Twilight frowned at her reflection as the brush was dragged once again through the tangled mess her hair had become in the past twenty four hours. Bits of twigs and leaves were caught up in the lavender and magenta threads and at one point she could swear she saw a small chunk of flesh fall from the constant brushing. Still, despite how it felt to have the knots in her hair yanked straight, it was pleasant to be pampered for once.

Rarity ran the brushed through Twilight's hair for a final time before stepping back to admire her handiwork. She gave a small sniff of approval before she set her hairbrush down and smiled at Twilight in the mirror.

"There," she said, satisfied. "Much better now. Don't you think so darling?"

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, running her fingers gently through her neatly brushed hair, noting how soft it felt. "Thank's Miss Belle."

"Oh please call me Rarity," she replied, smiling sweetly at her. "Miss Belle makes me sound old."

"Rarity," Twilight smiled.

Rarity smiled back and adjusted her glasses before she turned away from the mirror and picked something from Twilight's bed. Twilight turned her head around as Rarity walked back to her with a small pile of clothes in hand. Twilight reached her hands out and took the Hellsing uniform that was now hers. Immediately she noticed a few differences. For the first part, her uniform was jet black instead of ochre yellow. The boots that were handed to her seemed designed for extra mobility, yet also seemed sturdier, as if they could withstand several heavy impacts. There was no cap to her uniform, but there was a pair of brown gloves, that seemed to add some serious grip to her hands.

"Something the matter darling?" Rarity asked. Twilight shook her head and looked up.

"Sorry it's just... why is it black?" Twilight asked, holding up her jacket. Rarity smiled.

"A cosmetic choice I suggested to Sir Trixie," she explained. "You'll blend in easier with the night whilst wearing this. A good thing too, as your not a true Vampire yet, meaning you'll be slain much easier than the likes of Alucard, so stealth will be important to your survival."

"I see," Twilight said. She looked at rarity again. "Do you mind looking away whilst I get changed?"

"But of course darling."

Rarity opened the door and allowed Twilight to step into the moonlit dining room. Room however was not an adequate description. It was more of a dining hall than a dining room. It had high ceilings and tall windows along the outside wall, revealing panoramic snippets of the Hellsing Estate. The windows were framed by lush, deep red velvet curtains. The long table that ran the length of the hall was of a shiny mahogany, with seats of the same gleaming wood, cushioned in the same red velvet as the curtains. Set at regular intervals were tall candle sticks in ornate gold candelabra. At the moment, only the few at the far end of the table were lit.

Sitting around that candlelit area was Trixie and Applejack. Trixie leaned back in a plush leather armchair at the head of the table, a glass of some amber liquid in her hand. Applejack was sitting patiently to her left, sitting on her hands. Twilight smiled, knowing full well that Applejack was no doubt starving and was only stopping herself from eating for Twilight's benefit. She looked up when Twilight and Rarity approached and her face broke into a smile.

"Ya'll took your sweet time gettin' ready," she chuckled.

"Sorry," she blushed. "But I'm here now. Doesn't that count for something?"

"Ah guess so," Applejack shrugged.

"You're here now at least," Trixie said, gesturing for Twilight to sit down. "Please take a seat. Will you join us Rarity?"

"I have other issues in the manner to attend to Sir Trixie," Rarity apologised bowing. "I shall join you as time permits."

"Very well," Trixie nodded. "Join us at your leisure Rarity."

"You're very kind ma'am."

Twilight sat gingerly on her seat opposite and looked down at her delicate china plate. Some small potatoes garnished in coleslaw, with an equal amount of salad leaves beside. Half the plate was dominated however by a thick thick steak. Twilight didn't have much experience with red meat of such a fine cut, but even she could tell that her steak had been cooked rare. Perhaps rarer, for a considerable amount of red juice was leaking onto the plate.

"Was this even cooked?" Twilight wondered aloud.

"I believe the correct gourmet term for the rareness of your steak is blue," Trixie explained, taking a sip of her drink. She swallowed and removed the glass from her lips. "It is in keeping with your new diet. In order to keep your new Vampiric strength up to snuff, you will be required to intake a constant quantity of blood from one creature or another. Human blood will of course expand your Vampiric powers, but unless we can find suitable donations, animal blood will suffice to keep you in fighting shape."

Twilight looked down at the steak, slightly repulsed.

"If you'd rather we search for alternative means we'd be happy to oblige," Trixie shrugged. "The most practical would be to replace your rather comfortable bed with a coffin laced with the soil from your birthplace."

Twilight blanched and picked up her knife and fork and began to furiously saw off a piece of meat. Her knife cut through both meat and plate with little resistance until the knife sunk in the table by half and inch. Twilight's hands flew to her mouth in shock and stared apologetically at Trixie. The knight merely raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"I would prefer it if you did not start to dissect my family's furniture Miss Sparkle," she said coolly, Applejack almost choking on her food in laughter.

Twilight merely turned scarlett as she gingerly removed the knife from the table, grimacing at the small sliver of wood that came with it. She returned more cautiously to her meal, careful not to become over zealous with the manner of which she handled her cutlery. By using this much more careful method it took perhaps twice as long for Twilight to clear her plate than if she was eating it normally. A source of near constant amusement for Applejack to be sure.

As Twilight was finishing her meal the door to the dining was flung open, a breathless man stumbling through.

"Sir Trixie," he panted. "A Vampire attack on the outskirts of Appleoosa!"

Trixie rose to her feet instantly. "How many are there and are they still there?" she demanded.

"Two and no Sir," he replied, walking briskly to her side and handing her a small sheaf of papers. "They are moving east last we heard, butchering any households they find along the way. There current path suggests they're attempting to escape to Cloudsdale."

"Cloudsdale?" Trixie repeated under her breath, looking at the map that had been provided for her, a single red line outlining the route that the Vampire's had taken. She smiled slightly as she saw their current road would take them nearly within spitting distance within the manor.

"A small team will be dispatched to eliminate these pests," she ordered. "Prepare a small transport vehicle and a driver immediately. Inform Rarity that Alucard and two agents of his choice will be visiting the armoury within ten minutes."

"Yes sir!" the man replied, before racing from the room. There was silence for a brief moment.

"Two agents of my choosing?"

Twilight flinched as she felt Alucard's voice breathe, almost straight down her neck. She gave a small cry and leaped out of her chair and to her feet, spinning around to face the Vampire. He stood there, tall, proud and imposing, hat perched perfectly atop his head and glasses hiding his red eyes as per the norm. His smile was small, yet sinister.

"Within reason Alucard," Trixie replied, sending him a sharp look. The Vampire's smile widened by a fraction.

"Then by your parameters Master I believe the new recruits should accompany me."

Trixie raised an eyebrow as Applejack and Twilight exchanged surprised, and rather shocked, looks. "Any particular reason?"

"Simple. They should not be forced to wait to draw their first blood. Make the wound as quickly as possible so it will hurt less."

"I see," Trixie said slowly. She seemed to mull it over for several second before she nodded. "Very well. Proceed to the armoury with AJ and Twilight."

Alucard bowed before he walked to the door. Twilight and Applejack exchanged glances with him once more, before they quickly followed suit.

The armoury was a brightly lit, white walled room with gun racks and ammo crates in every available space. Weapons huge and small rested silently, coloured silver and black. By the time Twilight and Applejack reached the armoury, Alucard was already prepared for battle, the Casull being carefully placed into its holster on the inside of Alucard's coat, along with a series of clips that Rarity handed him. She looked up as Applejack and Twilight entered and gave them a small smile.

"Good to see you again darlings," she said. "I do hope this little skirmish down at Appleoosa didn't take you away from your dinner's before you'd finished."

"No we finished before the call went out," Twilight replied.

"Good. I would hate to think all that effort went to waste," she said, winking at them before her expression became more serious. "Now then, from what we know these Vampires that you have selected to hunt down are of an extremely low caliber. Something of a run of the mill pup when compared to something like Alucard. Still, you should at least be appropriately armed for facing any sort of threat."

She reached behind her and removed a heavy looking shotgun. It's style reminded Twilight of images and design specs. she had seen for a Franchi SPAS-12 only this appeared much heavy. It also appeared to have gone through some severe modification's if Twilight's memory served her correct. Engraved into the side were the words 'Hellsing ARMS 002341'.

"This is the Hellsing HV16 Bitten," she announced, handing it to Applejack. "A Hellsing modified Franchi SPAS-12, the Bitten has been customised to shoot three and a half inch shells rather than the SPAS two and three quarter inch. It still retains the SPAS pump action mechanisms but is limited to a maximum magazine capacity of six shells at most."

"It's heavy," Applejack commented.

"It should be. The Bitten was made two kilograms heavier after modification to handle the larger shell sizes. The barrel was also made three inches shorter for wider spread."

Applejack popped open the magazine and checked inside. "It ain't loaded."

Rarity handed her a bandoleer filled to the tip with shells. "I should warn you that these shells aren't anything like you've used before. The Bitten fires shell shrapnel of pure macedonian silver, each fragment of which has been blessed in holy water. Any Vampire that survive the first shot will most certainly go down after the second." Applejack gave a whistle of appreciation. "Why thank you dear. The Bitten was one of my more brilliant designs."

"You designed it?" Twilight asked.

"Darling I do more than clean the rooms you know," she chuckled. "Nearly every weapon in this room was designed by yours truly."

She turned on her heels and walked to the back of the room. She perused the selection available before she lifted a large, heavy looking gun that looked like it had been ripped from a mounted turret. If Twilight's memory served her correctly, it looked like it had been modified from an R.P.K. only it was longer looking. On the side was another engraving. 'Hellsing ARMS 03214'.

"This," Rarity grunted handing the weapon to Twilight. "Is the Hellsing G78 Bat. It was modified from an R.P.K. for ranged and close quarters combat. Given the extent of the modifications and the weight added, it was designated for Vampire use only, as the weapon is much heavier than any human can safely use. It can hold up to ninety two .42 caliber, pre-blessed silver bullets per drum magazine. It fires eight-hundred rounds per minute, each at a top speed of a kilometer per second, with a range of two metres to two kilometers."

"Wow," Twilight breathed, her hands finding their place on the Bat's grips, her finger sliding neatly behind the trigger. She paused for a moment. "You said no human could handle it. How much does it weigh?"

"The Bat comes weighs roughly eighteen point five kilos," Rarity explained, "And measures forty-seven inches in length if you were wondering."

"The Bat is truly a weapon fit only for a Vampire," Alucard announced, making Twilight jump. She had forgotten he was there. "Make sure you put it to good use Police Girl."

Twilight nodded. "Yes sir."

Alucard smiled and Applejack cleared her throat.

"Well, are we gonna sit around yappin' or are we gonna get a move on? Ain't there a Vampire out there or summit?"

Twilight nodded. "Right. Let's go."

Author's Note

Sorry guys I've been busy. Sixth Form hit my hard for a while and I've started a new job so my days are filled with school and studying and my night's filled with waiting tables. But anyway!
Thanks to the following for favouriting:

grimston,
night-wing,
zerg170,
pchnn00,
icedude94