A Vampire Tale: Return of the King

Somewhere in the dark, deep caves, where no pony dares to go, a monolithic door made of black stone stood, untouched for centuries, for millennia. The door was carved and covered with ancient symbols. Behind it was a large room with carved, black stone columns. In the centre of the room stood a black coffin made of marble.

Suddenly, glowing orange symbols started to appear on the coffin. It opened, revealing a pony inside. It was a stallion. His fur was short and pale gray, his skin was very pale. His black mane was combed back and tied in a ponytail.

Sharp fangs peeked out of stallion's mouth. His tail was long and black. His cutie mark represented a full red moon with bat wings.

The stallion himself was very big. He had his forelegs crossed on his chest, and his head was propped with a soft, white pillow. The stallion wore a black cape with a hood.

Suddenly, he shot his eyes open. Their color was crimson red. The eyes had vertical pupils.

The stallion slowly got up from the coffin and stood on his four legs, revealing to be two and a half meters tall.

The stallion turned to the door and closed his eyes, concentrating. A door started to glow red, then shattered into pieces. The way to freedom is now opened.

Half an hour before.

Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, was sitting in the library reading a new book. It was already 23:30, but the book was so interesting Twilight just couldn't stop reading, even for a moment.

Suddenly, her number one assistant, Spike the Dragon entered the library and ran to Twilight, holding a scroll in his claws.

"Hey, Twilight! I've got a letter from Princess Celestia!" he said, panting. "It is written that you must read it as soon as possible."

Twilight looked surprised. She hasn't received any letters from the Princess of the Sun for months, and now here it is - the letter of great importance.

Twilight grabbed it, opened it and started reading.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

My sister has been having nightmares for two days. She said she had seen a long gone pony, the one who spread fear across Equestria when me and my sister were just fillies.

I'm afraid that the old foe, the Vampire King has returned.

Long time ago, fearsome vampires walked among us, thirsting for blood. And above them all, Nicholas, the Vampire King, stood. He is a true creature of night which heart is as black as the darkness itself.

Ponies talked about him, feared him. Some said that he ate foals for breakfast. It is, of course, a lie. Instead, he took foals from their families and transformed them into vampires.

Nicholas is two and a half meters tall, which means he is the tallest pony ever. His fur is pale gray, his mane is midnight black. His ears are pointed, his fangs are long and sharp. His eyes are slit pupil and red, glowing in the darkness.

He used to live in an old castle somewhere in Foal Mountains. Ho one has ever seen the castle itself, it is protected with some sort of magical barrier of unknown nature.

When me and my sister grew up, the Elements were discovered. During Discord's reign and some time after it, vampires were not present in Equestria, or were hiding somewhere.

When they appeared again, me and my sister managed to convince a few of them to join us and stop hunting ponies to feed on. After a few years, Blood Potion was created. It helped vampires with their urge to drink blood. That's how lunar pegasi appeared - a few decades after the potion was invented, vampires' urge for blood disappeared, along with the majority of their strength and abilities, as well as weaknesses. Blood potion has also changed their appearance a little.

But the majority of vampires didn't like the potion. They said that it tasted terrible and was not as satisfying as the real blood.

Vampires that were on our side helped us to discover where Nicholas was hiding. We engaged him in a combat. He did not surrender, so me and my sister had to use the elements. Nicholas was vaporized, black ash was all that left of him. After a few days, all vampires disappeared, probably left Equestria forever, leaving only lunar pegasi. We thought that Nicholas was gone for good.

It seems he wasn't.

I don't know what is he up to, but I know for sure that he is extremely dangerous. Maybe even more dangerous than Tirek was. Tirek is much of a brutal force user than a tactician, and you know it. The Vampire King is entirely different. He can wait for months, years, decades. And only when all preparations are made, he step out of shadows to strike.

The King possesses many forbidden abilities, such as necromancy and hypnotizing. Do not look him in the eyes! Do not trust him. You must be smart to uncover his plans.

And do not lie to him. No one lived long enough after that.

And remember! He is more than two thousand years old. He is very clever, so don't try to confront him without a good plan. And by 'good plan' I mean a really good plan.

Good luck,

Yours,

Princess Celestia

Twilight sighed, turned to Spike and said:

"Well, the rest is over."

"What is it, Twilight?" the dragon asked worriedly.

"A new enemy has returned. The king of vampires."

"A v-vampire?" Spike asked in trembling voice. "Are y-you kidding m-me? I hate vampires! They want m-my warm b-blood!"

The dragon ran upstairs, looking for a shelter to hide.

Twilight sighed and looked outside the window. It was a rainy night. The moon was full and shined bright. Nopony but a few guards were in Ponyville. The guards have appeared two days ago, assigned by Celestia herself to Twilight's castle, just in case.

Twilight went to the throne room. She summoned the map and tapped on every cutie mark of her friends.

Half an hour later a meeting was held in the throne room. All of the six were here, most of them were sleepy and a little wet because of the rain.

"Twilight, why did ya call us here?" Applejack asked and yawned. "Ah have been working all day and Ah'm tired like a mule."

"It's time for us to save the day. Again," Twilight answered simply.

"Oh yeah!" Rainbow Dash cheered, her sleepiness disappearing in a blink of an eye. "To Tartarus boring days, time for an adventure!"

"I don't think it'll be too much of an adventure," Twilight disagreed. "Do you know anything about the Vampire King?"

"All I know is that parents use him to scare foals to go to sleep."

"Do you know that he is real?"

"What do you mean? Do you mean..." Rainbow Dash paused. "That we are... Going to fight... The Vampire King?"

"I know it will be hard, but..."

"No, you don't get the point," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "It is going to be AWESOME!"

"There is no awesomeness about fighting the Vampire King." Twilight sighed, fighting the urge to facehoof. "Do you know how strong he is?"

"No matter how strong he is, we will defeat him!"

"Are you serious? We know nothing!"

"Twilight, dear, we don't know anything, you are right," Rarity said. "But I think that you know something, don't you?"

Twilight nodded, and told her friends about the letter and who are they fighting against.

"Wow, that sounds really serious," Rainbow Dash said. "So, how are we going to defeat him?"

"I have no idea," Twilight said. "Maybe if we get more information..."

"Uh, Twilight?" a sleepy dragon stepped inside the throne room, holding something in his claw. "There's...*yawn* a book from Celestia."

Twilight grasped the book with her magic and levitated it to herself. Book's cover was black and its title was 'Tenebris Creaturas'. She opened the book and started reading while Spike headed back upstairs, mumbling something about a good dream interrupted.

"Hm... Imps, succubi, incubi," Twilight listed, turning the pages. "Thestrals... Aha! Vampires."

Twilight started reading.

VAMPIRES

Appearance:

1. Fur:

White, pale-gray, gray, dark gray, black, or pale shades of turned pony's coat.

1. Mane:

White, black, or dark shades of turned pony's mane.

1. Eyes:

Red, orange, blue, green, purple (no shades).

1. Differences from ponies:

a) Bigger appearance - head or half head taller than normal;

b) Slit-pupil eyes;

c) Canines (nail sharp);

d) Curved horns without spirals (turned unicorns);

e) Bat-like wings (turned earth ponies and pegasi).

Picture, turned pegasus stallion.

First appearance:

About 1000-2000 Pre Discordian Age (no specifics).

Last appearance:

66 After Discordian Age.

They drink blood, kidnap ponies to turn them into vampires (mostly foals).

How to fight against:

1. Wooden stake to the heart;

2. Incineration;

3. Direct sunlight;

4. Elements of Harmony.

        5.     Silver.

Garlic and indirect sunlight weakens vampires.

"Holy apples, those vampires are sure as scary as Tartarus itself," Applejack shivered. "How are we supposed to defeat their king?"

"Well, since the Elements of Harmony can't be used, and killing him is not an option, then the only one is Friendship Rainbow Power," Twilight answered. "But I don't know how it works."

Unbeknownst to the six, a hooded stallion with red glowing eyes watched them from outside.

Nicholas, as soon as he made his way to the surface, noticed large crystal castle. He was interested in seeing to whom did this castle belong.

After he'd heard the six mares talking about him, he took off and flew to the Everfree Forest.

'What is Rainbow Power those six were talking about?' he thought. 'Interesting how the things have changed after millennia. Hm, and where did the Elements go? I should check the Tree of Harmony, if it's still where it was all those years before.'

He glided through the night air above the forest.  Soon, he saw the Castle of Two Sisters.

'Hm, the castle is in ruins. This is far more interesting...'

The stallion landed near the bridge to the castle, then flew down, landing in front of entrance to the cave where the Tree grew.

He carefully made his way to the tree, looking out for any who would have seen him.

As soon as he reached the tree, he saw that the Elements were in their places.

'Their magic is weakened, the tree itself too, I can sense it,' the King thought. 'Maybe that's why ponies don't use them anymore?'

He stopped and examined the Tree with his eyes.

'Their shapes are different, too. Hm... Six elements... Six ponies at the crystal castle... Celestia and Luna no longer possess the Elements? How interesting... Are they even alive by now? I have much to learn... And I know where I can find all the answers.'

The stallion turned around, made his way out of the cave, and flew up to the skies, heading towards Foal Mountains.

'And if the Elements cannot be used...' Nicholas started to grin. There is nothing but Rainbow Power that can stop me. They say that they don't know anything about it... It is my opportunity to learn it before they do and prevent its usage!'

The King chuckled darkly.

'They are all doomed!'