> Castlevania: Magic of Friendship > by WiltedBloom2013 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Hidden Potentials > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Europe, 1797... One year after Alucard saved Richter from Dracula's Castle Scootaloo looked at her two friends with more uncertainty than ever before... It started as a normal day, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were going over their plans to get their Cutie Marks. The three were going to try to get exploring Cutie Marks... but somehow entered a portal that took the three far away from Equestria... worlds away even. Scootaloo was looking around the Castle as the trio of fillies walked through it's eerily hallow halls, all the blood and torture devices that were hooked up. Sweetie Belle was at the front of the group, simply because she wanted to be, it was well lit in the castle after all. Apple Bloom was slightly behind Sweetie Belle, standing to Sweetie's left. Scootaloo was all the way in the back of the trio, she really didn't like this place. "Are we sure this place is safe?" Scootaloo asked after seeing another torture device in this strange castle, but both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle groaned before Sweetie Belle replied, "YES! WE ARE SURE SCOOTALOO! WE HAVE FOUND NOTHING BUT THESE DEVICES!" causing Scootaloo to step back with her ears down. The trio kept going farther, and they reached the castle keep before long... but Scootaloo dashed off towards the entrance of the castle, not wanting to continue anymore. Outside the castle walls... Scootaloo dashed and dashed... she didn't stop dashing until she unintentionally dashed right into a tree... oof... Where even was Scootaloo? This certainly wasn't Equestria but it also felt somewhat familiar, an odd familiar like... she is certain she's never been here yet... some part of her knows this place... it feels. She got off the ground, castle staring ominessly at her in the background and the moon shining its light on her. She trotted forwards, hoping to find some familiar faces. 50 some-odd minutes later and a walk that felt like hell. Okay, she had to admit she was probably not going to find any familiar faces... She already had gone through basically hell by walking this much, nearly being attacked by some bats along the way to this left behind shack... Scootaloo sat in the corner, staring a Rapier down but not picking it up considering it'd feel better as a weapon Rarity'd use... ... why is Scootaloo considering somepony having a weapon? And Rarity of all ponies? She looked around and found some old books, now, normally she isn't one to read but... this seemed like a good time. Using resources found within Castlevania, several people have come together to make what we consider an ultimate weapon we have dubbed "Fatal Wind" this special Rapier can attack much faster and if wielded by the right person, might even be useful for moving faster. Unforunately, we've lost a number of team members due to our trip into Castlevania and we can only hope that whoever reads this and finds Fatal Wind doesn't try to storm Castlevania alone. As Scootaloo finished reading the page she looked towards Fatal Wind and... picked it up. She felt as if her hooves could move faster than she could move previous and this effect stayed even with the rapier stored away. "So guess I'll be taking you Fatal Wind, might be fun using you." Scootaloo said aloud. Then... there was a knock knock. Back in Castlevania... Apple Bloom groaned, finally noticing that Scootaloo's gone, "Sweetie, Scoots bailed on us," she said plain and simple, causing Sweetie Belle to groan as well. "Great, just fantastic," Sweetie Belle said in mild annoyance. The duo were climbing a large stair case with an ominess clock tower in the background, the stair case had a fancy looking red carpet and the fillies climbed on regardless. At the top they found a room with many candles and a large table, a tall fanged creature standing before the fillies... Dracula Vlad Tepes. "Greetings, I have been expecting you two," Dracula said as he stepped closer to them, "I can sense something deep within you both," he added. Both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked confused at that statement what did he mean by "something deep within you both" it just didn't make sense. But when the arrival of Dracula's right hand man, Death, Apple Bloom certainly felt... something... and by the sense of it... it wasn't nice. Death carries his iconic scythe as he looked at the fillies before pointing at Apple Bloom, "You there, come here," he said as Apple Bloom trotted over causiously, "W-what's up?" Apple Bloom said with a tinge of fear. Death said not much but took Apple Bloom from Sweetie Belle, leaving the unicorn with the castle's lord. Sweetie Belle looked at Dracula who simply lead her to thethrone room and had a seat where he drank a glass of wine before saying, "You and your friend have some potiental that needs to be coaxed out, Death took your friend to coax her's out, and I'll be the one to coax your's out." Back with Scootaloo... Scootaloo was roaming the streets of a ran-sacked town, what inhabiants are here looked at Scootaloo and ran inside, probably mistaking her for one of the many monsters that roam about outside the town. It wasn't long before Scootaloo found a tall bi-pedal creature in a blue outfit, "Excuse me, could you please tell me where I am?" Scootaloo asked the strange creature who immediately turned around holding... a cross almost ready to throw it... is it serious? "Uh... what are you doing?" Scootaloo asked the creature who just took a step back before another one of those creatures, except this time dressed in black with a white mane came out of hiding and put a limb in front of the blue clad one, "Calm Belmont, this creature means no harm," it, no, he said as the blue-clad one, Belmont, put the cross away. Much time passed as Scootaloo introduced herself and got to know both Belmont and the other creature. Firstly, she learned that Belmont's full name is Richter Belmont, and secondly she learned the name of the black-clad one, it being Alucard. Scootaloo also spent time explaining her situation, "So... you and two others ended up in front of my father's castle, which you explored until you got to the top floor where you ran away from it," Alucard summerized as Scootaloo nodded with a "that's right" at the same time. And so... an adventure unlike any Scootaloo had seen before starts... > Prologue 2: So what about Equestria? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile... in the world of Equestria... Discord had all the element bearers in one place, with "important" news to tell them. He gave them a brief summary of the last chapter... because... he could. None of the ponies thought he was serious even though he very much was. "Discord, how the hay are we supposed to believe that Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle ended up in a whole different world with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle apparently having some hidden potiental that needs coaxing out due to an entity literally called Death and a human with fangs?" Twilight asked giving Discord her most unamused face, however, Discord only gave her a chuckle in return. "Believe me or not, doesn't matter because I can simply do... this," Discord stated as he snapped opening a portal which acted more like one way glass, ponies could watch but not interact and sure enough, Sweetie Belle was with Dracula still, Apple Bloom with Death, even having a cool new cloak, and Scootaloo with the Fatal Wind rapier and still with Alucard as they approach the castle's entrance at a fast pace. "Okay, kinda hard to not believe that!" Rainbow Dash said as Twilight sighed. "Oh. My. Goodness! It'slikethecreatorwasdirectlyinspiredbyanotherstorytomakethisonebutmakeitbasedoffofacompletelydifferentseriesjustbecausetheycan!" Pinkie said at literally a million miles an hour. "What darling?" Rarity asked getting a lackluster "What?" as a response from the pink party pony. Fluttershy watched the portal in curiousity but also fear, "Couldn't Scootaloo have waited till the morning there to go into the big castle?" she asked being huddled next to Discord, who simply shakes his head no getting an unexpected glare from literally everypony, "What? I'm being realistic, waiting till morning would have been too long and even then, now that they are in the castle..." he paused as the portal showed the castle gates closing behind Scootaloo and Alucard, "They aren't leaving till they finish," he finished. And now... you're caught up to how Equestria is doing. Well... except AJ who still wants to believe that Apple Bloom isn't going to be a villain. > Chapter 1: The start of Castlevania > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Area 1: Castle courtyard. Castlevania, Europe. Year:1797. Scootaloo and Alucard looked behind themselves as the gate closed, "Well, looked like we're here for good now," Scootaloo said as she turned back to the familiar sight of the giant castle looming over her, moon shining from what she identified as the top floor. Alucard looked up in agreence, "We should be careful, if I know my father, he'll have Death take my equipment again," Alucard said aloud, leaving Scootaloo confused as she asked "Hold it, why would your father kill you just to start you over? Wouldn't it be easier for him to just kill you and be done with it?" to which Alucard shook his head as he explained what happened the last time he wandered into this place to stop it. Castle entrance, 1796. Castlevania, Europe. Alucard walked into an area with many dead bodies on spears and spikes as he felt the familiar presence of Death, his father's right hand man "Alucard, you've come back..." Death said as Alucard nodded and replied with, "Death, so it's true, this really is my father's castle." Death laughed at Alucard's statement the area smelling of decay, "Yes it is, it is a shame you choose to side with those weakling humans, but I can't have you ruining everything, not at all," Death said as he raised a skeletal arm and all of Alucard's equipment flew off in red bubbles, made worse by the fact that Alucard's long sleep has stripped of his strength, making him the weakest he's ever been. And so he had to progress now not just to figure out why his father's castle was back but also to recover his lost equipment. Present day. Scootaloo listened to that story in awe, as the moved through these early rooms they found some easy monsters like big bear-wolf like creatures called Wargs... yep. Alucard noted how not on the castle's appearance, knowing all too well why the castle has changed... well... except for one thing... "That's a new painting, is that a friend of your's?" Alucard asked, pointing to the painting as it showed... SWEETIE BELLE?! "What the hay?! Why is there a painting how Sweetie Belle now?! That wasn't there before!" Scootaloo exclaimed aloud, basically giving Alucard all the information he needed as the continued down the hallway, eventually finding an exposed room where they stop. "Hey! Why'd we-" Scootaloo was interrupted by Alucard holding a limb out, soon Death, with Apple Bloom on his back for some reason, and Scootaloo knew the problem, "Apple Bloom? What are you doing?" Scootaloo asked, causing AB to glare at her, "Ya mean afta ya bailed on meh and Sweetie? Findin' mah real talent, ah see ya found someone ta befriend who will help ya not be such a buckin' chicken!" Apple Bloom remarked in anger causing Scootaloo to flinch. "Now calm down Apple Bloom, you can take your anger out later," Death said, prompting Apple Bloom to nod and return to glaring at Scootaloo. Alucard looked at Death with nothing but annoyence, "So, you've come back again, I assume this time you've put the work in to bring my father back instead of leaving it to Shaft?" He asked, to which Death nods and preforms the trick that stripped Alucard of his equipment... again... much to both his and Scootaloo's annoyence. Apple Bloom laughed as she and Death vanished, leaving Scootaloo and Alucard with too many questions and practically zero answers, "One of your friends?" "Yep, that was Apple Bloom... what was she doing with Death though? Something's fishy, very fishy." Equestria, Twilight's castle. Moments after Alucard's equipment was stolen. All six of the ponies in the room were staring in confused awe at what Apple Bloom just... let happen."So... are we not gonna talk bout what we just watch?" Applejack asked, to which she was met with either silence or murmurs... make your own choice here. Scootaloo, still with the Fatal Wind rapier unlike Alucard who has nothing, was leading the group as a skeleton with a sword, shield, and helmet got in the way, Scootaloo was too freightened to attack, where-as Alucard attacked by just... punching the thing which dropped a sword... fitting. Alucard picked it up and swung it, "Not good but it'll do, better than Red Rust anyways," he said not earning a glance from Scootaloo as she just knew "Don't question it." And they entered a room with a decadhedron in it... apparently called a save room, supposedly interacting with the decadhedron revitualizes the 1 who interacted with it. And so Scootaloo saved for the first time. > Chapter 2: What a chemical smell. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo awoke from the saved state feeling revitalized, "Celestia... that was weird," she said stretching her small wings noting how the decadhendion was not returning. Alucard nodded saying, "It usually is weird the first time you use it," swinging his sword again, as if getting a feel for it. Scootaloo and Alucard walked out the room but... Scootaloo had an odd feeling about a future encounter. Alucard jumped up several platforms which were hard for Scootaloo to reach because of her shorter height, at the top was a living suit of armor wielding an axe which it throws like a boomerang... and somehow Scootaloo knew what it was despite this being the first one she encountered, "It's an Axe Armor! How do I know that?" She said before Alucard attacked it when it dropped a chestplate that looks nothing like the one it wore. Alucard picked it up and put it on under his shirt as he said, "Not sure, maybe it's an effect of the save room, sometimes when I awaken from it I feel as if I know things that I didn't know before such as my next opponent or something similar but it usually relates with how I 'died' at that point," without a hint of worry. Then... Scootaloo racked her brain and remembered. Scootaloo lays on her hooves, injured and about to die... she had an artificial horn on her head as a giant bat charged Alucard and killed him, Scootaloo tried to reach Alucard as he exploded into blood before she died as well. "I remember... we were fighting a giant bat!" Scootaloo announced, "However both of us died during the fight which is probably how we ended up back at the save point," she added, giving Alucard time to think. "The bat was either just a Giant Bat, Bat Company, or Darkwing Bat," Alucard said as he grabbed a relic he called the Cube of Zoe... right next to an artificial horn which Scootaloo grabbed. The horn automatically placed itself on her head and she used it to attack with Fatal Wind... oh yeah, this was the good stuff. All the ponies (Except Pinkie Pie) were shocked at hearing what Scootaloo had said... she died but was restored at the save point? "No way, I refuse to believe that!" Twilight stated aloud only to be met by Pinkie Pie giggling and replying with, "Silly Twily! Of course it's true, how else do you except Scootaloo to have known the Axe Armor's name?" while also wearing a shirt with "Scootaloo rules" on it for some reason, the same shirt on Rainbow Dash oddly. "Come on Twi! Look at Scoots go!" Rainbow Dash said as Scootaloo and Alucard just finished fighting a literal floating eye ball which was called by Alucard "Peeking Eye"... fitting. "I mean, darling, you must admit that some of the things Scootaloo is doing is dangerous, I mean... she's jumping without looking as pits appear," Rarity commented on as Scootaloo did just that considering it was a new path before returning with a helmet on her head... a leather helmet... This isn't even going over how Fluttershy is with the fact that she's hiding behind her chair in fear due to the number of skeletons and monsters, "L-let me know when the monsters d-d-disappear..." the poor pegasus said as Scootaloo attacked a living painting next to a chemical station... the painting was of Apple Bloom... great. Alucard just burned the portrait by teleporting a small way and lifting his cape to shoot three fire balls at it. The ponies watch it an just get confused... again... except Pinkie Pie. "Can that human do magic? Ah thought humans couldn't do magic as Twilah said," Applejack asked to which Discord nodded, "Yes, magic in this universe is different from our magic, however. Our magic comes pretty much purely from the inside, unless you're a Sweetie Belle who was sent to a universe of dreams..." Sweetie Void suddenly sneezed, "Why do I feel like I was mentioned?" To which Classic Sonic shrugged. "...but the magic Alucard did use was a kind of magic outside of what is 'inside' for us, as his magic is because he's a half vampire-" "Woo! Go Scootaloo use that fire!" Pinkie interrupted Discord as he looked back and saw Scootaloo using her artificial horn to use Alucard's fire spell. "Maybe something's deeper than I first thought." Scootaloo was surprised as she used Hellfire... she was not expecting that, now all she needs is a cool cape to lift to shoot the fire balls from and it'll be complete, for now her horn will do. "Man, all these enemies are sure making this castle Tartarus to go through," Scootaloo said, well aware of her language and not feeling sorry for it as she smashed a vial containing... some pudding which Alucard picked up... how will pudding help exactly? Nevermind, no time to question it, the next room has some ominous smoke coming from it... "That's where the bat's located," Scootaloo announced as she stepped forward, she and Alucard had gone everywhere they can right now, they should have plenty of strength for this first boss... I mean... it's just a bat, how bad could it be? Bad enough to kill her and Alucard before. Alucard walked in first, with Scootaloo following behind... the sounds of bats nearby being clear. Not far into the room as the bats awoke and started circling into one spot forming a Giant Bat which Scootaloo attacked using Fatal Wind, greatly damaging it. "Woah, okay. Note to self: Never lose Fatal Wind," Scootaloo announced as she jumped to the side to avoid an attack from the Giant Bat who was prompted attacked by Alucard and yet this bat wasn't letting up the charge forcing Alucard to move to the side, "Yeah and this bat's relentless," Alucard added when the bat stopped it floated in place for a moment giving Scootaloo a chance to attack it followed by Alucard using Hellfire to damage the Giant Bat. The Giant Bat screeched at that, seemingly getting mad before it started spinning like a drill over Scootaloo's head, Scootaloo was lucky enough to notice the shadow and dodge out of the way of the first part, the drilling debris however... hit her a bit. "Okay, how was I expected to know debris would fly everywhere?" Scootaloo asked before Alucard attacked the bat who didn't react as much as before as if it get a tougher defense all of a sudden. "You weren't, that was why it got you, next time though, you'll know that there is debris," Alucard said as he jumped over the bat as it drilled towards him from the front before hitting the wall and drilling into it which also launches debris around however it isn't as deadly this time because... it doesn't exactly go anywhere. Scootaloo used Hellfire while the bat was drilling into the wall and that seemingly finished the bat off as the bat broke apart and eventually left just a container of rainbow-esch water which Alucard calls "Life ups" which was grabbed before they left the room to go to the next, seemingly leaving the Chemical Labs. There were many more paintings of ponies Scootaloo knew and she called this place the Memory Museum. Not long later and Scootaloo found a save point and saved yet again. > Chapter 3: A Sweet(ie) Death > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sweetie Belle watched a screen with Dracula Vlad Tepes... noticing Dracula's anger, "They've made it too far!" he said in a fit of rage, but Sweetie Belle knew how to calm him down got ready to reply... and soon had her idea, "Worry bit, if Alucard is as bad as you say he is and Scootaloo ends up being as bad as she seems to be then we always have Death and Apple Bloom ready to attack," she said before taking a drink of a glass of blood wine(Why is Dracula giving that to a filly?!) as she stood up and enveloped her hoof in magic before slashing the air making a giant claw out of emerald magic aura slash the air. Sweetie Belle smirked at the effects of her training. She was getting stronger by the minute, so go little Scootaloo, take as long as you need, Sweetie Belle will be ready for you. Apple Bloom threw her new scythe towards a random human civilian... hitting dead on... it only took 50 attempts, about 100 less that it took her to learn how to summon scythes from thin air, which was 200 less than it took her to use the souls of the damned as weapons... so she's getting better... slowly. She heard Death say something about how "that pegasus beat Giant Bat" and she knew... Scootaloo was on her tail. Apple Bloom knew Scootaloo was on her tail. Apple Bloom knew, given a few hours which the various guardians should buy them, that she could become her very own Apple Death(luckily Sweetie Void wasn't coming here soon -Writer) if she wanted. Apple Bloom took her scythe and got ready to do her own trick with it, she twirled the scythe around before bringing it to the ground causing a shockwave that'll be certain to give Alucard and Scootaloo a hard time when they make it to her and Death. She'll certainly give Scootaloo a hard time. Sweetie Belle stood still as her body suddenly turned to bats and dashed forwards. When the bats finished, her body reformed... but Sweetie Belle is far from done learning new trick after new trick. She's already got hellfire, bat dash, her magic slash, her magic effect waves, and infernal darkness. Her next step will be transforming into her own version of the monster form but... Dracula says it'll come to her when she's hit enough. Makes sense. Sweetie Belle went back and had a seat, taking a drink from her still unfinished glass of blood wine. Dracula sat proud of Sweetie Belle, knowing she would eventually surpass him, both in power and in goals. Apple Bloom did a gesture with her hooves and summoned beams from nothing, smirking. "Ah think Scootaloo is gonna really love mah tricks... if she ain't dyin' that is," she said as she accidently hit the ground with her scythe, creating a tree of bones that sticks around for a few moments, dropping an exploding skull as it vanishes. The hay? Ah can do that? Apple Bloom thought as she remembered the tree... before she smirked... oh... she'll definitely have the chance to be her own kind of Apple Death... Apple Bloom had a number of ideas she could use to create moves that'd make her so unique. Alucard will never see it coming. Of course not counting what Scootaloo can learn about it by dying. Scootaloo walked out the save room and started walking through Memory Museum with Alucard... finding a boss room oddly close to the previous one, albeit they can go another way... but why not handle another boss right now? Scootaloo walked into the boss room and saw Alucard on the ground on the verge of death, Apple Bloom and Death floating over him. "Alucard... ya were pathetically easy. Ah thought ya would be more of a challenge from what ah heard about ya," she said holding a scythe slashing Alucard who exploded into blood... Apple Bloom looked towards Scootaloo, who couldn't escape due to the shut door, and threw her scythe towards her. Then everything went black. "DON'T!" Scootaloo yelled, stopping Alucard from progressing into that room, "We are not ready for the fight in that room, from what I remember, Apple Bloom and Death await on the other side and as we are right now, we'd die without an ounce of effort on our part to defend ourselves," she added as Alucard started down the other path. "Then we go the other way and return when we're stronger," Alucard said on the path, finding several rooms with enemies and a relic called the Fairy Tome which allowed Alucard to identify the names of enemies upon hitting them... although it might not help much cause it'll just give Scootaloo more names to remember... which will cause strain on the poor filly's mind. A hallway... another hallway... another hallway... why are there so many back to back hallways? Seriously, they've gone through 5 back-to-back hallways, why are there 5 of these? "This is driving me insane! Why the hay are there five hallways back to back!!" Scootaloo yelled aloud in angry annoyence "The castle is a creature of chaos, it can take many incarnations," Alucard explained as he attacked an odd piece of floor, which showed another room that actually had a chest. Scootaloo used her artifical horn to open the chest and got... "A mask?" She asked as she stared at the odd mask. Alucard looked at the various books in the room to find whatever the mask is, finding the Sword card in the process. Scootaloo put her new mask in the bag she all of a sudden had... just because. Well... more accurrately, because it just doesn't seem useful right now, sure, it gives some defense but... Scootaloo might not need that right now. Scootaloo and Alucard kept going through room after room, even finding a few bonus Life ups, Alucard using a few of them to increase the amount of damage he can take... Scootaloo using just one and feeling stronger than before. She also broke a wall revealing... a salad? "Why was a salad in a wall?" She asked. Alucard chuckles at that. "Nobody knows, many report finding what is called 'wall food' but it depends on who you ask, many say they find the aptly named 'wall chicken' such as myself. Alucard used his sword to strike a wall... only to find a Wall Chicken... he will never understand his father's castle. As Scootaloo heard that he(Yes, in this universe Scootaloo is genderfluid.) thought long and hard as he put the wall salad into his bag. Scootaloo looked towards Alucard and nodded... finding a save room not long later and saving again... > Chapter 4: A tortured memory... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo awoke from the save point and immediately started racking her brain for a memory and it didn't take long for it to arrive. The fight had been going well, Alucard's weapon he found had helped out greatly against the double doppelgangers, but it wasn't enough... In a matter of moments, Alucard's doppleganger turned into a bat and rammed Alucard into a wall, damaging him greatly. Scootaloo's doppleganger used its rapier in a way she had never considered... a dash attack, catching her off guard and hurting her greatly, now both were on their last legs... having used their food earlier and not having any potions... Alucard's scream is heard before she saw a rapier pierce her head and the blackness of the void... Scootaloo looked at that memory... in fear... she and Alucard would have to fight two monsters at once... and the monsters look like them! The first chance when Scootaloo could, she would tell Alucard about the last death that happened! Scootaloo walked out of the room, watching as Alucard killed a Sword Armor which dropped a stronger sword(different from the one in the memory) which was called "Damascus Sword" by Alucard, supposedly it's stronger than the nearby weapons because of its rarity. Before they moved forward, Scootaloo had to say what she had to... "Alucard, we'll be fighting our own dopplegangers together, that damascus sword will help as you seemed to have had a different weapon in my memory of that fight and we had managed to do good in the fight. But we need to try and find more items around the castle... also, if it's alright, how do items in the castle heal our injuries?" Scootaloo asked that last question out of curiousity. Alucard racked his brain for a solid answer but he soon gave one, "Because Chaos hates things being unfair so it leaves potions and food around for explorers to heal themselves." And that got the conversation to shut up... at least... about food. Twilight's eye was twitching, "The food in that castle heals them..." She definitely wasn't taking the new discovery well... probably on the verge of a meltdown. Scootaloo used Fatal Wind against another armor enemy, this one wielding bombs... Bomber Armor? Scootaloo didn't know, but she did get lucky enough for a copper chestplate from it. Yeah. She equipped it and it didn't even show up on her but... well... she didn't care about it, she's had enough chaos this adventure. When Scootaloo and Alucard came to a crossroad, they split up, Scootaloo being a bit ready to deal with enemies on her own. Down Scootaloo's path, she had to fight a number of enemies ranging from Skeletons to Bomber Armors to some new enemies that looked like a giant flower that shot stone-like skulls... yeah, no. She attacked all the enemies in her path, making sure to get rid of the flower-like creature fast, but she didn't expect the flower to open up after getting hit where it shot some form of spore or seed. None of the enemies Scootaloo had to fight if you just knew how to dodge the attacks with ease. Shame it'll be getting harder with many eneries in the same room. At the end of the expedition, Scootaloo found a relic! He went and grabbed it, gaining a Dash Attack. She tried it out upon walking back into the previous room(Chaos respawns the enemies if she remembers Alucard saying) and tried it, moving an incredible distance and hurting the targetted monster a lot. Well... more than she usually does. She went back and started down the path Alucard had gone down, finding plenty of monsters regardless. As she pierced and killed monsters in a rush to find Alucard... she kept feeling as if she was getting stronger... like... it felt like her attacks were doing more damage and she was taking less damage... she remembered Alucard mentioned something like this before the last time she tried to fight the dopplegangers. Alucard swung his sword at another enemy, killing it and getting nothing. "Why do we fight these monsters if we don't get anything from some of them?" Scootaloo asked looking through a book she found at some point and nothing came up for some of the killed monsters. Alucard thought for a moment, "Well, sometimes when I kill a monster I feel stronger, as if I'm gaining a sort of 'experience point' from every kill," he said as he prepared to walk into the next room. Scootaloo sat dumbfounded for a moment, "Sounds like a video game," she said before she went into the next room as well. While she was reflecting, she had killed many enemies in her path and was still searching for Alucard... she did get a little distracted by some hidden rooms which had some Life ups and another object, one that looked like a heart, which she stored for now. Soon enough, Scootaloo found Alucard... breaking a candle and somehow getting a stopwatch from it... what? Scootaloo just assumed that the stopwatch is one of the "subweapons" Alucard mentioned last run... Celestia, all the deaths are causing her to sound insane... when she gets home, she'll have to partake in therapy because she'll really need it. Alucard put the stopwatch in his pocket as he looked back at Scootaloo, "The stopwatch might be helpful against the dopplegangers, now I need to collect hearts from the candles to make using it a bit more possible," he said as he started breaking all the candles, the lights not changing in brightness... this doesn't even surprise Scootaloo anymore... Scootaloo waited as Alucard went and got heart after heart before she finally entered the room, Alucard entering just as the door closes behind them. Portraits line the walls except for a big metal gate which opens, layer after layer... until it opens, revealing an interdimensional portal where the dopplegangers of Scootaloo and Alucard appear and fall to the ground. Luckily Alucard has the stopwatch, making this "fight" not even much of a fight. They took care of the Alucard doppleganger first, not having much issue and as the stopwatch's effect faded, all that was left was the Scootaloo doppleganger... and guesses if this is a hard fight? ... Well it ain't. Another stopwatch and that fight took less effort than the Giant Bat... because of course it would. Or so they'd think... no... after Scootaloo's doppleganger fell, both dopplegangers were merged together and now have full health... again... removing Alucard's subweapon and tossing it to the ground... Scootaloo rushes to pick it up and... something new occurs when she uses it... time is stopped, yes, but it doesn't last as long while dealing a sort of constant damage to all frozen enemies, albeit... she did end up slightly winded afterwards. Scootaloo used Hellfire to strike the mega dopple as Alucard swung his sword several times at it. Repeat this with the occusional stopwatch from Scootaloo and this fight was actually difficult. Another Life up(that they share) and Scootaloo presents the heart shaped object from before, which Alucard explained is a "Heart up" increasing the limit on the number of hearts you can hold. Good to know. They walked through the rest of this area and even found two more secret rooms on the way which held better armor(A new helmet for Scootaloo that doesn't terrify her soul), and a better weapon for Alucard(Makes sense they'd hide this after the dopplegangers). The eventually find a room with a very garden-like appearence, which Scootaloo calls The Ever Garden. They find more of the flower-like enemies(Called Stone Rose as Alucard cleared up) and some Manticores... off to a fun start already! They find many rooms with plants and even a flying suit of armor called "Flying Armor"(Real creative.) Its sword flies around it and sometimes charges towards the nearest hero. It didn't take long after that to find the save room and save again... ready for the challenges ahead. > Chapter 5: Thornweed galore! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo awoke from the save room and left it, ready to deal with the challenges ahead... until she runs right into a plant and takes damage. Alucard crouches down and cuts the plant with his sword, "Be careful, Thornweeds are usually everywhere in this castle," he says and he moves about cutting the Thornweeds down to size. Plants, none the less weeds, such an unexpected threat. Alucard and Scootaloo eventually reach an area neither can get to, as it's too high up. "Looks like we need some form of double jump or flight to get up there..." Alucard said as Scootaloo tried her wings... to little success. Well... at least there's a path to the right and a path down but the down path is blocked by a glowing door so... it probably needs some form of rare object to open it... hold up, "That door wasn't there when I entered before with my friends, well... I guess now they're ex-friends, did the castle add that after I bolted?" Scootaloo asked as Alucard nodded... great... as if this castle wasn't confusing enough as is. So Scootaloo and Alucard go to the right, immediately leaving the Ever Garden and entering... a library. "Great... Scoots has to trot through egghead territory..." Rainbow said with some minor annoyance, "Look at the bright side, Rainbow, at least Scootaloo isn't reading those books considering anything could be in them," Twilight retorted not even noticing that some of the books were alive and actively attacking Scootaloo and Alucard. "Ah'm more worried 'bout if Scoots'll be able ta fight Apple Bloom and Sweetie since they don't seem ta be on Scoots' side fer once," Applejack said as Scootaloo used a Dash Attack on a book. Fluttershy noticed Alucard doing some gestures and taking the souls of all nearby enemies... multiple times sometimes, "Alucard's powers are scary, I'm so glad he's not like his father or else that world was doomed," she noted before Discord said "Fluttershy, you realize Alucard has the same powers as his father right?" "Oh..." "Darling, I'm worried for Scootaloo, she needs to get out of the castle!" Rarity states but Discord shakes his head no, "Sorry, but this might be fate, for all we know all of the crusaders being sent there was preordained from the start so I won't get Scootaloo out, and she doesn't even need me as she always knows what's up next through those 'save points' so, let's just watch," obviously earning looks from everypony(except Pinkie Pie because of course). "You know Discord's right! It'll be our own little version of Lucar's 'A Sweetie Dreamland'" "What?" "Huh?" By this point Scootaloo was walking through a room with multiple destroyed bookshelves, right before jumping over a possessed book. Scootaloo and Alucard had split up again, Scootaloo opting to search the lower path which had lots, and that's not a joke, lots of Thornweeds and even some Corpseweeds. Luckily Scootaloo now knew how to use Soul Steal so the Thornweeds(He opted to calling them just Une) weren't a hassle... the Corpseweeds however... the head trapped in the Corpseweed shoot gunk towards Scootaloo and she either had to attack the gunk to destroy it or dodge it and the number of them makes dodging them perfectly difficult. Scootaloo had to slowly approach to ensure that they didn't give her too much issue. Eventually she did so and found... an empty room with a hole in the roof... you serious? Now to go through the Thornweeds and Corpseweeds again... One return trip and horde fight later. Scootaloo went upstairs as Alucard came back, a rare jewel(As Scootaloo assumes) in hand, "Now we can open enchanted doors like we saw earlier, did you find anything Scootaloo?" Alucard asked and Scootaloo just shook her head. They went back, using some potions that Alucard somehow had to get to full fighting condition("Corpseweeds are awful and I hate them" Scootaloo said), to the Ever Garden, and opening the enchanted door they saw earlier taking them to another new area... The Deep Caverns. As it's name suggests, these are some deep caves, probably going to the Earth's cores if they go deep enough. Alucard said how the last time he had to go deep below, he had to fight three bosses in specific(Well, not actually, two of them were technically optional.) Alucard entered a room with pillars, finding the guard dog Cerberus. It wasn't hard, all Alucard had to do was stand on a pillar and throw holy water, occasionally dropping down to slash at its faces sometimes... was that supposed to be hard? Alucard stepped into a massive room with many corpses throughout it... and he knew... it was Granfaloon, called Legion by some. Axes in Hand, Rehab's Frost in the other, Alucard was ready for this fight! Alucard stepped into what looked like an ordinary save room... but he knew better. He interacted with the save room and fought the Succubus without problems. Scootaloo(and the ponies) felt her eyes go wide at hearing those... Cerberus, guard dog of Tartarus has a counterpart, a collection of dead bodies called Granfaloon(or Legion), and a Succubus... if those stories told Scootaloo anything... it's be prepared for anything. Along the way... Scootaloo got lost. "Oh great... now where do I go from here?" She asked as Alucard had seemingly let her get lost.. She walked through the Deep Caverns, finding human like creatures that controlled ice that she'll call an Ice Elemental, probably not the right name but she is kinda lost right now. Scootaloo had a battle with the Ice Elemental only getting hit once by a big icicle, "Ow... note to self: Icicles hurt," she stated, knowing full well she was just stating the obvious. As Scootaloo went deeper in the caves, she eventually found a room with a keyhole shaped portal in it, stepping into it sends her to the... entrance? She cane tell she is in another warp room but... where is she now? She pressed a switch and opened a shortcut to the Chemical Lab, however she has no reason to return here for now so she goes back to the Deep Caverns through the Warp Room. Back in the Deep Caverns, she looks around for Alucard again, finding several rooms with rare stuff, some armor, some Life ups(of which she used half of her finds), some Heart ups, a new kind of drink that increases her magical energy which she called a Mana up. She knew that getting all of the things would be impossible for now, it's kinda been that way the entire castle, pathways the hide stuff(Most likely) that she can't reach yet without some form of enhancement like flight or teleporting... if only... maybe... her wish can come true. Scootaloo focused for a moment on the out of reach area and.... in a flash... her artificial horn teleported her! "Woah! Okay, I can get used to this!" She exclaimed happily! Now she could teleport without using Hellfire! If only se had a bit more range, if this platform was any farther away she would have had to struggle to get on the platform. We went and grabbed both the Life up and the one mysterious object. She just feels that it'll be important... for what? No idea, she just does. It took her a good solid minute to find Alucard who had found a boss room and was gathering hearts, now having the Knife subweapon. "Finally, took you long enough," Alucard said. "Sorry, I got a little lost. I did find a strange device but, nothing that particular," she responded as she attacked a candle that dropped some holy water. Picking it up and using some hearts to test it, the holy water created an extra tall flame with a line of fire(Not as tall as the base flame) in all of the the cardinal directions. "Sick!" She said, watching as the fire vanished. Before they entered the room, Scootaloo used the holy water to open a strange wall. Behind the wall was a new room with... a single switch. "Well, guess we should press the switch for whatever in this room," Alucard said as he stepped on the switch, pressing it and it revealed a chest which had... a new sword. It had a purple wing like hilt and a purple grip. Its blade had three triangles at the end. "I remember Button Mash talking about a sword that looks similiar to that from 'The Myth of Hilda,' if I remember it was called the 'Master Blade' or whatever," Scootaloo commented as Alucard put his old sword away and started using the "Master Blade." They went back to the boss room and enter the room. The ponies watched as Scootaloo and Alucard entered the boss room which was... a save room? "Oh... Scootaloo gets to save..." Fluttershy said looking up as Scootaloo interacted with the "Save Point" only for the portal to change screens to show Scootaloo in a completely destroyed Ponyville, no sign of Alucard. "So what is going on? This is weird," Twilight asked... only for Discord to shrug in response. Scootaloo walked around the streets of this destroyed Ponyville, not sure why she's here after saving. A little bit farther and she sees... corpses. Lots of pony corpses(This freaked the ponies watching out) the farther Scootaloo went, the more there were, and then Scootaloo reached an area with a big bubble of nothing it seemed, out of the bubble came an odd creature, it was basically a giant robot monkey with rocket launchers... and yet, in this place, Scootaloo knew what it was... Galleom. She didn't know why or how but she did. She started the fight by using her holy water which the Galleom has major problems dodging due to its large size, Galleom tries punching her but she dodges before it can. Scootaloo grabbed Fatal Wind in her magic and used it to attack the Galleom which... did more than she expected. The Galleom jumped and turned into what is basically a carriage as it dashed towards her... she dodged with a well placed teleport. "Goodness, this Galleom really doesn't want to let up, does it?" She said as she attacked it with holy water again, clearly getting it angry enough for it to stomp as it turned red, "It does have a short temper though," she said as she giggled... then came the unexpected rockets, the first three hit her as she attacked and busted the fourth before she landed on the ground and used Hellfire... but instead of shooting fire balls, she shot balls of darkness! The balls of darkness seem to have hurt the Galleom tons as it starts sparking almost as if it's short circuiting, one more attack from Fatal Wind and the Galleom explodes! Scootaloo awoke and grabbed the now in the room reward(A pair of artificial wings) as she gained a double jump. Walking out of the room and she finds a save room not far in which she saved for now... if that Galleom was bad... what can she expect of future battles? > Chapter 6: We are one and we are many... we are Legion. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo exited the save room and saw Alucard standing beside the door, leaning on the wall. "So what happened? You went and fought something and soon after it started, the leap stone and those wings appeared," Alucard asked as Scootaloo shook his head, not seeming to want to talk about it, "We should get going, we should head downwards to keep preparing for the fight against Apple Bloom and Death," Scootaloo said with a newfound chill that also had hints of... unfamiliarity. The group went a little deeper, finding another new area which Scootaloo called the Fiery Pits. As its name suggests... it's fiery and reminds Scootaloo of the pits of Tartarus. Scootaloo using her rapier to basically carelessly attack the monsters... okay, something is going on with Scootaloo. "Scootaloo, are you okay?" Alucard asked. "Never better," Scootaloo replied her voice not exactly making that clear. "I'm concerned, until now you were so innocent and child-like... what happened in that fight?" "You wanna know that bad? I saw death and decay. I saw Twilight's castle replaced by a bubble of nothing... I saw a rocket firing, punching, giant metal ape called a Galleom. There." She said in mild annoyance, "Now let's hurry. Apple Bloom and Death aren't going to wait forever." Scootaloo said as she kept walking... or well... trotting in her case. Scootaloo used her teleport to get onto a high up ledge, grabbing a Life up by doing so. Alucard was starting to be very concerned by this odd new persona that Scootaloo had become. All the ponies were watching in... moderate fear... "What happened to Scoots!?" Rainbow Dash asked... and yet... no pony, not even Pinkie, understood what had happened. When Pinkie doesn't even know what happened, that's when you know shit's gone to hell. "Could it be a part of the castle?" Twilight asked as Scootaloo killed a Great Armor(Which looked like a giant version of the Sword Armors), only getting silence as an answer... Scootaloo kept moving throughout the Tartarus-like area finding a fight against Cerberus that lasted literally two seconds... the ponies and Alucard being baffled... all of them really underestimated how powerful Cerberus would be. That or Scootaloo fought the Galleom way before she was supposed to. "Shame that Sweetie Void won't be able to help Scootaloo for around 200 years because she simply doesn't exist at this point..." "What?" "Huh?" "Ahem, Darlings, if Scootaloo is getting strong enough to the point that she can take on a boss by herself, why doesn't she and Alucard just go and take on Death and Apple Bloom?" Rarity asked. "They prolly ain't ready yet, Rares. Yes, they may have the strength but they may not have the equipment," Applejack responded, to which Rarity nodded in understanding, watching as Scootaloo breaks a wall open and obtained more wall salad. "And that isn't even c-considering the fact that t-there's still Dracula and Sweetie Belle..." Fluttershy added as Scootaloo broke a candle(why are there candles in a place filled with fire?) to get the axe subweapon, which is thrown in a downwards arc for Scootaloo, she grabs the holy water back and lets Alucard get the axe. Not even sure what's real or not anymore and Alucard casually destroys a wall and comes back to Scootaloo holding a sword he calls Rahab's Frost saying "This was better than that 'Master Blade' anyways" as they moved on. As the ponies watched there were a number of things that Scootaloo and Alucard did... mainly fight and defeat monsters to prepare for the eventual fight against Granfaloon/Legion. As this went through, Scootaloo just seemed relieved that the monsters were dying, more of those "Elemental" enemies(Scootaloo learned that they were called Shades and the ice ones were called Frozen Shades) which were called Burning Shades. It also wasn't long before an armor with a discus, a Discus Armor, was encountered and defeated, proving to deal much damage if you get hit by the discus but not much otherwise. Fight fight fight, kill kill kill. This story is filled with this bs ain't it? Well, trust that the number of monsters they fight is much larger than you read about. Anyways... Scootaloo killed one last Shade, a Poison Shade, and trotted past a picture of Sweetie Belle, slashing it in the process. Sweetie Belle watched that picture get slashed, through the screen Dracula had, with a sweat drop on her head... oh how she'd fucked up by underestimating how long Scootaloo'd survive. Alucard looked at the actions Scootaloo had done and by now had stopped asking questions... better to not question what he won't understand. A few minutes later and we have another split, Scootaloo starts trotting down one path automatically, "What, hey, let's plan who takes what path first," Alucard said but Scootaloo only turned and said, "I take this path, you take the other, if we run into a dead end, then we come back here and head down the other's path, got it?" Which caused Alucard to nod and walk down his path. Scootaloo's path was filled with monsters of various types... anyone seeing a pattern here? She fought and fought and fought. Each and every monster killed was relieving for her and she even got a drop from a Discus Armor which can replace her current armor(Which was the Copper Breastplate she had since the Memory Museum) for a huge boost to her defenses. She even found a room with a chest! However, upon closer inspection, the chest was actually a mimic to lure Scootaloo close... it died soon after that fatal error, dropping a big bag of money! There was a real chest in a room hidden by a wall though, that one having a slice of cake! And Scootaloo went through room after room, enemy after enemy, getting stronger with each experience point earned, just to be certain she'll be ready for whatever the boss of the Fiery Pits is. Because she does not consider Cerberus the boss because of how easily it fell. Albeit she also didn't exactly give it a chance to attack, just jumping straight in with a Dash Attack... oh well. After a number of rooms filled with enemies, Scootaloo found the boss room, "Heh, that's a first, My path led to the boss room," she said aloud and waited on Alucard by leaning against a wall, having plenty enough hearts to make it through the fight here. Scootaloo and Alucard enter the room and watch as the ball of dead bodies known as Granfaloon or Legion goes up and floats. Alucard starts chucking axes at Granfaloon, hurting each of its sections. Bodies fall off of it and Scootaloo deals with them by attacking with either Fatal Wind or Infernal Darkness and it isn't long before one of its laser firing tendrils is revealed, more work to get rid of each and every section only for Alucard to be caught off guard by a laser that wasn't even telegraphed! He landed on the ground, badly hurt as Scootaloo took it upon herself to attack Legion... Only for everything to go blindingly bright. Scootaloo reflected on the memory, knowing better than to get close to it this time. Alucard having made it, ready for the fight against Granfaloon. "We can't get close to Legion, we'll have to use our subweapons and magic to do damage," Scootaloo said, entering the boss room. As Scootaloo and Alucard entered the room, the first thing the ponies noticed was the large pit of faceless bodies... "Oh no! It's as if this is some grim foreshadowing to some super creepy boss monster!" Pinkie said she watch a part of the pit started to rise. "Is... are... is that a ball of corpses...?" Twilight asked as the "ball of corpses" rises up... in the air, despite none of the corpses making it having mouths, it speaks by saying, "More have come to join the collective. We are one... we are many... we are Legion!" "Ah don't think that's just a ball of corpses Twi..." Applejack said as Alucard threw an axe at Legion. "Oh... those poor people died just to become a part of a monster..." Fluttershy said while looking as one of the axes broke a section off causing lots of the faceless corpses to fall and come to life! "Uh... weren't those dead before?" Rainbow said as Scootaloo made sure the corpses died... again. "They should have been if they were corpses, goodness," Rarity replied with... mild digust that such a monster as Legion could even exist. Alucard crouched down and suddenly a group of spirits appeared and rushed towards segments of Legion, impressing Twilight despite her unease about Legion as a whole. Scootaloo's dash attack cleared out the second wave of corpses as she lit her horn to attempt that spell, Petra Spirit, only to be met with the usual result, Hellfire. At least some more fallen corpses were killed in the process. Alucard threw another axe as his Petra Spirits vanished, destroying more sections and even damage the core a little. Over this period, Legion started preparing a laser from a tendril... not that Scootaloo and Alucard didn't predict it and dodged with ease. More axes, more spirits, more corpses that Scootaloo destroys. "Soul Steal!" Scootaloo called out instinctively as small orb like objects went towards her, healing her and damaging the enemies... "Woah, I can do that? Actually, questions later, we have a Legion to kill," she added as she used another dash attack to clear out another wave of corpses. And Alucard has an idea, he throws the axe towards Scootaloo and she bucks the axe towards Legion, "What the hay, Alucard!?" Scootaloo announced as she hit more and more axes to Legion, each hit dealing plenty of damage. Alucard smirked at how well his idea worked, "Well well, that was the first time that happened. For a new trick, let's call it a 'Dual Crush,'" he said as Legion's core fell and burned away(to the ponies horror)... giving Scootaloo a smirk herself, "Then I guess we'll have to try many more methods of Dual Crushing involving different subweapons and who starts it," she replied. The next room had... the Soul of Wolf, "This is where Death hid my wolf form? Why?" Alucard asked as he turned towards Scootaloo equiping the nearby helmet. "No time to ask questions Alucard, does this wolf form of your's unlock anything?" Scootaloo asked, only getting a shake of Alucard's head, "Then all we have left to really do is either grind out enemies or go and fight Death and Apple Bloom," Scootaloo finished. "Let's go and finish what we started back in the museum, will you be able to fight an ex-friend?" Alucard asked, to which Scootaloo nods. They find a save room which takes them back to the entrance and from there they return to Memory Museum and save... Despite what Scootaloo had expected, fighting Death had been easy... Apple Bloom however... not as much. Her throwing her scythe and shooting giant skulls already were bad enough but through in the light beams and her bone trees and you've got a recipe for a bad time. Not counting the fact that Death uses his scythe in the same way(minus the bone trees) but with a bigger scythe... it was only a matter of time before Alucard died with Scootaloo following short after with a beheading... Scootaloo walked out to a familiar scene, Alucard swinging his sword against a Sword Armor. "Well, we ready finally?" Alucard asked as Scootaloo nods. "Before we go Alucard, you should know that Apple Bloom can summon giant skulls to chomp us, summon beams of light for some reason, throw her scythe, and summon trees of bone by hitting the ground with her scythe," Scootaloo said grabbing Fatal Wind, her Rapier since before she even met Alucard, and got ready... Apple Bloom and Death have to pay. Apple Bloom waited with Death as Scootaloo and Alucard entered, "Well well well, welcome Scootaloo and Alucard, ya'll finally arrived, now let's git started 'cause ah know ya'll won't listen," Apple Bloom said as some mini scythes started appearing from thin air, Alucard and Scootaloo split up, Alucard attacking Apple Bloom while Scootaloo attacks Death and, as expected, he entered his second phase not long after the fight started. Alucard backdashes as he throws an axe and hits Apple Bloom square on the head, before crouching and summoning a set of Petra Spirits, not expecting a second set to have joined his... Scootaloo has learned Petra Spirit... She's becoming one pretty broken little filly. The two sets of spirits attack Apple Bloom as the beams of light were summoned. Scootaloo was busy dodging all the mini scythes Apple Bloom was summoning, making sure Alucard is okay as well, accidently getting hit by a mini scythe, proving their hassling strength. When the attacks gave a moment of rest, which was rare, Scootaloo and Alucard grouped up and grabbed a serving of their respective wall food to heal up, Scootaloo attacking Apple Bloom after eating, seemingly causing her to fall down... beaten. "We... did it. Woo! We beat Death and Apple Bloom!!" Scootaloo entered a celebratory state as the odd device she picked up flashed and suddenly... Apple Bloom was gone. "That won't come back to haunt us... will it?" Scootaloo asked, to which Alucard shrugged. They exited the room, Alucard's equipment returned and Scootaloo's Aritifical Wings now give her five jumps(One extra jump per beaten boss it seems)... as they returned to the save point.