Twilight paced back and forth and throughout her mind dark thoughts entered her mind. Ten minutes had passed since She, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia was left alone by Cornell, Rainbow Dash, Dracula, and Rarity. She tried to control her emotions but they always got the best of her in these kind of situations. This never happened however, when she was put into the fray. Twilight is not a pony who would sit idly by as her friends thrust themselves in danger without her help.

She very well knew that nearly nothing can kill Dracula at this point, but that did not stop the images. She remembered her nightmare she had no more than a few hours ago. She was so scared for Dracula and her friends. She turned her head and had noticed Dracula and Rarity walk close to her and she hugged Dracula and he returned the gesture. Twilight looked at both of them and she noticed they had blood stains on their horns, mouths, and splattered on their bodies.

Twilight said,”What happened?”

Dracula sighed heavily as if what he would say would have some weight behind it,”Living Shadow sent some of his minions after us. But he also told me that one of us will betray the rest. He could just be trying to trick us into not trusting each other. That and I am thinking that Sombra is more powerful than we might think.”

Luna flew in next to Twilight and said,”How so?”

Dracula wiped his muzzle with his hoof and said,”Whenever I hear my father’s voice there is a power, I can sense it. But deep beneath it I can feel the familiar voice of Sombra, I think he is an agent of the Living Shadow.”

Celestia rubbed her chin with her hoof and said,”You mean Sombra was one of the Children of the Night. We defeated one of your Children long ago?”

Both Dracula and Luna nodded their head. Dracula said,”One of the most powerful ones yes.”

Celestia looked appalled. She said,”Won’t we need the Elements of Harmony to defeat him?”

Luna smirked and said,”There is more magic in this world than just the magic of friendship, you of all ponies should know this. Children of the Night possess an ancient power that can only be defeated by another ancient power. Do you remember the Whiteash trees?”

Celestia nods and Luna continues,”Well. One of the Blades of Shadow was infused with that power. It is the only weapon that can permanently kill a Child of the Night. It not only kills the physical form but also the soul and magic within. If we can get our hooves on that sword he will have to surrender.”

Dracula says stepping forward,”That will be quite the task considering that he wielded that blade. He is most likely waiting for us with the blade, we need a small team of us to go and face him.”

Luna nodded and said,”Alright. Twilight and Emerald.”

Dracula said interrupting,”I must go as well.”

Celestia finally puts herself back into the conversation,”But you are a Child of the Night, won’t he be able to kill you?”

Dracula had a serious face and he said,”I have to finish what I started so long ago. It was me who said for him to not be an Original and what lead to his fall. I will wield the blade and kill Sombra.”

Luna wanted to reject his proposal but she knew it would only complicate the issue at hand. So she simply nodded and Dracula stood tall. It was at this time that the world around Dracula was beginning to lose its color and its feeling. It felt more empty. He looked around and he saw his companions freeze in place. He looks around and starts walking in one direction.

He hears a voice behind him when he walks a ways,”You are more than the prophecy foretold.”

Dracula spins around and he sees a dark blue Alicorn stallion in front of him. He had Glowing indigo eyes and dark grey mane and tail. His attire told Dracula that he was very regal and strong. He wore steel plate armor that was a dark shade of red. Dracula dare not try to intimidate him, reasons being is his horn is shorter than the Alicorn’s and he was twice as big as Dracula. But he got in a stance and said,”Who are you? And what happened around here?”

The Alicorn smiled and said,”I would have expected you to know exactly who I was. I am Cerberus, former Lord of the Night. And you are in my inner sanctuary, Taram.”

“Taram?”Dracula asked raising an eyebrow. Cerberus broke eye contact with Dracula and said,”In an ancient tongue it means ‘A world between worlds’. This is my creation, I made it when Faximas had fallen. This is a way for me to live on, to live in solace. But you had found one of the many of my power sources.”

Dracula dropped his eyebrow and said,”You mean there are more of them? What if an evil pony finds it?”

Cerberus turned back around and said,”When a pony takes one of the power sources it was because they were destined to possess it. I now control my brother’s powers, I stripped them from him when he was banished by Starswirl. A terrible fate he was faced with.”

Dracula looked away from Cerberus and he said,”You mentioned a prophecy. My guess is you don’t mean the one involving the Children of the Night.”

Cerberus shook his head and walked next to Dracula when he said,”No. There is another prophecy that was foretold long ago.’There will come a time, when day and night shall meet in the sky and the powers of the Ancients will return’. When me and my brother made this world we set it up so that there will always be two rulers, no more and no less. There must be two Gods or Almighties, but there can be other Immortal beings. But two must always control the sun and moon. The lines of the prophecy are metaphorical, what it means by day and night is two ponies will bear the burden of carrying me and my brother’s ancient power. You are one of the ones to carry my power, now I will grant you complete control of the fraction you have found.

“I split my power into seven pieces. The Harvest Well and the Elements of Harmony. Events will be set in motion where you will be given the opportunity to take the power of the Elements of Harmony. Wield my power wisely, do not make me regret my decision of trusting you with it. It is called Cosmic Symbiosis, what it does is it lets you use my power to augment yours. Do not make me regret this.”

Dracula nodded and he stood at the ready. Cerberus closed his eyes and then burst them open again Blue energy violently shooting out of them and swirling through the air being absorbed into Dracula. He could feel power coursing through his veins, he felt stronger. He felt more controlling of his powers. Dracula then feels a shudder pass through him and he is thrown back into reality and everypony was looking at him.

Dracula thought to himself for a second. He could not tell them what happened, he needed to tell them something else. He had to lie. He said,”I had a power struggle with the Living Shadow. He attempted to take over my mind.”

Luna nodded her head and said,”Well, good thing you won. In case you missed what happened just now is we formed a plan that is fool proof. Rainbow Dash and Cornell returned with news. They found Shadow Garden and told us it is filled with corrupted Children of the Night and Changelings. Both with equal power.

“What will happen is I will use my royal canterlot voice to recite the Children of the Night poem. While Twilight, Emerald, and Dracula are going to confront Sombra.” Dracula steps in and says,”I have a better idea. When the Darkness came to Shadow Garden, before I left I recited an old battle song that inspired them to keep on fighting. They even briefly were connected to me. If we recite it together we might be able to destroy the corruption in their minds.”

Luna thought for a moment and she nodded. Dracula looked at Twilight and his eyes were filled with sorrow. Twilight saw this and she knew this was because he had to kill somepony who he had known forever. Dracula says to everypony,”We will use our plan in twenty minutes. Gather your strength and find me when the time has come.”

Everypony set off to do their own thing. Everypony except Twilight who stood in front of Dracula. Dracula was the first to speak,”Twilight, there is something you need to know. Something that might shock you.”

Twilight walked closer and said,”What is it?”

Dracula could see the look in Twilight’s eyes and it told him that she was concerned. Dracula drew out a heavy sigh and he said in a cold voice,”Sombra has taken over your brother’s; Shining Armor’s mind.”

Twilight stopped drawing closer to him and she is stunned. Words tried to come out of her mouth, but nothing came out. She tried with all of her might to say something, anything. But the news shocked her so much that she could not speak. A tear rolled down her eye and she finally had the courage to say something,”Can we kill Sombra and not my brother? Is there a way?”

Dracula hangs his head in shame and he says,”I am sorry Twilight. There’s nothing I can do, trust me I would do it if there was. All I can do is give you a few minutes with him before he dies.”

Twilight falls to the ground in sadness and starts to weep. Dracula gets down next to her and he hears her say,”I wish nothing ever happened. I wish I never found out anything about this. I wish I could have saved my brother.”

Dracula said next to her,”We can’t control these things. Something like this was going to happen sooner or later. There is nothing we can do about it, we have hardships in our life to tell us that we are okay. Life is like the cycle of a tree, we lose all of our leaves in times of hardship and sadness but we are given the power to live on. The power to see past these bad times and continue to live in their memory, waiting for the season of spring.

“What will you choose to do? Will you continue to live on? Or will you stay with the grief, slowly dying inside. Neglect to see the people around you who love you greatly.”

Twilight moves her head out of her hooves and looks over at Dracula and says looking deep in his eyes,”You’re right. I can’t spend my time mourning for this. Because I know that he lives on in the afterlife.”

Twilight hugs Dracula and he hugs her. Twilight says,”I’m glad I met you Dracula. I love you.”

Dracula said,”You can call me Silver. And I love you too.”

They let go of each other and Dracula leans down and kisses her. After a few seconds Dracula slowly moves back and he looks into her eyes. Twilight looks at him and she says,”What will happen when all of this is over. I mean…will we…”

Dracula puts up his hoof and he says,”It won’t matter if its years after this event, I will never stop loving you. I don’t know what will happen after this but I will always be by your side. I will always be yours to hold.”

Twilight smiles and she hugs him again. All the sorrow she felt was gone and was replaced by love. All the feelings of grief and regret, gone. She felt the same way about Dracula and would never stop. Dracula knew this and he cherished the moment they shared and he can feel the warmth from her and this is the first time in a long time that he felt this way. Dracula lets go and he stands up as well as Twilight. Dracula grabs something from around his neck and he says,”This was given to me by Mother. She told me that this was hers when she was a filly. Her mother said that this was the star to be followed in times of grief if you speak through it, it will summon that which you love most. Living images to help you remember. This is the North Star. It is a piece of me, I used this to keep my sanity during the thousand years of loneliness.

“Mother named me the North Star because she believed I would one day lead the Children of the Night away from our isolated ways. I would reunite them under each other, become a family once more.”

In his hoof was a pendant of a silver star that had a faint glow to it. Dracula motioned and Twilight agreed. Dracula put the necklace around her neck and Dracula said,”Carry this necklace as a testimony of my love for you. Summon your powers in it and I will come to you. Do not worry and do not falter, I will come.”

Twilight looked at the small star medallion and smiled and said,”Thank you Silver.”

Dracula returned the smile and he said,”Gather the others. I will look ahead to see what we face.”

Twilight nodded and trotted away through the dark woods they stood in. Dracula turned away and followed the dirt road. Along the way the feeling of woe did not escape his mind as he looked over the scenery. The feelings of woe only increased when he saw Shadow Garden.

The town itself looks mediocre. With its metal shingle rooftops, faded granite walls and decaying trees, Shadow Garden carried an overall gloomy atmosphere. As if it promised all who entered it to become a Child of the Night. The ominous castle looming on the face of a mountain did nothing to rid the feelings of despair and fear. The castle was made with black stone and metal, sharp edges shoot up the outer wall to instill fear in those who gaze upon it. The forest looked to be dead in this section as over one hundred square miles of wood was taken down to move this place. The moon hung high in the night. Dracula noticed thunder clouds beginning to form over head and he prepared himself to fight in the rain.

Dracula squinted his eyes as he attempted to see the shapes moving in the streets. He saw corrupted Children of the Night rushing to the castle and Changelings. It was from this that he figured that they were readying for an invasion. Dracula heard hoofsteps behind him and his companions rushed behind him. He said with a cold voice,”Let’s end this corruption of my family once and for all.”

Dracula stood atop the hill looking out at the busy town of Shadow Garden knowing that he was standing at the foot of true darkness, the stench of his father filled the air around it. This would surely strike a blow to his father. All he needed to do was give the signal and he would start the Siege of Shadow Garden.