Reborn

by shadowsythe22

(sequel to "dream machine"). After the tragic incident with queen chrysalis Crimson is brought into the world in a new body with no memories of who he is or was. he becomes reborn as a new pony in more ways than one and to save his wife he must fully realize what he has become and tap into his hidden power to take down his toughest foe yet. (Rated M for clop)

60. Chapter 60:Rise Of Shadows Pt2: Rena

The knight commander planned for us to originally go and fight off the cult of shadows straight away, but despite recent events its now become a bit more difficult to approach that. Instead of bringing herself and a large group of Templars the situation needs to be taken more delicately. So the knight commander asked me and snowbelle to go alone down to the docks and into the gallows. I wasn't really sure where the gallows were, but snowbelle filled me in on the information on our way there.

The gallows was a certain part of the docks, which is actually the whole west side of the city, and not just the actual docks. The gallows is a small part of the docks where they used to execute criminals in the old days when public execution was legal. The gallows used to be a place of justice and order, but was overrun by criminals and street thugs years upon years ago, now it's a dangerous place where only criminal scum dwells. It used to be pretty bad, but snowbelle and knight commander Merideth are certain that the whole place has been taken over by the cult of shadows. Me and snowbelle had already started making our way into the docks after walking out from the east side for a while. It was about a few hours past noon once we finally made it into the docks. Snowbelle assured me that it might be another hour or so until we reach the gallows.

We walked along the streets gathering all kinds of attention. The word had gotten out that it was now safe and that the threat had been dealt with properly, so ponies had started to calm down now,but were still on edge. It probably didn't do them much good to see me and snowbelle walking through the streets with heavy duty armor on and weapons by our sides. While we walked through the streets me and snowbelle had been silent for some time, and I just looked at the ground as I walked. I still wreaked of thistleten, which will most likely completely blow my whole cover if it comes down to being sneaky, the enemy will smell me coming before they see or hear me. I even saw ponies stop and smell the air as we started to grow closer to them, then they would look over to me and give me a blank look and just stare. It was pretty quiet except for the crowds of ponies talking amongst themselves, most likely spreading idle gossip.

"So..." I said trying to break the ice between me and snowbelle. "How do you feel about all of this?" I asked.

"Not good, these criminals are going to pay for such terrorism." She said. "I've been eager to go after them for some time, but father would not allow me, but now that I've been given the chance I swear I'll clean these streets of the shadow cult." She said.

"That's very noble... But I wasn't just talking about that." I said. "I meant all of this, the whole grand scheme of things, how do you feel about what's happening to the city, your home... And also, how do you feel about what your father asked of me, if he really does want you to come with me at the end of this all... Would you?" I asked.

"I... I don't know what to think of this all, time feels like its speeding by at some times, but feels like its slowed down to a crawl at other points, just to mock me." She said. "I'm afraid for the city, and for all of these ponies. It may not seem like it but everypony's scared, if this doesn't end soon then it'll be the death of us all." She said. "We've always had to rely on the aid and support of Equestria, but now that we're cut of its like we're all alone now in this vast wasteland of snow and ice." She said.

"And, what about what your father asked of me?"

"Well...I'm not sure." She said panning down to the ground. "I might not be his genetic daughter... But I still love him like a father, and he loves me." She admitted. "I do believe that he's making this choice out of love, and I agree that being here isn't good for anypony, especially me." She said.

"What especially you?" I asked.

"It's because of the evil spirit inside of me." She said. "Being here, in the cold often brings out the worst in me, when I go outside those walls, into the cold, I often hear voices calling out to me, and something deep in my mind clawing away at my thoughts, trying to break its chains and be free, but I can't be free. The spirit is forever bound to me own soul, but I still feel like at any moment I could become a monster." She said.

"Is that your secret, the beast inside of you?" I asked.

"Yes... That is my dark secret." She said. "This armor that I wear is enchanted to keep my body warm, warmth is the only thing that keeps the voices out of my head, and it keeps the spirit inside of me from slowly clamoring to control." She said. "That's why my father thinks that if I were to go with you, to Equestria... Where its warmer, I would be safe."

"Do you want to come with me?" I asked.

"Well... If my father asked me, I would go without second thought."

"No... I want to know if you would go... If you were given the choice would you go with me, knowing that I dwell in a separate dimension, f you were to come with me you might not be able to see your father again. So... Would you go, even if you father asked you to, but you could still say no... Would you do what he says?" I asked.

"I...I, don't know." She said. "My father always asks of me to do things, some of which i don't always completely agree with, but he never pressures me into these things, he asks me if I want to do them... To which I will always reply with a yes." She said.

"Hmm..." I said becoming silent. We walked along for a while, I could feel like we were getting closer, the houses started becoming more beaten and worn down, and the streets were tattered and dirty. There were fewer and fewer shops and stalls around and even fewer ponies walking the streets. Ponies stayed in alleyways in groups and gave us dirty looks. "Snowbelle, I've had some experience with demons before, what is it like for you?" I asked. "You know, when it starts to take control."

"Well, it's hard to notice at first." She said. "At first it just seems like I started making poor decisions, or I start getting mad or angry for no particular reason, I start yelling, and become very irritated, then i can start to hear voices in m head, but its my own voice. It starts calling me names, trying to insult me, but it just sounds like I'm starting to insult my own self inside my head." She said glancing at the ground as she walked. "But soon I can feel my body start to get colder and colder, I start becoming more violent, and my power becomes unstable and uncontrollable, at this point it feels like something very real is trapped inside of my mind desperately clawing at my head, trying to get out. I don't know what it's like beyond that point, I've never gone more than a week without protection, and that's the result."

"Is that what it's like, after a week you can feel it clawing at your mind?"

"Well, it's not set on a certain time, once I felt like that after only a few hours." She said, "the colder my body becomes the faster the process is, so it all depends. It's hard to tell when it's happening, but when I start acting violent and out of place, that's usually when my father, or the others can tell that I'm starting to loose my mind."

"I think I get it." I said. "I'm sorry that you have this burden on you, I know what it's like, to have something inside of your head, being unable to do anything about it." I said.

"What's it like for you?" She asked. "What are your demons like?"

"Well, my demons, aren't in my head... All the time. They exist all around me." I said. "In fact p, my demons are the very reason why I've embarked on this journey of mine, so far away from home." I said. "You see, a very powerful demon has taken something very precious from me, and I can't live without her."

"Her?" She asked.

"Yes, the demon has taken my wife away from me." I said. Baiting me to follow him to his own domain so that he can kill me and steal my soul." I said. "All along the way he mocks me, crawling into my head, blinding me and opening my eyes to a world of death, and darkness... And decay." I said. "Last time it happened I found myself in an apocalyptic world full of dead bodies, and destruction. Building were burnt or rotting away. And ponies were hung from trees by the neck, faces, and ponies I knew littered the ground, all of it not real. It lasted only a few minutes, but when I came to consciousness, hours had passed."

"I'm sorry to hear about your problems." Said snowbelle. "I guess that's one thing we have in common, we can't ever find rest." She said.

" there ain't no rest for the wicked." I said.

"True..."she agreed.

"Well well well, what's this?" Asked a voice from behind us. We turned around to see where the voice came from and behind us we saw a pony in black robes standing there with a smile on his face. He held a large twisted, wooden staff by his side, despite being only an earth pony, i could sense magical properties emanating from the staff. Beside him were other hooded ponies all with black robes and hoods covering their faces. The pony in the middle didn't have his hood up, however. I felt a faint presence behind us and turned around to see that more ponies with hoods had swept up behind us and had us surrounded in a pincer trap. " if I'm not mistaken that would be the kings beloved daughter snowbelle, and...friend?" He said giving me a strange look.

"You must be with the cult." Accused snowbelle.

"Very observant." Said the pony. "My, the master will be very pleased if we bring him back the kings daughter as a sacrifice, that will bring us much closer to our redemption at the hooves of our dark mistress." He said.

"Who is this dark mistress I've been hearing about?" I asked. These poor fools don't even know the kind of destruction that they are wishing to bring forth.

"She's the one who makes us see in the darkness, the one who cradles us in shadows, she's the darkness inside of our hearts, and she will bring with her night everlasting."

"Uh ha...you do realize that you're completely crazy...right?" I said.

"You may deny us all that you will, but It is you who will be punished when the dark mistress covers this world in her sweet shadows, and we will rise and be the bedrock of the new world." He said. "BROTHERS...!" He shouted. "Spill the blood of this heathen, but save the girl, she will make a worthy sacrifice." He said as the other hooded ponies now with twisted daggers in their mouths slowly started to approach us.

"Come at me..." Said snowbelle drawing her sword and clenching it tight in her jaw.

"Do not fight it child. Your souls will be cleansed in the darkness and the fire, you will be made whole in the flames of the reborn." Said the pony.

"So you guys like fire huh?" I said as a small grin spread across my face. "Well then...HAVE SOME!" I shouted as I breathed out of my mouth a ravaging torrent of bright flames that flooded the street in front of my and crept up the sides of building. The ponies in front of us screamed and writhed as they burned in the intense flames and once I had stopped spouting fire the streets cleared out save all the ponies who ran around frantically on fire screaming. It wasn't long until they would collapse and fell to the ground where they would burn to a crisp. The only one untouched was the pony in front of us who held his staff in front of him which made a shield. He was using the staff's magic to create a barrier, and since it was already an enchanted staff he doesn't need magic of his own to use it.

"Demon... Trickster, you take upon the form of a normal pony, breath the fires of a dragons stomach, there is no magic for this, a demon is what you are... You must be cleansed." He said. "My brothers, give me your strength." He said clashing the staff on the ground as a wave of energy shuttered the ground. Suddenly the ponies who were behind us shuttered and screamed as they then fell to the ground limp. From their fallen corpses flowed their blood. Even the boiled blood from the burnt carcasses started to snake it's way over to the pony with the staff. The blood started collecting around him, and pooling under his hooves. The blood started to creep up his body until he was completely covered in it. "Behold, your redemption, repent your sins... And be clean." He said.

"Your the monster here... You killed your own comrades with no given incentive, and now you use their blood for your own sick ways." Said snowbelle.

"Miserable fool... You must be taught respect... Now die." He said swinging his staff as a spout of blood shot out from the pool underneath him and shot towards us. We both dodged the blasted but some of the blood sprayed on us and it burned, it was boiling. Another blast of blood came shooting out over to me and I reacted quickly. I slammed my front hooves on the ground and a solid wall of stone shot up from the ground and shielded me from the blast. I jumped up onto the stone wall and jumped again into the air for an attack but the pony had already shot another spray of blood at me. I quickly reacted again and flapped my wings with great fury and caused a gust of wind which sprayed the blood back to the ground. The gust of wind I made caused me to fly backwards and I landed right back on my hooves behind the stone wall. I slammed my hooves into the ground again and the stone wall started to shoot forward towards the pony. It grew closer to him but he hit the stone wall with the end of his staff and the wall shattered and crumbled to the ground around him.

"Damn..." I muttered.

"A worthy adversary, you would make a noble brother, I offer you now... Abandon your ideals... Join us and know true enlightenment." Said the pony in robes.

"That will never happen." I said taking on a fighting stance and changing up my fighting style.

"Shame... Real shame... However, nopony will mourn over your spilt blood." He said. He went for another attack but snowbelle had cut him off by creating a wall of ice spikes that shot out from the ground. The blood hit the wall of ice and started to melt through it. But snowbelle lunged over it and slashed her sword in kid air causing shards of razor sharp ice to fly out at the pony. They flew fast so he had little time to protect himself. Only one spike had hit him before he pulled up a shield of blood which melted the ice before it got to him. The one icicle that had pierced his left hoof didn't even see, to phase him. I thought quickly about a counter attack when a plan suddenly hit me, it wasn't the prettiest one, but it'll work, I'm sure of it.

I quickly bolted forward under the cover of the ice wall snowbelle had made. I grabbed my sword in My mouth and held it tightly. The pony had fired another blast of blood at snowbelle but she dodged out of the way taking all of the ponies focus with her. I quickly ran up to the ice wall, and charged right through it. I broke right through the solid two or three feet of ice causing massive shards of ice to burst into the air. I kept charging straight forward as the hooded pony was now fully attentive to me. He fired out another blast of blood but I used my magic to pull all of the ice shards together into a last minute shield. The boiling blood was melting the ice quickly and I was still a ways away. I let go of my hold on the shield and the ice fell just as I leapt into the air. I was now only a couple of feet away from the pony. Thinking quickly he pulled up another wall of boiling blood as a shield. I kept my grip in my swords and focused on the location of his body. Soon I hit the boiling wall of blood and winced from the burning pain. I broke right through the thin wall of blood and was now right in front of the pony with my sword aligned perfectly with his neck.

I shot by him and tumbled to the ground from the pain but not before my sword cleaved perfectly through his neck. Once I stopped rolling I looked over to the pony covered in blood as his shield dropped and all of the blood he was using to cover himself washed off his body. Slowly his head slid off his shoulders and then the rest of his body fell to the ground with his head. The blood that I was now covered in stopped boiling and I began to relax. I let out a deep sigh in the midst of my heavy breathing and payed down o n my back trying to relax my body after the fight. I was literally covered from head to hoof in an almost solid coat of blood. Snowbelle had sheathed her sword and was walking over to me. I let out a soft moan and slowly got back up in my hooves. I got the cracks out of my neck and shook some of the blood off me.

"That was a very clean cut... Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, I just need some way to wash this blood off me." I said.

"I can't really help with that one, but I'm sure that it'll be fine, c'mon, we can't waste time." She said.

"Halt there, you..." Said another voice to the side. We quickly shot over to the direction of the voice with our weapons ready in case it's somepony else from the cult. To our side we could only see a dark alleyway, but then a mare started to creep out from the shadows. She wore tight leather armor along with a hood and leather cowl pulled over her snout so that we could only see her eyes. She had a strange looking dagger at her side and she stared at us with her blue eyes. "You there, male... You're covered in the spoils of war, are you the one that has baked these bodies and parted the mind of the pony who whispers to life itself?" Asked the pony.

"I... I don't understand what your saying?" I said.

"Oh... It's a Malkavian." Said snowbelle.

"A Malkavian...what's that?" I asked.

"Ponies who came here a while ago from a far away place, they've been here since the incident. They're very skilled in deception of stealth, so they make for excellent assassins, but they carry a trait with them which causes them to speak in riddles, it's quite irksome sometimes... They've also got a bit of a dark side."

"I cannot be held responsible to deception of my words, had my descendants not cursed me so, I would give you words of clarity."

"Their strange speaking pattern derives from a very peculiar form of bipolarism. Instead of switching between personalities, both personalities are present at the same time." Further explained snowbelle.

"Do not belittle myselves." Said the mare. "I've simply come forth and given you the words of a question, I ask that you please return them."

"You want me to answer the question you just asked?" I asked, "about the pony I just killed."

"Was it truly you, who had made this ponies flesh cry, and have given fire to these bodies, have you done this righteously. These are dark ponies, they cannot be seen by the light, but now are seen by death."

"I uh... They attacked us, and we defended ourselves." I said. "I assume that's what you want to know. We've been sent on a mission to eliminate the shadow cult."

"The gatherers of shadows?" Asked the pony stepping out of the alleyway even more. "Then our fates share the same plane... My current destiny is to send these dark souls from this world, so that the light can be seen here once more." She said. "Tell me, what are your given titles?" She asked.

"Uhm... I'm crimson blast." I said

"And I'm snowbelle."

"Very alluring, I saw you do battle here, and you fight with zeal, and you the blade of your sword screamed of righteous fury. I was also shocked to see you summon the breath of great dragons." She said.

"If you saw the fight then why did you ask if I was the one that killed this pony?" I asked.

"To find the lies in your words." She said. "There are none."

"Are there any more like you hunting the shadow clan."

"My blade is the only one that will know the color red today." She said.

"Why have they sent you alone?" I asked.

"The order was given, thus it was obeyed. The secret is not mine to keep." She said.

"So you don't know." I said. "Alright then, do you know anything that might help us?" I asked.

"I fly in blind, like a bat in the dark." She said.

"Would you like to come with us, help is always accepted, and help from somepony with the skills of a dormanian is greatly appreciated." Said snowbelle.

"Our minds sing of the same tune, let this pair become a party." She said waking over to us. "The sound of my being is Rena."

"It's good to have you as help Rena." I said. "It's greatly appreciated."

"Luck has spoken its words to me on this day as I have found solace in the comfort of others." She said. I'm not sure if she's aware of the things that she's saying, or if it just makes sense to her, like some kind of foreign language, but I can just barely understand what she's trying to say most of the time. I only was able to pick out that she was lucky, I think it's because she found us.

"Lets carry on, we cannot afford to waste time." Said snowbelle. So we started to make our way through the streets again, and I could feel even more eyes upon us.

"My pardons, dragon tongued angel... But your flesh cries of pain, a great fire has swept over it, do you require numbness?" She asked only a few minutes after we left. I assumed she was speaking to me. Although I'm not sure what she said, I think it has something to do with a burn mark I got from the boiling blood. It was an open chink in my armor where some of it got through and burned me, it was clearly visible now because at this time I had dispelled my armor and wore nothing but my fur.

"I didn't really catch that, can you say it again?" I asked.

"Numbness... Do you require numbness for your hardened flesh?" She asked pointing to the burn mark in my side.

"Oh, no... It's fine, I'm not sure what numbness is... But I don't think I really need any." I said.

"I think she meant medicine... Painkillers probably." Said snowbelle.

"I don't think I need any painkillers, it doesn't hurt." I said.

"Your adept invite runs deeper than your flesh, this is respectable." She said. We kept on walking down the streets and we didn't come over any trouble after that first fight. We made our ways done the roads, mostly silent, but Rena would say something every now and then. I don't really understand what she says most of the time, but the way she talks is really interesting. I couldn't speak like that even if I tried. Once we started to make our way into more dark territory I started noticing symbols painted onto the walls in black paint. There was no real design or pattern to them. They just appeared randomly. Suddenly snowbelle had us stop as before up was a large archway connecting two building with rotted carcasses hanging from them, all being hung by the neck.

"The archway of death, where the hollering of souls can be heard." Said Rena. "This is the place of deadly justice, where flesh suffocates under the rope, and the false prophets pated the demons from the angels."

"In other words... This is the gallows." Said snowbelle. They did do a good job of making a warm welcome, I'll give them that.

"Avast, the dark shepherd approaches to guide souls to the beyond." Said Rena catching our attention from the hanging bodies before us. Walking out of the gateway was a large muscular and chain bound pony who wore a torn, brown leather hood with a metal mask. The mask was an elliptical metal mask with holes where the eyes and snout are as well as an open slit where the mouth goes. His body was wrapped in chains and they dragged behind him as he slowly walked towards us. His fur was brown with red blood stains all across his body. He had large torn wings which he use to carry an evil axe with him. The axe was a large halberd like axe with a razor sharp curved edge and a spike on the other side of the blade. It had a thick handle which was long and curved for a good grip. The pony started spinning the axe around his body as if it was made of foam. He clashed the bottom of the axe into the ground and stood there holding the large axe, which was standing upright, with only one wing.

"He must be some kind of executioner." Said snowbelle. "He certainly looks strong."

"I'm sure that it'll only take a single swing of that axe to cleave through any armor, let along bones and flesh." I said. "We should be careful."

"I have no say... I am not here." Said Rena before she vanished in a puff of black smoke. At first I thought she had just completely ditched us, but I could still feel her presence lingering around, hiding in the shadows, then it was gone... But I knew she was simply hiding it, I knew she was still here. The pony in front of us who's fur was stained with blood and covered in scars started to walk towards us. I got ready by focusing my energy and summoning my armor to my body. I was going to think of a plan but strait away snowbelle let out a fierce cry and started to charge at the pony. The large executioner took his axe in both wings and slashed at snowbelle as she drew near. She dodged the first attack, but barely, he could really swing that axe. He sung horizontally and snowbelle ducked down and it passed over her. He swung down on her and she rolled to the right and got back on her hooves. She launched of the ground and whirled right by the pony slashing him across the chest as she flew by.

He let out a deep moan, which didn't even sound like he was in pain, as a large gash opened up in his chest and started to leak blood. Normally a wound like that would either send a pony in shock or make them run away in fear, but he brushing it off like it was nothing and swung his axe again. Snowbelle wasn't expecting this and didn't have much time to react. She held her sword up to help block the the heavy axe, along with the great speed and power put behind it was too much for her. The axe hit her sword and sent her flying back and sent her blade flying from out of her mouth and into the air. She flew across the air and hit the archway to the gallows and the sword fell to the ground opposite of her and made a clanging sound as it hit the ground. The large pony was now in between her and her sword, and that hit left her very disoriented. The large pony began to saunter over to her and I thought quickly or else she would be doomed.

I grabbed my sword and with it in my jaw I rushed forward with great speed and tackled the large pony to the ground, which was not easy. The impact alone was something else, but rolling on the ground with him wasn't as easy as I imagined. Luckily I managed to land on top of him and I held my sword up high and pierced it through his chest. I stabbed through him until my hilt touched his chest and I flew off his pulling my sword with me. He let out a combination of a growl and a moan as he surprisingly picked himself up and got back up on his hooves. He picked his large axe up and started making his way over. He swung his axe at me full force but I dodged out of the way. The axe kept swinging and hit the side of a building and almost cleaved right through it. He pulled the axe out of the building and commenced to swing again. This time he swung his axe down onto me but I dodged again and the axe went straight into the ground, practically buried now. He tried pulling the axe up but it was stuck in there pretty good. I took this opportunity and rushed behind him.

I leapt up on his back and stabbed my sword through his back as it protruded from his chest covered in blood. He let out another growl and bucked his hips with enough force to knock me off and I lost my grip on my sword and fell off the large pony. He cocked his legs back again and lined them up with me and I knew what was coming. He bucked his legs out and one hit me square in the face, the other hit me right in the chest, and I was gone. The force of his kick sent my flying across the ground until I hit a building and nearly broke through into it. I was dazed and confused, everything was blurry. As everything started to become clearer I looked over to see the large pony give the axe a mighty tug as it then came free from the ground. He held the axe with both wings as he started making his way over to me with my sword still protruding through his chest. I tried getting up and moving but the kick I received to the head left me more disoriented than I had originally thought, and I could even bring myself to get up. Once I finally started to get some kind of grip over my body it was already too late, the large pony stood over me with his axe raised high up in the air.

I waited for something to happen, but out of the darkness flew a group of projectiles shrouded in darkness. They all hit the large pony and stuck into his side. He let out another growl of pain and moved to the side, away from the pain and away from me. I saw that he had been pelted with at least six or seven throwing stars which protruded from his body. The large pony looked around for the cause of the pain but there was nopony around. Suddenly from the shadows of a building appeared Rena who swooped over down low and gave all her energy into a single kick to the front hoof. The kick made impact and there was a loud snapping sound combined with a grizzly roar of pain. The large pony fell with a broken led. The bone of the leg had broken through his skin and was sticking out the side. To all our surprise he still got up and stood perfectly well on the snapped leg. This guys like a fucking machine, how long is it going to be until he breaks. By this time Rena had already slipped back into the shadows and was gone.

Behind the large pony a couple of shadows crept together until I saw Rena standing there with her strange knife in her mouth. The knife as bent at a slight angle and the hilt had a hoof guard. She quickly and quietly rushed up behind the pony and leapt into the air. She landed on the back of the pony, placed the blade again the ponies neck and cut his throat. Blood spurted out from the open wound as she then raised the blade up and them stabbed it through the skull of the large pony. The large pony let out a fierce growl, which eventually died down to a faint gurgle, and then silence. Rena leapt off of the pony bringing her knife with her and strapping it back onto her belt. The large pony stood there for a few seconds before dropping the large axe and then dropping himself to the ground. He laid there, slightly convulsing, in a growing pool of his own blood. By now I was starting to recover greatly from the attack. I look over to Rena, and then my eyes fell upon snowbelle who laid limp against the archway. I staggered to get up, and ended up tripping and falling back down.

"A mighty toll has been taken, you mind is shaken, and your vision slightly doubled. A few of your hearts guards may have snapped... Do you require numbness now?" Asked Rena.

"No... I'm fine, please check on snowbelle." I said wincing slightly since ever breath I took caused me pain. I could already feel my wounds starting to heal rapidly, but it would still take some time before I'm back in fighting condition. I don't think I've ever faced somepony so tough.

"The frost hoofed maiden is unharmed." Said Rena walking over to me from snowbelle. "she simply lies In an unwarranted hibernation."

"So... Is she just on conscious?" I asked.

"Indeed so." She said. "Again, do you require numbness?"

"Yes please, I think I've broken a few ribs, and probably my skull." I said. Rena walked over to me and opened up a small pouch on her belt. There was a small circular container with a red medical cross on it. She opened up the small container and inside was some kind of cream, or ointment. She dabbed her hoof in the cream as I dispelled my magic armor so she could get to my actual body.

"Where does your flesh cry its ripest tears?" She asked. I had to think for a second, but I ended up figuring out the question.

"Here..." I said pointing to the spot where I had gotten kicked. She started to rub the ointment heavily on the spot where I pointed out and then less so around the surrounding areas.

" and your mind, is it pure, or has it faded?" She asked.

"Uh, no... I think I can still operate on my own, but I do have a splitting headache." I said. It wasn't long before she started rubbing cream on my forehead too. She put the container back on her belt and right away I could feel those parts of my body starting to become numb and the pain faded away. It didn't hurt anymore when I breathed, but it felt like it was harder to breath now, like there was something on top of my chest making it hard to take in air.

"Air may find difficulty entering your body, but worry not, it becomes bearable once time has passed through us." She said.

"Alright..." I said. "You said that snowbelle was unconscious."

"Indeed, her mind has been consumed by sweet somber dreams." Said Rena.

"I think we should wait here for a moment, wait for my wounds to heal and for her to wake up, maybe start to figure out a plan." I said.

"Then we shall pause here, let time take lead over us, and wait for the frost hoofed warrior wake from her somber dreams."

"Alright, we'll wait." I said sitting up against the wall of a building. Rena paced around for a little bit before sitting down and resting. We sat there for a while and everything seemed to be quiet, nopony else bothered us, and I could feel my chest starting to feel much better. The numbness in my head was starting to fade and I could no longer feel my horrid headache. Also my snout, which was broken is now healed considerably. The areas around my chest started to come back to me, but the very center of my chest, where I was kicked, was still numb, and I still had some difficulty breathing.

"Tell me, hoofed dragon, where do you hail from, and why have you darkened this city with your shadow?" Asked Rena.

"I'm from Equestria, I came here not too long ago." I said.

"How is it you've found yourself past the impassable gates?" She asked.

"The way I got here is a bit of a long story, but I have friends coming in from Equestria on an airship." I said. "They should be able to get over the gate unharmed as long as they stay in the air or at least avoid the gate and go around."

"My heritage has not been blessed with these vessels that surf on clouds." She said. "We found ourselves here a quarter century ago, we arrived by sail."

"Why have you come here?" I asked.

"My home was converged in darkness, death coated the air and fear overtook us all." She said. "I was but a youngling when we were called out to the sea by necessity."

"So you had to flee your country?" I asked.

"Yes, we soon found ourselves in the ice lands." She said. "We sleep in the darkness of the waters edge. We have taken the shape of the masses shield, guarding them from the true darkness." She said.

"I remember snowbelle mentioning that you Malkavians have a dark side, what might that be?" I asked.

"Our secret is not unknown, but it make we wonder as to how you do not hear the secrets whisper." She said.

"Uh... I... I don't know what you just said, to be honest." I said.

"We are a hoofed breed of life suckers." She said.

"Life suckers?" I asked. Just then Rena grabbed the mask over her snout and pulled it down to reveal her mouth. She opened her mouth and I saw that she had long fangs on the sides of her top jaw. "Vampires...? You've got to be kidding me, really?" I said.

"I play no tricks today, what you see if as true as the sun is bright." She said. "We abide by the shadow of law, and ritualize our masquerade." She said. "We may not sap the whole life of a pony who is seen by the light, but we may taste of their blood." She said. "If I am drained then I may transfer the life of those who's souls are blackened so that I can be whole once more."

"So you feed on the blood of criminals and thugs." I said.

"Indeed."

"When was the last time you fed?" I asked.

"Two turns of the sun ago, before your triumph in the bloody streets." She said. "One wolf did not follow closely to the pack, and he was not missed."

"Do you feed on the innocent?" I asked.

"We may, but we may only have a taste of the juice of innocent fruit." She said. "To steal the life force of the innocent is to break the masquerade, and thus we move from the shadow of our codes."

"I can't believe that I've just run into a vampire." I said. "Do all the ponies know that your all vampires?" I asked.

"Ponies here have indeed seen past our mask and know our faces, yet they do not fear us, we protect them. Beyond the reaches of this frigid place not even our masks can be seen." She said.

"This is my first experience with a vampire, I don't really know what to do, but to be honest I'm just surprised that you haven't fed on me yet." I said.

"It was tempting, I was drawn to you by the sweet scent of you, dragon fruit." She said. "But I found solace in the life of a lamb, following the pack but left behind." She said.

"So you were thinking about sucking my blood." I said.

"The thought still sleeps on my mind, but I am satisfied... For the time." She said.

"Am I going to have to worry about you biting my neck now?" I asked. She pulled her mask back up her snout now hiding her fangs.

"No, it is in our beat interest not to feed from innocent fruit unless necessary." She said. "You should be safe, dragon fruit. If I need life, there are many black sheep to pick from in this place."

"Well that helps me breathe easier." I said. "Literally, I think that the numbness you gave me is finally starting to wear off." I said.

"You speak as though there won't be pain under the numb." She said.

"I'm not like most ponies, you'll figure this out fast." I said. "I can heal quite rapidly, in fact I don't feel much pain anymore since my wounds have most likely healed considerably well, and will keep heeling until they are fully closed or mended." I said.

"As, so you've been blessed with a body built for recreation." Said Rena.

"Yeah, I suppose, but its a bit more complicated than that."

"I can see that the color of your shadow has many hues." She said. Just then before I said something else I heard a moan not to far to the side. I looked over and knew that It must be snowbelle finally clamoring back to consciousness. When I looked over to see her I saw that she was moaning and shaking her head. Both Rena and I stood up as snowbelle slowly started to get back up on her four hooves. We walked over to her just as she got back up and rubbed the back of her head.

"Ugh... My head." She muttered. "W-what happened?" She asked.

"We've been awaiting your return from your dark dream." Said Rena.

"W-what?" She said.

"You were knocked out. We won the battle and waited for you to return to consciousness." I said.

"Oh, was... Was there any more trouble while I was out?" She asked.

"No, we pulled through in one piece... Are you feeling alright?" I asked.

"Well, the back of my head hurts, and I'm a bit disoriented."

"Do you require numbness for the back of your mind?" Asked Rena.

"Uhm... No, I think I can live with it." She said. "Just give me a few seconds to get my bearing." She said. We waited for her as she walked away from us and over to her sword which was laying on the ground behind us. She shambled over , at first, but once she leaned down to pick up her sword and walked back I could tell that she was getting more down to earth. She sheathed her sword and walked over to us, "alright, I think I'll be fine... We should continue." She said.

"Is your mind ripe for the straining?" Asked Rena.

"I'll be alright." She said. I didn't have any argument so I focused my magic and summoned my armor to my body and it appeared in a vibrant flash of light along with my sword. I flapped my wings and trotted my hooves a bit to adjust to the armor and got ready to head out.

"Alright, shall we go in?" I asked.

"Do we have any kind of plan?" Asked snowbelle.

"I shall travel beyond this pack. When I return I shall bear gifts of knowledge comparable to any kind of map." Said Rena.

"So your going to scout out the area?" I asked.

"Correct." She said.

"Me and crimson will go on in and see if we can't find anything while you scout the area." Said snowbelle.

"Be careful." I said.

"I don't know who you speak to, I am no longer here." Said Rena as she then vanished in a puff of black smoke. I shrugged and decided to start taking a few steps into the gallows. Snowbelle followed close behind and we started to walk into the gallows. All around us were large buildings that seemed old and worn down. There was a vast system of alleyways all around us and we didn't know which was to go. Beyond all the regular buildings here there was a large, cathedral styled building behind many of the houses, towards the back of the gallows.

"Is that a church?" I asked still looking at the cathedral like building.

"It's a cathedral." She said... I knew it. "The guilty would be given last rites there after the execution and a gathering would be held there so that any onlookers could make peace or find reconciliation."

"How much do you wanna bet that the guy behind this all is somewhere in that church?" I asked.

"I don't really see any way that he couldn't be in there." Said snowbelle. We both agreed to head to the church first and we started making our way through the thin roads and past houses and other buildings. As we were walking along I could feel multiple presences all around us, hiding in the building we walked by, and I could tell that snowbelle could feel that we were being watched just by the way her head darted around from building to building.

"You feel it too right?" Is asked.

"Definitely." She said. "There's no doubt in my mind that we're being watched right now... But what I don't understand is why they don't attack us." She said.

"Me neither... They must be waiting for something." I said.

"Either that or it's some kind of trap." Added snowbelle.

"That too..." I said. Just then, right beside me a cluster of shadows figured itself to the shape of a pony and then gave form to Rena who now waltzed beside us. I've just noticed now that the way she walks in really a walk, it is more like a waltz, some kind of dance. There's no pattern to her steps. She'll drag a hoof now or then or maybe put a bit of a jump in her step, like she was dancing.

"I can see the road before us, it leads my hooves to the once holy building." She said.

"We had already figured that we should go to the cathedral." I said.

"I can feel the shadows of others lingering over me..." She said. "There are many."

"Yeah, we don't know why they haven't attacked us yet." Said snowbelle.

"Perhaps a play, some farce... A fly dances with the spider, only to be ensnared within the trappings of a web." She said. "We are the fly, but who are we dancing with, and what web have they spun?" I don't know why, but there's something about the way she talks which interests me. It all makes sense, and I can understand the words she's saying, but she has a very colorful way of speaking.

"The leader of this cult must want something with us." Added snowbelle. "If I remember the pony who controlled blood said that I would make a perfect sacrifice."

"The death warder spoke tales of your fate." Said Rena. "Are they true?"

"I'll be damned if I ever let them take me alive." She said.

"Don't worry, whatever this is, I'm sure we can handle it." I said.

"The lions heart bets by your dragon lungs." Said Rena. "Do you share the traits of other animals as well, have you the eyes of an eagle, the tongue of a snake, perhaps the ears of an owl."

"I think there's a little bit of all that in me." I said.

"I can smell it in your blood." She said. "I may have to mine your mind subsequent to the completion of our bloody task." Neither of us said anything after that and just kept walking on until we reached a clearing I front of the cathedral. The clearing was huge and in the center of it all was a large wooden stand with ropes hanging from a wooden pole running the length of the stand. It was the gallows themselves. The ground along the stand was forever stained with a deep, worn out red, like blood. On top of the gallows stood a pony in large metal armor. He wore a large hood which covered his face. He had two large black wings on either side of his body which he spread out eagle and a few black feathers came loose and floated to the ground. Just like the last pony we faught, the executioner, this pony was pretty big, and strong. On his back, he carried a scythe. I large wooden pole with a scythe head attached to it.

"A dark soul, with the tool of harvest, used to collect souls... He wears the mask of death." Said Rena.

"Yes, indeed I wear the mask of death. For three ponies to pass the gate keeper is an incredible feature, but now you face death." He said. "Are you prepared to die? Have you made your peace with this world?" The pony's voice was raspy. And sounded old...and familiar.

"Wait..." I said. "You wouldn't happen to be the leader of this interesting cult... Would you?" I asked.

"Is this true, are you the nightly wolf leading this pack of dark lambs?" Asked Rena.

"Indeed I am my Malkavian sweetheart." He said. "You may call me father Roseheart, the enlightened leader of this cult of shadows."

"How has your mind seen the light if you belong to the shadows?" Asked Rena.

"Don't worry yourself about such trivial things." He said. "I ask you however, why have you come to this place?"

"You tried to destroy the city with giant ice snakes... Or have you forgotten that?" I asked.

"Ah yes... I have seen that my plan has failed me. But nonetheless I will continue to carry out the will of our dark mother." He said.

"Who is this dark mother that you praise so dearly?" Asked snowbelle.

"She is the one with no name, the one who will come for us and deliver us from the blinding light and into the darkness. She will envelop us in her beautiful and everlasting night." He said. "What I wish to know is why you stand against me, Malkavian? Why does a child born of darkness in the night stand against me and my cause?" He asked directing his attention to Rena.

"Your shadow scars the sanctity of the after-dusk." She said. "Your mind is still young to the night, you are not of the night, you do not share in my madness..."

"You Malkavians have a beautiful mind. Completely envelpoed in madness you can see what others cannot, and you see the truth... Tell me child, what is the truth you see behind me?" Asked the pony.

"I see a dark two faced jester dancing in your shadow. The jest cries and laughs at the events of your life. In one hoof he holds a twisted rod, in the other... A bloody dagger."

"Is that so?" He said.

"The shadow of a dark queen lurks over you, her puppet strings burrow deeply into your soul, the only release is death... And I can bring you freedom." She said getting into a fighting stance and grabbing the strange dagger by her side with her mouth. She was able to grab the blade through the mask covering her muzzle and she gripped it tightly.

"A shame... A true shame." Said the pony. You there... The pony who dawns the armor of light... You are the noble warrior from Equestria... Is that so?" He asked.

"That is correct, I am from Equestria." I said. Without any means of warning, or without hesitation Rena suddenly lunged forward after the hooded pony with her knife in her jaw. She was by him in a moment of seconds, but her attack had failed. The old, hooded pony, with incredible speed and amazing strength swung the huge scythe in his wings and struck Rena with the top of the blade sending her flying. She flew across the large opening and hit the wall of a building then fell to the ground. She shuttered and attempted to get up and as she tried raising herself I could notice and massively deep slash cutting through her chest. Her hooves gave out and she fell to the ground.

"My my, how rude." Said the pony bringing his large scythe back into a resting position. I glared at him with anger after striking down Rena. "Oh dear pony of light, before we were so rudely interrupted I wished a question out of you." He said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I off to you... A duel, do you accept?" He asked.

"A duel?" I asked.

"Yes a duel... You and I, nopony else... Nothing held back, all weapons and magic are allowed, just the two of us in a noble duel." He said.

"Why...?" I asked. "You could easily outnumber all of us right now, why a duel between just the two of us?"

"The dark queen whispers to me. She has demanded that I duel you alone." He said. This guy is obviously crazy. "Should you emerge victorious then I decree that my followers abandon their righteous quest. And the cult will be no more. The others will not attack you, and will let you leave in peace."

"And if I should loose?" I asked.

"Then you are dead." I mulled it over for a second. There's no doubt me and snowbelle could take this guy two on one, but we would have to take out all of his cult followers, and that could leave us exhausted and we might not be able to take him then. But I know that I can beat this guy one on one.

"Alright then... I accept the terms of your duel." I said. The pony leapt from the gallows and landed on the ground. For an old pony he was surprisingly fit, which makes me think that there's something more to him than just the scythe and the mask.

"Then let us duel." He said. I decided to fit myself into character, and in order to beat this guy I figured I would have to meet him at his own level so I focused my energy into forming my mask and covering my face. One that was done I focused my energy once more and started the formation of a new weapon. Similar to his scythe. A circle of light enveloped the ground around me and a golden shaft slowly started to raise from the ground. It grew longer with wicked spikes at the base and a rounded staff for a good grip. Soon the blade started appearing and it jetted out from a golden mount to a pure white steel blade. The blade was sharp on all edges and pointed with a small curve to the blade, like a proper scythe. On the other end of the scythe blade was the beard of an axe, jetting out and also made of pure white steel. It made a perfect arch around the base and was sharp on all sides as well. I gripped the holy scythe with my wings and it was very lightweight. I spun the scythe around over my head and then stashed the bottom of the staff into the ground creating a small shockwave.

"Ah... A duel of deaths." Said the pony. "A battle written only in poems, the historic clash of the light and dark angels. A battle told to never end, but I guess that we will find a victor on this day." He said. I looked over to Rena to see how she was doing and snowbelle was already by her side trying to help her wounds. Snowbelle looked at me and she stared into my eyes with an invisible sense of determination. I looked away and to the pony across from me. He took a few steps forward and so did I and soon we both stopped when there was only a few feet of space between us. We glared at each other as a mild wind blew across the battlefield. And then suddenly he swung his scythe and I did the same. Both blades clashed and a burst of sparks was created between them. I spun the staff around again and spun my body for extra power as I brought the beard of the scythe up above and trusted it down at the pony. He placed his scythe in front of his and blocked with the staff.

He twisted his body and pushed my scythe away as he spun around quickly to strike but I leapt back and dodged the blow by only a mere inch. We stopped again and glared at each other. Another breeze passed by us and when it stopped I lunged forward. I attacked upward but he blocked, he spun out of the block to strike sideways but I dodged and quickly came back with a fierce strike from the tip of the scythe. He spun his staff with the direction of my strike and parried the attack away and went to strike again. I recovered from the parry quickly and just barely blocked his strike with the staff of my blade. I held my block and he pushed against it. We clashed for a few seconds before we both forced each other backwards and we both slid back creating a few feet of distance between us. We stopped for a moment and glared at each other once more.

I was surprised with my skill in the scythe, it feels somewhat natural to me. I think it might have been when I groaned with death for all that time, he must have worn off on me somehow. I gripped the base of the scythe tightly and got ready to clash once more. Before we clashed we kept staring at each other, bot of us waiting for the other to make the first move. I stood there and started thinking that I could get used to wielding a scythe, in fact I might have just made a new favorite weapon. Suddenly father Roseheart spun his scythe over his head and concluded with a vertical slash as a sharp wave of black energy exited the blade of the scythe and flew over towards me. I was surprised to see his use of magic, but I did expect that must know some magic. The blade. I quickly acted the same and slashed my blade upward creating a wave of white energy that cut towards the ground towards him. Both magical attacks hit and dispelled each other. I didn't put enough power into the attack since it was such a delayed reaction, but I stopped his along the way which is good enough.

"My my, it appears I have woefully underestimated your capabilities." He said.

"I was thinking the same thing." I said.

"Tell me, battle aside, where does you power grow from?" He asked. "Mine is from this blessed scythe. But I've seen you use power without any bodily attachments, where does this energy resonate from?" He asked.

"You could say that it comes from inside... But it's a bit more complicated than that. " I said. "Lets just say, that it was a well earned gift." I said. In this moment of time where we both stopped to look around I could see that ponies had gathered all around, out of the buildings they hid in to watch the battle go down. They all wore some kind of black clothing, mostly robes. I brought my attention back to the Roseheart because I can't afford to be distracted. I have had enough waiting and I lashed out towards him. I spun my scythe and lashed it toward him and he parried. We spun our scythes around ourselves and the blades would clash with every attempted attack. I leapt into the air and spun my body to increase the power of my next attack as I brought the beard of my scythe down onto his head, but he blocked it and I was forced back to the ground. I recovered before I crashed and managed to land gracefully on my hooves.

Father Roseheart slashed his scythe towards me and spikes of darkness shot from the ground and made their way to me. I quickly stomped my hooves and a wall of earth shot up from the ground, such as last time and the black spikes stuck into the wall. I turned around and bucked the back of the wall and it shot forward through the ground. It traveled towards father Roseheart who surprisingly leapt into the air to dodge it and landed back down on his hooves with ease. The wall continued and only stopped once it crashed into the large wooden gallows and destroyed both itself and the gallows completely. Father Roseheart lunged back at me and started spinning his scythe and throwing blows here and there. I kept blocking and parrying at each attack trying desperately to throw in an attack or two of my own, which ultimately resulted in having the attack countered and me having to dodge out of the way of a counter attack.

Father Roseheart lunged back at me and started attacking me once more with a ruthless barrage of attacks. It seemed like his attacks were air tight, there didn't seem to be any way through them. Until he threw an upward strike. I parried it with a downward strike of my scythes beard. My scythe hit the ground and for a moment time seemed to stop. I got a first glimpse at his position and in his attack I finally saw an opening. I quickly adjusted my pose, shifted my hooves in the ground and held onto the staff of my scythe as tightly as I could. Then I spun around focusing all my energy into the blade of my scythe. The scythe glowed bright white as I started to spin the blade started to leave the ground and on its way up. As it shot up from the ground it hit father Roseheart in the chest and he left the ground as I completed the full circle of my vicious strike. Roseheart was launched into the air and into the church as a large wave of white energy swirled around me and pushed everything back.

Roseheart flew through the air and crashed into the front of the church halfway between a stained-glass window and the stone carving on the building. The stained-glass window window shattered and the vibrantly colored pieces of glass fell from their large height to the ground, as well as pieces of broken stone fell from the building and hit the ground too. Everything was silent for a while as the dust that was kicked up from the impact started to settle again and the church stood there, with an open wound. The whole church was now visible since my stone wall shield had completely destroyed the gallows sitting in front of it. I looked forward and watched, and waited. I knew this wasn't over yet... And as if it was perfectly timed, the two large church doors slowly start to creak open, and then are violently forced apart as a wounded father Roseheart lazily saunters out of the building. The ponies around me started to cheer and holler. He walked out and I could see that even from here he was wounded, a large red gash ran across his chest, through his now torn robes.

"That really hurts you know." He said walking forward, scythe still being gripped tight in his wings. "And you broke a window too." He raised his scythe into the air and then brought it down as he let out a roar of energy. The tip of the scythe stabbed deeply into the ground with tremendous impact as large black spikes began to shoot out from the ground. Wave after wave of spikes shot out from bellow the earth and they began shooting out towards me. I quickly leapt into the air to dodge the spikes as they jetted past me and tore through everything else behind me. Even the other building and followers were torn apart by the attack until to eventually dissipated in the distance. I was still in the air now but a sudden feeling behind me made me turn in the air and look in horror as I saw father Roseheart right above me with his scythe held high in his wings. He spun in the air and slashed me with the back of the scythe.

The scythe hit me in the chest and I was forced back down to the ground. The scythe hit me with enough dark energy to completely shatter my chest plate and make a small cut across my chest. I rocketed towards the ground and made a small crater upon impact. The shattered pieces of my armor fell around me and I saw Roseheart skyrocketing towards me with the point of his blade aimed right at me. I quickly rolled over onto my hooves and pounced away as father Roseheart drove his scythe into the ground where I used to be. His scythe blade went all the way into the ground and a cloud of dust was kicked up around him. I settled myself and took a stance holding my scythe in my wings tightly. The dust around him began to settle and soon he was visible. He gripped his scythe and charged after me. I charge too. We started to run after each other and he prepared his scythe for an attack, but I had a different plan.

We charged after one another and instead of attacking head on and creating a collision I spun my scythe and stuck the end of the staff firmly in the ground. I gripped onto the scythe firmly and used the extra momentum to pick myself up into the air. Father Roseheart had already swung his scythe in an attack but I had leapt over it, still holding onto my scythe which was firmly planted in the ground. A spun around the staff of the scythe and used my energy to electrify my back hooves. As my body spun around the scythe I used all that momentum to kick my hooves out at Roseheart in one massive thunder buck. My hooves connected with his face and the impact sent him flying as he was struck with a burst of electricity. Bolts of lightning flew out from every direction and connected with whatever they could find, sometimes it was other onlooking ponies. Father Roseheart was blown away into a nearby building. The large wooden building crumbled away around him but he emerged with his mask broken. He walked out from the building and pulled off the mask to show his face.

He had two completely black eyes and snarling teeth. He had fangs, sharp ones. And it seemed like he was salivating some kind of black sludge from his mouth. I even saw that instead of bleeding from the wound on his chest he was oozing black slime as well. The way it oozed out of him definitely suggested that it was much thicker than blood. Black veins appeared around his eyes as he snarled at me and a black mist began to envelop his body. His scythe began to glow a dark black too. I knew that it wasn't going to be any easier from here, so I got back in a fighting stance and pulled my scythe from out of the ground and spun it a few times before taking hold of it again and gripping it tight. He took a fe steps forward, each time the energy radiating off of him was enough to crack the ground under his hooves.

"Now you've made me mad!" He exclaimed in a demonic sounding voice. Just then it seemed as if he was gone and then suddenly he appeared right in front of me with his scythe tearing through the ground. The scythe came up from the ground and hit me square in the chest. I used my magic at the last second to increase the density of my body to take the blow but it had already cut a decent way into me by then. I was launched into the air and as I spun willy another blow was dealt to my back as I was forced in another direction. Again and again in the air I was struck from all sides and angles forcing me aground the air until one strike to my side forced me down into the ground. I hit the ground making inn a crater and I laid there covered in cuts and blood. I could feel myself starting to fade away. My eyes grew heavy as a tall shadow stood over me and laughed with a scythe held in front of it.

I knew that my body had now been pushed to its limits. I closed my eyes and everything seemed to grow dark, and cold... Black almost, but it wasn't totally black, there was something here, a figure. A white figure approached me and soon started to take shape until I recognized the figure. It was Rena, she walked over to me and then she spoke to me.

"Hello crimson blast." She said.

"Rena, is that you?"

"Yes it is me, I'm inside of your subconscious, there is something you must know before I bring you back." She said.

"Wait, why aren't you speaking in your riddles?" I asked.

"I am no longer deranged, I'm outside of my own mad mind and inside of your... But I'm afraid in order to bring you back, I'm going to have to give you my madness." She said.

"Wait...what do you mean by that?" I asked, but before she answered her body burst into shards of light and drifted away bringing an even greater light with her. Soon everything was white and I could start to feel myself coming back to consciousness. I opened my eyes and sitting above my body was Rena. She had her hoof placed over my mouth and I could taste blood. Blood that wasn't my own. She pulled her hoof away from my mouth and there was a large bleeding gash on it. The pieces connected in my head and I figured it all out.

"Good new life crimson." Said Rena. "Welcome back to the mad, mad world... I've given you the nectar if my fruit so that you may know life still."

"You gave me your blood, but why, what does that do?" I asked.

"Brings you back..." She said. "But you must know the consequences of what I've done, if I had not brought you back right away you may have passed away." She said.

"Rena, I would have been fine, I would still be alright." I said.

"Irrelevant, the black lambs and their demented shepherd have stolen the ice princess and offer her body to their black god." She said.

"They've taken Snowbelle as a sacrifice?" I said.

"Yes, I evaded their eyes by hiding behind a mask of death along with you, but the ice princess melted under their shadows, she was not strong... Now the poor little ice fly is caught in a web of shadows." She said.

"We have to help her." I said. I got up from the ground and looked over at the church to see it was well lit up. It was night time now. The moon was in the air and the stars dotted the sky.

"It is the time of shadows... They believe that their shadows hold the true hue of night, but they are sadly mislead by some kind of wicked jester." She said.

"You said before, in my mind that you would have to give me your madness, what the hell does that mean?" I asked.

"I share in what is known, as Malkavian madness. My eyes show me truthful visions of the world our shadows darken. These visions twist our minds collectively over the span of times lengthy arms. In saving you, I have given unto you this, a blessing or curse, you decide." She said.

"I don't get it what Is thi-" I stopped suddenly at the strangest sight behind Rena. It was some kind of pony dressed up in a jesters outfit with a twisted rod in his hoof and a golden crown on his head. He was dancing around behind Rena and laughing like there was nopony watching him. I stared at him intently and soon Rena caught on and looked back.

"Ah, the king jester welcomes you to this mad world of ours." She said. "Only time can mentor you in what these visions mean. Listen carefully little fly, can you hear the secrets that he whispers?" Rena asked.

"HAHAHA... A sacrifice, a good night for a bloody moon don't you think." Said a voice. It was the jester, I could actually hear him. "Do you think that when they spill her blood the dark demon they praise so much will care... Hahaha probably not." He said. Then I heard another voice behind me. It sounded raspy this time.

"You wish to sssave the girl?" Asked a voice. I looked back behind me to see a white snake coiled up on the ground with its head in the air looking at me. "She lies beyond those holy forgotten doors."

"The bitch bleeds at midnight! The bitch bleeds at midnight!" Said the black jester over and over again in some sort of sick chant.

"This is insane, how can you live with this?" I asked backing away. I had accidentally stumbled over the snake and I could actually feel it so if caused me to trip, it was like it was actually there. I fell to the ground but immediately picked myself back up.

"I do not live with it... It lives with me." Said Rena. "In time the visions fade and the voices dull, words do not carry as much meaning, but simply blend in the with colors of the world and the differences of madness and reality fade into one collective shadow that looms over our minds."

"I can't believe you did this to me." I said. I really hope she's right and this does end up getting better, because this is ridiculous, I can't live my life like this I'll be as mad as her.

"Do not sit so closely to fear, you are a half blood, this madness does not take it vital tolls on your life, though it will linger around asking for its dues." She said. "It was something that must have been done, better my blood meet your mouth than the ice princesses blood meet the ground." She said. Rena did have a point. But I really wasn't expecting father Roseheart to be so overpowered, I'm going to have to pull out all the stops for this fight.

"Alright... Thank you. Now that I'm healed I can fight to save Snowbelle, and I promise that this time there will be no mercy." I said.

"Words that ring soundly. Go then, I must grow my roots here. Between blood that has been lost and that has been given I cannot meet the expectations of my blade, but you have my words of motivation." She said. "Let the flowing blood of your enemies carve a canyon in the stone of this church." She said.

"Thank you. Sit here and rest, I promise I'll get snowbelle back." I said. I turned around to the church to see a group of ponies dressed up in different kinds of jester outfits gathering around the door of the church. I started making my way over to the church growing more restless with ever step. Every inch closer top the church I got my body began to glow brighter and bright and more pieces of my armor attached themselves to my body. My full set of armor shone across my body and a halo rested above my head. I stretched my wings out and they opened up in a glowing flurry of white sparks that fluttered through the air towards the ground. I used my magic to summon the scythe I used before to my side and once it was here I gripped it tightly with my wings and finally approached the door. The jester ponies around the door fled at the sight of me and hid behind the corners of the church whispering things to each other.

I focused a tremendous amount of energy to the front of my body and then dispersed it into one massive blast of energy that tore the large wooden doors to ribbons. The two large doors did not only blow off their hinges but they burst into pieces. Large pieces of wooden shrapnel fired out into the church. Once the doors were gone and pieces of it tore through the air I could see what was going on. It was like some kind of unholy mass. Snowbelle laid on the altar still in her armor with chains tying her to the large stone her stood father Roseheart who still resembled that dark figure I saw before, oozing black sludge with dark eyes full of evil and hatred. All around the church were hooded ponies gathered in some kind of sick congregation. Not only that, but my newly developed madness showed me strange things as well. The altar was surrounded my snakes, black snakes that slithered around the base of the altar. Behind father Roseheart was a large dark figure of a mare who held up two large puppet controls with the strings leading from the wooden controls all the way down to father rose hearts appendages. Every move he made th black figure corresponded with the correct movement of the controls.

The pieces of wooden shrapnel that I sent flying threw the air scattered through the first half of the church. Some ponies were either ripped apart by smaller pieces coming their way, or injured by the larger pieces of wood that flew through the air. I took a few steps into the church and already I had the attention of everypony in the room. All their eyes fell on me each one with different emotions and feelings. Each pony in the room had some kind of strange being behind them as a result of my madness, it was hard to keep track of them all. I hope that this madness that Rena gave me doesn't turn me into a vampire... Because that would suck, literally.

"SO IT LIVES!" Father Roseheart shouted from behind the altar so that his voice could reach me. "I'll be sure to take your head off your shoulders this time." He said already preparing for battle by grabbing his scythe that was holstered on his back and spinning it around himself.

"I'll be sure that doesn't happen." I said. "No holding back this time, it's time you learned the full extent of my power."

"Then come after me... I'll show you what power is." Said Roseheart seeming with black energy. He slashed his scythe towards me firing out anther wave of black energy that came rocketing towards me. It cut through several other pony cultists on its way over to me but I had already raised an invisible barrier around myself. The black wave of energy hit my shield and it glowed brightly quickly dispelling the attack. The bright glowing shield quickly went back to being invisible and I started taking a few steps into the large building. "Go now brothers and sisters, purge this white night of his own volition, spill his heathen blood onto the ground." Preached father Roseheart. Suddenly the other cultists were somewhat empowered by a strange energy that seeped up from the ground. They writhed in pain for a second but once that was over they look over at me with glowing red eyes full of hatred, and they came after me relentlessly.

A group of cultists to my left charged at me relentlessly with twisted daggers and rusted swords in their jaws, their eyes glowing burning red. As they charged at me I could hear them screaming, but their mouths weren't moving. I could see inside of them, and hear the screams of their tortured souls. I focused my energy around the group and hyper compressed the air around them, ultimately causing them to implode. Blood spilled everywhere in conjunction with flesh and bits of bone and organs. The once group of several ponies was now a pile of meat on the ground. Blood splattered everywhere and even covered me. And through my eyes their blood was strange, it wasn't just red like normal blood some had different tints and hues to them. That's probably a side affect of what Rena did to me. I felt somewhat bad, but the screaming had stopped the moment I killed them.

Another group to my right started to charge after me but without movement I summoned a wave of spikes to shoot up from the ground. The great spikes of bright light burst from the ground under the poor souls and stained that once area of the church red as well. Ponies were skewered and torn to ribbons. In front of me a group of ponies had already reach me and one pony slashed his sword at me. I dodged and spun my scythe and it cut through the top half of his skull. The top part of his head fell of from the rest of his body as he fell limp. Another pony attacked and I blocked it. I spun my scythe out of the block and brought the point of the blade down on the ponies head. It entered his skull and burst out the bottom of his jaw and his eyes stopped glowing and rolled back in his head. I pulled the scythe out along with a short stream of blood and the pony fell to the ground. I spun the scythe fluently from the pull and lashed it towards a pony behind me. I sliced him across the stomach as he was about to preform an overhead attack and all of his inner organs spilled out onto the floor along with blood and water. He clenched his gut and fell to the ground.

I twisted my body without spinning the scythe and when I pulled the scythe to me I cut through the air with such a mighty blow that it cleaved straight through six ponies in front of me. They all fell to the ground now in pieces as blood leaked out onto the ground even more. I raised my scythe up high and forced the tip of the blade into the ground creating a massive wave of energy to burst forth and tear through the ground towards the left side of the altar. It cleaved through many ponies and dispelled once it crashed against the far west wall of the church. I pulled the scythe from the ground and spun it with great force. I focused my energy and a long horizontal wave of energy cut through the air and cleaved through a whole bunch of ponies to my right. They fell to the ground cut in half spilling out vital organs which aren't going to do them much good the way they are now. I brought my scythe back to a rest like position and held it tightly. Even under his control, the other ponies were now afraid of me and started to back away.

"Fools, destroy him... I demand it!" Shouted Roseheart. The ponies just started to back away.

"It's over Roseheart... It's all over, you're going to fall here today, under the name of a true god." I said making my way slowly over to him. He stood infant of the altar blocking my view of snowbelle.

"A TRUE GOD!" He shouted radiating with great energy. "You don't love a God, you love your comforts. An illusion you hide behind. We are the unholy, we are the bastard sons of your flawed culture. Our minds, eyes, and bodies were born of your exclusion. To you we are filth but in her eyes, we are the blessed children of our dark mother... I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT A TRUE GOD IS!" He said. With that he bolted towards me and it seemed like he was in front of me in an instant, but I was prepared. He swiped his scythe at me, but I parried. He slashed and swiped at me with every passing second, but I blocked and parried them all. I kept my scythe moving fluently around my body and he struck me once more, but I blocked. I spun the scythe around my body and slashed him across the chest. He grunted in pain and backed away bleeding. Behind him I could still see the vision of the large hooded mare, only her mouth was visible past her hood and the was still pulling father Roseheart's strings. But I saw her smile, and she let go of the controls and suddenly she was gone and there were no more strings attached to Roseheart. And I could see that he knew it too, for his confidence was now gone and his face was washed over with fear.

The blow to the chest that I had given him now seemed to take even more of a toll on him as he yelled out in pain and gripped his chest. All of his power seemed to vanish as his scythe crumbled to dust, his robes burst to smoke and the black slime in his body became blood once more, he was normal again. I could see the absolute fear in his eyes, the look of utter abandonment. He knew as well as I that whoever that mare was that pulled his strings is gone, and with it she took all of his powers and abilities. He was now at my mercy, and I wasn't feeling very merciful today.

"No... Dark mother PLEASE!" He shouted into the open air. All of the ponies watched as they had now been lifted of their cursed hold. "Why have you forsaken me mother? Why have you forsaken me... Why can't I hear your voice!? Please mother, let me hear your voice!" He said trying his best not to choke on his own words. Tears streamed down his face, like a filly that's lost her mother, he cried out to his own dark mother. His mind was gone I could see several jesters in black clothing and skull shaped masks dancing around him and laughing. I don't know what that means exactly, but I can tell that it isn't good.

"Your..."God"... Has forsaken you, do you truly believe that there was hope?" I asked.

"No, she'll return... She'll bring her darkness with her and I WILL BE HER ONLY SON!" He shouted. "You'll see, you'll all see..."

"I'm sorry, but for disturbing the balance of good and evil you must be punished." I said.

"What is this you speak of?" He asked. "You can't touch me!"

"You planned to usher in an unholy evil on this world, and planned to bring with you darkness and sorrow, you've spilt the blood of the innocent and have conceded in darkness. You must be dealt with... May your soul find rest, in heaven or in hell." I said standing over him and raising my scythe up into the air. I poured all of my energy out of me and light broke through ever gap, and every hole in the church, like the sun had been resting right outside of the church itself. I glowed brightly with great holy energy and I saw the expression change of father Roseheart's face from fear... To awe. I swung my scythe down, and parted his mind from his body. I stood there holding my bloodied scythe for a moment as the light started to fade away and I stood there in my armor glowing vibrantly. I let out a deep sight and holstered my scythe over my back and turned towards the altar. I started to make my way over stepping through all of the dead bodies, pools of blood, and piles of meat.

As I walked to the altar all of the other cultists just stared at me and backed away if I got too close. At one point a cultist ran up to the altar with a knife and cut the ropes that were binding snowbelle, then he ran away back into the crowds brushed off to the side. I walked up to the altar and looked down at snowbelle who had fallen unconscious again. She laid there in her armory it's her eyes closed. I picked her up and put her over my back and turned around. I started making my way to the exit. As I grew closer and closer to the doors I could see outside that it was still late. If I had to guess it had just turned midnight. I walked up to the doors but stopped before exiting and turned around to face all of the other ponies who took a step back as I turned around.

"I don't know who you all are, and I don't care to remember your faces, so you are safe... I won't come after you. I don't know if you have joined this cult of your own volition or if you were forced into it, whichever is the case, remember me, and never forget the events that have occurred here... May it bring some light to you lives." I said as I then turned and left the church and walked out. Into the open area in the gallows. I could see Rena standing there looking at me. I walked over to her and smiled. "Thank you Rena, you may have caused my mind to go mad, but if it were not for you snowbelle may have been killed." I said. "I don't understand the visions that I see, or why I see them, but I have found a positive side to them."

"What might this be?" She asked.

"They're just what you told them to be... Truths... Not hallucinations." I said.

"I hear and see truths, the shadows of our ancestors dance in our mind and tell us the secrets of those who stand in our shadows." She said. "Many believe this to be a sickness of the mind, but it is not a sickness, it is a present... Passed down in blood, and I've passed my blood to you, you're welcome." She said.

"I suppose we should go our separate ways." I said.

"Look at your shadow." She said. I thought that strange but when I look down I could see that the light from the church caused me and Rena to cast shadows. Our shadows on the ground seemed to have chains running between them, like we had been tied together with chains, even though there were no actual chains to cast these shadows.

"What does this mean?" I asked.

"It means that our paths have not concluded in crossing." She said. "I believe that our means meet the same end." She said. "You wish to cure this frozen world of its ailment, as do we... It has been long since we fled our home, and a little birds has told our clan master of glorious news, our home is once more lively, we wish to return, but these waters are black with death and poison strong enough to eat the wood of any bow and sink ships of godly size." She said.

"So you want to go home, well I guess we do have a common goal." I said. "You're very much welcome to come with us, we leave tomorrow to find the answer to all these questions that have been bothering us for such a long time. We're going to meet at the docks since we are expecting an airship."

"And what precious cargo is carried on this cloud surfing ship?" She asked.

"A couple of friends who are vital to the mission, they're going to be our backup from Equestria." I said.

"Ah, an extra garrison of power." She said. "I will keep my expectations low so that my excitement will be greater for their arrival." She said. "I too will seek out a following to help lighten our path on this journey... I may be able to find a kindred torch or two."

"So then we go our separate ways for now?" I asked.

"Or ways cannot leave each other once fate has crossed our paths. We will simply be together over a longer distance." She said.

"Well, alright then. Have a good night Rena, I need to get back to the castle and get some sleep... I've also got to let the knight commander know that I'm not dead."

"Every night is a good night, fare thyself well guardian angel. May the shadow of death evade you, and I look forward to the scent of your blood tomorrow. I'm no longer here." She said disappearing in a burst of black smoke. I smiled and let out a sigh. I started to focus all of my available energy and my body began to glow brightly until, in a flash of white light and a burst of energy, I was gone with snowbelle. There was a bright flash and another burst of energy at the gardens of the castle as me and snowbelle suddenly shuttered into existence. The aura around me faded and my body began to dull. The armor I wore broke off like cracked glass and fell to the ground bursting into clouds of dust as soon as it hit the ground. I kept making my way along the path to the castle with bits of my armor falling down off of me. I made it to the inner ring and walked my way to the west wing. All of the guards patrolling the halls just look over at me.

I lazily started to make my way through the halls carrying snowbelle over my back. I could see visions in the halls. Purple curtains littered the walls that I knew weren't actually real. I saw a guard walk past me and behind him was a black lion which walked in pace with him and stayed behind him at all times. I took a few more steps before I got to knight commander merideths office. The pony standing guard looked at me suspiciously but I glared him in the eyes and he moved out of the way. I placed my hoof on the door which had a strange symbol painted on it, i couldn't tell if it was real or not, but it looked very real. It looked like a seven, but with various lines cutting through it. I have no idea what it means, and I don't care... I'm tired. I pushed the door open and walked into the brightly lit office. I walked in and used what little energy I had left to close the door behind me. Knight commander Merideth was in her chair and she had the most shocked look on her face when she saw me.

"Holy shit!" She exclaimed. "Damn, I guess your friend was right, you aren't dead after all. And I see that snowbelle is just fine as well, I guess I underestimated you." She said. "when it turned around ten or so I honestly thought you two were dead."

"no were fine… more or less… probably less." I said. "we do owe some of our success to a local malkavian named Rena."

"ah shit, you worked with one of those freaks?"

"Is…is that a problem?" I asked.

"no…no, I suppose not, its just that whenever we try and get involved with them it usually ends up badly for both sides. Besides, I can never understand a damn word those blood suckers say." She said. "When did you meet her, later on when the sun fell I suppose?"

"Uh, no… we picked her up along the way, sometime around noon." I said. "But hearing myself say that it sounds kinds strange."

"oh, she must have been a day walker." Said Merideth. "A nifty group of vampires that don't burn up in daylight, but they lose most of their strength and almost all their vampiric powers."

"day walker huh." I said. "that explains a lot. But she said that we would eventually cross paths again, I think that she might show up tomorrow to help us out with our quest." I said.

"Why would they want to do that?"

"I believe she mentioned returning home." I said. "Yeah, she said that she and the rest of the Malkavians wanted to head back home but they can't because of the problems going around lately."

"Damn, I was hoping that they wouldn't try and involve themselves… but I suppose it cant be helped. As long as they don't try and suck the blood from my guard I suppose their assistance couldn't hurt."

"Do you have something against them?" I asked.

"Not personally, I just don't really like the way they interoperate the world. You've probably noticed this for yourself but they're all completely mental. Every one of them, some have it worse than others. There isn't a single Malkavian that doesn't speak in some kind of riddle or have some strange bipolar disorder, and they always talk about these truths that they see, like some kind of meaningful vision, its all absurd."

"Well, let's just say that it runs much deeper than what you think." I said

"How do you know?"

"Just trust me, I know." I said. She looked at me for a few seconds and let out a deep sigh.

"Alright… well tomorrow is going to be a big day, and it's around midnight, so get some sleep crimson, why don't you leave snowbelle here, I'll make sure she gets her bearings and then send her off to get some sleep as well.

"Alright." I said agreeing with Merideth. She had me put Merideth on her own bed in the other room and I was soon off to the guest chambers in the north wing. With snowbelle off my back, literally, I was able to get around a little bit quicker and I soon found myself at the door to the guest room. I still had mad visions dancing around my head. They were all kinds of things, shadows of things that weren't there, ponies wearing outfits and strangely colored animals slithering or walking around with no particular pattern to it at all. When I looked at the door to the guest room there was a little red heart painted onto it which had a crack through the middle of it. That was never there before, and im sure it must be a part of this malkavian madness. I ignored it and opened the door to the room and slowly peered inside. Just as I poked my head through and started to make my way in I saw twilight who sat on the opposite end of the bed with her back towards me. Next to her sat a fox, a white fox. The fox turned towards me and nudged twilight and she turned her head. She looked back towards me and then smiled at seeing me. She quickly rushed over and jumped at me giving me a big hug.

"Oh thank god you're alright." She said. "You've been gone all day, I thought something might have happened." She said.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." I said. "There were just a few problems here and there, but me and snowbelle are just fine, it was just a really long and boring mission." I said obviously lying to her. I looked back at the white fox that stayed on the bed and it stared back at me with purple eyes. I was pretty sure that it was just my mind, just the madness, but the way it nudged twilight and how she turned around at the same time was kinda strange, so I did have to ask… but discretely. "So did anything happen on your end?" I asked.

"No, not much… I've just been at the castle worrying, and talking with runestar."

"What have you been talking to runestar about?"

"Just a couple random things." She said pulling out of the hug we shared and walking back over to the bed. "But don't worry about it, it's late and you must be exhausted. We need to get some rest before tomorrow; it's going to be a big day."

"Yeah you're right." I agreed. "Let's get some sleep." So me and twilight both went over to the bed and crawled into it. We turned off the lights and tried to get some sleep. The white fox had strangely disappeared and was nowhere to be found which convinced me that it wasn't real. So I was able to go to bed soundly. There weren't any voices whispering in my head, and no visions dancing through the room. It wasn't only until later that night that I heard a voice call out to me clear as day. I slowly woke up and heard the voice behind me call my name. I quickly turned around in the bed to see that it wasn't twilight or another pony talking to me, but the white fox. I looked at it strangely and it looked back to me.

"You know, there is a better way of going about these things." Said the fox. It was speaking to me.

"What the… you… you can't be real, you're just a vision from the malkavian madness." I said.

"I'm only as real as you want me to be." He said in a very scholarly voice. "But if you want the true answer, the answer that you're hoping to hear, then…yes, I am just a vision, but then again so are we all. The only difference between what you think as being real and what's fake is how many others can see it."

"But… I, I don't understand." I said.

"Come with me, the bedroom is no place for these conversations." Said the fox leaping gracefully off the bed. I quietly snuck out too and we both left the bedroom and out into the dark hall. "You're new, to this experience… I can only address it as such because there's no real way of labeling what you see here. Many have called it the Malkavian madness, but that's such a crude name." said the fox. "Just because you can't see us doesn't mean we're really here. You now see both the physical world and the truth behind all of these things."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Think of it as looking behind the mask, you get to see others for what they really are. And your eyes can unlock all the secrets of the world around you." He said.

"alright, but what are you?" I asked.

"I am the same… I belong to your friend, twilight sparkle." He said. "I'm her…" he said.

"how is it that you're a male then?" I asked.

"In this place gender is unimportant. I am I depiction of her inner self, her emotions, her morals, and her life." He said. "As she changes and grows stronger as do I, change in appearance or speech."

"That explains why you sound and act so smart." I said.

"Yes, I could tell you everything you would ever need to know about twilight sparkle, even the things she would never admit herself." Said the fox. "but I won't, simply because I refuse… but if you were to ask others they might, if you can provide them favors, perhaps, or trade secrets with them."

"Uh, okay…"

"Are you understanding this?"

"Not really but go on."

"It may be confusing, I've decided to act as a tutor of my own volition." He said. "just remember that you now see into a world of symbolism, and you haven't even scratched the surface… you're just a Halfling, not a full blooded malkavian, you can't even see a fraction of the things they do, which is why they might call their condition, a madness… it makes sense, a pony can only take in so many voices and pictures at once before losing some sanity."

"alright, I think I get it." I said.

"it's not going to be easy crimson, but I will aid you as a guide. But if you want my best opinion, get some sleep, you've got a busy day tomorrow." Said the white fox trotting away down the halls. I just watched as he walked away and disappeared in the darkness. I just brushed it off and walked back into the bedroom. I crawled back under the covers next to twilight and laid down. I closed my eyes and tried to get to sleep but it was a bit hard at first. It took some time but I finally managed to get some sleep and was whisked away to a world of dreams. Im excited for the next day, and im starting to grow very impatient. I know that I cant keep messing around, I need to be more carefull from now on. But this malkavian madness does have me somewhat confused. I'm sure if I can ask somepony like Rena about it then she could be able to clear it up.

If I can even understand a word that she says…

-Authors Note: okay, so some of you are probably like: "who da fuk is dis Rena bitch!?" well i promise you that she is an important part of something else later on. the whole madness thing is going to be one of the very important changes that are going to happen. i can promise you that the malkavian madness is going to persist into the sequel of this story. Rena does actually play an important part of the next story after all of this business is done. i know it may be a bit hard to understand, but dont worry im going to put something in here that's a bit more easy to help you understand if you dont already get it, and NO, crimson isn't going to become a vampire... that would be ridiculous. also: bonus points if you can name the source i used to reference the whole thing with the malkavians.

so i hope you guys enjoyed this new installment, the second part of what i was working on, and make sure to leave a review and follow the story. i'll be working on the next chapter of unforgiven along with the next chapter of reborn so expect one of those to come out sometime within the next week, probably. if you guys have any ideas or suggestions be sure to send me a PM with any ideas and i hope you guys have a great day/night/life...thing.

-Stay Shady~