Scarlet Devil

by Darkwing Dash

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rarity, Random
Length: 7857

A new terror is striking at the residents of Ponyville. But is it a new terror, or one that has been there all along? And what exactly is the definition of a terror?

Friends are never exactly the ponies you think they are. Everyone knows this. Even Twilight Sparkle. But when new, disturbing facts about one of her friends start to emerge, things take an unexpected turn. Lies, spells and the presence of blood. All of it points to a monster lurking in the midst of Ponyville.

Can Twilight dig through all the mystery to uncover the real truth? Or will she only see the Scarlet Devil?

Cover picture is not mine, I take no credit.

Published 2013-09-12 15:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-12 15:30:02 UTC

The Shadow's Teeth

It was nighttime in Equestria. The stars glimmered faintly. The night covered the land like a shroud. The moon rose full over the peaceful town of Ponyville. Most of its inhabitants were asleep, or at late night events, partying with friends. Some of the inhabitants, though, were not so peaceful.

The stallion ran down the back streets, not daring to look back. He couldn’t afford to stop for that long. She was right behind him. He ran as fast as he could, periodically stumbling over his own hooves. His uncoordinated movements tripped him up and slowed him down. He was dizzy and couldn’t focus. He’d lost too much blood. All he knew was that he had to keep running.

Through his mind flashed the images of what he had seen before. The moonlight, shining into the room through the open window. The ponies, lying side by side next to him, unconscious... or worse. And her, bending over him, her fangs bared. He shuddered. He’d jumped out of the window and bolted into the night. He had to keep running. He couldn’t look back.

He darted into an alley from the back end and hurtled along it. He had to make it to the main road. If he could find a crowded area, he would be safe. He could find somepony to help him. Unable to resist it any longer, he turned to look behind himself. The alleyway was deserted. He whirled back to the front to find her standing there, ten feet away.

He ground to a halt, hooves skidding, and let out a horrified shriek. Or at least he would have, if his mouth hadn’t been forced shut. A blood-red magical aura surrounded his lower jaw, locking it immovably against its upper half. The mare advanced on him, blood-red eyes flashing, pointed teeth gleaming. He tried to scramble away, muffled screams coming from his sealed mouth, but an invisible force pulled him back. He turned to her, eyes growing wide in terror as the pony drew up face-to-face with him. She lowered her horn to his head and the world around him grew black.

**************************************************

Twilight Sparkle was out on her errands around Ponyville. She hummed to herself as she admired the beautiful weather and charming houses. Everything looked so idyllic. She saw two foals chasing each other around the town’s stone fountain. There were several pegasi playing in the fluffy white clouds. She even saw Pinkie Pie and Rarity talking to each other next to a shop. The two friends were chatting amiably, even if Rarity looked a little put out by something. Twilight trotted closer and could soon pick out their conversation.

“Are you quite sure it has to be this next week?” asked Rarity plaintively. “Couldn’t it have been last week, or perhaps the week after?”

“Nope, sorry,” smiled Pinke apologetically. “It’s gotta be this week.”

“Well,” sighed Rarity. “I suppose if it has to be, it has to be. Thanks for your consideration all the same. No hard feelings, I hope.” With those words, she turned, gave a departing nod and smile to Twilight and headed down the road.

“What was that about?” asked Twilight, approaching Pinkie.

“Oh, I was just inviting Rarity to my super duper Tuesday party,” said Pinkie, bouncing slightly. She stopped. “Say, Twilight, would you like to come to my super duper Tuesday party?”

“Um, probably,” answered Twilight. “Just what is a super duper Tuesday party?”

Pinkie began bouncing once more. ”It’s a party I throw to celebrate Tuesdays! This one’s the day after tomorrow, at 10 PM. I throw the party once a year, on the second Tuesday of the second month and we all give a big cheer at two o'clock AM!”

“Wouldn’t that make it Wednesday morning?” remarked Twilight.

“Huh, I guess it would,” mused Pinkie. She shrugged. “Oh well. It’s more fun to start a party on Tuesday than it is to end it on one anyway.”

“Sounds like fun,” said Twilight. “I’ll be there. I take it that Rarity can’t join us?”

Pinkie shook her head vigorously. “Nopey-dopey. She can’t make it. Although, I shouldn’t be surprised. It is on a Tuesday, after all.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” asked Twilight.

“Well, I’ve just noticed that anytime I plan a party for every other Tuesday in any month, second or fourth, sometimes first or third, Rarity can’t seem to make it. She said she had to have a room repainted next week and she needed to supervise the workers. Ah well. Some ponies just have busy days of the week. Maybe she does all her errands on Tuesdays?” Without waiting for an answer, Pinkie bounced off, no doubt to invite more friends to her party.

Twilight stood, pondering that last bit of information. Come to think of it, whenever she’d hosted a book club meeting, the days that Rarity had missed did all seem to be Tuesdays. Twilight tended to hold them late and they ran even later, given the tendency for discussion. All of her friends were in it, though Applejack only showed up infrequently and Rainbow’s presence was even rarer. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy attended too, but Rarity was its most loyal member, besides Twilight herself. Rarity had missed meetings though, and they appeared to all be on Tuesdays.

Twilight shrugged this off. She wished Rarity hadn’t left. She needed to deliver the next book for the book club. She made her way to Rarity’s shop and entered, finding her friend hard at work.

“Hi Rarity,” greeted Twilight.

“Hi Twilight,” Rarity responded, rather absorbed with her sewing.

“I just came by to drop off this month’s book to you,” Twilight stated, lifting it out of her saddlebag.

“Oh, why thank you,” replied Rarity, looking from her work.

“It’s called ‘Mountain of A Thousand Needles’” continued Twilight. “It’s about a young mare who sets out on a quest to free her village from a demon’s curse.”

“Very interesting,” Rarity commented. “Who’s the author?”

“You know, I don’t remember. The description said that the stallion who wrote it uses an alias, but I don’t really like those, so I didn’t catch it.” remarked Twilight.

“I’m sure it will be a riveting read all the same,” Rarity finished, turning back to her project. Twilight placed the book down and made to leave the shop. As she exited, she called back to her friend. “I’m sorry to hear that you can’t make it to Pinkie’s party. From what I hear, it’ll be extra fun.”

“Yes,” sighed Rarity. “But you know how it is, reupholstering furniture and all.” Twilight stopped, confused. Pinkie Pie had mentioned room painting, not furniture fixing.

“Reupholstering?” Twilight asked.

“Indeed,” muttered Rarity, distracted. “That couch over there and those chairs. The workers have to work late at night, so I take what I can get.”

Twilight frowned. Why would Rarity lie to Pinkie about what she was doing Tuesday night? Was there some issue between Rarity and Pinkie? Twilight shook her head. It really wasn’t any of her business. Not unless it concerned her. Still, she wondered what it was.

She left Rarity’s shop and made her way down to Applejack’s farm to deliver her last book, having dropped off the other books yesterday. She arrived at the farm to find Applejack up to her usual labor: Applebucking.

“Wow Applejack, all done for the day?” she asked.

“Hey Twilight,” called Applejack. “Yep, just finishin’ up the last tree. What’re you here fer?”

“Oh, I just came by to drop off this month’s book,” Twilight answered.

“Thanks Twi’. You want an apple?” She offered the barrel.

“Thanks,” said Twilight as she took one and bit into it, smiling at the juicy flavor. “You know Applejack, I’ve had a lot of apples before, but yours are always the best.”

“Heh, thanks,” muttered Applejack with an abashed half-smile. “I just with some other ponies felt the same way,”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight, perplexed. Applejack winced, regretting her statement.

“Well, I don’t want to go spreadin’ rumors about anypony, ‘specially if they ain’t true. But I’ve noticed that Rarity doesn’t seem to eat any of the apples from our farm, or any of the other products too. I’m not sure if it’s somethin’ she has against our apples or just apples in general, but I’ve never seen her eat a single one.”

Once again, Twilight was given something new to think about. She tried to remember an instance when Rarity had eaten an apple, but could only recall one or two. In fact, she could hardly remember Rarity eating at all out of the hundreds of opportunities for food she’d had. Maybe she was being health conscious, but there were plenty of chances for healthy food that Rarity had passed up on too. Applejack waved a hoof dismissively.

“Just forget I said anythin’. It’s not worth worryin’ about.” Twilight said goodbye and headed for home. She couldn’t make sense of the things she’d heard today, but she supposed that’s what having friends was about sometimes.

****************************************************

The next morning, Twilight got up and got ready for her day. She was going downstairs for some breakfast, when she tripped over a jutting piece of wood sticking out of her stairs. She tumbled downwards, flying off and hitting every single stair on the way down, crashing into her table at the bottom. There was a loud snap. She got up quickly to see that a leg on her table had snapped in half, leaving a jagged piece of wood on the floor. She ground her teeth in anger.

“Spike!” she yelled up to her assistant. “I thought I asked you to get rid of the knots in the stairs yesterday!”

“Sorry Twilight,” he called down to her. “I was working on it, but then it was bedtime, so I didn’t get to finish. I’ll take care of it now, if you want.”

Twilight huffed, regaining her patience. “It’s okay, I’ll take care of it,” she replied, grinding the knot into non-existence with magic.

“Thanks,” said Spike. “By the way, somepony was asking for you yesterday. She said her name was Night Shade. She sounded pretty urgent. I put her address on a paper by the door.”

“Got it,” acknowledged Twilight. “I’ll take care of it.” She stared at the jaggedly broken table leg. Well, she needed to replace that table anyway. She supposed she’d do it later this week. She deposited the table leg on a nearby desk. There were more important things to take care of right now. Twilight grabbed the paper and headed out the door.

She found the house about twenty minutes away down a lesser known street in Ponyville. She walked up to the cottage and knocked on the door. A light blue unicorn with a dark blue mane opened the door.

“Hi... Night Shade, was it?” Twilight asked. The mare nodded.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle. My assistant said you asked for me?”

“Oh, yes,” said Night Shade. “I did. I wanted your help with something. It’s my friend, Quill Point. He’s been having a big problem with sleeping lately. He’s had horrible insomnia and when he does get to sleep, he has terrifying nightmares.”

“Have you tried seeing a doctor?” Twilight suggested.

“I did and they gave him some sleeping pills, but they don’t work. The doctors won’t do anything else until they get a professional opinion. I tried fixing it myself, because I’m pretty good with dreams and that’s when I found the magic.”

“Magic?” Twilight clarified, instantly alert.

“Yeah,” asserted Night Shade. “There’s some kind of spell in his mind. I didn’t know what it was, so I didn’t mess with it. I wanted to call you first.”

“You did the right thing,” Twilight confirmed. “Messing around with mind magic can be incredibly dangerous. Let me see him.” Night Shade stepped aside and Twilight entered the cottage, making her way to Quill’s bedroom. She saw a beige colored unicorn with a messy black mane laying on a bed. He looked up at her with surly, baggy eyes.

“So, I guess you’re the spike head they hired to poke around in my brain?” he snarked at her.

“Quill!” Night Shade admonished. “I’m sorry,” she apologized to Twilight. “He’s been really cranky lately.”

“It’s okay,” Twilight assured, only mildly irritated. “I’ve dealt with sleep deprived ponies before. So, Quill, when did these nightmares start happening.”

“They happened almost two weeks ago,” Night Shade put in. “Last Tuesday night. We were going to a party. I went on ahead because Quill said he had some last minute writing to do and that he’d catch up. I waited there for a half hour, but I got worried, so I went to see what was taking so long. I found him lying in an alleyway, passed out. He looked like he’d been running hard. Ever since that night, he’s been having nightmares.”

“I keep telling you, I don’t remember any alleyway!” lashed Quill Point. “All I remember is getting ready for the party, blacking out and then waking up in my house the next day.” He turned to Twilight, assessing her.

“Fright Shade here says there might be some magic messing my head up. Are you here to fix it?” he barked.

“I’ll see what I can do,” remarked Twilight. She drew the shutters on the windows and extinguished the lights. “Now lay back,” she told Quill Point. “I’m going to put you in a state between asleep and awake. I’ll be investigating the magic in your mind. When I do that, you’ll probably see this nightmare again. I’m sorry, but it has to happen. When it does, I want you to tell me everything you see, okay?”

“Whatever,” grumbled Quill Point. Twilight closed her eyes and began her magic. A purple aura appeared around Quill Point’s head as he closed his eyes. Twilight saw an empty grey field in her thoughts, the representation of most of Quill’s mind. Calm, untroubled, undisturbed. She saw a faint object in the distance.

“I don’t see anything right now,” muttered Quill. “But I feel something. It’s a pain, like I was hit in the head with something.” In her mind, Twilight grew closer to the object, a black something rising up out of the empty plain.

“Wait... I am seeing something now,” Quill said. “It’s... it’s a room.”

“Can you describe the room?” asked Twilight, still concentrating. The black something was a mountain, gnarled and twisted, breaking through the smooth surface of Quill’s mind

“No,” Quill Point responded. “It’s too dark, and everything’s been covered. There’s barely any moonlight and... wait... oh. Oh Celestia, there are other ponies here, four of them. They’re just lying on the ground, I think they’re... I think they might be dead.” The mountain was pulsating, an unidentifiable material. Suddenly Quill gasped.

“No!” he cried. “It’s her! She’s here! She’s come for me! I have to run!” He thrashed around in his bed, the covers tangling up around him.

“Run from what? Who’s chasing you?” asked Twilight intensely. In her mind, she went for the base of the mountain. The mountain’s base would be shaped like the rune of the spell it represented. If she figured out what it was, then she could work on it. She began tracing it, following its circumference.

“No.” moaned Quill, in deep distress. “I can’t stop. I have to run. If I don’t run, she’ll catch me. If she catches me, I’ll die.” He began sobbing.

“What does she look like?” pressed Twilight. She had to keep him in the dream longer. If he woke up now, she’d know nothing. Twilight had traced the mountain halfway around. She’d narrowed down the spell to just a few possibilities. She just needed a bit more time.

“Unicorn,” Quill mumbled. The rest of his words were incomprehensible.

“A unicorn? That’s not enough, Quill,” Twilight urged. “Give me a color, something, anything!”

“No!” Quill resisted. “I can’t look back! I can’t look back!”

“Tell me!”

“THE VAMPIRE!” Quill shrieked, his volume intense. His back arched and his limbs writhed. “NO! SHE HAS ME! SHE’S GOT ME! HELP! HER RED EYES! SOMEPONY, HELP! OH CELESTIA, SHE’S TRAPPED MY MOUTH! ANYPONY, HELP, SHE’S KILLING ME! NOOOOOO!” Got it! thought Twilight in her mind. She knew the rune. Her eyes snapped open. The spell faded. Quill’s body went limp and he flopped back onto the bed.

Night Shade was staring at him with wide eyed fear. “What... what happened to him? Is he...”

“He’s unconscious,” Twilight assured. “No doubt from all the stress. He’ll be fine.”

“Did you figure out what it was?” Night Shade asked in a small voice.

Twilight nodded. “It’s a memory block, and a poorly done one at that. Someone, or something triggered that... dream of his and then tried to block it out.” She shuddered, picturing the gnarled, pulsating mountain in her mind. That was no dream she’d just dredged up. That spell went deep into Quill’s mind, down into the visceral memory layer.

“What do you want done about it?” asked Twilight. Night Shade looked at her friend, lying on the bed, his breathing ragged.

“I just want it gone,” she answered. “Take the spell away, take the memory away, everything. This has already hurt him way too much. If he never remembers any of this, it’ll be a blessing to him.”

“Are you sure he feels the same way?” queried Twilight. “I can’t perform complex magic on somepony without their consent.”

Night Shade nodded. “He requested it himself. That’s mainly why I called you. He even wrote it down here.” She handed Twilight a piece of paper. Sure enough, it was a request for memory erasure, signed by the patient himself.

Twilight shrugged and approached Quill. Concentrating hard, she performed the counter memory spell, destroying the crudely made block in Quill’s mind. He shuddered in his sleep and began to murmur. Focusing even harder, Twilight summoned he strongest magic and wiped every memory of the “nightmare” from Quill’s mind, permanently. When she was done, she opened her eyes, panting.

“Thank you so much,” said Night Shade. “He looks better already.” Quill’s sleep did look a lot more peaceful.

“He’ll probably sleep for most of the day,” advised Twilight. “To make up for lost time. He’ll also have a headache for a few days afterwards, so be aware of that.” Night Shade nodded.

“Before I go,” Twilight began. “I wanted to ask, do you think there’s any possibility that this experience was real? As in, not a dream?”

Night Shade looked at her seriously and shook her head. “No,” she said firmly. “There’s no such thing as vampires. It’s all just a dream.” She looked at Quill. “The fool probably had a nightmare and tried to block it out himself, messing everything up.” Twilight nodded noncommittally and turned to go.

“Although,” said Night Shade slowly. “There is one other thing. I don’t know if it’s important or not, but if you want to look into this some more, maybe you should know. It wasn’t exactly me who found Quill in that alleyway. It was Rarity.” Twilight froze.

“I was walking past the alleyway and I saw her down there, trying to pull Quill back to the main street where somepony could help him. She said she’d found him lying there in the alley and wanted to help, so I thanked her and took him back home.” She followed Twilight to the front door and opened it for her.

“If you wanted to know more about it, maybe she could tell you. But as for me, if I hear any more about vampires, it’ll be too soon,” Night Shade finished. She shuddered. “Such abominable creatures... Thank you again for helping Quill Point.”

“No problem, Twilight muttered, shutting the door behind herself.

She walked slowly down the street, thinking to herself. Could it be possible? Was Rarity really a...? Twilight shook her head vigorously. No. It was ridiculous. She’d just happened to have Rarity on her mind at a time when something crazy like this had happened. But what about that memory? It hadn’t been just a dream. Didn’t that prove anything? Not really, though. Just because Quill thought he’d been attacked by a vampire didn’t mean he had been. But what had Rarity been doing down that alleyway?

She decided she needed to talk to Rarity. She needed someone to calm her down, to tell her that she was just being crazy again. She made her way down to Rarity’s shop and knocked on the door. Rarity opened it.

“Ah, Twilight, just the pony I need.” Rarity greeted.

“You do?” said Twilight, off guard.

“Indeed. I’ve been turning my entire shop upside down for the past hour looking for my blue silk scarf. Would you be so kind as to lend me a hoof in the search?” she asked.

“Um, sure.” accepted Twilight. “What do you need my help for?”

“Well, I’ve looked all over the place,” Rarity began. “But I fear it may have slipped behind some furniture. My magic’s simply not strong enough to move it all and I’d rather prefer not to crawl around on the floor. It’ll only take a moment.”

“Okay,” said Twilight and she stepped in. They began in Rarity’s room and moved through the rest of the house. Twilight had moved a dresser and was about to put it back when she noticed something that made her stare. Hard.

“Um, Rarity,” she began. “What’s with that big red stain underneath your dresser?” Rarity looked at the large stain in question and chuckled.

“Oh that? It’s just some red dye that I spilled there a few months ago. I didn’t have time to clean it up immediately, so I just put that dresser over it to cover it. To be honest, I’d quite forgotten about it until now. Wait here just a moment Twilight, let me go check up on a suspicion I have.” Rarity turned and left the room.

Twilight looked at the stain again. Was it just her, or did the stain look very much like a bloodstain? She shook her head. No, she was just being paranoid. Still, the worry gnawed at her. She had an idea. She set the dresser down a few feet away and readied a spell. The spell was called ‘Lonimul’. It was designed to reveal the presence of blood, even if all the stains had been washed clean away.

She readied the spell and cast it over the stain. Nothing happened. The red color remained. Twilight let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Then, slowly, the stain on the carpet began to glow with a dull blue luminescent light. The bottom dropped out of Twilight’s stomach and she began to breathe heavily.

Stay calm, Twilight, she told herself. Stay calm. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for why Rarity has a big bloodstain in her living room. Maybe she cut herself, yeah, that’s it. But then, why would she tell me it was red dye? What good would lying to me about it do? None of it made any sense.

She heard Rarity’s hoofsteps returning, so she cancelled her spell and quickly replaced the dresser where it had been. Rarity reentered the room, waving her blue scarf triumphantly.

“Just as I thought,” she announced. “Sweetie Belle and her friends were using it. Problem solved. Terribly sorry for having you rearrange my furniture, Twilight.”

“Oh, i-it’s no problem, Rarity.” Twilight stammered, trying to get her nerves in order.

Rarity frowned. “Is there something wrong, Twilight?”

“It’s nothing,” Twilight said quickly. “I’m just tired out from some errands I ran this morning.”

“Are you sure?” Rarity asked. “Because I’m willing to help you if you need something.”

“It’s alright,” Twilight asserted, trying to sound confident. “I’m perfectly fine.” With that, she excused herself and hurriedly left Rarity’s shop.

Twilight spent the rest of the day in her room, shrouded in worry and indecision. What should she do? Should she tell somepony? No, there wasn’t enough evidence. Should she go looking for more evidence? Was she really sure that Rarity was a vampire? It could all just be a series of coincidences. But then what did it all mean? The blood, the lies, Quill Point’s memory. Twilight sighed and resolved to put the issues from her mind for now.

****************************************************************

The next night saw Twilight busy getting ready for Pinkie Pie’s party. She was ready to have fun and put the week’s troubles behind her. She carried a plate of cookies, a treat for the party.

“I’m leaving, Spike!” Twilight called up to him. “I’ll be back very late, so make sure you get to bed.”

“Got it, Twilight.” Spike called back nonchalantly. Twilight headed out the door to join Pinkie’s party.

Much later that night, or early the next morning, at around 4 AM, Twilight headed home. Happy and full, she smiled to herself. She caught sight of Rarity’s house across the way, lights on, still active.

Probably “reupholstering furniture”, Twilight thought, snorting. She saw the front door open and instinctively hid in a nearby bush. The figure that emerged, however, was no pony. It was a short, scaly, dragon-shaped figure she recognized instantly. Spike. What was he doing out here at this hour? And why was he at Rarity’s?

As she saw Spike stealithy making his way back to the library, she narrowed her eyes. Maybe he would know something. She concentrated and teleported herself back to the library, into the room she and Spike shared. She took Spike’s bed, levitated it underneath her own and waited. She heard footsteps on the stairs and the door creaked open.

“Hey!” exclaimed Spike. “Where’s my-”

“Looking for this?” Twilight asked, eyebrows arched dangerously, bringing the bed back out. Time to apply the pressure.

“I don’t suppose you’d mind telling me what you were doing at Rarity’s at this hour?” she pressed.

“H-how did you know I was there?” Spike squeaked.

“I saw you leaving,” explained Twilight. “What were you doing?”

Spike looked at her, his face worried. Twilight could see his eyes darting in fear. Was he looking for an excuse, or deciding to reveal the truth? He sighed and his shoulders slumped. “I was over there to talk with Rarity.”

“Oh really?” said Twilight skeptically. “And what was Rarity doing?”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t know. She had some ponies over to work on one of her couches or something. I didn’t really pay attention.”

“What did you and her talk about?” Twilight grilled.

Spike gave her a morose look. “I wanted to finally tell her how I felt about her.” Twilight’s heart softened a bit at the look on his face.

“How did it go?” she asked more softly.

“Not so well,” Spike said with a sigh. “She said she’s only into ponies. We kinda talked about it for a while. She said we could still be friends though,” He gave her a sad half smile.

“I’m sorry about that, Spike,” Twilight comforted. She was still skeptical as to his story, but she figured, on the off chance that it was true, she’d let him go for tonight. There was time to investigate his claims tomorrow. She pulled Spike’s bed out and curled up into her own as he snuggled into his. Soon, she dropped off into a dreamless sleep.

*************************************************************

The next morning, Twilight left the library early, while it was light out, but before the sun had peeked over the hills around Ponyville. Spike was still fast asleep in his bed. Last night, she’d determined to confirm Spike’s story with Rarity. She knew it probably wouldn’t get her any closer to finding out whether or not Rarity was a vampony, but it would clear up whether Spike knew something or not. She left the library, heading for Rarity’s shop. She didn’t make it that far, though, as she found Rarity standing by the town’s fountain. Twilight approached her.

“Hi Rarity,” she said.

“Oh, hello Twilight,” Rarity responded.

“How did your reupholstering go yesterday?” Twilight queried, watching Rarity carefully.

“Oh, it went just fine,” Rarity answered. “It took longer than I would have liked, but there were no major hiccups.”

Twilight played her cards. “Spike told me he was over there too,” she began. She saw Rarity’s ears perk up.

“Oh, he did?” said Rarity, trying to act casual.

“Yeah, he said he was there for something really important,” Twilight continued. She saw Rarity stiffen. Good, she was getting closer.

“Did he, uh, happen to tell you what it was?” asked Rarity, her voice quivering slightly.

Twilight pressed on. “Yeah, he did. He said it was a big secret-” She saw Rarity’s eyes fill with fear.

“-that he’d wanted to tell you for a while,” The panic turned into confusion. Rats, she was losing the trail.

“He said it was a secret he was finally ready to share with you.,” Twilight saw Rarity relax and her face fill with relief. Inwardly, she cursed. She’d lost the trail. It must not be Spike’s secret that he had been there for last night, it was Rarity’s. All that she could do now was confirm the rest of Spike’s story.

“Now that you mention it, I do remember little Spikey coming over to tell me something. I believe it was something about gem finding,” Rarity said, smiling.

“I think he had been practicing gem finding, yeah,” replied Twilight coolly. Inside, she was fuming. Spike had deliberately lied to her! And here was Rarity doing it too!

“Yes,” continued Rarity. “I was quite flattered to hear I’d inspired such determination. But I noticed it was much too far past his bedtime for him to be at my shop, so I sent him home.”

Sure you did, thought Twilight sarcastically. Out loud, she said “Oh, well thank you for that Rarity. That’s all I wanted to talk to you about.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Rarity replied. “Good day,” she called as she left for her shop.

“Good day,” Twilight sighed to herself as she stood alone. What was the secret? What could be so big that both Rarity and Spike would work this hard to hide it from her? Was Rarity actually a vampire? That would account for it. But how could that be true? Sure, weirder things had happened in Ponyville, but the idea that her friend was a different species was too incredible.

Twilight returned to the library and was surprised to hear water running when she went inside. She went to the bathroom to see Spike in the bathroom, drying his hands with a towel.

“You’re up early,” Twilight commented. Spike jumped.

“Oh! Hey Twilight. Uh, yeah, just wanted to get an early start on my day, you know?” He edged past Twilight and tried to make his way down the hall.

“By the way, I talked with Rarity this morning,” Twilight called at his retreating back.

“Y-you did?” Spike stammered, turning around.

“Yeah,” said Twilight. “She said she definitely remembers what you told her last night.”

Spike’s face went pale. “You mean you told her- I mean, she said she-”

Twilight cut him off. “She said she remembers you telling her how you took an interest in gem finding and decided to pursue it because of her inspiring example.”

Relief flooded over Spike. “Then you mean she still doesn’t know?”

“No,” affirmed Twilight. “She still doesn’t know about your feelings. You’re lucky I still covered for you after you lied to me.”

Spike hung his head. “I know,”

Twilight’s anger flared up. “I can’t believe this! Both you and Rarity are deliberately lying to me! You trusted me and I kept your secret. Now I trust you and you tell me lies? In what world is that right?”

Spike looked at his feet. “I know what I did was wrong,” he murmured. “I should never have lied to you about Rarity’s secret and I promise I won’t ever, ever, ever lie to you about it again.”

Twilight smiled. Good, she thought. Now we’re getting somewhere. She looked at Spike expectantly. Spike looked back at her. They waited.

“Well?” asked Twilight, impatiently.

“Well, what?” said Spike, nonplussed.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what the secret is?” demanded Twilight.

Spike snorted. “Of course not! I only said I wasn’t going to lie about it, not tell you what it was. I shouldn’t have lied to you about it before, but that doesn’t mean I have to say anything about it.”

Twilight groaned in frustration. “Come on, Spike. This could be a matter of safety concerning everyone in Ponyville! What if somepony were to get injured?”

Spike shook his head firmly. “No way, Twilight. Rarity asked me to keep this secret, and I’m going to keep at.” He arched an eyebrow at her. “A true friend wouldn’t make her friend break his promise, would she?”

“No, she wouldn’t,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. She wanted to curse the source of his powers of reasoning, but knew she’d probably find it by looking in a mirror.

“Good,” finished Spike, walking down the hallway. “Besides,” he called back. “There’s no way anyone’s going to be injured. Rarity and I have it totally under control.”

“Oh, so there’s potential for danger?” said Twilight slyly. “I didn’t know that, thanks for the tip.”

Spike facepalmed. “You just had to open your mouth, didn’t you?” He muttered to himself as he walked away.

Twilight stood there, astonished by the sight.Why would Spike have blood on his hands this morning? It was still there from last night, Twilight realized. He never washed his hands, he just went straight to bed. Whatever Spike was doing at Rarity’s, it involved regular contact with blood. How long had he been doing this? Years?

Twilight put all the facts together in her mind. Rarity rarely eats. There are nights in the month when she is completely absent. Spike disappears to her house on those nights, comes back with blood on his claws and there’s a big bloodstain in Rarity’s living room. Quill Point saw, or seriously thought he saw, a vampire matching Rarity’s general description. The alleyway where he collapsed after being chased was where he’d been found. By Rarity.

Twilight made up her mind. She needed to confront Rarity. It didn’t matter what the answers were, Twilight needed to know them. The truth would come out, no matter what. As she made her way to the front door, it occurred to her what she was doing. She was about to go confront a possible vampire, completely alone, with no one knowing what she was doing. Would she maybe need... a weapon?

Her eyes slowly travelled over to the desk next to her, on which lay the broken table leg she’d put there yesterday. Its jagged edge pointed at her, sharp and inviting. The perfect wooden stake. From all she’d read, it was a good weapon against vampires. She knew, without a doubt, if push came to shove, no matter what Rarity was, Twilight could never bring herself to kill her. But what about for self-defense? How violent could vampires get? Twilight couldn’t kill Rarity, but could Rarity kill her?

She stared at the wooden stake, thinking for a long moment. Then, she took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. Using her levitation, she picked up the wooden stake- no, the table leg and threw it into the garbage can where it belonged. She opened the front door and left.

Reaching Rarity’s front door, she knocked on it vigorously. Now that she was actually here, actually faced with the prospect of revealing what she suspected, her ideas seemed more groundless. Did she really have all that much to go on? She shook her head. No. She would go through with this. The door opened and Rarity stood there.

“Why Twilight!” she beamed. “How nice to see you. What can I do for you?”

“Can I talk with you, Rarity?” Twilight asked. “It’s really important.”

“Of course,” assured Rarity. “Come inside.” Twilight entered and made her way to Rarity’s living room.

“Hold on one moment and I’ll be back with some tea,” said Rarity, leaving for the kitchen.

While she was gone, Twilight made her way over to Rarity’s dresser and pulled it aside. The carpet beneath it was completely clean. No bloodstain in sight. As if it had never existed. For one moment, Twilight stood there, her nerves almost failing her. Then, she leaned in close to the carpet and sniffed deeply. She sighed in resignation. She could smell the faint, yet unmistakable scent of bleach. She replaced the dresser and sat in her chair as Rarity reentered the room, placing a tea tray on the table and pouring two cups for them. Twilight left hers untouched.

“Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Rarity asked.

Twilight took a deep breath and began. “Rarity, this is really important, so I need you to tell me. Are you a vampire?”

Rarity stared at Twilight. “That’s absurd!” she stated. “A ridiculous idea!” Twilight had expected this first reaction. Denial.

“Look, just stop,” she said, cutting Rarity off. “I have a lot of evidence and questions that need answered, so tell me the truth. First, there’s the fact that I rarely see you eat anything.”

“I maintain a healthy diet,” Rarity protested.

“Then,” Twilight continued, ignoring her. “On some days, only Tuesdays actually, you disappear completely and I know you weren’t reupholstering your furniture yesterday, because you told Pinkie Pie you were painting.” Rarity winced.

“Also,” pressed Twilight, her energy and fervor growing with her accusations. “Spike came back from your place last Tuesday with blood on his claws and from the state of our sink, it looks like that’s been going on for a while. Not to mention that big stain on your carpet that you said was red dye, but I checked it out and it’s actually blood.” Rarity tried to speak, but couldn’t seem to find the words.

“And finally, I had to fix the memory of a stallion who swears he was chased by a vampire and you were found near the place where he collapsed!” Twilight was standing now looking intensely at Rarity, anger burning in her at the recent deceptions that were now out in the open.. Rarity had a calm look on her face and was staring down at her hooves.

“You’re right, Twilight,” she said calmly. “I am indeed a vampire.”

“I- wait, what? I’m right?” said Twilight, half of her unable to believe it. Rarity gave a small smile and her horn flashed. Several spells powered down at once. Rarity’s eyes changed from a bright blue to a scarlet red. Several non-existent teeth in her mouth disappeared to be replaced with sharp canines. Rarity sat, grinning a pointy-toothed smile, her crimson eyes calmly regarding her friend.

“It’s almost a relief to tell someone,” she said. Twilight was astonished and in her astonishment, the anger in her that had dimmed at Rarity’s revelation now flared in her brighter than ever.

“I can’t believe you!” she raged. “You deceived me! You lied to the entire town and all the while you’re draining other ponies dry to feed yourself!”

Rarity snapped a red glare full of anger on her. “Now wait just one moment,” she retorted. “I will not sit here and listen to such accusations. Never once have I done such a thing!”

“What,” began Twilight, her voice full of skepticism. “Are you going to tell me you’re some kind of vegetarian? That you only feed on animals, not other ponies?”

Rarity snorted and rolled her eyes. “Of course not! That would be much too contrived and far, far too silly an idea. I do admit I have to feed on ponies, but I completely deny that I have ever ‘drained other ponies dry’ as you put it. I have always made sure to spread my feeding out over multiple ponies so that me and Sweetie Belle do not injure anypony.”

“Wait, Sweetie Belle’s a vampire too!?” asked Twilight incredulously.

“Well of course she is,” said Rarity. “That business about vampirism being transferred through bite is simply mystical nonsense. It’s hereditary. Me and Sweetie get it from my mother’s side.”

Rarity stared hard at her friend. “Now, Twilight,” she started. “I understand that you’re rather startled and shocked by this news, so I will let your accusations slide. But the idea that I could possibly have it in me to intentionally kill another pony for food is very hurtful. I hope you don’t suspect that I’m capable of such a thing.”

Twilight looked at her hooves in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t kill anypony. I was just scared.”

“I believe you,” said Rarity calmly. “I noticed you didn’t bring a weapon with you, despite your suspicions. You have no idea how much I appreciate that trust. Many ponies in your position would not be nearly as understanding.” Twilight smiled in gratitude.

“Now,” continued Rarity. “All that’s left is to decide what you’re going to do.”

“Me?” asked Twilight. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you may feel the need to tell other ponies. Perhaps you are concerned for them. If you are, and you want to tell them, I’m certainly not going to forcibly restrain you. Just keep in mind that, with the exception of our friends, other ponies probably won’t be as accepting as you are. It’s just how the world is.” Rarity explained.

Twilight sat for a moment, undecided. “When you feed on ponies, what do you do?” she asked, stalling for time.

“Typically, I go over to houses of ponies that are asleep, about five or six of them, perform a sleeping spell to keep them unconscious and bring them back to my house. It’s rather arduous, actually. Then me and Sweetie Belle eat and I return them. I cycle through most of the ponies of Ponyville, not the children, sick or elderly, though, but other than that, I don’t play favorites. Everyone gets chosen about once every year.” said Rarity.

“Have... have you ever fed on me?” asked Twilight, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. Rarity looked at her.

“I’ve lived in Ponyville far longer than you have and I told you, I don’t play favorites.” She said plainly. Twilight nodded and let out a deep breath.

“What happened with Quill Point?” wondered Twilight. “That was pretty crazy.”

Rarity sighed. “I’m afraid I took too long getting him over to my house. The sleep spell wore off. He woke up during the feeding and understandably panicked. He ran away and I had to chase him down to get him back. I tried to modify his memory, but somepony else was looking for him. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize he had somewhere to be and was going to be missed. It was nearly a disaster.”

“What does Spike have to do with all of this?” Twilight queried.

For the first time since her secret came out, Rarity looked worried. “There is one flaw in my method,” Rarity admitted. “Sweetie Belle. She’s still a little vampire and hasn’t really learned self control yet. I’ll admit, it is a little scary seeing her at feeding time.. She has a different side to her then, almost a darker side. She can be a little... unstable. When I go to get ponies, I have her stay in her room and have Spike guard the door. As a dragon, he’s quite immune to whatever things a vampire could throw at him. Sweetie isn’t all that dangerous, she just needs someone to watch over her while I’m gone and somepony to help her when she feeds. When I return the ponies, Sweetie Belle goes to sleep and Spike helps clean up.”

“So he’s like a maid,” Twilight guessed.

“More like a butler, but I wouldn’t call him either to his face,” Rarity said with a giggle. They sat there in silence for a while.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking,” Twilight began, her ever present thirst for knowledge itching at her. “But, do vampires need to sleep?”

Rarity chuckled. “I suppose we’d better get all the silly myths out of the way, shouldn’t we? Yes, vampires do need to sleep, just like any other pony.”

“Obviously sunlight doesn’t kill you,” remarked Twilight with a grin.

“No, it doesn’t, although too much of it does give Sweetie and I a rather horrid headache.” Rarity said.

Another question occurred to Twilight. “Can you eat regular pony food?”

“Yes,” replied Rarity. “Although it has no nutritional value to vampires, so we tend not to eat a lot of it. It still tastes just as good to us as it does to other ponies, I imagine.”

Twilight hesitated. “Can vampires turn into bats?” she asked.

Rarity frowned. “Well, we can. But vampires can also fly without being bats, so I rarely do so.” As proof, she summoned her magic and her horn began to glow with a blood-red aura. She lifted off of her chair and hovered five feet in the air for a few seconds before floating back down.

“Wow,” breathed Twilight. The two sat there, the silence between them stretching uncomfortably.

“Have you made a decision?” asked Rarity.

Twilight sighed. “Maybe... maybe, if you want, you could come over to my library sometime and I’ll show you how to cast a stronger sleeping spell.”

Rarity smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Who knows?” said Twilight. “Maybe, one day, the town will be ready to know your secret. Our friends are at least ready, I know that much.”

“Yes,” agreed Rarity. “But if I do tell them, I would prefer to do it in my own time.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course. It’s your secret.”

Rarity smiled. “Thank you, Twilight.” After a few more minutes of talk, Twilight left to return to the rest of her day.

“One more question,” Twilight asked before she left. “Do Sweetie Belle’s friends know what she is?”

“Of course not,” asserted Rarity. “That was one of the first rules Sweetie Belle was taught: not to reveal her secret unless absolutely necessary. I trust she understands the potential consequences.” Twilight nodded and left the shop.

“Wow,” said Sweetie Belle, perched outside a window, watching the exchange. “I can’t believe Rarity told someone.”

“Yeah,” remarked Scootaloo. “I thought she’d take that secret to her grave.”

“Well, I’m just glad that Rarity has friends she can trust as much as we trust each other,” said Apple Bloom.

“I still wish we could have heard what they said,” grumped Scootaloo.

“We didn’t need to,” Sweetie Belle reasoned. “We saw my sister transform. They had to have been talking about vampires.”

“Yeah, but still,” Scootaloo persisted.

“Let’s not waste time mopin’.” Apple Bloom urged. “We got some crusadin’ to do.” Holding tightly to Sweetie Belle, the CMC floated down from Rarity’s window.

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADER ADVENTURE SQUAD!” they yelled, chasing their battle cry into the hills.