Velvet Kiss: A Fledgling's Trailby Velvet KissChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4ProloguePrologue Velvet lay in the bed of her hotel room for a while. She felt bored. And if there was anything that she hated, it was boredom. Velvet stood taller than most other mares, especially other pegasi. She had a brown coat, and a red mane, with pink highlights. She got up out of her bed, and went to the mirror to inspect herself. Of course, Velvet’s routine was the same as always. She spread out her wings, to inspect them, making sure nothing had ruffled. She brushed back her mane as well as she could, and began brushing her teeth, being extra careful with her fangs. Velvet was, in fact, a vampress. She was not frightening; she was indeed very beautiful, found in high regard by her peers. Mostly stallion peers, but peers nonetheless. She fed every once in a while, generally with ponies who found it to be a gift, as her ‘venom’ caused a significant amount of pleasure to the prey, as to make sure they didn’t escape. She led a fairly average life, if not a bit mundane for her tastes. Velvet needed something to do with her time. Something exciting, and life threatening, if possible. She was about to get it. Velvet was on her way to a local café, to meet Sparkling Spoon, her fledgling. A fledgling is a term describing one who was recently turned into a vampire, however could still be used at a further age, in a way similar to the use of the word ‘child’. In this way, Sparky was very much Velvet’s daughter in their relationship. Velvet cared for Sparky in a way that she had never before felt, a deep maternal passion, with all of the protective instinct. She put on her saddlebag, a black bag with red straps, filled with her books, bit sack, and various other materials she felt she would need when out on the town, a sort of “big-town emergency kit”. She made her way out of her hotel room, leaving for the café. She smiled, taking in the warm August breeze. She loved living in a hotel. She lived in the top suite, more high class than some homes. Velvet came from the political families of Trottingham, born into wealth. She made her way into the café, and found Sparkling Spoon sitting in a booth by the window, waiting for her. Their visits to the café were often, generally twice a week on no particular days. She sat across from Sparky. Sparkling spoon was a pink Pegasus, with a bright, cyan mane. Her eyes gleamed emerald, and her fangs were barely visible. Velvet greeted her Fledgling with a hardy “Hello, darling!” “Wonderful to see you again, mistress.” She said in a monotone. Her head was hung slightly, she had bags under her eyes. Velvet smiled at her fledgling, but she soon gave her a puzzled look. Sparkling Spoon was generally an upbeat, happy mare. To see her so drained was new for Velvet, and she was curious. “Sparky, love.. Are you feeling alright?” Velvet asked with a legitimate concern. She stayed silent for a moment. “Sparky.” “I’ve found something, mistress.” Velvet looked at her quizzically, and puts down her menu on the table, ordering an ice water from the waitress that was droning about the café. “Found what, darling? Is everything alright?” Sparkling began to say something, when she got a look of suppressed horror on her face, just as she saw a carriage parking out front of the café. She looked to Velvet with panic in her eyes, leaning in close. “83198, mistress. 8-3-1-9-8.” With that, Sparkling Spoon galloped out the back door, nearly sending the waitress carrying their waters tumbling over. Velvet was left alone at the booth, staring down into her drink, and to the empty seat in front of her. She thought the number her fledgling spoke of in her head. 83198…. 83198… Chapter 1Chapter 1 It was over a week since Sparkling ran out of the cafe that evening. Velvet had had it. The numbers her fledgling spoke to her were echoing in her mind as she tried to make sense of them. Her table was littered with notes, and books, to no avail finding anything to do with the numbers. Velvet muttered to herself. "83198...What the HELL could that mean?" She wiped out the papers and books from her desk, staring up at the wall. Her eyes were growing dark, she had failed to feed in a while. Velvet needed to go out. She needed to refresh herself before coming back to the search, whether she liked it or not. With a grunt, she picked up her saddlebags, and brushed down her mane halfheartedly, trotting out the door. She headed out to the local bar, "The Poison Dancer". Velvet took a seat at the bar, ordering her favorite drink, a fine, Johnny Walker Black on the rocks. Everything around her was a blur. The dancers were simply moving to her, the lights were obnoxious, and the stallions staring at her were simply annoying. Velvet was generally lively, she loved the club, and all its chaos. But she was drained. Her search for her fledgling left her beaten and battered emotionally. She finished her drink, and sighed. She felt even more tired, even more broken down. The world slowed around her as her vision began to daze. Velvet's head slowly dropped to the bar, her vision fading. "Fuck....." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Velvet woke up, strapped to a chair. She rattled her hooves in a futile attempt to break the rope. As she came to, she observed her surroundings. She found herself in a empty room, what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse of sorts. Heh...How cliche.... A group of stallions approached her. They were masked Earth ponies, each had a knife strapped to them some place or another. The front stallion came up to Velvet, grabbing her by the mane, shoving a mobile phone into her face. "What is it?" "What?" The stallion looked annoyed, and smacked Velvet across the face. He meant business. "The code. What's the code?" Oh, shit! These must have been the ponies that scared Sparky off that time ago. And that series of numbers had been a code to open a file of some sort on this mobile. Velvet smiled. This is what she needed today, some action. Velvet was not a killer, but she was far from a pacifist, and she would do anything to get Sparkling back. Plus, her immense blood lust was clouding her judgement. Velvet looked the stallion in the eyes, feigning horror. "Alright...Just..My head... I can't think straight.. I need a glass of water..." The thugs looked at each other quizzically, eventually deciding they would provide her with her water. It was apparent they didn't see her as a threat. They weren't working independently. No, someone willing to go this far for something, whatever it is, would do their research first. No, these thugs had no idea what they were in for. They brought Velvet her glass of water, freeing one of her hooves to allow her a drink, quickly securing the other. She took a sip of her water while she could, as she didn't intend on keeping it long. "Now. You've got your water. Now give us the c-" Velvet chose then to strike. She threw the water in the foremost stallion's face, and he recoiled for a moment. For that moment, one of the other stallions rushed for her, and she smashed the glass onto his head, knocking him out. The foremost stallion took out his knife, lifting it up to slash at Velvet, who spun her chair around. She was surprised at her timing, her predatory instincts kicking in, grown in strength with her blood lust. The stallion slashed the rope, and Velvet broke free, quickly pushing out of the binds in her hind legs. The second stallion rushed at Velvet, as the one who so kindly broke her of her bonds recoiled from his mistake. Velvet ducked, sweeping the charging pony off of his hooves, and letting him fall onto the floor. As much as Velvet hated to kick one while they were down, she took great joy in the powerful buck to his jaw that put him out cold. And that left the first stallion, the apparent leader of the pack of thugs. He rushed at her, quickly taking her off the ground and onto her back. He wrapped his massive hooves around Velvet's neck, beginning to choke her. She was left powerless to push him off, not even her predatory abilities capable of saving her. But sometimes, it takes a stallion choking the soul out of you to let you find the will to live. Velvet thought quickly, looking around, when she saw it. Right beside her, the unconscious stallion from just moments ago lay on his back, the knife strapped just to his shoulder. She just had to reach it. Velvet strained to reach the knife, her assailant was too full of rage to notice her attempts at survival. Velvet kept straining herself as her vision began to fade once more, her face turning to a sickly blue. And then, a miracle. The stallion tumbled to the side-apparently having fallen in a way that put his body out of balance- to face her. Velvet quickly grabbed the knife, stabbing it into the stallion's side, making him cringe in pain, releasing her. She quickly caught her breath, and grabbed the thug by the neck, smashing him into the wall repeatedly. The musclebound attacker's strength lost, Velvet saw her chance to kill two birds with one stone. She lifted him up as far as she could, and bit into his neck, her fangs digging into him. As he let out a bit of a moan, she grunted slightly, annoyed.. Really wish they didn't ALWAYS enjoy this...Damn venom... Velvet kept feeding. The beaten thug's soft moaning slowly turned into silence, his movements slowing with his heartbeat. She normally would have stopped a minute back, but Velvet needed his blood, and she didn't intend to let him live. She drained him of all his liquid essence, until his heart stopped. As Velvet released her victim, he fell to the ground, limp. Velvet wiped some of the blood from her muzzle, grinning. "Well...At least I got a good drink in the end..." Velvet took the mobile from the stallion's pocket, entering the code told to her by Sparky at the cafe. 8-3-1-9-8. The phone flashed green as it accepted the code, opening up to a folder full of all sorts of information. Maps, contacts, thermal readings, terrain reports, a census. All from what it seemed to her was some variety of island. Marked in the most important bit, she found something special. The thing she'd been looking for all this time. Coordinates. Velvet trotted out of the building, breathing in the fresh air that she had so nearly been deprived of. Her recent feeding had her feeling rejuvenated. Ready for anything, Velvet looked out onto the horizon, and on to the rising sun. Hold tight, Sparky. I'm coming for you. Chapter 2Chapter 2 Velvet boarded her plane at the crack of dawn, needing to take the day after her debacle in the warehouse to pull a few strings back with her family to secure a flight. She carried her saddlebag as usual, black with a red stripe and buckle. Inside she had the essentials: A Swiss army knife, a serrated military-grade knife, a pocket-sized handgun, two clips, and a series of energy bars and bottled waters. Velvet's encounter with her assailants had prepared her for the worst, and she was ready. As she boarded her small, single-seat aircraft, she took a deep breath, looking out on to Ponyville's beautiful horizon. It's funny... One can only appreciate the beauty of home when she's boarding a plane to take her to Celestia-knows where armed with a wimpy handgun and a granola bar. Annoyed with her melodramatic pause, her pilot called back to her. "Hey, miss! I'm not getting paid to sit around waiting! Just because you're some hot-shot princess or something doesn't mean I need to take this! I'm a respected p-" "Shut the hell up, Ace. I'm coming." Velvet got into the plane, laying back. She felt a bit crowded, but she wouldn't let that get to her. She needed to do some research. She took the mobile phone from the side pocket of her saddlebag, and opened it up. In the midst of her tinkering with it earlier, she had made the background a picture of herself and Sparkling Spoon at the beach. The picture was taken a few years back, during their summer vacation. They enjoyed the scenery of the beach, as cliche as it might be. Velvet loved feeling the warm breeze flow through her hair, taking in the salty air from the ocean. She felt the hot sand between her hooves, the shells laying, scattered. Sparky, however, just liked to observe the stallions. Velvet opened up the folder that sparked this trip, as the plane lifted off. She began inspecting the files once more, her first chance to really inspect them. First, she looked at reports. They looked very professional, very well made. One thing caught her eye. A very repeated phrase: Project Genesis. It sounded very vague, very eerie. It was all over the papers, everywhere. "Project Genesis is coming along. We have secured the the test site and secured the population" What the hell...Securing the population? Ten bits says that's a fancy way of saying there'll be a mass burial in a few days... With that, she looked at census reports. Obviously, they weren't by any government, or the island would have been charted. No, these were made by the same ponies. Which brought Velvet to the question: Who ARE these ponies...? Velvet looked through the mobile some more, to no avail. All she could find were some thermal readings and other geographic things. All she knew about the area was that it would be warm, it was full of forest life, and she would be landing at the biggest clearing she could near the coordinates she had. Velvet turned off the phone and placed it back in her bag, laying her head back. It would be some time before they reached their destination, and Velvet could use all the sleep she could get. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Velvet quickly rose her head from a rude awakening; her pilot yelling at the top of his lungs to get her up. She quickly obliged, and surveyed her surroundings from the small window in the side of the ship. And there, she saw one of the most horrifying sights in a very long time. Smoke. Coming from the plane. That she was on. Velvet panicked, grabbing her saddlebag in an instinctual effort to make a fast escape. She went to her pilot. "You want to tell me what the hell is going on, fly boy?" "We were hit, miss. Bad," "Hit by wha-" Velvet's question was quickly answered for her as the sound of anti-aircraft rounds flew past them. AA guns? They've got bucking AA guns? Whatever ponies were on this island, they obviously didn't want company. And they were damn good at shooing it away. Velvet quickly felt the plane descend, feeling the pressure change in her ears. She quickly scrambled for something, anything, to keep her alive. "Have you got any parachutes?" "Sure, go ahead and jump if you want to get stuck on one of those trees and get shot by one of these assholes!" The pilot had a point. She would get stuck on one of those trees, and there's no way she could survive a fall from one of them if she unclipped her chute from there. Even if she did, she would break a leg, and wouldn't be able to survive. Looks like she would have to get lucky on this one. Really lucky. The plane quickly descended as Velvet heard the sputter of the engines failing, looking out the front window to see the ground quickly approach. She pulled out the mobile, taking one last look at Sparky, before the plane made contact with the island, and everything went black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Velvet got lucky. Really lucky. She opened her eyes, spitting out blood. She found herself on the dirt, the plane behind her. Heh...Must've crashed out the front window... Velvet one, seat-belts zero.... Velvet got to her hooves, and went back to check the plane. She found the pilot, his head smashed against the dashboard of the ship, his blood still fresh, dripping. She sighed, patting him on the back. "Thanks anyways, Ace... You were an asshole, but you got me where I needed to go..." Velvet looked out to the sky, now dark, the stars gleaming. There was no way that Velvet would want to go anywhere at this hour, and she should probably give the grunts on the island some time to lose their edge after shooting down the plane. She found a small area, heavily wooded, and not too far from the wreck. She smiled, crawling under a few trees to make her camp for the night. She didn't want to light a fire, in fear that her attackers would search the area, or see the smoke from their camp which, according to the mobile and GPS, was about a mile east. She ate one of her energy bars, and drank half a bottle of water. Velvet knew how to take care of herself, and surprisingly, none of her equipment was damaged when she went through the window. She ducked her head under the trees, and yawned. She needed another nap. Hopefully tomorrow will be smoother. Velvet closed her eyes as she heard the hoofsteps of what sounded like a military squad, surely with the ponies who shot her plane down, come to check for survivors. She gripped her handgun, and hid in the trees as best she can as she closed her eyes. Hopefully. Chapter 3Chapter 3 Velvet raised her head up from the brush of trees she had been sleeping in, and instinctively tightened her grip on the handgun she had kept as her sleeping companion. She got out after checking the area for any of the soldiers she last saw checking the wreckage of her plane for survivors. Velvet stretched out her wings, and then blinked, staring at them. I....Could have just flew out of the plane..... She shook her head. Even if she somehow managed to have opened the door and jumped out of the plane as it crashed down, she would still have plummeted to her demise, the saddlebag stopping her wings from spreading. Anf if she were to abandon the bag, then she surely wouldn't be able to survive the island afterwards. Velvet's mind raced with more and more alternatives to the crash she had suffered not 24 hours ago, but she stopped herself. The crash was over, and no matter what, she can't do it differently now. And she can't save her pilot. Taking out her mobile, Velvet took out the GPS to see if she could get to the place outlined in the coordinates given to her by the mobile. The path would take her straight through the jungles of the island, for almost a mile. She packed up her things in her saddlebag, and took it in hoof, beginning to lift off, but stopped herself. If they could spot our ship from that length away, there's no way they could miss a brown mare flying less than a mile away....Looks like I'm hoofing it. She landed once again, strapping the saddle bag on the proper way, and trotted onto the path, and took a breath. The air smelled crisp, as it was full of untouched forest life. The air was left unpolluted, and the trees left intact. She felt at peace here, the scenery was a wonderful change of pace from being drugged, kidnapped, or being shot out of the sky. The trees towered over Velvet, but she appreciated the beauty of it all. It wasn't intimidating, but humbling. Here in the untouched wilderness of the forest, Velvet felt at peace with herself. She felt as if she were home, away from the hustle and bustle of the proper city, escaping the illusion of order set by the society she had been born into. Velvet's peaceful contemplation, however, was interrupted by the rude realization of just why civilization had been walled off and out into order. "RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWR!" Before Velvet stood one of the most terrifying things she had ever layed eyes on, one of her few true fears. Staring her in the eyes was, in her mind, the most dangerous thing the wilderness had to offer, a terrifying beast that wanted nothing but to tear her to shreds. Velvet stood, petrified. Bears....It had to be bears.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The massive behemoth stood up on its hind legs, staring down at the terrified vampress as she trembled in fear. He was a monster. In front of her was a massive, brown grizzly bear, on its hind legs it stood 8 feet, and as noticed by Velvet by her intensive study of the beasts, was a female. She must think I'm threatening her cubs.... As Velvet failed to move out of the way, the beast came down on her, slashing at her wing. The mare let out a painful grunt, trying not to alert any of the soldiers on the island to her position. She had the element of surprise, and she knew she needed to keep it that way. That meant no screaming, and no gun. Velvet had to act fast. Ever since she was a filly, she had been terrified of bears, and knew their biology, mating habits, behavior, everything. And she knew for a fact that she couldn't fight it, not even with her knife, and she couldn't just fly over it, not with the wing the beast had slashed. No, Velvet had to outrun her, or outsmart her. Velvet's legs were hurting. She thought fast, taking in her surroundings as effectively as she could without taking her eyes off of the grizzly, which was preparing her next strike. She thought back to everything she had observed on her short walk here. She went to her mind palace, recalling every memory that she could, analyzing every detail within the microseconds that the world outside of her mind would allow. Come on...Think...Think....Oh! Velvet looked forward, and smirked a bit. She galloped ahead, just barely missing the grizzly's massive paw. The beast quickly took chase, bound and determined to eliminate the threat to her cubs. Velvet looked behind her at the beast, and gulped slightly, trying not to recall the fact that it was her greatest fear running after her, and she couldn't use the gun she had packed. She needed this plan to work. The bear outran her, and Velvet turned to face it. Time slowed for a moment in Velvet's mind, her massive assailant coming down on her. Her life flashed before her eyes as the quickly dwindling chances of her survival caught up to her. Her mother, her father, her first love, Sparky. Sparky. The grizzly let out an ear-shattering roar, as she swiped down onto her target. The bear could feel the flesh split in two, splitting for just a moment. The beast's primal heart was assured of the safety of her cubs, all until she came to a realization. She didn't cut flesh. The bear had, in fact, cut a vine. As Velvet was walking the trail earlier, she had taken a few things of an exotic nature, that one simply wouldn't procure in a civilized area. One of which, a rope-like vine. As the bear came to deliver its final strike not moments ago, Velvet had used her swiss-army knife to pin one side of the vine to the ground, and pulling herself onto the branch that was above her. Velvet's senses were enhanced dramatically when she was threatened, she was able to coordinate her movements flawlessly. As the bear swept at the vine, the force had not broken it instantly, but instead pulled it. Namely, pulling down the weak branch that Velvet had clung to. The branch came crashing down on top of the bear, directly on top of its head. The blow had knocked the grizzly out cold. Velvet rolled off of the bear that her and her branch had fallen on, and got to her hooves, retrieving her knife. She took a moment to catch her breath, and looked back at the beast. "Looks like you're not much smarter than the average bear...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a fairly uneventful walk, Velvet had finally come to the camp. The first thing that she noticed was, of course, the most obvious. This was no small camping ground. It was a full-fledged building. In and out of the building were an assorted mix of soldiers and scientists, the prior outnumbering the latter about three-to-one. Velvet needed to get in somehow. She surveyed the area, and found exactly what she needed: A group of 5 soldiers, one of them female, and not too differently colored than Velvet. The female soldier had left her post for a moment to have a smoke, and Velvet saw it as her perfect time to strike. She silently got up to the mare, and took her mouth in her hooves. Velvet bit into her neck, and the soldier's scream soon dissipated into a soft moan, and after a minute, was silenced. Velvet was confident that she had muffled the soldier's scream enough to make it inconspicuous. She stripped the soldier of her uniform, and put it on herself. Surprisingly, it fit her well, maybe a bit short, but nothing too noteworthy. Luckily, the armed mare had pockets covering her uniform, enough to conceal most of the contents of Velvet's bag. Putting on the pair of sunglasses that the guard had on, she was able to conceal her now-glowing eyes. Velvet approached the other four guards, looking as normally as she possibly could. The foremost guard called to her. "'Bout time you got back. Come on, boss-man needs us up to guard the main labs for some sort of special experiment." Velvet only nodded, afraid that her Trottingham accent would give away her disguise if she were to speak. This was exactly what she needed, being invited straight into the head of the camp. Velvet was feeling proud of herself as she followed the squad, happy that she effectively executed the first rule of disguise: Hiding in plain sight. They came to a metal door, a scientist there to meet them. The foremost guard showed him ID, and the scientist nodded, looking into a retinal scanner to the right of the door. The door slid open, from the bottom up. The squad walked in, and found themselves in a massive, wide-open laboratory. The interior was covered in computer monitors, the interior crawling with scientists. In the middle of the room was a vat of a strange, white liquid. The liquid looked to have all of the same properties of water, or milk. Velvet shrugged it off, trying to stay focused on the mission. Somewhere around here had to be Sparky, or someone that knew where she was. Velvet didn't have to look far. Battered and broken in a cell, lay Sparkling Spoon. She was alive, even conscious, but she was hurt badly. Between her and the outside was a thick layer of glass, most likely bulletproof. Sparky scrambled to her hooves as she caught a glimpse of Velvet, easily seeing through her disguise. Behind Velvet's glasses her eyes widened with relief at seeing her fledgling was alright. She nearly mouthed out some sentimental message to her, before she felt the cold, hard impact of the butt of a rifle on the back of her head. As Velvet fell to the ground, her vision fading, she caught a glimpse of a stallion in a lab coat, armed with an automatic rifle and a knife. The stallion was gray, with red eyes. He had a scar across his cheek, and had an especially hate-able smirk on his face. "Put her in with the other one", the stallion said, the soldiers taking her in their hooves without hesitation. "Project Genesis will continue as scheduled. We launch tonight." Chapter 4Chapter 4 Velvet woke up on the ground, dazed and confused. She took a moment to gather herself, and assess the situation. She found herself on a cold, cement ground, a bit of hay in the corner, and a big pane of glass showing into the laboratory she had just been knocked out in. Looking to her right, Velvet saw Sparkling Spoon, just waking up. "Sparky!" "Mistress..." She chuckled a bit, seemingly impressed. "You found me..." Velvet didn't answer, instead she ran up to the mare, embracing her in her hooves for what seemed like a lifetime in itself. They were soon interrupted by the loud sound of a massive machine in the laboratory outside their cell. Velvet looked at it curiously. What the hell is this...? Almost as if reading her mind, Sparkling told her everything. The machine in the laboratory was what the people here called Project Genesis. The project was being headed by the man she only caught a glimpse of earlier while she was losing consciousness, Faus. Faus was an ex mercenary, who made a small fortune off of his work there, after some backstabbing and manipulation with his colleagues. In his time after retirement, Faus became bored. He became intrigued with old adventurers, treasures, and the like. Specifically, the fountain of youth. Eventually, Faus used his fortune to lead a team on the island Velvet found herself on now, in search of the mythical fountain. He found it. "What the hell does he want with the fountain of youth, Sparky?" "Well, immortality is the obvious thing here. But there's a lot more to it. You see, using the fountain, Faus wants to sell it to whatever warlord has the cash. Governments, terrorists, whoever pays." Velvet was shocked. "They can make super soldiers.." "Exactly." Velvet tried to imagine the horror. Every terrorist cell, every government, every single pony out there willing to pay Faus would be in control of one of the most effective breeds of super soldier of all time, and while the world crumbled, he would be off counting his bits in some far away island. Velvet had to stop him. But Velvet had another question. "Sparky..Why are you here.....?" Sparkling Spoon's face grew solemn. She sighed. "The same reason you are, mistress. And the same reason they are..." Sparky pointed to other cages around the room, at least a hundred of them, two ponies each. "They need vampires, Velvet. They need vampires to make the fountain work. Our bodies powers it... Some sort of reaction." As if on cue, a pair of guards took one of the vampires out of his cage, and dumped him into the pool of white liquid that was the fountain of youth.Velvet almost couldn't watch, as the vampire was slowly melted down into the pool, screaming until he was silenced, and eventually dissolved. "When Faus decides to go in, they'll start really dumping us in. Now, they're just...Keeping it warm, so-to-speak...." Velvet looked out the window once more, seeing Faus climb out of his chair, approaching the pool, taking off his robe. "Speak of the devil..." Faus lowered himself into the pool, and his form began to slowly shift every which way. He was beginning to age backwards. The guards around him started gathering vampires, a few at a time. First up, however, was Sparky and Velvet. Just my luck.... The guards shoved them towards the pool, Velvet first, after Sparky. Velvet looked ahead at the pool, staring at Faus' shifting body, at this stage he looked deformed. Not equine at all. They drew closer to the pool, the guards seemingly making it a slow journey on purpose, whether it be an act of mercy or an just to make them squirm, Velvet would never know. Velvet whispered back to her fledgling. "You trust me?" "About as far as I can throw you..." She smirked. "Good thing I've been on a diet." Velvet's eyes glowed, as she channeled all of the energy from her recent feedings into one fit of rage. She turned around, punching out one of the guards with ease, disarming the other one, sweeping his hooves with her own. Velvet pointed the weapon down at the pipes that were feeding into the pool, and the pool slowly began to drain. Becoming aware of what she actually just did, Velvet looked ahead of her, Sparkling's hoof in grip. Velvet saw ahead of her a wave of guards running toward her, and behind her, an emptying well. Velvet gulped, looking behind her. "Allons-y..." She dove backwards, with her fledgling, into the well. It was no pool, not even remotely. This wasn't a collection of the fluid from the fountain, it was the fountain itself. Velvet gripped on to Sparkling, who was trembling in fear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They landed in a body of water in the bottom of the well, that effectively cushioned their fall. They found themselves in a cave; wet, and wide open. Velvet shrugged. Must not have been as big a drop as I thought... Sparkling Spoon wasn't far behind her; she got to her hooves, looking around. "How the hell are we getting out of here...?" Velvet looked around, and saw a beam of light. She smiled. There must be an opening somewhere in that direction. "Follow me." Velvet and Sparky walked through the cave for a good five minutes until they found it: an exit to the cave, reaching out on to the camp. Now, it was just a matter of escaping the camp, and finding their way off the island. They sat for a moment to think. Their contemplation on their escape was soon interrupted by the PA system at the camp going off, speaking on a loop in the eerie voice of your average pre-recorded female message.. "The laboratory has been compromised. Initiating clean up." Guards and scientists of all sorts began rushing out of buildings, climbing into small planes, and flying off, There was an entire airfield set up, all the planes leaving at once. "What the hell do they mean by clean up?" Sparky was already picking up her bag, getting ready to leave. "Self destruct. They're going to blow the base. Faus must have put the measure in to make sure nopony ever took his research here." Velvet quickly got her bag together, thinking of what to do. Then, the obvious answer hit her. "We should get to that airfield. If we hurry, there'll be a plane we can get to in time, and we can high-tail it off of this island." "You can fly a plane?" "Do you have a better idea?" They rushed off towards the airfield, all around them soldiers and other staff were scrambling to get to their rides, all the laboratory doors were closing, preparing for the coming explosion of the lab. Sirens began going off to alert any sleeping staff. Velvet almost smiled, making her mad dash towards the airfield. She didn't think it would be so easy to foil a sinister plot, save her fledgling, and make a big explosion all in one day. It's never that easy. Velvet almost stopped in her tracks when she heard it. "You BITCH!!!" Behind the pair of vampires, was Faus. He was deformed, his face full of boils, his hooves rashy, and his mane in splotches. "You ruined everything...All my work...All the money I put into this...." Velvet sighed. "At the expense of what? Society?" "Don't you SEE? Society is tearing itself apart already... Making some money off of it doesn't hurt..." Velvet began her rebut, but was quickly shut up when the beastly shell of a stallion pushed her to the side, rushing to the airfield. She wondered for a moment what had caused him to rush in such a manner. When she turned around, she saw why. There was only one ship left. "Sparky...Let's GO!" The two mares made a dash for the plane as Faus was already climbing in, grinning. We'll never catch him....It's over... We're going to die here, Sparky is going to die here and it's all my fault... Sparky, apparently, had different plans. She grabbed a rock from the floor, galloping at him in a speed that Velvet had never seen her reach before. Sparky jumped on to the hood of the plane, and smashed Faus across the face repeatedly. He smashed her to the ground, falling out himself in the process. Velvet caught up to the pair, jumping on Faus' back, stabbing at him with a jagged rock she had found on the ground. Sparky followed up by smashing him across the face once more, only to be met with a grueling headbutt, that sent Velvet's fledgling crashing to the floor. "30 seconds until cleanup." They had to move. Velvet bucked Faus out of the way for a moment, and picked up Sparky, throwing her into the plane. "Start it up!" Sparky quickly began running the engines on the plane, having had a small amount of flight experience back from her younger days. Below her, out of the plane, was the two brawling ponies: the newly deformed beast and the vampress. Velvet threw a punch his way, which was quickly evaded and met with a strong buck to Velvet's stomach, staggering her. Faus followed up with a grueling uppercut, which knocked his assailant to the ground. Faus began to climb into the plane with Sparkling. As Velvet got back up, the plane was beginning to take off, Sparkling only just realizing the threat climbing in with her. Before she knew it, the plane was moving, and was off the ground. Sparkling turned around to face Faus, who grabbed her, smashing her head in against the dashboard. Sparky didn't stand a chance against the behemoth of what used to be a stallion. Climbing up on the tail was Velvet, clinging on for dear life to the plane which was quickly gaining speed. She finally hopped into the seat, and grabbed Faus' shoulder. "Get the hell off my plane." She shoved him down off the plane, time almost stopping for her as she watched him fall down to the camp. She pointed Sparky to the helm of the plane. "Go go go!" She quickly obliged, and took control of the plane again, flying off. As they left the island, Velvet looked behind them, to see the camp burn into flames, taking Faus with it. She smiled, putting a hoof on Sparkling Spoon's shoulder, chuckling slightly. "Good to see you again...."
ProloguePrologue Velvet lay in the bed of her hotel room for a while. She felt bored. And if there was anything that she hated, it was boredom. Velvet stood taller than most other mares, especially other pegasi. She had a brown coat, and a red mane, with pink highlights. She got up out of her bed, and went to the mirror to inspect herself. Of course, Velvet’s routine was the same as always. She spread out her wings, to inspect them, making sure nothing had ruffled. She brushed back her mane as well as she could, and began brushing her teeth, being extra careful with her fangs. Velvet was, in fact, a vampress. She was not frightening; she was indeed very beautiful, found in high regard by her peers. Mostly stallion peers, but peers nonetheless. She fed every once in a while, generally with ponies who found it to be a gift, as her ‘venom’ caused a significant amount of pleasure to the prey, as to make sure they didn’t escape. She led a fairly average life, if not a bit mundane for her tastes. Velvet needed something to do with her time. Something exciting, and life threatening, if possible. She was about to get it. Velvet was on her way to a local café, to meet Sparkling Spoon, her fledgling. A fledgling is a term describing one who was recently turned into a vampire, however could still be used at a further age, in a way similar to the use of the word ‘child’. In this way, Sparky was very much Velvet’s daughter in their relationship. Velvet cared for Sparky in a way that she had never before felt, a deep maternal passion, with all of the protective instinct. She put on her saddlebag, a black bag with red straps, filled with her books, bit sack, and various other materials she felt she would need when out on the town, a sort of “big-town emergency kit”. She made her way out of her hotel room, leaving for the café. She smiled, taking in the warm August breeze. She loved living in a hotel. She lived in the top suite, more high class than some homes. Velvet came from the political families of Trottingham, born into wealth. She made her way into the café, and found Sparkling Spoon sitting in a booth by the window, waiting for her. Their visits to the café were often, generally twice a week on no particular days. She sat across from Sparky. Sparkling spoon was a pink Pegasus, with a bright, cyan mane. Her eyes gleamed emerald, and her fangs were barely visible. Velvet greeted her Fledgling with a hardy “Hello, darling!” “Wonderful to see you again, mistress.” She said in a monotone. Her head was hung slightly, she had bags under her eyes. Velvet smiled at her fledgling, but she soon gave her a puzzled look. Sparkling Spoon was generally an upbeat, happy mare. To see her so drained was new for Velvet, and she was curious. “Sparky, love.. Are you feeling alright?” Velvet asked with a legitimate concern. She stayed silent for a moment. “Sparky.” “I’ve found something, mistress.” Velvet looked at her quizzically, and puts down her menu on the table, ordering an ice water from the waitress that was droning about the café. “Found what, darling? Is everything alright?” Sparkling began to say something, when she got a look of suppressed horror on her face, just as she saw a carriage parking out front of the café. She looked to Velvet with panic in her eyes, leaning in close. “83198, mistress. 8-3-1-9-8.” With that, Sparkling Spoon galloped out the back door, nearly sending the waitress carrying their waters tumbling over. Velvet was left alone at the booth, staring down into her drink, and to the empty seat in front of her. She thought the number her fledgling spoke of in her head. 83198…. 83198…
Chapter 1Chapter 1 It was over a week since Sparkling ran out of the cafe that evening. Velvet had had it. The numbers her fledgling spoke to her were echoing in her mind as she tried to make sense of them. Her table was littered with notes, and books, to no avail finding anything to do with the numbers. Velvet muttered to herself. "83198...What the HELL could that mean?" She wiped out the papers and books from her desk, staring up at the wall. Her eyes were growing dark, she had failed to feed in a while. Velvet needed to go out. She needed to refresh herself before coming back to the search, whether she liked it or not. With a grunt, she picked up her saddlebags, and brushed down her mane halfheartedly, trotting out the door. She headed out to the local bar, "The Poison Dancer". Velvet took a seat at the bar, ordering her favorite drink, a fine, Johnny Walker Black on the rocks. Everything around her was a blur. The dancers were simply moving to her, the lights were obnoxious, and the stallions staring at her were simply annoying. Velvet was generally lively, she loved the club, and all its chaos. But she was drained. Her search for her fledgling left her beaten and battered emotionally. She finished her drink, and sighed. She felt even more tired, even more broken down. The world slowed around her as her vision began to daze. Velvet's head slowly dropped to the bar, her vision fading. "Fuck....." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Velvet woke up, strapped to a chair. She rattled her hooves in a futile attempt to break the rope. As she came to, she observed her surroundings. She found herself in a empty room, what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse of sorts. Heh...How cliche.... A group of stallions approached her. They were masked Earth ponies, each had a knife strapped to them some place or another. The front stallion came up to Velvet, grabbing her by the mane, shoving a mobile phone into her face. "What is it?" "What?" The stallion looked annoyed, and smacked Velvet across the face. He meant business. "The code. What's the code?" Oh, shit! These must have been the ponies that scared Sparky off that time ago. And that series of numbers had been a code to open a file of some sort on this mobile. Velvet smiled. This is what she needed today, some action. Velvet was not a killer, but she was far from a pacifist, and she would do anything to get Sparkling back. Plus, her immense blood lust was clouding her judgement. Velvet looked the stallion in the eyes, feigning horror. "Alright...Just..My head... I can't think straight.. I need a glass of water..." The thugs looked at each other quizzically, eventually deciding they would provide her with her water. It was apparent they didn't see her as a threat. They weren't working independently. No, someone willing to go this far for something, whatever it is, would do their research first. No, these thugs had no idea what they were in for. They brought Velvet her glass of water, freeing one of her hooves to allow her a drink, quickly securing the other. She took a sip of her water while she could, as she didn't intend on keeping it long. "Now. You've got your water. Now give us the c-" Velvet chose then to strike. She threw the water in the foremost stallion's face, and he recoiled for a moment. For that moment, one of the other stallions rushed for her, and she smashed the glass onto his head, knocking him out. The foremost stallion took out his knife, lifting it up to slash at Velvet, who spun her chair around. She was surprised at her timing, her predatory instincts kicking in, grown in strength with her blood lust. The stallion slashed the rope, and Velvet broke free, quickly pushing out of the binds in her hind legs. The second stallion rushed at Velvet, as the one who so kindly broke her of her bonds recoiled from his mistake. Velvet ducked, sweeping the charging pony off of his hooves, and letting him fall onto the floor. As much as Velvet hated to kick one while they were down, she took great joy in the powerful buck to his jaw that put him out cold. And that left the first stallion, the apparent leader of the pack of thugs. He rushed at her, quickly taking her off the ground and onto her back. He wrapped his massive hooves around Velvet's neck, beginning to choke her. She was left powerless to push him off, not even her predatory abilities capable of saving her. But sometimes, it takes a stallion choking the soul out of you to let you find the will to live. Velvet thought quickly, looking around, when she saw it. Right beside her, the unconscious stallion from just moments ago lay on his back, the knife strapped just to his shoulder. She just had to reach it. Velvet strained to reach the knife, her assailant was too full of rage to notice her attempts at survival. Velvet kept straining herself as her vision began to fade once more, her face turning to a sickly blue. And then, a miracle. The stallion tumbled to the side-apparently having fallen in a way that put his body out of balance- to face her. Velvet quickly grabbed the knife, stabbing it into the stallion's side, making him cringe in pain, releasing her. She quickly caught her breath, and grabbed the thug by the neck, smashing him into the wall repeatedly. The musclebound attacker's strength lost, Velvet saw her chance to kill two birds with one stone. She lifted him up as far as she could, and bit into his neck, her fangs digging into him. As he let out a bit of a moan, she grunted slightly, annoyed.. Really wish they didn't ALWAYS enjoy this...Damn venom... Velvet kept feeding. The beaten thug's soft moaning slowly turned into silence, his movements slowing with his heartbeat. She normally would have stopped a minute back, but Velvet needed his blood, and she didn't intend to let him live. She drained him of all his liquid essence, until his heart stopped. As Velvet released her victim, he fell to the ground, limp. Velvet wiped some of the blood from her muzzle, grinning. "Well...At least I got a good drink in the end..." Velvet took the mobile from the stallion's pocket, entering the code told to her by Sparky at the cafe. 8-3-1-9-8. The phone flashed green as it accepted the code, opening up to a folder full of all sorts of information. Maps, contacts, thermal readings, terrain reports, a census. All from what it seemed to her was some variety of island. Marked in the most important bit, she found something special. The thing she'd been looking for all this time. Coordinates. Velvet trotted out of the building, breathing in the fresh air that she had so nearly been deprived of. Her recent feeding had her feeling rejuvenated. Ready for anything, Velvet looked out onto the horizon, and on to the rising sun. Hold tight, Sparky. I'm coming for you.
Chapter 2Chapter 2 Velvet boarded her plane at the crack of dawn, needing to take the day after her debacle in the warehouse to pull a few strings back with her family to secure a flight. She carried her saddlebag as usual, black with a red stripe and buckle. Inside she had the essentials: A Swiss army knife, a serrated military-grade knife, a pocket-sized handgun, two clips, and a series of energy bars and bottled waters. Velvet's encounter with her assailants had prepared her for the worst, and she was ready. As she boarded her small, single-seat aircraft, she took a deep breath, looking out on to Ponyville's beautiful horizon. It's funny... One can only appreciate the beauty of home when she's boarding a plane to take her to Celestia-knows where armed with a wimpy handgun and a granola bar. Annoyed with her melodramatic pause, her pilot called back to her. "Hey, miss! I'm not getting paid to sit around waiting! Just because you're some hot-shot princess or something doesn't mean I need to take this! I'm a respected p-" "Shut the hell up, Ace. I'm coming." Velvet got into the plane, laying back. She felt a bit crowded, but she wouldn't let that get to her. She needed to do some research. She took the mobile phone from the side pocket of her saddlebag, and opened it up. In the midst of her tinkering with it earlier, she had made the background a picture of herself and Sparkling Spoon at the beach. The picture was taken a few years back, during their summer vacation. They enjoyed the scenery of the beach, as cliche as it might be. Velvet loved feeling the warm breeze flow through her hair, taking in the salty air from the ocean. She felt the hot sand between her hooves, the shells laying, scattered. Sparky, however, just liked to observe the stallions. Velvet opened up the folder that sparked this trip, as the plane lifted off. She began inspecting the files once more, her first chance to really inspect them. First, she looked at reports. They looked very professional, very well made. One thing caught her eye. A very repeated phrase: Project Genesis. It sounded very vague, very eerie. It was all over the papers, everywhere. "Project Genesis is coming along. We have secured the the test site and secured the population" What the hell...Securing the population? Ten bits says that's a fancy way of saying there'll be a mass burial in a few days... With that, she looked at census reports. Obviously, they weren't by any government, or the island would have been charted. No, these were made by the same ponies. Which brought Velvet to the question: Who ARE these ponies...? Velvet looked through the mobile some more, to no avail. All she could find were some thermal readings and other geographic things. All she knew about the area was that it would be warm, it was full of forest life, and she would be landing at the biggest clearing she could near the coordinates she had. Velvet turned off the phone and placed it back in her bag, laying her head back. It would be some time before they reached their destination, and Velvet could use all the sleep she could get. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Velvet quickly rose her head from a rude awakening; her pilot yelling at the top of his lungs to get her up. She quickly obliged, and surveyed her surroundings from the small window in the side of the ship. And there, she saw one of the most horrifying sights in a very long time. Smoke. Coming from the plane. That she was on. Velvet panicked, grabbing her saddlebag in an instinctual effort to make a fast escape. She went to her pilot. "You want to tell me what the hell is going on, fly boy?" "We were hit, miss. Bad," "Hit by wha-" Velvet's question was quickly answered for her as the sound of anti-aircraft rounds flew past them. AA guns? They've got bucking AA guns? Whatever ponies were on this island, they obviously didn't want company. And they were damn good at shooing it away. Velvet quickly felt the plane descend, feeling the pressure change in her ears. She quickly scrambled for something, anything, to keep her alive. "Have you got any parachutes?" "Sure, go ahead and jump if you want to get stuck on one of those trees and get shot by one of these assholes!" The pilot had a point. She would get stuck on one of those trees, and there's no way she could survive a fall from one of them if she unclipped her chute from there. Even if she did, she would break a leg, and wouldn't be able to survive. Looks like she would have to get lucky on this one. Really lucky. The plane quickly descended as Velvet heard the sputter of the engines failing, looking out the front window to see the ground quickly approach. She pulled out the mobile, taking one last look at Sparky, before the plane made contact with the island, and everything went black. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Velvet got lucky. Really lucky. She opened her eyes, spitting out blood. She found herself on the dirt, the plane behind her. Heh...Must've crashed out the front window... Velvet one, seat-belts zero.... Velvet got to her hooves, and went back to check the plane. She found the pilot, his head smashed against the dashboard of the ship, his blood still fresh, dripping. She sighed, patting him on the back. "Thanks anyways, Ace... You were an asshole, but you got me where I needed to go..." Velvet looked out to the sky, now dark, the stars gleaming. There was no way that Velvet would want to go anywhere at this hour, and she should probably give the grunts on the island some time to lose their edge after shooting down the plane. She found a small area, heavily wooded, and not too far from the wreck. She smiled, crawling under a few trees to make her camp for the night. She didn't want to light a fire, in fear that her attackers would search the area, or see the smoke from their camp which, according to the mobile and GPS, was about a mile east. She ate one of her energy bars, and drank half a bottle of water. Velvet knew how to take care of herself, and surprisingly, none of her equipment was damaged when she went through the window. She ducked her head under the trees, and yawned. She needed another nap. Hopefully tomorrow will be smoother. Velvet closed her eyes as she heard the hoofsteps of what sounded like a military squad, surely with the ponies who shot her plane down, come to check for survivors. She gripped her handgun, and hid in the trees as best she can as she closed her eyes. Hopefully.
Chapter 3Chapter 3 Velvet raised her head up from the brush of trees she had been sleeping in, and instinctively tightened her grip on the handgun she had kept as her sleeping companion. She got out after checking the area for any of the soldiers she last saw checking the wreckage of her plane for survivors. Velvet stretched out her wings, and then blinked, staring at them. I....Could have just flew out of the plane..... She shook her head. Even if she somehow managed to have opened the door and jumped out of the plane as it crashed down, she would still have plummeted to her demise, the saddlebag stopping her wings from spreading. Anf if she were to abandon the bag, then she surely wouldn't be able to survive the island afterwards. Velvet's mind raced with more and more alternatives to the crash she had suffered not 24 hours ago, but she stopped herself. The crash was over, and no matter what, she can't do it differently now. And she can't save her pilot. Taking out her mobile, Velvet took out the GPS to see if she could get to the place outlined in the coordinates given to her by the mobile. The path would take her straight through the jungles of the island, for almost a mile. She packed up her things in her saddlebag, and took it in hoof, beginning to lift off, but stopped herself. If they could spot our ship from that length away, there's no way they could miss a brown mare flying less than a mile away....Looks like I'm hoofing it. She landed once again, strapping the saddle bag on the proper way, and trotted onto the path, and took a breath. The air smelled crisp, as it was full of untouched forest life. The air was left unpolluted, and the trees left intact. She felt at peace here, the scenery was a wonderful change of pace from being drugged, kidnapped, or being shot out of the sky. The trees towered over Velvet, but she appreciated the beauty of it all. It wasn't intimidating, but humbling. Here in the untouched wilderness of the forest, Velvet felt at peace with herself. She felt as if she were home, away from the hustle and bustle of the proper city, escaping the illusion of order set by the society she had been born into. Velvet's peaceful contemplation, however, was interrupted by the rude realization of just why civilization had been walled off and out into order. "RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWR!" Before Velvet stood one of the most terrifying things she had ever layed eyes on, one of her few true fears. Staring her in the eyes was, in her mind, the most dangerous thing the wilderness had to offer, a terrifying beast that wanted nothing but to tear her to shreds. Velvet stood, petrified. Bears....It had to be bears.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The massive behemoth stood up on its hind legs, staring down at the terrified vampress as she trembled in fear. He was a monster. In front of her was a massive, brown grizzly bear, on its hind legs it stood 8 feet, and as noticed by Velvet by her intensive study of the beasts, was a female. She must think I'm threatening her cubs.... As Velvet failed to move out of the way, the beast came down on her, slashing at her wing. The mare let out a painful grunt, trying not to alert any of the soldiers on the island to her position. She had the element of surprise, and she knew she needed to keep it that way. That meant no screaming, and no gun. Velvet had to act fast. Ever since she was a filly, she had been terrified of bears, and knew their biology, mating habits, behavior, everything. And she knew for a fact that she couldn't fight it, not even with her knife, and she couldn't just fly over it, not with the wing the beast had slashed. No, Velvet had to outrun her, or outsmart her. Velvet's legs were hurting. She thought fast, taking in her surroundings as effectively as she could without taking her eyes off of the grizzly, which was preparing her next strike. She thought back to everything she had observed on her short walk here. She went to her mind palace, recalling every memory that she could, analyzing every detail within the microseconds that the world outside of her mind would allow. Come on...Think...Think....Oh! Velvet looked forward, and smirked a bit. She galloped ahead, just barely missing the grizzly's massive paw. The beast quickly took chase, bound and determined to eliminate the threat to her cubs. Velvet looked behind her at the beast, and gulped slightly, trying not to recall the fact that it was her greatest fear running after her, and she couldn't use the gun she had packed. She needed this plan to work. The bear outran her, and Velvet turned to face it. Time slowed for a moment in Velvet's mind, her massive assailant coming down on her. Her life flashed before her eyes as the quickly dwindling chances of her survival caught up to her. Her mother, her father, her first love, Sparky. Sparky. The grizzly let out an ear-shattering roar, as she swiped down onto her target. The bear could feel the flesh split in two, splitting for just a moment. The beast's primal heart was assured of the safety of her cubs, all until she came to a realization. She didn't cut flesh. The bear had, in fact, cut a vine. As Velvet was walking the trail earlier, she had taken a few things of an exotic nature, that one simply wouldn't procure in a civilized area. One of which, a rope-like vine. As the bear came to deliver its final strike not moments ago, Velvet had used her swiss-army knife to pin one side of the vine to the ground, and pulling herself onto the branch that was above her. Velvet's senses were enhanced dramatically when she was threatened, she was able to coordinate her movements flawlessly. As the bear swept at the vine, the force had not broken it instantly, but instead pulled it. Namely, pulling down the weak branch that Velvet had clung to. The branch came crashing down on top of the bear, directly on top of its head. The blow had knocked the grizzly out cold. Velvet rolled off of the bear that her and her branch had fallen on, and got to her hooves, retrieving her knife. She took a moment to catch her breath, and looked back at the beast. "Looks like you're not much smarter than the average bear...." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After a fairly uneventful walk, Velvet had finally come to the camp. The first thing that she noticed was, of course, the most obvious. This was no small camping ground. It was a full-fledged building. In and out of the building were an assorted mix of soldiers and scientists, the prior outnumbering the latter about three-to-one. Velvet needed to get in somehow. She surveyed the area, and found exactly what she needed: A group of 5 soldiers, one of them female, and not too differently colored than Velvet. The female soldier had left her post for a moment to have a smoke, and Velvet saw it as her perfect time to strike. She silently got up to the mare, and took her mouth in her hooves. Velvet bit into her neck, and the soldier's scream soon dissipated into a soft moan, and after a minute, was silenced. Velvet was confident that she had muffled the soldier's scream enough to make it inconspicuous. She stripped the soldier of her uniform, and put it on herself. Surprisingly, it fit her well, maybe a bit short, but nothing too noteworthy. Luckily, the armed mare had pockets covering her uniform, enough to conceal most of the contents of Velvet's bag. Putting on the pair of sunglasses that the guard had on, she was able to conceal her now-glowing eyes. Velvet approached the other four guards, looking as normally as she possibly could. The foremost guard called to her. "'Bout time you got back. Come on, boss-man needs us up to guard the main labs for some sort of special experiment." Velvet only nodded, afraid that her Trottingham accent would give away her disguise if she were to speak. This was exactly what she needed, being invited straight into the head of the camp. Velvet was feeling proud of herself as she followed the squad, happy that she effectively executed the first rule of disguise: Hiding in plain sight. They came to a metal door, a scientist there to meet them. The foremost guard showed him ID, and the scientist nodded, looking into a retinal scanner to the right of the door. The door slid open, from the bottom up. The squad walked in, and found themselves in a massive, wide-open laboratory. The interior was covered in computer monitors, the interior crawling with scientists. In the middle of the room was a vat of a strange, white liquid. The liquid looked to have all of the same properties of water, or milk. Velvet shrugged it off, trying to stay focused on the mission. Somewhere around here had to be Sparky, or someone that knew where she was. Velvet didn't have to look far. Battered and broken in a cell, lay Sparkling Spoon. She was alive, even conscious, but she was hurt badly. Between her and the outside was a thick layer of glass, most likely bulletproof. Sparky scrambled to her hooves as she caught a glimpse of Velvet, easily seeing through her disguise. Behind Velvet's glasses her eyes widened with relief at seeing her fledgling was alright. She nearly mouthed out some sentimental message to her, before she felt the cold, hard impact of the butt of a rifle on the back of her head. As Velvet fell to the ground, her vision fading, she caught a glimpse of a stallion in a lab coat, armed with an automatic rifle and a knife. The stallion was gray, with red eyes. He had a scar across his cheek, and had an especially hate-able smirk on his face. "Put her in with the other one", the stallion said, the soldiers taking her in their hooves without hesitation. "Project Genesis will continue as scheduled. We launch tonight."
Chapter 4Chapter 4 Velvet woke up on the ground, dazed and confused. She took a moment to gather herself, and assess the situation. She found herself on a cold, cement ground, a bit of hay in the corner, and a big pane of glass showing into the laboratory she had just been knocked out in. Looking to her right, Velvet saw Sparkling Spoon, just waking up. "Sparky!" "Mistress..." She chuckled a bit, seemingly impressed. "You found me..." Velvet didn't answer, instead she ran up to the mare, embracing her in her hooves for what seemed like a lifetime in itself. They were soon interrupted by the loud sound of a massive machine in the laboratory outside their cell. Velvet looked at it curiously. What the hell is this...? Almost as if reading her mind, Sparkling told her everything. The machine in the laboratory was what the people here called Project Genesis. The project was being headed by the man she only caught a glimpse of earlier while she was losing consciousness, Faus. Faus was an ex mercenary, who made a small fortune off of his work there, after some backstabbing and manipulation with his colleagues. In his time after retirement, Faus became bored. He became intrigued with old adventurers, treasures, and the like. Specifically, the fountain of youth. Eventually, Faus used his fortune to lead a team on the island Velvet found herself on now, in search of the mythical fountain. He found it. "What the hell does he want with the fountain of youth, Sparky?" "Well, immortality is the obvious thing here. But there's a lot more to it. You see, using the fountain, Faus wants to sell it to whatever warlord has the cash. Governments, terrorists, whoever pays." Velvet was shocked. "They can make super soldiers.." "Exactly." Velvet tried to imagine the horror. Every terrorist cell, every government, every single pony out there willing to pay Faus would be in control of one of the most effective breeds of super soldier of all time, and while the world crumbled, he would be off counting his bits in some far away island. Velvet had to stop him. But Velvet had another question. "Sparky..Why are you here.....?" Sparkling Spoon's face grew solemn. She sighed. "The same reason you are, mistress. And the same reason they are..." Sparky pointed to other cages around the room, at least a hundred of them, two ponies each. "They need vampires, Velvet. They need vampires to make the fountain work. Our bodies powers it... Some sort of reaction." As if on cue, a pair of guards took one of the vampires out of his cage, and dumped him into the pool of white liquid that was the fountain of youth.Velvet almost couldn't watch, as the vampire was slowly melted down into the pool, screaming until he was silenced, and eventually dissolved. "When Faus decides to go in, they'll start really dumping us in. Now, they're just...Keeping it warm, so-to-speak...." Velvet looked out the window once more, seeing Faus climb out of his chair, approaching the pool, taking off his robe. "Speak of the devil..." Faus lowered himself into the pool, and his form began to slowly shift every which way. He was beginning to age backwards. The guards around him started gathering vampires, a few at a time. First up, however, was Sparky and Velvet. Just my luck.... The guards shoved them towards the pool, Velvet first, after Sparky. Velvet looked ahead at the pool, staring at Faus' shifting body, at this stage he looked deformed. Not equine at all. They drew closer to the pool, the guards seemingly making it a slow journey on purpose, whether it be an act of mercy or an just to make them squirm, Velvet would never know. Velvet whispered back to her fledgling. "You trust me?" "About as far as I can throw you..." She smirked. "Good thing I've been on a diet." Velvet's eyes glowed, as she channeled all of the energy from her recent feedings into one fit of rage. She turned around, punching out one of the guards with ease, disarming the other one, sweeping his hooves with her own. Velvet pointed the weapon down at the pipes that were feeding into the pool, and the pool slowly began to drain. Becoming aware of what she actually just did, Velvet looked ahead of her, Sparkling's hoof in grip. Velvet saw ahead of her a wave of guards running toward her, and behind her, an emptying well. Velvet gulped, looking behind her. "Allons-y..." She dove backwards, with her fledgling, into the well. It was no pool, not even remotely. This wasn't a collection of the fluid from the fountain, it was the fountain itself. Velvet gripped on to Sparkling, who was trembling in fear. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ They landed in a body of water in the bottom of the well, that effectively cushioned their fall. They found themselves in a cave; wet, and wide open. Velvet shrugged. Must not have been as big a drop as I thought... Sparkling Spoon wasn't far behind her; she got to her hooves, looking around. "How the hell are we getting out of here...?" Velvet looked around, and saw a beam of light. She smiled. There must be an opening somewhere in that direction. "Follow me." Velvet and Sparky walked through the cave for a good five minutes until they found it: an exit to the cave, reaching out on to the camp. Now, it was just a matter of escaping the camp, and finding their way off the island. They sat for a moment to think. Their contemplation on their escape was soon interrupted by the PA system at the camp going off, speaking on a loop in the eerie voice of your average pre-recorded female message.. "The laboratory has been compromised. Initiating clean up." Guards and scientists of all sorts began rushing out of buildings, climbing into small planes, and flying off, There was an entire airfield set up, all the planes leaving at once. "What the hell do they mean by clean up?" Sparky was already picking up her bag, getting ready to leave. "Self destruct. They're going to blow the base. Faus must have put the measure in to make sure nopony ever took his research here." Velvet quickly got her bag together, thinking of what to do. Then, the obvious answer hit her. "We should get to that airfield. If we hurry, there'll be a plane we can get to in time, and we can high-tail it off of this island." "You can fly a plane?" "Do you have a better idea?" They rushed off towards the airfield, all around them soldiers and other staff were scrambling to get to their rides, all the laboratory doors were closing, preparing for the coming explosion of the lab. Sirens began going off to alert any sleeping staff. Velvet almost smiled, making her mad dash towards the airfield. She didn't think it would be so easy to foil a sinister plot, save her fledgling, and make a big explosion all in one day. It's never that easy. Velvet almost stopped in her tracks when she heard it. "You BITCH!!!" Behind the pair of vampires, was Faus. He was deformed, his face full of boils, his hooves rashy, and his mane in splotches. "You ruined everything...All my work...All the money I put into this...." Velvet sighed. "At the expense of what? Society?" "Don't you SEE? Society is tearing itself apart already... Making some money off of it doesn't hurt..." Velvet began her rebut, but was quickly shut up when the beastly shell of a stallion pushed her to the side, rushing to the airfield. She wondered for a moment what had caused him to rush in such a manner. When she turned around, she saw why. There was only one ship left. "Sparky...Let's GO!" The two mares made a dash for the plane as Faus was already climbing in, grinning. We'll never catch him....It's over... We're going to die here, Sparky is going to die here and it's all my fault... Sparky, apparently, had different plans. She grabbed a rock from the floor, galloping at him in a speed that Velvet had never seen her reach before. Sparky jumped on to the hood of the plane, and smashed Faus across the face repeatedly. He smashed her to the ground, falling out himself in the process. Velvet caught up to the pair, jumping on Faus' back, stabbing at him with a jagged rock she had found on the ground. Sparky followed up by smashing him across the face once more, only to be met with a grueling headbutt, that sent Velvet's fledgling crashing to the floor. "30 seconds until cleanup." They had to move. Velvet bucked Faus out of the way for a moment, and picked up Sparky, throwing her into the plane. "Start it up!" Sparky quickly began running the engines on the plane, having had a small amount of flight experience back from her younger days. Below her, out of the plane, was the two brawling ponies: the newly deformed beast and the vampress. Velvet threw a punch his way, which was quickly evaded and met with a strong buck to Velvet's stomach, staggering her. Faus followed up with a grueling uppercut, which knocked his assailant to the ground. Faus began to climb into the plane with Sparkling. As Velvet got back up, the plane was beginning to take off, Sparkling only just realizing the threat climbing in with her. Before she knew it, the plane was moving, and was off the ground. Sparkling turned around to face Faus, who grabbed her, smashing her head in against the dashboard. Sparky didn't stand a chance against the behemoth of what used to be a stallion. Climbing up on the tail was Velvet, clinging on for dear life to the plane which was quickly gaining speed. She finally hopped into the seat, and grabbed Faus' shoulder. "Get the hell off my plane." She shoved him down off the plane, time almost stopping for her as she watched him fall down to the camp. She pointed Sparky to the helm of the plane. "Go go go!" She quickly obliged, and took control of the plane again, flying off. As they left the island, Velvet looked behind them, to see the camp burn into flames, taking Faus with it. She smiled, putting a hoof on Sparkling Spoon's shoulder, chuckling slightly. "Good to see you again...."
