Ice-cold soil was the first thing Fluttershy felt as she stirred awake, followed by a throbbing in her head as if she had ran into a tree.
A tree. A wave of shivers rolled down her fur at the thought. That was the last thing she remembered seeing before losing control. At once she opened her eyes to a glossy blur. Even so, she could tell she wasn't anywhere near home. The moon burned bright above her like a dull flashlight and the trees around her swayed wildly back and forth with twisted branches.
Standing up, something didn't feel right. It was as if there was somepony else nearby.
“What are you doing?!” a voice shrieked, causing Fluttershy to jolt up.
Yes, there definitely was somepony nearby.
“You're just going to leave her down on the ground like a-”
“Calm down!” said another voice, this one more masculine and crackly, “I was looking for a possum or some pest to give her. Besides, she was unconscious!”
“That's rich. Calm? You mean like how you were with the chandeliers?!”
“It was a late night, and at least we had insurance on them!”
“At least you still kept your head, you pig-sucking scum!”
A rustling up in the trees disturbed the female voice mid-rant. Their eyes peered up to the only moving branch that had a peculiar pink tail on it. A quick shake from the tree brought Fluttershy sailing down into the arms of a normal-looking muscular gray stallion.
Well, except for the black slits he had for pupils and the bat wings.
A similar figure peered over her with a grouchy huff. Fluttershy could only stutter out “Va-va-vamp-i-i-”
“Yes, yes, we know what we are, miss,” answered the grouchy mare with an orange coat. The stallion holding Fluttershy stared back at the mare.
“You mean, 'Your Majesty', Midnight Shimmer?”
“M-m-m-maje-je-”
“Sorry, Moon Butt!”
“Blue Moon!” he retorted.
“Whatever!” snapped Midnight Shimmer. “Just put her down!”
Blue Moon gently did so to the fear-stricken Fluttershy. The mare continued to stutter incoherently until Midnight Shimmer shoved a hoof to Fluttershy's mouth.
“Before you break down every syllable in every known word, let me say some things. Yes, we're all vampires, like in the stories. Yes, we all have a story, but needless to say, we all didn't start like this. We know how you're feeling right now, being new to all this.”
Fluttershy quickly spat out the hoof and, in her usual demeanor, shook her head at the notion. “Yes, I'm very happy there's somepony who understands-”
She froze as her brain re-translated the vampire's words. Instantly she opened up her wings and felt her teeth. Sure enough, they were sharp like a bat's. Her body was slightly more bent and elongated. Especially her needle-like horn.
Her horn.
“Bu-bu-bu-?!”
“Keep doing that and I'm going to knock you out.”
The threat seemed to work as the yellow vampire alicorn stood silent. The vampire mare resumed.
“Look, Fluttershy, or Your Highness, I don't know. Frankly, we've never seen a vampire batpony alicorn in forever. Or ever. But, er, Your Highness, you fit the prophecy. Legend says we will find our new queen in her unabashed form in broad daylight, under the sacred willow tree outside of Hollow Shades. She will lead us on to a great future as the next dominant race in Equestria. I just didn't think it'd be one of the Elements of Harmony.
“But enough. Come, let’s go to the ritual site.”
“Um, I don't think I should. I should be home now, and I know my friends wouldn't approve of this.” Fluttershy responded quietly as she crept backwards only to hit against Blue Moon. The stallion batpony towered right over her with a sinister snarl.
“Come walk with us.”
…...................................................................................................................................
The group marched along by moonlight as the forest around them disappeared into a mountainous valley. Up ahead stood a decrepit castle carved into the side of the mountain. Foal Mountain, Midnight Shimmer clarified. Drawing closer, Fluttershy could see the destroyed state of the castle. Tattered banners and broken statues both bearing symbols of vampire clans added to the ruined stone walls, darkened by years of weathering and the crisp night. The ceiling was pocked with holes, but as Blue Moon explained, the extra chandelier insurance money was supposed to cover that soon.
“We're here.”
Past a pair of heavy oak doors, the party entered the throne room. About two dozen vampires stood uniformly, many wearing ancient robes. At the front stood a particularly menacing one, an extremely tall unicorn with a scarred eye and a mismatched zebra pattern of black and red. His horn, though very small, protruded through his spiky mane.
“Welcome, my queen!” he said in a surprisingly nasally voice. “I am Lord Raven Drake Galar the Powerful! Your humble servant.”
Somehow, Fluttershy lost any fear she had just a moment ago, even as the vampires began chanting and placing jewelry on her. Yet Galar continued.
“We are now at the pinnacle of the coronation ritual! All that is left is-”
“Well, this is nice and all,” Fluttershy interrupted without shame, “and I truly am grateful for all this, but I really need to get back home before Angel gets-”
“Quiet! Now, bring out the sacrifice!”
“... Hungry?”
“It's the last step before you can achieve your sovereignty. You must feast on a pathetic creature of infinite joy.”
A small procession came forward carrying a mahogany coffin. Quickly they stopped and put down the coffin before receding back. Galar motioned her forward. As the two approached the coffin, Fluttershy, for the umptenth time, froze.
It was a pink pony.
“Oh my gosh! Hey Fluttershy! Or Flutterbat! I didn't know you were going to be here! Nice place, huh?”
“Pinkie! What are you doing here?”
“I was told there was going to be a big celebration here by Lord-evil-bad-OC-something, and I knew that was fancy for party, so I just had to come. Then these guys outside said that it would be super fun if I got in this coffin and here we are now!”
Galar’s voice boomed. “Silence! Now my liege, drink her blood.”
Fluttershy quivered before shaking her head. “No.”
“You must! Besides, you must be hungry.” While there was truth to the statement, Fluttershy remained strong.
“The answer's no. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I'd rather starve than hurt my friend. In fact, honestly, I don't want to become your queen. I mean, if that's okay with you.”
“Yeah,” huffed Pinkie, her head lifted at Galar. “That's no way to treat your batpony vampire alicorn queen! Huh, that's actually fun to say...”
“This is NOT NEGOTIABLE! The hour is upon us and with that our reign of terror! You will be queen, whether you want to or not. Now...”
His hooves wrapped around Fluttershy and pressed her head down towards Pinkie.
“Feast!”
A chorus of voices chanted the word over and over. Fluttershy struggled violently, flapping her wings and kicking at him. However, he still persisted and inch by inch her forced-open mouth drew closer to the party pony's neck. She was an inch away when it dawned upon her.
“Oh, wait. I'm an alicorn.”
Suddenly Galar was enveloped in an aura of yellow magic and, with a quick nudge, was sent sailing into one of the hanging tapestries and out a window. She then proceeded to undo Pinkie's bindings when Galar came roaring back in.
“Don't let her escape!”
At once a crowd of vampires rushed from the sidelines and stood in front of the casket. Fluttershy and Pinkie scooted backwards, unsure of what to do next. It looked like it was all going to crash down on the two.
Only, something did begin to crash down with a loud zap and a sharp crack. In a flash, a giant chandelier came bearing down on the horde of vampires in a violent explosion of glass and metal. Those lucky enough to not be under it stood in shock at the scene. One simply cried “Not again!”
Then, another loud zap rang out. A pink magic beam instantly wrapped itself around Fluttershy in a dazzle of sparkles. In a matter of seconds, the beam released it's grasp on Fluttershy and in a flash, disappeared. Fluttershy floated to the ground. The horn and the bat wings were gone and the jewelry hung big on her.
The remaining vampires, including Midnight Shimmer and Blue Moon, stared at each other before flying away and out into the mountains.
Galar howled in anger. “NO! This-”
A flurry of sickening puncture sounds resounded, followed by Galar evaporating midair into ashes. In his place stood Twilight Sparkle, a crossbow in her grasp. She was then joined by the other Element-bearers, all armed to the teeth with stakes and garlic necklaces.
The lavender alicorn princess blew at the crossbow with a smirk. “Vampires. There's a reason why they aren't a threat to Equestria.”
An awkward silence fell upon the entire castle before Rainbow Dash finally said, “That was weird.”
