The Vampony Chronicles

The Vampony Chronicles:
Chapter 2: The Nightmare's Curse

I sighed as I walked through Sweet Apple Acres, the sun just cresting over the horizon behind Canterlot in the distance. It was going to be a long day of trying to find a way not only to hide my fangs, but make myself look like I used to. Not that I look bad mind you, actually I'm damn sexy. I chucked to myself. But ponies will ask how I'm suddenly more fit than Rainbow Dash. At least I can trust Spike to keep a secret, AJ too probably. Pinkie, well I'll have to ask AJ. Dash will accept it I hope, actually she'll probably want to race to see who is faster. Rarity and Fluttershy are wildcards, but AJ will probably know... speaking of which, I think I hear her... wow my hearing is good now, I just entered the orchard.

I started walking in the direction of the steady "Thwack!" sounds that echoed through the orchard, enjoying the morning walk. I should do this more often...

I stopped when AJ came into view through the trees, her orange coat standing out against the dull browns and greens of the orchard. Alright... now just go over, say hi and tell her the truth... I thought, but my legs wouldn't comply. What had seemed like such an easy thing not ten minutes ago now seemed like I was trying to fly to the moon. But how do you tell somepony something like that? 'Hi Applejack, how's it going, oh and I'm now a vampony by the way.' No, that will never work... this internal debate continued on for about five minutes as I watched her work from the shadow of one of the trees.

I must admit, it was interesting watching her working. Thanks to her daily routine on the farm, Applejack’s muscles stood out as she worked. I couldn't help but admire my friend, never having had the chance to just watch her work before without distractions. Gah, why can't I think of what to say? Why is this so difficult!? She's my friend, I should be able to tell her anything.

Applejack paused for a moment and took a swig of water from a canteen she had hung around her neck. Even though it was rather cool outside, her coat was showing signs of sweat, the perspiration causing it to mat in a few places. As she was resting she gazed around the trees, smiling at the visible signs of years of hard work and care. I can't let her see me yet... carefully now... I slowly took a step back to get behind the tree, doing my best to not be noticed.

I had almost made it out of sight when I heard a crack resound from underneath my hoof.

Fucking branches...

Applejack's head swiveled to look in my direction, puzzled as to what the noise was. Her eyes narrowed as she must have spotted me as I ducked behind the tree.

"Mac? That you? Applebloom? Somepony there?" She called out, starting to walk towards the tree. I could hear her steps getting slowly closer, and, much to my surprise, her heartbeat too if I concentrated. I started wondering how her blood would taste, the thought alone being enough to snap me out of it.

No no no... this is not happening... I have to get out of here. I turned and started running, pouring on speed to get away from that part of the orchard.

"'Ey! Get back here!" Applejack shouted, giving chase. I weaved through the trees, kicking off the trunks to change direction quickly, causing a few ripe apples to fall as I tried to lose her, heading in a direction I hoped would take me towards Ponyville. I heard the sound of hoofbeats off to my left and looked in time to catch a glimpse of Applejack cutting through the orchard towards me.

"Hold it!"

Looks like I'll see how far I can jump!

I took a small leap to allow myself just enough time to get into position, and then kicked off the ground with all my might, rocketing up through a gap in the trees. My flight topped out at around twenty feet over the trees, and I could see I was going the wrong way to get back to town.

Great... now I need to corner. Ah well, here goes nothing...

Landing with a thud, I took a sharp left turn and kept going, smiling a little from the thrill of the chase. I scanned the orchard as I ran, looking for any sign of Applejack.

Suddenly, I heard something whipping through the air. That sounds like a lasso... oh! I ducked, the long lasso passing inches over my head. Where the buck did she come from!? I thought before concentrating, using a teleportation spell to get as close to Ponyville as I could.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I appeared on a hill overlooking the town, panting from the exertion of using such a powerful spell. I sat on the grass for a moment, watching the sunrise while I caught my breath. The gradient of the sky as it changed from its nightly black to its daily blue was a thing of beauty. I guess I'll be enjoying more sunrises now. I thought as I watched the bright ball crest the mountains. I hope AJ didn't get a good look at me. Otherwise, I'm going to have to tell her a lot sooner than I want to.

I stood and started walking towards town, taking a glance at the street that would take me back to the library. I could see ponies already milling about the town, starting the cleanup from yesterday's party. Many decorations still hung from where Pinkie had managed to get them. She mentioned a 'party cannon' briefly, I wonder if that has something to do with it. I frowned at the amount of ponies in the street already.

I can't be seen yet, but I'm drained enough from that teleportation spell that I don’t want to try it again... My eyes drifted to the roof of the nearest house, then to the sky. No pegasi flying about, the weather is scheduled to be clear today, and Rainbow said they'd be off in Cloudsdale to pick up more clouds... Perfect. I smiled as I stood up and trotted towards the nearest house, a small two floor affair, and jumped up onto the roof when I got close enough.

I started running, clearing the gaps between buildings with almost no effort as I startled a few birds from their roosts. I smiled again, enjoying the challenge of not jumping too far and missing the next house. Then there was the thrill of sneaking through town as well. This is kind of fun actually. I could see my home approaching, the last gap in the row of houses ending before the park that surrounded the library began. Okay, here we go, one last jump, aim for the balcony and... kick!

I jumped.

My breath caught in my throat as I sailed over the crowd, the ponies below oblivious to my actions, save for one small foal who gawked at the unicorn flying through the air. Time slowed as my balcony approached, my telescope still sitting out. My mane and tail streamed behind me in the air due to my speed. I got this. I thought as I got ready to land, my hooves barely missing the railing...

I don't got this! One of my rear hooves clipped the railing and in an instant, I was tumbling into room. Soon enough, I crashed into the wall and suddenly felt a large weight on top of me.

I poked my head out of the pile of books that had fallen on me as Spike sat straight up. Shaking the stars from my vision, I groaned. "Ow... missed it by THAT much..." I grumbled as I levitated a dictionary off of my head.

"Twilight, what the hey?" Spike said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes he looked over to me, stuck in the pile of books. I manage to clear my vision to find him there, his jaw on the floor. "How did you manage that? I think you just out did Rainbow Dash." He said, frustrated. "You okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine, but can you run downstairs and grab the copy of Starswirl's Fourth Illusion Manual? I'll explain in a bit, and if anypony asks for me, I'm still asleep." I said as I started levitating the books up from around me.

"Uh… Okay." Spike was obviously puzzled, but he headed downstairs anyway. I started shelving the books with my magic, the untidy pile of books flying back into their proper spots. I had practiced this spell enough thanks to helping out in the academy's library, and since it was beside one of the training fields, we had a lot of work re-shelving whole shelves. I finished shelving the books and trotted over to my closet, opening the door to reveal a full length mirror alongside the few outfits I had. I can trust Spike, I know he won't tell anypony. I thought as I brushed my mane and tail, still amazed at how different my body looked compared to yesterday. I grabbed a deep blue hoodie with a moon on the back, and pulled on some jeans. Most ponies didn't wear clothes, but that didn't mean it was that unusual. Back in Canterlot, there were plenty of ponies who did, most were my peers. The academy was known for having interesting students.

I heard Spike coming up the stairs and went over to one of the cushions I had sitting in front of a book stand.

"Okay I got the book, now can you please tell me wh... woah." Spike stopped as he saw me. "Geze you're acting weird today Twi'."

"I promise I'll explain after, it's just I need to find a spell here." I said, levitating the book out of his hands. "Can you go make breakfast? I've had a long night." I'm probably going to be a mess once I get some time to think about what's happened, but for now, I have to make sure I can hide this. I already had one breakdown after all...

"Uh… Okay... Are you sure you're all right?" Spike asked as he turned to head downstairs. He sounded concerned, and it looked like he wanted to help me if he could. That's my Spike...

"Yeah, just trust me for now okay?" I said with a sigh. "I have quite a bit on my mind right now."

"Okay Twi'." He said, sounding unconvinced as he headed downstairs. Soon I could hear breakfast cooking.

"Now to find that spell..." I muttered as I started searching the large tome.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

About twenty minutes later, I found the spell. Finally, now I can get to work on hiding these fangs. I thought as I glanced over at the mirror again, the two white points contrasted sharply with my coat as they hung over my bottom lip. Good thing Spike didn't notice them. Speak of the devil, here he comes. Smells like pancakes for breakfast.

As if on cue, I heard Spike coming up the stairs, then knock on the door.

"Hey Twi', I got your breakfast." He said, stepping in. In his hands were a plate of pancakes with syrup and a glass of apple juice.

"Thanks Spike. Now, I suppose I owe you an explanation." I said with a sigh as I levitated the glass of juice and the plate of pancakes over, setting them on a small table nearby.

"It would be nice... woah! A-are those fangs?" He said, wide eyed, surprise in his voice.

"Observant as always..." I said chuckling. "Yeah, they are. It seems that when we were battling Nightmare Moon, she managed to get a spell through the Elements of Harmony's power, although I am willing to bet it could have been much worse if the Elements hadn't been involved." I said as I used the fork and knife Spike brought up to cut the stack of pancakes he made.

"So are you a vampony now?" Spike asked, although his tone of voice made it seem like he was trying not to offend me.

"Yes, and no." I said, frowning a bit as I thought back to Ceres' words. "I did some looking into it last night and found a book in the old castle that mentioned what has happened to me. Apparently it is called the 'Blessing of the Moon' and turns a pony into a 'Nosferatu.' It was only mentioned in passing, but according to the one paragraph most of the myths involving vamponies are false, as well as most of the ways to detect them. Although it did say that I will still need to..." I couldn't say it, and suddenly I wasn't very hungry anymore.

"... drink." Spike said before coming over and hugging me. "It'll be all right, you're Celestia's star pupil after all." He said as I started to cry again. "We'll figure something out."

"Y-yeah." I sobbed, hugging him back as I cried.

"What about the others, what are you going to tell them?" Spike asked as my tears stopped flowing a few minutes later.

"The truth, if I can trust them to keep it quiet. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it because I don't think there is any easy way to tell somepony you're a vampony. Oh hi, how are you, oh and I'm a vampony." I said, smiling a bit as Spike chuckled at the bad joke.

"Well, I think you should start by telling AJ. She's probably the most level headed from what I've seen."

"My thoughts exactly." I said. "I think I'm going to have to wear some clothes to hide how I look though, if I suddenly show up looking so athletic, ponies will ask questions."

"Really? I was still waking up a little while ago, but I didn't notice. So I take it you can go out in the sun then?" Spike asked.

"Yeah, that'll throw off most ponies." I said with a smile. "Hmm... I may turn that cellar into something useful for me now, since that illusion spell is going to be a pain to hold. Perhaps a private reading room with a fireplace." I thought, thinking back to the decor of the tower. "I know just the look too."

"Heh, whatever you say Twi'." Spike said chuckling. "Let me guess, something involving black and silver."

"Yep." I said laughing. "If I'm going to be re-doing a room because of this, I may as well make it fitting."

"Fair enough, besides, it probably gets cold in here in the winter." He said. "Still want me to tell anyone who asks for you that you're asleep?"

"No, I'll be fine now that I have a spell to hide these." I said, indicating my elongated teeth with my hoof. "Besides we have to open up the library anyhow." I said with a smile. "Although, things have been a bit slow of late. Can you handle things for a few hours? I need some sleep."

"I can do that." Spike said. "I'll wake you if anything important happens, oh and if you let Rarity know, I'm sure she'd be able to help with your outfit problem."

"We'll see." I replied, bookmarking the page in the spell book before heading off to bed.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I was in an endless void of black, unable to even see myself as I looked around. I wasn't scared; I knew it was a dream.

Suddenly a pinpoint of light appeared in the inky blackness, then another, and another. They kept multiplying until I was surrounded by stars, some floating close enough that I could touch them.
Then everything got brighter as one of the points of light started growing, until I could see it was a moon, slightly larger than Celestia. A loud "Crack" could be heard as it split in two and Princess Luna stepped out, looking like she probably had before her transformation into Nightmare Moon.

"Twilight Sparkle I presume?" She spoke as she calmly walked up to me.

"Y-yes princess." I replied, wondering if this was more than just a dream.

"It is good to finally be able to talk to thee." Luna said with a smile. "It seems thou hast already visited Ceres."

"Y-yeah... I take it this isn't just a dream then?" I said with a small blush.

"Thou art correct. We have come to speak to thee about thy unfortunate condition because of our time as the Nightmare," the moon princess said with a sigh. "This is simply the best way to do so without Our sister knowing."
Her speech is rather old fashioned, but then again, she has been isolated from society for a thousand years..."Yes, Ceres did mention something about Celestia not being too fond of the 'blessing'."

"We can hear the quotation marks in thy sentence Twilight." Luna said with a chuckle. "Although we understand why. Thou must understand, the world was a very different place before Our banishment, nay, even before our ascent to power. The Blessing was an old way for Us to help some of Our subjects survive, at a price. The magic within thee is very old, and strictly forbidden now. However, before Our sister's term of ruling alone, dark magic was used by many, but only to a small degree for the majority of its users; it had the tendency to drive those who used it too often mad. The Blessing of the Moon was a way to not only help its recipients survive the dangers that plagued Equestria at the time, but also allow them to use dark magic without the risk of losing their minds. Although it does have its cost as We have little doubt thou knows."

"Drinking blood." I replied, lowering my head.

"Indeed. We can tell thou art not fond of the prospect, however it is an unfortunate necessity for thy survival." Luna said apologetically.

"Why did it have to be that?" I asked, not feeling sad, but just empty at this point.

"The changes the Blessing causes require a lot of magic, and thy body would be unable to sustain itself without some form of external source of magical energy. At the time not many ponies were what you would call 'good'. Most were focused on their own survival above the survival of others, and many would do almost anything to get above the rest; it was a dark time for Equestria. We had to help Our subjects who were at least trying to better Equestria, so We created the Blessing. Only those who We knew would be responsible would receive it, but alas they were feared for what they needed to do to survive, so it was kept a secret. Others tried to duplicate the spell, creating twisted mockeries of the truth, and sullied the name of the Blessing even further. Those who had received the blessing hunted those with false blessings down and brought them to Us to be cured of it, and went back to helping others, although We stopped using that spell long ago. The Nightmare tried to use it against thou because it thought the spell was one meant for destruction, not to help the recipient. Thou should count thyself lucky We managed to withhold combat spells from it, for if We had not, thyself and thy friends would not have succeeded."

"This is a lot to take in... I'm still in shock from Ceres revealing that I'm now a vampony." I said, still with that empty feeling inside. "How long do I have until I need to drink, and how often will I need to?"

"Thou should drink tonight, otherwise thou will begin to hunger for it. After that however, thou should only need to drink once every few weeks. Thy body will tell thee when it needs to be replenished." Luna said sitting beside me. "Thou only needs a few mouthfuls of blood, and the wound will heal quickly. The pony thou chooses to take blood from will find it to be an enjoyable experience at least. Thou remember thy transformation?" Luna said with a chuckle.

"Y-yeah..." I said, blushing again.

"Thyself and thy... chosen donor will feel something similar to that whilst thou feeds, if thy choice of donor is not an enemy to thou." Luna said. "However, be warned, those who are thine enemies will feel rather... drained the next morning. We made it thus so those who received the blessing would be able to capture dangerous criminals without much difficulty. Our old guard used to be composed entirely of Blessed."

"Oh... my..." I said blushing deeper at the thought of doing that to somepony. "Is there a way for me to know when to stop?"

"Thou shalt feel as if thou hast just eaten a large meal. Do not worry Twilight, We were thorough with the spell’s creation so as to not have somepony accidentally drained of their blood. One more thing before We depart however." Luna said, adopting a serious tone. "If thou are to take a mouthful of thine own blood and transfer it to another pony by biting them, they will receive the blessing, but be subservient to thou. They shalt follow thine orders without question, but still be able to voice their opinions and beliefs. Use this carefully however, for Celestia does not look fondly on those who pass on the blessing."

I sat there for a moment, processing the information before speaking. "Princess," I was cut off.

"Please Twilight, when not in the company of others call Us Luna." She said with a warm smile.

"Luna, what will happen if Celestia finds out?" Needless to say, I was worried.

"We... cannot say. We have not been around Our sister for one thousand years. We will do our best to predict her reaction after more time, but for now We suggest keeping it a secret. She cannot detect the Blessing, and she trusts thee. Thou may feel uncomfortable around her due to the magics involved in the Blessing, but thou need not worry, she does not plan to visit for quite some time. Right now she is concentrating on getting Us caught up to the current times." Luna said chuckling. "It is quite the task, now We believe your assistant is trying to wake thou, fare thee well Twilight Sparkle." She said, hugging me as the dream started to fade, a feeling of peace washing over me.

"Likewise Luna." I said as the dream faded back to black.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I awoke to Spike shaking me. "You can stop now Spike, I'm up."

"Geze Twi', you sleep like the dead." He joked, causing us both to chuckle. "AJ's here, she says she wants to talk to you about something."

I sighed, getting out of bed and opening the spell book. "I had a feeling this would happen. She spotted me on my way home this morning at Sweet Apple Acres, I panicked and ran away because I was afraid I would hurt her." I said as I cast the spell, watching in the mirror as the two white points vanished.

"Gotcha. What are you going to tell her?" Spike said. I could tell he was worried about how Applejack would react.

"The truth. She's the element of Honesty Spike, she can tell when somepony is lying." I said as I pulled on the hoodie and jeans. "Besides, I'm a terrible liar."

"Don't I know it." Spike said chuckling.

"Hush you." I said before walking down the stairs. "Hey AJ."

"Hey Twi'." She said looking up from the book in front of her. "Sleepin’ at this time o' day? Ya'll sick or something?" She said, eying my clothes. "Anyhow, ah came over to ask if that was you runnin’ from me at the Acres this mornin’. Ah spotted somepony sneakin’ through the trees and they bolted, and they kinda’ looked like you sugarcube."

I sighed, knowing this wouldn't be as easy as it had been with Spike. I turned to Spike. "Spike, can you go make some tea? We'll be in my room." I said before motioning for Applejack to follow me.

When we got upstairs, I shut the door behind us. "Take a seat Applejack."

"Why'd we come up here Twi'? Something y'all don't want Spike to hear?"

"No, but this is a library, and ponies like to come to find books at the most inconvenient of times. Can I trust you to keep a secret AJ?" I asked with a sigh.

"Of course sugarcube, although Ah don't see why y'all are dancin' around the issue..." Applejack said, looking a little confused.

"There's more to it than just me being in the orchard... I'm trusting you that this doesn't leave this room unless my life or yours is at risk because of it..."

"Dang Twi' what have you gotten yourself mixed up in?" Applejack asked, looking worried.

"I was passing through the Acres earlier on my way home from the Everfree, as for why I ran, well, I was afraid I'd hurt you." I could tell that Applejack was about to say something so I held up a hoof. "Let me finish first, and promise me you'll hear me out."

"Ah promise Twi'."

"Well, let's start at the beginning, you remember the fight with Nightmare Moon?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Do you remember how she fired some kind of spell at me as we were using the Elements?"

"Yeah..." Applejack said, looking concerned now.

I sighed again. I've been doing that a lot lately... "Well AJ, there's no easy way to say this, but that spell turned me into a vampony." At this, I let the illusion spell fall.

Her eyes became as large as dinner plates. She stood frozen there for a moment, before bolting for the door, forgetting it was closed and slamming into it headfirst. I grabbed the dazed mare with my magic and placed her on the bed before yelling down to Spike to not worry about the sound. I heard a thump behind me and looked to see that Applejack had tried to climb out of the bed to escape and had fallen face first onto the floor.

"Applejack, please hear me out." I pleaded. "You're the only pony I know who I can trust with this right now."

"A-allright Twi'." She said shakily, sounding scared. "Jus' stay over there for now please."

My ears drooped at that. "Okay... I understand. Last night I was out walking and decided to start running. I wasn’t really going anywhere in particular and eventually ended up at the Castle where we fought Nightmare Moon. I could feel something was... I don't know, pulling me in. In one of the remaining towers I found a room housing a platform that sped up the results of the spell. The tower's guardian explained to me what had happened, and what it meant." I paused, letting AJ take in the information. "There's good news and bad news about the whole thing. The good news is that most of the myths are false, and I'm not some kind of ravenous, bloodthirsty monster. However that's where the bad news comes in..."

"Ya' still need... blood..." She said quietly, staring at the fangs.

"Before you arrived, Princess Luna came and spoke to me in a dream. She explained a good deal about 'The Blessing of the Moon' as it's called, and generally said she was sorry for what has happened. She told me that I'd only need a few mouthfuls of blood ever few weeks, and that it doesn't harm the pony who I take it from, unless they are my enemy, and then they feel very tired and lethargic afterwards." I said, my shoulders drooping as I felt that empty feeling again. "Aside from Spike and Luna, you're the only one who knows, can I trust you to keep this a secret?"

"... Yeah, you can trust me Twi'." She said, getting up and walking over. "Ah don't think Ah would have had the courage to do that." She said with a small smile.

"Do what?"

"Tell anypony about it if Ah was in your position." She said, sitting beside me. "Ah'd probably have skipped town or something, went into hiding. Then again, Ah know Ah ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. Ah know a lot about farmin’ and running a farm, but not much when it comes to dealing with things like this." She said as she looked over at me. "May Ah ask what's up with the clothes?"

"Well... here, I'll show you." I said, removing the garments with my magic.

Applejack gave a whistle as she saw how I looked now. "Damn Twi', Ah'm impressed. Heck, Ah think Dash would be impressed, and you know her." Applejack said as Spike came in carrying a tray with teacups and a teapot.

"Your tea, madams." He said in a false Canterlot upper crust accent. "There's a few ponies downstairs looking for books so I gotta’ go help with that." Spike said before heading back downstairs.

I poured myself some tea, locking the door with my magic. "Less risks the better." I explained as I poured Applejack a cup as well.

"Ah'm surprised you're taking this so well to be honest Twi'." Applejack said as she sipped her tea. "Ah'd have been a nervous wreck."

"Well, I've broke down into tears... twice so far, almost three times, and I had a panic attack this morning when you noticed me." I said with a chuckle. "That and I think Luna did something, I don't feel quite as stressed since I woke up. I had to put on a brave face for Spike this morning when I was explaining everything to him, but I still ended up bawling like a filly."

We both laughed for a few moments, then there was a silence afterwards as we both sipped some tea.

After about a minute Applejack said, "Ah suppose we should deal with the Alicorn in the room and get it on the table at least... Who is going to be the one who ya'll are gonna... take some blood from."

"You know I don't think I've managed to say that outright yet... it's going to be some time before I can..." I said quietly. "As for who... I don't know. I was thinking of just trying to pull it off while somepony is asleep."

"And what if they woke up?" Applejack said. "Ah don't think they'd take too kindly to it."

"Yeah... that's the problem. Luna said I'd have to drink tonight or else it would start to get to me. Yet again that's one of those things that you just can't quite prepare for..."

"Well... Would it transfer if y'all were to bite me? If not, Ah suppose Ah could lend a hoof this once..." Applejack said after a few minutes of thinking. "But Ah doubt it'll become a regular thing."

"Y-you'd do that?"

"You're my friend Twi', and you need somepony's help with this. Luna's way too far away to help and Spike can't really help ya. Besides, Luna said it doesn't hurt the other pony right?"

"No... actually, she said the spell makes it so that it's rather enjoyable for the... donor." I said, blushing a little, thankful that my fur hid it.

"Really? How so?" Applejack asked.

"Well..." I said, my face heating up.

"Oh..." Applejack said as she noticed my blush, fidgeting a little. "How about you come by the Acres tonight? It's my day off tomorrow so Ah can stay up later than normal tonight. We'll have a little girl time."

"Sounds good AJ." I said. "Oh and sorry for running this morning."

"Not a problem sugarcube, Ah didn't think you were that fast though, Ah had trouble keeping up."

"Well, that one of the benefits of my situation, I'm faster and stronger. Did you see me jump?"

"Yeah, Ah thought that was some sorta’ spell. You telling me you can do that without magic?" Applejack said, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, actually I cleared the gap from those houses over there to my balcony this morning... coincidentally, would you know of a good way to fix that dent in the wall..." I said pointing to the spot where I had hit the wall between the two bookcases.

"Ya'll nicked the railin' didn't ya?" Applejack said, chuckling.

"... Yeah." I said as Applejack burst out laughing.

"Hoowee! I bet you gave Spike quite the surprise." She said once she caught her breath.

"Yeah, knocked every book off the shelves in here too." I said, laughing along with her this time.