Flutter's Night

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this plan, girls." Sweetie Belle seemed to grow more anxious by the minute, remembering that it was her to first suggest using magic to help Applebloom. The more she thought about it, the more inane it seemed to her, not to mention needlessly dangerous.

"Would you rather just let her be until she goes and murders somepony with a stake?" Scootaloo had sound logic, but it was of little comfort to the unicorn filly. The flightless pegasus rapped her hoof impatiently against the clubhouse door, eager to get their plan underway. She wanted to have her friend back to normal as soon as possible.

"Ah'm with Sweetie on this one, Scooter. Twilight's cool and all, but…" Babs trailed off as Applebloom opened the door. She instantly began studying the expressions of the other Crusaders and seeing through their fake smiles.

"Why did ya'll come here? I know you don't believe me yet." The Crusaders in question exchanged nervous looks, silently deciding who would initiate the coming deceit. Finally, Sweetie reluctantly began speaking.

"We got in contact with Petal Vestment down in Canterlot, Applebloom. If anyone will believe you, it's him." Applebloom looked dumbfounded, her mouth agape. "He's going to test Fluttershy and Jury Dambridge for us at the library with Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, my sister and yours all right there to help out if something goes wrong." Sweetie was suddenly being gripped tight as Applebloom nuzzled into her shoulder, whispering her appreciation with a harsh rasp.

"Thank you…" Sweetie Belle never felt so horrible in her entire life.

"Come on, Bloomster," Babs interjected dejectedly. "We gotta get there by ten or we'll miss Petal."

"Ah can't thank ya'll enough for this."

"Don't mention it." Scootaloo replied a little too swiftly. "Ever. It was no big deal."

"No big deal?" Applebloom chuckled dryly as she started trotting toward the library with her friends at a leisure pace. "Ya obviously don't know what you're sayin' there, Scoots. Petal will know they're vampires and, well, maybe he'll even know how to cure 'em without hurtin' 'em, if there is a way." Scootaloo just gulped heavily, as if to keep down bile.

"You want to use mental magic? You know how dangerous that is, don't you?"

"Hay there, sis!" Applejack and Jury met them on the path out of the orchard, and another pony was with them as well. "This here's Billet Coal. He's helpin' Rarity and Jury restore that castle in the Everfree Forest." Whereas most of the fillies gave tentative, half-hearted waves to the grinning stallion, Applebloom just gave him a judging look before shifting her gaze to Jury with an air of trepidation. She carefully put Sweetie behind herself protectively, watching the other two fillies as if pleading for them to get further away from the older ponies.

Applejack didn't care if Applebloom was crazy or not; something real had to be behind that fear. Applejack's expression as she blocked Jury's view of her younger sister clearly let him know he was on thin ice, but the hired hoof just smirked knowingly back at her. She decided she didn't like him anymore, and she wouldn't let him anywhere near Applebloom ever again, regardless of the results of the coming tests.

Shortly after they reached the main road through Ponyville they met up with both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, rather reluctantly from Applebloom's point of view. She wanted to keep her friends safe, but she didn't know where to place herself. They were surrounded. "We're gonna get you through this, Applebloom." She wasn't at all reassured by Dash's hesitant attempt at displaying the gusto she normally had in spades. When she thought about it, Applejack didn't like the way Fluttershy was looking at her sister either. This day wasn't starting out too well.

--

"…And so, the acolytes of Huitloxopetl did decree that the local dream-walker of Equestria would be Luna, as her mood-swings consistently mirrored those of the Outer God they served." Pinkie finished her lecture just as Applebloom and the suspected vampires arrived, leaving her three pony and one dragon audience no time to question her about the quantum physics and cosmic deities she'd just breezily half explained. "Oh look, Applebloom is here!" Twilight quietly released the magic to set off the subtle charms that would begin to tweak Applebloom's thoughts away from a belief in vampires.

Applebloom had been prepared for this; she had expected one of the vampires to try hypnotizing her, and had the foresight to buy a charm that would protect her from mental magic. As Petal had told her on Fright Night, vampires hid Blueblood charms in all sorts of creative places, but often behind their fangs. If vampires could hide charms in their mouths, why couldn't normal ponies? She could feel the charm heat slightly as it strained to repel Twilight's powerful magic. The alicorn frowned, knowing something was wrong with her spell. She hoped Petal would be able to help Applebloom without the anti-paranoia spell.

The actor stepped forward with a flourish, straightening the stylized coat he wore in all his movies. "Applebloom, I presume. And these two, the supposed vampires." He pulled from his coat pocket two small vials of water, presenting first one to Jury and then another to Fluttershy. Both of them, reassured by the letters they received from Rarity, drank the water slowly, watching one another carefully. This was the first time the two had been in the same room together. "Now, could you please step in front of this mirror?" They did so, casting perfectly normal reflections, something that made Applebloom shake her head in confusion. Ironically, it was Twilight's anti-paranoia spell that reassured Applebloom that she was right; how could they have just tried to hypnotize her if they weren't vampires? Fluttershy stared up at Jury, but it looked to Applebloom as if she were somehow staring him down, asserting a sort of dominance over him in a way Applebloom didn't understand, and Jury relented to it, something which visibly surprised Billet Coal. Not that anypony other than Applebloom paid any attention to the exchange. "Now, Applebloom, do you really think a vampire could consistently work in Celestia's light, drink Her holy water, and be blessed with a reflection?"

"The Blueblood charms."

"Well, that could explain just--"

"No, they must naturalize the light somehow. That's how they can cast a reflection."

"But the blessed water--"

"Wasn't glowing enough anyway. It was fake wasn't it?" Petal's expression was all the answer she needed. "Ah thought so. Nice to finally meet you, Petal Vestment, vampire killer." The sarcasm dripped from Applebloom's statements condescendingly. "Well, this was fun and all, but Ah'd like to get back to my homework if Ah could." Such a reason might be her only excuse to leave after everything else she'd said.

"Listen Applebloom," Applejack began, managing to sound both commanding and protective. "If Jury did something to you--"

"Applejack, I do take offense--"

"Shut up." Nopony spoke in Jury's defense, watching him with new eyes. "Ah saw the way she looked at you." She turned her attention back to her little sister. "If he did anything to you to make you… uncomfortable… you can tell me, but you've got to stop with all this vampire stuff and speak the honest truth."

"Ah'll prove it to ya'll then." Applebloom pulled a wooden carving of Celestia's Cutie Mark from under her bow, using an attached bracelet to fasten it to her right fore-ankle. Before anypony could stop her she jumped forward to Jury and Fluttershy, thrusting her hoof forward. "Touch this."

"Forgive me for not wanting to get too close to you after what your sister so wrongfully accused me of." Jury's hasty defense seemed to satisfy all but Applebloom as he took a few steps back, but nothing could prepare her for the shock of seeing Fluttershy's hoof in direct contact with the carving, completely unharmed.

"It doesn't bother me," she said with her perfect, calming voice. For the first time, Applebloom thought that she might actually have been wrong. Either she was indeed wrong, or her situation was a lot worse than she'd originally presumed. "Please don't be afraid of me, Applebloom. I'd never let anyone hurt you." As if to punctuate this statement, Fluttershy lowered herself to Applebloom's height and surrounded her with well-preened wings, keeping her feathers just low enough for everypony to keep an eye on the filly. They could all see that Fluttershy was doing nothing dubious, and meanwhile Applebloom had her doubts finally erased.

Fluttershy's gorgeous eyes bore through Applebloom's charm, causing the expensive trinket to break apart gently, just as a blooming flower would. What are you? Applebloom thought, and she soon had a reply.

I am refuge and respite,

Shadow and sanctuary,

Darkness and moonlight,

Peace and tranquility.

I command death. I can unleash it or hold it prisoner. Sometimes I bite. A soft wing stroked the relaxing filly's cheek. When I do, cherish it.

What is she? Jury wondered, awed and frightened. This was a breed he had never encountered before, and he could feel her great age radiating from her. He knew that she predated Celestia's birth, but he didn't know how.

"Fluttershy, what are ya doin'?" Applejack was confused, but she couldn't help but to notice how much more at ease her sister now looked.

"To your sister?" Fluttershy's articulation gave a clear message to Applejack alone. Perhaps Applebloom just wanted Applejack to be her sister, and maybe she needed somepony else to take her mother's place. "I'm just trying to comfort her. She seemed so scared that she had me worried."

"Ahem." Pinkie soon had the attention of the silent ponies, each of whom seemed suppressed by the tension in the library. "Might I remind the party that there's cookies and punch by the door?"

With that single sentence Pinkie managed to drastically reduce the amount of tension present, and soon everypony was sipping their particular drink of choice, using the fact that they'd cleared their schedules for the day to reminisce and discuss Twilight's upcoming temporary position in Canterlot. It wasn't all smiles, of course, as Fluttershy very obviously kept close to a lethargic Applebloom while the other fillies shifted uncomfortably, Applejack giving Jury an apology she didn't mean whilst continuing to keep a close eye on him. Even Pinkie couldn't muster the party spirit necessary to hold much of a conversation with either Jury or Billet, which inwardly disturbed her quite a bit. Sweetie Belle in particular looked quite dejected, as if she were responsible for whatever Applebloom was going through. Twilight whispered to Petal and Rarity about how tremendously her spell had failed, but between the three of them they were still unable to pin down the problem. Rainbow watched Fluttershy mingle with her wing draped over Applebloom's shoulders all the while, holding an uncertain smile. Fluttershy sure seemed to be spending a lot of time speaking serenely to the other fillies.

After thirty minutes of chit-chat and strangeness they all agreed to walk Twilight to her train and part ways at the station. By that time, every one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were walking with Fluttershy, listless smiles on their faces.

--

"Snails, is it just me, or do those fillies look a little…"

"Dead inside?"

"…Yeah." Snails gulped nervously as he replied.

"It's not just you."

--

"What are those weirdos up to now?" Diamond Tiara lacked her usual sting as she spoke to Silver Spoon with a modicum of legitimate concern.

"Their flanks aren't all that's blank today."

--

"I'm telling you, featherweight, something isn't right." Rumble rambled. "Seven disappearances in five days, all in Ponyville? That just doesn't add up."

"Well yeah but… what can we do about it?"

"Guys," Button Mash interrupted. "Look at that! Sweetie Belle looks all hypnotized. In fact…"

"They all do."

"Thatth not normal…" All the fillies and colts in the schoolyard exchanged horrified looks, whispering the same word in near-perfect synchronization.

"Vampires."

"Okay kids, recess is over. Back to the books."

--

"Bye Twilight!" Pinkie Pie roared, bouncing up to ridiculous heights. "Be sure to write!"

"Oh dear!" Rarity exclaimed. "We seem to have forgotten all about Spike."

"No no," Twilight reassured. "He's watching the library while I'm away."

"Come to think of it," Pinkie began thoughtfully. "I don't remember seeing him at the party."

"That's because he's out getting supplies, since I'm bringing my quills, ink, and parchment with me."

"Ah'm sure he'll miss ya somethin' awful, Twi."

"Don't be silly, Applejack. It's good for us to have some time apart every so often. Not to mention he'll have Owlowiscious for company."

"Oh, I see what's going on." Rarity slunk up next to Twilight as she spoke, arching her brow coyly. "This about that guard you've fallen for, isn't it?"

"Flash Sentry isn't stationed in Canterlot!" Twilight's indignant retorts were cut short by the call of the conductor.

"All aboard, unless somepony wants to get left behind." Twilight seemed embarrassed at her slowness, beginning to step aboard. Before she could, Petal stepped forward with an indignant expression.

"How dare you, lowly conductor."

"How dare I?"

"Yes, exactly. How dare you. Did you not notice that you were speaking to Princess Twilight Sparkle Herself?"

"Uh…" The conductor finally took a closer look at Twilight, his expression becoming mortified as Petal began to advance toward him. "I-I-I… I mean… um…"

"Did you not recognize your Princess?"

"Well, I… um…"

"As if her being escorted by the Element Bearers wasn't a dead give away. Just because the Elements have been returned to the Tree doesn't mean their Bearers are any less important. What of her vibrant shade of purple and the distinctive stripes in her mane?"

"Look, I just--"

"I suppose her wings and horn weren't enough to clue you in either. Furthermore, you are wrong in the first place. You see that clock up there? This train isn't scheduled to leave for another five minutes. Do you not have confidence in your engine, or are you simply incompetent?"

"I'm sorry, okay? Her Majesty can take as long as she wants." After that performance Petal found himself in possession of an extra hundred bits, as well as access to Twilight's room in the library so he could enjoy a much-needed vacation.

--

Dear Celestia,

We owe Petal Vestment a new job when all this is over.

Yours,

Twilight

--

"I gotta give you props, Fluttershy." After the group separated, Applejack took the Cutie Mark Crusaders to the Orchard, Jury promising to give Applebloom some space by spending the rest of the day at the Castle of the Two Sisters with Billet Coal. Rarity had tentatively joined the stallions to gather a few more tapestries in need of restoration. Pinkie decided to go check up on Cranky and Matilda, which left Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walking together until they would need to part ways to reach their homes. "I've never seen Applebloom that content about… everything really. How did you do it?"

"It just takes a gentle touch." Rainbow felt a wing brush against her own lovingly, Fluttershy turning her gaze to the cerulean pegasus with a soft smile. "It's not just for the young, either." Rainbow blushed and looked at the ground, watching herself walk as her mind raced. "Would you like to spend the day with me, Rainbow?" Fluttershy's hot breath touched Rainbow's right ear, and the acrobatic pegasus shivered in ecstasy. She may have given a small moan as well, but she quickly made an attempt to recover her coolness.

"Uh, yeah, yeah… a'ight. We can totally do what you just said."

--

Angel had done his best, but the jackalopes were voracious. Without Fluttershy to stare them down in person, there was no way to prevent them from going on the attack. He had to warn his mistress as soon as possible. The bunny rushed toward the cottage as quickly as he could.

--

"How'd the intervention go?" Big Macintosh dropped his plow and made his way over to his smiling sister and the fillies who were her charges. Applejack encouraged them to head on to the farmhouse to begin the impromptu slumber party, and as soon as the younger ponies left her fake smile fell completely. "What's wrong?"

"It's Jury. We're keeping him away from Applebloom from now on. Ah don't know if she's just scared of vampires or if somethin' worse is goin' on, but Ah ain't takin' no chances. That shack we was buildin' for him needs to be finished today, and we ain't makin' Applebloom help us."

"Alright, but we'll have tah double time it."

"Ah think we can manage."

--

Spike finished laying the last of several vampire traps he'd placed throughout the orchard, Celestia's Cutie Mark depicted with specially made strips of silver and hidden by the grass, this done at several locations in the fields around the farmhouse and clubhouse. He'd hung bushels of garlic on as many tree branches as he could, and placed magical UV lamps at strategic locations. There were even motion detectors connected to an alarm system that only a Princess could get a hold of easily. Applejack had discovered the dragon and his work on her way to get more supplies for the construction of Jury's shack, puzzling over a glowing crystal battery. "So, when Twilight said you were gettin' supplies, she really meant ya'll were fortifyin' the town?"

"Starting with the orchard," Spike confirmed. "The School is next on my list."

"But… why? I thought Twilight didn't believe in vampires."

"Imagine for a moment that Applebloom has been right this whole time, and our magical intervention makes her clueless again. How could we just leave her and everypony else without some form of protection?"

"That's just it: Twi's spell didn't work. Applebloom is totally convinced that Jury is a vampire."

"Hmm…" Spike scratched his chin, contemplative. "And what about Fluttershy?"

"Ah… Ah don't know what to think on that front." Spike raised a questioning brow, to which Applejack sighed in exasperation. "Look, she just did this weird, calming, stare-ee, Flutter… thing, er somthin'. Ah don't know! It was weird, alright? I can't explain it."

"Do you want me to stay with her tonight, just in case? I mean, I am a dragon, afterall."

"Nah, she's got her friends over so she ain't alone, and if she's right the school will need these defenses. The rest of the town, too, probably." Spike saluted with a determined grin and set out to finish his work, Applejack doing the same.

--

"Ten tapestries for this trip. I should have them done within a fortnight. You two don't mind giving the Apples their space for the day, do you?" Jury smiled back at Rarity from his position working on wooden frames which served as armor stands.

"Don't worry about them, Lady Rarity. You are a far more beautiful prize."

"What do you mean?" She took a step back, only to feel Billet Coal restraining her, and there was Jury before her, large fangs protruding away from the rest of his teeth. "Get back!" Rarity let magic flow unrestrained from her horn, attempting to push the predator back with sheer force, but her magic flowed through him as if he wasn't even there.

"There is only one spell caster who can hurt me, Lady Rarity." With her eyes as wide as saucers the panicked unicorn did all she could in her struggle to break free, throwing magic at the stone beneath them, kicking wildly, and screaming at the top of her lunges. There were none to come to her rescue in the depths of the castle that was some distance away from even Zecora's hut, and her thrashing couldn't shake Billet's hold, nor protect her from Jury's fangs. He drank from her until she grew limp, relenting before she was fatally drained. "Soon you will join us, milady, for Blueblood charms are expensive and our numbers are growing. With your gems we can buy as many as we could ever need." He carefully cut his own leg with a fang, letting his contaminated blood drip past Rarity's limp jaw and down her throat.

Billet dropped the unicorn to leave her to her transformation, smirking at Jury and his dramatics. Jury returned this attention by giving Billet a bloody peck on the lips. "They're here, you know." Even though his statement would seem acutely ambiguous to most, Jury seemed to understand Billet perfectly.

"Go, hunt them. Let them know this town is ours now."

--

"Ah love you, Fluttershy." Applebloom said to herself, the other Crusaders watching her stare out of the clubhouse window at the swiftly setting Sun. "Ah'm goin' to save ya from yourself if it kills me."

"Applebloom…" Scootaloo stuttered. "V-vampires… they aren't r-real." Applebloom turned to her friend with a sad look.

"We're all goin' to die, Scoots, and Ah think ya'll already know that."

--

Youtube Video

Rainbow Dash had spent the afternoon falling deeper into a dazed and hypnotized state with each passing second, until finally she found herself on her back on Fluttershy's couch, her back left leg kick-twitching at the attention her body was getting. The yellow pegasus was running her hooves through Rainbow's fur in slow, calming circles, kissing her chest with soft lips. She straddled Dash's twitching leg, letting her own knee press gently into Rainbow's moist sex, mimicking the circular motions her hooves were making elsewhere and relishing the feel of Rainbow arcing her back in response to the stimulation. "I've wanted to touch you this way since flight school, Dash." Rainbow's only reply was a breathless moan as Fluttershy nipped at her ear, the mortal pegasus too immersed in pleasure to feel pain for the puncture wounds created by the fangs involved. "All I had to do was remember how long I've lived to reclaim memories of the confidence I needed. Tell me, Dash… do you love me?" Fluttershy pressed her knee in with a modicum of extra pressure, Rainbow gasping and nodding frantically, a large and ecstatic grin dominating her features. "Will you ever leave me again?" Fluttershy loosened her hold, Rainbow's smile faltering as she gave a dissatisfied grunt and a single, desperate shake of her head. Fluttershy was pleased by this response, cooing and stroking her prey as she swiftly closed the distance she had created and then some, her body flush with Dash's. "You can be mine forever, my sweet. Just let me take you."

"Ah! Yes… Oh Fluttershy, please." She didn't have to wait long, Fluttershy lifting her head and licking her lips in anticipation. Rainbow squirmed with pleasure as Fluttershy's knee worked vigorously against her, the mistress of the household undergoing a transformation before the eyes of the vampiric animals Dash still hadn't noticed. They each continued to watch silently from the shadows as Fluttershy's fur, mane, and tail grew longer in tufts and became frayed and jagged; her fangs extended and multiplied, her muzzle stretching forward an inch and her eyes glazing over with a reddish amber glow while her pupils dilated and her wings shed their feathers. She looked down to see Rainbow on the edge of release, gasping and needy. Fluttershy took her time with it, exhaling a long, hot breath over Rainbow's neck, then licking the warmed fur with her wet, bat-like tongue. Her long mane now covered Rainbow's face, and the helplessly seduced pegasus breathed deeply through her nostrils, taking in the scent of her new mistress. After what felt like a lifetime, the vampire finally sunk her teeth into her victim's neck, drinking gulps of blood. Rainbow gave an immediate yelp that quickly dissolved into a series of long-winded moans and short utterance's of Fluttershy's name. Just as Rainbow began to relax into the feeding, Fluttershy bit down harder and thrust her knee in tighter, Dash panting and trembling in the throes of orgasm.

Fluttershy lifted her fangs from lightly bleeding holes in Dash's skin, a single tear of fulfillment rolling through the fur on her left cheek. She spread her leathery wings and slowly rose into the air, bending down and lifting the leg she kneaded into Dash's sex with her forelimbs. At the crease of her flesh where her thigh met her groin her fang cut open a small wellspring of her own blood. Soon her nether lips were over Rainbow's face, her tail draped across Dash's new neck wound. "Drink it, my sweet. It is the final step to eternity." Rainbow's hooves grasped Fluttershy's hips in a grateful hold, her tongue running over the fresh cut gratuitously as she drank from it. She could not allow herself to neglect the sweet-smelling sex so near to her able muzzle, nuzzling and licking it deeply as her hooves began to stroke her mistress, alternating to the cut and back until Fluttershy could no longer silence her thankful moans. Her mistress vocalized her pleasure with only the most subtle bat-like rasp, something which only drove Rainbow to slurp and suckle more greedily at both semi-viscous fluids available to her. It didn't take Fluttershy long to succumb to Rainbow's overwhelming technique, panting through a smile as her legs trembled and her wings straightened. Her orgasm was long a slow, and when it was over Rainbow nuzzled the base of her tail, lips brushing softly against Fluttershy's rearmost orifice. Somehow Dash had known that any more blood-loss would've weakened her mistress.

There stood Angel Bunny on the floor before his mistress, his fangs showing as he transferred to her his memory of the jackalopes' refusal of her order. "Dash, my sweet, there is a filly I must guard tonight. I must leave you, but not for long. Do not fight the changes my blood will bring you; embrace them." Rainbow released her hold, letting her body go limp with a happy sigh. Fluttershy flew through the cottage doorway with supernatural swiftness, speeding to Sweet Apple Acres with all haste. Applebloom had an anti-hypnosis charm and a concealed Celestial Mark at the library, Fluttershy thought to herself. She is obviously prepared. I'll watch her fight the jackalopes to better judge the level of her preparedness.

--

"Well see My Cutie Mark was itching so I bounced over here as quick as I could and what-do-you-know, here you two are working away at a shack that's just not getting finished." Applejack sighed in appreciation for Pinkie's appearance on the scene, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hoof.

"Thanks, Pinkie. Could ya nail in these here rafters while Big Mac stabilizes the stepladder? Ah gotta go get us some more wood and nails from the shed."

"Okey dokey lokey, Artichokey!" Applejack turned around to get the aforementioned supplies, completely missing Big Mac's gaping jaw and the already finished rafters.

Applejack's walk through the orchard was troubled by thoughts of unsavory acts and vampirism, her frown simply refusing to be shaken. She passed several vampire traps set by Spike on her way to the shed, admiring the beautiful silver Marks and colorful crystals, all bathed in UV light, a light that simple Blueblood charms could protect any blood-sucker from. Applejack was not without other sights to occupy her for long: after nearly seven minutes of taking carefully measured steps she saw something move in her periphery vision. Her breath caught as she looked around frantically, unable to locate whatever had moved. With only a glimpse to judge by, the farm mare stepped quietly behind an apple tree, standing on only her hindlegs and pressing her back against the bark. Her ears twitched as a voice drifted to her on the wind, a buzzing changeling voice.

"We don't want you here. Take your mazzzter and leave thizzz placezzz. I've mizzzed out on zzzeveral good mealzzz thankzzz to your kidnappingzzz."

"Ahaha!" This voice was almost like Billet Coal's, but with a more subtle inclination toward a changeling buzz. "You think I can be intimidated by numberz? You are truly ignorant creaturez." There were several hissed battlecries and the sound of buzzing changeling wings, followed immediately by an unholy noise straight from the depths of Tartarus, reminiscent of what Applejack imagined the desperate cries of several billion tortured souls would sound like. There was scrambling and cries of panic before the noise repeated four more times, and then all was silent. Applejack silently gasped, holding her breath and praying that Celestia would protect her somehow. A second later and a powerful force shattered the tree behind her, sending Applejack to the ground with flailing limbs and panicked pants. "What'z the matter, mizz Apple?" Billet said with his forelimbs resting on the now horizontal tree trunk. Applejack stared, mouth agape, at his true form, a changeling surrounded in an aura of mist shifting from green to cerulean and back. Behind him, the bodies of five completely love-drained changelings lay limp and shriveled, their faces permanently giving an expression of terror and pain. "Did I give you a fright?"

She ran as quickly as she could toward the shed, the structure closest to her, weaving between trees as if to evade a predator. Just as she threw open the shed door, Pinkie poked her head forward in greeting from within. "Hi-ya!"

"Bah! Pinkie! Get back in there." Applejack shoved her way inside and closed the door behind her, turning back to Pinkie to see that her pink friend wasn't at all alarmed by Applejack's own alarm. "Wait… are you really Pinkie or are you… him?"

"Oh, you mean Billet Coal? No, I'm not Billet; I'm me! He makes a great ghoul for Jury Dambridge though, being a changeling cannibal wraith and all. He keeps the other bugs in check." Applejack couldn't believe what she was hearing, trying to find the doorknob without taking her eyes off Pinkie. "Mistress Fluttershy hasn't exactly acquainted herself with them yet, but of course I have because I'm me." Pinkie gave an exasperated gasp, her usual smile growing larger as her fangs extended, leathery wings sprouting from her sides. "I almost forgot to tell you: Fluttershy turned me first! Isn't that great?" Applejack found the knob and stumbled out of the shed, only to find Pinkie in front of her again outside, a frown of disapproval on her face. "You know it's rude to run away like that, don't you?" Applejack jumped backward into the shed, shutting the door as she did, Pinkie's hoof instantly smashing a hole in the door.

The wooden door.

"Where's mah brother, Pinkie?"

"Oh, he's busy transforming into one of us right now. Don't worry about him." While Pinkie spoke, Applejack snatched a sawed-off with a strap and swung it over her shoulder, as well as another double-barrel shotgun with full barrels, bracing it against her shoulder.

"Wrong answer, Pinkie!" With ammo belts crossing each other over her chest Applejack blasted the shed door to pieces, sending hundreds of tiny stakes raking through Pinkies fur. The vampire gasped from the small jolts of pain, Applejack scooping up a sharp piece of wood in her teeth and charging it into Pinkie's neck. There was an ear-splitting roar as Pinkie slithered backward, convulsing on the ground as her hoof bones extended past her fur and seemed to sharpen, her face becoming a disgusting parody of what it once was.

Applejack ran from the scene as quickly as her hooves would carry her, panting through shells as she frantically reloaded her weapon. "Hello, mizz Applejack." The orange-coated earth pony dug her hooves into the ground, being braced by a silver depiction of Celestia's Cutie Mark. "Oh, you know theze don't work on me, don't you?"

"Does this‽" After the distinct bang of a shotgun firing echoed through the orchard, Billet Coal fell limply to the ground, Applejack quickly reloading and moving on. He didn't stay down for long.

--

Alarms blared throughout the orchard as countless bodies of vampiric beasts tripped the motion sensors, the Cutie Mark Crusaders watching the shadows from their clubhouse. "Jackalopes." Applebloom muttered.

"Youze remember how Ah was readin' that book what talked about vampiric jackalopes?" Babs's voice had a timbre that left the others more worried than before.

"Yeah." Applebloom answered tentatively.

"Well, they ain'ts got the weaknesses regular vamps have."

"Great. Any good news?"

"They ain'ts got the strengths neither, less youze count the fangs."

"Well, that ain't so bad."

"Yeah, but theyz also hunt in packs of fifty or more." There was a long moment of silence as the others processed this information, watching the ever-growing number of fleeting shadows hop between the trees.

"You were right, Applebloom." Scootaloo conceded. "We're all going to die."

"No we're not!" Sweetie stomped her hooves against the floor, turning away from the window and watching her friends slowly give her their full attention. "We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and we don't give up, EVER! We are going to take these stakes Applebloom made, and we are going to fight off these stupid jackalopes if it takes us all damn night!" No adult would've blamed her for swearing in such a situation, if any adult were present. "They want to suck OUR blood? Well they can't have it! It's OURS!" There was a collective shout of approval from the other three, their determination bolstered. "This is our clubhouse, our farm, and our town!" Another collective shout of encouragement. "It's called 'Ponyville,' not 'Vampville' or 'Jackalopetopia'! Screw them!" Jackalope horns were soon being smashed against the windows and door of the clubhouse, cracks appearing in the woodwork and glass panes. Scootaloo's response to this was to grab three stakes at once and yell a challenge around the one in her mouth, her fellow Crusaders joining in instantly. Sweetie pushed her magic harder than she ever had before in her adrenaline fueled state, levitating seven stakes on her own. As the first jackalope broke through a window to their left Sweetie through a stake into its chest. All patriotic enthusiasm left the four as they stared at the bloody corpse of the horrible creature, red seeping into the floorboards. Then there was another beast, and a third, and there was no more time to think on the gruesomeness of death, only just enough to frantically defend their own lives.

Within seconds every window was shattered and the door shredded, blood and viscera soaking the fillies and coating the inner surfaces of the clubhouse. The blood was not only that of jackalopes, the outnumbered fillies unable to avoid every snapping jaw and swinging claw during their maddening brawl. The furry beasts fell one after the other, their adversaries quickly becoming jaded to the sights of blood and death, as well as the feel of sharp pain and physical overexertion. After the first few minutes there were dozens of jackalopes nailed to the walls by stakes that the Crusaders had run out of, the fillies desperately beating down the creatures with their bare hooves. Sweetie Belle stabbed one at the nape of the neck with her horn; Scootaloo kicked another right back out the window and past the balcony, its bones cracking on impact with the ground; Babs shoved one jackalope's horn through another's eye socket, snapping the neck of the first jackalope and simultaneously scrambling the brains of the other; Applebloom completely lost control of herself, kicking and bucking with enough force to shatter the small skeletal structures and musculature of the jackalopes. It couldn't last forever. Just when it seemed the fight might be ending, another jackalope appeared, larger than the others by several inches of height, baring four horns rather than two, each of a different sort. It gave a commanding roar, tens of other jackalopes flocking behind it at the door.

Applebloom could not contain her fury and revulsion, screaming at the top of her lungs and rushing the monster head-on. It bucked her to the ground with no effort at all, rearing over her and lowering its fangs. There was a splash of blood, bone, and grey matter, followed by an enraged hiss, the jackalopes scattering in several directions to the fanfare of motion sensor alarms. A yellow pony with bat-like features, leathery wings, red-amber eyes, long tufts of wild fur at the tips of her ears, and a sharp, bloodied hoof bone. "I wish I could have made it here sooner, dearest Applebloom." Fluttershy lowered herself to the height of a filly who was much more complacent than she had been a moment prior, wrapping a sharp hoof around Applebloom's shoulders and leaning in for a deep kiss.

The worst part in Scootaloo's mind was Applebloom actually seemed to be enjoying what Fluttershy was doing, leaning into the kiss with a disturbing sense of need. "You disgusting mo-- Gah!" Scootaloo's attempt to kick Fluttershy right in the face was thwarted as the vampire raised her own hoof in front of Scootaloo's, causing the filly's young bones to crack painfully.

"Don't lose your temper, Scootaloo; I love you, too, and you'll soon be just as much mine as Applebloom." Fluttershy licked a fang, pressing her muzzle into Applebloom's ear and whispering to her. "Will you cherish it?"

"Ye… yes." Applebloom panted, breathless from the fight and losing her energy as the adrenaline left her system. Fluttershy's fangs parted for the filly's neck.

*BANG‼*

The push of the blast caused Fluttershy to slide away from her mark by a mere inch, but the pony responsible did gain her attention. "Applejack, you shouldn't interrupt me… ever again." Applejack's face was paling fast; she'd expected the shotgun to do a bit more than that. There was a squelching sound as a jackalope corpse lost the stake holding it in the wall, Babs jumping through the doorway with the primitive weapon and stabbing at Fluttershy. The vampire mistress had the forethought to hold her leg in front of her chest, but the piercing stake still caused her a great deal of pain. The shriek that escaped her lips forced the mortal ponies to cover their sensitive ears, Fluttershy making a hasty retreat to someplace private enough for her to remove the stake without further harassment.

Applejack took in the sight of blood and death surrounding her panting sister and her friends, mortified that they'd been forced to go through such an ordeal alone. "If it's any consolation, Ah believe ya'll now." She unstrapped the sawed-off shotgun and placed it in front of Applebloom. "Ah reckon ya've earned that."