The quiet sound of the moving train was a welcomed experience. Its slow metronome like noise was pleasantly soothing and predictable unlike the recent debacle of current events. In my mind I had rather hoped to smooth things over with Twilight and the rest while reintroducing them to Night Fang. And I while knew that it was going to be rough, probably involving some unkind exchange of words, I never expected Twilight to savage her so harshly. The addition that the others had desired to quickly join said savagery only soured my thoughts further. This damned war was corrupting each and every one of them. Their innocence was slowly getting leeched from them with every new battle and there was nothing I could do.

But in turn I pushed those foul thoughts from my mind. The dark brood that threatened me would have to be the unpleasant pass-time of a different day. I just did not have the time to lament such things when our work was far from over. And with that consideration I put on the finishing touches of mending several dozen bruises and a few broken teeth Night Fang had possessed.

Night Fang let out a long yawn before stating, "Thanks for the patch job," in apparent gratitude.

"It was the least I could do given the circumstances. However I advise you getting some rest. We have quite the long day tomorrow and you need your strength," I replied with a grin before letting out a small yawn of my own. And I admit the thought of sleep overtook my mind for a few moments before I snapped back to reality. And to my dismay I had almost forgotten something gravely important.

In immediate haste I scrambled through my pack and pulled out two items and gave them to Night Fang. The first was her own ring of Reaper Knight armor. It was one of the lighter versions pegasi normally used, but this type was sort of a probationary model. We used such things when the recruit in question was not what one could say was in high trustworthiness. In other words it had a few features like an embedded beacon crystal just in case things became foul. Many in the Reaper Knights had nicknamed such suit of armor "The insurance policy".

The second gift required almost as much coaxing for Night Fang to drink it as it did to obtain it. I had told her it was a potion of sorts that would aid her in the coming conflict ahead. In reality it was a small amount of Celestia's blood I that had an awful time convincing her to part with due to its intended user. It seemed she did not enjoy giving former assassins the ability to walk in the daylight. And I admit I did not fully disagree, but I could not risk Night Fang burning to death over such a glaring oversight.

So after several minutes of heavy persuasion I managed to have her consume said "potion" before donning her new armor. She then stumbled over to her own train bed and slipped under the covers. And in the span of a few seconds her eyes closed and she slipped off to sleep.

I smirked to myself at the sight of her snoring away. It had probably been well over a month since she had a reasonable bed to sleep in. I probably would have done the same if I was in her hooves too. But regardless of my amusement of the current situation I still did not fully trust her even in this state. So just in case, I reached out with my magic and locked her armor in statue mode to prevent any possible "issues".

After my work was done I turned around to find everypony else had seemed to turn in as well. Various sounds of breathing and snoring softly blanketed the air in a strange soothing chorus. And while I admit I wanted nothing more than to join them, the inquisitive purple slitted eyes staring at me in the darkness alluded that I would be delayed.

In turned I walked up to Twilight and stated in but a whisper, "Is there something you require?"

"Can she hear us?" she replied in a whisper after she leaned next to my left ear.

I pursed my lips for a second and motioned to the other side of the train car. Afterwards we partially hid from view and I told Twilight put up an anti-sound ward. She merely nodded in acknowledgement before her horn began to glow. Then a moment later I felt the invisible ward snap into place right as the sounds of breathing and snoring had been silenced.

Twilight did not hesitate in the least after the was ward was up. "What are you doing? She tried to kill us and now you brought her along? What's going on?" she blurted out no longer attempting at being discreet.

A deep sigh left my lips before I closed my eyes. "The world we live in is a cruel one, Twilight. We are a testament to the effects of such. By all accounts both of us should be in our graves many times over. However here we are still breathing and moving. We were given a chance to continue making things right and I believe we should extend that opportunity to the pony that is sleeping not but a few paces from us. Especially since she almost did not receive such as chance as we," I stated in an even tone.

But as I opened my eyes I saw that Twilight was more confused than before. Her eyes partially closed as she tilted her head in response. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?" she inquired.

I let out a small chuckle before I continued, "In return for the information she gave me there was but one thing that she desired...her death."

Twilight's eyes slowly widened as my words sunk in, "You mean you almost-" she said before I interrupted her.

"Ended her life? Yes," I replied and took a deep breath through my nose and added, "I was like you when I went to see her by request of Princess Luna. I was still furious that she had tried to slay me and capture you those moons ago. I had a sword leveled right at her heart, but I drove it into the table in front of her instead."

"I...I don't understand? Why?" Twilight questioned still confused.

"I believe she feels guilty for what she has done. She very well may have been a victim of circumstance just like us. But even worse she is all alone in this world as even her own allies betrayed her. To elaborate, during the siege of Canterlot her 'friends' had freed several others from the royal dungeon but not her. No, her they beat senseless for failing at her task and left her to rot. So I state, what good would ending her life be?" I said, but when Twilight became silent I pushed further, "What good would that have done? Satisfying our desire for vengeance? Or perhaps some sort of just retribution? No, to a pony that desires nothing but their death, forcing them to live to atone for their misdeeds is a far more fitting punishment."

In turn it took Twilight a few minutes to break her silence. "But...but what if she attacks us again?" she said in a worried tone.

"Then I will grant her request she previously asked for, swiftly, and without hesitation," I replied in a voice that was devoid of warmth.

That was the last words that were exchanged before Twilight dispelled the Anti-sound ward. Even after we went to bed together we stated nothing further still. The only things we seemed to do for the rest of the night, was hold each other close, and hope for sleep that just never came.

The light outside the sheet covered windows of the train came and went before I heard it pull into one of the more rarely used stations. To explain, it was sort of in the core of the Everfree forest. It had been created by somepony brave or foolish in an attempt to re-purpose part of the the Everfree for some sort of exotic zoo. Given the severe reluctance and the hefty payment we had to give the train crew to take us here should elucidate how lacking in success said pony had been. In fact I believe this station was all that was left of their attempts. The forest had undoubtedly reclaimed the rest.

In fact the eerie nature of this area at nighttime saw to it we did not even get the chance to bid the train team farewell before they sped away. I just grimaced in response under the single dim light of the train station at such rudeness, but I honestly did not blame them. The Everfree was not known for its kind nature, especially at night. And especially at such a remote section of it.

The reaction of the train team seemed to make most of the others jumpy so decided to break the silence. "Well here we are I suppose. Are you certain this is around where we should be, Night Fang?" I inquired.

Her response was however far less pleasant that I had hoped for. She had been scanning the darkness before her eyes sprung open. "Quickly into the trees! Now!" She frantically whispered to me before we followed her orders.

Then in the darkness behind some trees I stared at the seemly empty train station. But then one by one a few blurs appeared from the shadows and began patroling around it. After a few seconds I recognized the familiar cloaks of the rogue vampires and the weapons they often wielded. However, as quickly as they appeared they melted back into the shadows in near silence.

A long breath left my lips after seeing them depart. I then looked over at Night Fang and whispered, "What was that about?

"I bet they were following us as we entered the forest. Its rare for trains travel here especially at nighttime. The standard procedure was to eliminate the threat if they lingered. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier but my head still hurts from that beat down princess hoof duster over there gave me," she said and glared at Twilight. To which Twilight gave her a similar death glare in return.

I sighed as I rubbed my temples. 'Not but a minute in and they are already at each others throats' I thought to myself. "Easy you two. We need to work together here," I said to try and ease the tension before adding, "We will have to keep on our guard. Night Fang, you take the lead. You probably know this area better than we do."

And so we tromped for hours in the near pitch black through a forest that was not known for its pleasantness. If it was not for the several dozen quick sand pits and the rather large beast that became a midnight meal for us, we may have arrived much sooner to our destination. And our destination one would ask? Well, that would be up to Night Fang to explain.

"Well, here we are," Night Fang whispered as we arrived at yet another clearing in the forest. To elaborate we had passed by numerous of such and they meant nothing at all to us. In fact I had little idea what Night Fang was even talking about in regards to this one. It appeared to be nothing special in the least.

"What is 'here' exactly?" I whispered unconvinced that this was truly not what one would call a "wild goose chase". Yes, we saw the rogue vampires at the train station, but no signs of them had been apparent so far. And to my embarrassment I had little idea how deep we were in this section of the Everfree. The only pony that undoubtedly knew our true location was Night Fang and I truly was not going to let her know such information. So I just scowled at her until she explained herself.

"You...you mean you don't see anything out of place? Nothing at all? How in Equestria did you become a lieutenant general?" she snarked and rolled eyes before picking up a small rock. She then launched the rock into the middle of the clearing.

What happened next was certainly unusual. The rock made it about halfway through the clearing before it hit something. Its impact made the air ripple and revealed for less than a second a small watch tower. Said tower must have been been hidden by some sort of illusion spell. Either way a grin crawled up my face until I heard Night Fang whisper "Ah shit this isn't good. Its her"

I did not get a chance to respond before a figure shifted through the illusion and stood in the clearing. They then paced back and forth with two sinister looking daggers that I remembered all too well. Almost identical ones that Night Fang tried to end my life with. But what made this figure worse was their glowing dark blue slitted eyes. Each one had a deep and sadistic malice to them that did not possess an ounce of warmth. The addition of their half crazed smile that they wore only served to alluded that this vampiress pony was probably one step away from being unhinged. Then without warning I heard them state into the darkness, "Come out come out whoever you are. I just wanna have some fun. Oooh I can hear you out there. Come oooooon I just wanna play..."

Everypony except for Night Fang seemed to hold their breath while in various levels of fear, including me. Coming from the aspect of it "takes one to know one" in terms of one step from madness, I knew how dangerous a pony like this could be. It was doubtful they would ever respond to any sort of persuasion. You just cannot reason with something of this nature as there probably was not much sanity left to reason with.

Other than the sound of my heart beat in my ears the only thing I heard was Night Fang grinding her teeth in apparent rage. She ground them and ground them until I heard her whisper, "I know you really don't trust me, but I need you to take this armor ring off me."

"And why would I do that? No offence, but what is stopping you from running and tipping them off?" I replied in a whisper. And without them uttering a single word I could tell Twilight and the others matched my sentiment.

"You...you don't understand who that is. That pony...that...monster...is blocking our way. If you all try and rush her she will sound the alarm before probably slaughtering several of you before she drops from blood loss. Only I can get close enough to do something. But if I've got armor on she'll know I'm on your side," Night Fang said between enraged breaths.

"And say I do this, what do you intend to do?" I inquired.

"Something I've wanted to do for years," she replied still not taking her fury filled eyes off of the pacing figure in the clearing.

I turned and looked at Twilight and she had the same look of hesitation as I did. However with little other option I let out a deep sigh of resignation. Then a moment later I said the release command in my mind to Night Fang's armor ring.

The ring slipped off and I caught it with my magic before it hit the ground. But just as Night Fang was about to enter the clearing I put a hoof on her shoulder. "I want to state again that I do not fully trust you. However, I have seen that look in the eyes of others before. I am not certain what that pony has done, but such a response from you suggests something horrid. In light of this I give you these on the caveat that if you betray us, not even death will save you from my retribution," I whispered in a chill tone before I opened my pack. I then levitated out two items I managed to locate from the confiscated weapons room in the palace, Night Fang's cruel looking assassin's daggers. The same daggers she attempted to slay me with and the ones I ended her fellow assassins' lives with all those moons ago.

A malicious smile crawled up Night Fang's face as she collected her daggers. She then practically hugged them before she slipped them under her wings with practiced skill. Her eyes then narrowed on the still pacing figure in the clearing before whispering, "I understand you don't trust me. And I honestly don't blame you, but I've got something to say to you and everypony here. No matter what happens. Do. Not. Interfere. This monster is all mine."

And that was that before she slipped out of the tree line into the clearing. We all watched with mixed feelings as she continued forth to her crazed opponent. Deafening silence seemed to grip all of us as we waited for any other sound than quiet hoof steps. A few beads of sweat dripped down my face while I fought hard to rein in my nervousness. But just when I thought the tension could not get any worse Night Fang's opponent began to speak.

"Night Fang? Oooooo it is you. I heard they left you to rot for failing us. I did so miss your regular scoldings. All because of how I...entertain...myself," the crazed vampiress spoke in a slick tone and licked the edge of her blade until there was a trail of blood on it.

Night Fang however just furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes to mere slits in response. "Still the same Moon Shadow. Still bat shit crazy as always. So how did ya get stuck on guard duty? Did little miss screw loose finally piss off the wrong pony?" she said apparently fighting to keep herself civil.

"Hahaha still the same Night Fang. I wonder if your tongue ever gets tired flapping like that. Maybe I should cut it out, wouldn't that be fun? I'm glad you came back instead of dying in that cage. Now I can be the one to see the light fade from those green eyes of yours before I cut them out," Moon Shadow replied with a few drops of blood dripping from her lips.

"You want my blood huh? Then come get some you sadistic bitch!" Night Fang snapped out before Moon Shadow's body blurred forward.

Steel clashed off of steel as I saw both of them blur back and forth in a dizzying display. But after a few minutes of this it was clear that neither one could seem to gain an edge on the other for long. Well until a certain crazed vampress' focus got interrupted by accident from yours truly.

It was not my intention of do so in all honesty. But regardless of my intent what happened was that while watching Night Fang and Moon Shadow battle each other I had gotten into an unusually intense state of focus. So intense that I seemed to have forgotten that my body requires air for its continued existence. Needless to say my need to breathe obliterated any type of stealth I once possessed when I sucked in a rather noisy gasping breath before slipping into a coughing fit. The end result of my abrupt gagging allowed Night Fang to finally grasp the upper hoof on Moon Shadow. And while I only caught a glimpse of what happened through tear soak eyes, it was clear who was the victor.

Night Fang's dagger tore through the front of Moon Shadow's neck with cruel precision. Blood sprayed from the open wound as Moon Shadow let out a gurgling scream. Her body flailed and contorted into unnatural angles as she hoofed at her throat. But soon the last vestiges of life slipped from her before she collapsed motionless on the ground.

Near silence blanketed the area for a few minutes with only the sounds of Night Fang's heavy breathing occasionally breaking it. But after she caught her breath she shot me an enraged leer before growling out, "What part of 'Do. Not. Interfere.' didn't you understand?! You don't understand how long I've waited for that!"

"I assure you it was not my intention to interrupt your little duel. But regardless of such, now that you have defeated her mind explaining to everypony present why she was a great source of your ire?" I stated in a firm tone while matching her glare.

It was then she began to tell the tale of Moon Shadow and I admit I half regretted ever making my request. For you see it seemed that Moon Shadow's version of "entertainment" revolved around the sadistic pleasure she derived from committing various atrocities to her marks as an assassin. And many of these involved forcing said mark to watch helplessly as she slaughtered each and every one of their close family...starting with the youngest child.

Needless to say she gained a monstrous notoriety even among her fellow assassins. So much so that a few them even attempted to end her with obviously no success. A strange thought, but I suppose even trained killers had their limits. In turn no further questions were asked and it was probably better that way. Some horrid stories are best left in the past.

"Well...well that was errm...something," Twilight said in bewilderment as she walked up next to me before adding, "Soooo what now?"

Night Fang sniffed, sat down in front of us, and rubbed her right temple. "Hmm well if they are short enough hoofed that they'd allow Moon Shadow to take a guard shift then all that mean-" she began to speak before she stopped mid-sentence as her eyes slowly began to open wide.

I was puzzled why she had stopped until I heard something that made my blood run cold. It was a quiet chuckle at first, but then it turned into a gurgling laugh that seemed to come from the motionless body of Moon Shadow. What happened next ended up being too fast to react properly. In one swift movement she stomped on some strange sort of crystal before she flicked her right forehoof that sent a dagger whirling right at my face.

It was foolish to let my guard down. My mind had frozen up staring at the glimmering blade that sailed towards me. But at the last second I saw a hoof snatch the blade right out of the air. And in the blink of an eye Night Fang seemed to act on reflex as she sent it flying back at its sender.

The blade drove itself with a sickening thunk into Moon Shadow's forehead. And while her physical body had now expired I could see her twisted soul stand up from her remains and continue to mock us before getting sucked into some sort of burning ethereal portal. This normally would have warranted a question to a certain deathly figure on what had happened to her, but something felt seriously wrong.

The sounds of propellers echoed in the distance above us before a beam of light scanned the trees next to us. Time slowed to a crawl as a spotlight centered itself on us and seemed to halt its search. All sound around me appeared to cease and all I could hear was the steady beat of my heart in my ears. To my right Night Fang seemed to be yelling something at me and the others but I could not seem to hear anything. Then without warning, the watchtower not far from us exploded violently into a shattered spray of stones and charred wood.

My mind quickly snapped back to reality as the noise of the explosion flooded my ears. And it was then I understood the gravity of the situation. In her last act of spitefulness Moon Shadow alerted a rogue vampire zeppelin to our exact location. Pure fear gripped hold of my heart and my face contorted into a mask of terror at this realization.

Then without the slightest hesitation I screeched, "RUN FOR YOUR BLASTED LIVES YOU DAMN FOOLS!" before we all proceeded to tear off into the forest behind us. But our efforts were to little avail. No matter how fast we ran. No matter how many trees I cleared from our panicked gallop. The light from above seemed to follow us with expert precision.

More trees exploded into a shower of splinters as the cannon fire from above persisted in trying to hit us. Also to make matters worse eventually two other spotlights appeared from the sky and added their own shower of cannon fire. It was obvious the situation was quickly becoming dire. The only reason we were not directly hit yet was because we were running at "full bore". And if my burning lungs and strained muscles were equally mirrored by the others, it would not take long before we met our doom.

Hope was fading rapidly and I truly thought the end of us would soon be coming. But then off in the distance above us I heard something that seemed strange. One of the cannons that fired did not sound like the others. It had a very distinct noise to it that I could not place my hoof on. Although regardless of such, in the flash of a second one of the spotlights disappeared as its respective zeppelin burst into a burning fireball in the sky.

A second cannon blast fired and the already ignited zeppelin took another direct hit. However upon seeing their sister ship crash and burn into the trees not far off from us, the remaining two zeppelins turned their attention to their new aggressor. The result of such caused the night's darkness to blanket the area around us and after a few seconds I could see what was happening in the sky.

Needless to say I said a few colorful words to myself as I recognized our rescuer. There was no mistaking the black and blue shining hull of Princess Luna's capital airship, "The Night's Eternal". I could only surmise that they must have been following us and its enchanted and camouflaged design must have avoided detection, well at least until now.

But I suppose being seen was little matter for it now as it seemed to have the upper hoof. And with the aid of several more volleys another one of the Rogue Zeppelins crashed and burned into the Everfree. In response to this the third seemed to try and flee before meeting a similar fate of its sister ships.

The others around me gawked at what had taken place. Me on the other hoof had worn a focused expression instead. To explain why I wore such an expression was quite simple. For you see I had more than my fill of almost being blasted to pieces on the ground and I was going to do something about it. So in turn I channeled my death energy and attempted to do something foolish.

I scrunched my face before stating, "Everypony get close to me. I am going to get us away from this deranged forest."

In quite the surprise I did not even have the slightest complaint or inquiry for what I was about to do. Everypony just seemed to collectively agree to the notion without stating a single word. I supposed it was that the others had desired to be free of this horrid place as much as I. So with a bit of concentration I opened a deathgate directly below us.

After the gate opened we all fell through it and crashed onto the top of the flight deck of The Night's Eternal. A few nearby crew members had to ultimately scramble away from us, but at this point I would make any type of apology that was required of me. Anything to get us away from that thrice damned forest.

So after the initial shock of our abrupt appearance and our stumbling to get up we all were then subjected to the scornful glares of both General Black Wing and Princess Luna.

About a minute or two of near awkward silence reined before either of them said anything. "Your mission was to simply slip into their base and drop a beacon crystal, undetected. Now with that thought in mind would you care explaining, in detail, how this entailed us rescuing you from not one, but three enemy zeppelins?" Black Wing stated, but kept her persistent glare as she leaned on a railing of the ship's poop deck.

I looked around at the bewildered faces of my little group before more or less getting shoved forward as representative. "Heh heh amusing story truly. You should have been there we-" I said before getting interrupted.

"Cease your stalling tactics Blood Moon..." Luna interjected as she raised an eyebrow.

"Alright alright...we seemed to have had a run in with a now thoroughly deceased previous 'ally' of Night Fang. A word I use only for the lack of a better one. Needless to say they in their final spitefulness they gave away our position. We ultimately never got past the outer wall before we were forced to flee," I said with a heavy sigh. But not wanting to be the only pony on the spot I soon added, "Now I respectfully inquire why you were following us so closely? And how in Equestria did you manage to destroy three zeppelins on your own? This ship was designed for speed and stealth, not all out combat."

Luna and Black Wing just chuckled next to each other before they made their reply. "We had determined that you becoming 'In over your head' if you will, was a valid possibility. One truly must admit that grand adversity and foul luck does seem to dog your steps. So in turn we tracked and followed you," Luna said with a sly grin before adding, "As for who actually defeated your aggressors well...perhaps you should thank them yourself" and pointed behind me.

I turned around in puzzlement as I saw Break Runner and train team twelve behind me. Each had a thoroughly worried look on their faces. I was taken back for a moment before stating, "Break Runner? What are you doing here? I thought you all worked trains and not airships?"

"Yeeeeaahh remember when I said our train could go through a single wall without damage? Well it couldn't last through six of 'em and an exploding train station. And being they needed good cannoneers, so we volunteered. But that isn't important right now. What's important is that we're in deep shit," Break Runner stated with a shaky voice near the end.

"Hmm what are you talking about?" I questioned as I tilted my head.

He merely pointed behind him and said "That".

I walked behind him to see where he was pointing at. I then squinted to get a better view before all the color drained off my face. I did not even need to state what I saw as one of the ship crewmates did it for me.

"Princess, General! Seven airships off the starboard bow! Six regular and one that looks large enough to be a capital ship!" they bellowed from above us.

"WHAT?!" Luna screeched before shouting, "EVASIVE MANEUVERS! AND TURN THIS SHIP AROUND!"

We all hit the deck as the two propellers on the port side cut out and started blowing in the opposite direction. The frame of ship lurched and whined as it was forced to turn abruptly. Then after a minute of this the propellers started to thrust forward again.

"What in tarnation is goin' on?!" Applejack yelled over the blaring sound of the roaring propellers.

"Remember when I said that this ship was not designed for open combat? That comment was not made in jest! I assume they only defeated the others because they 'got the drop on them' if you will! We will not be so fortunate a second time!" I yelled back gripping the flight deck for dear life.

"You mean we're just running for our lives?!" Rainbow Dash yelped in reply,

"Correct!" I stated after a hard shallow.

The situation appeared grave. In our folly to gain access to the rogue vampire main base we seemed to accidentally kick the proverbial "hornets' nest". A now thoroughly enraged and heavy armed "hornets' nest". I had little idea what we were going to do, but I hoped against hope either Black Wing or Luna had a plan. So not wanting to sit idle and wait for oblivion I stumbled up the poop deck for an update.

But upon arriving I was greeted to an equally grim looking Luna and Black Wing. "It appears they are rather cross with us!" I snarked in response to their expressions.

"You think?!" Black Wing snapped back as she spun the ship's steering wheel to make us narrowly miss the latest volley of cannon fire.

"What is the plan?" I replied beginning to grow more worried than I already was.

"You are living it!" Luna yelled back over the continued roar of the ship propellers

"What do you mean we are living it, Princess?!" I frantically asked.

"It means I had already sent the distress signal to my sister on 'The Solar Siege'. She is en route now, but that old juggernaut was not created with the same attributes as this vessel!" Luna yelled as she shoved Black Wing off the wheel and gripped it herself.

Black Wing stumbled sideways before yelling, "She means it is slow as fucking sin and we are going to get blown to bloody pieces if you do not shut your lips and help us!"

"How can I help?" I shouted in reply.

"You possess portal magic do you not? Use your imagination!" Black Wing yelled back before trying to reclaim the ship's wheel from Luna.

So without missing a beat I gripped my scythe and galloped to the far back of the ship. Now I had little idea what to truly do so I opted to improvise as much as I could. Thus at first I merely opened death gates to redirect incoming cannon shells off into the Everfree. But after an hour of this my body was beginning to grow tired.

It was at this point I decided to do something that I knew I would regret. I gritted my teeth as black lightning arced across my body while I pulled in the ambient death energy from the forest below us. A swirling tempest of overwhelming energy flowed into me as it scorched and withered the wood I was standing on. Then with a firm image in mind I reached out with my thoughts and opened the largest death gate that I have ever created.

The gate snapped open and swallowed one of the rogue zeppelins right after I formed its twin in front of another one. Panicked shouts could be heard in the distance as the two ships collided in mid air. Shattered wood sprayed in every direction before the two ships swirled towards the earth. However the last thing I heard was their thunderous crash before I collapsed.

My vision faded for a few seconds as my black blood streamed from my mouth and nose. My body felt as if it had been torn apart from the inside. Everything throbbed and burned, but I managed to stand up with the aid of my scythe. No cheers of joy came from either Luna or Black Wing. Only worried glances here and there. It went without saying that they probably knew what it cost for me to do that.

But as I was trying to catch my breath, a white hot beam of energy surged right past us and struck one of the five remaining enemy zeppelins. The ship seemed to shine as bright as the sun before it burst into a blazing inferno. But the burning remains of that ship did not even impact the ground before another one of its allies was ripped to pieces by cannon fire.

And there in the distance was a sight that brought a tear to my eye, Celestia's capital airship, The Solar Siege. In all its shining glory. And while the Night's Eternal may have easily hid in the night sky, The Solar Siege had no need for such things. It just beamed brightly as a beacon as its several heavy cannons fired a second volley and outright obliterated the two smaller remaining enemy airships.

So then there was one. The last remaining enemy airship. The veritable flag ship of the rogue vampires. All alone in the sky. Now given that all its allies were dispatched with ease I had figured they were either going to surrender or retreat. But they did no such thing. They just cranked their engines and pointed the ship directly at us.

In a panic we attempted to maneuver out of way, but the enemy ship's cannons saw to the end of that. Both of our port side engines were torn right off and part of the flight deck was ripped to pieces. It was the last thing I saw before the other ship rammed right into us from the side.

The sound was deafening as the frames of the ships fused in a cracking of wood and tearing ropes. And while we still somehow remained afloat the two ships were now inseparable, thus rendering any aid from Celestia's ship moot. What followed was heavy causalities on both sides as each ship's crew battled the other for dominance. But in the end we slew them all down to the very last, or should I say the last one remaining. Also known as the infamous Cloaked Lady herself standing cornered on the poop deck of her very own ship.

She ended putting up quite the fight, but her host body was heavily damaged as a result. In turn she was barely clinging to life, or so we thought anyway. Blood may have dripped from the many wounds of her current host body, but that did not stop her laughing at us. "You little foals. You have no idea who you are messing with. Do you truly think you can defeat me in such a manner? I have survived many battles and I will outlast this one too. You cannot slay what is already dead," she mocked.

But that was before a booming voice came from behind us. "It is over Dark Heart" Black Wing stated as she walked up next to me in a sorrowful yet firm demeanor.

In an instant I could feel the tension in the air raise as Dark Heart's mood changed. Foam formed on the corners of her host body's mouth before she spoke. "How dare you!? HOW DARE YOU CALL ME BY THAT NAME!? You of all ponies! That name was lost long ago in no thanks to you! And I am far from defeated!" she snapped.

Black Wing sat down and instructed all of us to keep our distance for our own safety. But admittedly I did not have to be told of such. I had a feeling that if anypony got close, The Shade of Dark Heart would simply body hop.

But as we kept on our guard, Black Wing did the unthinkable. Against all reason, she moved closer. Red tears welled in her eyes all the while before she spoke. "Why...why did you make me do this to you? I...I loved you. I still do. Why did cause so much pain to everypony...and to me?"

Dark Heart's host body shuttered as if physically wounded. She then lowered her weapons as red tears flowed from her eyes. "You just do not understand do you? You...just do not...understand," she lamented.

Black Wing moved even closer to Dark Heart's host body much to our protests, but we kept our distance all the same. "What do I not understand? Why did you do it?" Black Wing questioned again as she became near face to face with Dark Heart.

"You...you were perfect. You were everything to me. I wanted you more than anything in the world. More than anything else I could ever dream of," Dark Heart's voice came out ragged and course from her now dying host body. "The fame. The prestige. I was always second best, but you. You had everything. And now look what happened to me."

"I...I am sorry Dark Heart. I truly am, " Black Wing sobbed and met Dark Heart's host body with a deep embrace before the body collapsed in her forelegs. This ultimately revealed the true image of the Shade of Dark Heart as the cursed necklace lifted off of its former host body.

Worry soon overrode all thought as I blurted out "Black Wing! What are doing!?"

"Something I should have done countless moon ago" she replied as she grasped the floating necklace and kissed its middle gemstone. She then said the quiet words, "It is beyond forgiveness what I have done to you. The suffering and torment you have endured all these years must have been unfathomable. I am so very sorry," and lifted the necklace mere centimeters to her neck before grinding it to pieces in her forehooves.

A deafening scream of rage and fear came from the black shade floating in front of Black Wing. It had attempted to possess her, but without the cursed necklace it merely passed right through her instead. This only served to intensify the dreaded creature's screaming before it got cut short when I heard a very familiar voice.

"Why hello there dear...little...soul. I have been searching for you for so long now. Using that little necklace of yours to delay your judgement. And now would you look at that, your dear...little...necklace is alllll broken. Please do enjoy your stay in Tartarus, Death's multi-tone voice spoke in a manner that I believe everypony could hear him.

Then right after his statements a horrid and booming otherworldly voice that seemed to shatter the very air said but one word, "GUILTY"

A large burning ethereal portal opened up behind the black shade of Dark Heart as Black Wing scrambled away from it. The shade tried to do the same, but chains of burning metal flung out from the portal and wrapped themselves around the vague creature's legs, waist, and neck. Screams of the damn echoed everywhere around us before she got forcefully dragged into the portal. Then as quick as it appeared, the portal vanished.

The aftermath of such seemed to break something in Black Wing. Her body shook and shuttered and it was trivial to tell something was wrong. Others tried to comfort her, but there was only one way I could see to aid her. So without a second thought I leapt forward, grabbed Black Wing, and pulled us both through a death gate.

My body went cold and numb from the effort but I had pulled us to the one place I knew we could be alone. The cave in the mountaintop I lived in for my month long exile. The one place nopony would come looking for us.

"Where...where are we?" Black Wing said while trying in vain to keep her composure.

I took a deep breath, reached out, before pulling her close to me. "Where we are is irrelevant right now. Just know that there is nopony here to see you. Nopony here to judge you. Now let it out," I said in an even voice, but when she shook her head I grabbed the sides of her face, and glared into her tear soaked golden eyes and growled "LET. IT. OUT."

It was as if a floodgate had opened up. Black Wing's body had violently begun to shake with deep sobs and heavy wailing. Tears flowed from her eyes in a steady steam that threatened to never cease. And so the true end of the rogue vampire faction was not with a blaze of glory, but with a sorrowful lamentation, from its leader's ex-lover.

Next Chapter: Chapter 44: On The Setting of The Moon, A Curse Shall End: Part 1 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 52 Minutes