Twilight Walkers

Through the unrelenting Everfree Forest, a pegasus and her comrades followed the stream. They left with a purpose and the pegasus always kept her distance in front of the two unicorns. She would scout the area ahead and the unicorns would be able to do ranged spells.

“Come on. The Elements are in danger,” Winter Arc spoke in an annoyed tone.

“Winter, you’re flying. We’ve never been able to catch up when you fly,” Armored Spear shouted to the pegasus flying above.

“Spear and Winter, we’re here,” Bronze spoke.

As Winter landed and the other two caught up with her, a pink earth pony kindly waited in front of them. The pink pony then loudly greeted each of them by name and introduced them to other Elements of Harmony, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, the latter of which was trying to make herself as small as possible behind Rainbow.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Bronze Sword, Winter Arc, and Armored Spear. My name is Rarity.” Rarity politely introduced the other Elements for Pinkie, whose mile-a-minute talking took some time to get used to.

“Thank you, Rarity, but please, call me Winter. We were sent into the Everfree to find you when Princess Celestia received a mile-high stack of letters. I see that Princess Twilight Sparkle is not with you. Where is she? Is she endanger?”

“We actually don’t know. Our friend, Pinkie Pie, believes that she is safe, although something has happened to her,” Rarity spoke.

“My pinkie sense caused my right leg to shake three times and then a I fainted like a goat!” Pinkie said excitedly, “I don’t know what that last one was though, it was almost like a doozy but a little more of a doozy.”

“Come again?”

“It’s better if you just don’t ask,” Rarity said as she rolled her eyes.

The look on the guards’ faces were all of horror. Here are five of the Elements of Harmony. Two looked to be injured or have been, and one is missing and might be dead for all they know. Armored Spear used his magic to inspect Rainbow Dash’s wing. Some of the muscles were severely torn and she had a couple of fractures. Most pegasi injured like this wouldn’t be standing, those that did were just idiots in his mind. But the demeanor of Rainbow spoke of someone with more pressing concerns on her mind.

“Well, you won’t be flying anytime soon,” Armored Spear stated.

“I know that Sherlock Hooves. Fluttershy told me that as she bandaged it. How about telling me something useful, like how bad the injury actually is,” Rainbow snarked, although she really did not want to know the answer.

“It could be worse, you’ll still be able to fly, but… in my experience, I’ve never seen someone fully recover. Those that do only cope.”

“Will this hurt my chances to get into the Wonderbolts?”

“I wouldn’t have any idea. Winter may be able to tell you. For now, let get you all out of this forest.” Armored Spear began his work on Rainbow’s wing. Fluttershy obviously had experience treating injuries like this before.

“What about the other guards that came with you three?” Pinkie Pie asked sensing the approach of two new ponies.

Armored Spear was about to reply that they separated in order to escort them to safely, but his comment was cut off by Night Wind toppling over him. It was obvious Night was running from something and not paying attention to where he was going.

“Night Wind, why are you running like a thestral out of Tartarus?” Armored Spear asked as he got back to his hooves, “and where are the others?”

Night Wind responded so quickly that the words blurred together worse that Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush. As such, only Pinkie was actually able to understand it..

“I think he said ‘Large...scared...out... them? That’s what I caught, at least.”

Ruby extended her wing over Night and calmed him down, running the tip across his back. The action couldn’t help but calm the thestral down, although he was disappointed that the contact did not last.

“Thanks Ruby Eyes, that really helped. Think you could continue?” Night asked with a hint of glee.

“Keep wishing buster,” Ruby replied with a playful tone in her voice, “Now do you mind saying what you said earlier in a calm, slow, and understandable voice?”

“I don’t. A large thestral stallion scared the living Tartarus out of us and the other three guards… Who we left with two combatants deep within a cave that could have more traps. Silver was surprised by one. Luna’s going to have my hide for leaving them. If she doesn’t, then Shining Armor definitely will. I… we... we left so fast that I barely caught the pattern of his sister’s cutie mark.”

“You left them?” Bronze Sword replied with venom on his voice.

“We were ordered too. There were two attackers that ambushed us.”

“So let me get this straight, with five of you, you ran from two attackers?!” Bronze Sword was getting pissed.

“Shut up, you have no idea what we were up against! They were strong, like stupidly strong. And that cave had traps. Silver Eyes even triggered one.”

“I’d never have ran. I’d never leave a comrade behind against an unknown foe,” Bronze said.

Ruby stepped up. “Hey, we’re soldiers; we follow orders! Dim Eyes told us to run so we ran!”

“Like cowards.”

Ruby slapped him for that. “Only a fool stays to fight a losing battle. We ran to get help, with you three we can go back and rescue them.”

“No.” Armored Spear spoke with an authority of one that lead ponies into battle.

“Darling, you mentioned that you might have seen somepony else in the cave?” asked Rarity.

“Yeah… was either a pegasus or thestral,” Ruby said.

“Silly filly, Twilight’s an alicorn, not a pegasus or thestral,” Pinkie interjected.

“Just don’t. No one knows how or why,” Rainbow interjected before Armored Spear could ask how or why Pinkie could know that.

“Spear, what do we do if Twilight is in the cave?” Winter asked.

“Y’all are gonna rescue her with us,” Applejack replied.

“No way in Tartarus I’m going back into that cave,” Night stated. Night started to shake at the memories of that thestral.

“Um, I’d rather return to Ponyville, but...Twilight is our friend. She’d easily sacrifice everything for us, even all the magic in Equestria. I say return the favor. It’s twice she’s done that.”

“You tell’em, Flutters.”

“No. Rainbow’s hurt and needs a doctor. The rest of you should return as well. You all have families. My mission is to return all of you safety first.”

“Armored Spear, darling, I know that you’re a soldier following orders, but there is no way we’re not going to investigate that cave. Fluttershy even said she’s willing. If the scared thestral wants to stay in Tartarus, then he can. We’ll be passing it on the way.”

“And Spear, you don’t know me.” Rainbow gave her wings a few tentative flaps, slightly wincing at the pain, before becoming airborne. “See I can fly. And I will never leave a friend hanging, especially Twilight.”

“Ruby Eyes. You haven’t said much.”

“I know.”

“What’s your opinion?”

“Go back,” Ruby dejectedly said.

“Ruby, what’s wrong?” Winter asked as she set a wing on her.

“I was only in the way. Night had to carry me, and Dim Eyes had to attack me to prevent me from attacking them. I was powerless, forced to obey the vampire’s wishes. I am not someone’s puppet; I want revenge; I want to save our comrades!”

“Hold up. What’s this hoo-ha about vampires?” Applejack questioned.

“Oh, yeah. Silver spotted a vampire on a ledge,” Night said. “Another reason I’m not going, and who scared the living starlights out of me.”

Fluttershy almost shrieked and disappeared behind Rainbow. “If it’s okay with all of you, I’ll remain outside the cave.”

“What do you mean by a vampire?” Spear asked.

“They’re an ancient Equis species that feed off of the equines and other sentient species. Lived with the alicorns, dragons, draconequi, and a few lesser races in all their eyes, equines included.”

“You don’t think….” Fluttershy started, before hiding herself even more than before.

“Fluttershy, you can stay with me outside that filthy trap and dust infiltrated cave. I’m sure our friends won’t mind.” Rarity walked over to Fluttershy and offered her a generous hoof. “We know how shy you can be and will never force you to do something you are not comfortable with. Again...”

“Thanks, Rarity.” Fluttershy took the hoof and came into better view. Her wings were still twitching from agitation, but that was to be expected given the circumstances.

“It doesn’t matter if we are facing alicorns or vamponies, —”

“Or alicorn vampire ponies,” Pinkie Pie interjected.

“— you shouldn’t have left them. You should have at least fought. Come on, I’m not going to leave my Captain and the Elements wouldn’t leave Twilight either, even if it is just a chance.”

“Yer right. We wouldn’t.”

“Come on. Let’s head out.”

“Um, shouldn’t Armored Spear make that call, unless you know where you're going,” Fluttershy whispered.

“She’s right, we don’t know where we’re going, but Ruby does.”

“Kinda, but Night knows better,” Ruby responded.

“Hey! We’re not allowing any of you to endanger yourselves —” Armored Spear started.

“You couldn’t stop us from trying,” Rainbow shouted.

“ — without us accompanying you. Night Wind, mind leading the way?”

“Yes, but I don’t have a choice, do I?” Night responded.

All at once, Bronze Sword, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Armored Spear said, “No, you don’t.”

“Fine. I’ll stay out there in case somepony comes running out. You all can go and tempt fate.” The elements began to pack up their sleeping bags. As Rainbow rolled up hers, a letter fell out. The odd thing about the letter was it was the letter Twilight had denied her to read. Night Wind noticed the letter’s coloration and an oddity. He decided that it wasn’t his business about asking about it and Rainbow had already picked it up.

Once they were packed their saddle bags, Night Wind began the track towards the cave. They took their time for those injured and allowed them to set the pace. The moon could be seen reaching some of the tops of trees by the time the got to the cave. Problem was, there was no cave.

The three unicorns looked at the stone wall. If somepony was hiding, what better way than use nature to your advantage. The guards lit their horns and found a visual illusion. They quickly dispelled it and stared at the narrow mouth of the cave.

“So, Night, can you give us any more information on these combatants?”

“Nothing I haven’t already said. I’m staying out here, though.”

“Coward,” Bronze Sword said venomously. Rainbow jabbed him for that. They all had something to lose, whether it was a comrade, a loved one, a foal, a friend, or themselves. That was the nature of life and the guard.

“Um, Bronze Sword. You have no right to attack another because of their fear. In Ponyville, the same thing happened to Zecora and she’s extremely nice, once you meet her. So if you could, don’t,” Fluttershy asked politely.

“She’s right Bronze,” Armored Spear said, “But before we go further, what’s the plan? We don’t know how large this cave is. Also, Fluttershy will you be joining us?”

“That’s easy, silly. We search it. There are six of us willing. We could form two groups of three,” Pinkie replied.

“Um, no, I won’t,” Fluttershy quietly responded to Armored Spear’s question.

“Who with whom?” Ruby Eyes asked.

“Pinkie Pie, myself and Ruby Eyes, we’re team one. Winter Arc, Rainbow Dash, Bronze Sword and Applejack, you’re team two,” Armored Spear stated.

“Each has a flyer and mage. You sure you want to go this route, Armored Spear?” Bronze Sword asked.

Armored Spear thought for a moment. It seemed good. Ruby Eyes was still shaking from her experience but she was eager to prove herself. “Yeah I’m sure, let's move out.”

“Armored Spear, and Bronze Sword, which one of you is good with shields? The passageway narrows to single pony, before opening to a wide area. That was where we were ambushed.”

“Spear is,” Bronze replied. “Looks like you have point.”

“Alright everyone, let’s break a leg.”

“Silly filly, we don’t want to break a leg.” Pinkie said happily.

“Pinkie, it’s an expression for good luck,” Applejack replied.

“Oh... then why not just say that?” Pinkie asked.

“It’s bad luck to,” Winter replied. Armored Spear entered first with Bronze Sword taking up the rear. Everypony else was in between.

“This is where we left Dim Eyes, Silver Eyes, and Redwing. They must have taken them farther into the cave.” Ruby said. The assembled group began a search of the area. The two unicorns used their magic to get a feel for the area. They identified three paths that could be taken. The first, only the pegasi and thestral could reach. The second and third started the same but split to who knows where.

“Rainbow and Winter, you take the ledge. It's easiest for you and the only other that could reach it is Ruby, but I still want to make sure she’s alright. Take this.” Armored Spear handed them a small, circular disk.

“What’s this?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s used for short distance communication. We didn’t use them earlier since the Everfree Forest disrupts the signal too much. In an enclosed space like this, they should work better,” Armored Spear articulated.

“Then let’s head out.” With an outline of a basic plan, the groups set out to do their tasks.

*      *      *      *      *

Meanwhile, deeper in the cave, a lavender alicorn was sprawled on the bed. She had been thinking of what Gaius had said. From his speech, he didn’t seem to trust Princess Celestia, but given his situation that was understandable. She was the embodiment of the sun, a killer of vampires.

Vampire.

Eternal life was something she wondered about when she ascended, but never asked. The princesses had informed her that over time, her body will continue to grow and adjust. She wouldn’t be a full grown alicorn most likely until all of her friends had passed. Princess Celestia had also sent some vitamins for her to take to help her grow, but she didn’t see the importance of them. She always ate three balanced and filling meals. There were no reasons for her to take them.

Her stomach growled at her and her thirst returned. Deciding she still had a few more questions, Twilight rolled off her bed and landed on the floor. After opening the door, she quietly made her way to the kitchen, noting with some disdain that the vampire was resting on the couch.

She searched for the cabinet that had the bags of blood, but wasn’t having much luck, and the cabinet that Gaius got their earlier supply from was bone dry. One of the cabinets had the same vitamins Celestia had given her, but she dismissed that off, for now that she was a vampire there was really no reason for it. Her nose found another cabinet for her, she figured it must be a side effect of her new powers. However, it was sealed tight. Her magic had little effect on the lock. And before she would resort to just shattering the cabinet, an idea rose.

There are three fresh bodies in the other room, the thought came unbidden and unwanted to her mind, however, once she thought it, she couldn’t stop thinking it.

She weighed the options in front of her, putting them on a mental checklist of pros and cons.

Option 1: Wake up Gaius.

Pros: She wouldn’t have to feed directly from a pony.

Cons: Waking him up meant disrupting him. He could be angry or sympathetic. He didn’t seem like the type, however, she did not know him all that well. This could be a bad idea.

Option 2: Wait

Pros: Would not risk angering an unknown variable.

Con: How long would she have to wait? The thirst could become all-consuming.

Option 3: Feed directly

Pros: The thirst would be quenched.

Cons : I’D BE FEEDING FROM A BUCKING PONY!!!

Three was obviously not a bucking option. In the back of her mind, she registered a door opening and closing and the clip clop of hooves on a stone floor. A little bit towards the front, a voice was vainly trying to convince her to go with option three, but she immediately squashed that idea. As she debated with herself, she made her way to Gaius to wake him up.

One her way, a meal literally flopped down in a seat at the table. Twilight's new senses could see the veins in his neck and the sweet, sweet blood running through it. Her mouth watered at the prospect, the thought of a fresh meal, of the taste of new blood running down her throat, it became something else in her mind.

Option three was quickly winning.

Am I really about to do this? Twilight asked herself as she found her hooves moving of their own volition towards the unicorn. Her stomach growled louder and her thirst tripled in intensity. It was all consuming, the thought of a meal being so close made itself known, it wanted this, it needed this. She needed this.

Every step brought her closer and closer. The unicorn at the table did not look up, he did not notice her approach. She could hear his heartbeat. The steady bump-bump, bump-bump, pounding in her ears. The drive, it became all-consuming to her. It was primal need she had to sate, it had to happen.

She could think of nothing else, every thought was gone save for this one, save for the all-consuming desire to feed, to drain this unicorn dry of every scrap of blood in his body.

‘Twilight!’ it was like five voices shouting in her mind. Her mind, her mind as the Princess of Friendship, her mind as Celestia’s star student. It squished this desire like a bug. The realization, the horror of what she almost did caused her to want to throw up.

She wasn’t a mindless beast, she wasn’t a killer and she never would be.

“Twilight Sparkle!” the unicorn in the chair shouted as he noticed her for the first time “You’re up!”

“After a fashion,” Gaius replied from the other side of the room. Twilight turned and glared at him, in that one second, they had an unspoken conversation.

‘You were going to let me drink from him, weren't you?!’

‘Yes, yes I was.’

She glared at him with a look of hatred, for that. “Gaius, I see you’re up.” The unicorn spoke.

“Indeed Dim Eyes. Have you come to join us for breakfast?”

“Dim Eyes, wait, you’re my brother’s friend!”

Dim Eyes smiled at the alicorn. “Yes, Shining was forbidden to come, a meeting has been called to gather together all the rulers of the nation. He sent me to find you and keep you safe.”

“How do you two know each other?!” Twilight questioned.

Gaius laughed, “We've met before, although this is the first time I talked directly to him and that he remembers.”

“He told me you were stung by manticore venom and he had to change you, I didn't think it actually worked on alicorns, though.”

“Only if they’re willing.” Gaius smiled at that.

A deep rumble echoed across the room, gathering everyone's attention. Twilight blushed as she realized it came from the most unlikely source, her stomach.

“Hungry again, Twilight?” Gaius asked with a smile.

Her blush seemed to get deeper at that, and what she almost did. “Yes.”

“There is a fresh supply of blood in the other room, why don’t you grab some to take the edge off?”

Twilight almost skipped out of the room at that news, she wanted, no, she need something to drink and the thought of getting it guilt free was one she could not deny.

The two watched her go with a smile. One that faded when she was out of earshot. “This is bad.” Dim Eyes said.

“I know,” Gaius confirmed. “If she doesn’t feed from a fresh body soon, she’ll become a true monster. Based on her power, she’ll destroy all of the world in her madness.”

“I was hoping she’d take the bait,” Dim Eyes said. It had been his idea. He did not fully trust the vampire, not until he explained the situation and how screwed they were. Twilight was indeed the second alicorn vampire ever created. However what was really scary was that she was already on the level of a fully fledged vampire lord and she hadn’t even fed directly yet.

With such power, came a matching thirst. She’d need to feed, and soon. Especially after just turning. Dim Eyes knew more than the average pony about vampire lore, his time with Princess Luna had taught him much.

“I have to admit, I was surprised that you suggested this.” Gaius said, “It’s rare for one to offer themselves up as a meal.”

Dim Eyes looked down at the table. “I promised Shining I’d find her and bring her back. While this is outside of the letter of the promise, this is what has to be done. If she doesn’t feed soon, Twilight Sparkle will be gone and a monster will be born into this world. One that will bring it to it’s knees.”

“Even though she will kill you?” Gaius asked.

“Hey, my oath is to protect the Princesses, I swore to give my life to that end. So if I must, then I must. I’m actually amazed that she stopped herself like that.”

“It’s a sign of her pure heart, and the influence her friends have over her,” Gaius placed a hoof on his shoulder. “You are truly a noble soul.”

“Do what must be done,” Dim Eyes leaned his head away from the vampire.

With a swipe of his power, Gaius cut him just enough to draw blood. “Twilight,” He called out, “I forgot the blood is in here.”

Twilight came bounding back in the room, “I was wondering, I cou-” She stopped talking. The sight of fresh blood spilt, the smell of it in the air, it won in her mind.

At that moment, Twilight Sparkle, the nerdy bookworm that became a princess was gone, at least temporarily. In it’s spot was a creature that only wanted one thing, that lived for one thing and one thing alone. A creature that had to have, that must have blood.

She moved of her own volition, her teeth grew fangs as it sought to quench her thirst. Her tongue licked the front of her fangs, her eyes never left the bright red spot on Dim Eyes’ neck.

She wanted this.

She needed this.

She had to have this.

She reared up onto the back of him, and opened her mouth wide to take her first drink from a living being. Dim Eyes turned his neck slightly to one side, opening up more access to it. With a speed that would have impressed Rainbow Dash, she bit down into his neck with both fangs.

The taste was exhilarating. The natural flavor of fresh blood flowed down her taste-buds and into her stomach. It was both the most soothing nectar and fine aged wine at the same exact time. She did not stop, she wanted more, she needed more, she had to have more.

Dim Eye’s struggled as his life essence was pulled out of his body from two holes in his neck. He felt himself growing weaker and as the pain increased ten, a hundred, a thousand fold from the bite.

He tried fighting against it, his natural instinct would not simply sit by and do nothing as his body died from this creature. Regardless of what training he had or how noble his sacrifice was.

Twilight would not let him. Without even thinking it, her magic easily overpowered his own and paralyzed her unfortunate victim as she attempted to drain him of every last drop of blood.

Gaius looked on in approval at this development. ‘Your sacrifice is for the greater good.’ He knew Dim Eyes was as good as dead. Twilight would not stop until the stallion was fully drained.

She’d be scared forever, but this needed to happen, this had to happen. In a way this was both a birth and a death. Alicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle was dead, Vampire Twilight Sparkle was born.

“Get off him you monster!” A shout came from the other end of the room as two pegasi burst through the door.

That voice, that’s… that’s Rainbow Dash. Rainbow’s here...’ Twilight internally shouted with glee. Then it dawned on her. Rainbow Dash called me a monster. The window shattered. Her meal crumpled to the ground as she let go. Her long, bloodied fangs and teeth were agape as she stared at the two pegasi.

The sky blue pegasus was crouched low and fearfully towards the ground. That pegasus looked more fearful than when she had met Fluttershy. And she was the source of that fear. The light cerulean pegasus had a disgusted look on her face at what she was seeing. Her wings were flared out slightly, but close to her body. Before they could act, the ‘monster’ teleported away. However, Twilight's retreat from her friend’s disgusted look did not stop the bolt of magic that came from the other pony sitting in the room.

Seeing his spell connect, he went to pick them up and noticed with surprise that Dim Eyes was still alive. So Faust was merrible on your soul. As he looked at him, his own stomach growled, but he ignored it and went to the cabinet he stored his own personal supply. From the cabinet, Gaius grabbed a few supplies and from his reserves marked A+ blood, his nose easily determined the blood type of Twilight's victim without needing to be told. Finding the proper vein, a simple task for any vampire, Gaius poked a needle into Dim Eyes. The blood from the bags started to flow into him. It wasn’t the healthiest blood for a transfusion, but would be enough to save the unicorn’s life.

Gaius, seeing that the transfusion was starting to work, picked up the two pegasi and carried them to a different room than where Redwing and Silver Eyes were. He dropped them off and ignored the call of Silver Eyes. He had a very powerful alicorn vampire that required his immediate attention, he had to get to her before she did something rash.

He slowly approached the door for the room Twilight Sparkle should have landed in and opened the door. The door revealed no pony on the bed. Concentrating on his powers, he easily found the signature of Twilight above the door, waiting for him. Gaius decided to amuse her, walking through the door. As he expected, Twilight slammed her forehooves into him and pinned him to the ground.

“Why in bloody Tartarus did you do that to him?!” Twilight shouted with venom in her voice.

“He chose that fate himself, and all I did was cut him. I wasn't the vampire to latch onto his neck and almost drain him dry.”

“No guard in Equestria would ever do that. You made him!”

“I did not. He willfully chose his fate knowing that you may kill him. The only thing that I made happen was to draw you in. I knew you had to feed. I also knew that you might be unwilling. There were only two ways that I could have gotten you to feed from him. You showed true heart by not going for him originally.” The smirk on Gaius’s face only served to royally piss off the alicorn.

“The other option was to use an illusion, to deceive you— Dim Eyes’ neck being the bag of blood. It’s a hard decision for any vampire to make. That’s why only the lords are taught how to create such an illusion. We do it sparingly. That does not stop others from trying though.”

“But why? Why would you try and trick me like that!?” Her hoof began pressing harder on Gaius neck, her vampire nature was taking over. Gaius was one part impressed at her strength, and the other scared about what might have happened if she hadn’t fed.

“Because, time was running out, Dim Eyes was the best choice. He was awake and knew what could happen. Luna has pictures of the destruction the vampire monsters have done,” Gaius said.

He continued as the pressure relaxed on his neck, “Admittedly, I didn’t expect you to be as hungry as you were. Most transformed vampires require a week before they have to go for a fresh meal or snack. I was expecting three to five full days, not a day and a half or less!”

“What would you have done then? Either way I was going to have a fresh pony wasn’t I?”

“Yes, you were. That is an unavoidable truth. It is the nature of what you now are. You had to have a fresh kill. I would have guided you to a jail of scum and let you have your pick. Not a prestigious guard like Dim Eyes.”

“Why him? Why couldn’t you warn me of doing this?”

“Because I was able to speak with him. I didn’t know that he was a dear friend of your brother. You may be mad about my choice princess, but answer me this: How would you feel if it had been Rainbow Dash or any of the other bearers of harmony were the ones that had cut themselves. If you had killed one you're best friends because you couldn't control your instincts?”

Twilight's mind went black at that, she could not comprehend living with herself if she had done something like that to Rainbow or any of the others. However, she was not going to let him off that easy, “I...I...That’s not the point nor relevant. You had me kill Dim Eyes.”

“He knew the risks, all of them. And do you know what he said? HE said: ‘Hey, my oath is to protect the Princesses, I swore to give my life to that end. So if I must, then I must. I’m actually amazed that she stopped herself like that.’ He fully accepted the risk that he may die.”

“It doesn’t matter. I KILLED him, a retired guard of Equestria. I’m a monster that needs to be put down before… Oh Celestia, what have I done?!”

Gaius cringed at the mention of that name, he shrugged it off though. “Look again. Faust was merciful upon him. And because you didn’t, I’ll make sure he will live.” Twilight was visibly relieved at that news.

“He’s not dead?” She asked, hopeful.

“No, you have yet to kill anyone.”

“Yet?”

“This point is the critical point for every vampire, it’s the test you just took. If they do not feed, they are killed before madness takes over. The same would happen to you, Twilight Sparkle. If you do not feed, you will fall to madness, you will become a monster that will destroy the world. You cannot deny this portion of yourself.”.

He paused before continuing, “You are the second alicorn vampire. The first was Nightmare Moon, but she never made it to her first feeding. Her sister stopped her before it was too late. Even though Luna has lingering effects from the vampirism, she is not one.”

Gaius continued. “What would happen to the world if you became the nightmare? Does Cadance, Shining Armor, Luna, and Celestia have the will or the strength to stand against you much less kill you if you fall to madness?” Gaius left to allow his questions sink into her soul. Too many times before, he had seen the madness take control. He could not fail , not with this one. She was strong, too strong for him to allow that to happen.

When a normal vampire succumbed, it had horrible results. Bustling towns larger than Ponyville were no more, but those vampires were mosquitoes compared to Twilight. Also, back then, there was a dedicated guard to protect the civilians and to hunt them. Nowadays, they are sparse and their knowledge is all but forgotten.

Twilight glared at Gaius for the harshness of his words. They were like a silver knife plunged into her heart. The thing was, he was completely right. As soon as she smelled the fresh blood of a the living pony, she lost control and practically killed the pony. Would I have stopped if Rainbow Dash hadn’t interrupted? She knew the answer to that question. The real question was, what if it had been Rainbow that was bleeding at the table?

Rainbow Dash. Loyalty. She saw me and I ran. I ran with no explanation and Dim Eyes crumbled to the ground, almost dead. How am I going to face her? Does she even know he’s not dead? How am I going to face my friends? Either Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash is going to be the hardest. Fluttershy’s kindness would never kill, much less a being of her own species, but, do they have to know?, the back part of her mind questioned.

No. I have to be honest with them, and I can’t omit details. If I do that, then I’m deceiving them, and lying by omission is still lying to Applejack. But, Gaius did say that the vampires were more deceptive than any other species including Changelings. Changelings who kidnap ponies and take their lives from them, tricking friends, family, and coworkers. They feed off the love we have for one another. But, I’m worst than that. When they feed, they rarely kill. When I feed, I’m likely to kill or severely injure whoever I’m feeding from.

Twilight shook that comparison free from her head. She needed to concentrate and decide what to do next. Twilight thought about how she could repair her relationship with Rainbow Dash and what details she should tell her friends. A yawn stopped her train of thought. Before she accepted the will of the yawn, she left to find a place to wash up, her nightly ritual checklist still fresh in her mind. Finding the bathroom, she refreshed up and made her way back to the bed. She wrapped her tail around her and got comfortable on her front hooves. She wasn't cold so she left the blanket at the hoof of the bed.

As Gaius walked away, he contemplated his own meal. The vampire was hungry as well and observing Twilight’s first feeding didn't help. There are the three fresh pegasi bodies, or he could go hunting in the Everfree Forest. Naw, pegasi taste better and I know where they are. Now who? There's the light cerulean pegasus, but I think that she is Twilight's friend. Also, Twilight would be vexed with me if I fed from her. That thought made him cringe, she was growing in strength every day. There's the red wing pegasus. She'll be able to give consent, unlike the third pegasus. If I try the pegasus, the thestral would interfere. That doesn't mean I have to get permission, but it tends to make things so much easier.

Gaius made his way into the bedroom where most of his guests were after weaving an illusion for himself. Undoing the lock, two ponies stood impatient on the other side of the door. He could tell that their guard training was kicking in. They both stood in pincer formation ready to attack anyone they deemed hostile.

“Who are you!” Redwing shouted at the top of her lungs as a very unfamiliar pony burst through the door.

“Oh, thank Celestia, there is someone back here!” The new pony shouted, out of breath.

“You haven’t answered her question!” Silver Eyes shouted.

“My names Nemo, please you have to help. The vampire he’s… he’s…”

“He’s what?” Redwing shut the door behind the new stallion, not wanting to risk the vampire being right behind him.

“He had us captured, he was draining our blood. My family, oh Celestia my family. He… he…”

Silver’s demeanor changed, “What you can tell us, we’re royal guard.”

“He killed them, drained their blood right in front of me. This unicorn saved me, one by the name of Dim Eyes, but the vampire got to him, he drained his blood right in front of me. I… I…”

“DIM EYES!!! Is he dead!?!?!?” They both shouted at once at the unicorn’s statement.

“No, but he lost so much blood. I did when I can but without more O+ there’s nothing more I can do.” The unicorn looked devastated having to give this news. “This cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane chased the vampire off, but she did not arrive until it was almost too late.”

“How did you know Dim Eye’s blood type?” Redwing asked.

The unicorn merely gestured to his cutie mark. it was a red cross on both sides of his flanks. “I bought my supplies but I don’t have any blood to donate I’m AB-.”

Redwing stepped forward. “I’m O+”

“Oh thank Celestia!” the unicorn shouted.

“Redwing, no. We’re in enemy territory and we can’t have our of our party weakened.”

“He’d do it for me,” Redwing stated.

“We don’t even know this unicorn is telling the truth.”

“My names Nemo. If you want I can show you,” without waiting for a reply, Nemo cast a x-ray spell at the wall that bordered the kitchen with their room. The two ponies gasped as they saw the body of Dim Eyes lying on the floor.

“Do it!” Redwing shouted.

Nemo went into his bag and magically pulled out an IV. Finding a quick vein, he stuck Redwing and began draining the pegasus's blood. The process was hasted with a quick application of his magic.

Silver did not like this one bit, but he bit his tongue at first. After the third bag he could no longer stay silent. “That’s enough!”

“It’s really not.” Nemo smiled, “But I guess I am pushing it.”

Before either pony could reply, Nemo disconnected the IV and bite down on the bag, drinking heavily of the life-sustaining liquid.

“I knew that you were hornswoggling us!” Silver shouted. Redwing just looked on. She tried to do something, but the loss of so much blood left her too weak.

Gaius dropped his glamour spell, causing both ponies to look on in horror. “Don’t feel too bad little ponies, you really did save Dim Eye’s life with this.”

“What did you do to him?!”

Gaius laughed at that, “Me, nothing. However, I did save his life, but it used up the last of my blood reserves. I would have finished him off instead, but I knew the camaraderie between soldiers would ensure that I could get a fresher supply.”

“You stole my blood.” Redwing’s voice was weak.

“Oh no, you gave me your blood. I don’t know why, but it makes it all the sweater too.” He bit down on the second bag, before looking up, neither pony actually looked convinced. “Don’t believe me? Why don’t you go ask him yourself.”

They each looked at the other, unsure of what to do. Finally it was Redwing that started moving. Silver Eyes saw that Redwing needed help and made her lean on him. The truth was that they were outclassed in every way, shape, and form. If this vampire wanted them dead, they’d be dead.

Silver would not let her go alone, he followed but kept one eye on their ‘host’.

When Redwing turned the corner adrenaline surged into her veins at the sight of the unicorn on the floor. “DIM EYES!” She shouted as she ran towards him, her own weakness forgotten.

Silver followed and watched her skid to a halt. She paid close attention to the bite wounds on his neck, however, what caught both their eyes was the IV bag connected to his veins.

Redwing examined the bag, “You already had O+. Why didn’t you just drink this and ask one of us to save his life?”

Gaius smiled. “Two reasons, first is that I did not know one of you was O+ until I smelled for it. The second is that freshness does make it taste better.”

“We’ll kill you for this monster.” Silver glared at him.

“No…” The voice was weak and came from the most unexpected source. Dim Eyes placed his hoof on Silver’s. “He wasn’t the one that did this.”

“Dim, he’s got you in his thrall or something, you got two bite marks on your neck.”

“He’s telling the truth.” Gaius said.

“Shut up.” Redwing glared at him.

“There’s another vampire.” Dim stated, “I gave myself to her willingly. You… you don’t understand.”

“Dim, shh, you need to save your strength.”

“Consider this an order, listen to him. Yes, he’s a vampire, but there are bigger things you do not understand.” Dim said right before his eyes shut, he quickly fell asleep as exhaustion overtook him.

“Told you,” Gaius said with a grin.

“Orders given by a commander under someone's control are not to be followed.” Silver stated.

“Oh sweet Faust, what do I have to do to get through your head? Wait… I know, why don’t you two wake up your other friends?”

“You have more of us hostage?!”

“Yeah, hostages that are free to leave as they want and I tricked into giving me blood. Wake the buck up already.” Gaius rolled his eyes. “You know, I could point out that if I really wanted to hurt you, you’d all be dead by now.”

The glare in his eyes told Silver to shut up. Redwing slowly got back to her hooves. “Fine, I’ll follow his orders. Now where are the others?”

“Down the hall.” Gaius gestured with a hoof. “Just don’t go into the room after the one you two were staying in.” Redwing limped down the hall and to the room he pointed to, while eyeing the door he warned them about subconsciously.

When she entered the room the strangest thing happened. Rainbow Dash knocked her to the ground and pressed a hoof against her throat. “WHERE IS SHE!” She shouted at the mare pinned to the ground.

Gaius grinned. So she did know who that was, this is going to be interesting.

*       *       *       *       *

In the room that Twilight was laying in, two things woke her up. The first was the smell of fresh blood, which only stirred her. The second was the shout of Rainbow Dash. I can’t face her yet, Twilight thought. She also couldn’t fall back asleep either. Her stomach had been gnawing at her all night. Oh for Celestia’s sake! What do you want now?! I just practically killed a guard.

Twilight tapped her hoof on the bed, knowing that eventually, she would have to face them, but not yet. Instead, she decided to distract herself and explore. Not wanting any chance of prematurely seeing her friends, Twilight teleported to explore the woods. Unlike the last two times she had tried teleportation, when they ended her up in this room, she was overlooking the Everfree Forest on the top of the rocks. Using her advanced magical knowledge, she was able to get past the runes that were causing her to end up back in that room. Runes. Should have guessed. He doesn’t use his magic often. On its top, she encarved an anchor rune. Looking around, Twilight spotted three ponies in the darkness. The first was Fluttershy, the second, Rarity, and the third was a thestral stallion. The shadows of Luna’s night had hidden her presence, she thought.

Behind her, a silhouette rose. Its mission was to follow her wherever she went. Twilight looked over the vast Everfree Forest. Out in the distance there seemed to be something off. Concentrating on herself, Twilight opened her sight to her vampire senses.. It easily spotted all the different animals of the Everfree, including two manticores, just barely. Where she thought she saw something, she did. There’s a pony that way. Wow, this can really come in handy. The distance I can see is great.

Twilight took off, without even flying she easily reached her full speed during the running of the leaves at the end. The difference was, it wasn’t leaving her winded. Slowing down after reaching a dense wooded area, Twilight took time to notice her surroundings and the pack of timberwolves. Crouching down from her instincts as her eyes gained a red tint, the timber wolves did something unexpected. They stopped.

Twilight waited. She was curious what they would do with her around. She had no doubt that she could easily take on the whole pack as is. However, part of her was hoping that they’d lose interest in her. Another part wanted to see how much damage she could do. She squished that part of her.

They didn’t. They growled threateningly and Twilight reflexively returned their hostilities with a hiss. Two pounced from behind and were met with one of her hooves. There was a resounding crack as the two timberwolves hit the trees behind her. Twilight stared blankly at the power of her strength. There was no magic involved and she knew her alicorn magic shouldn’t have augmented her physical strength like that. I wonder how strong this vampire magic is. Twilight decided that she would test her own skills and only use magic in cornering situations.

The two stood back up on shaky legs and their leader howled an attack. Twilight braced herself. They were fast but she was faster. It became a game of numbers and seven on one was not good odds. The timberwolves were effective in their strikes, but she was just playing with them, while they were trying to corner their prey. As two attacked with a downward strike, two more flanked her with side strikes. She dodged the downward strikes and a shield blocked the side strikes, but she allowed it to shatter... at the worst possible time for her. She hadn’t noticed a fifth one in the back. That fifth one went for her neck. She ducked to the side causing her attacker to crash into another.

The dance continued, Twilight dodging strike after strike, and the timberwolves leading her into a trap. Even though none of the timberwolves landed a strike, their blows were accomplishing their goal: tiring out their prey. Twilight realized this as the claws of the leader of the pack dug into her chest and another hit her horn. The strike knocked her back and blood began to drip. The pain from her horn left her disoriented. Well, guess I should start fighting back. The cut wasn’t as deep, but proved that she was not skilled in combat or hunting, and that she needed to be taught. That distraction allowed for one of the timberwolves to strike her. Its claws raked across her right wing and side. If she had been an inch or three closer, the strike would mortal.

Her purple eyes changed to blood red. The wound began to heal itself and her muscles tensed. The wound was too deep to completely heal, but deep enough so that she could not use the wing to fly. Only another meal would finish healing that. The timberwolves had made a mistake, the smell of fresh blood in the air caused a change in their prey.

Twilight growled very threateningly at the timberwolves. The timberwolves, seeing their prey injured and weak, went for the kill. Twilight jumped and slammed onto the backs of wolves, disabling two of them. Another saw an opening, but it was anything other than what it appeared. It went badly. Both of Twilight’s back hooves connected with the offending wolf and he was knocked into another one. They crashed into a thick tree, dazing the second. Her goal of not using magic was forgotten and with a quick blast from her horn, she took care of two more. Their leader got lucky and scored a hit on her while she was making mincemeat of his pack. This hit was deeper and landed on her injured wing.

The final wolf was low to the ground, circling its prey. It wasn’t going to let some weak prey escape. The timberwolf made one mistake in its attack. Vampires have very sharp fangs and that they had tremendous grip strength. The wolf pounced and landed a blow on Twilight's flank. As the wolf’s claw dug into Twilight, Twilight gripped its neck in her jaw. With a flick of her head, aiming to toss the timberwolf, she instead snapped its neck.

With no more prey and no promise of fresh blood, her vampire instincts left her. Twilight looked around at the devastation she had wrought on the pack of wolves. She panicked and ran.

Her injuries were too much to return to the home of Gaius, but she was near the edge of the forest. As she galloped to the edge, the smell of apples greeted her and she stopped, knowing where she was going. The trees of Sweet Apple Acres had come into view and among them, a lone red earth stallion was working late at night.

The sight of red brought back a very familiar hunger to the mare.

Twilight’s tongue rolled across her extended fangs as her mind thought of the delicious, red, big macintosh apple and the sheer amount of blood that must be in such a large pony. Also, he would have some tender meat too. Her instincts were guiding her towards the delicious apple dinner, but she stopped that and turned back to the woods.

In the back of her mind, she heard, “You need to feed. You’ve taken too much, and you’re young. The apple is close, and you don’t want to lose yourself.” Twilight was about to make a counter argument, but stopped when the voice spoke again. “Your friends are there.”

Her mind was right. She knew it was right, but if she fed, then she’ll kill him. The brother of her friend and of Appleboom. Applejack couldn’t run the farm by herself and it may bankrupt her if she had to hire help. Twilight shouted aloud, “NO! I’m not going to do that.”

“I didn’t think you would,” spoke a voice from the shadows.

“Gaius?” Twilight hesitated. She didn’t think that anypony was following her.

“Only a shadow. This is just a spell I’ve learned,” said the shadow as it stepped into her vision.

“Why were you following me? How long were you following me?”

“In order of question asked: To keep you safe and since you left.” Twilight glared at the shadow, annoyed that she couldn’t spend time alone, without him watching. Before she could protest, the shadow asked, “What would you have done?”

“...” Twilight remained silent. She could still hear that nagging voice, that primal, all-consuming need that was ever present. She could feel it growing in strength with every passing moment. It was trying to get to go for the big macintosh apple, but she wouldn’t listen. The gnawing feeling of her stomach had returned ten fold when she had gripped the timber wolf’s neck, but she didn’t have a drop. Timberwolves had no blood to drain. That had been the worst part, the promise of blood was denied to her.

“Your silence tells me that you are deep within thought, trying to figure out the best solution. The problem is, you don’t know all the solutions. You know that if you go into Ponyville or return to the cave, you are likely to kill whoever you feed on and this time they will not be willing donors but victims. Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re not.” Twilight looked down at that. It was the truth, she felt like she was losing the battle for her own body.

“It always happens. I know you’d probably prefer your privacy, but consider if that’s the wisest course of action right now. You’re new to all of this, Twilight, and while you may hate me for what happened to Dim Eyes, consider what your best course of action is under these circumstances and if I should leave you alone. Whatever you decide, I can’t stop you, but this alerts me. I’d rather we not kill, but it happens. That was the reason I couldn’t help you with those timberwolves.”

“Is there something I can do to help myself?”

“Oh. Yeah, there is, but you may hate it. Go to the dead timberwolf and trust yourself, but don’t close yourself off. That only leads to madness and regret.” With those final words, the shadow began to disappear, the spell was breaking down.

“Wait! But timberwolves don’t have blood.”

“I know, but blood is not the only source of nourishment we have. It’s your choice, but observe.” The spell broke down completely and the shadow was gone. Twilight stood there at the fork. One path led to Ponyville. The other, the timberwolf.

*       *       *       *       *

“Rainbow Dash! What gives you the right to attack an injured guard of Princess Celestia!” Silver shouted harshly. The guard currently held down by Rainbow was breathing quick and shallow breaths as the wind was knocked out of her by Dash.

Rainbow could not give two bucks about what Silver said. She increased pressure on the pegasus’s neck. “I’ll ask one more time, where is she?” This time, there was more to the she Rainbow was referring to.

“Rainbow Dash, who in the world is "She?" Silver Eyes was confused. Who could have Rainbow Dash so riled up that she would attack and threaten a guard of Equestria? "It’s just you, Redwing, myself and the vampire. Calm down.”

“I won’t without answers.”

Rainbow noticed the erratic breaths of the pegasus and while she did not want to let her go, she did not want to kill her either. Reluctantly, Rainbow took her hoof off Redwing’s neck. Redwing took some time to recover and Gaius approached, but kept some distance. Redwing beckoned Gaius over since he was closest and hadn’t pinned her the ground. Gaius guided the red winged pegasus to a long chair so that she could relax. Redwing got herself comfortable.

“Just ask. We’re all civilized,” Gaius responded.

“YOU, VAMPONY!” Rainbow shouted after noticing the vampire in the room with them. Gaius looked annoyedly at her. He too offence to being calling a simple vampony. “Where has the vampire that killed that unicorn gone?”

“To answer your questions in no particular order, the unicorn’s name is Dim Eyes and he is as loyal to the safety of Equestria as you are to your friends. Also, he’s not dead. Secondly, we’re not vamponies. They are a completely different class than us. We’re vampire lords. Lastly, I don’t completely know where she is.” Gaius was careful with his words. He wanted Twilight to make the choice herself.

“So Dim Eyes was telling the truth. Another vampire did this to him?”

“Yes, he’s a very lucky, Silver Eyes. Rainbow came in at the right moment for Dim Eyes. Otherwise, he would have been dead.”

“Why are you protecting that foul creature of the night? It almost stole the life of a prestigious celestial guard,” Redwing said to Rainbow. She would have shouted, but she was still recovering.

“What do you guards do when you find evidence of a vampire almost killing somepony?”

“Celestia sends guards to investigate,” Silver responded, “But in the end, no matter who, the vampire is killed. Whoever did that to Dim Eyes is a monster.”

“That’s why, Silver. Celestia has never been one to bend the rules. She has a strict policy about vampires that kill or just barely kill. Silver Eyes, do you think that the vampire that did this to Dim Eyes is old or young?”

Rainbow responded first with her guess, “Young, recently turned.”

“Old. Didn’t care if he died or not and too precise. Dim Eyes would never be able to get the vampire off.”

“Actually, Silver, Rainbow’s right, but I wish she hadn’t answered. This was this vampire’s first feeding.”

“Rainbow Dash! You know the identity of vampire?”

“Yeah. I could never forget her face,” Rainbow responded. Her wings tensed as she said those words.

Silver growled, “Then why haven’t you told the guard. It needs to be killed before it can kill somepony else. Dim Eyes was lucky, but the next one won’t be. If he couldn’t fight it off, then the princesses need to be informed immediately.”

“She’s not an ‘it.’ The vampire has a name!” Rainbow glared at Silver Eyes. Even though she had called her a monster, she didn’t know all the facts. With Silver Eyes and Redwing being here, the other vampire wouldn’t answer any of her questions.

“Rainbow!,” Silver venomously said, “Stop being brash. That vampire, it nearly killed a retired member of the Royal Guard. Why would you defend it instead of the citizens of your nation?”

“Rainbow. Don’t answer. Silver, what makes her different from me?” Gaius asked with a grin on his face.

Rainbow heaved his warning. If she didn’t bite her tongue, she may have told him the identity. The question he proposed stuck on her mind. Why indeed?

Silver growled at him, “The only difference between you two is that, not counting that little stunt to get our blood, you haven’t attacked anypony… that we know of. This vampire did.”

Gaius quickly summoned some of his magic of shadows and revealed a chest behind them. “Then open the chest behind you.”

Silver was cautious to open the chest. He wasn’t trusting of the vampire, but what could happen? His mind supplied the answer that he was definitely was trying to avoid. You could be the vampire’s next meal.

When Silver opened the chest, he was very surprised when a pure silver blade wrapped in runes laid in the chest. It was a long sword, but the runes on it could have different effects. “Why do you have a silver sword?”

“Because, Silver Eyes, I am responsible for my own actions. I’d rather not have a stronger vampire than me lose themselves to madness. If I have to, I am prepared to kill her as a last resort. I didn’t have to.”

Gaius looked to Rainbow who seemed to have a question on the tip of her tongue. Thinking it over, Gaius offered, “Would you like to talk to me privately?”

Silver stared blankly at that with his jaw hanging before moving to block Rainbow’s view of Gaius, sword carefully in hoof. “There’s no way I’m letting you talk with her alone. You’ve already tricked Redwing into giving you blood. I’m not just going to allow you to ‘meet' with her privately!”

“I actually would.” Rainbow said, “Silver doesn’t seem to trust you and I don’t trust him, either. Although, Silver does have a point. How am I going to know that you won’t do to me what the other vampire did to Dim Eyes.”

“I’m not hungry. I won’t feed at all from you unless you explicitly give me permission. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a steak in my eye?”

“How’d you know that?” Rainbow’s question was only answered by a smirk from the vampire, she wrote it off, “Whatever, let’s just go.”

“It’s not fine with me. How can you trust him so much?” Silver shouted.

“Because, I think he is the only one who can tell me what happened,” Rainbow answered and turned away, effectively cutting off any further conversation. She headed to one of the rooms. She chose one at random and Gaius joined her.

Gaius closed and locked the door before Silver could even think about entering. “What do you think of the room?”

“Starry.” Gaius laughed at that. The room had many stars to it and each twinkled providing the perfect amount of light for vampires. Rainbow then hit the switch and Gaius blinked his eyes. The bed look to be in disarray and Rainbow noticed. “What’s with the bed here?”

“Oh, this is the room the other vampire is sleeping in. If I remember correctly, she’s exploring the Everfree Forest and testing her new powers, even if they are weak now.”

“You’ve said she. It’s Twilight isn’t it.”

“...Yes. She was very upset with herself, but she had to feed. It’s something that we all have to do.”

“Did it have to be a living pony?”

“Of course it had to be,” he laughed at such naivety, “The dead are very bitter and provide little substance of the substance she needed then. Rainbow, don’t get the wrong idea. Dim Eyes truly knew that he would be killed. I warned him, but he is loyal to the protection of Equestria’s citizens. Including its newest princess.”

“Not so much to Celestia, though?”

“Not entirely. Dim Eyes actually had me enchant a letter for him. It would have gone to Silver Eyes. Contained within were our identities and, a way to track her. Once Celestia found, she’d hunt us down, personally.

“Celestia loathes us, for the actions of the corrupted ones. Their armies were loyal to their commanders. None died without a Tartarus of a fight. There’s a second reason, though and you know it. The choice will always be yours, hunter.”

“How did you know?”

“Your range to the cloud and your grandmother. You have a harder choice than she does and if that fact gets out, your choice will be near impossible to make.”

“Will she know?”

“I believe she may, but after she tells you, promise that you will tell her.”

“I will. Do I remind you of someone?” Rainbow asked.

“You do, but that is a personal question. Do you have more questions?”

“Yeah, how can you do magic?”

“Personal.”

“Fair. How often will she have to feed?”

“Depends on habits. If she studies her magics, then it will be often. If she refuses to eat, it will be more often.”

“Wait, why does eating have to do with feeding?”

“Because, Rainbow Dash, our diet is more omnivorous. You rarely have fish and other sea food. I have it two to four times a week." Gaius paused, and remembered that he had some cooking to do. “That’s what I’m cooking Twilight, along with a few other samples. Don’t worry, I know exactly where each thing I cook comes from.”

“Where does the fish come from?” Rainbow’s tongue reflectively licked her lips at the thought of diving into a fresh fish dinner.

“A farm I run. I keep operations small as to not flood the market. I also don’t share how. I’d rather not have others trying to swindle the good citizens. Before you ask, I’m only telling Twilight of what is on her plate. It will be her decision to make alone. I won’t allow anyone to sway her, in either direction. Want dinner now?”

“Sure. What kind of fish? Also, when will Twilight be back?”

“Red fish. Don’t know.” Seeing that most of Rainbow’s questions were done, Gaius made his way to the door. “Have any more questions?”

“Nope.”

“Good. I don’t trust them either.” With that, Gaius opened the door. Silver Eyes had been banging on it like a mad pony. Seeing the vampire, Silver’s gaze hardened. Looking past Gaius, Silver saw Rainbow unscaved, but that could just be a hoax. Powerful vampires, especially Lords, were known to be able to heal wounds.

“Dim Eyes is not well.” Silver said.

“I know, I need to give him some fresh blood.” Gaius calmly walked to the kitchen and retrieved the third bag from Redwing. He then hooked it up to Dim Eyes and made his way back to the kitchen. Rainbow followed him out and took a seat across from Redwing.

“Rainbow Dash, did he do anything to you?”

“Not a thing. He only answered my questions. No, he did not use any magic.”

“Rainbow, are you completely sure? Lords such as him are masters of illusions. But he also doesn’t have to use magic, his eyes can hypnotize you just as easily.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because hypnotizing you is a way for him to get a bite.”

“What’s he doing now?”

“Cooking dinner,” shouted Gaius from the kitchen. His voice rang with disdain, a clear indication that he did not enjoy being talked about like he was not there.

“Why would we eat whatever you are preparing? How would we know that you haven’t poisoned the food?” Silver asked. Just as he finished asking a grumbling sound from his stomach graced their ears. They were all hungry.

“When I can kill you all before your next heartbeat, why would I waste perfectly good poison? Besides. it’s as you said. I could easily hypnotize you if I wanted to feed from you alive.”

“He has a point, Silver Eyes. What would he gain by killing us? In reality, it’s better for them if we’re alive. If we’re alive then they could drink from us. Dead, we are just husks of meat, taking up space.” Redwing’s wings shuffled in unease. Rainbow's comment was right, but she didn’t want to believe it.

Gaius continued his task of making dinner. The fish were grilled and placed on the plate. Each covered dish was for a different pony. As he was finishing, a sound from the top of the roof alerted him that somepony was back. He made sure the hot dishes stay hot; the cold, cold, before disappearing to the top. His guests did take notice, though.

*      *      *      *      *

Twilight stood on top of the cave watching the Everfree Forest. Her eyes were dull over what she had done and the memory of it pained her greatly. As she looked to the sky, the moon shown. It was getting close to sunrise. What would happen, she wondered.

“Nothing good. You’d be dead. How did it go?”

“I made my choice. I still wish there was another way, though.”

“Don’t we all, but that’s what separates true vampires from the novels.” Gaius paused before continuing, “You will never fully forgive yourself for those lives you do take,” he looked down at that. The memories of all those he had killed came back fresh, “However, to kill yourself is the coward's way out. In time you will learn to live with it. You will do what must be done, simply to advert the greater disaster of what would happen if you didn’t.”

“Here.” Gaius’s magic summoned a simple leather bound black book. “This book is special. Write down the names of those you drink from.”

Twilight took the book in her grasp. Opening one of her wings, she pulled out a dying feather. The tip was as sharp as a quill. In the paper of the book, she titled the chapter heading, “phoenix.” Below, she wrote Dim Eyes and saw the magic of the paper. The paper formed a replica of Dim Eyes and his cutie mark. It knew his birthday, the date he received his cutie mark, and that he was alive.

“How does it know all of this?” Twilight bewilderedly asked.

“Our magic is quite powerful, young one. We can see the souls of others. The paper is just an extension of that. Are there any other names you would like to add?”

Twilight shut the book and embedded a locking spell in addition to a few others. She calmly turned her back on Gaius and teleported into the cave.

“I didn’t care either way, but would like to know, so that I would know what to teach you,” Gaius mumbled to himself, before returning to the kitchen, and after he looked in the direction of the fields of Sweet Apple Acres.

*      *      *      *      *

“We can’t stay here,” Silver Eyes spoke.

“I agree, but we need information. Also, what about the others?” Redwing asked.

“I don’t know, but he said we were free to leave. That he’s not keeping us prisoner,” Rainbow spoke.

“Rainbow, Armored Spear wouldn’t just split up unless he had a way of communicating. Did he give you anything?”

“He didn’t give anything to me, but I’m staying.”

“Don’t Rainbow Dash. You’re too tempting as a snack. If you had arrived a few minutes before, you’d be dead.”

“Where were you?” Silver questioned Gaius when he saw him back in the kitchen.

“Finishing dinner. Now excuse me, I have two guests to wake up. The dining room is that way.” Gaius pointed the way and began to walk towards the bunk rooms. The first one had a pegasus sleeping in it. Lightly tapping the shoulder of the sky blue pegasus, she swatted his hoof away before waking up.

“What time is it?”

“Exactly? I don’t keep track, but I’ve cooked some dinner for you and my other guests.”

“Why should I trust you? You were the one sitting idly while a guard of the Royal Army was killed.”

“Well, is it a consolation that he wasn’t killed? Or that I saved him?”

“Not a chance. You shouldn’t have been just sitting there.”

“I can only do so much, please accept my dinner offer. There are a few that may be able to wane your nerves of me, miss…”

“Winter. Who could do that and how do I know you weren't hypnotising them?”

“Be observant, monitor for their true nature. That’s how you know if somepony is hypnotized or not, but I digress, it’s always your choice in the end. After all, you have to live with the consequences.”

Winter was silent as the stallion left her alone and took the opportunity to invite his final guest. What does that vampiric stallion mean? Winter thought. Then it dawned on her. Hours had passed, and he hadn’t snacked from her in the least. If he wanted any of us dead, we’d be dead. Still, he’s hiding something. Of that she had no doubt.

Winter decided that she wasn’t going to get any information lying in bed, and dinner did sound tempting, to the point that her stomach began growling. Dinner it is, wonder what’s on the menu. Her mind decided to answer the rhetorical question. “Hopefully, not us.” A shiver ruffled her wings as she tried to get that thought out of her head.

As she walked out, her mind could not help but imagine seeing a pony being carved up on the table for them all to enjoy. The disturbing thought caused her to take the wrong turn to the right and overheard a conversation.

“...light —,”

“Not here, not right now, there's a pegasus, I think.”

"You're right, but I need a name to call you by. Please join me for dinner.”

“Why? Are you trying to tempt me like before?”

“It’s nothing like that. It will always be your choice.”

“Maybe, but it's never a free choice. You’ve manipulated all of my choices.”

“I’ve only done that once. He’s survived the choice I made you take, and is getting better, but I’m at the end of what I can do for him. They don’t trust me.”

“I know why. How are they going to trust me?”

“They’re guards. It’s their duty. Plus, if you don’t want them to know, then deceive them.”

“I can’t deceive the royal guards!”

“Yes you can.” Gaius said matter-of-factly.

“I can but I’m not going to, it’s wrong!”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s lying to them all, I’m not going to do something like that! Besides, Rainbow’s out there, I can’t… I can’t lie to her.”

“Then come out, face your friends, admit the truth of who you are and what you did.”

“But… but… —”

“There’s no but. You either have to deceive them, or admit that you were going to kill him. And don’t try and lie about the whole truth or omit details. It never works.”

“...I wasn’t in control!”

“You can lie to many ponies, but not me. We both know you wanted it. Your actions left him close to death. If I didn’t have any of his blood type, do you know what would have happened to him?”

“Yes. You would have finished him.”

“No, I wouldn’t have. I would have preserved him for your next feeding.”

“What are you talking about? I would never do something like that!”

“Says the vampire that almost did today.”

“Fine!” she yelled, defeated, “But I’ll be the one to tell her.”

“Fine with me. You were going to face her eventually. I’ll leave it up to you of when you actually tell them.”

“What do they know?”

“All they know is that there is at least one other vampire, and some guests. They know that I’m one. You can be whoever you want and we’ll deceive them with partial truths. You are here as a donor to myself and may have just arrived.”

“Will they buy it?”

“They should, I keep documents of all those that have donated blood, for me. But we seem to have a “Winter” fly in the hall. She didn’t hear the first part of your name.” Gaius’s magic was quick to grab hold of the pegasus and keep her from hearing anything else. “Now then, a persona, unless you want to just tell them all?”

“Not yet, but I do have an idea.” Twilight concentrated as she gathered the magic necessary for casting an illusion on herself. Instead of a lavender coat, she had a light blue coat. Her mane and tail were white, accented by dark grey stripes. Her horn disappeared, her wings were the same color as her coat and covered her cutie mark.

“Not too bad. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that mare. May you please move your wing so that I can ensure you got the cutie mark right.”

“You know her?” Twilight’s surprise did move her wings, and she folded them back into place. “You know that a pegasus doesn’t do that just for anypony.”

“I know, but it was your surprise. You even got her cutie mark right, but it will falter. Not bad, and it’s baseline, Snow. Great mare, wish I had known her better.”

“Ok, then, Snow it is. What about that pegasus?” Twilight didn't even glance at the pegasus listening in.

“We’ll let her decide.” Gaius undid the two way silencing spell.

“Sorry, I must have taken the wrong turn. It’s to the left to find the dining room?”

“How much did you hear?” Twilight asked.

“Most of it, starting with light. Why do you trust that vampire?”

“Who said anything about me trusting him. He’s a double-dealing, grafting charlatan.”

“I am not. My business is legit and I have not over promised anything I could not provide. I promised you a great night. Winter, would you like to walk to the dinner table or be carried?”

“Walk.”

“Then don’t say a word about what you heard,” warned the vampire, showing his fangs.

“Fine. What are you serving?” Winter Arc asked with malice in her voice. She didn’t like the idea of another pegasus being here. That pegasus knew nothing of the danger she was in.

“A pegasus and thestral favorite. Grilled fish.” Soon, the light from the bedroom disappeared as the light in the dining room appeared. Before them were two pegasi and a thestral. The thestral was sandwiched between them. Winter Arc decided to sit across from Redwing, Snow sat across from Rainbow Dash and Gaius across from Silver Eyes.

“The host is back. What honor do allow for your presence?” Silver Eyes spoke with a venomous undertone.

“A diner. The light blue pegasus goes by Snow, and will be joining us. How is your unicorn friend, and how are you faring, Redwing?”

“I’m still kinda drained, but the meal and rest should help,” Redwing responded.

“He’s not well. May need a hospital.”

“Then take him, if he does. Like I’ve said before, you are free to leave whenever you wish,” replied the vampire.

“If they can do that, then how does a battalion of guards not find you?” Rainbow asked.

“Good question, Rainbow Dash. The reason is simple. There are wards and runes that hide these caves. It’s the same reason the other guards haven’t found anything. Now, let’s eat.”

“Am I having the same thing?” ‘Snow’ asked, in a whisper.

“Yes, you are. Please give it a try. Rainbow will have a smaller portion than you,” replied Gaius in a whisper.

“How do we know that the food is safe?”

“The same reason you are standing here. Relax, I won’t harm any of you. Now, is this dinner going to enjoy itself?” Most of the gathered ponies glared at him. They weren’t very trusting of the deceitful vampire host. And he said that ‘he’ wouldn’t harm any of them. He is singular and doesn’t include the young vampire that practically killed Dim Eyes. Though, he had a valid point. Dinner is a great idea and with hesitation, they opened their dishes.

Rainbow and Redwing were the first ones to open their dishes. Staring back at them were some delicious looking five inch trouts. Winter Arc was next. Under her dish was a salad. Rainbow laughed at that.

“A simple salad. Looks like you got the short pole,” Rainbow said sarcastically.

“Rainbow, don’t be deceived,” Gaius warned

“For your information, Rainbow Dash, I have no desire for fish. I would much prefer a salad,” Winter confessed, “Especially with night winter lilies…”

“Wait, what are night winter lilies?” Rainbow asked.

“There a flower that only blooms in winter. They also only grow in certain climates and are extremely rare in Equestria,” Snow replied.

“That’s all true, but there’s one more thing. Winter lilies are poisonous except for a specific time after they’ve bloomed. That time is roughly an hour long,” Winter added.

“Then how do you know it’s not poisonous?” Silver asked. He wouldn’t put the vampire past him to serve those, and had seen them before. They had another effect. They sweetened the taste of blood and paralyzed you for about five minutes before you were dead. But before they paralyzed their consumer, it was extremely painful, almost unbearable pain. Vampires used this pain to get their victims to give consent and enjoyed them fully.

Winter responded, “The pedals. When they’re safe, they have a distinct pattern in them. These do.”

“How do you know that those lines aren’t an illusion?”

“No magic can touch them.”

The thestral was next and two smaller fishes stared at him. The red looking fish was salmon; the blue fish was bluefish. Only two dishes had not been opened yet. Four agape mouths stared at the dinner prepared for them. If they were at a restaurant, the same four meals would cost three-thousand bits on the low end.

“So are you all going to stare at your dinner like the fish are doing to you or eat up? Please be careful, and don’t eat too much. I don’t want you all sick from stomach pains,” asked the host.

Rainbow was the first to dive at her fish. With as much care to not ruin the meat of the fish, Rainbow expertly deboned her fish. The other pegasus was having a lot harder time.

“You must have never had whole fish before. Let me help,” Rainbow offered help to Redwing.

“Thanks, it’s Redwing. You’re Rainbow Dash?”

“The one and only,” Rainbow responded with a cocky grin. As they each in turn turned to their dinner, the two vampires opened their own dishes. The stallion had a grilled salmon with spinach covered in a cream sauce. The mare’s dish had more to it. Her piece of salmon was half the size and there was what Sunset would call a ‘slider’ and another smaller piece of meat that was unknown to her. If the guests knew, they didn’t say a word, but may have been curious.

Twilight on the other hoof was curious about what it was. Taking a snippet of the unknown piece of what she assumed was meat, Twilight tasted light hickory taste. To her dismay, it tasted good, but familiar at the same time. She would eat it if it was the only thing available, but there was a slider and filet of salmon. It had a light cream sauce with spinach, one of her favorites. The salmon wasn’t as tasty as the piece of meat she tried, but she enjoyed it more than the slider.

As they each enjoyed their respective meals, Rainbow noticed the portions of the dishes. They were huge comparatively speaking. She looked at the others, and most had eaten about half of their serving. “You all know that overindulging will cause more harm than good?”

Each of them lifted their heads up. They took pause, knowing that she was right. This food is too good. And their host was grinning, satisfiedly.

“Thank you, everypony for your comments on my cooking. Don’t let the value keep you from enjoying it, but please keep that in mind. Now,—”

Before he could continue, ‘Snow’ jabbed him in the left side. “May I talk to you privately?”

“Sure, excuse us.”

“What do you think they are going to talk about?” Redwing asked.

“Hopefully not about us. Maybe the food?” Silver replied.

“I don’t think so. She seemed to have more to her plate than us.” Winter said, thinking back that ‘Snow’ hadn’t gone for her fish immediately. Maybe something about the side?

“Then was there an illusion?” Redwing questioned.

“I wouldn’t put it past him. He can do that,” Silver informed.

“Well, we won’t know unless she tells us. Also, we should save our dinners. Don’t want to get sick.”

Yawning, Redwing agreed and asked Silver to guide her back to the bunk room. Her yawn was contagious and they finally passed a clock. Past midnight. The mares decided to turn in, while Silver Eyes checked on Dim Eyes. He was stable and didn’t need to be moved yet, but it was still early. Instead of a bed, Silver pulled one of the oddly shaped pieces of furniture and laid down near Dim Eyes, in between awakeness and sleeping. The camping had completely joggled his sleeping pattern.

“What was the piece of meat that wasn’t hamburger?” Twilight asked, still licking her muzzle clean.

“They were all samples of some of the dinners I can prepare. How would you rank them in how they tasted to you?”

Within Twilight, a battle raged. She could either tell him the truth or not. That first piece was either the worst or the best. The other three she knew which she liked best. As tried to decide whether it was the worst or the best, Gaius interrupted her thoughts.

“Excluding the first thing you tried at dinner, what is the order?”

“The salmon is first, the hamburger is last.”

“Alright, and the first thing you tried is either first or last?”

“How did you know?”

“It’s a habit among certain vampires. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what it is...” Twilight’s eyes brightened at that. She kinda had an idea, but was blocking it. She didn’t want to admit to anyone what she thought it was. “... In five days.”

“Why not now?” Twilight asked in a commanding voice.

“Because I want you to think about it. There’s a reason I like the Everfree Forest. Also, that day will be best, as we’re going on a trip.”

“To where?”

“My lips are sealed. Was your dinner satisfying?”

“Yes, it was. Thanks for making it.” Twilight was still curious about what she had first, but... she was also unsure if she wanted the answer. It could have been anything, including pony. She hoped it wasn't that.

“No problem. Would you like anymore of it?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Alright, let me check something. Stay here, please.” Gaius walked out to find an empty table and a thestral in a very uncomfortable position. Walking over to the thestral, he gathered the half eaten dishes and plate covers with his magic and levitated them to the kitchen.

“Silver Eyes, would you like me to help you get comfortable?” Gaius asked in a soft voice. The thestral stallion gave the vampire a laugh as he launched himself into the air.

After landing, Silver gave the vampire a stern look. “As long as you don’t feed on me. What’s with this chair?”

“It’s the way it’s designed, not you. I have pillows that make it a normal chair. Would you like one?”

“Yes. How is the other vampire?”

“Not hungry. Why do you ask?” Gaius walked over to the closet and retrieved the pillows for Silver Eyes. “Also, here are those pillows.”

“I’m just concerned. There’s five healthy snacks just now going to sleep and vampires are more active in these hours.”

“I know, I am one, or have you forgotten?”

“I haven’t. What are you up to now?”

“Training. Good night, Crimson Eyes.”

Before he could offer a retort for the use of his outdated name, the vampire was gone. Silver checked the kitchen and saw that there was no one there. He hasn’t changed. Still as slippery as ever. I wonder if Princess Celestia ever caught him with one of her cakes. Now then. Who are you hiding, who is the other vampire?

With the darkness gone, Twilight and Gaius landed in a large, circular room. Twilight took some time reorienting herself. It was like no other teleport she had done. Once that was done, she took in the room around her.

The lighting was low; the room itself was large, circular, and had runes inscribed all around.To her eyes, it seemed like a training area. Some of the runes that she recognized were for magical suppression and others were for healing. Twilight noticed Gaius on the far side of the room. He was currently was laying down. She called out to him, “Gaius, what’s with this room.”

Gaius’s ear twitched, showing her that he had indeed heard her, but he gave no verbal reply. She did get a reply in her mind, though. “It’s a training room. Your first task is to reach me. Teleportation won’t work though. Good luck.”

Twilight looked at him curiously. The task was so simple, all she had to do was reach him. What was so hard about that? As Twilight walked towards him, she spotted why the task was harder than it sounded. There was a barrier in between them. At first, Twilight tried to dispel the barrier, but her spell had no effect. Next she tried to shatter the barrier with a spell. Unlike last time, this did had an effect…. Her spell was reflected right back at her with twice the strength. She quickly jumped to the left to avoid it. Not trying that again, she thought.

As she looked around the room at the abundance of shadows, she remembered a spell that Nightmare Moon could do. It had allowed her to travel in and out of the shadows. Luna couldn’t cast it anymore, but she had shared it with her on one of her visits. Concentrating, Twilight weaved the spell, her horn glowing as small portal that was tinted crimson grew. With the spell done, she stepped into the portal to the shadow world, and fell. Her wings were of no use since there was no air, just a void of shadows. She considered for a moment about teleporting back, but thought better of it. Even as a vampire, Twilight would never cheat on a test. As what would she took to be the ‘ground’ approached faster, she saw and reached for a hoof that just appeared.

“Not bad for your first attempt. Would you like to try again on a much more stable shadow plane than the shadow plane of Equis?” Gaius asked, grinning at the hyperventilating lavender alicorn.

“No, maybe another time. Do you have something else you could teach me?”

“I do, but you’re not going to like it.”

“It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t want to experiencing that again anytime soon.”

“Are you sure? I’m going to be teaching you skills that may seem archaic in this time, but they are still very effective.”

“What skills?”

“Hunting skills, skills very useful for capturing our main prey.”

“Ah,” Twilight’s eyes went wide at that, if she had three guesses, she would have only needed one to know what ‘main prey’ was, “I’ll avoid the hunting lesson, for now.” She added the last part without even knowing she said it, “So, how do we start?” To answer her question, a door formed. Gaius opened it and beckoned her to follow. She did and was surprised what was on the other side. Before her was a replica of Canterlot Castle. “How did you do this?” she gasped in shock.

“I didn’t. I tricked a trickster into creating both of these rooms. This one is random in its generation, but it works. He’s still sore about me tricking him, but I believe he has forgotten about this room. Or maybe not, either way.”

“Whose was it?”

“Don't want to tell you, since it takes away at figuring the puzzle out. So, let’s begin. From watching you, you know how enter, but not travel and navigate. The key is that you have to use your vampire eyes and power. Alicorn magic will work, but you must have complete control and perseverance. Luna may still have trouble traveling over long distances, while your vampiric nature will make it easier and greatly increase your range of travel. Teleportation is still the fastest way, if you have the range though.”

“Yes, it is. How do I use my vampiric sight?”

“Ah, that’s right, you’re not a fully fledged vampire yet. Well, until that happens, we will be working on the mechanics and skills before applying your magic to them. Don’t worry, I will stay by your side through it all.”

“So then, what kind of vampire am I? Also, how do I complete the transformation.”

“You’re in between a class three fledgeling and class three vampire. Once you’re fully fledged, you’ll be either “L” class or a veteran class.” He said the words, but Twilight could see that he did not believe himself. Her instincts were right, in truth he had no clue what she would become. He had never seen her like before, her power was already well above what it should have been, as well as her hunger. It scared him a little to think of what she’d be like when fully awake. He pushed that to the side, for now. “For your second question, it is something that I wish you could avoid, but I know that you must eventually complete. I will tell you once I figure some, logistical problems.”

“Why is it such a logistical problem?” Twilight had never meant a logistical problem she did not like.

“Because of what I have to find. I will tell you, but not today. We’re going to work on other skills now. For these, we’re doing a simple pegasus game. All you have to do is follow my path. Are you ready to test your wings?”

Twilight gulped and gave a tentative flap of her wings, she smiled when she saw that yes, she was ready. They both crouched down before launching into the air. Gaius started out slow and easy as a warm-up, watching her carefully for her strengths and weaknesses. As she got the hang of the flying, he then began increasing the speed and difficulty of the maneuvers. It took a few dozen tries before Twilight was actually able to match it. The speed on the other hoof was a completely different story. Twilight was lagging behind, and Gaius wasn’t even pushing her a quarter of the speed she should have been capable of. Every time he would take her through the maneuver she would lag even further on her next attempt.

“Twilight, how much did you fly with Rainbow Dash? It seems that you are trying to learn how to fly all over again.”

“Hey, I can fly just fine. It’s just that...that...I don’t know. My wings don’t feel natural to me. Do you know what could cause it?”

“A few things, I would have to take a look at your wings, though.”

Twilight continued to hover. Her wings were causing her troubles, but if she wanted it fixed, she would have to allow the stallion to a close look. A blush started to show on her face as she tried vainly to hide it with a hoof. “Could Rainbow take a look?”

“She could, but she might not be able to tell. I will only look if you have explicitly given your permission. No matter if you are thestral, vampire, or pegasus, we don’t like others looking at them, unless you have a very specific reason. Of the three, the vampires are the ones most likely to kick you into next week,” he laughed at his own joke, Twilight did not.

Reluctantly, Twilight agreed to open her wings. Before she opened them too far, Gaius spotted the problem, and she folded them back into place. Her vampire traits hadn’t truly manifested yet. And only one thing would be able to change that. She needed a full meal, and within the next week or so.

“So then, you saw the problem?”

“Yes, I did. How much do you know about manticore venom?”

“That it’s a fast killing venom and there is no cure. When mixed with other plants from the Everfree Forest, you could make a venom that kills an alicorn," Twilight replied uneasily. She wasn’t completely sure, but Celestia had warned her about certain afflictions of alicorns.

“Yes, they can. It’s mainly the young ones, but there is a way to kill Celestia, Luna or Discord with the venom,” said Gaius.

“Like me,” Twilight gulped.

“Yes, exactly like you. I didn’t lie when I offered you a choice, but I also didn’t know how young of an alicorn you were. The only way that you won’t succumb to the manticore’s venom is for you to be a fully fledged vampire alicorn, very similar to myself, but much more powerful.”

“So then, back to the original question. What must I do?”

“The answer comes with a thousand years of weight behind it. And I already know that you will not like it one bite. Because I had underestimated your age, I actually used the wrong spell. The mistake can be corrected, but you are... going to have to have a sacrifice. What I will have to do within the next week is find a unicorn for you. After that, it’s an earth pony, and then a thestral. If you want to keep your alicorn wings, then you’ll need a pegasus too. That will need to happen over a few months though, instead of a week. After that, you will be a class L alicorn vampire, and a very powerful one.”

She gasped at that, he just told her she’d have to feed, possibly kill three to four ponies to save her own life. However, for some reason, it did not weigh as heavily on her shoulders as it should have. A thought quickly occurred to her, “So why didn’t Dim Eyes work for the unicorn?”

“He wasn’t healthy enough. You need a fit and healthy meal from whom you have not fed.”

“Meal? Didn’t we just have a meal?”

“No, that was just a dinner.”

Twilight thought of what Gaius had said and connected the dots. Her expression changed from displeasure to an angry scowl as she forced her own thoughts under control. Whatever happened, taking four lives was NOT an option. She flared her magic and launched a very powerful blast at her vampire host. He wasn’t able to dodge quick enough due to its size and the secondary spell she weaved in. The blast forced him hard into the wall and she was gone. After coughing a bit, Gaius traveled back to the foyer and picked up Silver Eyes in his magic before returning to his master room.

“HEY!” protested the thestral. “I was almost asleep.”

“And you can still sleep. I just need the answer to a single question.”

“And how do you know I know the answer to your question.”

“You’re asking a vampire how they know something? I haven’t lost my shadow abilities over the years. Seems you all have forgotten that they even exist.”

“Call me Silver. I want to forget what happened all those years ago.”

“And you don’t even know the full story. So then, do you know where King Sombra is?”

“Yes, Canterlot Dungeons. Why are you looking for him? He was tried and sentenced to death unless Twilight and her friends could reform him.”

“That will make things hard…” he trailed off, “How long?”

“Why do you care?”

“Thank you. Enjoy your night.” Gaius quickly knocked the thestral out with a spell and erased his memory as well. He too decided to sleep. Before that, his magic deactivated the runes that gave the cave its lights. No one would need them while they slept.

With the food as rich and heavy, it was midday by the time anypony was awake. Winter and Redwing were the first to awake. They made their way to the kitchen to make brunch.

“Redwing, Winter Arc? Is that you?” Both of the pegasi were surprised to hear that voice and thought it was just their imagination, before he spoke again. “Redwing, Winter Arc?”

Winter and Redwing walked over to the unicorn stallion on the couch. Redwing was the first to speak, “So, how do you feel?”

“Drained and like a caerleon speedster pegasus crashed into me. What are you two doing here?”

“Ouch, that would hurt. Looking for you, Silver, Redwing, and Twilight. All that’s left is Twilight.” Winter replied.

“Why and who else is here, besides Rainbow Dash?”

“Armored Spear, Bronze Sword, Ruby, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Night are outside.” Winter saw that Redwing would be just as helpful as her in this situation and decided that she would make brunch for everypony instead. Redwing stayed to be there for him, and to talk with him.

“Why are they here!?” He got up with a bit of start, causing him to bit his tongue in pain.

“They’re concerned for Twilight and Night might have said that he saw Twilight.” Redwing looked at her captain. She noticed he was in pain. "Dim Eyes, where does hurt?"

“Okay, I’m guessing Armored Spear was forced into at least looking." Dim Eyes sat up slower and carefully stretched his legs out. Being crunched up was not a good thing. "It's my neck mainly and I jerked it up. You know that we need to get out of here right?”

“We know. The host and another vampire, who we haven’t seen, are present. The host took a sample from me.”

“Probably not as much as me. It felt like that vampire took it all from me, and I’ve probably only recovered two pints.” He laughed at the joke, “How much did he take from you?”

“One. Still it left me a bit weak.”

“Don’t complain, that's only a little bit more than what you donate. The vampires are able to take twice as much without damage to you. He could have taken as much as three, if he used his magic. Plus, you had a fish dinner. Thank you, though.”

“No problem. I would just like to know why you’re not dead though.”

Dim paused before answering, he could not tell them the whole truth. “He had his reasons but he did not have to let me live. Always remember that. Now, will you go wake up the rest? I would like to leave now.”

“Sure,” Redwing replied. She walked off, checking each room. Rainbow was the easiest to find. She had slept in the room two doors down. Waking up Rainbow Dash was a challenge. She didn’t want to wake up yet and was a powerful, stubborn pegasus. Rainbow batted the hoof that tried to disturb her. She wasn’t ready to get up, since it was still too early in the morning. Usually, she got up around one in the afternoon, unless her weather duties required her to get up earlier.

“Go away, I still need to rest. I couldn’t sleep because of the nightmares of Twilight being a vampire,” Rainbow absently said as she rolled so that her wings were facing the pegasus.

“Fine, I’ll leave you be.” Redwing walked out and tried another room. This one had two occupants. One was resting on the bed, the other, the floor. Redwing walked up to the thestral on the floor and lightly tapped him.

The thestral didn’t stir from the tap. He was too tired and wanted to get back his sleep schedule. Redwing pushed a little harder on the thestral. This time the thestral did stir.

“Redwing, leave us be and don’t go looking for Snow,” he said and then got himself comfortable and a snore was heard.

“Ok. Winter is making a brunch,” Redwing sighed before walking out. It seemed everypony was going to be difficult today. She made her way back to the foyer. Dim Eyes was in a sitting position and Winter had just finished making the eggs and toast. Carefully, Winter carried a tray with the food.

“Is anypony else coming?”

“I don’t believe so. Silver is still sleeping, Rainbow had a bad night, and I wasn’t going to wake up our host. So, Dim Eyes, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling better. I think I have the strength to get out of here once Rainbow and Silver are awake,” Dim Eyes answered.

“That’s good. What about Snow?” Winter questioned.

“I hadn’t found her yet. And Silver told me not to look for her.”

“Where is Silver?” Winter asked.

“I think the same room as our host. I could make out somepony on the bed, but that was it.”

“Alright, do we have a way to communicate with the others?” Dim questioned.

“Yes, Dim Eyes. Armored Spear gave this to me.” Out of her saddle bag, Winter fished out the communication stone and passed it to Dim Eyes. Dim Eyes then activated it.

“Bronze Sword and Armored Spear, this is Dim Eyes. I’m ordering a retreat for now. Escort your party out, and we’ll meet at the mouth of the cave. It’s been quite awhile and the princesses need an update. We’re going to call them first then go back to Ponyville and wait for further instructions.”

“Dim Eyes, it’s good to hear you, but how do we know you’re not being controlled by whoever captured you?” Armored Spear asked. “Or that you aren’t a changeling?”

“I don’t know, but you can trust me. No pony is controlling me.”

“Then have Silver Eyes confirm.”

“He can’t, he’s asleep.”

Armored Spear opened a private channel to the one Bronze had. “Bronze, if we can’t confirm, them we will have to capture them and have them checked. We still don’t know what dwells here.”

“Ten for,” Bronze responded.

“Dim Eyes, if that’s the case then we’ll have to take you in, we can’t risk it,” Armored Spear replied.

“I know. I’m fine with that. What about the others, Silver Eyes, Redwing, Winter, and Rainbow Dash?”

“It’s the same.”

“One hour then.”

“No, now.”

“Alright.” With that agreed, Dim de-activated the communicator. “Winter, Redwing, get Rainbow Dash. I’ll get Silver Eyes.”

They each went to where their comrade was. Rainbow Dash was tricky. Before, she wasn't completely asleep. Now, she was as unmoving as a mountain. Even splashing her with water didn't help. They tried what they could, since neither one wanted to pull a feather. It wasn't going well for them.

Dim Eyes had a harder time since he had to find what room they were in. After three doors, he thought found an empty room, painted like Luna’s night sky as it sparkled in the twilight. “Wow.”

“I said that the first time too,” said a voice from above. “You’re looking for Silver Eyes?”

If he wasn't still weak from the vampire, he would have jumped out of his coat. "Um... Hello?”

“Look up.” Dim Eyes looked up, but all he could see was the paintings of the ceilings. Twilight noticed that he could not see him and teleported in front of him. Dim Eyes jumped backwards, surprised by the vampire mare in front of him, heading his head and receiving a slight cut. Twilight easily smelled the cut, and carefully approached him. She didn't want to scare him anymore. “Allow me to heal that for you. And then I’ll lead you to Silver Eyes. I have to talk to our lovely host.”

Dim Eyes stared as the mare that wasn’t there land in front. She still looked like her, just a few shades darker, and had some very pointy teeth. They were out, and her tongue flicked across her muzzle occasionally. He rubbed the back of his head, trying to ease the pain he felt. Putting his hoof down, he spied blood on it. Eyes darted to the vampire. She was approaching. His heart rate quickened as she got closer. With baited breathe, Dim Eyes spoke, "Please don't kill me."

Twilight looked at him. His heart was beating faster, his breathing was labored, and his eyes darted to the sides. As for her own reactions, she could feel the saliva pooling, her extended fangs, and her dry throat. Taking a moment, she banished those thoughts. Dim Eyes is not for dinner. She relaxed herself and let her wings hang, showing she was no threat.

Dim Eyes had also calmed down, but he couldn't relax as much as her. There was still a vampire approaching him. Twilight stopped a hoof length from Dim Eyes. Tentatively and eyes locked on the mare's muzzle, he approached. Leaning his head slightly, Dim allowed the vampire to lick him. She lapped at the blood, closing the wound and dulling the pain. When she would unconsciously or accidentally flick his ear, he felt it.

Twilight hooked one of his hooves around herself and wrapped a wing around him. Together they made their way to where Gaius and Silver were sleeping it seemed. Dim Eyes only had one question before they opened the door. Even Dim Eyes could hear the snore.

Even after the question was asked, Twilight still gave it more thought. “It’s something that I will never enjoy doing, but the taste is heavenly, if I’m truthful to myself."

Opening the door with her magic, Twilight and Dim Eyes found an alert Gaius. The lights were dimmed on. Silver was currently curled up, snoring a storm.  Giving Silver a hard hit on the wing did nothing to wake him up. With a bit of a sigh, the three ponies, if you considered vampire ponies to still be ponies, talked.

"What do you know about us?” Twilight questioned

“Not much, only what Silver has revealed to me. He’s trying to suppress it, but he still needs to feed, but old works for him.”

“It won’t for me, and I’m not a full one yet,” Twilight said, begrudgingly.

“Why do you need to talk to him?” Dim asked glaring at the vampire that hasn't said his name. He just looked back indignant of the glare

“Clarification on something he said before we went to sleep.” Twilight looked at Gaius curiously. He had shifted himself just barely and was currently using her as a pillow.

“I can assume you’re leaving?” Gaius asked.

“Yes, we are,” Dim answered.

“When am I going to return to Ponyville?”

“Not yet at least. You aren’t ready, nor do you have control of your instincts. When you do, it will be a very tricky task. Does anyone know what happened to you?”

“We don’t believe so. All we’ve found is two very injured manticores and dried blood on one of the tails. It can’t be identified. What did happen?” Dim asked.

“The manticore had stung me." Turning her gaze, Twilight countered, "What do you mean? I can control them just fine.”

“How did you two meet?” Dim Eyes asked.

“I was nearby and heard the manticore going for a kill. I thought I could steal its kill and recognized her as an alicorn. I then tried to save her, but that manticore was a bit... relentless.”

“He did it with reservations and I accepted what would happen.”

“How reactant is she to the sun?” Dim asked

“Unknown. I haven’t chanced it. She's not a full one yet. That will come in time, if she chooses.”

“What do you by if I choose? You've already made the choice for me.”

“Wait... Choice? You're not a thestral vampire?" Dim Eyes was confused. When he questioned Luna about vampires, she had said that long a ago there were two main kinds, and the dark magics made a third and forth kind. Of the two kinds, vampire thestrals were very common, being common trait. Now a days, they're quite rare. The third dark magic vamponies were very similar to the traits he saw in Twilight and their host. It was more of blessing that had a price. The fourth variety was dangerous. They were created to kill. To track and hunt.

"That I am not. I'm the oldest kind, and by extension so is Twilight. I am also a royal pure, even though I hide those identifiers."

"Why do you hide who you are?" Twilight watched as Gaius moved from the bed to Silver Eyes. "Gaius, you said 'choice.' What do you mean by that?"

"The dark magic ones. Their based off his kind, but are more relentless. Ferocious. They kill whoever gets in their way. There's standing orders to kill any of those anywhere and there's a very high tag on them." Dim Eyes answered the first question for him.

Gaius looked up from whatever he was planning to do to Silver. He had a bit of a pouted face. "Twilight. He's right, and we do have a choice. The catch is that we avoid all pony species. By doing this, we weaken our defenses versus us losing to our vampiric nature. We would devolve to worse than the dark magic vamponies that kill for shear sport. We would leave a pony dying, with its insides hanging out. Its not a path you want to take. We would still need blood, but you would lose a good portion of your magical ability."

"And if I want to become a full one?" Gaius was looking at Silver. It wasn't a good look, mind you, but it also wasn't that he was going to bite your neck. With a bit of saliva spread across Silver agitated ear, Gaius bit down on it. Silver was awake now, too.

"You have to feed from the blood and magic of at least three healthy ponies, a unicorn within the next four nights, an earth pony within a month, and a thestral a month after that. If you want to keep her pegasus wings, a pegasus too, same time frame. After that, you’ll be a full class L vampire alicorn. You will need a meal every six or eight weeks by my estimation. Two pints of blood or more weekly.”

“Oh...That's why you asked about King Sombra. You wanted him for her,” Silver said, yawning during it. He was very annoyed that somepony used that trick to wake him up.

“I did, that way, it wouldn’t have to be a random pony, or one from the prisons. The first meal is always the most painful.”

“Why him? How is this any different from draining their blood, like I did with Dim Eyes?” Twilight asked.

“Hey, you didn’t kill me. I’m still alive.”

“I don’t care who actually. If you think you know a unicorn more deserving of pain greater than being burned in Tartarus, be my guest. Capture and feed from him completely. Let nothing be wasted. For your second question, you don’t just take a part of the force of their life, you will take all of it. Our magic can destroy the souls of our meals. That’s why we are such a hated species. The changelings only take a small piece of the heart, or soul. But those aren’t our final boundaries. We can destroy the mind as well.”

“Thanks, I just wanted to know how powerful our magic is,” Twilight sarcastically emphasized.

“Everything has a cost to it. For our magic, it’s life force. For changelings, it's love. Alicorns are no different. Now, back to the question at hoof: How do you return without causing suspicion.”

“We could say that we found her here,” Dim responded.

“Explain missing for six days, and her darker coat. Celestia and Luna would see through your lies. And her illusions most likely won’t hold up right now.”

“You hadn’t finished training her, have you?” Silver asked.

“No, I haven’t, I need about a night and a half more of time. Why don’t you all leave tomorrow morning.”

“Silver, go without me. The others will be fine. I will bring Twilight back with me. Does Rainbow know?”

“She does, I believe. If anypony else does, then they’ll forget when they past that barrier.”

“Why shouldn’t I tell them my nature as soon as I return? Won’t it put them in danger if they don’t know how easily I could drain them dry?”

“Yes, that would be a problem, but you are stronger than that. You would never do anything to harm your friends and citizens. Also, there’s this.” Gaius used his magic to draw two very worn and old looking scrolls. On both were Princess Celestia’s seal. The first scroll was an executive order. It read:

Executive Order ten - twenty-two

All vampires are to escorted out of the Equestrian borders or killed as enemies of the state. Any vampire that doesn’t comply must be killed. Those that harbor a known vampire or are found to be harboring a vampire are to be arrested, and charged with harboring an enemy of the state. If the accused actively tries to prevent the vampire’s arrest, lethal force may be used.

Anypony with knowledge that a vampire was being harbored is an accessory and will stand trial. Anypony that willingly feeds the vampire is an accessory as well and will be locked up for twenty years without trial. No pardon may be given to anypony of these crimes. The effect of this order is infinite until another order voids it.

The second was permit and it had both of the Princesses’ seals. The permit read:

The sole receiver of this permit cannot be arrested as a vampire nor can he be charged with harboring a vampire. Any vampire in his possession must follow his rules and neither he nor the vampire in his possession can have a meal of an Equestrian within Equestrian borders. If he in fact needs one, one of two courses of action shall be required. If in Hallow Shades, or a protected thestral area, he may have it if it is willing given live to him. If his companion kills, then the leader of the area must give him permission or the vampire must be executed. If he or his companion find the restricted prison, harboring the most heinous of criminals, then he and his companion may steal a total of two prisoners. If both get away with they're respected meal, then they may keep it. If the vampire is found to be of class two or higher, he must report it to obtain a permit for the vampire, signed by both Princesses.

“How do we know that you are the on to receive this permit?” Silver asked

“There’s a third seal on it.” Gaius ran his hoof across one of his fore hooves and dripped some of the blood onto the scroll. The seal within the scroll reacted, producing a verification seal that any unicorn guard could authenticate.

“Then how are your going to get the other permit, since she’s above class two?” DIm Eyes asked

“Already have one. So then you won’t tell your friends?”

Twilight sighed, the seal, sealed it, she had to keep the truth from them, for their sake. “Yes. When do I get to return?” Twilight questioned.

“When you're ready to see them. I will be delivering you a couple of books and a pendent and I would Silver to give this to Rainbow Dash. If she excepts, you'll training with her.”

“What about my meal?” Twilight knew that Sombra would qualify, but could they really steal him from custody?

“He should come to you, but I think it would be best if I intercepted the transport. That way, I can get him.”

“So then, shall we get to training?”

“Sure.” Gaius lit his magic and the two vampires were gone. Dim and Silver Eyes blinked their eyes, trying to recover from the bright light.

“Silver, I’ve spoken to Armored Spear, we need to meet him since I ordered the retreat. This cave is too dangerous for us.”

“OKay, I’m right behind you.” Silver and Dim Eyes left, completely forgetting what was said during the conversation and the identity of the two vampires. Reaching the foyer, the two spotted the rest.

“We’re leaving now. We don’t have the strength to fight the two vampires that were here and I have yet to fully recover.”

“What about the pony we met at dinner?” Rainbow questioned.

“It's a risk we shouldn't take with two vampires, one of which I believe is starving. Also, I didn’t find any sign of her,” Dim Eyes responded.

“Neither did we. Only that pegasus, Snow, but we can’t risk our lives for only one. You’re more important,” Silver said.

“Then you would let her die!”

“Yes, we’re severely outclassed here. L-class vampires should never be confronted if you can get away and we can, Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow looked like she agreed, but they all saw through her use, her wings were stretched out low, her muscles tensed like a spring. Before she could take off, his magic bounder her wings to her side. She fought, but they were just too powerful, “Let me go!” she shouted, kicking and bucking against her restraints.

“Our mission was to find and escort you all back. I won’t risk any of us dying when we aren’t sure that Twilight is here and we know that there is a class L vampire here. Even the weakest class 3 can decimate squads of thirty trained guards and one paladin. We would stand no chance against an L-class .”

“What’s the difference between class three and class L?” Rainbow asked.

“A lot. L-classes are the supreme vampires. They are known to easily go half your top speed, in partial sunlight. They have strength that rivals the alicorns and their own magic to vex any unicorns or escape an alicorns. Most can’t match the magical power of alicorns, but they can still injure them.”

Before they left, a shadowed hoof had tucked a letter into Silver's saddle bag. Redwing grabbed hold of Rainbow and began to fly away. Silver grabbed Dim Eyes and Winter took up the rear. They flew out of of the cave, only slowed down at the cave's entrance. The entrance had a hidden barrier, that no one detected and was great at sealing memories. They landed on the ground, where the rest of the party was waiting.

“What took you all so long? Secondly, why is Rainbow Dash’s wings restrained? Princess Celestia gave strict orders of not restraining the elements.” Armored Spear asked.

“Sorry, Rainbow wanted to try and save another pegasus that we saw. I restrained her to prevent that.”

“Then let’s get out of here.” They made their way out the same way they came in. Outside, Night Wind was actually wake in a tree and Fluttershy and Rarity were on blankets. Fluttershy was the one that noticed them first. She lightly tapped Rarity, and the two looked towards the group with happy smiles, until noticing Pinkie Pie’s lack of a smile. Twilight was not among them.

“So Twilight is still missing. Oh I hope she’s alright.”

“So then. We should contact the Princesses?” Redwing supplied. She looked towards the sky to see some type of reference to time of day, but there were none.

"Yes, we should," Armored Spear replied, "Although, we should escort the elements out first."

"Agreed, but we need the time. We rather not be out here in the Everfree at night. Eight was ok, but 13? That's too many."

As they looked out into the Everfree, something was wrong. Very wrong. All their nerves warned it, and their eyes, even though they were wide away a second ago were drooping. Around them, plants started to explode, releasing a fine mist into the air. The wind had picked up, blowing the mist towards them. The guards drew weapons while the pegasi and thestrals spread their wings. Magic rolled around as they channeled it through their wings.