"How long is this gonna be again? It feels like we've been in this carriage for hours!"
Spike whines loudly as he sits in Sunny's lap. The martial wizard pops a cork off a bottle of wine with the Ripple before shoving it in the dragon's mouth.
"Here drink this! It'll make you patient, lad!"
Twilight uses her magic to pull the bottle from Spike's mouth as he gulps down a mouthful.
"Mr. Zeppeli! A child should not drink alcohol at such a young age!"
"It ain't like I'm having him chug vodka!"
Spike speaks up as he grabs at the air.
"I've drank the stronger stuff before! I can last longer than even Speedwagon!"
The thug frowns at his young cohort with a red face.
"T-That's nothin' to be proud of! Ms. Sparkle's right, y'know!"
Sunny giggles with a roll of her wrist, bringing the bottle back to Spike, much to her student's own shock.
"As a dragon, he should prepare for battle more than any of us, after all zombies and vampires are weakened by such things as dragon's fire."
Speedwagon wrestles the bottle out of Spike's grasp.
"Man's Fire, Dragon's Fire, Hellfire, none o' it kills th' undead! Th' Ripple is th' only deal sealer, right?!"
Zeppeli sighs as he takes out another bottle.
"That isn't completely true, technically. A zombie can be killed so long as the brain is destroyed, same for thralls, but not vampires of the Stone Mask. There is one other way, but it's a form of advanced Ripple, something I've only heard whispers of originating in the Middle East and even Africa..."
He then sneers at Twilight and JoJo as he pours his own glass of wine with no problem despite the constant shaking of the carriage.
"Besides, I bet you two drank plenty at his age!"
Twilight fumes with embarrassment. She had a fixation on the taste of wine for a long time, only for Trixie to sour the taste for her, as she would always sprinkle something in Twilight's glass.
JoJo never knew her secret as it would only lead to him drinking himself. She knew his answer would do well to support her own.
"Father would be sure we had a full glass with our dinner every night. In fact, didn't you used to sneak bottles to your room, Twilight?"
He flinches under the harsh gaze from Twilight and only smiles as a response.
"Traitor... And after all the times I would sneak chocolate to your room! I defended you!"
"M-More like bribed..."
"What was that?!"
Zeppeli and Sunny laugh until the carriage stops upon entering a tunnel. They keep their smiles as they glance at each other before Sunny puts Spike down.
"Spike? Stay in here with Speedwagon. JoJo? Twilight? Come with us outside."
"Huh? Why can't we go outside?"
Speedwagon nearly objects as well, but his nose picks up something foul, a familiar scent that has him take hold of Spike.
"T-The ferryman must be acting stingy. They're just going to see if he'll take us a bit further, Spike."
"Ooh!~ That means more wine for me!"
"Wha-?! No! Stop pullin' so hard damn you!"
The two cause the whole wagon to shake as the rest of the party leaves to investigate outside. Immediately, Twilight gasps in abject horror at a ghastly sight.
One of the horses decapitated and the driver wears the head like a large visceral mask as his body riddled with serrated blades brutally shoved inside. Sunny tilts her hat further down her eyes as Zeppeli holds an arm out in front of her.
"Allow me."
"This is your area of expertise."
"JoJo! Watch carefully! We've entered an area of pure darkness, the only light is the exit behind us which illuminates far too faintly to be effective, this is the first of many ambushes that await us!"
JoJo becomes tense as he watches the body of the horse move as if alive in awkward convulsions. From the fresh stump leaps out a terrifying looking man. Bare chested with several open wounds, knives tucked in his waist kept up by a tight belt, he lands with an acrobatic flip further into the darkness cackling.
Zeppeli pokes a hole in the bottom of his wine bottle before filling the wine glass as the thrall shouts boisterously.
"Dio made me an immortal!~ He said to kill you bunch first! Then, anyone else I want, so be happy! You get to be famous victims of Jack the Ripper!"
The thrall flexes his body before holding his breath. From the open wounds shoot out knives towards the party at high speeds. Before Twilight could lift her hand to stop them, they had been shot out of the air, and smoldering wounds appear on Jack's body. JoJo saw it all.
Zeppeli had spat out wine from his glass that spun like discs. These discs did not just deflect the knives, they bisected them, and graze the body of the undead thrall.
"W-What?! How did you do that!? W-What's this pain!"
Twilight stares at the intently before turning around with a shout. Her aura glowing bright with a jagged surface as a ferocious figure is paralyzed in her magic. Out from the darkness crawls a horned black humanoid figure layered in inconsistent spikes. The horn glows a bright red before an explosive force disrupts her magic.
She flies back into JoJo's arms as the creature shrieks at them both, but is distracted by Sunny as she erects a wall between it and her allies, the creature hisses at her bearing fangs. Sunny shakes her head sighing.
"Twilight, this one is a victim of a darkness from Equestria, this is the fate that you and I were saved from."
Zeppeli watches in annoyance as Jack takes the knives at his belt into his hands.
"JoJo! Twilight! It's time for a lesson. Consider what your foe will do next!"
Sunny entraps the monstrous figure's horn alone.
"Our kind of foe would use their magic to disrupt our own! While his would go as far to block out any sunlight!"
The cursed Equestrian shrieks at Sunny, restrained by the elder unicorn who forces it to the knees, but Jack takes cackles before taking hold of the wagon. Immediately, the demi-goddess gasps as she watches the creature lift the wagon with ease, even with the added weight of the horses.
Spike and Speedwagon barely leap out in time to avoid becoming one with the rubble the descends from above. The vampiric subhuman threw the entire horse carriage at the entrance of the tunnel causing the ceiling to collapse. In the midst of the chaos the corrupted puppet breaks free with a self-contained force of explosive magic.
Sunny clicks her tongue as she watches her prisoner hastily crawl along the walls of the tunnel to reach Jack.
"Of course... There may be times when your enemy may prove to be unpredictable."
Zeppeli snickers as the lesser vampire begins to stab at himself. Each swing creates a strange illusion in the air, as if slicing the idle wind apart, Jack stabs through both his cheeks yet speaks without hesitation.
"I knew it! I'm invincible! I'm superior! This pain is nothing! I feel nothing!~ Gyahaha!"
"What a foul soul you must have been before your death. What stands before us is but a doll of flesh. I assume you lot are familiar with fleas? Tell me, Twilight."
Jack lunges for the magician with knife aimed to stab Zeppelin in the head. Twilight holds her hand out to stop him but is intercepted by the Equestrian. Despite this, Zeppeli continues.
"Small creatures, frail insects that attack humans in great number. Are they what one could call, brave?"
Zeppeli grins as Jack's knife is halted. The Italian man used his wine bottle to stop the knife, the bottom half breaking apart, yet enough of it remains to hold Jack in place.
"Of course not! Listen closely, JoJo! Bravery, is knowing fear! Making fear your own!"
He disarms Jack of his knife before swinging a chop onto the thrall's hand, severing and obliterating the limb entirely; Jack stumbles back in abject horror.
"T-The pain...! It's! It's! It's real?! A-Aah!"
"Watch carefully you two! When fearful, your breathing becomes irregular! Therefore, controlling your fear allows you to breathe regularly! The Ripple Breathing Method is the manifestation of human bravery!"
Zeppeli is enveloped by the magic, but much like how Dio had done in the mansion, he breaks free of the magical hold as his own fiery aura surrounds him. Sparks and bolts of strange singing energy course in his leg as he leaps forward to Jack.
"No matter how strong or powerful they are, zombies such as this one will never know bravery, they are no better than fleas! SendÅ Wave Kick!"
He strikes Jack in the face sending the creature falling back with a few pathetic rolls. Zeppeli lands with grace and takes a sip of his wine. Twilight stares in awe at the holy aura which surrounds the Ripple Warrior.
"The Ripple is human magic... Ah! He hadn't even spilled a drop of wine during that whole exchange! This man...!"
Sunny giggles shaking her head at her apprentice's reaction.
"Fearsome isn't he? Humans are such fascinating creatures. Don't get caught with your mouth hung open though. It's your turns now."
"H-Huh?"
Jack sits up. half of his face melting away with smoke searing off the burnt side as tears fall from his remaining eye.
"Wrrry! I won't let you leave this place alive... Damn you! Damn you!"
He leaps to the ceiling where a sword is stuck. Rather than use it as a weapon, he pulls on it like a lever, an secret pathway opens in the wall besides the corrupted Equestrian.
While the blackened monster remains low and hissing, Jack dives for his life to escape into the pitch blackness, leaving the party to deal with the unholy unicorn. Sunny glances to Twilight and JoJo.
"Well? She won't wait forever you know! Go on Twilight! JoJo, stay back and let her handle this!"
Twilight nods and immediately faces the possessed enemy. A blast from it's horn and from Twilight her hands, their magic clashes in a beam struggle, yet Twilight proves to be the stronger. It stumbles back from the concussive force of the attack, the horn alone changed, destroyed with only a colorful spot exposed underneath the obsidian coating.
"Like vampires, the evil magic that haunts us cannot act in the presence of warmth and love, and there's no greater source of such a force than the heart!"
The imprisoned puppet advances upon her but stumbles as Twilight sends a wave of her magic across the ground. It's legs are freed yet unresponsive, forcing it to crawl towards her with a torturous howl, a shriek of pain and misery.
"These scourged souls cannot be felled with hatred or animosity, for that is the magic which fuels the spell that binds them to this darkness, only the magic of friendship can save them! Do you understand now, Twilight?"
Twilight nods as she focuses intensely before enveloping the unfortunate soul in her magic once more. Without the false horn's aid they are paralyzed with the remaining black layer breaking apart. A young girl falls on her side with a faint moan. She's carried into Sunny's arms by her own magic.
"There is a reason why you alone were saved from Equestria. I still can't explain it, but only you can dispel the Dark King's curse, you are Equestria's last hope."
Twilight looks at her teacher concerned, then to her hands as a great weight comes over her upon realization of the responsibility she bears, unable to process this she shakes her head.
"W-What about George, Trixie, even you?!"
"Oh I tried!~ Several ponies did! You were so young and the situation so dire, you saved us when he had cornered us, and sent King Sombra into a temporary panic."
"So saving Equestria is all on me...?"
Zeppeli shakes his head before he tosses the wine glass all the way over to JoJo.
"Not at all!~ You've got him. However, if he fails his test, me and Sunny are going to abandon you both."
Twilight snaps at him shocked before growling.
"What!? Just when I was starting to think you were admirable! How could you put all that time into us and just leave?"
JoJo puts a hand on her shoulder giving her a stern look.
"Let's hear this out first, Twilight."
Zeppeli points to the wine glass ignoring the irate girl.
"The test is simple. Defeat that walking red-headed miscarriage without spilling a drop of wine. If you can't beat him, you've got no chance against Dio, let alone his army of the dead."
JoJo glares into the dark hole before venturing within. Twilight begins to follow him only to be stopped by Zeppeli.
"He has to do this on his own. If he can't rely on his own strength than he can't hope to be any use to you."
"Any use to me? How could you be so cruel...!? Sunny, tell him!"
Twilight looks to her master pleadingly but is met with a pitiful frown.
"Zeppeli has a point. As much as we want to hold our friends close, sometimes that can be a weakness we may be unable to recognize, after all a true friendship goes both ways. If JoJo cannot preform then he cannot be around to drag us down."
"Sunny!"
Zeppeli lifts his hat up with a confident smirk.
"JoJo! You know what's to be done, don't you?"
The gentleman nods and leaves through the hole without a word. Forward, alone and in utter darkness, he walks with his free hand running across the wall as to not be befuddled. He uses every ounce of his training that he has endured and learned from to determine where his target could be.
There is no wind. The stale smell of dust and stone. Only his footsteps carry any weight or sound, not even a rat nor roach to scuttle throughout the tunnels, no bats or flies to flutter up above. He is isolated in darkness.
Until he enters a wide hall and dives from the sound of whistling. Were it not for his training of body and mind, JoJo would be a victim to a large weapon, an open rib cage of sharp blades that close in on itself. It's far too large and unconventional to be used by any living creature but the vampire.
Jack licks his lips cackling as he eyes JoJo. The Ripple Warrior activates his own aura with a deep breath to light the area and glare
"Think you're fancy cause you didn't spill a drop of your wine? I'll spill your blood all over these walls! I'll suck whatever's left from your corpse and dance in your innards!"
"You make for poor conversation, fiend. What is Dio planning!?"
Jack lunges back and vanishes under the cover of darkness. JoJo leans against the wall readying himself for an attack. Unaware that Jack had already made it to other side of that very wall. The murder's plan is simple. Wait for the naive warrior to turn and consume him in his trap! His own raw strength surpasses the human's, his reflexes far quicker, and with the element of surprise on his side? It's a done deal. All he needs to do is wait.
He stands completely unaware to JoJo's own mental process. His attention no longer on the vampire as he recalls the lessons taught to him over time. His senses made detrimental as they are manipulated by this creature of darkness. He instead focuses on the wine swirling on it's own with a faint glow. Directing him, guiding him, a pulse erupts from the wine and flows raw power into his hands. A sudden burst of holy energy coursing throughout his entire body.
He can feel caverns through the beating of his heart, sense the ripples of his energy spread from his feet throughout the eerie catacomb, and at once finds his target. He finds himself in awe of the true purpose of the wine. This item wasn't a challenge, but a gift given for him to see far beyond what his sense could allow, a Ripple-Infused Radar! JoJo raises a fist channeling this newfound power within him and sends the Ripple energy into the stone. Jack, leaning against the wall, erupts into a golden flames from the sparking energy. A foul shriek echoes all over the tunnels. Zeppeli grins and tips his hat up.
"Looks like JoJo saw it through. He received my final gift and passed the test!"
Twilight looks at Zeppeli confused but Sunny giggles with delight.
"I must say, I did expect him to take a little longer."
"I don't think I quite understand..."
Zeppeli taps his foot revealing the pebbles of debris on the ground to shake and bounce, dust forming a ripple from his tapping, the power in display as he explains.
"I wasn't lying when I said he would undergo a test, but the challenge wasn't slaying the vampire, it was to see if he could properly utilize the Ripple even in the most dire of situations."
JoJo re-emerges from the secret entrance with a proud smile on.
"Thank you, Mr. Zeppeli. We shouldn't wait any longer on our journey."
Speedwagon speaks up having shed his coat for the unconscious girl.
"What about her? We can't just bring the lass along can we?"
Everyone looks to Sunny and she responds with her own bewildered gaze.
"What? I'm not the sovereign of Equestria."
Twilight looks to the unicorn before sighing in defeat.
"The exit is destroyed and the carriage is... Out of commission. We don't have much of a choice, it's either leave her here or take her with us, and I can't in good conscious leave her behind."
Speedwagon hoists the unconscious body up in his arms bridal style.
"She weighs as much as a feather so carryin' this girl ain't a problem for me! Miss Sunny, you should save your magic for somethin' less mundane!"
Sunny brings a hand to her mouth as she speaks in a suspicious tone.
"My, my, Speedwagon... If I didn't know any better I would assume you merely wanted to hold a naked woman close!~"
Speedwagon's face flushes red as he barks angrily at her.
"Not in the slightest! You wanna carry 'er then!? Huh?!"
Spike, who had ventured on ahead during JoJo's fight with the Ripper, returns with a glowing smile.
"They didn't block off the other end! What're you all standing around for, let's go!"