Six Shadows to Warn You

Simply Sanguine

By: Peacevic

Fluttershy smiled as she watched her little critter friends play in the glade around her. But that smile turned into a frown when she noticed they weren't all playing. The angry chittering told her why.
"Now now, Foamy Squirrel." She chided gently. "It's not nice to take things that don't belong to you."
The squirrel reluctantly handed the acorn back, and as the rightful owner scampered away he stared at the ground sullenly. Fluttershy scooped him up and gave him a cuddle. "Hey, it's ok. I'm very proud of you for doing the right thing." She turned the squirrel so they were face-to-face. "And since you were brave enough to give up the acorn, guess what? You can have two when we get back to the cottage."
A tiny cheer erupted from Foamy Squirrel's mouth, but it was quickly choked off. Fluttershy's little friend struggled out of her grasp and ran up the nearest tree. Confused, she turned to see what had scared him so much.
It was a pair of glowing red eyes.
"Well hello there, Mr. Wolfenstein!" She waved. "I haven't seen you in a while. How are the children?"
The wolf said nothing. After a full minute of dead silence, he turned and stalked away.
"That was strange..." Fluttershy's frown returned. Had she done something to offend Mr. Wolfenstein? Her recrimination was interrupted by Angel pulling on her tail. He pointed excitedly at a pocket watch. Fluttershy gasped. "Oh my, I completely forgot about the picnic! I'm going to be late!" She started to leave, then remembered her friend in the tree. "But first, I have to stop by the cottage..."

"Fluttershy, Darling, you're late. That's not like you."
"She's not the only one." Twilight reminded Rarity, crossly. Tardiness was not to be tolerated.
Fluttershy scanned the group, counting the ponies. "Rainbow's not here?"
"RD's probably taking a nap on a cloud somewhere." Applejack drawled, tipping her hat back.
"Don't worry, guys. I'm here." A sleepy voice called. Everypony turned and saw Rainbow Dash drifting sluggishly towards them.
"Wow, Dashie. You look awful. Did you spend all night with Hoggoth?"
AJ looked at her fellow earth pony in confusion. "Pinkie, who the hay is Hoggoth?"
"Hoggoth is a creepy creature who kidnaps ponies in the middle of the night. He then challenges them to a game of chess, and if they lose he steals their tomatoes. Or souls. I can never remember which one it is." Finished with her exposition, she turned back to Rainbow Dash. "So you won, right? He didn't steal your petunias?"
Dash sighed deeply. "I don't own any petunias, Pinkie. And chess is for eggheads."
"That's what you said about reading." Twilight reminded her.
That tripped Rainbow Dash, just for a second. "Look, I just couldn't sleep last night. Kept having a weird dream, but I can't remember what it was about."
Fluttershy was glad for that. She hated scary dreams, and anything spooky enough to keep Rainbow Dash up must have been really terrifying. "Let's just forget about last night and enjoy our picnic." She suggested. "The weather team made us a beautiful day."
Everypony agreed, and they all began to dig in.

Days passed, as they do, and Fluttershy didn't see much of her friends. That didn't bother her too much. She was sure they were all very busy. She only regretted it when Applejack started banging on her door.
"What's wrong, Applejack?"
"Fluttershy, you've got to come quick!" Applejack gasped, having sprinted all the way to the cottage. "It's Rainbow Dash. She fell out of the sky in front of Twilight's castle!"
Fluttershy was out of the cottage before Applejack could blink, speeding towards the crystal castle as fast as possible. A minute or so later she reached the entrance, Applejack close behind. Her other friends were already there.
"I just saw her yesterday." Rarity was telling Pinkie. "Poor thing still wasn't feeling well. But I didn't think she was that sick."
"How is she?!" Fluttershy demanded as she set down.
"We're waiting for an update from Twilight." Pinkie told her. There wasn't even a hint of a smile on her face, which somehow made everything worse. "She's in there with a doctor and Nurse Redheart."
The door to the castle was barred, so Fluttershy couldn't do anything but wring her hooves for the next hour. Finally, a purple glow enveloped the door, it swung opened, and Twilight walked out. There were tears in her eyes. "She's gone."
Fluttershy's world fell around her.

The funeral was as lovely as such a thing could be. Mourners from all over Equestria flocked to Ponyville. The Princesses all said a few words. Spitfire, with Soarin and Fleetfoot beside her, solemnly gave Dash posthumous membership in the Wonderbolts. Scootaloo tried her best to speak, but burst into tears partway through and had to be led away from the podium by an unfamiliar pegasus mare. Even Gilda showed up. The griffin said nothing, though, and left before the service was over.
In a lonely way, Fluttershy was proud to have known a pony so beloved.

A week after the funeral, Fluttershy was curled up on her couch. A peaceful fire crackled nearby. Angel sat on her head, and together they reading the first Daring Doo book.
Tap-tap-tap. "Fluttershy."
Fluttershy looked up from the book, recognizing the voice. But that wasn't possible. Thinking she imagined it, the pegasus began to read once more. She didn't notice that Angel was no longer with her on the couch.
Tap-tap-tap! "Fluttershy, let me in."
"Angel?" Fluttershy looked around the room, realizing she was alone. "Angel, where'd you go?"
Bam! "FLUTTERSHY!"
A squeak escaped from Fluttershy's mouth. She wasn't imagining it. Slowly, the terrified mare crept to the window and drew open the curtain.
Hovering on the other side of the pane was Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy's old friend was frightfully gaunt. Her mane and her tail were longer, the locks greasy and disheveled. Her wings were missing feathers.
But all Fluttershy could notice were Dash's eyes. They were glassy, and sank much deeper in their sockets. The pupils had expanded until they almost completely hid the red irises around them.
"What's up, buddy?" Dash smiled, revealing a pair of strangely elongated teeth. No warmth reached her eyes. "Can you let me in?"
Fluttershy did her best to shriek, but no sound could find its way out. She bolted from the window and buried herself under as much of her blanket as she could, not able to realize her hind legs were sticking out.
"Come on, Fluttershy. It's me! Let me in so we can talk. Don't you want to see my neat new trick?"
Whatever was outside her window kept at it for hours, then finally gave up. Fluttershy didn't notice when she left, however, and kept trembling until the sun rose.

She made her way through Ponyville as quickly as her wings would carry her, terror making Fluttershy forget her normal preference for walking. In short order, she was at the door of the castle.
"Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight!" Fluttershy frantically pounded at the door. Twilight would know what to do. She had to.
But no one answered her knocks, not even Spike. Fluttershy tried again, then a third time. Nothing. She began to panic.
Before it fully set in, though, she spied a small note taped on the wall beside the door. A clipboard was hung just below it. Fluttershy recognized the neat pendragonship.

Unfortunately,
The Princess of Friendship (and her trusty assistant) has been summoned away to deal with a friendship problem. Ponies with important business may sign the appointment log below.

"Oh no..." Fluttershy muttered to herself. "Oh my, this isn't good. What am I going to do now?"
There was nothing she could do, at least not here. Reluctantly, she turned away from the castle and started walking. She had no real destination in mind.
Fluttershy wandered for a time, lost in worry. She was only snapped out of her musings when she overheard a fairly innocuous conversation.
"I just don't know what's wrong, Amethyst." A red-headed mare was telling the former organizer. She seemed familiar, but Fluttershy couldn't remember her name at the moment. "At first I thought he was just faking it to get out of school. But when I tried to make him get up, Button could hardly stand. He was fine yesterday!"
Neither mare noticed Fluttershy freeze, then bolt away. If they had, they might have thought her actions strange, not knowing the guilt that had gripped the timid pegasus or the dread that she carried all the way home.
Fluttershy made sure to be indoors when dusk fell, but that wasn't enough. Dash returned every night. The incessant knocking kept the still-living one from getting any sleep and for the first time, Fluttershy regretted not being surrounded by other ponies.
On the third day without sleep, fatigue finally outweighed her fear. She collapsed in th middle of the market while buying the week's groceries. The generally kind ponies of Ponyville simply assumed the poor mare'd been working too hard and carried her to Nurse Redheart so she could get some rest.
It was hours before Fluttershy regained consciousness and, to everypony's surprise, she was upset. No, the more perceptive ponies noticed, not upset. Terrified. She begged them not to make her leave.
But leave she did. They weren't running a hotel, after all. With no other choice, Fluttershy tried to hurry home as quick as she could. She almost made it.
"Fluuutershyyyy!" Dash called from the trees behind her.
Fluttershy slowly turned to face the thing that looked like her friend. "W-why? Why are you doing this, Rainbow Dash?"
"What do you mean?" Dash looked truly confused. "I'm always wanting to hang out."
"But you're dead!"
Dash suddenly was by Fluttershy's side. Startled, she backed away from Dash. The dead pegasus smiled as she tripped over a bush. "I know, isn't it great? Now you and I can do whatever we want, for as long as we want. You don't have to be scared of everypony anymore! All I have to do is bite you." She noticed Fluttershy cringing and shook her head. "No, it won't be like when I died. I'll do it quick! Just a little pain and then everything will go black. It'll be like when you fainted after stubbing your hoof."
Fluttershy almost wanted to smile with embarrassment, but a thought stopped her. "You want to hurt me."
"Only a little, don't be such a baby."
"R-Rainbow Dash would never want to hurt me." Fluttershy disentangled herself from the bush and stood. She would never know if it was that act or her words that made Dash's eyes narrow. "You aren't her. You have her bodies, her memories, and her voice, but you aren't her. You're not my friend."
Dash sighed. "Look, Master's nice, but he won't let me waste too much time on this. Just let me bite you. Trust me, it's gonna be awesome!"
"No." Fluttershy whispered. The she took off as fast as her wings would let her go.
Dash gave her a full thirty seconds head start, then quickly caught up. "Come on, Fluttershy. You couldn't even place in a race against me, and that was before I had superpowers. Let me bite you."
Fluttershy didn't respond, instead banking sharply away. Dash lazily turned, her arc allowing her superior speed to bring her in front of the fleeing Fluttershy. "Seriously, stop." She growled as Fluttershy stopped short. "Keep this up and I won't be nice when I turn you. No more modeling gigs, know what I mean? NOW LET ME BITE YOU!" Dash slowly drifted towards Fluttershy, arms wide open.
"I. Said. No!" Before Dash's arms could close around her, Fluttershy kicked at her wing. Out of control, Dash caught hold of Fluttershy's leg and they both tumbled into the forest below.
Fluttershy didn't know how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again, though it couldn't have been long. It was still dark.
"F-Fluttershy..."
She spun towards the sound of Dash's voice, ready to bolt. But the sight of her old friend dropped her on her flank.
Dash had come down hard. From what Fluttershy could guess, she must have fallen onto an upturned branch. The force of the impact impaled her and her weight simultaneous snapped the branch off. Both pony and skewer then landed on the forest floor.
"You're awake." Dash grinned. "That's goo...d."
Fluttershy inched forward timidly. "A-Are you ok?"
"No, I think I'm done. Don't even want to eat you anymore." That made Fluttershy shrink back again, drawing a laugh out of Rainbow Dash. It ended in a fit of coughing. "Guess this curse was good for something... Superpowers let me stick around long enough to say goodbye this time."
Fluttershy said nothing, knowing that Rainbow Dash was working out how to put her feelings to words. But that didn't stop her from crying softly while the other pegasus decided what to say.
"You... I knew that you could do it- could stop me, I mean. You think you're weak and helpless, but you're not. You're scared all the time, but... Gah! Why an I so bad at this? Even though you're scared of everything and everypony, you still do things. You still go to town and talk with ponies. You still help Twilight with whatever crazy quest she needs to do. I think you're the strongest of us, Fluttershy, and that's coming from me."
"That's very nice of you." Fluttershy softly replied. "But I don't-"
She stopped when she saw Rainbow Dash's body go limp. "Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash's voice was tired. "Can... can I have a hug?"
There was no hesitation. Fluttershy squeezed Rainbow Dash as tightly to her as she could. A few moments later her oldest friend died for a second, final time.

"And then she died. Again." Fluttershy finished reliving the experience for Rarity.
They were in Rarity's boutique. While Fluttershy was telling her story, the unicorn had been snipping and sewing away. Now that the tale had ended, she looked up. "Fluttershy, darling, that was the strangest dream I've ever heard."
"But- but it wasn't a dream!" Fluttershy sputtered. "It really happened!"
"Hmmm..." Rarity quickly turned to pin some fabric together, then turned back. "I have no doubt you truly believe it happened. Some dreams can be quite vivid. But Rainbow Dash returning to life as some sort of monster? You must admit it all seems rather fanciful."
Fluttershy thought about that for a bit, and was even almost convinced when a strange pony walked in. His coat was the color of a cloudy day, comprised of uneven greys. His mane was silver, not matching his tail at all, as that was crimson. Except at the roots, where it was indeed the same as his mane. She thought it was odd that a stallion would dye his tail and not his mane.
While Fluttershy had never seen the pony before, Rarity must have. "Oh, hello again Orlok." She greeted, seeming excited to see the mysterious visitor. She turned to Fluttershy. "Darling, this is Mr. Orlok. He knew Rainbow Dash from school, and has come to pay his respects."
Fluttershy stared at Rarity, shock overwhelming her voice for a short time. "Rarity, I grew up with Rainbow Dash." She said when her speech returned. "In Cloudsdale. There were no earth ponies."
That caught Rarity short, but she quickly worked through the full implications. Eyes flashing in anger, she started to turn on her deceitful guest.
"Sleep." Orlok said, his dark voice staying perfectly calm.
Rarity halted mid-turn, her eyes drooping closed.
"Rarity!" Fluttershy cried out. "What have you done to her?!"
Orlok smiled, almost reassuringly. Almost. "Don't fret, Fluttershy. I simply have complete control of all of your friend's mental processes. And most of the physical ones, too. Observe. Rarity, my dear, it seems you've lost control of your bladder."
Fluttershy quickly looked away so she didn't see Rarity's shame run down her legs. "Why are you doing this?"
He circled Fluttershy, as if appraising her. "I wanted to meet you, obviously. You have no idea how rare it is for one of my race to be killed. Even a fledgling, and even by accident." He stopped just behind her for a second, then continued. "And yet, you don't look like a warrior. You don't look like much of anything, except a timid little pin-up model."
"I'm s-stronger than you think." The only part of Fluttershy that could move was her mouth, so she moved it and said what Rainbow Dash would've said to defend her. "I stood up to a dragon, and I-"
He silenced her with a soft stroke of her mane. "Yes, yes, I did my research before I came to town. You and the other Bearers have been so brave in your defense of Equestria. It's inspiring- really it is. But the biggest threat to me has been neutralized, and the second-biggest is dead by your own hooves. I'm not exactly worried."
"'Neutralized'? What have you done with Twilight?!"
"Fluttershy, calm down." He walked backed to Rarity's side. "I haven't done anything to your precious princess. Yet. It was a stroke of luck that she's been gone as long as she has. It's given me time to... recruit insurance against her. That's really the only reason I turned Rainbow Dash instead of just killing her. Now, if you would, be a good girl and give Twilight a message for me. Tell her if I see a pony with a crown take even one step into the Everfree, Rarity here gets turned completely. Okay?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Okay."
He smiled again, purposely baring his fangs. "Great. I'm going to take my leave now, with my hostage. Any burning questions you'd like to ask before I do?"
"What are you?"
Orlok turned thoughtful. "There's no word for my species in your language, but some previous tongues had one. I guess the most recent would be vampyr. Anything else?"
"I'm going to stop you."
She'd tried to look as intimidating as possible, but Orlok just laughed. "Oh, Fluttershy... It's adorable you think you can."
His mocking laughter echoed in Fluttershy's mind after he left. She began to pace, her worry driving her to talk to herself. "He right. What could I possibly do stop him? Twilight would know, but she's not here... Even if she were, he's got Rarity! But I need help." She scratched at her mane. "Who else do I know that's really smart? Who? Who?"
Oh yeah.

"Doctor, I need your help!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she burst into his lab... Then skidded to a halt as she noticed that the Doctor wasn't alone. Vinyl Scratch sat across from him at the table, a pot of tea and some cups between them. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll leave if you're busy."
"Nonsense!" The Doctor stood and strode over to her. "Miss Scratch is just staying here while her house is being fumigated. Said I owed her for showing me where the bowling alley was. I don't mind all that much, though, she mostly keeps to herself."
Vinyl bobbed her head, but Fluttershy couldn't tell if she was nodding in agreement or just listening to the music coming from her headphones.
"You said you needed my help, Fluttershy. What seems to be the problem?"
"Oh!" Fluttershy suddenly recalled what she'd come here to do, having been momentarily sidetracked by the enigma that was DJ Pon-3. "That's right! Doctor, what do you know about vampyr?"
He stroked his chin slowly. ""Great whickering stallions, I haven't heard that word in a long time."
"So you've heard of them?" Fluttershy was feeling slightly more hopeful.
"Heard of them? I literally wrote the book on that particular legend! Three of them, in fact." He crossed to a shelf and pulled three fairly thick tomes off of it. "Although, the details are somewhat fuzzy. It has been a while. Are you claiming there's one in Ponyville?"
"Doctor, you seem to be accepting this rather easily..."
He threw a foreleg around her, gesturing with the other. "Science isn't about dismissing things off-hoofedly, Miss Fluttershy. Science is about proving, or disproving, the existence of phenomena." He let go of Fluttershy, but continued speaking. "Now, if I help you and we find nothing, that's fine. The only thing wasted would be a little time, and I have plenty of that to spare. But if we find this vampyr? Then the legend becomes fact and our understanding of the world we live in grows that much clearer."
"What's a vampire?"
Fluttershy almost didn't realize who it was that spoke, she heard her voice so rarely. She turned to see Vinyl looking quizzically at them, one side of her headphones off and the other still blasting music into an ear.
"No, no, 'vampyr'." Doc corrected. "Like 'rear'." Vinyl chuckled at that, causing his face to flush red. "Oh, grow up."
Vinyl telekinetically slid her headphones off so they rested on her neck. "I like my version better. So... what's a vampire?"
"See for yourself." He hoofed Vinyl one of the books, already opened to the proper page.
Fluttershy hovered behind Vinyl, reading over her shoulder. "Umm, Doctor? This doesn't look like the vampire I saw."
"Blame the illustrator." Doc said, brow furrowing as he realized that Fluttershy was now using Vinyl's version. "I told her to stick to the descriptions, but she wanted to make it look 'cool'."
"How could she think this looked cool? The thing's standing on two legs... And it doesn't even have a tail!" Vinyl was almost offended at that definition of cool.
The Doctor groaned. "Can you focus, Miss Scratch? This is serious. Now, according to the old stories, a vampyr is very, very strong."
"Are we talking Big Mac strong?"
"Stronger." The Doctor said. "If the tales are accurate, three or four times as strong. At a minimum."
Vinyl looked back down at the book in front of her. "Jeez..."
"What's more, they're supposed to be much faster than the average pony, and have the ability to hypnotically control others."
"I can vouch for that." Fluttershy put in. "Rarity did whatever he told her to. Even... oh, I shouldn't say."
Doc seized Fluttershy by the shoulders. "This vampyr has Rarity hostage?"
"Um, yes. He's keeping her with him so Twilight won't come after him."
"This changes things." Doc announced, releasing Fluttershy and walking over to a large chest. He began to dig through it as he spoke. "There's no guarantee this thing, if it really exists, won't hurt Rarity anyway. Vampyrs are tricky, underhanded, even-"
"Evil." Fluttershy whispered, shuddering from the memories of Dash and Orlok.
Doc looked up, as much out of surprise that Fluttershy, of all ponies, was the one to interrupt him as in reaction to the content of said interruption. "Precisely."
"Okay, so what do we do?" Vinyl asked, rejoining the conversation. "We have to stop this... this..." She turned to Fluttershy.
"Orlok. He said his name was Orlok."
"Orlok." She turned back, in time to see the Doctor start rummaging through the chest again. "But how? He's probably not going to just go away."
"We kill him."
"What?" The two mares said in unison, though in truth Fluttershy wasn't as flabbergasted as she seemed. She'd been through too much at the hands of this vampire for true outrage.
"I know it's hard to hear." Doc's voice was slightly muffled as he dug further and further into the chest. "But this thing... it's worse than Sombra, it-"
"Who's Sombra?"
"It won't leave without a fight, and it's too dangerous to let escape."
Vinyl was slightly irritated he had ignored her, but she rolled with it. "Right, so we... kill it. But still, how? Fluttershy takes care of animals and I'm a DJ."
"And I am an inventor." Doc had found what he was looking for and he pulled it out. It was a crossbow, or at least it had the shape of one. Several wheels and gears had been attached, along with a small crank. He offered it to Vinyl and she took it, levitating it between the three of them. "According to the legends, to put a vampyr down you must drive a wooden stake through their heart. Since, as you said, none of us are the strong, adventurous type, this will allow us to do just that. We will be able to avoid getting too close. Now let's go!"
Nodding as one, the two mares dashed out of the Doctor's lab, but they soon realized they were missing the Doctor himself. Turning around, they saw him galloping to catch up. "Sorry, sorry." He huffed. "I almost forgot something back there."

As small as Ponyville was, and with all the running her various quests had required of her, Fluttershy was slightly embarrassed with how long it took her to cross through it. And when her sluggishness gave her time to run into Pinkie and Applejack, that embarrassment turned to something much worse.
"Howdy, Fluttershy! Where're y'all off to in such a rush?"
Pinkie began to hop excitedly. "Ooh! Ooh! Let me guess, you-"
"Nowhere!" Fluttershy blurted out, before Pinkie could somehow get every detail right, no matter how outlandish-sounding the story might seem. "I mean- we're just in a rush to get things ready. You know, for the party?"
"Party?" If ever there was a buzzword to get Pinkie's attention, that was it.
""Yeah... Twilight's been gone for so long, I thought it would be nice to throw her a party when she gets back."
"That's... The Best! Idea! Ever!" Pinkie took off like a shot from her party cannon, and they could hear her listing things she needed as she went. "Gotta get streamers, confetti, balloons(duh), a leather jacket, gotta bake a cake..."
But Applejack just stared. "Sorry, Fluttershy. I ain't buyin' it. What're you three really up to?"
"We're not doing anything, honest." Fluttershy couldn't meet AJ's eyes, so she kept her eyes down as she said it.
"Y'know, Rarity was supposed to come to the farm this morning." Applejack pressed. "But she never showed up. You wouldn't happen to know why, would ya?"
"Please, Applejack. Just let it go."
"Ha, I knew it! Y'all are in some kinda trouble. Well count me in!" Applejack puffed up with bravado.
"NO!" Fluttershy surprised even herself, and she covered her mouth for a few seconds before continuing. "Sorry, but you can't come."
"Why the hay not?"
Fluttershy whimpered. "I can't lose any more friends."
The Doctor stepped up. "While normally I would welcome your assistance in a situation as potentially dangerous as this, Miss Fluttershy has the right of it this time. If we fail, our numbers would become a liability. A threat that could be turned against Ponyville."
"I don't like it..." Applejack said, the look on her face revealing that to be an understatement.
Fluttershy reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a pad of paper. Quickly scribbling a note, she folded it and passed it to Applejack. "There is something you can do. We need this message delivered to Twilight whenever she gets back. Will you do that for us? For me?"
"I still don't like this..." Applejack looked down at the note she was holding, but didn't open it. "But I'll do what you want me to." The trio of would-be vampire hunters started on their way again, but they slowed when AJ called after them. "Remember, Fluttershy, you ain't the only one worried for her friends. Come back safe, or I'll find a way to buck your rear in death!"

Much could be made of the fact that Fluttershy- the most timid of ponies- now regularly and willingly braved the notorious Everfree Forest. Perhaps she drew courage from the friends she made that first time, or perhaps she was just numb to the fear due to repeated exposure.
None of the three were thinking about that at the moment. And any fear Vinyl and the Doctor, rookies when it came to ranging the woods, would have normally felt was supplanted by the dread of coming face to face with the vampire. Even if they didn't really think he was real, the possibility was still there. That's all fear is, really. Possibilities.
Fluttershy, who knew for certain that Orlok was indeed real, felt the terror more and more with each step. Earlier today, she had barely been able to flinch, so commanding was his presence. Even as he humiliated her friend and dismissed any merit she might have. Even as he openly spoke of preying on Ponyville. All she could do was cower.
Now they were directly defying him, marching straight into his lair. Truthfully, Fluttershy had no idea how he would react. She could only pray his rage would be focused on them and not the helplessly hypnotized Rarity.
These thoughts foremost on her mind, Fluttershy was beyond surprised when they finally made it to the Castle of the Two Sisters and found its doors wide open. What's more, she could see Mr. Wolfenstein and his pack lined up in two rows before the castle's entrance, a color guard to welcome them.
"Looks like this Orlok guy wants us to come in." Vinyl deadpanned.
"Good thing, too." The Doctor added grimly. "I wasn't very fond of our odds when it came to assaulting a castle armed only with a single crossbow."
Fluttershy gulped. "L-Let's go."
They quickly crossed the open space before the castle and passed between the waiting wolves. As before, Mr. Wolfenstein was mute and motionless. Fluttershy couldn't help but hope that whatever Orlok had done to her lupine friend and his pack wouldn't be permanent. Of course, that all depended on whether they won. Their deaths would change nothing.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Fluttershy led Vinyl and Doc through the castle interior, to the only logical place an evil pony would make their headquarters. Her intuition paid off, as Orlok was indeed lounging in the throne room. Rarity stood off to the side, still as a statue, her eyes closed.
The Doctor froze when he saw Orlok, his breath catching in his throat. "Great whickering stallions..."
"What's wrong, Doc?" Vinyl nudged him gently with a hoof.
Her touch brought him back to his senses, and he shook his head to clear it. "It's nothing. He just reminded me of... somepony I'd rather not have been reminded of. So this is your vampyr, Miss Fluttershy?"
"Uh-huh."
"He... feels weird." Vinyl muttered. "My horn's tingling, even from this far away."
"I told you vampyrs are powerful..." The Doctor reminded her, as they all inched nervously forward. None of them took their eyes off of Orlok, and they stopped when they arrived at the middle of the room.
Orlok, who'd been silent the whole time, finally stood up. Rather than the rage Fluttershy'd been expecting, he had simply looked amused as he watched them. He somehow seemed like an actor waiting for his cue. "I can only assume you think you're exploiting some sort of technicality, since none of you actually own a crown. Perhaps I should've been more precise with my warning." His smile widened as he took a few steps towards them. "Normally, I'd have stalked you in the forest, taken you one after another. First, the earth pony. He seems level-headed. His disappearance would make the rest of you panic, and you'd try to outrun me. You wouldn't be able to. Then, the unicorn. Then you'd be all alone, Fluttershy. Alone and helpless. That's when I'd take you, in more ways than one. After all, you're just so... gentle. It would be a treat to ruin you." He suddenly turned from them and sat back down on the throne. "But then I had a better idea. Rarity, my dear, kill your would-be rescuers."
At his words, Rarity's eyes snapped open. She slowly turned and advanced on the three. The Doctor grimaced. "As I feared, he's fully turned her."
"What do we do?"
"Don't worry, Fluttershy." He soothed. Or tried to, at least, though his voiced betrayed his uncertainty. "According to the legends, if we kill Orlok she should be changed back."
"So all we have to do is fight and kill a vampire while, at the same time, we dodge another vampire who is also trying to kill us. Yeah, that sounds easy enough." Vinyl quipped.
By this time, Rarity was within pouncing distance and Fluttershy saw her tensing to just that. Before she could, the Doctor quickly shoved a hoof into his saddlebag, pulled a hoop of something out, and whipped it at her. When it landed around Rarity's neck, she froze again. She dropped in a heap, mewling weakly.
"What is that stuff?"
Doc turned to smile at Fluttershy. "Just some tasty garlic. Vampyrs can't stand the stuff. I had a feeling we'd need some, glad I didn't forget it."
Orlok stood again, somewhat reluctantly. "Congratulations, you've won the right to face a full vampyr. A model and... and..." He cocked his head, looking at Vinyl and the Doctor. "Actually, I don't really know who you two are."
"Are you bucking kidding me? I'm Equestria's most famous DJ!"
"DJ?" Orlok looked confused for a moment, then it came to him. "Ah yes, disc jockey. I'm sorry, my tastes are more... classical."
Vinyl nodded sarcastically. "No, I get it. You're an old fart."
"I'm going to kill you first." He growled.
"Whatever. Eat arrow!"
She raised the crossbow and let a shot loose. Before it sank into Orlok's chest, his hooves blurred and he caught it. "No." He casually tossed it aside. "And technically, it's a bolt. Like lightning."
He jumped from the throne, racing towards Vinyl. Before Orlok's cocked hoof could land, though, the Doctor tackled her out of the way. As they both rose, Doc scoffed. "It's not hard to predict who you're going to attack then you tell us."
Orlok dashed at them again. Vinyl and the Doctor separated, Vinyl's horn glowing as she prepared a defense. But instead of following the DJ, he spun and planted a hoof in the Doctor's side. Fluttershy could hear his ribs crack, as his eyes went white and he spat blood.
"I said 'kill'. I can maim you as much as I want." Orlok smirked at the pony lying in a heap at his hooves.
"Doctor!" Fluttershy jumped onto Orlok's back, trying to wrap her forelegs around his neck. After a short struggle, he shrugged her off.
That was when the record struck him in the eye. He roared in pain and whirled to see Vinyl levitating three more. Orlok raised a hoof to his wound and inspected the blood that came off when he lowered it. "You seem intent on giving me more and more reasons to end your life."
Vinyl didn't reply, instead propelling the records one after another at her foe. None of them hit their target, so she wheeled them around to try again. As she tried again and again to catch the vampire with one of the discs, Fluttershy noticed the crossbow lying on the stone floor nearby. She crept as silently as she could to the fallen weapon.
But Orlok had not been simply evading Vinyl's attacks. Each dodge had brought him closer to the unicorn, until he was close enough to strike back. Just as Fluttershy laid her hooves on the crossbow, he pivoted on his forehooves and bucked like an Apple. The blow connected squarely on the side of Vinyl's chin.
Fluttershy winced as once again a horrible crack echoed in the chamber. Vinyl dropped to the ground and writhed in pain.
"Huh. Your neck is sturdier than I thought." Orlok said as he examined her. "Seems all I did was snap your jaw in half."
He lifted a hoof to finish her, but stopped as he heard a curious grinding sound. Looking back, he saw Fluttershy furiously turning the crank on the crossbow.
The main drawback of crossbows when compared to regular bows was the time it took to reload a shot. Whereas with an average bow the only factor was how quickly you could pull the bowstring, with a crossbow you first had to draw the string all the way back to the catch, and only after that had been accomplished could you load another bolt. It was a rather involved process, requiring the pony wielding the crossbow to point it at the ground, place a hoof in the loop at the front, and use their whole body to pull the string.
This is where the Doctor came in. He hadn't invented the crossbow, they'd been around for a few centuries. What he did was add a wheel-lock, operated by a crank, that pulled the string for the operator. This cut down on the reload time immensely.
Having watched the evolution of warfare in Equestria personally, Orlok was well of what the Doctor's innovation meant. With her inexperience when it came to any sort of weapon, Fluttershy was no match for the vampire's speed. He was on her almost instantly, knocking the device from her hooves as she tried to bring it to bear.
"I'm not going to kill kill you, Fluttershy." He took hold of her face with both hooves, forcing her eyes to meet his. "Before I turn you, though, I need you to remove your doctor friend's little trick from Rarity."
His eyes were deep, and black as pitch. As she stared into them, Fluttershy found they had the same consistency, too. The more she struggled and fought to break free, the further she sank. She was lost.
No.
No, that wasn't true. A dragon's eyes were deeper, a cockatrice's more ensnaring. His eyes were nothing compared to theirs.
And they were less than nothing when faced with hers.
To his surprise, Orlok found himself getting off the frail mare he'd pinned. She stood, never breaking The Stare.
Before the tide could complete its turn, Orlok lashed out with a backhoof. It was a weak one by his standards, certainly weaker than his earlier blows. It was still enough to send Fluttershy sprawling. "That was impressive. Truly impressive. But I can remove the garlic myself. One doesn't reach my age without learning to deal with a little discomfort." He turned and started walking to Rarity as Fluttershy struggled to rise.
A blinding light flooded the throne room, so bright that Fluttershy gave up trying to stand and simply shielded her eyes with a hoof. She had only seen a display like this a few times before. "Celestia?"
But as the light dimmed, and she could see again, Fluttershy noticed it was the wrong color for the Sun Princess. The purple aura faded completely and revealed an enraged Twilight Sparkle.
Orlok had also been forced to cover his eyes by Twilight's arrival, and as he lowered his foreleg he grinned in recognition. "Ah, the newest one."
Twilight said nothing in response to him, focusing her attention on her downed friend. "Are you okay, Fluttershy?" She knelt down beside the pegasus, checking for any obvious injury. "Please tell me you're alright."
"I'll be fine." Fluttershy told her, as she was helped up. "But Vinyl and the Doctor are both really hurt, Twilight."
"Not as badly as I hoped, though. They're pretty st-"
"Be QUIET!" Twilight punctuated her shout by blasting Orlok through a wall.
The vampire properly silenced, Twilight jogged over to first Vinyl, then the Doctor. After applying what little aid she knew, they were both wrapped in her magic and teleported out of the castle. "I sent them to the hospital." She explained as she rejoined Fluttershy. "Hopefully, the doctors there will be able to help."
"Insolent Filly!" Orlok ducked back through the hole Twilight had made with him, snarling. Fluttershy doubted anypony had treated him like that in a while.
"Monster." Twilight countered. "You will pay for killing my friend."
"Killing your- oh, yo mean Rainbow Dash. I think you'll find it was Fluttershy who dealt the mortal blow."
Twilight stomped a hoof. "Don't try to shift blame! I know how vampirism works. You drained Rainbow of her blood and replaced it with some of yours. Then you forced her friend to stop her."
Orlok shrugged. "So I'm a little revisionist. What're you going to do about it?"
Instead of answering, Twilight just let off another blast. He was ready for this one, though, and simply sidestepped out of the way. The Princess growled and took another shot, which was also dodged. Orlok started laughing.
Something was wrong, even Fluttershy could tell. There was no strategy in what Twilight was doing. No plan. She was just firing over and over again.
And it was wearing her out. The beams now came in between ragged breaths. Orlok took notice and went on the offensive. He dodged a beam and rushed Twilight, forcing her to teleport away. He then repeated the action, draining Twilight of more and more energy each time she had to avoid his hooves.
Finally, it was too much. Coming out of a teleport, Twilight sank to her knees. Orlok sauntered up and stood before her. "I remember the reign of Discord, little Princess. Do you really think I've never fought an Alicorn before?"
"I'm going to stop you!" Twilight gathered the last of her power at the tip of her horn.
Orlok cupped his hooves over the blast as she let it loose. The resulting explosion was massive, the three of them being thrown back from the force.
Fluttershy's landing smashed the wind out of her. Gasping for air, she slowly sat up.
Just in time to see Orlok do the same. "Oh, Twilight. It was adorable you thought you could." He mocked, looking at Fluttershy as he did.
He climbed to all fours, a little unsteady but otherwise intact. Twilight had yet to stir. For a tense moment, Fluttershy thought she wasn't breathing but, when she saw her friend's chest rise slightly, she sighed in relief.
A feeling that was cut short when Orlok trudged over to the fallen Princess, wearing another smile. It was uncertain and a little lopsided, and was probably the first real one he'd worn. "I never thought I'd get the chance to turn a Princess."
That was it, they were done. Dead. Fluttershy slumped back in defeat.
And felt something jab her in the side as she did.
The crossbow! The explosion had landed her nearly on top of it! Fluttershy scrambled to her hooves and scooped it up. The auto-loader was almost fully cranked, and another quarter-turn dropped the bolt in place. Fluttershy lifted the nose shakily and pointed it.
Orlok had stooped, bowing low enough to reach Twilight's neck without having to kneel. His fangs were nearing their goal. Quickly, Fluttershy aimed at his chest.
"For Rainbow Dash!" She cried, releasing the bolt.
The vampire looked up and scowled, annoyed that his other victim was making noise. As he did, the bolt took him in between his ribs. He reared back, stumbled, and fell. He flopped on the stone floor, any poise he once possessed abandoned.
Fluttershy stood over him, watching, her pity abandoned as well. After a few seconds, she spoke. "I... I hate you. I hate you.I didn't think I could ever hate anypony. What you did to my friends." Her voice rose louder than Dash could ever have coaxed. "What you took from me!" Then her voice softened again. "What you made me do. I don't think I could ever stop hating you."
"But..." She sat, wiping the tears that had formed, and some of her pity returned. "But I think... I could forgive you. Sort of. If you felt bad about any of it."
He glared at her, returning her compassion with contempt. "The only thing I regret, in all the ages I've hunted, is that I didn't kill you back at the boutique." She flinched again, as if he had slapped her. "And this? What I made you do? A half-measure at best. If you don't take off a vampyr's head there's no guarantee they won't come back. And you don't have the backbone to sever mine."
"You're... You're not sorry? For any of it?"
"Go away, little pony." He rolled so his back faced her. "You're no warrior. Let me sleep in silence."
He went still. Fluttershy, taking his warning to heart, looked around the chamber for an edged weapon, of which there were plenty lining the walls. She walked over to one of the suits of armor and took its pole-arm. Fluttershy carried it back, struggling as she did to hold it up, not used to carrying something so heavy.
When she stood over Orlok again, she stopped struggling and let gravity do most of the work for her.
The task done, and her coat now covered in blood, Fluttershy slumped down again, dropping the weapon as she did. Defeat had been replaced by exhaustion. Dash, the lack of sleep, the boutique, the Everfree, the battle itself. She was tired. So she slept, lying next to the body of the monster who had worn her out.
And she dreamed. Of a concerned Rarity standing over her, fang-less. Of Applejack and Big Mac pulling carts for the injured. And finally, of her cottage, and Angel snuggling with her safe in her bed.