James

James woke from Trixie’s bed and felt completely reenergized. James got out from her room and headed downstairs for the kitchen. As he neared the kitchen he noticed a book lying on the table. James walked towards the book to see what it was. When James reached the book he read the title and started to feel worried. James opened the book and started skimming through the contents of the book. James could feel his heart race as he noticed the words dark magic in the book. James looked around and took count of where his mares might be. Spitfire was headed for the Wonderbolt academy. Vinyl had a gig to set up for. Octavia and Lyra were in Canterlot preparing for the upcoming Gala. Aloe and Lotus were at the spa and watching over Rose because her shop was ruined for some weird reason. So all that left him with was Twilight, Trixie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.

James looked back at the book and counted off the mares that really couldn’t use this book to its full potential. Twilight, Trixie, and Rarity were the only three unicorns that could use this book to heal his wounds. Though he could also add Pinkie to the list since she was such a mystery to him. James tapped the book against his hand as he tried to figure out who might be looking around of what he has been doing. As he thought to himself he could feel this nagging in the back of his head telling him to go to the void room. James thought it was silly that somepony would be in the void room but then it hit him. He left the two books down there and if somepony found them then he would be in a lot of trouble.

James ran for the basement so he could get rid of the books before anypony found them. James reached the door and slammed it open to be met with Trixie. James stared down at Trixie and she seemed very nervous for some reason. As James looked at her he noticed the book that she was holding. James could feel his body pounding in his chest and it seemed that Trixie was anxious since he had her book. James took a few steps forward and Trixie would step back. James could see the fear in her eyes but he kept walking forward. Once he was inside he shut the door and locked it so that he and Trixie were trapped in the basement.

Trixie tried to turn and run from him but she was stopped when he grabbed her arm. Trixie struggled against his grip as she tried to break free. James wasn’t going to let her go because if he did she could escape into the void and then come back to the door and tell all the other mares what she found. James pulled her over to the bench and set her down. Trixie looked up at James tears threatening to spill from her eyes. James could see that Trixie had something to say and waited patiently for her to speak. After several minutes of silence Trixie spoke in a low voice.

“James what the hell are you doing with a book like this and where the fuck did you get it?” Trixie was already crying and it hurt James to see her cry.

“I got the book from the archives in the castle and I have because I needed to know more spells.” James answered her not showing any emotion trying to figure out the best way to approach this.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? I mean it’s because of this that those cuts haven’t been healed yet.” James looked at the cuts that were on his body and saw that she was right.

“I knew that it was dangerous enough that it could get me killed but I didn’t know that it would cause this.”

“Yeah well now your body has dark magic inside those wounds and they don’t allow magic to help heal the wounds. The only way to get those wounds off of you is to remove the dark magic and then I can heal you.” Trixie stated anger now filling her voice as she spoke to James. James kept his cool as he continued to talk with Trixie.

“Well then why don’t you get started on that and we can all be happy that I am still alive and you can still help me. I also need you to keep this a secret between you and me so the other mares don’t worry.” Trixie could only stare in shock at James that he wasn’t willing to tell the other mares about what he was doing. James just continued to stare at her as he waited for her reply. Trixie could only look up at James and she could see that he was begging her not to tell the others. She sat there on the bench for a few minutes before she came to an answer.

“I will only help you but on one condition. That condition is that if you go to practice that crazy magic then I have to be there.” James looked Trixie in the eyes and saw that she was determined about being there when he practiced. James didn’t want to bring Trixie into something so dangerous but there was no way out of this at all.

“Fine you can be here when I practice but I need you to stay out of the way only for your safety.” Trixie nodded her head in agreement as she and James traded the books that they were holding. James put the two books in the bags and put them back under the bench. Trixie could only feel bad that she was doing this but she could tell that James had other things on his mind and it seemed to be focused on Shadow.

Night Slash

Night Slash was walking around town with the other four mares in tow. As he walked around he noticed a nice little bar. Night Slash remembered when he drank in James’ mind but never got to experience what being drunk was actually like. Night Slash entered the bar and saw a lovely earth mare working behind the counter. Her coat color was a pale mulberry and her cutie mark was a strawberry and a vine of grapes. Her mane and tail were colored moderate cerise. Her eye color was also a moderate cerise. The mare noticed Night Slash and waved at him. Night Slash returned the wave and he heard his mares give off a small growl. Night Slash got angry at his mares for acting like this so he did the only thing that would keep them in check.

“If any of you so much as cause a single bit of trouble then we are going to have a problem. So keep anything negative or rude to yourselves and don’t you dare use any magic.” Night Slash gave them all a cold stare and the mares slightly shrank as they knew what would happen if they disobeyed him. Night Slash used his magic to keep the collars hidden so no pony would come and question them about it.

Night Slash took a seat at the end of the bar and the other mares sat around him. They all waited for the mare to come over and ask what they would like. Night Slash pulled out a few menus to see what they had to eat. As he looked it over the bar pony came over and took the mares orders of what they would like to eat. She asked what he would like and asked for hard cider and lettuce parmesan. The mare took down his order and turned around to leave to get what they asked for. As she turned Night Slash noticed her name tag read Berry Punch. To Night Slash that made a lot of sense since she had a wide variety of wines. As Night Slash sat next to his mares three different necklaces started to glow.

Before he had time to look at which ones were glowing two more mares came into the bar. The first mare had a dark yellow coat and her cutie mark was a flower with a junebug on it. Her mane and tail were an orange color with a pale orange stripe running through the middle. Her eye color was a forest green. The second mare had a dark yellow coat and her cutie mark was a treble cleff. Her mane and tail were nicely taken care of and were a dark blue. Her eye color was a dark version of turquoise. The two mares took a seat in a booth and waited for Berry Punch to come and take their orders.

Night Slash kept his face hidden as he used his magic to enhance his hearing. As he waited for Berry Punch to greet the two new mares that entered he looked at the necklaces. As he looked them over he saw that they matched the three mares that were in this bar with him. Seeing as there were three of his targets in here he couldn’t do this the easy way. Berry Punch reached the two mares and greeted them both with a warm smile. Night Slash heard that their names were Fiddlesticks and Junebug. Even after hearing all these types of names when he was in James head it was still annoying to hear their names be that way.

Berry Punch brought his mares and him their drinks. After they had their drink in hand he was then given his food. Night Slash ate in silence as he enjoyed his food and the warm taste of the cider. He used to have cider before but this was the best that he ever had. The balance was perfect and it was just so soothing. As he ate and drank he started focusing his magic to close the doors and lock them. The three mares were unaware of what was going on as they were too consumed in their own lives to do anything. Night Slash finished his food and his drink and so did his mares. Berry Punch came by and took away the dishes and headed for the kitchen. Night Slash handed the two necklaces to his mares so they could deal with Fiddlesticks and Junebug. After he handed off the two necklaces he headed for the kitchen to get Berry Punch.

Night Slash entered the kitchen and the two mares looked at him suspiciously as he entered the kitchen. Fiddlesticks and Junebug got up to follow the unicorn but were stopped by Daisy and Lily. The two mares looked at each for a bit before Daisy and Lily gave a little smirk. Before anything was said there was a loud crash from the kitchen and Fiddlesticks and Junebug pushed the two mares out of the way to get in the back. They were quickly stopped when a force field was summoned in front of them. They looked over and saw the two unicorn mares that were with the stallion.

Fiddlesticks and Junebug punched at the force field trying to get free so they could help Berry Punch. Daisy and Lily were granted entrance and attacked the two other mares. Daisy gave Junebug a good punch in the face but she was tougher than she looked. When she regained her senses she threw in one of her own punches against Daisy. Daisy easily sidestepped the punch as she grabbed Junebug’s arm and threw her against the wall. Before she could move from the wall her head was grabbed and then slammed very hard against the wall. The force was great enough that it knocked her unconscious and bleeding slightly from the head.

Fiddlesticks saw her friend and her anger start to boil over. She took off her hat as she got in a ready stance for Lily to come at her. Lily only smirked because she found it funny that this out of town country mare could take her. Lily charged at her only to be stopped when Fiddlesticks grabbed her around the waist and threw her over he back. Lily landed on the ground with a hard hit having the wind knocked out of her. Daisy charged while Fiddlesticks was distracted but was swept off her feet as Fiddlesticks dragged her feet across the floor. When Daisy hit the ground Fiddlesticks brought down her leg slamming it against Daisy’s abdomen.

Lily and Daisy were out cold after fighting Fiddlesticks. When she went to pick up her hat she was hit by a strong magical blast that sent her flying to the wall. She expected to hit the force field but ended up actually hitting an actual wall. Fiddlesticks fell from the wall and hit the floor. She tried to get up but was put out cold when Holly Dash came over to her and kicked her in her face hard. The only thing that Fiddlesticks saw was utter darkness. With the two mares now out cold the mares proceeded to put on the necklaces.

Night Slash was walking through the kitchen trying to be as quiet as he possibly could. He saw Berry Punch near a sink and started to make his way towards her. As he stood behind her he quickly turned her around and planted his lips onto hers. Berry Punch’s eyes widen in shock at the invasion of her space and her mouth. She pushed the unicorn off of her sending him back into a rack of dishes. When his back it the rack it fell down onto the floor making all the dishes shatter. Night Slash looked at her very angrily as he popped his back into place. He thought to himself that it would have been so much more simple if she didn’t push him.

Night Slash walked closer to Berry Punch who walked backwards trying to get away from him. As she backed away she reached her utensils that she used for cooking. Deciding on no other options she started throwing her stuff at the unicorn. The unicorn easily deflected all of her attacks with a simple shield spell. What he didn’t expect though was her to take a knife and charge him. He was caught off guard that before he could even react she stabbed him in the arm. Wincing at the pain in his arm he pulled back his uninjured arm and slammed his fist into her face.

Berry Punch stumbled back and spat out the blood that was in her mouth. Night Slash was interested in how this pony could take one of his punches. He popped his knuckles as he was going to enjoy beating this mare to his will. To be fair since he never had a good fight in a while he decided not to use his own magic. He charged at Berry Punch with his hand in a fist and she easily caught it before it hit her. She then grabbed his fist and arm and threw him against the wall behind her. Night Slash hit the wall with his back and it knocked the wind out of him. He brought himself to his feet and looked at Berry with angry eyes.

He could tell that this would be a long fight unless he did something. Earth ponies were extremely tough and strong. Night Slash has no experience fighting any of these ponies and then he realized why he needed them. If he were to take James on then he would just be beaten not by him but his harem. Getting pissed at the thought of losing to these ponies he saw a knife sitting on the table. He grabbed the knife and as he did Berry Punch got ready for him to charge at her. What he did instead surprised her and made her kind of sick to her stomach.

Night Slash took the knife made a deep cut down his arm from the crook of his elbow down to his wrist. Berry was expecting to see blood come from the wound but what came was terrifying. Out of his wound came a dark cloud like substance. It gathered on the floor and when there was enough that if it stood out straight that it was the size of a pony it charged at her. Berry Punch tried to jump back but it got a hold of her foot. When it had her by the foot it slammed her down onto the ground causing the floor to crack. As she was on the floor the dark cloud covered her.

Berry Punch was covered in complete darkness. She couldn’t hear or see anything. After some silence though there was an ominous laugh. The laugh scared her so badly along with the darkness she did the only thing that she could do. Berry Punch screamed at the top of her lungs hoping that somepony could hear her. Night Slash listened to her screams of terror and enjoyed every second of it. As he waited for the screaming to die down he grabbed a towel and wiped at his wounds. The screaming finally stopped and the dark cloud went back inside where it came out from. Once it was back inside Night Slash the wound quickly healed itself.

Night Slash looked at the prone form of Berry Punch and smiled a bit. He walked over to her and caressed her cheek as he pulled her up. Once she was up he put on the necklace and carried her out of the kitchen. Once outside he saw the slight damage done to the bar but was proud that the mares got the job done. Before they left they cleaned the place up so there was no signs of a fight. Once the place was clean Night Slash walked over to the window and turned off the open sign and turned out the lights. They all picked up the three unconscious mares and left the bar through the back exit.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the idea on this chapter.