Twilight crushed the skull of the final Changeling. It died with a snarl and a loud crunch. Twilight could still not get used to the fact that she could kill something, granted they were Changelings but what if it was a pony. These were questions she knew there was no answer. She sheathed Dreadtouch and looked at the pony she was trying to save and rushed to help her help as she almost fell over. The pony spoke struggling to stand,”I’m fine. Thank you...wait, you aren’t a Child of the Night?”

The pony stepped away and said,”Yet you wield a Sword of Shadow. How do you know about this place.”

Twilight pulled back her hood and said,”I’m Twilight Sparkle. I was chosen to help return the Children of the Night to Shadow Garden.”

The pony spat blood to her side and said in response,”Well you did it, why don’t you just leave?”

They heard a voice shout,”Rho!”

Twilight could not believe her ears. Who knew that the first pony she would encounter was one that Dracula raised from a filly. Rho shrugged and said in response,”I’m saying the truth, Con. Children of the Day really wouldn’t accept us once they knew we existed. Living in speculation and rumors is the only way we should live amongst the Children of the Day.”

Rho looked around to find Con and finally found him. He was the blue pony stuck underneath the rubble. Ignoring her pains and bruises she rushed over to help get the rubble off. Rho struggled with all of her might and lifted the destroyed cross beam over Con’s back. But dark smoke began to envelope Rho and lifted her into the air. It was being sucked into her body and they heard the dark voice of Living Shadow say,

Weak. Pointless. I do not see my son’s appeal in such weak ponies. Since you are weak I will break you. Perhaps even make you into a minion.

Twilight could hear Rho choke and gag at the shadows being sucked into her throat and no doubt filling her lungs. She looked over at Con and her eyes told him. Never forget. Con’s eyes were filled with tears and he shouted with all of his might,”RHO!!!”

Rho’s eyes glowed bright red like Dracula’s and swirling out of her body was dark red energy and as it left, Rho’s color escaped from her and with one final gasp she fell limp. The energy flowed through the air and was absorbed into Con. Sorrow left his eyes and was replaced by anger. He transformed. Rho gave him her powers as a Vampire and caused him to change into a Vampire. His wings slowly dissipated and turned into nothing and growing out of his head was a unicorn horn. His eyes began to glow a dark blue color and so did his horn. There was a small eruption around Con and blasted the debris right off of him. He stood up and he looked taller than he looked when he was laying down. His muscles were more fine toned and larger than they were before. He shot bright energy out of his horn and they crashed into the dark energy around Rho.

Living Shadow bellowed in both anger and frustration and dropped the lifeless form of Rho. Twilight could not tell but it sounded like Living Shadow winced in pain and said,
After I am done destroying my son and the Two Sisters, you will be the first of her children that will die!

The smoke dissipated and flowed back into the shadows they came from. Con watched as the shadows receded and closed his eyes in sorrow. He said under his breath,”If only I was faster…”

His gaze drifted past the lifeless husk of Rho and over to Twilight’s. He said looking her in the eyes,”I appreciate what you did here and what you might do, but I must inform Dracula of this. He...he’ll give her a proper burial.”

Con looked back at Rho and said,”You didn’t have to do that Rho...you didn’t have to sacrifice yourself for me…”

Con walked next to Twilight and waited for her to follow. Twilight looked back at the body and a tear traveled down her cheek. She did not know Rho but knew that she could have been a nice pony. This made her think, that this final fight with Living Shadow will not come without another sacrifice. She did not know if she would make it or if somepony else would make it. But it would be made. She tore her gaze away from Rho and said looking up at Con,”I’m sorry.”

Closing his eyes and a tear slowly falling like a rain drop from his eye splashed on the cold ground and he said,”Don’t be. I will see her again.”

They walked back to the library in silence and never exchanged looks of worry or sorrow. For they both knew what it was like to lose a sibling and now they understood each other more than any other pony. Their wounds would never heal and would only leave a scar, an emptiness that would haunt them forever. Twilight looked into the starry night and saw her star next to Dracula’s and renewed hope sparked in her heart as she accepted any and all fates the universe might give her. Twilight stole one look at Con and he walked with a great burden on his shoulders and in his eyes. She knew with one look that it sunk into him and he had changed, for better or worse she knew not. But he was different.

]Twilight and Con walk through the halls of Blacklight Hold. The obsidian walls were finely cut and greatly held the castle together. It gave Twilight a sense of dread and malice, feelings she could stand to not know. Their steps echoed through the hall as they walked to the library. Twilight approaches the doors and was about to open them when a cold presence reveals itself on the other side of the door.

She could not sense magical energies but somehow felt a dark presence behind the door, this caused her to pause her actions. A bright blue aura shone around the door and they burst open. Walking with great passion past them was a tall muscular pony that was as pale as a ghost and eyes as empty as the abyss, but they glowed bright blue energy. He wore stained dark orange armor with faded bronze accents. A crimson cape flapped as he walked past them. Con did nothing but raise an eyebrow at Twilight. Twilight shrugged and they continued into the library.

Dracula had bright red energy swirling around him and was being absorbed into himself. His dark blue form was barely visible to them but they saw that he did this intentionally. Twilight did not know what he was doing but knew that whatever it was, it had something to do with Nether Energy.

She remembered what Dracula told her about Davil and his travels around the Bladed Isles and wondered why Celestia neglected to tell her about these new continents. And to neglecting to tell her about Ketos itself. Perhaps it was to protect her from some hidden secret. Or maybe she was avoiding telling Twilight what they were, she’ll never know. But she knows now and suspected something deeper was happening. She felt as though ties were about to be broken when they finished this Dark Crusade.

The red energy begins to dissipate and Dracula lowers himself to the ground. He opens his eyes and straightens his suit of armor. He turns and faces to Twilight and Con. He was stunned to see Con and his jaw dropped. He was utterly speechless to see his face. He was shocked at Con’s change of appearance and new power emanating off of him. Dracula nods at Con and says,”Con...it...its been so long since I have seen you. I am glad you are okay.”

Con moved in and hugged his step father. Dracula returned the hug and said,”Where is Rho?”

Con pulled slowly away and said with grief in his voice,”She’s...she...she’s dead.”

This hit Dracula right at home and stepped back in disbelief. He lowered his head and then with hate in his eyes he looked up at Twilight and said,”Is this true?”

The look Dracula gave Twilight was one she has never seen him have before. Anger was never an emotion that Dracula would use or show, at all. He kept his emotions in check as he knew that it could negatively affect his abilities. His eyes burned bright red energy and Twilight stepped back in fear and replied,”Ye...yes.”

Dracula sees this fear and his anger begins to subside and he says in a shaky voice,”I...I’m sorry. Normally I have better control over my powers. I apologize.”

That much had been true, when you have lived for over a thousand years magic should come with ease. As Twilight notices his change in personality she also notices that he was feeling mentally exhausted. This especially was perplexing, his mind was stronger and contained more knowledge than her. Who knows what secrets he has locked away in that mind of his. But it seems that the weight of so much knowledge was finally bearing down heavily on him.

Then in front of her eyes she sees the scar over his eye turned from a peachy color to a black color, consumed by it. Then he writhes in pain and she sees that his veins were turning black and with no doubt poisoning his body.

His painful screams could be heard throughout Blacklight Castle. His face felt as if it was being melted off by lava and he noticed his body was changing. His bones were breaking and his blood was boiling beneath his skin. He truly felt hell through his body, as this agonizing pain went on he heard the dark voice of his father say in his mind,

Think of this as a gift from your father. A curse. I have given you a partial fraction of my power. So you will always know that you were birthed from the Father of Darkness itself.

The pain did not subside and he felt cold and dark magic began to overwhelm his spirit within. Not only that but his heart felt like a thousand needles were stabbing into it. Dracula began controlling his breathing and thought of only one solution to this problem, he had to use his father’s magic to heal him. Dark Magic, using its power was forbidden by his mother and was frowned upon by everypony. This magic was the same magic that was used by his father to destroy the Alicorn Empire, while it was successful it has great side effects. It can negatively affect your emotions making them uncontrollable, they would also stimulate your muscles having them in a constant state of tightness, as well your regular magic would slowly begin to leave your mind. Taking away every feeling of happiness and of peace, dark magic made the ultimate killer. As far as appearance goes your eyes will have smoke coming out of the corners and your veins would turn black. Much like what was happening to Dracula right now.

Dracula took in a deep breath and tried to ignore the pain and activated his Dark Magic. Magic as dark as night was swirling around him in a violent storm and was throwing books against the walls, knocking down bookcases. Con and Twilight stepped back in fear and the temperature around Dracula dropped to a deadly cold wind. His face strained with concentration and sweat dripped from the top of his head and cried in agony.

While he was fighting back the curse he was also fighting back the corruption of his father’s Dark Magic. He could feel his mind slowly tearing itself apart and concentrated so hard on mending his mind and the memories he would lose. He called upon ancient powers to help him in healing his pains. Luckily, the moon was shining bright on his storm of darkness. He began drawing energy from the moon and the pain was beginning to subside but it was not gone. He opened his eyes and looked through his peripheral vision at the night sky through the now broken glass pane. He saw the North Star and Twilight’s Star right next to one another and something clicked in his mind.

He screamed over the violent storm at Twilight,”TWILIGHT! YOU HAVE TO LET ME DO SOMETHING!!!”

Twilight said over the storm,”WHAT IS IT?”

Dracula had a tear fall from his eye and said,”I HAVE TO ABSORB A FRACTION OF YOUR POWER! IT’S THE ONLY WAY I CAN STOP THIS!”

Twilight lowered her head and began to think to herself. She greatly enjoyed the power she possessed but her love for Dracula came first and she could not imagine a world without him. She shot her head up looking at the now struggling Dracula. With eyes filled with sadness she said,”OKAY, I will let you absorb some of my magic.”

This hurt Dracula immensely and he had no joy in this decision. He broke his concentration from the pain and it rushed faster through his veins and his magic swirled out of his horn and wrapped itself around Twilight’s horn. It was a wave of pure red energy and she felt something inside herself leave her body and as it left her body felt weaker. She slumped to the ground but quickly struggled herself back up and watched as screams emanated from Dracula and saw that purple energy swirled around him being absorbed into his skin and body.

The storm slowly began to die down and Dracula felt the pain leave from his body. He felt great power inside of him but he passed out from the magical exhaustion. The last thing he saw before his vision failed him was Con rushing to catch him from falling.

The night was cold and piercing as it has been for the past couple nights. But this one was particularly cold and marauding.
The rumors had been true. When the goddess of the moon or sun makes the dawn and the twilight what is left is reflective of the goddess.

Celestia thought that it was only a rumor until now. The night was cold because her sister was somewhat sad. Celestia stared up at the midnight sky and trailed her head around it. Truly she was in awe of how beautiful her sister’s nights can be. With all of Celestia’s powers she could not make a day as beautiful or one that can rival her sister’s nights. This was why she had been jealous of Luna for so many years, the fact that she can make something more beautiful than she could.

Another thing that made her jealous of her sister was the fact that she had created her own kingdom. A strong one in fact that had existed for years before the reign of Nightmare Moon. Her face began to show that she was forming emotions deep within herself. She notices this and begins to suppress her jealousy as she knows that it is a dangerous thing to carry. In the back of her mind however she heard the familiar voice of Nightmare Moon.

My, the great and powerful Celestia getting all worked up over her sister. I thought you were supposed to be the one to be looked up to.

Celestia wanted to ignore her but her words spoke truth and stuck to her. She said out loud,”You’ve returned. Why do you haunt me with your poisonous words snake?”

Ouch. I never expected such harsh words from such a pristine pony.

Celestia lowered her head in despair and replied,”I’m not that pristine.”

She hears a laugh and Nightmare Moon replies,
So. The truth finally comes out. The Goddess of the Sun is not as high and mighty as she thinks she is. I have been waiting for you to say that.

Celestia snapped at Nightmare Moon,”If there is a reason for you to be here then speak quickly. I grow tired of hearing your dark words.”

Ouch. Harsh. But yes I will cut to the chase. As you might know I want to hurt those who have wronged me with painful and slow deaths. You of all ponies were the last ones that I want to kill.

This got Celestia curious she asks,”Why am I at the last?”

She heard a chuckle and Nightmare Moon continued no longer in her head but sounded like she was right behind her,”That is something that you must figure out for yourself.”

Celestia shot her head back and turned her entire body. Standing tall before her was the jet black pony of darkness herself, Nightmare Moon. But she was not as heavily armored as she was when she banished her. Through her snide smile Celestia could see her razor sharp teeth. She still could not believe that this pony turned from Princess Luna. Nightmare Moon did not wear her helmet she usually wore, showing a sign of great trust.

Her origins are very strange to Celestia. All she knew was she was made of the Abyss itself. A demon that was rebirthed from the Underworld to enact her revenge on those who killed her. Three scars however were scratched across her left eye. Her armor again was a faded light blue color and were worn from constant battle.

Celestia was the first to speak and said with a diplomatic voice,”And you decided to tell me this. Why?”

The sneer across her face got wider as she stepped next to the Sun Goddess. Leaning against the stone railing she said,”Because you are the most envious of all ponies. Easily manipulated at this state, to sow the seeds of chaos and strife. I am here for a proposition.”

Celestia wanted to with every muscle in her body to blast the stupid grin off of her face and send her back to the moon where she belonged. She could too, Nightmare Moon was in no shape to fight as the Elements of Harmony took away most of her powers. But something kept the Goddess, and she did not know what. Inquisitively she asked,”What kind of proposition?”

Nightmare Moon kept her confident grin and said,”I can offer a small amount of my powers to you, giving you an edge against any who face you. I am doing this because we both want things from this world. While they might be different physically they are the same by definition. I want you to use the powers that I give you to make your own society. I want you to rebuild the Paladins of the Sun. But they are to be all Alicorns.”

Celestia’s eyes got wide and said in shock,”Are you completely insane? My sister had trouble doing it to normal ponies, do you think that I could succeed with Alicorns? Alicorn Magic is the most complicated and hardest to learn of all the magics that exist on Ketos. The powers of the Paladins are the very opposite of Alicorn Magic, they would never be able to be housed in one being.”

Nightmare Moon looked Celestia in the eyes and said,”You think that we will succeed and perform this with magic alone? No, for months now Sombra was working on a new disease called Virus X or Virus Ten. This is a combination of both magic and chemical science. In order to make the solution to work is through Transmutation, changing one thing into another. He performed these experiments on a continent called Radialis. Luckily I slipped in his ranks and stole the notes of his top scientist and got the perfected formula.”

Nightmare Moon pulled out a notebook that was torn and broken. Celestia flipped through the pages and saw the complicated formulas and science notes. Celestia never understood science fully as she used magic for everything, as did everypony. But more recently some ponies have been interested in doing things that does not involve magic. She could decipher absolutely nothing from it.She closed the book and looked straight at Nightmare Moon. Her bright aquamarine eyes peered deep into her soul and Celestia spoke,”What exactly do you have to gain from all of this? I am failing to see what you get in the long run?”

She had a deeper plan, Celestia knew this. She just wanted to hear what she had to say. Nightmare Moon smirks once again and says,”I am dead. My time on the plane of the living is over, but that does not mean that I can’t cause mayhem. And now I have question for you. Why haven’t you ordered me away or just simply said no to my offer?”

Celestia responded,”I want to prove that Luna is not the only one that can make the greatest warriors to Equestria. I will get somepony to read this and start on my own virus. Solar Flare.”

What was about to happen is yet again the Ruler of the Sun will betray everypony. She slowly changed from a mare of compassion and love, into a bitter and cold husk of her former self. Despair never found itself inside her though, barely living off the edge of night. Wars were ahead of them and she does not want to be unprepared. She wants stronger resistance and more defense.