A noise jerked Princess Luna back into reality. She spun her head around to see what made the noise and saw a figure in the dark. Luna stood up and presumed an attack position and said,”SHOW THYSELF AND FACE OUR FURY!!!”

Magic began to swirl around her horn as she was about to shoot a magical bolt at the figure when a familiar voice said in the darkness,”Don’t shoot Mother. I came to see you.”

Luna listened to the voice and couldn’t believe what she heard. It was the voice of fear itself, Dracula. Luna was dumbfounded and said,”Dr...Dra...Dracula?”

Out of the darkness stepped the larger form of the colt she had raised in Shadow Garden. He was now in equal size to Luna. His dark grey coat stained with dirt and his long jet black mane was revealed when he pulled down his hood. His features were the same as she had last saw him, square and muscular. But over his left eye was a scar. Everything about him was the same except for his demeanor. He did not carry himself as some very powerful pony, but of that of a vagabond.

Luna was speechless. She saw one of her most powerful children standing in front of her after she thought he had died nearly a millennia ago. She could not move she was so surprised. Luna treated all of the Children of the Night as her children but Dracula was more of an adopted son. Her child came completely out of the shadows and embraced his mother. She hugged him back. Tears swelled in her eyes and she could tell Dracula had some.

Finally as they hugged Luna said,”I am so delighted that you are okay. I was so sure that you had died so many years ago. Is anypony else with you?”

Nothing brought more joy than hearing the soothing voice of his mother. It was so serene and soft, like every sentence was a lullaby. For a moment he contemplated the question and finally he let go of his mother and says,”No, I have not seen any other Child of the Night. I am the only survivor as far as I know.”

“I am glad you hath showed up,”Luna explained,”There is something dark on the horizon my son. Equestria is on the eve of battle, I can feel it. The Children of the Day are not prepared to face something like this. The Children of the Night must be found and purified.”

Dracula turned his head away from his beautiful mother. Her dark blue coat shined and shimmered in the sunlight and as did her ever flowing mane and tail made of night itself. Her dark blue eyes peered long at Dracula. Dracula exclaimed,”That is why I came to see you my mother. Shadow Garden is gone. Vanished in thin air, I cannot explain it but it is simply gone.”

Luna was stunned at the words. Princess Luna made a barrier around the Shadow Garden. She knew not what this darkness was but having 1000 square miles of land just vanish in thin air seems unlikely. She no longer felt joy, however, but felt depression, Luna sat on her haunches on the floor.

This was one of the first times Dracula had seen his mother like this. The other time was when she first discovered that her children were corrupted. Dracula placed his hoof on her shoulder and said,”Do not worry, Mother. I am currently going to find Shadow Garden with the two chosen ones. I will find my brothers and sisters and bring them back into your loving light.”

With tears falling down her cheeks she looked at her son and saw that in his red eyes she saw a trait Dracula never truly lost. Determination. Luna smiled and hugged her son again and said,”I wish you good luck my son. May you bring back victory. I will join you once you have found Shadow Garden.”

Dracula expected as much from Luna. Dracula saw in her mother’s eyes the look of joy, after a thousand years of banishment and through that banishment thinking that one of your sons are dead and your other children are gone and corrupted. Luna smiled at her son and Dracula smiled back. They stared at each other for almost an eternity.

Finally Dracula broke his gaze and melded into shadow and flying away with the wind. Now Luna felt secure, knowing that her children were not all gone. Somewhere in her heart she knew that Dracula would be the one of her children to save the rest. Her heart and soul were now at ease. But she also felt that hardships will find her and her children. Luna stared long at where her child had once stood and now possessed the feeling of great longing.

Luna stood up and walked over to the balcony and caught the dark mist travel through the air and finally fly out of sight. As Luna gazed at the smoke moments before it left sight she said whispering to herself,”Our blessing will be with you my child. May you safely return.”

Twilight shook herself back to reality as she looked at the clock in Carousel Boutique. 6:00 P.M. She looked around and she saw Rarity put on her saddle bags and she looked over at Twilight with her blue eyes and said,”Well darling, are you ready?”

Twilight nodded and said softly,”Yes we can finally head out.”

Twilight however had to stop back at the library and pick up her saddle bags. Spike said his final goodbyes to her and Rarity and they set out for the edge of the Everfree forest. When they left town into the open countryside she said to Rarity,”So, what do you think we’ll find.”

Rarity didn’t look over. Despite her mane in the condition that it is in she still carried herself as a higher than life pony. She responded,”Probably nothing we haven’t seen before darling. You are forgetting that we have found ourselves in this place many times before.”

That much was true, there was rarely a time when they didn’t venture into the Everfree forest when Equestria was in danger. Twilight winced and smiled a little, the thought made her laugh. But she still couldn’t get the memories of the nightmares away from her. She looked out to her left and saw that the sun was slowly setting with shades of red orange and violet trailing behind it. Looking over the green field with live trees and the sounds of nature.

They walked for around twenty minutes and finally found themselves staring at a deep, dark, and dense forest. Twisting around the gnarly trees were menacing looking vines. Although they have been there many times they still receive a shiver up their spines. Rarity says stepping forward a bit,”Are we to wait for him here?”

Twilight looked around and responded,”This is where he said to meet.”

Finally wind blew against them and what traveled into view was a dark cloud of mist flying into view. The mist stopped in front of them and materialized Basarab wearing a black trench coat and what looked like old armor, the grey coated pony with jet black mane and red eyes. Despite his fear inducing features he was rather handsome looking. Basarab said nothing and neither did any of them. Moments of silence ensued for a while.

The dark unicorn studied each one of them. Twilight the book worm, a purple mare unicorn with dark purple and pink hair. Her purple eyes stared long into his, Basarab could tell Twilight did not trust him entirely and she had every reason to. Rarity however, bright white mare unicorn with blue eyes and navy blue mane and tail. Rarity trusted him, with no reason at all. Basarab couldn’t explain it but she just simply trusted him.

Finally Basarab broke the silence and said,”Let us be on our way, we have quite a long and dark journey ahead of us. Quickly.”

Twilight and Rarity followed Basarab into the forest and were on their journey. As they walked Twilight walked next to the tall Basarab and said,” What exactly are you again?”

The Alicorn sized Vampire looked ahead of him and answered,”I am a Vampire, The very first Vampire and the strongest of all the Children of the Night.”

Rarity interrupted with smirk,”Somepony is confident in his abilities.”

Basarab laughed and said in response,”I would not say such things if they weren’t true my dear Rarity. Only the other three Originals and Mother herself could match, if not surpass, my abilities.”

“Originals?”Twilight asked raising her eyebrow. Basarab continued to walk as he explained.”Yes, Four Originals. The Alpha of the Werewolves. The Vestige of the Phantoms. The Master Vampire. And Finally the right hand of Luna herself the North Star, me.”

Twilight looked up at Basarab and Basarab looked at her she saw in his eyes were a very grim feeling he moved his gaze and said,”I was your equivalent. I learned under Luna as you currently learn under Celestia. Though you are being taught the Magic of friendship, which is the most powerful magic by the way, I was taught the secrets of the night. I was taught to defend my brothers and sisters. I was taught to fight”

Basarab looked away from Twilight and continued to say,”We all were taught to defend ourselves and to kill all who threatened our family. Mother’s number one rule was to always look out for family, do not allow it to falter or it will shrivel and die.”

“What were Vampires, Werewolves, and Phantoms?” Twilight asked. Basarab grinned slightly and said,”You certainly like to ask questions Twilight. They are the three races of ponies. Vampires were what unicorns turned into because of their magical ability. Earth ponies were Werewolves because of their strong frame. And Phantoms were the pegasi because they were fast.”

Finally Rarity asks,”What kind of magic do you know?” Basarab responded,”The same magic Luna knows, along with some magic I have taught myself when I was alone for a thousand years. Unteachable to mere unicorns.”

Twilight saw the look that Basarab had in his eyes and knew that he was slowly feeling great longing as he was reminiscing of the times before Luna's banishment. Twilight decided to drop the conversation and as she walked next to Basarab she felt that warm feeling again. The night was getting cold and cut into Twilight’s and Rarity’s flesh. Basarab remained unaffected by the cold and continued to press on. However, Basarab abruptly stopped and said,”Stop. Did you hear that?”

Basarab stopped and looked to his left and right. He activated his sight spell and his eyes glowed bright red. He even used another spell that enhanced his hearing. He looked around the night in front of him. At first the night seemed quiet and they appeared alone. Until however, the forms came into his view. They were the corrupted Children of the Night.

Five of them. Three Werewolves, two Phantoms, and a Vampire. Basarab said,”Be ready for a fight Twilight and Rarity.”

Basarab activated the aura around his horn that glowed red energy and Twilight did the same but her energy was purple. Basarab and Twilight were sandwiched between Rarity because Rarity did not know any kind of offensive magic, all she could do was wait until their adversaries got close so she could buck them. Twilight learned a few offensive spells, defensive magic mostly. All the offensive spells she knew were ones that could channel raw magic and unleash it in either a bolt or some form of wave, as well as a few telekinetic spells. Again, other than that her offensive spells were next to none besides those.

Basarab saw their enemies positions. The Werewolves were on the left side, the Vampire on the right and the two Phantoms circled overhead waiting to swoop down and finish one of them out. Basarab could see what they were going to do.

The strongest Werewolf of the group will be the first to pounce followed by the other two. They were used as bait. The Vampire would only use support magic to heal and improve the strength and power of the Werewolves and Phantoms. The Phantoms would swoop down when they were injured most and finish the kills.

Basarab saw the fight in his mind. He could not explain it but he could see the fight before it happened, therefore he had the upper hand. Basarab then knew the combatant he would kill first, the Vampire. Their adversaries circled them and as did Rarity, Twilight, and Basarab. Until finally Basarab leaned over at Twilight but made sure not to look away from his opponents.”Concentrate your spells on the Werewolves first.”

Twilight was about to question but she didn’t want to argue. The look in Basarab’s eyes made her know that he has been in many battles and many more to come. Finally they all stopped circling and one of the Werewolves said in a fierce deep voice,”You should have joined us when you had the chance Dracula.”

The Werewolf was half wolf and half pony. Razor sharp claws on humanoid hands and large patches of brown colored fur. The snout of a wolf replaced the horse muzzle. Fierce glowing eyes stared at Basarab. Finally Basarab responded before he shot a spell at the Vampire.
“You are no longer Mother’s children and you will die as such.”

Basarab finished his sentence and shot a magic silencing spell at the Vampire. It couldn’t stop the vampire from using magic but only using weaker spells. In a fit of anger the Vampire shot a curse spell at Basarab but he summoned a shield spell and it reflected right back at the Vampire. The Vampire looked down at herself and she saw that she was slowly decaying away.

Basarab ignored the cries of pain that came from the first fallen foe. Basarab then turned his attention towards the charging Werewolves. Twilight shot a bolt of pure magic energy and it struck one of the Werewolves, it did not kill the Werewolf but what remained was a burned shoulder and blood slowly seeping out from the wound. Basarab was more successful than Twilight and shot a Werewolf right in the muzzle and shockwave erupted around the stricken Werewolf causing the other two to disorient making their charge more ineffective. Basarab then jumped at one of the remaining Werewolves and tackled it to the ground rolling over in the dirt as they exchanged blows. Growling and snarling at each other.

Twilight averted her gaze back at the last disoriented Werewolf. She could not do what Basarab do and charge at the Werewolf, her physical strength was too weak to take on a Werewolf. She thought for a moment to think of a spell to use. Twilight concentrated and a ball of pure magical energy shot from her horn. It found its target and electrocuted the Werewolf. Lightning piercing through its thick skin it howled in great pain. Twilight shot a look at Rarity and the look told Rarity to finish it off. Rarity charged at the Werewolf with her head lowered to impale the Werewolf.

Rarity pierced her horn right into the Werewolf and it winced in pain. Rarity removed her horn and saw that blood was pouring out of the wound she had just inflicted. Rarity was turned away when the Werewolf fell to the ground in death and defeat. Rarity turned back around and saw the charred body that remained. Rarity looked over at Twilight and they exchanged looks. They never killed any pony before, Twilight saw her friend’s blood stained horn that still dripped blood down her face. Rarity and Twilight simply nodded at each other and looked around for Basarab and the Werewolf.

Basarab finally landed a blow on the Werewolf as they stopped rolling on the ground. They were matched in strength but not in stamina. Basarab could use magic to replenish his. The Werewolf cried in pain as Basarab struck his hoof in the Werewolf’s face. The Werewolf went to swipe Basarab at his face but he blocked the blow and grew out teeth like daggers. The sharp teeth attacked at the Werewolf’s throat and blood began pouring out of the Werewolf’s jugular vein. Basarab resisted the urge to drain the Werewolf’ blood and released his teeth from his adversary and retracted them.

Basarab threw the body away like it was nothing and stood up. They had rolled quite a way away from the battlefield. Basarab was disappointed, his former brothers and sisters were weakened due to the fact that they cut themselves off from their mother. Or maybe they were not Children of the Night at all. Basarab stopped thinking about it when he saw Rarity and Twilight stand over the Werewolf they had just finished killing together. Basarab was glad they could kill one, Basarab stopped looking at them and looked to the skies, he saw the Phantoms start to fly away.

Rarity and Twilight rushed over to Basarab and Basarab raised his hoof and said,”Wait here I will finish them off.”

Basarab concentrated and large pegasus wings sprouted made of pure shadow and he lifted off that started to blow wind. Basarab tore through the air to get in range of the Phantoms. Although he was not an Alicorn or a Phantom, he could summon wings and fly just as fast as a Phantom. Finally he had caught up with them. Basarab looked over briefly at the moon and had an idea. Magic began to activate around his horn and the moon began to glow brighter.

The Phantoms thought they were long gone away from Dracula. Until they saw a light illuminate over on their right and looked over to see what it was. It was the moon and when they looked at the moon they were blinded, their eyes burned right out of their heads and they cried in agonizing pain. They began to fall when Basarab grabbed them with his telekinesis.

Basarab moved them closer to him and knocked them out. He would use them for information. Holding them with his magic he flew back to Twilight and Rarity. But before he did so he looked at the moon and said,”Thank you Mother.”

Twilight looked over at Rarity and she grabbed a handkerchief and wiped the blood off of her horn. She had the look of remorse on her face and as did Twilight. They never killed another pony and never hoped to. They finally saw Basarab descend from the sky carrying the two escaped Phantoms. Basarab saw the faces of Twilight and Rarity and says,”Why the faces of remorse. These ponies meant to kill you and me.”

But then their faces changed when they saw him with shadow wings and he said,”Oh, you think I am an Alicorn. As much as I wish for that to happen I am not. I can merely summon wings. See.”

Basarab used his magic and the wings slowly disappeared. Then they looked over at the unconscious Phantoms he carried with his magic. Twilight got closer to the Phantoms and studied them. She sensed a familiar presence in them and finally said with a gasp,”No...It...it can’t be.”

“What?”Basarab asked,”What is wrong?”

Twilight looked up at Basarab and said,”These are not Phantoms or Werewolves or a Vampire. These are Changelings.”

Author's Notes:

Enjoy this chapter. Finally I don't publish a chapter at night. A word of warning and a sneak peek into the next chapter. The next chapter will get a little grimdark.