The blood red moon hangs high in the sky giving the nearby academy an eerie glow. The path leading to the secluded academy from the Everfree forest was covered in trees and low branches. Leaves carrying autumn colours were spread everywhere in various sized piles across the ground. Walking up the main path toward the academy gates is a bright orange Earth Pony mare wearing blue jeans, a pure white tank top and a blood red leather jacket, which stops at her hips. A slim silver rectangle case rests on her back. Covering her face is a pitch black cloak, which drapes over her shoulders and stops halfway down her legs. Taking one hand out of her jacket pockets, she places a toothpick in her mouth and grows a wide playful smile.

Meanwhile, walking down a corridor on the third floor of the academy is a goldish grey mare with a dark grey mane and tail that has lighter streaks within. Her eyes are a greyish mulberry. The mare wears a female black school blazer, a medium length black skirt and pitch black tights. Her uniform has crimson trim to accompany the black. Around her neck is a crimson bow-tie with a pitch black strap. The mare walks up to a door with a plaque saying 'Principal Flutterbat' and knocks a few times.

"Octavia? Please come in." A gentle but stern voice replies from the other side of the door.

Octavia enters the office and closes the door before standing in front of the principal's desk. Behind the desk sitting on a swivel chair is a Pegasus mare with a light greyish gold coat, her mane and tail are a light greyish rose and her eyes are a brilliant amaranth. The Pegasus' wings are bat-like instead of the normal feathers.

"You wanted to see me, Principal Flutterbat?" Octavia asks looking puzzled at her summons.

Flutterbat turns to face Octavia and nods. "It seems we have a new student today... She herself doesn't know it yet, but I feel she will be an interesting addition to our society. I've already filled out her entrance form and relative paperwork... If it's not too much trouble I'd like you to look after them during their initial time here." Flutterbat finishes as an explosion is heard in the distance by the academy entrance.

"What in the name of Celestia was that?" Octavia asks looking over the new student's paperwork.

"I do believe that is our newest addition... Do be a dear and go say hello. She is your responsibility as the student council president, after all." Flutterbat smirks as she turns to the window.

"You're kidding... Reading this she sounds so... Unruly, uneducated, boisterous... Hardly a fitting match, wouldn't you say?" Octavia puts down the paperwork and sighs.

"Remind you of a particular vampire who once graced our halls? Go have some fun. It's been too long since you had a good reason to let loose." Flutterbat playfully comments to a frustrated Octavia.

"If I must... I hardly see why this mare can't be handled by another student council member, but, if nought else, it will provide entertainment." Octavia leaves the room and heads in the direction of the explosion.

In the courtyard of the academy, many wounded vampire and normal ponies lie scattered across the ground. The bright orange mare from before stands in the middle of the courtyard spinning an odd looking sword around her hand.

"Seriously, none of you academy punks have enough juice to face me for real? Bunch of half assed losers." The mare states arrogantly and chews her toothpick.

"Must you be so rowdy..? I heard you all the way from the principal's office... I finally make it over here to find this large, disappointing mess..." Octavia states as she lands in the courtyard and looks around at all the defeated students. Her vampire wings recede into her back.

"Holy bucking shit. You might just be the most uptight bitch I've ever seen in my entire bucking life. So, I wager from the pussy expressions this lot just gave as you elegantly strolled on stage..." The mare points her fully blood red metal sword at Octavia. "You're one of the big guns around this academy shit pit?"

Octavia looks around her and sighs deeply. "Such vulgar language... You have not only disrespected me and my fellow students... But you have tarnished this academy's honour..." Octavia wears a displeased look upon her face which makes many nearby students move away despite their injuries.

"That's great and all, but I truly don't give a shit... Are we going to throw down or not?" The mare asks throwing off her cloak revealing the Earth Pony mare has a pitch black mane and tail with blood red highlights. Her eyes are a mysterious soothing aquamarine.

"Tell me your name and I will tell you mine... I should at least know what to carve on your gravestone when I put you in your place." Octavia's calm voice is replaced by a harsh, irritated tone.

The mare spins her longsword around her hand and points it at Octavia boldly. "My name is Amore Sânge Von Scratch and you're about to become another notch in my well earned belt!" Amore proclaims readying herself in a familiar battle stance Octavia has seen before.

Octavia inspects the mare up and down taking in everything about her. Her stance, how she carries herself, her... Vulgar language, that dreadful mane style combined with those odd colours. There was no doubt in her mind who Amore reminded her of. "Very well then. My name is Octavia Von Melody and as the student council president, I challenge you, Amore Sânge Von Scratch, to a duel in the old ways of engagement."

Octavia is approached by three male Earth Pony students all wearing the same style uniform as her in the same colours, but with pitch black trousers. They each hold a different melee weapon. The first offered to Octavia a pair of Katar daggers which have vampiric engravings on the blades and gilded hilts. The second held out a far eastern Equestrian styled katana for Octavia. The sheath is pitch black with red thread around the top to fasten it to a belt. The handle of the katana itself was blood red. The third and final student held in his hands a two handed claymore for Octavia.

Looking over the selection Octavia shakes her hand and snaps her fingers. After only a few short seconds a female Pegasus with a similar build to Octavia took her side holding a rapier. The sheath of the rapier is mainly pitch black with two blood red metal parts at the top and bottom. The hilt guard is a tarnished silver with a blood red shine to it, the handle itself is pitch black with blood red lines showing its sections. The Pegasus mare offering the rapier to Octavia is wearing the almost exact same uniform as her. Her coat is a moderate azure blue while her mane is combed back and her tail is well kept. They are both white with Light phthalo bluish grey streaks. Her eye colour is a brilliant cerulean blue.

"Thank you for bringing my rapier, Student council vice president Night Glider."

"My pleasure, Lady Octavia." Night Glider stands and takes her place beside the other student council members.

Octavia attaches the sheath to her side and draws the rapier swiftly to ready herself in an elegant fighting stance. "We should discuss the terms of our duel, no?" Octavia prompts Amore.

"What, do you have an offer?" Amore asks getting a little impatient.

"You said your name was Von Scratch... Have you ever heard of a vampire pony known as Vinyl Von Scratch?" Octavia asks as they begin to circle the battleground.

Amore stumbles slightly and her eyes go wide as the name resounds in her mind over and over. "M-mother! You know her name!" Amore yells before speeding towards Octavia with killer intent.

'Great job Octavia... Instead of negotiating like a civil mare you just went and pushed a sensitive button...' Is what went through Octavia's mind as she blocked the slash and was flung backwards by the impact. She rolls across the floor, but regains her footing to end up in a kneeling position.

"Lady Octavia!" Night Glider is about to sprint to Octavia's side but stops when Octavia shakes her head.

"No, remain back! This is between me and Amore... Please respectfully stay out of it." Octavia gets to her feet and brushes herself off. "To put it bluntly, Amore... Yes, I know her... If you want to know more, then you have to beat me. If I win, however, I want you to leave this academy and never return." Octavia takes a deep breath.

"Fine, whatever... Just get the buck back here so I can kick your ass!" Amore states as she sprints towards Octavia once again.

This time, Octavia is prepared and she engages Amore with her own equally powerful slashes. Amore increases the force of her slashes and swipes as Octavia gracefully blocks and repels her attempts to wound her. Octavia somersaults backwards to avoid a strong horizontal slash from Amore. She then follows up with a flurry of precise, lightning fast slashes which cut Amore's clothes and skin. Amore grits her teeth and ups her game to cut even closer to Octavia making her narrowly able to dodge. Octavia decides to unleash a flurry of slashes again followed by a two step harsh kick to the stomach sending Amore flying away from her to roll across the floor.

"You're a feisty little pest of an Earth Pony..." Octavia feels herself grin, clearly enjoying herself.

Octavia can feel her heart beat wildly in her chest. Her breathing is fast paced and quickens as the fight goes on. 'Am I enjoying fighting this mare? Is she really entertaining me this much?' These thoughts plagued Octavia's mind long after Amore stood back up and continued the fight, increasing her skill and prowess with her longsword, clearly displaying she was holding back.

"Is this all you have?!" Octavia shouts losing herself in the pleasure of the battle.

"Not by a long shot, eat this!" Amore retorts as she kicks Octavia's rapier up into the air causing Octavia to lose her balance. Amore then performs a two step kick on Octavia landing the first in her stomach and the second slamming harshly into her head and sending her flying across the floor. When Octavia finally stops rolling and lays flat on her back, a red mark clear on her face. Her rapier lands just short of her head.

Amore is breathing heavily, her accumulated wounds starting to take effect as she clutches her side where Octavia kicked her. Amore's eyes are suddenly brought to Octavia's body as she begins to burst into laughter.

"Da hell is up with you?" Amore asks through her pain.

"I'm not finished by a long shot... Prepare yourself!" Octavia screams as she, with seemingly flawless and lightning precision, gets up from her laying position. As she does so she grabs her rapier and without effort closes the gap between her and Amore. Octavia then unleashes an unblockable flurry of piercing strikes which hit every time sending Amore further and further back until she is slammed into the perimeter wall. Octavia's rapier is driven into Amore's chest and all the way through into the wall.

Amore coughs up a lot of blood all over Octavia's uniform getting a little on her face. Octavia's eyes turn a blood red colour and she smells the air a few times, catching the scent of Amore's blood. She then wipes some off her cheek and takes a taste making her eyes widen. 'Her blood... This sweet apple flavoured taste... It's smooth refined texture... The aroma it gives is so tantalising and delicious...' Octavia finds her mind in a spin, unable to process what is in her mouth. Swallowing hard, she looks at Amore's neck and, without thinking, slowly sinks her fangs down softly into the flesh of the bright orange Earth Pony.

In one simple instant upon the fresh blood touching Octavia's tongue she felt the universe explode into a million tiny unknown pieces. What she tasted was indeed blood, but blood with a sweet, freshly-picked apple taste to it. Octavia felt all her senses go into overdrive at the sensation. She could hear Amore's quickened slightly falling heartbeat. Amore's heavy shallow breathing. 'Who exactly is this mare and what are these feelings I'm having?' Octavia found herself soon letting go and looking deep into Amore's soft aquamarine eyes and it hit her like a ten ton Equestrian furniture mover's truck. Or a full blood metal longsword to the stomach.

Octavia slowly looked down and noticed Amore had stabbed her the same time she drove her rapier into Amore. Looking back up into Amore's eyes the mare managed to swallow and give a weak chuckle. "This... Means a... Draw, right?" Amore squeaks out before passing out. Octavia smiles and removes her rapier from Amore's chest. Flicking the blood off it, she then sheathes it and throws the whole thing aside. Octavia then removes the blood metal longsword from herself and throws that onto the ground. The pain of the previous battle spiked through Octavia and she hissed in pain as Night Glider rushed over to help.

"No, I'll be fine... Please take my rapier and Amore's longsword along with her case to Lady Flutterbat for inspection. I will take Amore to the infirmary along with myself." Octavia manages to pick Amore up bridal style before heading towards the academy main building. Night Glider wears a puzzled expression, but does as ordered by Octavia.

Amore suddenly wakes up in an infirmary bed and sits up sharply which causes her to feel a deep pain making her lay back down. "Where the fuck am I..?" Amore asks looking at her hand raised up towards the ceiling.

"You are in the academy infirmary... I brought you here." States a voice from the direction of the window.

Amore looks to see Octavia, whom she fought before. Octavia turns to address the mare directly. "You're quite the fighter, aren't you... It's been a long time since I met anyone who has caused me to use as much force as I did." Octavia states with a deep sigh.

"So, why am I still here? Didn't I lose our little duel?." Amore asks rubbing her neck slightly before flinching in pain.

Octavia shakes her head and sighs slightly. "It was a draw... We both dealt fatal blows to each other in that last encounter and I could hardly claim victory with a longsword through my stomach... Speaking of which." Octavia removes her blazer and shirt placing them on the infirmary bed. She then draws Amore's attention to the scar on her stomach where her longsword plunged into her.

"Don't you vampires have super healing or whatever?" Amore asks blushing slightly at the sudden stripping.

"Normally, yes... However, your longsword appears to be special in certain aspects. One such visible trait is to not allow vampire wounds to heal without scarring like this. Also, there is something odd about you... Your blood tastes odd. Much sweeter than normal and carries the taste of freshly-picked apples. It bugs me, but it has also enveloped me." Octavia puts her tops back on and takes a deep breath.

"I have something to ask before we get to that... Vinyl Von Scratch... It is the only name of my parents I have. Please... Tell me what you can about her." Amore pleads to Octavia who turns back to the window and sighs deeply.

"The vampire Vinyl Von Scratch... Was my roommate up until two years ago when she resigned as student council vice president and left our fair academy for places unknown to us... I've never had it in me to throw out her old things." Octavia starts to explain.

"Oh, you're awake~" A playful yet mature voice states as the pony who it belongs to enters the room.

Octavia turns around to see Principal Flutterbat walk over to them smiling like normal. "Oh, Principal Flutterbat... I'm sorry I didn't report in yet." Octavia apologises but Principal Flutterbat simply shakes her head.

"No need to apologise. You must be Miss Amore Sânge Von Scratch... It is true Miss Vinyl Von Scratch was enrolled here, however, it's also true she left two years ago. I've already enrolled you here as well. If you plan on staying to find out more about your mother, then becoming a student here is in your best interests." Principal Flutterbat explains.

"Screw your stupid academy. I don't need to be enrolled just to find out shit about-" Amore closes her mouth seeing the furious, yet silent glare of Principal Flutterbat.

"Allow me to calmly rephrase that... I will not allow you to stay on the academy grounds for any reason if you are not on the academy charter. I don't give a damn who your mother is... You either enrol in our fair system or get the hell out of my academy... Clear?" Principal Flutterbat states with dominance.

"I'll enrol... Sorry." Amore weakly squeaks like a scared mouse.

"Good... Your new uniform will be with you tomorrow along with your sword and case. You can also stay with Octavia so long as she approves. I have things I need to sort out, so if you will excuse me. Oh, do try and behave Amore..." Principal Flutterbat leaves the infirmary.

"I don't mind you staying with me... You were out for a while so it's nearly night for the academy. When you feel able enough to walk I will take you to my... Our room. I can also show some of your mother's old things she left behind. They are, of course, all yours if you want them." Octavia offers Amore who sighs deeply.

"Sure, that sounds good... Umm... Thanks by the way. Also... Sorry for calling you a bitch earlier... the lack of competition had me very frustrated and pissed off." Amore coughs slightly before resting back down.

Octavia smiles and chuckles slightly, letting Amore get back to resting. She then starts to stare out the window, contemplating her feelings and what happened when she drank Amore's blood.

Octavia opens the door to her dorm room and walks inside with Amore. Looking around Amore can see the room is fairly normal. Two beds sit on opposite sides of the room with a window between them. At the base of the beds are wardrobes and at the back of the room beside the door is a desk. Directly to the right as you come in, past the desk is the door to the bathroom. Several musical posters of two specific genre types litter the walls on either side of the room, Vinyl's dubstep and techno posters proving more appealing to her than the classical. Amore sits atop the bed on the right side of the room which is slightly messier than the left.

"Vinyl's bed is the one on the right, so you can take that one. I cleaned most of it up into the wardrobe... What I could anyway." Octavia explains as she removes her blazer and bow tie to place in her wash basket at the foot of her bed.

Amore removes her slightly damaged leather jacket and lays it on the bed. She then moves to the wardrobe and opens it to sift through the mass of clothes within. Amore finds an assortment of different coloured headphones and matching iPods. Amore picks out a pair of red headphones and a matching iPod, before laying back down to listen to the music on it.

Octavia smiles to herself as she enters the bathroom to take a shower. Amore flicks through several techno and electronic styled music selections on the iPod while listening to a few, bobbing her head to the beat. After a little while, Octavia exits the shower with a towel wrapped around her while she dries her hair with another towel. Octavia sits on her bed as Amore moves back her left headphone to hear Octavia as she begins to speak to her.

"How are you doing since leaving the infirmary?" Octavia finishes drying her hair and moves to remove her towel so she can dry herself.

"I'm doing better... I guess my mother being a vampire gives me the fast healing benefit. Other than that, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to learn anything enrolled here at this academy. I'm looking for my parents. I'm not looking to make friends... This is a waste of time. I don't even know what I'm doing here..." Amore explains as she sighs deeply.

Octavia finishes drying herself before placing the towels in the wash basket. She then goes to the wardrobe and slips on a fresh pair of panties. Octavia then slides into bed before carrying on the conversation.

"Amore, I think there is a lot you could learn here... I'm not asking you to take part in the learning system. I can use my notes to teach you later on if you want. Least you can do is learn enough to pass the exams we have to partake in on a regular basis. Other than that, there are a variety of club activities you can indulge in to pass the time. Please give it a chance." Octavia pleads while looking serious.

"You confuse me most of all! It was only a few hours ago we were at each other's throats! You literally bit my throat and drank my blood. You have been acting weird since I woke up in that infirmary and it's creeping me out... You're being much nicer... I'm going to take a shower, okay." Amore places the iPod and headphones on the bed before going to the bathroom in frustration.

Octavia sighs deeply before slipping out of bed and putting Amore's iPod on a charging dock which sits on the window ledge. She sighs and looks around at Vinyl Scratch's old things.

"You're so alike it's scary, Vinyl... She also inherited your stubbornness... Oh, she will require just as much work as you did to straighten out..." Octavia smiles to herself before sliding back into bed as she quietly remembers a lot of her past moments with Vinyl Scratch.

After several minutes, Amore comes out of the shower drying her hair with one towel and no towel around her waist. Amore opens up Vinyl Scratch's wardrobe to sift through her clothes to find a pair of pyjama's which are white with dark blue and purple musical notes all over them. Amore tries the pyjama's on and, to her surprise, they fit quite well. Amore turns the lights out and looks around the room before sighing and sliding into Vinyl Scratch's old bed to snuggle down and relax so she can sleep off the day's annoying worries.

"This has all exploded far more than I expected coming here... I was only looking for a fight and have ended up enrolling in this odd academy. Amore, what have you gone and jumped into this time..? Will I even find anything?" Amore buries her head into her pillow and sighs deeply before drifting off to sleep.

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed my first, well technically this is my second attempt. Either way I'm sticking to my guns on this one. Like it or leave it, it is here to stay. I promise it will get better later on and the romance will be developed along with the story. Stay tuned for more.