Under the Shadow of His Eyes

Kite stood patiently outside the hotel, whistling a soft tune. He tapped his hooves, fluttered his wings, and did all of the usual small motions one does when they're nervously waiting. A vampire.  I'm going on a date with a vampire. He giggled in excitement. Wait, no, this isn't a date.  Not yet. Tonight, we're just hanging out. Come on, get a grip on yourself, Kite! He glanced around, wondering if Mar would come out through the window, or drop down from the roof, or-

BOOM.

Mar crashed through the front door of the hotel, flying through the air before landing flat on his face in the street. He groaned. "Ow... I swear I meant to do that."

Kite stifled a laugh.  "Are you okay? What happened?"

Mar picked himself up, making sure his glasses were still in place. "Well, I realized I was late... so I was in a hurry... and I tripped on something right in front of the door."

"Are you sure you're actually a vampire?"  the pony laughed. "Come on, I know you'll like the place I picked out." He gestured down the street, nearer to the center of Ponyville.

Walking by Kite's side, Mar checked to make sure his glasses were still on. "So where are we going? And for that matter, why are there still ponies outside?"

"Oh, didn't you know? Tomorrow's a holiday!"

"What kind of holiday?"

"Well..." Kite tapped his chin with a hoof. "Actually, I don't know."

"Ponies really take their celebrations seriously, don't they?"

"Hey, come on! This isn't a big holiday like Hearth's Warming or Nightmare Night, everyone remembers those-"

"It's Princess Twilight's birthday tomorrow, Kite." Said a smooth, female voice. Countermelody walked up beside Mar, her hair dyed black and tied into a loose ponytail. "You really should know, being her honorary nephew. Hello, boys, mind if I join you? Or are you two on a date?"

"No!" Both Mar and Kite shouted simultaneously. "We're just going to hang out, you know, two friends going to-"

"Vinyl's?"

Kite stared at her. "How did you know we were going there?"

Countermelody chuckled. "Oh, dear Kite. I have eyes in places you'd never guess." She pulled out a cigar.

"Sweetie told you, didn't she?"

"Well, obviously! She is my friend, as well as my boss."

"Who obviously doesn't know how to control her mouth..." Kite mumbled.

Countermelody spit out her cigar, laughing.  "Don't even get me started on how well she can use that mouth, Kite!" She looked down. "Aw, I wasted one..." She pulled out another cigar.

"Countermelody, that's nasty. She's like, sixty."

"Now, that isn't fair, Kite.  She looks very good for her age. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she looked to be in her forties! And by the way, she still kicks flank with a guitar."

Kite rolled his eyes. "We're here." He gestured to a grey building with large murals made of neon lights. "This is the place. The first real modern music club in Equestria."

"Well, the music's not very modern anymore, is it, Kite? They're still playing music from when Sweetie was at her peak, and Sonata Sparks, and Shadow Tailor."

"Yes, yes, C, they still play alternative. Your choices in music are better than anyone else's." Kite turned to Mar. "There's a bar and restaurant upstairs, they serve some of the most awesome food and some of the best drinks I've ever had." Kite frowned. "Can you eat and drink? I probably should have asked you that before I picked this place... sorry..."

"Yeah, I can eat and drink, but the only thing that'll do anything at all to me is alcohol." Mar chuckled.

"Ooh! And they have a cigar bar! I'll bet they might even have cigars from some of the human worlds!" Countermelody bounced on her hooves.

Hehe, she thought to Mar. What he doesn't know is that I was both Sonata Sparks and Shadow Tailor, at the same time!

Mar raised an eyebrow. How does that work?

Countermelody visibly shuddered. Lots of costume changes, and remembering which one I was at the time. I was almost relieved that I had them both killed in accidents.

The three walked inside the double doors, the bouncers parting at a nod from Countermelody. As they crossed the threshold, Mar was blasted full force by loud, heavy, low pitched music. He took a small step back. "Burning Hell below." He said.

"Hey, yeah, that's the name of the song, isn't it? How'd you know that?" Kite said. He grabbed Mar's arm and lead him off to the side of the sea of dancing ponies. He looked up on stage to see a group of ponies, a few playing thin, shiny guitars, one sitting behind a mishmash of percussion equipment, and one at the very edge of the stage, singing passionately and gesturing to the crowd.

Mar was completely taken aback by how aggressive and unconventional the music was. The beat was rough, the melody was hard to follow, and the overall feel was that of darkness. He decided that he liked it.

The singer, a male unicorn with a grey coat and a black mane streaked with thin white stripes, spotted Mar staring at him from across the crowd. He grinned and winked, before continuing with the next chorus.

Up the stairs in the back, and they arrived in a bar lit with a dim blue light. The music was quieter up there, and the air was filled with a haze of colorful smoke. Seating themselves at a circular booth, both Countermelody and Kite sat rather closer to Mar than he felt comfortable.

"Uh..." He said, freeing his arms from underneath them. "What are you doing?"

Countermelody laughed. "It's a pony thing. If we're going to drink, we all get close together so it isn't as weird when it happens naturally later. Also, the waiter knows who and who not to offer drinks to." She gestured around the room, to all of the other groups of ponies. They were all bunched together, save for a few. "It's not just us. Also, you're in the middle because you're the biggest, and you're the best to lean against."

Three Hours Later

"And.. and then, I told my mom, 'There's no way I'm letting Fluttershy babysit me! I know she's the one who takes care of all of the animals! I'm not an animal, you rainbow bitch!' So then she tells me to shut up and listen to miss Fluttershy or I'm going to have another thing coming!" Kite hiccuped. "And then the next day Pinkie comes back and tells me the real meaning of that word." He snuggled closer to Mar. "So anyway, yeah, that was the day I found out that bitch isn't just a different way of saying mare." He giggled. "I called my mom a dog."

Countermelody chuckled. "That's fucking amazing, man. Tell us another one!"

"Nah... I think I'm just going to sit here and cuddle with this human... he's so warm... you'd think being a vampire would make him cold, but nah, he's, like, really warm and comfy..."

"I know, right?!" Countermelody held one of Mar's arms firmly.

"You know, guys, if I weren't so damn busy waiting for the waiter or whoever it is to bring us more drinks, I'd... I don't know, but I would!" Said Mar.

A pony with a gray mane and black hair walked up to the table. "Hey there again, C. Who's your human friend?"

"He's... uh... Mar! Yeah." Countermelody said. "Yeah. And he's all mine." She poked the pony in the chest with a hoof. "And you can't have him, Philharmonico."

The pony turned to Mar.  "Uh, well, okay then. Hi, my name is Staccato Philharmonico."

Mar snorted, grinning. "I hate to break it to you, good looking, but I'm just as drunk as she is."

Staccato grinned. He leaned onto the table. "Drunk enough to accept an invitation to a date?"

"Well..." Mar put a finger to his chin. "I'm going to have to go with.... no." He raised his hand. "Yo! Waiter pony guy! Bring us another round of shots, I don't care what they are!"

Countermelody laughed. "You idiot, that last sentence was in human."

"Human isn't a language, you moron. It's a body."

Kite rubbed a hoof across Mar's chest. "A very sexy body... speakin' of which, you want to come home and spend the night with me?"

"Well.... eh, why the hell not?" Mar said with a smile. He threw his arms around Kite and kissed him full on the mouth.

"Oh, come on, I wanted the first kiss!" Whined Countermelody.

"Is this a bad time?" A pale white pony with a purple and pink mane stood at the end of the table.

"Sweetie Belle!" Countermelody jumped up and hugged her. "Hey, where did that ass Staccato go? Oh well. You." She poked Sweetie Belle in the chest. "We need to have a talk."

"Oh?" Sweetie Belle raised and eyebrow and grinned impishly. "Well, after you then."

The two walked away and took a seat in a private booth. Mar broke away from the kiss just in time to see the door close, and to sense a silencing spell being placed on the entire booth.

"You know... I had a really good time tonight, Mar.." Kite mumbled.

Mar kissed him on the forehead. "Yeah, me too."

"Would you mind... carrying me home?" Kite wrapped his hooves around Mar's neck. A few seconds later, he was asleep.

Mar chuckled, before returning his attention back to the booth. He narrowed his eyes for a second, then released the small spell that allowed the alcohol to remain in his blood. His body healed in a few seconds. Now sharply aware of the situation, he stared at the booth where Countermelody and Sweetie Belle were. He could sense no flaw in the spell cast over the door.

A few minutes later, the spell dropped, the door opened, and both ponies came out, their hair disheveled and faces red. Countermelody turned to Sweetie. "Well, I guess I'll see you later?"

"Of course, Shi-" Sweetie's eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth. "I mean, uh, Countermelody. I have no idea where that-"

"It's okay, Babe. He knows, and Kite's asleep."

"Oh. Good. Well, I'll see you all later." Sweetie Belle trotted away.

Mar turned to Countermelody. "You told a pony? And not some important pony who could protect you, but just some regular pony?"

"Protection? Oh, please, fledgling. I am the danger in this world. I have no enemies who could even nearly rival my abilities. What I really need is company."

"Well, alrighty then. You're the only one around here who can juggle the life of a blood queen and two celebrities, simultaneously. So I I guess whatever you say goes."

"Damn right it does."

Mar lifted the sleeping Kite into his arms and stood. "So.. I think we should be getting him back. And I guess we can have a cigar outside wherever he lives and talk."

"Talk about what?"

"Well, I want to know what it's like to be two famous musicians at once! And also, I've got nothing else to do for the rest of the night."

"Good point." They exited the club. Once out on the street, Countermelody lit a cigar.

"Hey, C."

"Yeah?"

"I just realized I have no idea where he lives."

Countermelody sighed. "I do. Follow me."

"So I kissed him? After agreeing to spend the night with him?"

"Yeah! And it was so hot!"

"Damn it, Shira, I won't be putting up with your teenage sex drive tonight! Why didn't you stop us?!"

Countermelody narrowed her eyes. "Well, aside from my aforementioned point about the sexual awesomeness of what you guys did, it's not really my place. If you two want to hit it off, kiss even before the first date, have loud, sweaty lovemaking sessions, get married, adopt a child or whatever, it's not really my place to step in and stop you. Also, don't call me by my other name unless I'm in human form."

The pair were sitting on the porch outside Kite's apartment, smoking cigars by the moonlight. "So what does your human form look like? I've never seen you as anything but a pony."

Taking a slow, deliberate puff, Countermelody said, "I don't take my human form because it's really recognizable. Also,

when I take that form, the aura I give off triggers a spell that little miss Twilight over there put in place. It's very specific, so it only works when I take human form, but it is very sensitive. If I wanted to take human form without her knowing, I'd have to go more than thirty miles away from town. And I don't really feel like going that far."

"Does she really want to catch you that badly?"

"I don't think she wants to catch me so much as she wants to see me. But being seen is a lot easier when there's a princess following you, trying to get you to talk to her. And so we would make the news, griffons would get the news, and I'd have an army knocking at my door."

"Well, could you describe what you looked like?"

"Sure. I had long-ish red hair, I was kind of short, pale skin, I wore boots, fingerless gloves, short shorts, and a long, tan cloak. The cloak was nice for living in the desert, it kept the sun and the sand off of me, and I could remove it quickly to use fire, if I needed to defend myself."

"You didn't wear a shirt?"

"No, why would I?"

"To cover your chest...?"

"Oh!" Countermelody raised her eyebrows. "You're from one of those worlds. In my world, breasts weren't really considered sexual like that. I mean, you have them, don't you? Why is it bad if I show mine, but okay if you show yours?"

Mar shrugged. "I guess that makes sense. Anything else?"

"Oh, yeah. I was covered in tattoos I earned in my tribe. Most of my upper body, except for my neck and my head, had them."

"How did you earn your tattoos?"

"Feats of strength, magic, and intelligence. Your language isn't my native language, you know. I only speak it because most humans that come here speak it. My language is actually a lot closer to Equestrian Standard. I speak about ten different languages."

"How did you learn British?"

"Is that what you call it? We call it Britannian Standard, usually. I learned it from from my magic instructor, he was Britannian. What about you? Got any tattoos?"

"Yeah, I have one, on my back." Mar turned around and removed his coat and shirt.

ASK OF ME, AND I SHALL GIVE UNTO THEE THE SINNER

FOR THINE INHERITANCE, AND THE UTTERMOST

PARTS OF THE EARTH FOR THINE POSSESSION.

THOU SHALT BREAK THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON.

THOU SHALT DASH THEM IN PIECES LIKE A

POTTER'S VESSEL. BE WISE THEREFORE,

O YE KINGS. BE ADMONISHED, YE JUDGES

OF THE EARTH.

SERVE THE LORD WITH FEAR

AND REJOICE WITH TREMBLING.

KISS THE SON, LEST HE BE ANGRY

AND YE PERISH BY THE WAY

WHEN HIS WRATH IS KINDLED, BUT A LITTLE.

"Wow. You said 'one' and I thought it was just something small. Then you turn around and show me a tattoo that covers your entire fucking back. Who's the lord?"

Mar shrugged, putting his clothes back on. "That was a mantra that was found on pieces of paper that vampire hunters used to  drop whenever they scattered the ashes of a vampire. It was said to strike fear in the hearts of vampires, and keep them from returning. Whatever it's from is long gone now."

"So you were a vampire hunter, huh? How many vampires did you kill, anyway?"

"Around three hundred, I think. I lost count when I lured an entire hive into a building that was built on a dock, then blew up the building, drowning them all in the ocean."

Countermelody whistled. "Impressive. But then you met the one vampire that you couldn't beat, and you ended up here."

"That about sums it up."

The two sat in silence for a while. The sun started to peek over the horizon.

"Countermelody."

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever considered revealing yourself? Do you really think the griffons would still try to kill you?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I don't really want to take that chance. If they do, then I'll have to repeat what I did fifty years ago." She tossed the butt of the cigar into the street. "But then, I would be entirely conscious of the slaughter, not in a blood rage."

"And I don't know if I'll be able to keep myself from enjoying it."