned shortly.
Also, the action wasn't bad at all, and you're right, you have no excuse for taking so long, so make it up to us soon
How did I miss this updating? I'm starting to like the villain of the story. Even though we haven't seen him yet, we've seen what kind of antagonist he is in the short back and forth in that dialog: one with power and who knows how to use it intelligently. Can't wait to see the next chapter and what I assume will be Twilight's struggle with the darkness within.
this is getting good, but to be honest, I expected at any minute the villain to make Twi and Aj disappear b4 the princeses transformed Twi back