Blood Ponies

Author’s Note: Starting with this chapter, I am shortening the length of chapters by about half. Sorry, but about ten Word pages of text per chapter is too big a project for me. Hopefully this will discourage another two-year span of no updates. Thanks.
-GVirusInfectee

Chapter 4

“Well then,” said Samuel bluntly. “That was…informative. It certainly filled in the blanks.” Applejack had just finished recanting the previous night’s sex-filled shenaniganery, and Chaos was about in tears with laughter.

“Oh god, please stop!” the pegasus howled. “My-my-my f-fucking SIDES!” He collapsed into yet another fit of uncontrollable mirth, causing Pinkie to begin to giggle as well. Big Mac was not so impressed. In fact, if looks were heat rays, the mares’ skin would have been reduced to a melted, multicolored pile of goop.

“Dammit, what th’ hell were y’all thinkin’?!” Mac shouted at the collection of vampyres, causing them to shrink back. “A.J. an’ I got farmwork t’do, and th’ last time I checked, y’ can’t grow crops or buck apples at night!”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong,” replied Twilight, stepping forward. “Our vision has adapted for nighttime use, so it won’t be a problem.” Mac’s temple throbbed noticeably, due to the fact that his argument had been sunk by logic.

“But what about Applebloom and Granny?” he retorted. “They’re bound to sense that somethin’s up, what with us sleepin’ all day!”

“But you don’t have to!” said Steampunk. “Look at me; I’m up during the day!”

“Yeah, inside and with tinted goggles,” snorted Samuel. “They’d be outside with no eye protection.” Steampunk grumbled, but was unable to produce a valid argument. Chaos quietly snuck away from the group, flying towards the Everfree Forest unnoticed. Meanwhile, the group argued amongst themselves about the two Apple siblings’ unique predicament.

The two daemon siblings were awoken by the sound of hoofsteps inside their cave. Apollyon let out a loud growl as warning to whoever it was.

“Quiet, you fool,” came the response, calming him at once. Lillith stretched and stood, smiling at the intruder.

“Ah, brother Chaos,” she said softly. “So good of the daemon Lord of Murder to finally show up; we were worried that you had disappeared.” Chaos grunted as he shed his pony disguise, becoming an eldritch abomination of bony plating and a flaming mane and tail, still retaining a vaguely pony-like shape. He looked at the two underlings.

“Careful,” he warned. “Don’t forget you serve me. And I crush insubordination.” The two nodded in acknowledgement, bringing a smile from the Lord. “So!” he continued. “How goes the plan?”

“Everything is going according to plan, my Lord,” replied Apollyon. “The Elements will soon be converted to darkness, and you shall finally have leverage over Celestia. Does Mistress Luna know of our scheme?”

“No,” answered Chaos. “And she won’t. Things have changed since her return. She now sides with Celestia, so all of Tartarus is at a disadvantage.”

“What?!” shouted Lillith. “How can our Unholy Creator side with the enemy?!”

“You underestimate the power of the Elements,” said Chaos simply. “Thay have stripped Princess Luna of evil, frozen Discord in stone, repelled a changeling invasion at Canterlot, and saved the Crystal Kingdom from Sombra’s clutches.” Lillith and Apollyon looked at each other uneasily.

“Perhaps…perhaps we should destroy them now…to be safe?” suggested Apollyon, drawing a growl from Chaos.

“No,” stated the Lord firmly. “They are far too useful. Besides…they are my friends.” This statement brought shock from the siblings.

“It would appear that your time on the surface has changed you,” said Lillith. Their leader had never much cared for friendship prior to his journey to the surface, and now he had six that they knew of. It was unsettling.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” said Chaos. “I have to return to Ponyville before I’m missed.” With that, he took his surface form and flew off.

And as he flew away, the siblings exchanged worried glances, each silently agreeing that perhaps their leader was growing soft, and needed to be taken out of the picture.

By some miracle, Chaos managed to make it back to the group without anypony noticing. In fact, they seemed to just then reach a decision on how to break the news to the Apple family.

“A’right,” chirped Applejack. “So lemme see if’n I got this straight. Me an’ Mac came down with…what?”

“A type of cutaneous porphyria which causes discomfort in sunlight,” explained Twilight.

“…Right. And so now we can’t do daytime work.”

“Correct.”

“You git alla that, Mac?”

“Eeyup!”

“Good, cuz I didn’t.”

Fluttershy suddenly cleared her throat, catching the group’s attention.

“Girls,” she said, appearing to have become slightly more assertive since her change. “I’m thirsty. What do you say we go hunting?” Everyone voiced agreement to this, and the group set off into the forest.

Zecora dashed about her hut, adding herbs and spices to the large cauldron at the center of the structure. The stew she was making was very sensitive, and each herb had to be added within seconds of each other, or else the whole batch would be ruined. The last time she had missed the timing, she had spent a week cleaning up from the resulting soupsplosion. Finally, the last spice was added and mixed, and the zebra took time to catch her breath.

“Let it not be said in my time of need,” she mused to herself. “That I can’t move with Ms. Pie’s speed.” Suddenly, she started up, feeling as though something was about to go terribly wrong. “My intuition is always good, and it says something won’t be as it should…” Her head scanned the small hut. “Hmmm…but what could it be? It’s something important if it has disturbed me.” Suddenly, there came a knock at the door, and Zecora’s sense of dread grew.

Suddenly, the door was bucked off its hinges, smashing to bits against the cauldron, causing the terrified zebra to bolt towards her shelf labeled “defensive objects”. Her eyes widened as the Elements of Harmony entered, followed by the eldest Apple child and three ponies she had never met. She couldn’t help but notice the fangs (or in Chaos’s case, teeth) that their grinning faces revealed, and that the Elements’ irises all bore similar hues of crimson amongst their natural colors. It didn’t take long for the superstitious zebra to recognize what she was dealing with.

“Vampyres!” she hissed, causing mild surprise amongst the trespassing group, if only because she hadn’t rhymed.

“Told you she’d know!” called Rainbow Dash from the back, sizing up Samuel again with a very sultry gaze. Twilight raised a hoof, silencing her.

“Very well, we’ll skip the formalities,” said Fluttershy evenly. Somehow, she had risen to lead the group alongside Twilight. “I presume you know why we’re here?” Zecora nodded, clutching an enchanted bottle of the sun’s rays. “Good. This saves time. Girls, get her.”

At this moment, Zecora threw the bottle onto the floor, smashing it in a blinding flash of light. The group hissed loudly, Steampunk quickly slipping her goggles on to save her vision at least partly. Zecora ran to the door, skirting the blinded group. But just as she exited the doorway, she felt her leg shoot white-hot pain through her. Looking back, she saw the goggled Steampunk, her chain gun, whirring to a stop.

“Sorry…” the young mare said, and it sounded like she really was. “But I’m so thirsty…I can’t let you escape.” The rest of the group was regaining vision by now, and was turning angrily to the downed Zebra. The next thing Zecora knew, nine pairs of fangs were sunk into her body at various points, and her blood was rapidly depleted. Hanging on the verge of consciousness, she heard a voice command the others away. As they parted, she looked into the face of Chaos, her eyes shrinking in horrified recognition. She had read of him, and knew his aura well: Chaos Darkheart, the daemon Lord of Murder. She summoned all her remaining strength to speak.

“You…” she said faintly. “T-the d-”
Suddenly his teeth, his terrible, needle-sharp teeth, were sinking into her fleshy throat, crushing and tearing at her windpipe. Then, he ripped it all away from her body, and she was no more.

“Damn it all!” shouted Twilight, realizing what had happened. Everypony looked up at her except for Chaos, who was doing a rather messy job of consuming the dead zebra’s meat. “Don’t you guys see? Zecora was a seasoned shamaness! She was a potions expert! Damn it all, she was more useful undead that dead!” Everypony realized their mistake immediately, once again except Chaos, who shrugged indifferently.

“Oh, well,” he said through a mouthful of flesh. “Not like a few potions could help us out anyway.”

“They coulda,” argued Applejack. “Zebra has somethin’ for everythin’ under th’ sun. Shucks, Twi’, we shoulda thunk b’fore we ate her.” The group nodded in agreement.

“Well,” sighed Twilight. “There isn’t much we can do about it noe. It’s just so hard to think when I’m thirsty…”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Twilight,” soothed Rarity. “We all know what that’s like. I’m sure Steampunk more than anything.” Steampunk nodded in solemn agreement.

“It’s true,” the mechanic chimed in. “My whole life, I’ve know what it’s like.”

“Welp,” said Chaos, noisily slurping the last of Zecora’s meat off a femur. “We should probably get out of here. The smell of blood will have attracted other creatures.”

With that, the group left the home, and the bones of the once-proud forest-dweller, behind, walking into the darkness toward town.