Chapter 1- The Masks We Wear
The dance floor was Vinyl Scratch's fiefdom. Standing on her hind legs, one hoof to the sky as she tore through her songs with a mix of ruthlessness and grace, Vinyl controlled everything that went down on her dance floor. The lights, nearly hypnotic, guided the hundred or so ponies below, while her bass rippled and pounded their souls into putty, ripe for Vinyl's songs to mold. For some songs, she had the party literally hopping, energy filling them so quickly that they simply had to let it out however they could, or risk insanity. Others were deeper, slower, guiding her listeners through their dance, hearts overflowing with a strange emotion. She had been at this for several hours, and with a soft giggle, Vinyl studied those under her thrall. While many were still dancing with all their heart, eyes turned adoringly up to Vinyl and her booth, others were beginning to flag and stumble. It was probably time to let them all go.
With a gentle wave of her horn, the music began to fade out, and the crowd gave an excited, if exhausted, applause for their dark mistress as she bowed low. This was the recognition that Vinyl Scratch lived for; the cheers, the applause, even the cat-calls. It was not born out of duty or obligation, but of true appreciation for all she brought to the table each night. Her music. Her lights... her style... Tossing her shaggy electric blue mane out of her eyes, Vinyl glided down the steps from her turntables, her workers rushing after her to disengage her piece and stash it away. Vinyl rarely concerned herself with cleaning up after a show. She had far more important things to deal with first. She... was very thirsty.
The Hoof was a good-sized nightclub; Vinyl had worked in bigger, but the Hoof easily had the best drinks in town. And that was saying something, for Manehatten. Lowering her ever-present purple shades just enough to show the tops of her crimson eyes, Vinyl bared a winning smile at the colt behind the counter. She remembered this one; Happy Times, a brown-furred unicorn with a shock of bright red mane. He was quite young, probably in his very early twenties, and was an utter puppy around Vinyl last time she was doing a show here. This time was no different. Spotting her, he froze, emerald eyes widening a fraction and a blush quickly forming beneath his fur.
"Sup Happy," Vinyl chirped cheerfully, "Double Scotch?"
"S-sure!" he squeaked out, fumbling for a moment with his hooves before his training kicked in, a pale aura surrounding his slender horn as he began to prepare her drink, "That... th-that was a great show, Vinyl! E-even better than last t-time, I'd say!"
They're all great, kid, Vinyl internally snarked, but gave him a grateful smile, gently taking the drink out of his magical grip, letting their auras slither over each other.
Happy Times could hardly hold back his startled moan at the uniquely unicorn experience, his blush practically consuming his body. Vinyl willed back a sigh. She hated to string the poor colt along like this; she really did, even if it was somewhat fun. But she had... someone else, with her eye on. But damnit, Vinyl was thirsty. She knocked back the shot, exposing her slender neck to the colt as it undulated. She could practically sense his heart rate double. Time to reel it in.
"I'm glad you liked it, Happy," she purred out, grinning up at him, "And you make a damn good drink. When do you get off?"
She flicked her tail at that, smile widening at the small tremor that ran up the colt's body. Of course, she knew his schedule already; she had checked their files as she had come in earlier that morning.
"A-a-actually, right about n-now," Happy stammered out, eyes wide, "Would... w-would you..."
"Come on," Vinyl whispered to him, practically on the edge of hearing, "Let's ditch this place, go do something fun!"
"O-okay!"
Gotcha.
Still smiling, she turned around and gave Happy a provocative flick of her shortened tail, trotting along towards the nightclub's side door. It was hard not to chuckle, hearing Happy Times practically gallop around the bar and after her. If Vinyl had any issues with The Hoof, it was the part of town it had been built in. Back during its opening days, the area had been a bouncing center of nightlife in Manehatten, with clean streets and bright lights galore. But, as it was want to do, Manehatten evolved, uplifting a new part of town... while leaving this to rot. Garbage clung to the streets or sat in heaps, and many of the old neon lights were just for show. The alleys were dark and dangerous now, and party-goers had to move quickly to avoid something... unseemly happening. But for this night, it worked well for Vinyl's purposes.
The moment they were in the darkness of the side alley, and the door had shut behind Happy, she struck. Shadows coalesced around Happy Times in an instant, wrapping painlessly around his eyes, muzzle, and horn, holding him fast in place. He whinnied in a panic, wiggling frantically in their tight grip, but more shadows wrapped around him in a seemingly endless coil, till finally all that was left showing in the gloom was Vinyl's target. Stretching a bit, bones creaking and popping, Vinyl finally could relax herself. Smiling again, her fangs slid into place with a soft, ominous click. Judging from Happy's frantic whimpers, he had heard the noise as well, and was likely thinking knife.
"Sorry about all that Happy," Vinyl whispered playfully as she slinked over to him, snuffling his neck with obvious relish, "You really are a good bartender and a nice guy. I hope you find a pretty mare after this. Or heck, a nice stallion!"
She chuckled quietly, pushing her glasses atop her head; her crimson eyes were gleaming brightly in the darkness. She could see the pulse of the juicy, untainted artery just below the skin. It was enough to make her wet.
"Don't worry. You won't remember a thing. Might feel this though."
Opening her jaws wide enough to make a snake jealous, Vinyl Scratch darted in, and... indulged.
*************************************
When she was finished, Vinyl wrapped a little bit bag around Happy's unconscious neck as she gently lapped the two puncture holes closed, giving his mane a gentle pat. He was fast asleep, a small smile stretched across his muzzle. That let Vinyl smile, just a bit. With the memories she had planted in him, he would remember getting it on with a hot, random mare in the club, then passing out inside. No Vinyl, no... craziness. Her horn lighting up the darkness of the alley, Vinyl teleported him back into the club, to an unused room she often used for this business. Clean and efficient.
Shuddering for a moment, Vinyl took a few seconds to relish his peculiar taste. All ponies had their own flavor to their blood: Happy Times was almost sugary, with just a hint of metal in the back of her throat. He really was a sweet guy, Vinyl decided, chuckling quietly. But it was getting late, and it would be daytime soon.
Time to get home; gotta meet Octavia, see how practice went.
Closing her eyes, Vinyl allowed the shadows to wrap around her; the darkness often liked to whisper to the vampony, but tonight it was quiet, which suited Vinyl just fine. She did not often talk to the shadows anymore. Shadow diving was an advanced skill and, like magical teleportation, had to be tightly controlled so one did not phase into a wall. But Vinyl Scratch had been diving for well over a century, and was confidant in herself. With barely a flicker of thought, she transported herself across the city to her and Octavia's apartment; more importantly, Vinyl's private room inside said apartment. It had taken some work, and a good deal of funds Vinyl... preferred not to use, but her haven had been completed without Octavia being any the wiser.
With walls of red velvet, Vinyl felt it might be a bit cliched, but it always stayed warm and, most importantly, dark. A small bed rested to one side, smaller and less comfortable than her usual bed, but it worked for a midday nap. Dressers off to one side held cleaning supplies in case something stained her snow white fur, and a body-length mirror on the wall also worked well for this purpose. But the most important feature of this room rested on the floor- a magical circle, silver embedded in the floor, sat between Vinyl and the exit door, runes drawn on the outside, but the rest blank, as to let Vinyl draw in the needed sigils in her rituals. Today, thankfully, Vinyl didn't need to indulge in any healing thaumaturgy or divination spells. As such, after a quick once over in the mirror, she strode out of her secret room and into her "real" room, sucking in a deep breath to give an all-mighty "Awwww yeah."
But what struck her nose stopped all of that in a hurry. Blood. Lots... and lots, of blood. If it came from one pony, it would almost certainly be fatal. Red eyes flashing, Vinyl rushed from her room in a swirl of black shadows and bared teeth and utter panic. The apartment was in shambles; paintings on the wall were askew, divets from hoof strikes and clumsy, frightened blows were all over the place. As Vinyl rushed through the living room, she saw, to her horror, that a mirror was shattered into a thousand fragments, many of them coated in blood. One of Octavia's cellos lay in ruins, crushed from hitting something incredibly hard.
No, no, no...
She found them in the kitchen. Octavia was stretched out on the linoleum floor, eye lids fluttering and body arched in delirious, unholy pleasure. Her muzzle was partially crushed, blood streaming from it as she whimpered, and one eye was swollen shut. Both hind legs were snapped and jutting at odd angles; horrifically, she was partially disemboweled, organs glistening in the harsh light of the kitchen. Her eyes flicked up to Vinyl, widening as her roommate let out a screech more predatious than any pony had any right to be, shadows and flickering faeflame consuming all light in the room in mere seconds. But even that did not break the feeding spell Octavia's attacker was under. Vinyl had to... help him.
A tentacle of shadows wrapped tightly around the stallion's throat, making him squeak in fear and spray blood out onto Octavia's face as he was ripped back to face the vampony's wrath. He was a smallish stallion, shrunken in vampiric torpor brought about by incredible thirst. He squealed and wiggled fitfully as Vinyl crushed his throat- painful, but hardly debilitating for a vampony. His brownish body was coated in blood- Octavia's blood- and his black mane and tail were slicked back. Cuts and massive bruises covered his body and, even if they were already healing, Vinyl had a split second's satisfaction that Octavia had given as good as she had gotten. Still.
"Why?"
The question was in a tone so deep, so guttural, so utterly devoid of equinity, that the offending vampony whimpered as pitifully as Octavia, hot piss trickling down his leg.
"I-I-I'm so s-sorry, mistress, I..." He gulped as best he could around the trachea-crushing tentacle, "I-I was just so thirsty... I had n-no idea t-this was your territory! She... s-she-"
"Her NAME is Octavia."
"O-o-octavia opened the d-door, she... she had a cut, I could..." the stallion shuddered, face contorting in bliss, "I-I could smell her blood... it was s-so pure, I... I had to- NNH!"
Three shadows pierced his chest, thick blood dribbling from the wound as Vinyl drew him closer, burning eyes peering into his very soul. A simple cantrip from her horn blocked any and all sound from the apartment, and she gave him a dark, demented grin. Her tentacles drew him up into the mass cavorting on the ceiling, and his panicked screams grew louder and louder.
"I'll get back to you, fledgling."
But first, she had a far more important pony to deal with. Dispelling the shadows and flames around her body, Vinyl dropped lightly to the kitchen floor, darting to Octavia's side. She was breathing slowly, eyes clenched tight in her agony; blood dribbled from her many, many wounds with each slowing heartbeat. It was crushing Vinyl's soul to see her in such a state; tears slowly filled her eyes.
"I-I'm here, T-tavi," she whispered, hoof tracing a soft line down her unbroken right cheek, "I-I'm here."
"V-vinyl," Octavia gurgled, a mangled hoof reaching forward shakily, her body arching as Vinyl slowly took it, "Vinyl... hurts... hurts s-so bad..."
A broken sob gushed past her lips, bloody tears trailing down her cheeks to mingle with Vinyl's hoof, "I-I don't... don't want to d-die..."
Fuck. Fuck. Vinyl's crimson eyes clenched tightly. She didn't want Tavi to die either. Gods above, she didn't know how she had survived without Octavia's steady calm and cheerfulness over the years. Her innocence to the ways of the world that Vinyl had been loathe to bring down each and every time she had been forced to. Her budding romantic side, something had been both anticipating and dreading. Love for her kind always ended in heartbreak, and each day she had fallen for Octavia just the same, and each day, she had watched the beautiful, young cellist fall just as deeply for her. Could she truly live without her? Could Vinyl let such a light be snuffed out?
...
...
...no, she couldn't, could she? Slowly, each movement a force of will, Vinyl raised her hoof to her muzzle, baring her teeth and bringing one fang down her fetlock with all her strength. It hurt. Good; it needed to hurt. She was condemning Octavia to hell on Equus, after all. Sniffling just a bit, Vinyl slowly pressed her bleeding fetlock to a delirious, confused Octavia's lips, and gently stroking her mane with the other hoof. After a few minutes of the blood pooling, Octavia's lips opened, and she gulped, once. Shyly, hesitantly. Again. And again. And again...
"Drink, Tavi," Vinyl whispered softly, petting one ear as it slowly lowered, "Drink. I'll take care of you."
Her crimson eyes flicked upwards, and Vinyl allowed herself a small smile at the hideous screams of the vampony trapped above. His face, skinless and pleading, was visible for only a moment before being dragged back into the torturous tide.
"I think I have a use for you..."
