How could this have happened?

That was all Twilight could think in her head as she watched her guards do their best to keep order in the hospital. She had looking further into the medical files of all the victims until the guards rushed in and told her what happened. First, she was told that Rarity had awakened bring joy to her heart. Then, she heard she had murdered at least a dozen other ponies in the hospital before fleeing through a window. Finally, she had been told that Rarity drank the blood of her victims.

A certain “V” letter word entered into Twilight’s brain, but she did everything in her power to accept that wasn’t the case. Because if one of her best friends had become such a thing it would have finally broken the last thread of sanity she had been holding for months. Call it denial, but to her it was just a way to stay sane.

Watching the body bags be wrapped up, Twilight walked passed the bloody hallway where guards were talking to the staff as witnesses or helping them deal with the wounded. A few months ago, she would have been disgusted seeing such a gory sight yet she no longer flinched when she saw a male doctor, missing his right foreleg, screaming bloody murder for the pain to end. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Doing her best to ignore the blood stained walls, Twilight arrived at the room where Rarity’s body was held before she “returned” back from the dead. She heard that Nurse Redheart had been killed after discovering her, another familiar face she would no longer see walking down the streets of Ponyville. How many faces will have to be buried for this... nightmare to end?

Three of her guards, including the Captain, were there with Dr. Gold Heart looking as pale as a ghost; his eyes staring into the abyss. The guards saluted her while Dr. Gold Heart just stood there, unable to do anything but breath. Twilight turned to face him, doing her best to ignore the stain between his rear legs of his pants, and cleared her hoof. “Dr. Gold Heart. I need you-”

“She was dead.” Twilight didn’t even get a chance to finish as Dr. Gold Heart rubbed his forehead and sat down, tears coming out of her eyes. “I checked. I double checked. The mare was as dead as a doornail. I... I don’t... the dead don’t come back to life... it’s medically impossible.”

“Doctor, I understand what you saw was... unnatural, but are you sure,” Twilight leaned forward, her own lips trembling. “Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

Dr. Gold Heart slowly lifted his head and huffed. “Princess Twilight, I have checked dead bodies before. I know death. It’s hard not to in this profession. But I can assure you that Rarity was dead. She wasn’t breathing. Had no heartbeat. Her brain wasn’t active. The mare was as dead as could be.” He took off his glasses and began to trumble. “Then I saw her... alive... with fangs... fangs as sharp as knives. She used them to... shred those in her way. I saw her devour their flesh, drink their blood, and any who got in her way was dead in an instant. Her kicks were as strong as a dragon’s punch.” Standing up, he looked at Twilight Sparkle with narrow eyes. “I’m no religious pony. In fact I despise such things... but whatever that... thing that just escaped was...” He leaned forward, matching Twilight’s frightened eyes to his own. “It wasn’t equine, but a demon.”

***

Applejack had heard of many tales when she was growing up. Some of them she believed like ghosts, imps, zombies, and witches. Other things like those strange human creatures Lyra goes on about were the stuff of imagination. Yet, when she heard that Rarity had done something straight out of the holy book of Faust itself it made Applejack want to throw up. Twilight had summoned Dash, Pinkie, Spike, and Applejack to let them know what had happened in the Hospital. When she was done, all of them couldn’t say a word for a long time.

Despite the stunned silence that echoed in the treehouse, Applejack was sure she could hear the heart beats of everyone in the room skipping ten times a beat. Her own knees were shaking at the prospect that her friend, the most generous of them all, had become a killing machine.

Spike, hands clenched and teary eyed, asked, “Is it true?”

“...yes,” Twilight sighed, closing her eyes. “I don’t know... what Rarity had become... but all those witnesses said the same story. I have no reason to doubt them.”

“... then is she a vampire?” Dash asked.

Twilight looked ready to deny it, her mouth open to shut it down, but she just growled and shook her head. “I don’t know. Okay?! I don’t know! I don’t know if she’s possessed! I don’t know if she’s got some kind of mental illness! I don’t know if Discord went insane again and decided to just reappear and make her into a pony eating, blood drinking, abomination! I DON’T KNOW”!

The rest of the group stepped back and stared at Twilight as she rubbed her head through her hooves and took a few deep breaths. Turning to her assistant, she asked, “Did the Princess respond to my letter?”

“I just sent it three minutes ago, Twilight,” Spike replied, earning a glare. Gulping, he quickly said, “Uh, no.”

Closing her eyes, Twilight sat down in silence doing her best to hold her tears as she continued to breath in and out. Applejack looked at the rest of her concerned friends. She had known that the losses had been taking its toll on Twilight, but she didn’t know it was this bad. Her own concern had been for her sister, her family, and even hunting in secret to find the thing responsible for all this. She had seen Twilight’s baggy eyes, tired walking, and even sorrow filled pupils, but to her shame she didn’t do anything to help her. What kind of Apple leaves a family member to suffer alone?

Pinkie Pie, as if sensing the despair, walked over and hugged Twilight, stroking her mane. “Twilight... it’s okay... it's going to be okay.”

“How?” Twilight whimpered. “How in Celestia name can it be okay?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll find one,” Pinkie Pie replied, softly smiling as she lifted Twilight’s chin. “You said it yourself. You don’t know what’s become of Rarity, but that doesn’t mean we can’t save her. Whatever she is, I’m sure if we get her, and find her help, we can save our friend. Because friends don’t give up on each other.”

A smile began to spread on Applejack’s face as she turned to Rainbow Dash who was nodding in agreement as well. The two of them walked over and placed their hooves on Twilight’s shoulders to show their commitment as well. Even Spike rushed over to give his guardian a hug. Sniffling, the misty eyed alicorn rubbed her eyes and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, well. You’re not alone in this egghead,” Dash said, stepping back. “So what do you say we go find Rarity, hogtie her, and figure out what the heck is going on.”

Twilight nodded as she turned to Spike. “Spike, the girls and I are going to find Rarity. You stay here incase the Princess comes and let her know where we went to.” Turning to the others, she summoned her saddlebags while placing some potions inside them. While doing so, she turned to each of her friends for instructions. “Dash, get a group of guards to follow us. The best you can get. Make sure they know what we’re doing and to arm themselves. Rarity, for whatever reason, is dangerous and we’ll need protection. But our priority is to capture Rarity and bring her back here.”

“You got it!” Dash replied with a salute.

“Applejack,” Twilight continued as the farmer stood in attention, “get the best and sturdiest rope, chains, and whatever else can be used to hold Rarity down. She’s super strong, so don’t hold back if you have to use physical force.”

Although the idea of hurting her friend didn’t seem right in Applejack’s mind, she knew getting hurt or killed by this Rarity was worse. “Gotcha. We got some tranquilizers for the occasional timber wolf so we can use them to help.”

Twilight nodded in agreement before addressing Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, whatever insane, crazy, or otherwise Pinkieish thing you can do to help us stop or slow down Rarity? Do it.”

“Okie Dokie Loki!”

Taking a deep breath, Twilight looked all her remaining friends and gave them a smile. “I’m glad we’re doing this together. I... I really need you girls.” A certain dragon coughed in his claw. “And you too, Spike.”

Applejack and the others nodded. That’s right. We might not be a full team, but even the few of us can do anything.

***

Rainbow Dash had managed to gather five guards to accompany the remaining Elements on their quest to find and capture the wild Rarity. They were armed with their heaviest armor and weapons, circling the girls as they walked through the Everfree Forest with as much caution as they could muster. Twilight kept her horn ready for anything, sometimes jumping at shadows from nearby corners or bushes. Rainbow Dash was flying above as their scout while Applejack and Pinkie Pie stood side by side with her to cover their flanks.

“Are you sure you wish to capture the mon-I mean Miss Rarity, Princess?” One of the unicorn guards asked, his spear poking nearby bushes. “It would be easier to just kill her.”

“I want that to be a last resort, Corporal,” Twilight replied sternly. She had lost one friend already and she wasn’t going to lose a second. “Whatever condition Rarity is under, I refuse to believe that it cannot be treated if we were to study it carefully and find a cure to her madness.”

“She killed ponies, your Majesty,” he replied back, shaking his head. “By right of law, she should be put to death.”

“The real Rarity ain’t a mindless killer that murders ponies for insane reasons,” Applejack growled.

“Applejack is right,” Twilight said, nodding her head. “The law states that any pony who committed crimes against their will is found not responsible for those crimes. Just like everypony’s actions when Discord discorded everyone.”

“Tell that to the families of the dead,” the guard muttered before trotting ahead.

“Meany pants,” Pinkie whispered, but Twilight shook her head.

It won’t do any good to fight among ourselves. We just need to find Rarity and get out of here, thought Twilight. Once they got Rarity, they could take her to a lab in Canterlot and get her examined by the best professionals possible. She wasn’t going to accept that Rarity was a vampire. At least not yet. Not until every possible angle had been found and researched. Again, this could all be some illness. Or a spell. Or even a mutation.

Yet it was getting harder to convince herself each time she tried.

“So, Twilight, what were the potions you put in the bag?” Rainbow Dash asked, up above.

“Well, since we seem to get dragged into danger a lot, I decided to keep a couple of potions around just in case for quick adventures. The green ones will cause anyone hit by it to sleep with a powerful sleep powder mixed with various chemicals. The blue ones are for paralyzation thanks to a nerve agent that was originally created to stun mentally ill ponies. The red ones produce liquid fire.”

“Woah, you can make water turn into fire?” Dash asked, eyes wide open.

“It’s a special formula that only needs oxygen to ignite it. It’s very dangerous and I’ve burned more than a few eyebrows at times mastering it,” Twilight answered, “but I only want to use it as a last resort.”

A snap of a twing made the group freeze up as the guard quickly made a protective oval around the group. The three on the ground had their flanks against each other while Dash soared high into the air to get a better look. Silence filled the air, yet it seemed to get heavier around them. Already Pinkie Pie’s mane started to deflate as she looked around with worry while Applejack’s tail flicked around a twitch per second. The guards, despite their professionalism were shivering a bit too from the silence as Twilight felt a bead of sweat go down her neck.

“Do ya hear that?” Applejack whispered.

“No, I don’t,” Twilight replied.

“That’s just it... even during this late at night the owls, crickets, and some critters would be makin’ noise... it’s all silent around here,” Applejack muttered, narrowing her eyes. “Ah didn’t even notice until now.”

Twilight perked her ears to listen and they soon bent backwards upon hearing nothing as well. “I’ll cast a spell that can detect anything with a heartbeat.”

Closing her eyes, Twilight’s horn glowed as the magic from inside entered into her eyes which began to glow a purple redish aura. She scanned all around them, finding the yellow aura of life for ponies around her friends and the guards. There was blue aura for the flora and trees, but it was dim for some reason even though this was the middle of spring. It seemed like they had been... dying for sometime. She tried searching for the green aura for animals, but there were none to be found. Not even insect life. Still, there didn’t seem to be anything around them.

After reporting this, the guards lowered their weapons as one sighed in relief. “Good, for a second there I thought we were going to be ambu-” Before he could finish, something landed right on his throat and pierced right through his skin and fur. The rest gasped as he clutched a piece of sharp wood that had found itself speared right through his neck in a blink of an eye. He gurgled as blood spilled out of his mouth before landing motionless on his back with his eyes rolled into his head.

Pinkie Pie screamed as the guards drew their weapons again, ready for anything. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash screamed, “Look out! Scatter!”

The group looked up and soon saw why. A giant tree, ripped out of its roots, was heading straight for them. Twilight teleported herself, Pinkie Pie, and one of the guards out of the way while Applejack and two other guards managed to run fast enough to avoid it. One was too stunned at the sight and by the time he managed to get his act together, he had be crushed in an instant.

Doing her best to ignore the shattering of bones, Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash and shouted, “Dash! Where did it come from?!”

“A few feet ahead! I think I see something retreating! I’m going after it!” Dash shouted and took off before Twilight could stop her.

“We better follow her. Whatever threw that thing is super strong!” Applejack shouted.

“Right, let’s goooooooooaaaaaaa!” One of the guards cried out as something small bit him in the leg from under a bush and began to drag him into the woods, his screams for help echoing as he was dragged deeper into the darkness.

“Vigilant! Hold on!” The other guard shouted as he ran after his friend.

Applejack cursed and ran after him. “Ah’ll get the guards! Meet up later!”

“Wait!” Twilight shouted as she took off her saddlebags and teleported them onto AJ’s back. “Take these just in case! Remember the color of the potions!”

“Ah will!” Applejack shouted before she too disappeared into the darkened woods.

“Come on, let’s hurry and catch up!” Twilight said to Pinkie Pie and their last guard as they galloped as hard as they could while hoping Applejack would be safe.

***

Rainbow Dash didn’t know who it was that threw that huge tree, but whoever they were was fast at running. Faster than Dash had ever seen and she had raced with Applejack multiple times. This couldn’t have been the same Rarity who always thought she was dying every time she broke a sweat. Still, they didn’t count of the world’s fastest flyer!

With a burst of speed, Rainbow Dash dived down and skidded across the ground, kicking up dirt before coming to a stop. “Alright, you! Stop right... there...”

Rainbow Dash didn’t often say it, but she had a good sense of sight that could tell her what she needed to know especially when she was flying. Sometimes, she could tell a pony’s character just by looking at them in the eyes. She had looked into the eyes of villains before, each of them unique in their own way. With Nightmare Moon, it was rage and sorrow. Discord’s eyes held madness and cunning. Chrysalis’ eyes always had held a gaze of lust and envy.

When Rainbow Dash looked at Rarity there was no sparkle of the observant, graceful, and noble look in her eyes that she always held a respect for.

No, what she looked at this time was pure bucking evil.

It was a word she didn’t often associate with others, but this time she had no choice. It was the only word in her head that reflected the blood red eyes of a monster. A monster that wore the skin of one of her best friends in the whole world. That monster, grinning with teeth as sharp as a shark, lept at her with a inequine like hiss that it sounded like that of a snake. Although surprised by the sudden burst of agility, Rainbow Dash was able to jump out of the way as Rarity continued to try to tackle her.

“Stop it, Rarity! I don’t want to hurt you!” Dash shouted, using her wings to avoid the attacks. When Rarity started firing magic blasts at her, Rainbow Dash growled. “Alright, you asked for it.”

Swooping down, Rainbow Dash spun around to deliver a powerful spinning kick towards Rarity’s face. However, the mare in pain didn’t turn out to be the unicorn, but Dash herself as she felt like she had just kicked a stone. “Yeow!” shouted Dash, hear her bone nearly break upon the smirking face of Rarity.

Before she could question what happened, Rarity used her moment of weakness to sink her teeth deep into Dash’s stretched leg. Screaming, Dash felt like knives had been sent down her limb as she tried to get Rarity to let go from flapping her wings to kicking the face. Rarity wasn’t phased by the slightest and simple spun around to throw Dash into a nearby tree which resulted in her nearly throwing up from the impact.

Now she knew this wasn’t her friend at all. Rarity was never this strong both physically and magically. Groaning, she raised her head to see Rarity’s lower face covered in her blood. With a long, slithering tongue she began to clean the blood off while moaning in escasy from the taste. Rainbow Dash felt her entire blood turn to ice upon seeing this as the red-eyed mare now looked at her as if she was dinner. Oh Faust. Swee Faust above. She really is a vampire!

“STOP!”

The voice of Pinkie Pie alerted the two as she, a frightened looking Twilight and a stunned guard rushed into the area. The two froze upon seeing their former friend who was now eyeing them with a lustful and hungry gaze. “Run!” shouted Rainbow Dash, struggling to get up. “She’s... she’s not normal!”

“Dashie! It’s okay! I got this!” Pinkie shouted as she smiled at her with a nod. Her hair managed to poof up a little as she looked at Twilight, hesitantly doing nothing. “Let me try to speak to her?”

“But Pinkie-”

“She’s our friend, Twilight! I know we can reach into her! No matter how badly she needs Dry Eyes,” Pinkie replied as she faced an emotionless Rarity. Slowly, she began to walk forward as Rainbow stood still and unsure of what to do. She wanted to tell Pinkie Pie to get out of there, or drag her away, but she was worried about what this... evil Rarity would do.

I just hope she does something Pinkish to not get any of us killed, Dash hoped.

“Rarity, it’s me... Pinkie Pie,” the party pony slowly said, raising her hoof as if to calm her. “Remember? Me, Twilight, and the other girls? You’re friends? What about your sister, Sweetie Belle? She’s really worried for you.” This actually made Rarity flinch a bit. “See, you remember. And you know who I am. You’re my friend. I made all those Birthday parties for you! I’ve even thrown “You’re Still Awesome” parties when your made mistakes in your designs!” She was now fully smiling while getting closer and closer. To her credit, Rarity hadn’t acted at all and was just watching Pinkie Pie with her cold, red eyes.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, but the Rarity I know... the Rarity you are... she wouldn’t want to do this. I know something is wrong. She’s a sweet, gentle, and generous mare whose made some amazing designs that made everyone’s life happier! In a way, you’re just like me! Only less candy, balloons, streamers, pinatas, cakes, cupcakes, pies-”

“Pinkie!”

“Sorry, Twilight!” She quickly centered herself and was now face to face to Rarity with one hoof on her shoulder. “I know that deep inside, you want help. We can help you, Rarity. Because that’s what friends are for. So what do you say we get out of this creepy forest, get you cured, and have a big party to celebrate!”

Rarity stared at that big smile that Pinkie Pie was giving as everypony held their breath. For a while, nothing happened and then Rarity lowered her head, bangs hiding her face. Pinkie’s eyes softened as the unicorn’s hooves touched the Element of Laughter’s cheeks with such a gentle touch that it was like caring for a baby. “There. There. It’s oka-”

And then Rarity twisted her hooves as Pinkie’s head suddenly snapped in the opposite direction as the sound of a spine breaking echoed in Rainbow Dash and Twilight’s ears. The legs of the pink pony sumbled for a bit before falling to her side with a surprised look on its face. Yet her eyes hold no mirth, only a lifeless gaze.

***

Applejack had found herself muttering more prayers to Faust then she had ever had in her life save the time her parents died. While she wanted to see them once more, she had no intention of letting Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, or Granny Smith go through that kind of pain once more. Yet here she was heading straight into danger once again. If Ah live through this Ah’ll take a nice vacation down to Appleloosa.

The screams of the taken guard had ended not to long ago with a blood chilling wail that soon ended abruptly. It didn’t take a genius to know that it was now pointless to try and rescue a corpse. Yet the other guard, who Applejack lost track off, didn’t stop running for his friend. It was foolish to run off like that, but Applejack wouldn’t deny that she would do the same for her friends if the situation was different.

At last, she came to a clearing, but froze upon the sight that nearly made her gag. The guards, both of them, were well dead by this point as evidence by the torn guts, pool of blood, and intestines being ripped apart by a set of jaws. Jaws that were tiny, yet held the teeth that could be mistaken for knives. Skin that was rotten and peeling of, with dried blood covering parts of their body. Their eyes, sullen and pupiless as they rolled in the sockets without a care. The dank smell or decay, death, and disease filled Applejack’s nostrils, but that was nothing compared to who, or rather what, she was looking at.

They didn’t find the bodies of Diamond Tiara and Tender Taps that night when Dinky screamed about her friends being killed. They assumed the monster devoured them whole, but a much more sinister and foul outcome seemed to have occurred that none could have for seen. She knew a dead pony when she saw a dead pony, and Diamond Tiara and Tender Taps were quite dead. Yet as they continued to feast on the remains of their new victims, it was clear that they were not as dead as they should have been.

What unholy abominations are they?! Thought Applejack, slowly stepping back as her spine shook with agast. A single snap of a twig from AJ’s rear hoof caused the two dead foals to raise their heads and slowly turn around with their bloody guts filled jaws slowly opening up. Applejack did her best to hold her bile upon seeing the torn throats and open chest cavity in Diamond Tiara while Tender Taps was missing his entire adam’s apple and nose.

Upon realizing there was fresh prey to be eaten, the two darted faster then any normal pony should ever have. Yet, Applejack wasn’t one of the most athletic ponies in Ponyville for nothing. With regret in her heart, she turned around and bucked both foals with enough force to shatter bones. They were sent flying, the cracking of their bodies echoing in the night as they landed in a near broken state. However, this didn’t keep them down for long.

Applejack watched in silent horror as the bodies began to fix their bones and slowly repair themselves as if nothing happened. The sound of a neck twisting back to its right position made AJ wince before realizing she was going to get attacked again. Realizing she needed to make sure they stayed down permanently, Applejack decided to charge first.

When she was close enough to Tender Taps, she reared back and hit him as hard as she could with both her rear hooves. Her efforts paid off as his head was instantly torn from his head, blood squirting out like a hose from his gaping neck before his body fell to the ground like a puppet cut from it’s strings.

This move came at a cost as Diamond Tiara was free to tackle Applejack, sending her to the ground with strength that the real Diamond Tiara would never have had. It took all of Applejack’s strength to keep Diamond Tiara from biting her. She could smell the gut reached breath and rotten teeth inches away from tearing her face off.

“Darn it!” she screamed, feeling her strength losing to a filly of all things. “Ah ain’t dying here!”

She then noticed a red potion bottle out of the corner of her eyes, dropped from her saddle bags when she landed on her back. Remembering Twilight’s words from earlier, she used her tail to wrap it around the potion before flicking it into Applejack’s mouth. Praying she had great aim, Applejack spat the potion into the wide mouth of Diamond Tiara, which got stuck in her throat. Distracted by the object in her mouth, Applejack used this chance to bring up her left rear leg and kicked the filly in the jaw to knock her back.

An added bonus was achieved when the potion shattered in the walking corpse as the liquid soon became aflamed with oxygen. In an instant, Diamond Tiara was lit on fire from her head to her tail as she shrieked in agony, wailing her limbs around in a futile effort to stop the flames. Gasping for breath, Applejack backed up as she saw the corpse filly slowly fall to the ground motionless, burning slowly to ash.

Unable to hold it in, Applejack let lose her lunch and tears as she realized she just killed two younglings. No, they were dead... they were already dead...

But something made them undead.

***

Pinkie Pie was dead.

That was all Twilight's brain could think as she saw the corpse on the ground of the once smiling party pony whose head was twisted and spine broken. The first pony she actually met in Ponyville. The one who always stood by her even in the worst of times. Always making a joke, a laugh, or a party to ensure that no matter how dark things got there was always a smile to shine through. Pinkie Pie had brought the joy of love and life to all she came across.

Now she was dead.

And Twilight was screaming.

First it was of despair. Then it was with rage. No longer did she see her friend Rarity before her. She saw a murderer.

Magic blast after magic blast was fired at Rarity which sent her to tree after tree. Each one turned to ash by the intensity of the magic’s heat. Tears fell from her hate filled eyes as she charged forward, using her alicorn strength to kick Rarity across the forest with each blow ruler by pure anger.

She couldn’t hold back anymore. She had enough. Enough death. Enough loss. Enough was enough. Fluttershy. Roseluck. Porky Peirce. Twist. Tender Taps. Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon. Rumble. Nurse Redheart.

And now Pinkie Pie.

No more! NO MORE! NO BUCKING MORE!

Roaring with rage, she trapped the murder in her telekinesis before throwing her hard into the ground over and over again to make a huge crater. Flying in the air, she created purple swords with her magic and shot them one by one into the body of the beast that lay before her.

“BUCK YOU!”

Three in each limb.

“BUCK YOU TO TARTARUS!”

Two in the chest.

“YOU BUCKING MURDER!

A single one between the legs.

“JUST! BUCKING!”

Two in the head.

“DIE!”

An one in the throat for good measure.

Gasping for air, Twilight stared at the body of Rarity which was was nothing more than a pincushion. She waited for anything. A breath of air. A twitch. A nod of the head. Anything to indicate that it was alive. She continued to breath in and out until she was sure that it was finally dead. Her rage subsided as she slowly levitated herself down, the whiplash of the magic she used finally getting to her.

Landing on her haunches, she slowly turned to Pinkie Pie’s body which already being held by a disbelieving Rainbow Dash as the guard stood there in a stunned state. With tears dripping down her face, Dash slowly adjusted Pinkie’s head so that it looked like it was normal before gently closing her eyes. A sob escaped the rainbow maned flyer as she held her pink head close to her blue chest, tears waterfalling onto the now flat pink mane that once bounced with life.

Pinkie Pie was dead.

Rarity was surely dead now.

Fluttershy was still dead.

In less then a few months, Twilight Sparkle had lost half of her best friends in the world. The hole in her chest that had been growing since Fluttershy’s funeral had now all but took over. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. No more animals rushing to Fluttershy’s cottage for food and warmth. No more dresses to be made at Rarity’s shop. No more parties to be held at Sugarcube Corner by Pinkie Pie. She sat there, the last of her will finally unable to take it and screamed into the heavens.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t right.

It wasn’t over.

Before Twilight knew it, a powerful blow knocked her back twenty feet where she felt her jaw nearly come off. Turning to her side, she spat out blood and a few loose teeth before raising her head only to find her mind shut down from the impossibility of it all. Even Rainbow Dash looked like she lost all her color as she sat there, frozen at the sight. The guard, upon seeing what lay before him, took of screaming back in the direction of town without a care for his duty. Twilight had given Rarity enough holes that would make a changeling blush and yet before her was Rarity, holes still there, looking at her with a sinister smile.

“You... you can’t... I don’t...” Twilight gasped, struggling to get up, but the sight of what should be a corpse still walking towards had all but paralyzed her nerves. “Monster... monster...”

She aimed at the head. The limbs. The chest. The throat. And yet the creature before her still walked as if it was just a paper cut. Twilight’s eyes widened as slowly the wounds began to heal. Flesh, organs, and bone began to restructure itself like building blocks put back together. It was faster than any healing spell could have done. She had heard of things like regeneration, but never before had she seen it done in such a powerful manner.

Twilight knew that this thing was going to try and kill her. Rainbow Dash was screaming at her to run, but she couldn’t. Her body wouldn’t move. Her brain had all but froze up. Her nerves were solid. She was going to die. She was going to die just like Pinkie Pie.

The monster opened up its jaws, revealing her teeth, but just before it could launch itself at Twilight something broke between the two of them as a green and white oder began to spread across the air. Twilight finally blinked as the smell restarted her mind. It came up with a single word to describe the unique smell that she was scenting.

Garlic?

“RAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!”

The scream had come out of nowhere. It was so chilling and demonic that in made Twilight jump and finally get her nerves working again. She watched in fascination as Rarity, who had taken magical blows like they were tickles, shriek with terror as she did her best to hold her nose. Her body began to shake and twist as if her blood was on fire, her hooves kicking in the air as she screamed in agony.

The creature that held her friend’s skin began to hack out blood, eyes turning bloodshot as the skin began to pale. It was hurting her. The garlic was actually hurting her. Something so harmless was a terror to this thing that her magic was all but immune too.

A figure jumped between them, sheltered by the aroma. The black and white stripes were all that Twilight needed to see to recognize that the one who was saving her was Zecora. Rarity, glaring with hatred in her eyes, snarled at the unflinching zebra who slowly reached into her cloak and pulled out a large braided necklace. It held wooden carved charms and dead animal bones on it. “Mabaya roho Hayawi! Kutupwa tena kwenye vivuli na kamwe kurudi! Kutuma wao kurudi katika eneo lako kulaaniwa! Hayawi milele zaidi! Mabaya roho Hayawi!” she chanted which seemed to cause Rarity to freeze up and struggle as if she was having a stroke. She continued to hiss even as Zecora repeated the chant over and over until she was directly above Rarity’s spit giving face.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Zecora pulled out a wooden stake and slammed it right into Rarity’s chest.

A unholy scream was unleashed as blood sprayed out of the wound as well as Rarity’s eyes and mouth. So much so that Twilight even doubted a body could hold so much blood. Rarity squirmed and gasped as she struggled to stay still but it was futile as Zecora retreated with regret in her eyes.

“I am sorry, Rarity. For a peaceful sleep, I now give to thee.”

Twilight and Rainbow Dash watched in horror as Rarity’s skin began to slowly melt away, her face becoming puddy as her fur and flesh evaporated into smoke as her organs rotted away in an instant and her horn shattered into pieces. It was like watching a body decompose with a fast forward button. Eventually, all that was left was a blackened skeleton that soon crumble to dust and left only a wooden stake in a pile of ashes.

Just like that. Rarity was gone.

Turned to nothing.

In that moment, everything Twilight had ever believed in was shattered. This was not normal, logical, or made any scientific sense whatsoever. A single wooden stick could not have not done that much damage while her magic barely affected the creature that was once her best friend.

“H-how?” was all she could whisper as Zecora walked over and helped her up.

“Garlic is like poison to these creatures of darkness. Not enough to kill, but enough to make them harmless,” Zecora explained before lifting her charm. “A holy charm called a grigri from my homeland. A prayer to ward off evil that is so simple and yet results are so grand.”

Garlic. Charms. Prayers.

If Twilight had the strength, she would have denied such things yet her eyes saw them work as clear as day.

“And while your magic is enough to make anything expire,” Zecora said, looking into Twilight’s confused eyes. “I’m afraid a blow to the heart or cutting off the head is needed to kill a vampire.”

Vampire.

That word again.

That word that she ignored ever since she first heard it.

How many times did she dismiss it?

How many times did she roll her eyes when Dinky, Zecora, or Spike suggested the possibility?

Celestia had told her that vampires were not real.

But she was wrong.

Celestia was wrong.

Twilight was wrong.

Because Rarity had turned into a vampire.

Falling to her haunches, Twilight lowered her head and felt like a veil had been lifted from her eyes. A veil that now opened her to the possibility that everything she once knew about this world was wrong. Vampires were real. Did that mean werewolves too? Zombies? Gods? Souls? Heaven and hell?

It was like being a filly again. Not knowing anything about the world that was big and scary. For the first time in a long time, Twilight Sparkle was scared because she was facing something she knew nothing about out of her own ignorance. Suddenly, it seemed as if she was nothing more than an insignificant speck in a darker world that had shadows around every corner.

The logical and reasonable world she had build for herself over the years had crumbled like a cracker. I thought it was all fake... just supernatural fiction ponies told each other over the years... not seeing the reality we all lived in. And yet... I was the one who was blind.

“W-wait a sec,” Rainbow Dash said, speaking up as she continued to hold Pinkie’s body. “If... if Rarity was a vampire... then doesn’t that mean... Fluttershy...”

“I was wondering when you were going to figure it out.”

The three of them all turned around to a voice they hadn’t heard in a long time. Twilight felt her heart sink as she saw what she had dreamed of in her deepest desires yet what she looked at was not the Fluttershy she knew.

It was the source of all this evil.

Author's Note

There is a second art piece that will be made for this chapter soon, but for now enjoy the one.

All art work done by: https://www.deviantart.com/jamescorck

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