Chapters "Hello?" I called out as I walked through the forest. This place used to be covered in trees that yielded glorious apples every year but there were no apples to be found, the place had become an unruly forest with gnarled vines and clinging shadows as the ponies working here stopped because of a so called pony eating monster.
"Hello?" I called out again now noticing that the branches seemed to reach toward me like claws as they shifted and twisted in the moon light.
"Go.. go away.." A voice said, sounding like they had been crying recently.
I whipped my head around searching for the meek voice. "I just want to help you!"
"N-no one can help me anymore, I'm a monster." I heard the voice sniffle.
A dark yellow shadow fell from a tree landing to my left. I slowly trotted towards it. "I just want to help" I repeated again.
"Who.. who are you?"
"My name is Silver Wind, I know you're not a monster and I know you wouldn't ever hurt anypony." I was now next to the pony, only just beginning to make out the pony's features. The pony was butter coloured with a pink mane, and teal eyes, but there were a few things that didn't fit in, like the pointed teeth, tufted ears, and the featherless wings. These features marked her as a vampire pony. She shied away from me as I got closer.
"Why are you wearing that?" I guessed she was referring to my black cloak so I pulled back the hood, revealing my maya blue mane and dark purple coat.
"No reason." I flashed a smile showing off my pointed teeth. "I'm just like you, and I'm not a monster so I by extension you're not either."
"Just like me?" I heard her whispering under her breath like she couldn't believe it, I wonder how long she has been alone. Ponies were scared of things they don't understand, I don't blame them, but innocent ponies that wouldn't lay a hoof on another are given the cold shoulder just from being a bit different. I leaned down and place a hoof on the shivering ponies shoulder.
"It's okay, I know what you're gone through. I'm here to help you- I'm sorry I never caught your name."
"Fluttershy" Most people wouldn't be able to hear that but vampire ponies were special, we had sharper eyes, and keener hearing.
"Okay, Fluttershy, how about we leave this cold apple orchard and-"
"No, I can't leave my friends." She said sounding rather determined, I winced knowing that would just make this harder fir her. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to do this but she's not giving me much of a give me a choice.
"When was the last time any of your "friends" visited you." I didn't get an answer, she just gazed off into space. "Fluttershy?" I shake her shoulder, now a bit worried. 'I think I broke her'
"N-n-no, m-my f-f-friends w-wouldn't-" She couldn't even finish her sentence before bursting into tears. I wrapped one of my wings over her withers and pulled her closer to myself.
"It's okay Fluttershy, if there are ponies that judge you just for being a bit different they don't deserve to be your friends." I tried to reassure her but the tears didn't seem like they would be stopping anytime soon. "Come on let's get you out of here." I helped her up and led her away from the dead trees. She shivered and sniffled as we walked; at least she isn't weeping anymore.
I sighed internally, she must have been really close friends with those ponies for her to react this strongly. Which begged the questions. Why did they just leave her? Why did they not try to help her? How were these ponies so cold hearted to just straight up leave their dear friend alone in this cold field? These questions swam in my head as we walked further and further away from the dead trees and into the more alive parts of the apple orchard. I walked a few more feet before I noticed that Fluttershy had came to a stop.
"Fluttershy?" I turned around and looked back at her. "Fluttershy are you oka-" I cut off as I noticed her intense gaze at the red ripe apples that were aligning the trees. 'Ah, so that's why they left her here, she has the fruit bat gene. At least they showed enough sense not to give her over to the sun princess.'
Many ponies thought that there was only one kind of bat pony, but in fact there were multiple, each one suiting a different role. I smirked as the butter coloured pony flew up to the trees and started sucking the apples dry.
I let her feed for a few minutes before calling out to her. "Hey Fluttershy, we should go before it becomes day time" she didn't seem to notice me calling out to her. So I unfurled my purple wings, flew up to her and poked her with a hoof. She turned toward me and sniffed the air. She then took an apple off the tree and offered it to me. I noticed that her eyes were nowhere similar to how they were before, they had a red tint to them. I took the apple in my teeth. 'That fruit bat gene is rather strong by the looks of it.'
Fruit bats were the gatherers of the bat pony race and also the least dangerous. She picked a few more apples off the tree and we continued on our way by wing this time, when we landed outside of the apple orchard her eyes faded back to their normal hue.
"Where... where am I?" She looked around obviously confused that she was suddenly in this new terrain.
"Your instincts kicked in, you have the fruit bat gene which are gatherers for the bat pony race." 'So, she doesn't remember anything that happens when she is using the instinct, interesting.'
"O-oh" She said weakly as she turned to look at me; her teal eyes met my red ones before her eyes flashed red and she fell to the side.
"Fluttershy!"I rushed over to her and checked her pulse. Normal. Odd, I guess using her instincts take a lot out of her.... or... I looked up and confirmed my second theory. Her body knew when the sun was going to rise and put her into a sleeping state. "Wait... crap! The sun is rising?!? I don't have enough time to walk back!" I shouted out loud, knowing that this is going to take a lot of my energy and that I was going to regret this later; I threw my cloak over her and braced myself and we teleported away.
Author's Note
"Never again.." I mumbled to myself as I stood up on shaky legs. I looked at the unconscious mare on the ground and with a grunt pulled her onto my back and dragged her to the bed in a corner. I dumped her onto the bed, my fatigue too strong for me to do anything more. I collapsed beside the bed, my head hitting the cold unforgiving stone floor on the way down.
Fluttershy
I woke up in a completely dark room, my eyes taking a few moments to adjust to the darkness. "Where... where am I?" I called into the room. Well it was not really much of a room, it was more of a cave, with a stone floor and few furnishings. I shivered, my fur was not quite thick enough to repel the piercing cold. I slowly put a hoof onto the cave floor, which was surprisingly warm compared to the frigid atmosphere. 'Must be some sort of spell.' But that didn't explain why my hoof was wet. I pulled my hoof back up and examined it, it was covered in a red liquid. I looked down at a pony in a dark cloak with blood pooling from under the pony's hood.
"Hey Silver, I'm home and you won't believe what happened tonig-what in the fuck happened here?" A white unicorn mare with a two toned blue mane walked into the room, thick purple sun glasses covering her eyes. "What the fuck did you do!" the white mare screamed at me. I looked down at my hoof, she must of thought that..
"N-n-no I didn-" I tried to explain.
"N... not her fault..." A weak voice from below me cut me off. "I..." The voice fell silent again.
"Silver!" The white mare disappeared in a flash of neon blue before appearing next to Silver. "Crap, crap, crap!" The unicorns horn glowed a mixture between neon blue and a violent red. The colours began to swirl around each other creating a dark purple hue before a small beam emanated from her horn and struck Silver in the forehead. While the pony was using her magic she took Silver's cloak off revealing burn marks across her right side along with cutiemarks covered up by a brand in the shape of a sun that were glowing like hot coals.
Vinyl
'She had to use it didn't she, the one thing I told her not to do. She can't do that anymore!' I poured more magic into the healing spell, watching as the skin on her forehead started knitting back together before my eyes, a few minutes was all it took. I cut the spell out, the room returning to it’s normal brightness. She seemed to be fine, besides the fact that she was resting in a pool of her own blood. I glanced up to see a concerned looking vamp-pony mare with a worried expression on her face. I narrowed my eyes, I recognized her from somewhere. My eyes slowly grew in realisation. 'That's one of the elements or harmony!' I looked back down at Silver. 'You're going to have a lot of explaining to do.'
"So...." I began trying to break the silence that had fallen between us, she didn’t respond. The silence lasted a few more minutes before I made my second attempt. "Uh, I thought you were a solar pegasus." I winced at my lack of tact. 'Yes Vinyl the best thing to ask a pony you've never met why they are a bat pony, real smooth.'
"I... I don't really remember much, I was just helping my friends with a problem they had with some bats and then I wake up on the ground like this with nopony nearby. I was so worried that something had happened that I flew straight back to Ponyville to find a force field around the town and my friends having a picnic in the park."
“Most towns have magical force fields around them that keep vampire ponies out.” ‘But that doesn’t explain why her friends would just leave her…’
Silver
'What happened?' I tried to pry my eyes open but they wouldn't obey. 'Why am I so cold?' It felt like ice was running through my veins instead of blood, I felt like I would never be warm again. I heard voices, distant murmurs that I couldn't quite make out; I tried calling out to them but my mouth refused to move. My body was slowly going numb from the cold, was I dying?
I didn't have very long to think about it before I felt small surges of warmth pulsing through my body, it had a familiar feeling to it. Vinyl. I relaxed, knowing I was in safe and capable hooves. I let my mind sink below the waves of the dream world.
The second time I woke up, was not nearly as good as the first. It felt like shards of glass were embedded in my head, I winced; magic backlash, I should have seen that coming. I managed to crack my eyes open to view the thankfully dark room. I seem to be laying in Vinyl's bed. There was something soft and warm pressed against my back, I tilt my head to the side and spot the tips of a neon blue mane. Definitely Vinyl's bed, but where was Fluttershy? I slowly edged away from Vinyl's body in an attempt to escape, but my body froze, not letting me move a muscle. 'What's happening?' I focused on trying to move my wing... nothing. The chilling feeling of fear began to coat my brain.
"It's fine" A voice cut through my panicked conscious, a voice I recognized, a voice that I have not heard in years.
"Luna?"
Author's Note
This chapter took quite a bit longer than I thought it would, I apologize. I am also currently looking for an editor, PM me if interested.
If you see any typos that have evaded me be sure to point them out.
Two Months Ago
Twilight burst into the library, causing Spike to fall off of the ladder he was perched on. Twilight quickly caught him in her magic, the young drake now noticing a worried frown plastered on the young Alicorn's face.
"Twilight wha-" Spike tried to question her but he was quickly cut off by a hoof being shoved into his mouth.
"No time for questions! Just mail this to the Princess right away!" Twilight took a poorly sealed letter out of her mane.
"How did you-"
"No time!" Twilight shouted, shoving the envelope towards Spike. He picked it out of her shaking hoof and lit it aflame, wondering all the while what was so important about that letter?
Celestia
Dear Princess Celestia
Fluttershy is somehow a vampire pony! We were trying to get rid of some bats when she suddenly grew fangs, her eyes turned red and her wings leathery. I have tried everything I could think of, from potions to spells and nothing is working! Do you know what could be happening? Please write back!
Signed Twilight Sparkle.
The poorly written letter fluttered to the ground; no longer being held afloat by my golden hue.'No... this cannot be, one of the elements of harmony? One of... them?' I heard a laugh of disbelief escape through my lips.'This cannot be! It must be some sort of... prank! Yes! A prank! There is no way one of the elements of harmony could be such a monster! But... I have to make sure. Even with the slim chance that what Twilight is saying is true, I have to be one hundred percent sure. I picked the letter back up, and began to pace length wise across me study. There was only one clue, they were trying to get rid of bats. But why? Unless there was a good reason for it I don't see any reason for the Bearers of the elements to be doing something as simple as pest control.
"There has to be a motive behind it." At this point I began to talk to myself, an annoying habit that I can't quite remember where I got it off of. I froze in place. "I am so stupid sometimes..." I sighed and hung my head. 'What was that old saying? Hind sight is twenty/twenty? Very true.'
I closed my eyes in preparation for a simple teleport spell with one location in mind. Sweet Apple Acres.
Present day.
'How?' I thought to myself, hoping that she could hear me.
'It's quite simple really, before We were sent off by our, excuse our language, whorse of a sister We sent a special "trait" shall we call it down our most recent blood line. This trait gave vampire ponies with that blood line a shred of our magic which, in turn gave us the ability to speak with thee.'
'Okay... next question. Why would you do that?'
'The reason is also rather simple. Our sister plans to keep us locked away on the moon for eternity and We really do not want that.'
'But all the stories say-'
'That We were banished by the Lord of Chaos Discord? A cover story, We and our sister defeated Discord a few hundred years before We were sent to exile. And, before you ask, our beloved Sister believed that We were becoming too powerful and would destroy the world by plunging it into darkness, or so she says. The real reason We were exiled is even unknown to us.'
'That would also explain why Celestia treats vampire ponies like timber wolves. She is most likely afraid that we would band together and try to summon you.'
'Which is exactly what We wish you to do.'
I groan to myself, I should have expected her to say something like this.
'Also, you seem to be taking this news rather lightly, most of the other ponies We have talked to about this ended up checking themselves into psych wards.'
I chuckled inwardly 'well it has been an interesting few days to say the least.'
'Oh, pray tell?'
'Well, I almost died trying to use a teleportation spell, found out an Element of Harmony is a Vampire pony, and had a brief panic attack when all of my muscles stopped working.'
No response. 'Luna? Hello?'
'One of the Elements?' Her voice rang out as sharp as the sound of a whip causing me to wince.
'Yes, the Element of Kindness was found to have the Vampire fruit bat gene. It was rather odd, her transformation started a few months ago yet it usually happens around foal hood.'
I heard a sigh with great sadness behind it. 'We was afraid my sister would do something like this. It appears that she has attempted to suppress the genes of the Vampire pony. We are not sure how she would go about achieving something like this but it appears she has found a way. How did you find her? We are quite sure our sister would be beside herself in anger over the loss of one of the Elements.'
'She was just in an Apple orchard, none of her friends nearby, she was seemingly forgotten. I took her in and-'
"Hey look you're awake." I heard a sleepy voice sound from behind me. The voice in my head was gone, great timing Vinyl. "You okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, I was just talking to the voice in my head about how Celestia betrayed her sister and banished her forever to live on the moon and how Celestia is currently trying to suppress every vampire gene in Equestria so we can't start an uprising to free the moon goddess from her prison."
"That's nice and- wait, what? Man you hit your head harder than I thought." Vinyl raised a hoof up to my head but I swatted it out of the air, looks like I have control of my body again.
"You know who Luna is, right?"
"Yes, moon princess, was sealed away by Lord of Chaos, blah, blah, blah.
"Well, it appears that rumor is ill founded." I tell Vinyl about my conversation with the Princess of the Moon.
"Oh."
"Yes, just a bit different from the story we were expected to believe, isn't it?"
"Yeah, on a side note I managed to get some information out of our little friend here."
I groaned, Vinyl's ways of getting information weren't quite conventional and has gotten us in some trouble with the law before.
"Sheesh, all I did was talk to her, you reacted like I told you I went on a blood sucking killing spree."
"What, did you have to postpone that to next week?" I asked with a smirk.
"Hardy harhar. Now can I talk now?"
I rolled my eyes and mimicked locking my lips. "Good, it seems Fluttershy was completely forgotten by the other five elements. When she woke up one of the first thing she did was fly to town and bump into a force field. However, from the other side of the force field she managed to catch a glimpse of her friends having a picnic in the park, from what she said they looked to be perfectly fine with the fact that one of their best friends got turned into a vampire."
"Hmm, I think Celestia has more to do with this than we realize."
Author's Note
Why does Celestia not like Vamp ponies?
There might be a few typos, you have been warned.
Celestia
I blinked into existence a few dozen feet away from the fringe of the apple orchard. Can't be too careful with those.... things crawling around; they had a tendency to show up whenever something interesting was happening. I cast a simple illusion around myself, rendering my body completely see through. I had no clue if they could see through my enchantments. I wish I knew more about them but they are dreadfully hard to catch.
No time for regrets, I have work to do. I examined the tree line, looking for the slightest splash of colour against the dark green backdrop. Nothing, I needed to get closer, I slinked towards the tree line, listening for the slightest echo, maybe a branch breaking. Then, I heard it, screaming. It sounded like somepony was being set on fire; and sadly I knew all to well what that sounded like. I forced myself not to rush to the aid of which I could only assume were the elements.
I could make out their manes, bright colours against the darkness, still blurry from the distance, I had to get closer but from this distance I could see that two of them were flying. I cast another spell to sharpen my eyes and my body turned to ice from what I was witnessing.
"N-no..." I whispered aloud, no longer caring if I was heard. I fell backwards onto my hind legs, my body no longer being able to support my weight. I felt dead inside, like the sun would never rise again. "There... there is only one thing left for me to do." I sat up, my legs trembling beneath me. I dimly noticed that Twilight had arrived. Good, that would make this easier, I teleported in front of what used to be Fluttershy and held her in my magic.
"Princess Celestia!" I heard five mares shout from behind me.
"I'm so glad your here! You must know how to fix Fluttershy!"
"No. I'm truly sorry about this Twilight, but I can't fix Fluttershy."
"But... your Princess Celestia! You must know how to fix her!"
"I'm sorry Twilight but-"
"NO! YOU HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO FIX HER! There... there is no way that..." She blinked tears out of her eyes. I sighed internally, this was just going to make things harder. I shot a quick five bolts of magic into the foreheads of the mares in front of me. Four collapsed straight to the ground but Twilight looked up at me, a look of disbelief and betrayal ran across her face. "How.. how could you?" her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed beside her friends.
No time for tears Celestia. I turned around to face the mare I used to know, she was hissing and slashing at the air with her fangs. I prepared a spell, it would be quick, she didn't deserve the pain my sister had brought upon her. I bathed my horn in the golden light of my magic, she wouldn't feel a thing. I shot the spell, it arced towards her I could see the fear in her eyes, even in this state I could still see the old Fluttershy. The spell stopped in front of her, I couldn't do it. I smashed my hoof against the ground with enough force to break it. I didn't feel it, the only reason I knew is because I could feel the growing puddle beneath me.
Tears begun carving their way down my face. "I.. I still have work to do." I sniffled and shone my horn towards the five mares on the ground.
'You've always been weaker than us'
Twilight
"Spike!" I called into the library. Just where has that drake slithered off to? I spotted a tail peaking out from under my bed. I felt a sly grin lighten my features as I tiptoed towards his hiding spot. Upon arrival I slowly pressed my hoof onto his tail. The bed lurched upwards and I heard a groan emanate from under the bed. I giggled to myself. "Spike?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you under the bed?" I heard some grumbling coming from under his hiding place. "What was that?"
"I said I accidently lit my bed on fire."
"What? How?" I shook my head in disbelief, my earlier mirth forgotten. "You know what? It doesn't matter." This time it was his turn to be surprised.
"Huh?"
"I could just make a new bed. Oh! I almost forgot the reason why I came up here in the first place. Would you like to go on a picnic with me and my friends?"
"Or I could go back to sleep? I've kinda been awake for a while." He smiled sheepishly. I sighed and rolled my eyes before teleporting a new bed into the room and walking out the door.
I spotted my friends under a shady tree and trotted towards them, it seems they are in the middle of a conversation.
"It's quite the shame Fluttershy had to leave so quickly. I mean she didn't even have time to say goodbye!"
"Well a chance to visit dragon hatchlings is an amazing opportunity" I piped in, alerting the other mares of my presence.
"Oh hey Twilight!" Pinkie called out, somehow her voice not muffled by the plate of cupcakes in her mouth. I really wish I knew how she did that but after the incident where I went slightly crazy trying to find out how her Pinkie sense worked I resisted the urge.
"I agree wiff Rare. It's not like Fluttershy to leave wiff out sayin somethin first!" Applejack and Rarity both seemed bothered by this; I for one didn't feel like this was much of an issue, from how Fluttershy reacted to Spike I couldn't imagine how happy she would be around a dozen smaller versions of him.
"I think Twilight's right." I heard Pinkie say as she took a seemingly endless array of food from out of her basket. Wait, what?
"Pinkie? How did you know what I was thinking?" I asked cautiously.
She snorted and fell into a fit of giggles. "You were talking out loud, silly!"
I sighed, thinking out loud had always been a habit of mine.
"I just can't help but worry! We still haven't gotten a letter from her and it has been three whole days! " Rarity fell back into a couch that somehow appeared behind her. "I wish she would at least send something, just to let us know that she is all right."
We all nod our heads in agreement and begin our feast.
Author's Note
Funfact: I almost broke my toe while writing this chapter!
"So uh, Vinyl?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you maybe get off my back?"
"Figuratively or literally?"
"I'm surprised you even know what those words mean."
"What was that?"
"Nothing..."
"So why am I not allowed to stand up?"
I heard a sigh from behind me. "Because you overloaded a magic suppression spell, tapped into your life source, hit your head on the ground hard enough to fracture your skull, and to top it all off you have been out cold for nearly twelve hours. I'm not getting off unless you promise me that you won't leave this bed until tomorrow."
Now it was my turn to sigh. Come on, how much damage could I do stretching my legs and wings a bit? I craned my head around far enough to see her neon hair. "Bu-"
"No."
"What if I-"
"No."
"Just a littl-"
"No."
I let out a groan of defeat. "Fine, I promise." I felt a weight shift off my back as the sound of four hooves hitting the floor echoed around the small room. Vinyl trotted towards the door but before she could slip through I remembered something. "Hey Vinyl?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you send Fluttershy in so I don't go crazy from boredom?
She scoffed, "sure."
"Thanks.. for everything Vinyl."
"D-don't mention it" she stuttered out as she slipped through the door.
"So..." I begun, she didn't seem inclined to start this conversation. 'Wow, this is really awkward; she's just standing there and staring at me. With those big blu-and now they're red.' "Uh, Fluttershy?" I gently poked her, she swayed and her eyes returned to normal.
"What?" She blinked a few times.
"That would be instinct. It takes over on occasion if you don't know how to control it."
"O-oh"
"Now, let's have a small lesson on vamp-ponies so you know A: more about yourself and B: so you can spot them incase you get in trouble and me and Vinyl aren't around. There are multiple different sub species of us; you have the fruit bats which are the gatherers of the species, the hunters; which do as the name implies. The magi, which are mainly unicorns but with a few exceptions." I shot my wings out and waggled my eyebrows at her. "Like me, I can cast magic by channeling magic through my wings." 'Not very well at the moment though.' "The other species I will keep to myself until you need to know about them or I get bored and feel like teaching you." I said while in the process of trying to place my wings in a comfortable position. "So, any questions?"
"A-a few." She managed to stutter out. I knew she has shy in her name but still. If I was born a normal pegasus; why am I a vampire pony now?"
"Good question." 'But do I answer it now? How do I know if I can trust her. Would the element of kindness spill secrets? This directly involves her though and if I just don't answer she will suspect something. Agh, this is giving me a headache.' "Well, all vampire ponies change at a different time. It goes from when you are born to when you die with no clear time of changing. You could have easily not turned into a vampire pony and lived a normal happy life." 'That's going to have to work for now.'
"Oh." She looked pensive, that's not good.
"So did you have any other questions?" I said with a smile that was a bit too large.
"Um, just two more if that's okay."
'As long as they aren't about that blatant lie I just told.' "Sure."
"That other pony said something about a force field to keep Vampire ponies out. Why would we need to be kept out?" She questioned, cocking her head to the side.
"Yeah, Princess Celestia doesn't trust us since Princess Luna was banished to the moon. It is very hard to tell if somepony is a vampire pony if you don't know what to look for. So Celestia has ponies in certain towns set up force fields to keep us out. We are not too sure what we have done to Princess Celestia for her not to trust us but we try to stay as far away from her as possible. Also, that other pony's name is Vinyl Scratch."Blatant lie number two is a go!
"Okay, um. What happened?"
I smiled at her. "You're going to have to be more specific."
"Wh-what happened to you? How did we get here?"
"Ah, that.."
"It's okay if you don't want to talk abou-"
"No, it's fine. What I did was teleport us back here, because being out in the sun isn't really the best thing for me so I had to act quickly and ended up using to much magic. As I said earlier I am one of the magi of the vampire pony species can channel magic to varying degrees of strength. Some have been known to be able to lift whole houses by themselves, but a few could barely lift a quill. Now, I'm kind of in the middle of th-" I stopped is a sharp spike of pain drove itself into my skull.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fi-" I winced. Colour's seemed to be turning more grey as time passed. "Okay, maybe not-"
Author's Note
Sorrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. This has been written for a loooooooonnnngggg time but needed touch ups and I sorta got kind of depressed for a while so my motivation was zilch. I'm going to try to write more but no promises. Sorry peoples.
